1 00:00:05,042 --> 00:00:06,333 Howdy, Pastor Mark here. 2 00:00:06,375 --> 00:00:09,708 I wanted to say thanks for tuning in and joining us for our sermon series. 3 00:00:09,792 --> 00:00:11,417 We're currently in the Book of Acts. 4 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:14,500 We're actually going to take a chunk every year after Easter 5 00:00:14,583 --> 00:00:16,875 for the next number of years. 6 00:00:16,958 --> 00:00:19,500 And for those of you who pray for me or for us, 7 00:00:19,583 --> 00:00:23,583 those of you who give to the church, want to say thank you very, very much. 8 00:00:23,667 --> 00:00:25,625 For those of you who'd like to get connected 9 00:00:25,667 --> 00:00:27,917 and be part of the extended Mars Hill family, 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,375 go to marshill.com/global, we'll sign you up for a "connect" account. 11 00:00:32,458 --> 00:00:34,333 That'll get you some free resources 12 00:00:34,375 --> 00:00:37,292 and allow you to know what's going on at Mars Hill. 13 00:00:37,333 --> 00:00:41,000 In addition you can also find the study guide for the "Acts" series. 14 00:00:41,083 --> 00:00:44,417 It was put together by a team right here at Mars Hill church. 15 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:46,000 We've made it very inexpensive. 16 00:00:46,083 --> 00:00:48,917 Any of the proceeds come back to the church, not to me. 17 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,500 And we'd love to have you do a deep study 18 00:00:51,583 --> 00:00:53,667 with us through the Book of Acts. 19 00:00:53,750 --> 00:00:55,708 So we love you, we appreciate you, thank you, 20 00:00:55,792 --> 00:00:58,083 and thanks for signing up for a global account. 21 00:01:04,667 --> 00:01:09,667 Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit 22 00:01:09,750 --> 00:01:12,083 "has come upon you, 23 00:01:12,167 --> 00:01:16,292 "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 24 00:01:16,333 --> 00:01:18,792 "and in all Judea and Samaria, 25 00:01:18,833 --> 00:01:21,958 and to the ends of the earth." 26 00:01:23,833 --> 00:01:28,792 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 27 00:01:28,833 --> 00:01:33,167 What's his mission here? 28 00:01:33,250 --> 00:01:37,583 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 29 00:01:37,667 --> 00:01:41,792 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 30 00:01:41,833 --> 00:01:45,667 What is Jesus' mission here? 31 00:01:45,708 --> 00:01:48,542 How do I know what Jesus' mission is? 32 00:01:54,458 --> 00:01:59,000 Alrighty, grab your Bible. We're in Acts 3:11-26. 33 00:01:59,042 --> 00:02:00,542 Hope you guys are enjoying Acts. 34 00:02:00,625 --> 00:02:04,000 We're looking at the issue of being empowered by the Spirit 35 00:02:04,083 --> 00:02:05,667 to be courageous. 36 00:02:05,708 --> 00:02:07,792 As you're finding your place in your Bible, 37 00:02:07,833 --> 00:02:10,667 here's the story line and where we find ourselves. 38 00:02:10,750 --> 00:02:13,750 Jesus is God, come into history, lived without sin, 39 00:02:13,833 --> 00:02:16,500 he died on the cross, he rose from the dead, 40 00:02:16,542 --> 00:02:20,833 he ascended back into heaven, he sent the Spirit to indwell, 41 00:02:20,917 --> 00:02:25,667 empower his people to continue his mission. 42 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:28,750 This includes, a little earlier in chapter 3, 43 00:02:28,833 --> 00:02:31,875 the healing of a man who was lame from birth. 44 00:02:31,958 --> 00:02:33,875 We read the story that Peter and John, 45 00:02:33,958 --> 00:02:36,542 two of Jesus' early ministry leaders, 46 00:02:36,625 --> 00:02:38,875 are going up to the temple around 3 o'clock, 47 00:02:38,958 --> 00:02:42,042 the time of prayer, and they see a man who's been lame 48 00:02:42,125 --> 00:02:43,667 since birth. 49 00:02:43,708 --> 00:02:46,792 And he's begging, trying to make some money to make ends meet, 50 00:02:46,833 --> 00:02:49,458 and they tell him, "Silver and gold we do not have, 51 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:51,750 "but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 52 00:02:51,833 --> 00:02:53,167 be healed." 53 00:02:53,250 --> 00:02:56,083 This guy's instantaneously healed--jumps up, dances, 54 00:02:56,167 --> 00:02:59,875 rejoices, walks into the temple to praise God. 55 00:02:59,958 --> 00:03:02,167 The question then is, what next? 56 00:03:02,208 --> 00:03:06,750 What happens after Jesus, who's alive and well in heaven, 57 00:03:06,833 --> 00:03:11,375 ruling and reigning, shows up to do a healing here on the earth? 58 00:03:11,458 --> 00:03:13,833 We're going to look at what happens in the wake 59 00:03:13,917 --> 00:03:15,542 of what Jesus does. 60 00:03:15,625 --> 00:03:17,500 We'll read a lot of Bible together, 61 00:03:17,542 --> 00:03:19,875 and so you can read along with me. 62 00:03:19,958 --> 00:03:21,458 Here we go. 63 00:03:21,500 --> 00:03:23,792 Acts 3:11, "While he clung to Peter and John." 64 00:03:23,833 --> 00:03:28,292 I don't know about you, this just seems kind of funny to see. 65 00:03:28,333 --> 00:03:31,875 Three grown men, one hanging on to the other two, 66 00:03:31,958 --> 00:03:33,375 because he just got healed, 67 00:03:33,458 --> 00:03:35,875 and he's going to keep these guys close by. 68 00:03:35,958 --> 00:03:38,375 He's not going to let them out of his sight. 69 00:03:38,458 --> 00:03:39,875 He's probably thinking something like, 70 00:03:39,958 --> 00:03:42,375 "Hey, if there's a relapse, I know who to call." 71 00:03:42,458 --> 00:03:44,875 "While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, 72 00:03:44,958 --> 00:03:46,667 utterly astounded"-- 73 00:03:46,750 --> 00:03:48,333 Wouldn't you be astounded? 74 00:03:48,417 --> 00:03:51,167 Somebody lame from birth all of a sudden is on 75 00:03:51,250 --> 00:03:52,833 "Dancing with the Stars." 76 00:03:52,917 --> 00:03:55,333 Wow, wow, wow. 77 00:03:55,417 --> 00:03:57,583 "All the people are utterly astounded. 78 00:03:57,667 --> 00:04:02,125 They ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's." 79 00:04:02,167 --> 00:04:04,958 Some of your translations will call it Solomon's porch. 80 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,292 "And when Peter saw it he addressed the people." 81 00:04:07,333 --> 00:04:09,375 So, he's going to stand up and preach. 82 00:04:09,458 --> 00:04:10,792 You know why? 83 00:04:10,833 --> 00:04:12,833 It's always a good time for a sermon. 84 00:04:12,917 --> 00:04:16,333 Always, always, always a good time for a sermon, amen? 85 00:04:16,417 --> 00:04:18,750 OK, I'll amen that myself. 86 00:04:18,833 --> 00:04:21,250 Amen, yes, it's always a good time for a sermon. 87 00:04:21,333 --> 00:04:23,000 So, Peter here is going to preach. 88 00:04:23,042 --> 00:04:25,375 "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, 89 00:04:25,458 --> 00:04:28,833 "or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power 90 00:04:28,917 --> 00:04:31,167 "or piety we have made him walk? 91 00:04:31,250 --> 00:04:33,167 "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 92 00:04:33,250 --> 00:04:35,958 "and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, 93 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:37,750 "glorified his servant Jesus, 94 00:04:37,833 --> 00:04:40,792 "whom you delivered over and denied in the presence 95 00:04:40,833 --> 00:04:43,833 "of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 96 00:04:43,917 --> 00:04:46,958 "But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, 97 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,542 "and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 98 00:04:49,625 --> 00:04:52,167 and you killed the Author of life"-- 99 00:04:52,250 --> 00:04:55,875 he's getting fairly personal-- "whom God raised from the dead. 100 00:04:55,958 --> 00:04:57,875 To this we are witnesses." 101 00:04:57,958 --> 00:05:02,333 He continues, "And his name--by faith in his name--has made 102 00:05:02,375 --> 00:05:05,625 "this man strong whom you see and know, 103 00:05:05,667 --> 00:05:09,667 "and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man 104 00:05:09,708 --> 00:05:12,375 this perfect health"-- writes the doctor-- 105 00:05:12,458 --> 00:05:14,000 "in the presence of you all. 106 00:05:14,042 --> 00:05:16,583 "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, 107 00:05:16,667 --> 00:05:18,083 "as did your rulers. 108 00:05:18,167 --> 00:05:21,083 "But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, 109 00:05:21,167 --> 00:05:23,500 that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled." 110 00:05:23,542 --> 00:05:25,500 What then? 111 00:05:25,542 --> 00:05:27,167 "Repent therefore, and turn back, 112 00:05:27,250 --> 00:05:28,958 "that your sins may be blotted out, 113 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,500 "that times of refreshing may come from the presence 114 00:05:31,542 --> 00:05:34,750 "of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed 115 00:05:34,833 --> 00:05:37,875 "for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive 116 00:05:37,958 --> 00:05:41,000 "until the time for restoring all the things 117 00:05:41,042 --> 00:05:44,292 "about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets 118 00:05:44,333 --> 00:05:46,167 long ago." 119 00:05:46,208 --> 00:05:48,083 And Peter ain't done. 120 00:05:48,167 --> 00:05:51,875 "Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet 121 00:05:51,958 --> 00:05:53,500 "'like me from your brothers. 122 00:05:53,542 --> 00:05:56,292 "'You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 123 00:05:56,333 --> 00:05:59,083 "'And it shall be that every soul who does not listen 124 00:05:59,167 --> 00:06:01,958 "'to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' 125 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,917 "And all the prophets who have spoken, 126 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,167 "from Samuel and those who came after him, 127 00:06:06,208 --> 00:06:09,167 "who proclaimed these days. 128 00:06:09,208 --> 00:06:11,000 "You are the sons of the prophets 129 00:06:11,042 --> 00:06:13,792 "and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, 130 00:06:13,833 --> 00:06:16,458 "saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring 131 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:19,167 "'shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' 132 00:06:19,250 --> 00:06:23,042 "God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, 133 00:06:23,125 --> 00:06:26,000 "to bless you by turning every one of you 134 00:06:26,042 --> 00:06:28,167 from your wickedness." 135 00:06:28,250 --> 00:06:32,458 A man is healed, a crowd gathers, and Peter preaches. 136 00:06:32,500 --> 00:06:34,000 That's what happens. 137 00:06:34,042 --> 00:06:36,500 Four things I want to make note of up front. 138 00:06:36,542 --> 00:06:39,583 Number one, that is that Jesus' people need to gather. 139 00:06:39,667 --> 00:06:42,375 And some of you may have wrongly heard that Jesus' people, 140 00:06:42,458 --> 00:06:44,667 in the earliest days of the Christian church, 141 00:06:44,750 --> 00:06:46,875 only met in homes and small groups-- 142 00:06:46,958 --> 00:06:48,500 five here, six here, eight here. 143 00:06:48,542 --> 00:06:50,000 They didn't have large meetings. 144 00:06:50,042 --> 00:06:51,667 That's not true at all. 145 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:53,792 We saw it when Peter preached in Acts 2. 146 00:06:53,833 --> 00:06:55,667 It was on the day of Pentecost, 147 00:06:55,708 --> 00:06:57,875 3,000 people were saved in that day. 148 00:06:57,958 --> 00:07:01,750 A very large crowd was assembled, and then they met in their homes 149 00:07:01,833 --> 00:07:03,208 in smaller groups. 150 00:07:03,292 --> 00:07:04,917 So, large and small groups. 151 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,833 Here again, they all rush into an area in the temple called 152 00:07:08,917 --> 00:07:10,792 Solomon's portico. 153 00:07:10,833 --> 00:07:13,542 It was a large, open area where there were lectures 154 00:07:13,625 --> 00:07:16,167 and meetings and gatherings. And then Peter stands up 155 00:07:16,250 --> 00:07:18,667 to preach to a very large crowd of people. 156 00:07:18,750 --> 00:07:21,083 So, God's people-- Jesus' people--meet together, 157 00:07:21,167 --> 00:07:24,167 sometimes in very large groups as we do on Sundays, 158 00:07:24,208 --> 00:07:26,167 and also in small groups-- 159 00:07:26,250 --> 00:07:27,958 we call them Community Groups that meet 160 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:29,583 throughout the course of the week. 161 00:07:29,667 --> 00:07:33,667 Number two, when something happens by God's grace, 162 00:07:33,750 --> 00:07:38,292 the person who receives that grace, they get the gladness. 163 00:07:38,333 --> 00:07:42,042 The person who served them gets the gratitude. 164 00:07:42,125 --> 00:07:45,583 But ultimately, only Jesus gets the glory. 165 00:07:45,667 --> 00:07:49,000 So, on this occasion, there is a man who was lame from birth. 166 00:07:49,042 --> 00:07:50,500 He was healed. 167 00:07:50,542 --> 00:07:52,667 The Bible says that he was leaping and celebrating 168 00:07:52,750 --> 00:07:54,792 and praising God in Acts 3:1-10, 169 00:07:54,833 --> 00:07:56,833 the precursor to the section we just read. 170 00:07:56,917 --> 00:07:59,333 So, he gets the gladness: he's healed. 171 00:07:59,417 --> 00:08:01,917 Peter and John--it would have been fine for them 172 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,333 to get the gratitude. 173 00:08:03,375 --> 00:08:06,333 "Thank you for talking to me. Thank you for praying for me." 174 00:08:06,375 --> 00:08:09,167 Some of you need to know this, that when you're grateful 175 00:08:09,250 --> 00:08:11,750 for someone, that doesn't mean you're being disrespectful 176 00:08:11,833 --> 00:08:13,167 toward the Lord. 177 00:08:13,250 --> 00:08:16,500 God works through people, and we should be grateful that he does, 178 00:08:16,542 --> 00:08:19,167 and we should be grateful for them and grateful to them. 179 00:08:19,250 --> 00:08:21,667 "Thank you for loving me. Thank you for serving me. 180 00:08:21,750 --> 00:08:23,500 "Thank you for being generous to me. 181 00:08:23,542 --> 00:08:25,333 "Thank you for being patient with me. 182 00:08:25,417 --> 00:08:26,833 Thank you for praying for me." 183 00:08:26,917 --> 00:08:29,250 The gratitude can go to the servants, but ultimately, 184 00:08:29,333 --> 00:08:31,833 the glory belongs to Jesus alone. 185 00:08:31,917 --> 00:08:33,375 And this is what Peter demonstrates, 186 00:08:33,458 --> 00:08:35,792 because the crowd rushes in and they hear, 187 00:08:35,833 --> 00:08:38,292 "Wow, these guys have the gift of healing." 188 00:08:38,333 --> 00:08:41,042 Well, in a day when a lot of people are poor 189 00:08:41,125 --> 00:08:42,875 and they don't have good medical coverage, 190 00:08:42,958 --> 00:08:45,667 and Peter and John are healing without any deductible or copay, 191 00:08:45,750 --> 00:08:48,042 all of a sudden they're highly popular. 192 00:08:48,125 --> 00:08:50,833 And as everyone is looking at Peter and John, they say, 193 00:08:50,917 --> 00:08:53,458 "Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't think that we healed this man 194 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:55,667 "by our power or our piety. 195 00:08:55,708 --> 00:08:57,375 "Jesus healed him. 196 00:08:57,458 --> 00:08:59,750 "Jesus is alive and well, seated, ruling, and reigning 197 00:08:59,833 --> 00:09:01,458 "from his heavenly throne, 198 00:09:01,500 --> 00:09:03,958 "and he can involve himself in anyone's life on earth 199 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,750 "at any point that he chooses and do whatever he wishes. 200 00:09:07,833 --> 00:09:10,042 Jesus healed, not us." 201 00:09:10,125 --> 00:09:11,667 So, the glory goes to him. 202 00:09:11,750 --> 00:09:15,167 Number three, people need Bible preaching and teaching 203 00:09:15,250 --> 00:09:17,667 to make sense of their experience. 204 00:09:17,708 --> 00:09:19,167 They just had an experience. 205 00:09:19,250 --> 00:09:21,167 A man is healed, but the question is: 206 00:09:21,250 --> 00:09:22,875 Who healed him? 207 00:09:22,958 --> 00:09:24,292 Why was he healed? 208 00:09:24,333 --> 00:09:25,667 What does this mean? 209 00:09:25,750 --> 00:09:27,667 Those are the kind of questions that ensue. 210 00:09:27,750 --> 00:09:32,083 So, it is for you and I, and some would wrongly say that we 211 00:09:32,167 --> 00:09:36,792 don't need teaching, we need simply experience; 212 00:09:36,833 --> 00:09:39,667 we don't need an education about God, 213 00:09:39,750 --> 00:09:41,792 we need an experience of God. 214 00:09:41,833 --> 00:09:44,167 Might I submit to you that we need both. 215 00:09:44,208 --> 00:09:45,792 God is the living God. 216 00:09:45,833 --> 00:09:48,958 We need to experience him, but even if and when we do 217 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,875 experience him, we do not understand him unless we have 218 00:09:51,958 --> 00:09:54,375 education regarding him. 219 00:09:54,458 --> 00:09:56,792 So, let's say for example right now, 220 00:09:56,833 --> 00:09:58,542 let's say you are suffering. 221 00:09:58,625 --> 00:10:00,875 Some tragedy has befallen you. 222 00:10:00,958 --> 00:10:05,458 That doesn't reveal to you who God is or what God is doing, 223 00:10:05,500 --> 00:10:08,500 and you may not have any way of interpreting those facts. 224 00:10:08,542 --> 00:10:13,000 "Is God punishing me? Is Satan against me? 225 00:10:13,083 --> 00:10:15,375 "Am I reaping what I've sown? 226 00:10:15,458 --> 00:10:19,417 "Is this my karmic debt for my past life coming back 227 00:10:19,500 --> 00:10:22,208 "to cash in my obligations? 228 00:10:22,292 --> 00:10:24,000 Why am I suffering?" 229 00:10:24,083 --> 00:10:27,625 Education makes sense of our experience. 230 00:10:27,667 --> 00:10:31,500 Experience alone does not give us an understanding: 231 00:10:31,542 --> 00:10:34,917 it only gives us some insight, but it doesn't give us 232 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,292 understanding regarding that insight. 233 00:10:37,333 --> 00:10:38,833 So, they had this experience. 234 00:10:38,875 --> 00:10:42,625 A man is healed, and Peter stands up to preach and teach the Bible 235 00:10:42,667 --> 00:10:45,500 to explain what happened and make sense of their experience. 236 00:10:45,583 --> 00:10:47,417 So it is for you and I: 237 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:49,333 We can't just receive experience. 238 00:10:49,375 --> 00:10:51,333 We have to then go to the Scriptures 239 00:10:51,375 --> 00:10:53,125 to make sense of our experience, 240 00:10:53,167 --> 00:10:55,667 to interpret in light of God's revelation. 241 00:10:55,750 --> 00:10:58,417 And the fourth point: the Holy Spirit 242 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:02,667 wants to empower you to be courageous for Jesus. 243 00:11:02,708 --> 00:11:05,833 Peter here is acting in a way that is very courageous. 244 00:11:05,917 --> 00:11:07,792 First of all, he is at the temple. 245 00:11:07,833 --> 00:11:10,792 This is an institution that is magnificent. 246 00:11:10,833 --> 00:11:13,667 It's a spiritual center. It's a financial center. 247 00:11:13,708 --> 00:11:16,000 It's a political center. 248 00:11:16,042 --> 00:11:19,500 I mean, it was an amazing, amazing place where God's people 249 00:11:19,542 --> 00:11:21,792 would come to worship in the presence of God. 250 00:11:21,833 --> 00:11:23,875 It was destroyed as Jesus promised. 251 00:11:23,958 --> 00:11:26,292 It's only a relic of what it once was, 252 00:11:26,333 --> 00:11:29,833 but I've been there and it's magnificent and glorious. 253 00:11:29,917 --> 00:11:33,792 And Peter stands up in a section of the temple to preach 254 00:11:33,833 --> 00:11:37,250 and proclaim the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. 255 00:11:37,333 --> 00:11:41,167 And he does so to people who are murderers. 256 00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:45,000 And he says, "You killed Jesus. You handed him over. 257 00:11:45,042 --> 00:11:50,083 "You preferred the murderer Barabbas to the God-man Jesus. 258 00:11:50,167 --> 00:11:53,083 You. You." He gets real personal. 259 00:11:53,167 --> 00:11:56,583 How many of you, if you were addressing a group of murderers, 260 00:11:56,667 --> 00:12:00,125 would talk about something other than their murder, right? 261 00:12:00,167 --> 00:12:05,458 Because you could be encouraging them to murder you. 262 00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:08,042 So, he's being very courageous. 263 00:12:08,125 --> 00:12:12,167 He is calling murderers to repent of their murder, 264 00:12:12,208 --> 00:12:13,833 knowing that if they don't, 265 00:12:13,917 --> 00:12:16,750 odds are they will murder him as well. 266 00:12:16,833 --> 00:12:19,458 And the Holy Spirit wants to empower you and I 267 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,292 to be courageous in talking about Christ. 268 00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:25,042 And so as Peter gets up, he has this amazing sermon 269 00:12:25,125 --> 00:12:29,000 and he highlights eight things regarding Jesus Christ. 270 00:12:29,042 --> 00:12:32,333 So, I want to examine those with you in succession, 271 00:12:32,417 --> 00:12:35,042 because ultimately, it's all about Jesus. 272 00:12:35,125 --> 00:12:38,167 The first thing that he, in fact, tells us about Jesus 273 00:12:38,208 --> 00:12:40,958 is that Jesus is the suffering "servant," 274 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,292 and he refers to Jesus as our servant and the servant 275 00:12:44,333 --> 00:12:45,875 of our fathers. 276 00:12:45,958 --> 00:12:48,500 Those who were Jewish in orientation would have been 277 00:12:48,542 --> 00:12:51,167 familiar with the Old Testament, and they would have harkened, 278 00:12:51,250 --> 00:12:53,333 most likely, back to the book of Isaiah, 279 00:12:53,417 --> 00:12:56,250 written 700 years before Jesus was born. 280 00:12:56,333 --> 00:13:00,833 And in Isaiah 40 through 66-- it's a very long book-- 281 00:13:00,917 --> 00:13:03,708 in that lengthy section, the hero, 282 00:13:03,792 --> 00:13:09,667 the story line is about someone called the servant, the servant. 283 00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:12,667 And it culminates--I mean, if you want to have a mind-blowing 284 00:13:12,708 --> 00:13:17,667 experience, go home and read the second half of Isaiah 52 285 00:13:17,708 --> 00:13:21,750 through Isaiah 53, OK? 286 00:13:21,833 --> 00:13:25,375 And that's all promising the coming of Jesus-- 287 00:13:25,458 --> 00:13:29,667 his life, death, burial, resurrection, and salvation. 288 00:13:29,708 --> 00:13:32,167 So, that's right in the middle of this section, 289 00:13:32,208 --> 00:13:35,583 but 40 through 66, those chapters are about one 290 00:13:35,667 --> 00:13:41,000 called the servant, that God would send a servant. 291 00:13:41,042 --> 00:13:43,667 And then Jesus comes, and he says things like this: 292 00:13:43,708 --> 00:13:49,375 "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, 293 00:13:49,458 --> 00:13:51,833 and to give his life as a ransom for many." 294 00:13:51,917 --> 00:13:58,042 So, Jesus' service for us includes his death for us. 295 00:13:59,208 --> 00:14:02,917 Let me submit to you that this is one of the ways I know that 296 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,833 the God of the Bible was not constructed by men 297 00:14:05,917 --> 00:14:10,375 but was revealed by God, that the other religious concepts 298 00:14:10,458 --> 00:14:14,667 of God is that God exists to be served, 299 00:14:14,750 --> 00:14:18,583 that God is a projection of the way we are. 300 00:14:18,667 --> 00:14:22,375 So, you and I, we live in a world where most of us, 301 00:14:22,458 --> 00:14:26,042 perhaps all of us, we would rather have servants 302 00:14:26,125 --> 00:14:29,042 than be servants, amen? Right? 303 00:14:29,125 --> 00:14:32,458 The goal in a company is to get as high up to hand off 304 00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:34,458 as many responsibilities so that other people 305 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:37,667 can take of certain things that we just don't like. 306 00:14:37,750 --> 00:14:41,458 The goal is to make enough money to employ people to serve you 307 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:44,583 so that you don't have to do certain things. 308 00:14:44,667 --> 00:14:46,792 And people who can't afford that, 309 00:14:46,833 --> 00:14:49,542 they go to Starbucks and they are abusive 310 00:14:49,625 --> 00:14:51,667 toward their barista. 311 00:14:51,708 --> 00:14:54,542 It's their little moment of having a servant, and they 312 00:14:54,625 --> 00:14:59,167 will give orders and demands and be very unruly. 313 00:14:59,208 --> 00:15:03,333 All of us like this concept of someone serving us, 314 00:15:03,375 --> 00:15:06,042 someone taking orders from us, someone obeying us, 315 00:15:06,125 --> 00:15:11,500 someone looking up to us, someone being under us. 316 00:15:11,542 --> 00:15:15,083 We don't look forward to being a servant, right? 317 00:15:15,167 --> 00:15:19,000 You can't get a minor in college in how to be a humble servant, 318 00:15:19,042 --> 00:15:24,958 because no one would take that course of study. 319 00:15:26,667 --> 00:15:30,042 And Jesus comes as a humble servant. 320 00:15:30,125 --> 00:15:32,292 He leaves glory, comes in humility. 321 00:15:32,333 --> 00:15:34,750 He leaves luxury, comes in poverty. 322 00:15:34,833 --> 00:15:38,667 He leaves a place where he is served by the angels-- 323 00:15:38,750 --> 00:15:43,000 pretty good staff, pretty good staff-- 324 00:15:43,042 --> 00:15:46,083 to serve his enemies. 325 00:15:46,167 --> 00:15:47,750 That's Jesus. 326 00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:50,792 He comes to serve. 327 00:15:50,833 --> 00:15:53,042 And friends, there is not another concept 328 00:15:53,125 --> 00:15:55,000 of God like that. 329 00:15:55,042 --> 00:15:58,500 All the other concepts of God is that God exists for us 330 00:15:58,542 --> 00:16:01,833 to serve him; that God is a taker, not a giver; 331 00:16:01,917 --> 00:16:06,958 that God is proud, he is not humble. 332 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,083 And not only is he a servant, he says it this way, 333 00:16:10,167 --> 00:16:12,500 that Jesus is--he's the servant, quote, 334 00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:15,000 "of the God of our fathers." 335 00:16:15,042 --> 00:16:19,000 And he addresses this sermon at the beginning-- 336 00:16:19,042 --> 00:16:20,750 to what category of people? 337 00:16:20,833 --> 00:16:22,333 Did you catch it? 338 00:16:22,417 --> 00:16:24,792 Careful reading of the text, Acts 3:12, 339 00:16:24,833 --> 00:16:27,875 "Peter saw it he addressed the people," saying what? 340 00:16:27,958 --> 00:16:32,583 "Men." "Men of Israel." 341 00:16:32,667 --> 00:16:35,333 How did he begin his sermon in Acts 2 at Pentecost? 342 00:16:35,417 --> 00:16:37,250 "Men of Israel." 343 00:16:37,333 --> 00:16:38,958 You keep reading the book of Acts, 344 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,833 how are many sermons begun? 345 00:16:40,917 --> 00:16:44,667 "Men." "Men!" "You men!" 346 00:16:44,750 --> 00:16:47,542 It's a strong word to the men. 347 00:16:47,625 --> 00:16:49,833 Paul continues this, right? 348 00:16:49,917 --> 00:16:52,667 "Men of Athens! "Men!" 349 00:16:52,708 --> 00:16:57,500 God's cry from Genesis 3 with the failure of our first father 350 00:16:57,542 --> 00:17:02,250 forward is, "Men!" "Men!" "Men!" 351 00:17:02,333 --> 00:17:05,500 "Adam, where are you?" "Men, where are you?"" 352 00:17:05,583 --> 00:17:07,667 That's God's cry. 353 00:17:07,750 --> 00:17:11,083 God speaks to men and women-- and some of you women 354 00:17:11,167 --> 00:17:15,500 will be offended by this, don't be. 355 00:17:15,542 --> 00:17:21,167 God created men and women equal in dignity, value, worth, 356 00:17:21,250 --> 00:17:27,958 but he lays an additional burden of responsibility on the men 357 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,292 to love women, to love children, to serve women, 358 00:17:31,333 --> 00:17:34,500 to serve children, to protect women, to protect children. 359 00:17:34,542 --> 00:17:37,375 And in the world in which we live is what the world 360 00:17:37,458 --> 00:17:42,667 looks like when God is disobeyed and men are defiant. 361 00:17:42,750 --> 00:17:46,500 And here's the truth: if a man worships Jesus, 362 00:17:46,542 --> 00:17:50,375 statistically, so does his wife and so do his children. 363 00:17:50,458 --> 00:17:52,833 If a woman worships Jesus, 364 00:17:52,917 --> 00:17:55,292 statistically, it is far less likely that 365 00:17:55,333 --> 00:17:57,167 her husband will worship Jesus 366 00:17:57,208 --> 00:17:59,000 or her children will worship Jesus, 367 00:17:59,042 --> 00:18:00,625 because in the family system, 368 00:18:00,667 --> 00:18:03,333 whether you love it or hate it, the truth is this: 369 00:18:03,417 --> 00:18:05,833 the husband and the father is dominant. 370 00:18:05,917 --> 00:18:08,333 Some of you say, "I didn't even have a dad. 371 00:18:08,417 --> 00:18:09,833 He didn't even affect my life." 372 00:18:09,917 --> 00:18:13,042 He is the biggest effect on your entire life, and that empty chair 373 00:18:13,125 --> 00:18:15,083 at the dinner table had a profound effect 374 00:18:15,167 --> 00:18:17,375 on who you are and how you live. 375 00:18:17,458 --> 00:18:19,833 That men, we can be a burden or a blessing. 376 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:21,750 We can bring life or death. 377 00:18:21,833 --> 00:18:26,083 We can bring tears or rejoicing to our families. 378 00:18:26,167 --> 00:18:31,500 And it all depends on this: do we open our ear to hear 379 00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:34,667 the call of God, "Men!" 380 00:18:34,750 --> 00:18:38,667 and then to repent of sin and to receive the Holy Spirit 381 00:18:38,750 --> 00:18:41,250 and to walk with Jesus? 382 00:18:41,333 --> 00:18:43,667 And he says that Jesus is the servant, quote, 383 00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,250 "of the God of our fathers." 384 00:18:46,333 --> 00:18:48,667 And then he goes on to talk about three fathers: 385 00:18:48,750 --> 00:18:50,750 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 386 00:18:50,833 --> 00:18:54,250 These are three generations of men--a grandfather, a father, 387 00:18:54,333 --> 00:18:57,042 and a son, or a grandson. 388 00:18:57,125 --> 00:19:00,625 Men, you and I need not just think about a good time 389 00:19:00,667 --> 00:19:02,458 but a good legacy. 390 00:19:02,500 --> 00:19:05,833 We are to think covenantally, not selfishly. 391 00:19:05,917 --> 00:19:09,167 You need to know, men, that if you worship Jesus, 392 00:19:09,250 --> 00:19:12,167 the odds are increasingly better that your sons 393 00:19:12,208 --> 00:19:15,042 and your grandsons will worship Jesus. 394 00:19:15,125 --> 00:19:18,083 If you worship Jesus, the odds are increasingly better 395 00:19:18,167 --> 00:19:21,292 that your daughters and granddaughters will marry men 396 00:19:21,333 --> 00:19:25,750 who worship Jesus. And the converse is true. 397 00:19:25,833 --> 00:19:31,292 And so men, much rises and falls with you and I. 398 00:19:31,333 --> 00:19:34,792 And so the beginning of the sermons in the book of Acts 399 00:19:34,833 --> 00:19:38,792 are calling out, calling to, men. 400 00:19:38,833 --> 00:19:42,542 And so, I want you men to hear this 401 00:19:42,625 --> 00:19:44,167 as a particular word for you. 402 00:19:44,250 --> 00:19:46,000 Yes, it includes the women. 403 00:19:46,042 --> 00:19:48,667 Yes, it includes the children. 404 00:19:48,708 --> 00:19:54,167 But it is particularly granted that it would be for us men. 405 00:19:54,250 --> 00:19:56,750 And you single men, you're not just marrying a woman 406 00:19:56,833 --> 00:19:59,292 for a good time but a good legacy. 407 00:19:59,333 --> 00:20:01,167 You're not just thinking about the weekend 408 00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:03,458 but the fifth generation. 409 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:05,750 God's men think differently: 410 00:20:05,833 --> 00:20:10,792 We think biblically. We think legacy. We think covenantally. 411 00:20:10,833 --> 00:20:13,708 And some of you men are the first link in that chain, 412 00:20:13,792 --> 00:20:16,208 and it's incumbent upon you that your children and grandchildren 413 00:20:16,292 --> 00:20:18,000 would come to know the Lord Jesus. 414 00:20:18,083 --> 00:20:20,500 Some of you are part of an already faithful chain, 415 00:20:20,542 --> 00:20:22,292 and maybe it was your great-grandpa, 416 00:20:22,333 --> 00:20:24,083 or your great-great-grandpa, that loved Jesus, 417 00:20:24,167 --> 00:20:26,125 and you're carrying on that legacy of faith. 418 00:20:26,167 --> 00:20:28,125 And by God's grace, I would encourage you, 419 00:20:28,167 --> 00:20:32,208 don't be the broken link in the chain, OK? 420 00:20:32,292 --> 00:20:36,833 And he says that Jesus loves to serve fathers, 421 00:20:36,875 --> 00:20:41,875 that Jesus loves to serve men who want to bless their wives 422 00:20:41,958 --> 00:20:43,917 and children. 423 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,917 So he calls him the servant of our fathers, 424 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:48,333 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 425 00:20:48,375 --> 00:20:49,708 Do you see all that? 426 00:20:49,792 --> 00:20:52,708 Some of you guys are like, "Why does Jesus not bless me? 427 00:20:52,792 --> 00:20:55,417 "Why is my life so hard? Why is not coming together?" 428 00:20:55,500 --> 00:20:59,917 Maybe because you're a fool. And maybe because 429 00:21:00,042 --> 00:21:02,667 you're looking for a good time instead of a good legacy. 430 00:21:02,750 --> 00:21:04,792 Maybe you're not treating the woman you're with 431 00:21:04,833 --> 00:21:06,875 with dignity, value, worth, and respect. 432 00:21:06,958 --> 00:21:09,792 Maybe you're not loving the concept of one day, 433 00:21:09,833 --> 00:21:11,667 by God's grace, being a father. 434 00:21:11,750 --> 00:21:14,500 Maybe you're not rising up to your responsibility. 435 00:21:14,542 --> 00:21:17,167 And the God of the Bible is not excited about pouring 436 00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:22,375 all his water in a bucket with no bottom, OK? 437 00:21:22,458 --> 00:21:27,500 So men! Men! Jesus is happy to serve you 438 00:21:27,542 --> 00:21:30,458 if you're willing to obey him. 439 00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:35,167 So he starts by telling us that Jesus is the suffering servant. 440 00:21:35,250 --> 00:21:37,500 He goes on, then, to say that Jesus is 441 00:21:37,542 --> 00:21:39,250 the "Holy and Righteous One." 442 00:21:39,333 --> 00:21:41,458 That's exactly what he says. 443 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:44,083 And this is controversial and debatable like everything else 444 00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:48,167 I will say, so we'll just put it in the line. But here it is: 445 00:21:48,208 --> 00:21:51,583 we live in a day when there is no conflict or controversy 446 00:21:51,667 --> 00:21:54,833 if Jesus is just one of many good teachers 447 00:21:54,917 --> 00:21:57,500 and good examples and good leaders. 448 00:21:57,542 --> 00:22:00,333 The proverbial Mt. Rushmore-- yeah, there's Jesus 449 00:22:00,375 --> 00:22:03,542 and Mohammed and Gandhi and Mother Theresa, 450 00:22:03,625 --> 00:22:05,958 and there he is, one of the greats. 451 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,500 He is the "Holy and Righteous," how many? 452 00:22:09,542 --> 00:22:11,083 "One." 453 00:22:11,167 --> 00:22:12,833 There's none like Jesus. 454 00:22:12,917 --> 00:22:14,500 There's none equal to Jesus. 455 00:22:14,542 --> 00:22:16,083 There's none alongside of Jesus. 456 00:22:16,167 --> 00:22:18,167 There's none in addition to Jesus. 457 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:20,000 It's just Jesus. 458 00:22:20,042 --> 00:22:21,667 It's only Jesus. 459 00:22:21,750 --> 00:22:25,083 It's always Jesus in a category unto himself. 460 00:22:25,167 --> 00:22:27,583 Please do not put Jesus in a category with 461 00:22:27,667 --> 00:22:29,375 the rest of humanity. 462 00:22:29,458 --> 00:22:31,292 He's in an entirely different category. 463 00:22:31,333 --> 00:22:33,583 He's not just a good man: he's the God-man. 464 00:22:33,667 --> 00:22:39,583 He's not just a good man: he's alone, only, holy and righteous. 465 00:22:39,667 --> 00:22:42,250 There's no sin in Jesus. 466 00:22:42,333 --> 00:22:48,667 There are two categories: Jesus and everyone else, OK? 467 00:22:48,708 --> 00:22:50,875 And in the everyone else category, you can say, 468 00:22:50,958 --> 00:22:53,292 "Well, they're the best among the everyone else," 469 00:22:53,333 --> 00:22:55,292 but I'll just tell you this. 470 00:22:55,333 --> 00:22:58,458 That's nothing compared to Jesus. 471 00:22:58,500 --> 00:23:00,042 He alone is holy. 472 00:23:00,125 --> 00:23:01,458 He has no sin. 473 00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:03,333 He alone is righteous. 474 00:23:03,375 --> 00:23:06,125 He is acceptable in the sight of the Father. 475 00:23:06,167 --> 00:23:08,958 Now, because--back to point one--he's also our Father, 476 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,375 I have good news for you. 477 00:23:11,458 --> 00:23:14,542 You don't have to be holy, and you don't have to be righteous. 478 00:23:14,625 --> 00:23:17,375 In fact, you can't be holy, and you can't be righteous. 479 00:23:17,458 --> 00:23:19,583 Some of you say, "I'm gonna try really hard." 480 00:23:19,667 --> 00:23:21,083 Well, it's already too late, OK? 481 00:23:21,167 --> 00:23:22,500 It's already too late. 482 00:23:22,542 --> 00:23:24,083 You've already been unholy and unrighteous, 483 00:23:24,167 --> 00:23:27,042 so even if you never sin again from this day forward--which is 484 00:23:27,125 --> 00:23:29,375 not true. To even think that would be proud, 485 00:23:29,458 --> 00:23:32,542 and that's the worst sin of all, so I got you there too, 486 00:23:32,625 --> 00:23:34,167 all right? You're all hemmed in. 487 00:23:34,250 --> 00:23:36,167 You're all hemmed in. 488 00:23:36,250 --> 00:23:38,375 And here's the truth: Jesus is our holiness. 489 00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:40,333 Jesus is our righteousness. 490 00:23:40,417 --> 00:23:42,875 Jesus is our report card. 491 00:23:42,958 --> 00:23:46,292 We stand before the Father, "Explain your holiness." 492 00:23:46,333 --> 00:23:48,250 "His name is Jesus." 493 00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:49,875 "So, where's your righteousness?" 494 00:23:49,958 --> 00:23:52,167 "It's right there with Jesus." 495 00:23:52,250 --> 00:23:54,375 He goes to the cross to take our unholiness, 496 00:23:54,458 --> 00:23:57,333 to take our unrighteousness, and to trade places with us, 497 00:23:57,417 --> 00:23:59,333 to serve us, to give us his holiness, 498 00:23:59,417 --> 00:24:01,042 and to give us his righteousness. 499 00:24:01,125 --> 00:24:04,167 Here's the good news: we don't need to pay God back. 500 00:24:04,208 --> 00:24:06,750 We don't need to be pleasing in God's sight. 501 00:24:06,833 --> 00:24:09,167 We don't need to do what religions always encourage, 502 00:24:09,250 --> 00:24:13,292 and that is, "Pull it together so that God will love you." 503 00:24:13,333 --> 00:24:16,500 Instead, it is, "God has loved you and he's going to help you 504 00:24:16,542 --> 00:24:18,750 pull it together." 505 00:24:18,833 --> 00:24:22,667 It's different because we work from Jesus' righteousness, 506 00:24:22,750 --> 00:24:25,500 not for our own. 507 00:24:25,542 --> 00:24:30,250 We work from Jesus' holiness, not for our own. 508 00:24:30,333 --> 00:24:32,875 He alone is holy and righteous. 509 00:24:32,958 --> 00:24:35,333 Number three, it goes on to say that 510 00:24:35,417 --> 00:24:39,667 "Jesus is the Author of life... raised from the dead," 511 00:24:39,708 --> 00:24:44,167 that the God of the Bible is the Living God, we are told; 512 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:47,833 that God is eternally existent; that God is the uncaused cause; 513 00:24:47,917 --> 00:24:50,667 that God is the Creator of all that is created; 514 00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:53,292 and that God brings creation into life 515 00:24:53,333 --> 00:24:55,792 because he is the Living God. 516 00:24:55,833 --> 00:24:59,583 And then we, foolishly, rebel against that God, 517 00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:03,625 and in choosing sin, we choose death. 518 00:25:03,667 --> 00:25:05,625 Now, the Living God, the Author of life, 519 00:25:05,667 --> 00:25:09,792 he's so gracious with us, he's so patient toward us that he 520 00:25:09,833 --> 00:25:12,583 determines that he will enter into his creation, 521 00:25:12,667 --> 00:25:14,833 that the Creator will enter creation, 522 00:25:14,917 --> 00:25:17,583 that he would humble himself and walk among us. 523 00:25:17,667 --> 00:25:22,333 And he comes to bring life. And what do we do to him? 524 00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:25,833 We kill him. 525 00:25:25,917 --> 00:25:31,167 We murder the Author of life. 526 00:25:32,917 --> 00:25:36,875 It's an amazing revelation at the cross of Jesus, 527 00:25:36,958 --> 00:25:41,958 not just the goodness of God, but the evil of the human heart, 528 00:25:44,958 --> 00:25:48,292 that God would make us to live and that we would choose death, 529 00:25:48,333 --> 00:25:51,667 and that God would come to bring us life and we kill him. 530 00:25:51,750 --> 00:25:55,667 It says a lot about us. 531 00:25:55,750 --> 00:25:58,000 And then Jesus rises from death. 532 00:25:58,042 --> 00:25:59,792 You know why? 533 00:25:59,833 --> 00:26:04,750 He's the Author of life, and death cannot hold him, 534 00:26:04,833 --> 00:26:11,333 and he invites us to life in him--spiritual life now, 535 00:26:11,417 --> 00:26:14,375 where our sins are forgiven and we're reconciled to God, 536 00:26:14,458 --> 00:26:18,833 and eternal life, resurrected from the dead--physical, actual, 537 00:26:18,917 --> 00:26:24,375 eternal life--patterned after his own bodily resurrection. 538 00:26:24,458 --> 00:26:26,167 He's the author of life. 539 00:26:26,250 --> 00:26:28,667 And let me say this very clearly: if you're here 540 00:26:28,750 --> 00:26:31,167 and you don't know Jesus, you're spiritually dead. 541 00:26:31,208 --> 00:26:34,500 And then you will physically die. 542 00:26:34,542 --> 00:26:38,750 And then you will eternally die, suffering forever, 543 00:26:38,833 --> 00:26:43,292 because there is no life-- spiritual, physical, 544 00:26:43,333 --> 00:26:48,167 or eternal life--apart from the Author of life. 545 00:26:48,250 --> 00:26:50,500 That's why we're all in the process of dying. 546 00:26:50,542 --> 00:26:54,792 You know what happens after you unplug your phone, your iPad, 547 00:26:54,833 --> 00:26:57,667 your laptop from it's power source? 548 00:26:57,708 --> 00:27:01,042 It's not dead, but it's dying. 549 00:27:01,125 --> 00:27:04,250 And apart from being connected to a source of life, 550 00:27:04,333 --> 00:27:06,958 it will die and remain dead. 551 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,875 That's how we are, spiritually. 552 00:27:09,958 --> 00:27:12,375 We're dying and in the process of dying. 553 00:27:12,458 --> 00:27:15,375 We will die, and apart from a connection 554 00:27:15,458 --> 00:27:18,875 to the Author of life, all we will ever know is death-- 555 00:27:18,958 --> 00:27:22,667 spiritual death--that culminates in physical death, 556 00:27:22,750 --> 00:27:24,500 that results in eternal death. 557 00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:28,583 But the good news is Jesus is the Author of life. 558 00:27:28,667 --> 00:27:34,792 His fourth point is that Jesus is the object of our faith. 559 00:27:34,833 --> 00:27:38,167 Jesus is the object of our faith, and it literally says it 560 00:27:38,250 --> 00:27:42,583 this way: "By faith in his name." 561 00:27:42,667 --> 00:27:46,500 Now, various religions will teach that we have 562 00:27:46,542 --> 00:27:49,667 some sort of problem that needs some sort of solution, 563 00:27:49,750 --> 00:27:52,667 and they will differ on the problem and the solution, 564 00:27:52,708 --> 00:27:55,250 but there's one thing that is constant among them all. 565 00:27:55,333 --> 00:27:57,167 I'll share it with you briefly. 566 00:27:57,250 --> 00:28:00,667 In Buddhism, you save yourself by ceasing all desire. 567 00:28:00,708 --> 00:28:03,042 In Confucianism, you save yourself through education, 568 00:28:03,125 --> 00:28:06,208 reflection, self-cultivation, and moral living. 569 00:28:06,292 --> 00:28:08,958 In Hinduism, you save yourself by detaching from your 570 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,542 separated ego and living in unity with the divine. 571 00:28:12,625 --> 00:28:14,083 You say, "What does that mean?" 572 00:28:14,167 --> 00:28:16,750 I would say, "I'm not sure the Hindus know." 573 00:28:16,833 --> 00:28:18,292 I don't know. 574 00:28:18,333 --> 00:28:21,500 In Islam, you save yourself by living a life of good deeds. 575 00:28:21,542 --> 00:28:24,167 In Orthodox Judaism, you save yourself through repentance, 576 00:28:24,250 --> 00:28:27,167 prayer, and working hard to obey God's laws 577 00:28:27,250 --> 00:28:29,083 and being a good person. 578 00:28:29,167 --> 00:28:31,375 In the New Age, or Integrative Spirituality, 579 00:28:31,458 --> 00:28:33,667 you save yourself through seeing yourself 580 00:28:33,750 --> 00:28:35,458 as part of the divine oneness 581 00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:38,500 and seeking to live in harmony as part of the One. 582 00:28:38,542 --> 00:28:41,292 In Daoism, you save yourself by aligning with the Dao 583 00:28:41,333 --> 00:28:44,833 to have peace in you and harmony around you. 584 00:28:44,917 --> 00:28:47,500 They will posit that the problem is different. 585 00:28:47,542 --> 00:28:49,667 It's sin or it's a lack of consciousness 586 00:28:49,708 --> 00:28:52,500 or inner-connectiveness, so there are various solutions, 587 00:28:52,542 --> 00:28:54,833 but one thing remains constant-- 588 00:28:54,917 --> 00:28:56,792 what's the object of your faith? 589 00:28:56,833 --> 00:29:00,333 Might I say it this way: who is the object of your faith? 590 00:29:00,417 --> 00:29:03,208 You are. 591 00:29:03,292 --> 00:29:07,500 You save yourself. 592 00:29:07,542 --> 00:29:12,167 You learn something, you do something, 593 00:29:12,250 --> 00:29:15,458 you experience something, but ultimately, 594 00:29:15,500 --> 00:29:18,375 you are the object of your faith. 595 00:29:18,458 --> 00:29:21,333 You save yourself. 596 00:29:21,417 --> 00:29:23,250 So, religion comes along to say, 597 00:29:23,333 --> 00:29:27,792 "Here's what you do to save yourself." 598 00:29:27,833 --> 00:29:29,667 Christianity comes along and says, 599 00:29:29,750 --> 00:29:32,583 "It's not about what you do; it's about what Jesus has done. 600 00:29:32,667 --> 00:29:34,250 "It's not about you saving yourself; 601 00:29:34,333 --> 00:29:37,500 it's about you being saved by a Savior." 602 00:29:37,542 --> 00:29:40,167 Now, this will be difficult for some of you because you 603 00:29:40,250 --> 00:29:42,583 have family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, 604 00:29:42,667 --> 00:29:45,042 perhaps even yourself, maybe even your spouse-- 605 00:29:45,125 --> 00:29:47,833 they adhere to other spiritualities and religions. 606 00:29:47,917 --> 00:29:50,292 And you say, "I know some people, they're very devout. 607 00:29:50,333 --> 00:29:53,000 "They're very moral. They're very spiritual. 608 00:29:53,042 --> 00:29:55,000 "They're very committed and they're actually 609 00:29:55,042 --> 00:29:57,792 "very nice people, nicer than some Christians I know, 610 00:29:57,833 --> 00:30:00,375 like you Pastor Mark, who yells at me." 611 00:30:00,458 --> 00:30:06,250 OK, all of which could be true, OK? 612 00:30:06,333 --> 00:30:10,625 Their faith may be sincere, 613 00:30:10,667 --> 00:30:13,875 but the object of their faith cannot save. 614 00:30:13,958 --> 00:30:15,625 I'll use an illustration. 615 00:30:15,667 --> 00:30:17,208 Let's say you're a bad swimmer. 616 00:30:17,292 --> 00:30:19,333 How many of you are bad swimmers? 617 00:30:19,375 --> 00:30:20,833 Say you're a bad swimmer. 618 00:30:20,875 --> 00:30:23,375 It's coming up to swim time, summer's here. 619 00:30:23,458 --> 00:30:28,667 Say you're out swimming and it's not going well. 620 00:30:28,750 --> 00:30:33,375 OK, so you yell at someone, "Throw me the anvil! 621 00:30:33,458 --> 00:30:36,375 Throw me the anvil!" 622 00:30:36,458 --> 00:30:39,208 And you have sincere faith in the anvil. 623 00:30:39,292 --> 00:30:43,000 You have devout faith in the anvil. 624 00:30:43,083 --> 00:30:47,667 You have a deep commitment to the belief that the anvil 625 00:30:47,750 --> 00:30:53,792 will save you. And they throw you the anvil. 626 00:30:53,833 --> 00:30:56,125 And in an act of faith, you grab it, 627 00:30:56,167 --> 00:31:00,792 and you hold onto it with deep, devoted, 628 00:31:00,833 --> 00:31:07,083 sincere, religious-type commitment. 629 00:31:07,167 --> 00:31:10,083 How's it going to go? 630 00:31:10,167 --> 00:31:13,167 OK, any of you watch the Roadrunner cartoons 631 00:31:13,250 --> 00:31:14,667 as a kid? 632 00:31:14,708 --> 00:31:16,500 How's it going to go? 633 00:31:16,542 --> 00:31:19,292 You're going to sink, 634 00:31:19,333 --> 00:31:22,458 because faith doesn't save you. 635 00:31:22,500 --> 00:31:25,500 The object of faith saves you, and if you pick 636 00:31:25,542 --> 00:31:31,583 the wrong object, you're not saved. You die. 637 00:31:31,667 --> 00:31:34,500 It's like that. 638 00:31:34,542 --> 00:31:38,000 So, he tells us, "By faith in his name," 639 00:31:38,042 --> 00:31:43,458 that Jesus alone is our Savior. 640 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:45,667 Have you received Jesus? 641 00:31:45,750 --> 00:31:49,458 Have you responded to Jesus? 642 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:51,833 Have you put your proverbial arms around Jesus? 643 00:31:51,917 --> 00:31:57,000 Is your faith in his name? 644 00:31:57,042 --> 00:32:01,333 He goes on to say that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy. 645 00:32:01,417 --> 00:32:04,750 And he talks a lot about prophets here. 646 00:32:04,833 --> 00:32:06,917 He quotes from Moses. 647 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,000 He quotes from Samuel. 648 00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:12,792 He's quoting the prophets extemporaneously. 649 00:32:12,833 --> 00:32:15,000 He, in fact, says it this way. 650 00:32:15,042 --> 00:32:18,958 I'll read it to you in 3:18. 651 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,167 "What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, 652 00:32:23,208 --> 00:32:27,375 that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled." 653 00:32:27,458 --> 00:32:31,083 Peter is saying, first of all, that the Bible is for us, 654 00:32:31,167 --> 00:32:32,667 but it's not about us. 655 00:32:32,750 --> 00:32:34,083 Some of you are new. 656 00:32:34,167 --> 00:32:35,792 I need you to hear this. 657 00:32:35,833 --> 00:32:38,458 We believe that this is the book that God--we believe, too, 658 00:32:38,500 --> 00:32:40,500 this is the only book that God wrote. 659 00:32:40,542 --> 00:32:43,000 There's, like, not another one at Barnes and Noble, OK? 660 00:32:43,042 --> 00:32:45,083 This is the book that God wrote. 661 00:32:45,167 --> 00:32:48,292 It's the only book that God wrote, and the book is for us, 662 00:32:48,333 --> 00:32:49,792 but it's not about us. 663 00:32:49,833 --> 00:32:51,583 It's about Jesus. 664 00:32:51,667 --> 00:32:55,083 So, from beginning to end, it is primarily about him, 665 00:32:55,167 --> 00:32:58,583 which means, then, we don't come to this book as we would come 666 00:32:58,667 --> 00:33:01,833 to psychology or self-help or some sort of steps for 667 00:33:01,917 --> 00:33:04,542 better living or transformed understanding. 668 00:33:04,625 --> 00:33:06,750 We would not come to this book and say, 669 00:33:06,833 --> 00:33:09,667 "What are some principles by which I might improve my life?" 670 00:33:09,750 --> 00:33:12,792 Instead, we say, "No, this is not a book primarily about what 671 00:33:12,833 --> 00:33:15,458 "I do but what Jesus has done. 672 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:18,250 "This is not a book primarily about who I am, 673 00:33:18,333 --> 00:33:20,667 "but who Jesus is. 674 00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:23,833 "And as I understand who Jesus is, then that changes who I am. 675 00:33:23,917 --> 00:33:27,292 "And that changes what I do. So all of things--those kinds of 676 00:33:27,333 --> 00:33:32,375 "desires happen, but I don't see those as the primary purpose 677 00:33:32,458 --> 00:33:35,292 "of the Scriptures because this isn't good advice 678 00:33:35,333 --> 00:33:38,667 "as much as it is good news. 679 00:33:38,708 --> 00:33:42,042 "Not good advice for me, but good news about him that 680 00:33:42,125 --> 00:33:45,833 then changes me so that I may become more like him." 681 00:33:45,917 --> 00:33:48,458 And all of this is called prophecy. 682 00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:50,500 And so some of you may know this, 683 00:33:50,542 --> 00:33:52,250 but when the Bible was originally written-- 684 00:33:52,333 --> 00:33:55,083 it's a series of books written over a number of years-- 685 00:33:55,167 --> 00:33:57,458 roughly 20% of the Bible was prophetic in nature. 686 00:33:57,500 --> 00:33:59,292 It was God, who knows the future, 687 00:33:59,333 --> 00:34:02,833 telling in advance what would happen in great detail. 688 00:34:02,875 --> 00:34:05,708 And most of that prophecy surrounds the person 689 00:34:05,792 --> 00:34:07,375 and work of Jesus Christ. 690 00:34:07,458 --> 00:34:09,875 And I can't get into all of it with you, 691 00:34:09,958 --> 00:34:11,667 but I'll just give you some examples. 692 00:34:11,750 --> 00:34:14,667 Like, in Genesis 3, the prophecy is given by God that Jesus 693 00:34:14,750 --> 00:34:18,167 would come as a male son born of a woman. 694 00:34:18,208 --> 00:34:21,667 Go to Isaiah 7, that his mom would be a virgin. 695 00:34:21,750 --> 00:34:24,750 We're really narrowing down the list of candidates, amen? 696 00:34:24,833 --> 00:34:26,167 OK? 697 00:34:26,250 --> 00:34:29,375 Really narrowing that. Go to Isaiah 9 and it says that his 698 00:34:29,458 --> 00:34:32,458 name would be Immanuel, which means--what's Immanuel mean? 699 00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:33,875 "God with us." 700 00:34:33,958 --> 00:34:36,667 OK, we've really whittle the list down now. 701 00:34:36,750 --> 00:34:39,000 All right, you continue forward, the Bible says, 702 00:34:39,042 --> 00:34:44,167 in the latter prophets, that he would be born in Bethlehem, 703 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:46,875 that he would be born and taken to the temple 704 00:34:46,958 --> 00:34:49,292 which was destroyed in 70 A.D. 705 00:34:49,333 --> 00:34:52,042 So, whenever this person was to come, 706 00:34:52,125 --> 00:34:53,875 it had to be before 70 A.D. 707 00:34:53,958 --> 00:34:55,875 So, I always tell my Jewish friends--they're like, 708 00:34:55,958 --> 00:34:57,375 "We're waiting for a Messiah." 709 00:34:57,458 --> 00:34:59,333 You missed him. He came before 70 A.D. 710 00:34:59,417 --> 00:35:02,750 And it's like, I'm also not waiting for 711 00:35:02,833 --> 00:35:05,167 the Van Halen I tour. 712 00:35:05,208 --> 00:35:07,083 Like, it's over, you know? 713 00:35:07,167 --> 00:35:08,792 That band is done. 714 00:35:08,833 --> 00:35:12,000 That's already been taken care of, you know? 715 00:35:12,042 --> 00:35:16,667 I'm not, ooh, excited about the coming of 1979. 716 00:35:16,708 --> 00:35:18,875 That's in the rearview mirror. 717 00:35:18,958 --> 00:35:20,375 That's over. 718 00:35:20,458 --> 00:35:23,333 Jesus was promised to come before 70 A.D., 719 00:35:23,417 --> 00:35:25,542 because he was supposed to go to the temple. 720 00:35:25,625 --> 00:35:27,875 There is no temple. 721 00:35:27,958 --> 00:35:30,333 It was destroyed in 70 A.D. 722 00:35:30,417 --> 00:35:33,083 So, all of these prophecies, they all point to the coming 723 00:35:33,167 --> 00:35:36,292 of Jesus in painstaking detail because this is the book 724 00:35:36,333 --> 00:35:38,792 that God wrote, and he knows the future 725 00:35:38,833 --> 00:35:41,167 and he brings it to pass. 726 00:35:41,208 --> 00:35:44,042 What he's saying is this, that they are in a period of 727 00:35:44,125 --> 00:35:47,667 history that is very privileged, that for hundreds and thousands 728 00:35:47,750 --> 00:35:50,333 of years, God's people were leaning into the future 729 00:35:50,417 --> 00:35:52,000 and listening to the prophets. 730 00:35:52,042 --> 00:35:53,792 "When is Jesus coming?" 731 00:35:53,833 --> 00:35:56,042 And Peter says, "In your day, he came, 732 00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:59,875 and all the prophecies were fulfilled. And you killed him!" 733 00:35:59,958 --> 00:36:04,333 Sort of controversial. 734 00:36:04,417 --> 00:36:07,250 And he rose from the dead, fulfilling another prophecy 735 00:36:07,333 --> 00:36:12,583 in a place like Isaiah 52 and 53, that he would be high 736 00:36:12,667 --> 00:36:15,167 and exalted, crucified; that he would be pierced for our 737 00:36:15,250 --> 00:36:18,583 transgressions; that he would be buried with the rich 738 00:36:18,667 --> 00:36:21,583 in his death; and that he would see the light of life 739 00:36:21,667 --> 00:36:23,083 and his soul would be satisfied; 740 00:36:23,167 --> 00:36:24,792 that he would raise from death. 741 00:36:24,833 --> 00:36:26,792 All of it predicted in the Old Testament. 742 00:36:26,833 --> 00:36:28,500 He says, "You're in the privileged position." 743 00:36:28,542 --> 00:36:30,500 Mars Hill, I would submit this to you: 744 00:36:30,542 --> 00:36:32,250 we're in an exceedingly privileged position. 745 00:36:32,333 --> 00:36:33,750 For hundreds and thousands of years, 746 00:36:33,833 --> 00:36:35,750 they were leaning and straining into the future. 747 00:36:35,833 --> 00:36:38,250 "When is Jesus coming, and what will it be like?" 748 00:36:38,333 --> 00:36:41,250 And then he came, he lived, he died, he rose, he ascended. 749 00:36:41,333 --> 00:36:43,250 We're in a privileged place where we see 750 00:36:43,333 --> 00:36:44,667 the fulfillment of prophecy. 751 00:36:44,708 --> 00:36:46,375 We see the birth of the church. 752 00:36:46,458 --> 00:36:48,583 We see the closing of the canon of Scripture. 753 00:36:48,667 --> 00:36:51,083 And the truth is that the majority of the prophecies 754 00:36:51,167 --> 00:36:53,292 about Jesus were already fulfilled at his first coming, 755 00:36:53,333 --> 00:36:55,292 but we're still anticipating some to be fulfilled 756 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:56,667 his second coming. 757 00:36:56,750 --> 00:36:58,875 We've not yet had the second coming of Jesus. 758 00:36:58,958 --> 00:37:01,167 We've not yet had the resurrection of the dead. 759 00:37:01,208 --> 00:37:04,167 We've not yet had the judgment of the living and the dead. 760 00:37:04,208 --> 00:37:06,833 We've not yet had the sentencing to eternal heaven and hell. 761 00:37:06,917 --> 00:37:08,875 So, the majority of the prophecies were fulfilled 762 00:37:08,958 --> 00:37:10,292 at Jesus' first coming, 763 00:37:10,333 --> 00:37:12,292 but we're in the time between the times, 764 00:37:12,333 --> 00:37:16,833 waiting, learning, yearning for the second coming of Jesus, 765 00:37:16,917 --> 00:37:20,292 and he is the fulfillment of prophesy. 766 00:37:20,333 --> 00:37:23,667 He also says that Jesus is the "Christ." 767 00:37:23,708 --> 00:37:26,167 And this may be strange language for some of us, 768 00:37:26,208 --> 00:37:29,667 but his name is Jesus Christ. 769 00:37:29,708 --> 00:37:31,333 Jesus means "God saves." 770 00:37:31,417 --> 00:37:34,750 Back to my original point: We don't save ourselves. God saves. 771 00:37:34,833 --> 00:37:36,792 Christ is actually a title. 772 00:37:36,833 --> 00:37:38,958 It means, "The Anointed One." 773 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,375 Your Jewish friends will call this "Messiah," 774 00:37:42,458 --> 00:37:46,958 that he is the special one, the unique one, the chosen one. 775 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,875 He is the Christ. He is the Messiah. 776 00:37:49,958 --> 00:37:53,333 And inferred in this is this concept of Savior, 777 00:37:53,417 --> 00:37:57,000 one who is chosen to come and to make a difference 778 00:37:57,042 --> 00:37:58,833 and to save a people 779 00:37:58,917 --> 00:38:03,667 and to cause a kingdom to come into existence. 780 00:38:03,708 --> 00:38:07,042 And here's why this is so important: 781 00:38:07,125 --> 00:38:12,333 you and I have a deep longing for Messiah. 782 00:38:12,417 --> 00:38:16,250 We do--someone who's like us but better, 783 00:38:16,333 --> 00:38:20,292 come to save us and make it all better. 784 00:38:20,333 --> 00:38:23,833 OK, you don't believe me, I'll give you some examples. 785 00:38:23,917 --> 00:38:29,292 So, every election year, it's messiah time, all right? 786 00:38:29,333 --> 00:38:33,042 And here's the narrative--just change the candidates names. 787 00:38:33,125 --> 00:38:35,583 Things are really bad. It kind of feels like hell. 788 00:38:35,667 --> 00:38:38,250 You want to live in heaven? Vote for the messiah. 789 00:38:38,333 --> 00:38:39,833 He'll come and save us. 790 00:38:39,917 --> 00:38:41,458 He's like us but better. 791 00:38:41,500 --> 00:38:44,083 He'll put down our enemies, whoever they are, 792 00:38:44,167 --> 00:38:48,000 and he'll cause us to have a kingdom of peace, 793 00:38:48,042 --> 00:38:50,000 and he's going to take care of us. 794 00:38:50,042 --> 00:38:51,375 Vote for the messiah. 795 00:38:51,458 --> 00:38:53,375 We vote for him, does it work? 796 00:38:53,458 --> 00:38:56,375 No, that's why we keep having elections. 797 00:38:56,458 --> 00:38:59,167 And it's going to be like that until Jesus comes back 798 00:38:59,208 --> 00:39:01,458 and he puts an end to all elections. 799 00:39:01,500 --> 00:39:04,958 We'll just have a King. We don't vote. 800 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:06,458 This happens in business. 801 00:39:06,500 --> 00:39:08,458 Your company's tanking, you know what it is? 802 00:39:08,500 --> 00:39:11,167 "We need a messiah. We need a new CEO. 803 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:12,583 "He's going to save us. 804 00:39:12,667 --> 00:39:14,375 "He's going to fix all our problems. 805 00:39:14,458 --> 00:39:16,375 "He's going to usher in peace and prosperity. 806 00:39:16,458 --> 00:39:18,083 He's going to turn it all around." 807 00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:20,292 It happens in sports teams all the time, 808 00:39:20,333 --> 00:39:23,500 especially the Seattle Mariners. 809 00:39:23,542 --> 00:39:26,167 Happens all the time, right? 810 00:39:26,250 --> 00:39:27,958 Oh, we're dying. 811 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:29,542 Oh my golly, right? 812 00:39:29,625 --> 00:39:32,042 Like, oh, the corpse is stench-filled 813 00:39:32,125 --> 00:39:34,292 and going into the ground. 814 00:39:34,333 --> 00:39:37,500 That's OK, messiah's coming and he'll resurrect the dead. 815 00:39:37,542 --> 00:39:39,583 And it's a veteran! 816 00:39:39,667 --> 00:39:41,500 No, it's a rookie! 817 00:39:41,542 --> 00:39:43,667 It's a first-round draft pick! 818 00:39:43,750 --> 00:39:45,792 He's going to be the messiah. 819 00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:49,292 He's going to do superhuman feats like hit, 820 00:39:49,333 --> 00:39:52,792 and then we're going to resurrect from the dead, 821 00:39:52,833 --> 00:39:55,542 and we're all going to gather around and eat hot dogs 822 00:39:55,625 --> 00:39:57,583 and sing his praises and be the church 823 00:39:57,667 --> 00:39:59,792 we were meant to be with $8 beers. 824 00:39:59,833 --> 00:40:06,167 That's--so we've all got our messiah, the one who's like us, 825 00:40:06,208 --> 00:40:10,333 but better and going to make it all better. 826 00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:12,500 Have you seen the Superman movie? 827 00:40:12,583 --> 00:40:14,917 What is it, "Man of Steel"? 828 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:19,708 Wow, OK, I went there on date night with Grace. 829 00:40:19,792 --> 00:40:25,000 Date night is always with Grace, by the way. 830 00:40:25,042 --> 00:40:28,417 And so I'm on date night with Grace, and I'm like, 831 00:40:28,500 --> 00:40:31,208 "Really, this is the story?" 832 00:40:31,292 --> 00:40:36,083 So, in a heavenly kingdom far away, 833 00:40:36,167 --> 00:40:40,125 a royal father has a one-of-a-kind son that is 834 00:40:40,167 --> 00:40:43,125 the only begotten son, born of basically a miracle, 835 00:40:43,167 --> 00:40:47,125 that he loves with all his heart and sends to the earth 836 00:40:47,167 --> 00:40:51,167 as a messiah to reconcile the heavenly kingdom 837 00:40:51,250 --> 00:40:54,667 and the earthly people by vanquishing evil. 838 00:40:54,750 --> 00:40:57,833 But before that, he needs to be raised by a rural, 839 00:40:57,875 --> 00:41:02,083 peasant couple in poverty, and then he's single, 840 00:41:02,167 --> 00:41:04,167 and he has superhuman powers, 841 00:41:04,250 --> 00:41:06,292 but he doesn't really go public with them 842 00:41:06,333 --> 00:41:09,375 until he's around 30 with a beard. 843 00:41:09,458 --> 00:41:13,750 And then, around 33, 844 00:41:13,833 --> 00:41:18,042 he sacrifices himself to vanquish evil, 845 00:41:18,125 --> 00:41:20,792 to deliver the people, and to reconcile 846 00:41:20,833 --> 00:41:22,833 the heavenly kingdom with the earthly kingdom 847 00:41:22,917 --> 00:41:25,250 so that there might be peace and prosperity. 848 00:41:25,333 --> 00:41:27,375 I was like, "Where have I heard this? 849 00:41:27,458 --> 00:41:29,750 "I know I've heard this somewhere. 850 00:41:29,833 --> 00:41:34,083 "I have heard--this sounds so familiar, this story. 851 00:41:34,167 --> 00:41:37,250 I swear I've heard--" 852 00:41:37,333 --> 00:41:40,667 And then I read that the Superman narrative, 853 00:41:40,750 --> 00:41:44,292 this myth, was created by some Jewish guys 854 00:41:44,333 --> 00:41:47,667 who didn't know Jesus or believe the New Testament, 855 00:41:47,708 --> 00:41:50,875 and their point was, "Well, we read the Old Testament, 856 00:41:50,958 --> 00:41:53,333 "we started thinking about, 'Hypothetically, someday, 857 00:41:53,417 --> 00:41:55,542 "'a messiah comes, what might he be like?' 858 00:41:55,625 --> 00:41:57,667 and we wrote the Superman narrative." 859 00:41:57,750 --> 00:42:00,500 I'm like, "Hey kids, keep reading that same book. 860 00:42:00,583 --> 00:42:02,500 "Keep reading that same book. 861 00:42:02,583 --> 00:42:04,750 "I have--woo, this is going to blow your mind. 862 00:42:04,833 --> 00:42:08,583 "No cape or unitard--thank you Jesus--but similar story, 863 00:42:08,667 --> 00:42:11,167 very similar story, amen?" 864 00:42:11,250 --> 00:42:16,042 Amen. 865 00:42:16,125 --> 00:42:18,083 There's a deep groove in the human soul 866 00:42:18,167 --> 00:42:21,000 that wants a messiah, 867 00:42:21,042 --> 00:42:26,083 so deep that we keep making superhero movies and stories, 868 00:42:26,167 --> 00:42:28,375 where they're like us but better than us 869 00:42:28,458 --> 00:42:31,792 and come to save us and give us a kingdom. 870 00:42:31,833 --> 00:42:36,083 Yeah, it says that he is our--Jesus is our Messiah. 871 00:42:36,167 --> 00:42:38,667 He's our Christ, amen? 872 00:42:38,708 --> 00:42:43,000 And so we don't have myths; we have a Messiah, all right? 873 00:42:43,042 --> 00:42:48,500 We don't have false kingdoms; we have a real kingdom. 874 00:42:48,542 --> 00:42:53,000 It also says that he is the prophet like Moses. 875 00:42:53,042 --> 00:42:55,750 Now, Moses was the first and greatest prophet. 876 00:42:55,833 --> 00:42:58,500 He gave us the first five books of the Old Testament. 877 00:42:58,542 --> 00:43:02,333 If you are a Hebrew boy growing up, collecting trading cards, 878 00:43:02,417 --> 00:43:05,333 a Moses rookie was a big deal, OK? 879 00:43:05,417 --> 00:43:09,333 Moses is a big deal for the Hebrew kids. Moses. 880 00:43:09,417 --> 00:43:11,667 I mean, God gave him the Ten Commandments 881 00:43:11,750 --> 00:43:13,292 twice, right? 882 00:43:13,333 --> 00:43:15,500 We're going to get into that in the fall. 883 00:43:15,542 --> 00:43:16,875 It's pretty crazy. 884 00:43:16,958 --> 00:43:21,667 Moses. And Moses says, 885 00:43:21,708 --> 00:43:25,375 "There is coming a prophet who is greater than me." 886 00:43:25,458 --> 00:43:27,792 Can you imagine that? 887 00:43:27,833 --> 00:43:30,000 Everybody's gathered around, "All right, Moses. 888 00:43:30,042 --> 00:43:32,667 "You're the mouthpiece of God on the earth. 889 00:43:32,750 --> 00:43:34,167 What's he say?" 890 00:43:34,250 --> 00:43:36,167 "Well, he says I'm not a big deal. 891 00:43:36,250 --> 00:43:37,583 Somebody's coming who is." 892 00:43:37,667 --> 00:43:39,000 "What?" 893 00:43:39,042 --> 00:43:41,000 You can imagine the speculation, right? 894 00:43:41,042 --> 00:43:42,375 All the Twitter polls, like, 895 00:43:42,458 --> 00:43:44,042 everybody's trying to figure this out. 896 00:43:44,125 --> 00:43:46,542 "Who's that? Who's bigger than Moses?" 897 00:43:46,625 --> 00:43:50,167 Jesus comes. 898 00:43:50,250 --> 00:43:52,583 After Moses, there's a succession of prophets 899 00:43:52,667 --> 00:43:55,875 all leading up to Jesus who is-- 900 00:43:55,958 --> 00:43:57,875 He's the prophet. 901 00:43:57,958 --> 00:44:02,208 He's God become a man, but he's also a preacher from God to men. 902 00:44:02,292 --> 00:44:05,167 And he's preaching and preaching and preaching-- 903 00:44:05,208 --> 00:44:07,542 and you need to see this: 904 00:44:07,625 --> 00:44:10,000 In our culture, it's popular to see Jesus as humble, 905 00:44:10,042 --> 00:44:13,083 marginalized Galilean peasant in a dress with long hair, 906 00:44:13,167 --> 00:44:15,167 hanging out with children, feeding people, 907 00:44:15,250 --> 00:44:17,292 and petting lambs, OK? 908 00:44:17,333 --> 00:44:19,583 That's kind of--everybody's like, "Oh, I love that Jesus." 909 00:44:19,667 --> 00:44:22,500 How about the preacher Jesus, OK? 910 00:44:22,542 --> 00:44:25,875 Because the preacher Jesus, he said some controversial things 911 00:44:25,958 --> 00:44:28,833 like, "I'm God. You're a sinner. Repent, 912 00:44:28,917 --> 00:44:30,833 or I'll send you to hell." 913 00:44:30,917 --> 00:44:33,583 That's why they killed him. Then he got up and said, 914 00:44:33,667 --> 00:44:38,750 "Back to my first point," right? 915 00:44:41,833 --> 00:44:44,583 Jesus rarely got in trouble for what he did. 916 00:44:44,667 --> 00:44:48,375 He often got in trouble for what he said, OK? 917 00:44:48,458 --> 00:44:51,667 And so Jesus would preach, and some would believe, 918 00:44:51,750 --> 00:44:53,875 and some would disbelieve, and some would repent, 919 00:44:53,958 --> 00:44:58,875 and some would rebel, and some would submit, 920 00:44:58,958 --> 00:45:04,458 and others refused. 921 00:45:04,500 --> 00:45:08,000 And there was a conflict between Jesus and those 922 00:45:08,042 --> 00:45:13,667 who were unwilling to listen. And so it is in our day. 923 00:45:13,750 --> 00:45:16,667 But friends, I need you not to just look at the example 924 00:45:16,750 --> 00:45:19,667 of Jesus, I need you to listen to the words of Jesus 925 00:45:19,750 --> 00:45:22,375 and let him be a prophet who tells you the truth, 926 00:45:22,458 --> 00:45:23,875 because that's what a prophet does. 927 00:45:23,958 --> 00:45:25,375 A prophet tells you the truth. 928 00:45:25,458 --> 00:45:28,583 But hear me in this: a prophet tells you the truth because they 929 00:45:28,667 --> 00:45:31,583 love you and they know that living a life guided by lies 930 00:45:31,667 --> 00:45:33,000 is no life at all. 931 00:45:33,042 --> 00:45:36,250 So, just because they're yelling doesn't mean they're angry. 932 00:45:36,333 --> 00:45:39,833 Just like a father yells at a child, "Move!" right, 933 00:45:39,917 --> 00:45:43,375 when the car is barreling down the street in their path, 934 00:45:43,458 --> 00:45:45,083 it's not that the father is angry, 935 00:45:45,167 --> 00:45:47,583 it's that the father is worried. 936 00:45:47,667 --> 00:45:51,292 And the cadence and the pitch and the tone of his voice 937 00:45:51,333 --> 00:45:54,167 is not one where he's trying to scare the child, 938 00:45:54,208 --> 00:45:56,375 it's one where he's trying to move the child 939 00:45:56,458 --> 00:45:57,875 out of harm's way. 940 00:45:57,958 --> 00:46:00,167 And that's what the prophets do, and that's what 941 00:46:00,208 --> 00:46:02,958 Jesus the Prophet did. 942 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:08,083 He goes on, eighth point, to say that Jesus is the offspring 943 00:46:08,167 --> 00:46:12,250 of Abraham-- the offspring of Abraham. 944 00:46:12,333 --> 00:46:15,792 And here, Peter goes all the way back to Genesis, 945 00:46:15,833 --> 00:46:17,375 first book of the Bible. 946 00:46:17,458 --> 00:46:20,500 You don't get too far in, and then you hit this guy 947 00:46:20,542 --> 00:46:22,792 named Abram, so he's going back to that story. 948 00:46:22,833 --> 00:46:24,375 Here's a summary of the story: 949 00:46:24,458 --> 00:46:26,875 There's an old man named Abram. His wife's named Sarai. 950 00:46:26,958 --> 00:46:29,750 Their names are going to be changed to Abraham and Sarah. 951 00:46:29,833 --> 00:46:32,042 As far as we can tell, and I think, 952 00:46:32,125 --> 00:46:34,167 based upon a little further in Acts, 953 00:46:34,250 --> 00:46:36,875 I think Abraham was from a nation called Babylon. 954 00:46:36,958 --> 00:46:38,542 You heard of that one? 955 00:46:38,625 --> 00:46:40,375 Thumbs up, thumbs down--godly, ungodly? 956 00:46:40,458 --> 00:46:42,000 Ungodly, right? 957 00:46:42,042 --> 00:46:43,667 Babylon. 958 00:46:43,708 --> 00:46:46,167 Anytime the Rolling Stones name an album after a place, 959 00:46:46,250 --> 00:46:48,333 thumbs-down ungodly, OK? 960 00:46:48,417 --> 00:46:49,833 Babylon. 961 00:46:49,917 --> 00:46:52,042 So, he's from Babylon, and they created something called 962 00:46:52,125 --> 00:46:54,042 the Tower of Babylon in rebellion against God, 963 00:46:54,125 --> 00:46:55,458 and God judged them. 964 00:46:55,500 --> 00:46:58,458 And then the Bible says that God picked one of these rebellious, 965 00:46:58,500 --> 00:47:00,833 undeserving, pagan people like me, 966 00:47:00,875 --> 00:47:04,750 and showed up to him and said, 967 00:47:04,833 --> 00:47:07,500 "Abram, here's what we're going to do: 968 00:47:07,542 --> 00:47:09,375 "I'm going to give you a son. 969 00:47:09,458 --> 00:47:11,167 "Through that son will come a nation. 970 00:47:11,250 --> 00:47:14,667 "Through that nation will come offspring, or seed, 971 00:47:14,750 --> 00:47:18,167 who is a blessing to the nations of the earth." 972 00:47:18,250 --> 00:47:21,875 Abraham didn't seek God; God sought Abraham. 973 00:47:21,958 --> 00:47:26,000 Abraham didn't call out to God; first God called out to Abraham. 974 00:47:26,042 --> 00:47:28,875 Abraham didn't deserve what he was going to receive; 975 00:47:28,958 --> 00:47:31,375 it was a gift of God's grace. 976 00:47:31,458 --> 00:47:37,792 This a great portrait of sovereign election. 977 00:47:37,833 --> 00:47:41,875 God then allows them to have a child, all right? 978 00:47:41,958 --> 00:47:44,167 He's already mentioned this earlier--Abraham, Isaac, 979 00:47:44,208 --> 00:47:47,167 and Jacob, talking about generations. 980 00:47:47,250 --> 00:47:50,833 Through that son comes the nation of Israel. 981 00:47:50,917 --> 00:47:54,542 Through that nation of Israel comes a very important Son, 982 00:47:54,625 --> 00:47:59,083 the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and he is the blessing 983 00:47:59,167 --> 00:48:00,750 to the nations of the earth. 984 00:48:00,833 --> 00:48:02,625 So the promise given to Abram was, 985 00:48:02,667 --> 00:48:04,000 "You're from a pagan nation. 986 00:48:04,083 --> 00:48:06,667 "I'm going to make you into a nation of my people, 987 00:48:06,708 --> 00:48:08,667 "and from the nation of my people 988 00:48:08,750 --> 00:48:11,000 "will come one person to bless all the nations, 989 00:48:11,042 --> 00:48:13,333 "all the races, all the tribes, all the tongues, 990 00:48:13,417 --> 00:48:14,833 all the languages." 991 00:48:14,917 --> 00:48:17,583 And this is super important for you and I to realize, 992 00:48:17,667 --> 00:48:20,292 because in that day, they tended to have national gods. 993 00:48:20,333 --> 00:48:22,792 So, there's these people and these people. 994 00:48:22,833 --> 00:48:25,667 And these people have their god, and these people have their god. 995 00:48:25,750 --> 00:48:28,583 And they pray to their god for power to crush these people 996 00:48:28,667 --> 00:48:31,292 while these people pray to their god for power 997 00:48:31,333 --> 00:48:32,792 to crush these people. 998 00:48:32,833 --> 00:48:36,000 And the real God shows up and says, "You all need to repent. 999 00:48:36,042 --> 00:48:38,292 "I'm the Lord and King over all the nations. 1000 00:48:38,333 --> 00:48:40,792 "I'm the King of kings, I'm the Lord of lords, 1001 00:48:40,833 --> 00:48:42,792 "and you don't get to war with me. 1002 00:48:42,833 --> 00:48:44,875 "You don't get to war with one another. 1003 00:48:44,958 --> 00:48:47,667 "We're going to make this new group called the church. 1004 00:48:47,708 --> 00:48:50,042 "You're going to love one another like family 1005 00:48:50,125 --> 00:48:52,167 "and it's going to be people from every language, 1006 00:48:52,250 --> 00:48:54,500 "and tribe and tongue and nation and class 1007 00:48:54,542 --> 00:48:57,375 "and race and gender and socioeconomic background 1008 00:48:57,458 --> 00:49:01,250 "and style of people because a promise was made that 1009 00:49:01,333 --> 00:49:05,042 one person would be the blessing for all the people." 1010 00:49:05,125 --> 00:49:06,708 Good news, right? 1011 00:49:06,792 --> 00:49:10,083 That's what he's saying and that's our Jesus, 1012 00:49:10,167 --> 00:49:12,792 that he's the offspring of Abraham and he's the blessing 1013 00:49:12,833 --> 00:49:14,833 to the nations. 1014 00:49:14,917 --> 00:49:18,375 That being said, I want to have a few words for you who are 1015 00:49:18,458 --> 00:49:21,792 Christian and a few words for those of you who are not. 1016 00:49:21,833 --> 00:49:25,167 Christians, number one, here's what we see 1017 00:49:25,250 --> 00:49:26,792 in the example of Peter. 1018 00:49:26,833 --> 00:49:31,167 Number one, our faith is to be public, 1019 00:49:31,208 --> 00:49:34,083 not just private. 1020 00:49:34,167 --> 00:49:37,583 Peter's faith at this moment, is it public or private? 1021 00:49:37,667 --> 00:49:40,292 Very public. 1022 00:49:40,333 --> 00:49:45,458 He stands up to a large group of people and says, 1023 00:49:45,500 --> 00:49:47,000 "You killed Jesus. 1024 00:49:47,042 --> 00:49:49,167 What are you going to do with that?" 1025 00:49:49,208 --> 00:49:51,792 That's very public. 1026 00:49:51,833 --> 00:49:55,000 We live in a day when everyone is OK with your 1027 00:49:55,042 --> 00:50:01,042 Christian faith providing it is private, not public, OK? 1028 00:50:02,250 --> 00:50:06,292 How many of you--social media, you're not really putting 1029 00:50:06,333 --> 00:50:08,167 Jesus out there? 1030 00:50:08,250 --> 00:50:11,333 Maybe you are a Christian or you're just attending a church, 1031 00:50:11,375 --> 00:50:13,833 Community Group, whatever the case may be-- 1032 00:50:13,875 --> 00:50:16,000 you've not really told your family because you know 1033 00:50:16,083 --> 00:50:18,500 the backlash. 1034 00:50:18,583 --> 00:50:21,833 You're at work and, yet again, Christianity is the piñata 1035 00:50:21,875 --> 00:50:24,833 getting the proverbial whack yet again on some moral 1036 00:50:24,875 --> 00:50:27,333 or social issue. 1037 00:50:27,375 --> 00:50:31,875 "I would say something, but no thanks." 1038 00:50:31,958 --> 00:50:33,292 You're a student. 1039 00:50:33,333 --> 00:50:34,792 You're in class at the university, 1040 00:50:34,833 --> 00:50:36,167 and all of a sudden 1041 00:50:36,250 --> 00:50:37,583 they're talking about Christianity again. 1042 00:50:37,667 --> 00:50:40,000 Oh, oh, oh, and it's not positive. 1043 00:50:40,083 --> 00:50:44,667 Who saw that coming, right? 1044 00:50:44,750 --> 00:50:47,625 This is where you raise your hand and you say, 1045 00:50:47,667 --> 00:50:51,125 "Hey, since we're talking about Jesus, as a Christian, 1046 00:50:51,167 --> 00:50:55,500 "I'd like to talk about Jesus since you brought it up. 1047 00:50:55,542 --> 00:50:57,875 "Since we all believe in tolerance and diversity, 1048 00:50:57,958 --> 00:51:00,458 "I thought I'd give you an opportunity to exercise 1049 00:51:00,500 --> 00:51:02,458 "that great kindness. 1050 00:51:02,500 --> 00:51:06,083 You're welcome. You're welcome." 1051 00:51:06,167 --> 00:51:09,167 And see, some of us, we don't go public with our faith 1052 00:51:09,250 --> 00:51:13,292 because we don't want to be persecuted for our faith. 1053 00:51:13,333 --> 00:51:16,583 What did they do to Peter? 1054 00:51:16,667 --> 00:51:19,083 Crucified him upside down. 1055 00:51:19,167 --> 00:51:20,500 Who did he worship? 1056 00:51:20,542 --> 00:51:22,083 A crucified Jesus. 1057 00:51:22,167 --> 00:51:23,833 How's it going to go for you? 1058 00:51:23,917 --> 00:51:25,833 Probably really bad. 1059 00:51:25,917 --> 00:51:27,667 This is not a sales pitch, right? 1060 00:51:27,750 --> 00:51:30,792 There is no door-to-door salesman that does it this way. 1061 00:51:30,833 --> 00:51:34,333 "Take this product and you will explode," right? 1062 00:51:37,458 --> 00:51:40,583 But here's the big idea: 1063 00:51:40,667 --> 00:51:43,792 somebody went public for you, right? 1064 00:51:43,833 --> 00:51:46,292 You didn't know Jesus, and somebody who did know Jesus 1065 00:51:46,333 --> 00:51:48,667 took the risk of telling you that they knew Jesus 1066 00:51:48,750 --> 00:51:50,667 and talked to you about Jesus. 1067 00:51:50,750 --> 00:51:52,667 And so somebody went public for you, 1068 00:51:52,750 --> 00:51:54,667 you go public for someone else. 1069 00:51:54,750 --> 00:51:57,167 Because the goal is not to escape this life without 1070 00:51:57,250 --> 00:52:00,708 persecution, the goal is to escape this life with converts, 1071 00:52:00,792 --> 00:52:02,833 to take as many people with us 1072 00:52:02,917 --> 00:52:05,542 who love Jesus as we possibly can. 1073 00:52:05,625 --> 00:52:07,875 So you can't just have a private faith. 1074 00:52:07,958 --> 00:52:09,750 It has to be a public faith. 1075 00:52:09,833 --> 00:52:11,958 And you don't need to be rude about it, 1076 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:13,958 but you need to be honest about it. 1077 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,667 Number two, be prepared. 1078 00:52:16,750 --> 00:52:19,167 You never know when you're going to have an opportunity 1079 00:52:19,250 --> 00:52:20,875 to talk to people about Jesus, OK? 1080 00:52:20,958 --> 00:52:24,167 How many of you, if your teacher/professor in school, 1081 00:52:24,208 --> 00:52:28,167 if they didn't have tests, you wouldn't have studied? 1082 00:52:28,250 --> 00:52:30,875 If your teacher got up first day, "We don't do tests," 1083 00:52:30,958 --> 00:52:33,583 you'd be like, "Then I don't do study. Deal." 1084 00:52:33,667 --> 00:52:36,083 The reason teachers give us tests is they know 1085 00:52:36,167 --> 00:52:38,167 we won't study unless we have a test. 1086 00:52:38,250 --> 00:52:40,458 How many of you hated pop quizzes? 1087 00:52:40,500 --> 00:52:44,292 See, a pop quiz is a test you didn't get to know was coming. 1088 00:52:44,333 --> 00:52:49,292 Christian life is a series of pop quizzes. 1089 00:52:49,333 --> 00:52:51,750 You don't know when you're going to have an opportunity 1090 00:52:51,833 --> 00:52:53,958 to pray for somebody, to answer somebody's question, 1091 00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,000 to talk to somebody about Jesus. 1092 00:52:56,042 --> 00:52:57,500 You don't know, right? 1093 00:52:57,542 --> 00:52:59,667 Do you think Peter was prepared for this day? 1094 00:52:59,750 --> 00:53:01,958 You think it was, you know, on his calendar, 1095 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,833 "Today, the man lame from birth will be healed, 1096 00:53:04,917 --> 00:53:07,583 "a large crowd will gather, and I will preach. 1097 00:53:07,667 --> 00:53:10,292 "Check, time to pull out my commentaries 1098 00:53:10,333 --> 00:53:12,083 and get my sermon ready." 1099 00:53:12,167 --> 00:53:13,583 Do you think he was prepped? 1100 00:53:13,667 --> 00:53:16,583 No. The Bible says he was just going to prayer, 1101 00:53:16,667 --> 00:53:22,667 a guy lame from birth, "I don't have silver or gold--shazam!-- 1102 00:53:22,750 --> 00:53:24,375 "how about a healing? 1103 00:53:24,458 --> 00:53:26,375 OK, great." 1104 00:53:26,458 --> 00:53:28,792 This is what happens. 1105 00:53:28,833 --> 00:53:32,542 Now, what I can tell you is, as far as I can tell, 1106 00:53:32,625 --> 00:53:34,667 this is probably an extemporaneous sermon 1107 00:53:34,750 --> 00:53:37,375 from Peter, and it may only be a summarized transcript, 1108 00:53:37,458 --> 00:53:40,375 not the full sermon, but he packs quite a bit in, amen? 1109 00:53:40,458 --> 00:53:42,167 I mean, for just like, "Well, hey, 1110 00:53:42,208 --> 00:53:44,667 "let me just talk about some stuff I'm thinking about 1111 00:53:44,708 --> 00:53:46,292 as I've been studying the Bible." 1112 00:53:46,333 --> 00:53:47,667 He really is studied up. 1113 00:53:47,750 --> 00:53:51,375 Here's the big idea: Study, study, study. Pray, pray, pray. 1114 00:53:51,458 --> 00:53:53,375 You never know when the opportunity will arise, 1115 00:53:53,458 --> 00:53:56,167 but you want to be ready to serve. 1116 00:53:56,250 --> 00:53:58,292 And see, there are opportunities all the time. 1117 00:53:58,333 --> 00:54:00,042 Maybe you're at work and somebody says, 1118 00:54:00,125 --> 00:54:01,458 "I got diagnosed with cancer." 1119 00:54:01,500 --> 00:54:02,833 "Can I pray for you? 1120 00:54:02,917 --> 00:54:04,333 "Where are you at with God? 1121 00:54:04,417 --> 00:54:05,750 "How can I serve you? 1122 00:54:05,833 --> 00:54:08,292 Do you know that we worship a God who suffered?" 1123 00:54:08,333 --> 00:54:10,292 Like, walk through that door of open opportunity. 1124 00:54:10,333 --> 00:54:13,292 But oftentimes, the door opens and we don't walk through it 1125 00:54:13,333 --> 00:54:15,792 because we haven't been studying, so we're not ready. 1126 00:54:15,833 --> 00:54:17,792 We're like, "Well, if they ask a question, 1127 00:54:17,833 --> 00:54:19,500 "I don't think I can answer it. 1128 00:54:19,542 --> 00:54:20,875 "I've not really prepared myself. 1129 00:54:20,958 --> 00:54:23,292 I'm not sure what to say or do." 1130 00:54:23,333 --> 00:54:25,292 Friends, I would just encourage you, 1131 00:54:25,333 --> 00:54:30,583 ministry opportunity is always there, prepared people aren't. 1132 00:54:30,667 --> 00:54:33,083 That's when Jesus says that "The harvest is plenty, 1133 00:54:33,167 --> 00:54:36,375 but the laborers are few." 1134 00:54:36,458 --> 00:54:39,375 There's lots of people who need help, 1135 00:54:39,458 --> 00:54:42,792 and there's few Christians who are ready. 1136 00:54:42,833 --> 00:54:45,292 Peter's ready, and he's a good example for us. 1137 00:54:45,333 --> 00:54:48,667 Thirdly, the Holy Spirit will empower you to speak 1138 00:54:48,750 --> 00:54:52,500 courageously about Jesus. 1139 00:54:52,542 --> 00:54:54,542 Hey, would you agree with me? 1140 00:54:54,625 --> 00:54:57,000 Peter, at this point, he's acting in a way 1141 00:54:57,042 --> 00:54:59,167 that is very courageous, right? 1142 00:54:59,250 --> 00:55:03,458 He's preaching publicly about Jesus at the temple to people 1143 00:55:03,500 --> 00:55:06,542 who don't agree with him, and some of them were there 1144 00:55:06,625 --> 00:55:09,083 shouting, "Crucify him, crucify him," 1145 00:55:09,167 --> 00:55:11,875 complicit in the crucifixion of Jesus. 1146 00:55:11,958 --> 00:55:14,167 Yes or no, courageous? 1147 00:55:14,250 --> 00:55:15,667 Yes. 1148 00:55:15,750 --> 00:55:17,333 Was Peter always courageous? 1149 00:55:17,417 --> 00:55:20,333 Was he a guy, if you look at his life, you're like, 1150 00:55:20,417 --> 00:55:21,750 "Oh, of course Peter's courageous. 1151 00:55:21,833 --> 00:55:23,958 "Look at him. His cape flies in the wind. 1152 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,375 "He's always ready for battle. He's Peter the Courageous. 1153 00:55:26,458 --> 00:55:28,167 He's Peter the Lionhearted." 1154 00:55:28,250 --> 00:55:29,667 No. 1155 00:55:29,750 --> 00:55:32,458 For those of you that know the story of the Bible, 1156 00:55:32,500 --> 00:55:33,833 he did not start courageous. 1157 00:55:33,917 --> 00:55:35,583 He started as a coward, all right? 1158 00:55:35,667 --> 00:55:37,583 They arrested Jesus, and they're trying him, 1159 00:55:37,667 --> 00:55:39,833 and they're going to crucify him. 1160 00:55:39,917 --> 00:55:44,083 Peter's following him, right, and the Bible says from 1161 00:55:44,167 --> 00:55:48,792 a long ways away, right? 1162 00:55:48,833 --> 00:55:51,542 Here's Peter. Jesus is way down there. 1163 00:55:51,625 --> 00:55:54,250 Why is Peter this far away from Jesus 1164 00:55:54,333 --> 00:55:56,333 when he's going to be crucified? 1165 00:55:56,417 --> 00:55:59,167 Peter's not signing up for suffering. 1166 00:55:59,208 --> 00:56:02,958 The Bible says he's warming himself by a fire 1167 00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:07,583 at a distance, trying to remain anonymous, 1168 00:56:07,667 --> 00:56:10,750 keep his faith private, not go public. 1169 00:56:10,833 --> 00:56:14,958 They start chatting. There's probably a teenage servant girl 1170 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,833 there, "Oh, that's a weird accent. 1171 00:56:17,917 --> 00:56:19,833 "Where are you from? From the South? 1172 00:56:19,917 --> 00:56:21,292 What's up with the y'alls?" 1173 00:56:21,333 --> 00:56:23,083 You know, she sees his Galilean accent. 1174 00:56:23,167 --> 00:56:26,083 He's rural, right? 1175 00:56:26,167 --> 00:56:29,375 "Oh, isn't that where Jesus is from--Galilee? 1176 00:56:29,458 --> 00:56:31,833 "You know what? In fact, I saw you with him. 1177 00:56:31,917 --> 00:56:33,250 You're one of Jesus' guys." 1178 00:56:33,333 --> 00:56:34,667 What's Peter say? 1179 00:56:34,708 --> 00:56:36,375 Three times denies, "I don't know Jesus. 1180 00:56:36,458 --> 00:56:37,833 Never met him," starts cursing, 1181 00:56:37,917 --> 00:56:39,583 "Don't know who you're talking about," 1182 00:56:39,667 --> 00:56:41,458 because he's a coward. 1183 00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:43,000 Here, Peter's courageous. 1184 00:56:43,042 --> 00:56:44,792 What happened? 1185 00:56:44,833 --> 00:56:49,292 Well, the Holy Spirit filled him, gave him courage. 1186 00:56:49,333 --> 00:56:52,667 Mars Hill, I believe even in the increasingly hostile culture 1187 00:56:52,750 --> 00:56:56,083 in which we live, it's more like the days of Peter, 1188 00:56:56,167 --> 00:56:58,375 the Holy Spirit's going to need to empower us 1189 00:56:58,458 --> 00:57:00,542 to talk about Jesus. 1190 00:57:00,625 --> 00:57:02,500 And some of you say, "That's right, 1191 00:57:02,583 --> 00:57:05,500 and as soon as I feel that courage, I will speak." 1192 00:57:05,583 --> 00:57:09,375 Here's the truth: speak and then the courage comes. 1193 00:57:09,458 --> 00:57:14,083 The courage comes as you speak, not before, right? 1194 00:57:14,167 --> 00:57:16,042 It's by faith. 1195 00:57:16,125 --> 00:57:18,000 "OK, I'm going to talk about Jesus now. 1196 00:57:18,042 --> 00:57:20,458 "I'm not sure I'm going to get it all right. 1197 00:57:20,500 --> 00:57:23,458 "I'm not sure I'm going to have the courage to finish it. 1198 00:57:23,500 --> 00:57:25,167 "I don't know what's going to happen, 1199 00:57:25,250 --> 00:57:28,167 "but I'm going to open my mouth like the prophets used to 1200 00:57:28,250 --> 00:57:30,167 "and the children of God still do, 1201 00:57:30,250 --> 00:57:32,000 "and I'm going to talk about Jesus, 1202 00:57:32,042 --> 00:57:34,167 "and I'm going to trust that the Holy Spirit 1203 00:57:34,250 --> 00:57:36,167 "will empower me to say the right words 1204 00:57:36,250 --> 00:57:38,375 "and to have the courage to endure whatever happens 1205 00:57:38,458 --> 00:57:41,042 as a result of talking about Jesus," amen? 1206 00:57:41,125 --> 00:57:42,792 That's exactly what he demonstrates for us. 1207 00:57:42,833 --> 00:57:44,500 And that's what I want for you. 1208 00:57:44,542 --> 00:57:46,500 Now, for those of you who are non-Christians, 1209 00:57:46,542 --> 00:57:48,458 here's his word to you: 1210 00:57:48,500 --> 00:57:51,542 Acts 3:19, "Repent therefore, and turn back, 1211 00:57:51,625 --> 00:57:54,167 "that your sins may be blotted out, 1212 00:57:54,208 --> 00:57:56,167 "that the times of refreshing may come 1213 00:57:56,250 --> 00:57:57,833 from the presence of the Lord." 1214 00:57:57,917 --> 00:57:59,833 And when he's talking about sins here, 1215 00:57:59,917 --> 00:58:02,917 what can happen is some of us have a whole list of, 1216 00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:05,125 oh yeah, here's all the bad things you do. 1217 00:58:05,167 --> 00:58:06,667 He's talking to religious people. 1218 00:58:06,708 --> 00:58:09,000 It's important to note, OK? 1219 00:58:09,042 --> 00:58:10,667 These are people who believe in God. 1220 00:58:10,750 --> 00:58:12,167 These are people who are moral. 1221 00:58:12,250 --> 00:58:13,750 These are people who are well-behaved. 1222 00:58:13,833 --> 00:58:15,375 These are people who are generous. 1223 00:58:15,458 --> 00:58:18,375 Like, these are people that if, you know, 1224 00:58:18,458 --> 00:58:21,083 if they're in the Scouts, they got a lot of patches 1225 00:58:21,167 --> 00:58:22,792 down their sleeves. 1226 00:58:22,833 --> 00:58:25,042 Like, they obey the rules. 1227 00:58:25,125 --> 00:58:28,750 These are people who play by the rules. 1228 00:58:28,833 --> 00:58:32,292 But what he says to them is, "You delivered Jesus, 1229 00:58:32,333 --> 00:58:36,167 you denied Jesus, you killed Jesus." 1230 00:58:36,208 --> 00:58:37,583 So when we think of sin, 1231 00:58:37,667 --> 00:58:39,667 we can't just think of those bad people. 1232 00:58:39,750 --> 00:58:43,667 Sometimes the bad people are the most religious people, OK? 1233 00:58:43,750 --> 00:58:46,792 But what he's saying is this, that if we repent, 1234 00:58:46,833 --> 00:58:48,500 God forgives our sin. 1235 00:58:48,542 --> 00:58:50,750 And the picture here-- the word picture's important. 1236 00:58:50,833 --> 00:58:52,667 In our day, we have, you know, paper. 1237 00:58:52,750 --> 00:58:54,667 We use the paper, we throw it away. 1238 00:58:54,750 --> 00:58:56,792 In their day, they would have parchment 1239 00:58:56,833 --> 00:59:01,750 or sometimes animal skins, and it's very valuable. 1240 00:59:01,833 --> 00:59:06,208 And so they would write with an acid-free ink, and later on, 1241 00:59:06,292 --> 00:59:08,083 if you wanted to clean it, 1242 00:59:08,167 --> 00:59:10,500 you could reuse the proverbial paper. 1243 00:59:10,542 --> 00:59:12,458 You could reuse it. 1244 00:59:12,500 --> 00:59:15,500 And what he's saying is, "This is how God works with us 1245 00:59:15,542 --> 00:59:18,167 through Jesus' cross, dealing with our sin." 1246 00:59:18,250 --> 00:59:21,167 Think of your sin as like a whole list, "You did this, 1247 00:59:21,250 --> 00:59:22,583 "you failed to that. 1248 00:59:22,667 --> 00:59:24,583 "Here's all your failures, faults, and flaws. 1249 00:59:24,667 --> 00:59:26,667 Here's all your shortcomings and sins." 1250 00:59:26,750 --> 00:59:29,750 Long list. And Jesus' death, burial, 1251 00:59:29,833 --> 00:59:32,375 and resurrection is like God putting it under water, 1252 00:59:32,458 --> 00:59:34,542 scrubbing it clean, pulling it out, and saying, 1253 00:59:34,625 --> 00:59:38,250 "See, it's all gone. It's clean." 1254 00:59:38,333 --> 00:59:40,583 Every time you do the laundry, just remind yourself 1255 00:59:40,667 --> 00:59:43,583 Jesus does that too, all right? 1256 00:59:43,667 --> 00:59:45,000 He makes us clean. 1257 00:59:45,042 --> 00:59:49,792 We're forgiven, but we need to repent. 1258 00:59:49,833 --> 00:59:55,083 Let me camp on this in my closing few moments. 1259 00:59:55,167 --> 00:59:57,667 Christians and non-Christians, particularly in our current 1260 00:59:57,750 --> 00:59:59,792 sort of moral, spiritual, cultural climate, 1261 00:59:59,833 --> 01:00:02,500 there's a list of issues that we disagree on, 1262 01:00:02,542 --> 01:00:06,083 and there's a bit of a war over the things that we disagree on. 1263 01:00:06,167 --> 01:00:10,667 It's actually deeper than that. 1264 01:00:10,750 --> 01:00:16,208 Because a non-Christian begins with this assumption, 1265 01:00:16,292 --> 01:00:19,708 "I'm basically a good person. 1266 01:00:19,792 --> 01:00:23,333 "I don't need to change who I am. 1267 01:00:23,375 --> 01:00:26,875 "Maybe I need to improve a little of who I am, 1268 01:00:26,958 --> 01:00:30,333 "but I'm basically a good person. 1269 01:00:30,375 --> 01:00:35,500 "And what I desire, 1270 01:00:35,583 --> 01:00:38,417 "those are good things. 1271 01:00:38,500 --> 01:00:43,417 "So, my morality, those are good things. 1272 01:00:43,500 --> 01:00:47,292 "My sexuality, those are good things. 1273 01:00:47,333 --> 01:00:52,125 "My spirituality, that's a good thing because I'm a good person, 1274 01:00:52,167 --> 01:00:56,417 "and out of me will come good desires and good actions 1275 01:00:56,500 --> 01:00:59,833 "and good thoughts. 1276 01:00:59,875 --> 01:01:06,000 "And I need to be loved, and I need to be accepted, 1277 01:01:06,042 --> 01:01:12,333 "and I need to be approved so that I can be the good person 1278 01:01:12,417 --> 01:01:15,875 "that I truly, deeply am. 1279 01:01:15,958 --> 01:01:20,667 "And if you would tell me that I'm wrong, that's very hateful. 1280 01:01:20,750 --> 01:01:23,167 "If you would tell me that I need to change, 1281 01:01:23,208 --> 01:01:25,375 "that's very intolerant. 1282 01:01:25,458 --> 01:01:28,250 "And if you would say that some of what I feel 1283 01:01:28,333 --> 01:01:31,333 "or some of what I like or some of what I believe 1284 01:01:31,417 --> 01:01:34,792 "or some of how I behave is unacceptable, 1285 01:01:34,833 --> 01:01:40,250 that's very unloving." 1286 01:01:40,333 --> 01:01:44,875 Christians believe that the highest authority 1287 01:01:44,958 --> 01:01:51,875 is God and not us, and it's the timeless Scriptures, 1288 01:01:51,958 --> 01:01:56,083 not the timely preferences. 1289 01:01:56,167 --> 01:02:02,917 We believe that who we are needs to change at the deepest level 1290 01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:08,292 because what is natural is actually sinful, 1291 01:02:08,333 --> 01:02:13,000 because we believe that sin has infected and affected everyone 1292 01:02:13,042 --> 01:02:18,375 and everything, which means our nature is wrong 1293 01:02:18,458 --> 01:02:20,375 and needs to change. 1294 01:02:20,458 --> 01:02:23,333 It means that our mind is wrong, and it needs to change. 1295 01:02:23,417 --> 01:02:26,333 It means that our desires are wrong and they need to change. 1296 01:02:26,417 --> 01:02:29,333 It means that our actions are wrong and they need to change. 1297 01:02:29,417 --> 01:02:32,333 It means that our mind is wrong and it needs to change. 1298 01:02:32,417 --> 01:02:35,750 That not only what we think and what we feel and how we are 1299 01:02:35,833 --> 01:02:39,667 and what we do, but who we are needs to change. 1300 01:02:39,750 --> 01:02:44,333 And the Bible summarizes that in the word "repentance." 1301 01:02:44,417 --> 01:02:46,750 Repentance. 1302 01:02:46,833 --> 01:02:50,167 And it's very loving. 1303 01:02:50,250 --> 01:02:53,833 In fact, it's the most loving thing. 1304 01:02:53,917 --> 01:02:57,375 The God who made us--we rebelled against him and chose death. 1305 01:02:57,458 --> 01:03:00,625 God then came for us and we killed him. 1306 01:03:00,667 --> 01:03:03,333 God rose from death and said, "I will forgive you 1307 01:03:03,417 --> 01:03:06,250 and embrace you and change you." 1308 01:03:06,333 --> 01:03:10,833 Well, that's incredibly loving because otherwise, 1309 01:03:10,917 --> 01:03:13,292 we're living in the path of the wrath of God. 1310 01:03:13,333 --> 01:03:15,250 We're living separated from God 1311 01:03:15,333 --> 01:03:18,875 and destined for judgment from God. 1312 01:03:18,958 --> 01:03:22,667 And someone who feels very at home living on the train tracks 1313 01:03:22,750 --> 01:03:26,167 with no sense of impending destruction might find it 1314 01:03:26,250 --> 01:03:30,083 very loving that someone yells at them or shoves them, 1315 01:03:30,167 --> 01:03:32,583 but as the train barrels by, they must realize, 1316 01:03:32,667 --> 01:03:35,750 "That was a very loving thing to do because you got me 1317 01:03:35,833 --> 01:03:37,667 "out of the path of death 1318 01:03:37,708 --> 01:03:40,667 "and destruction and devastatio, and danger, 1319 01:03:40,708 --> 01:03:43,292 and that was an act of love." 1320 01:03:43,333 --> 01:03:45,750 And that's what the call to repentance is: 1321 01:03:45,833 --> 01:03:49,833 it's an invitation to get out of the path of the wrath of God 1322 01:03:49,917 --> 01:03:52,042 and to be embraced by the love of Jesus. 1323 01:03:52,125 --> 01:03:54,250 And here's the truth about the love of Jesus: 1324 01:03:54,333 --> 01:03:57,083 Jesus' love takes you as you are 1325 01:03:57,167 --> 01:04:02,167 but refuses to allow you to remain that way. 1326 01:04:02,208 --> 01:04:05,417 So, you come to Jesus as you are, 1327 01:04:05,500 --> 01:04:07,833 but coming to Jesus means you are acknowledging 1328 01:04:07,917 --> 01:04:11,458 that you need to change, and that's repentance. 1329 01:04:11,500 --> 01:04:13,292 That's what repentance is. 1330 01:04:13,333 --> 01:04:15,542 That's what repentance does. 1331 01:04:15,625 --> 01:04:20,000 And then he gives us this great promise for those who repent. 1332 01:04:20,042 --> 01:04:22,333 Have you repented and trusted in Jesus? 1333 01:04:22,417 --> 01:04:24,875 For those who repent, God sends what? 1334 01:04:24,958 --> 01:04:28,458 Refreshing. 1335 01:04:28,500 --> 01:04:33,167 God wants you to be refreshed, OK? 1336 01:04:33,250 --> 01:04:35,833 For those of you who are dark Christians--and dark Christians 1337 01:04:35,917 --> 01:04:39,292 are those who, they love their sin, they love their rebellion, 1338 01:04:39,333 --> 01:04:41,667 they love their folly, they love their pain, 1339 01:04:41,750 --> 01:04:44,958 they love their suffering, they always talk about it, 1340 01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:48,875 they always think about it, they always are soberly reminiscent 1341 01:04:48,958 --> 01:04:51,583 of it, they can't get over it. 1342 01:04:51,667 --> 01:04:56,083 It's as if, "If I just suffer more, then I'm more godly." 1343 01:04:56,167 --> 01:05:01,333 No, Jesus already suffered, and he's not looking for any help. 1344 01:05:03,083 --> 01:05:06,750 We repent and God brings refreshing. 1345 01:05:06,833 --> 01:05:09,667 If you had a hot day where you found some cool shade 1346 01:05:09,750 --> 01:05:13,875 and a nice breeze, the Holy Spirit's like that. 1347 01:05:13,958 --> 01:05:17,167 You've been parched and thirsty and dry in your mouth, 1348 01:05:17,250 --> 01:05:19,875 and somebody gives you a cold drink-- 1349 01:05:19,958 --> 01:05:22,792 the Holy Spirit is like that. 1350 01:05:22,833 --> 01:05:25,583 You had an exhausting day where you could barely stand on 1351 01:05:25,667 --> 01:05:31,167 your feet and your pillow felt majestic-- 1352 01:05:31,250 --> 01:05:34,167 the Holy Spirit's like that. 1353 01:05:34,208 --> 01:05:39,792 God wants you to be refreshed, but to do that, you must repent. 1354 01:05:39,833 --> 01:05:42,500 And we set up the service to give you an opportunity 1355 01:05:42,542 --> 01:05:43,875 to do that. 1356 01:05:43,958 --> 01:05:45,583 So we'll collect our tithes and offerings. 1357 01:05:45,667 --> 01:05:48,167 This is where we repent of worshiping money rather than 1358 01:05:48,208 --> 01:05:49,792 worshiping God with our money. 1359 01:05:49,833 --> 01:05:51,667 In a moment, we'll partake of Communion. 1360 01:05:51,750 --> 01:05:54,000 This is where we remember Jesus' broken body and shed blood, 1361 01:05:54,042 --> 01:05:57,542 how our sin is forgiven, why repentance is possible, 1362 01:05:57,625 --> 01:05:59,542 and how refreshing comes. 1363 01:05:59,625 --> 01:06:01,750 Then we're going to sing and celebrate because 1364 01:06:01,833 --> 01:06:04,250 that's what refreshed people do. 1365 01:06:04,333 --> 01:06:06,750 And as we prepare for that and as the stewards 1366 01:06:06,833 --> 01:06:08,167 collect our offering, 1367 01:06:08,208 --> 01:06:11,167 I want to share with you our mission and some of what 1368 01:06:11,208 --> 01:06:13,000 the Holy Spirit's doing up in Everett. 1369 01:06:13,042 --> 01:06:14,958 Is that OK? All right. 1370 01:06:17,542 --> 01:06:20,833 And men, plant your feet. 1371 01:06:20,875 --> 01:06:22,833 Everett belongs to Jesus. 1372 01:06:22,875 --> 01:06:25,208 Snohomish County belongs to Jesus. 1373 01:06:25,292 --> 01:06:29,292 We belong to Jesus, and by the grace of God we will plant 1374 01:06:29,333 --> 01:06:32,833 our feet here, and we will stand here, 1375 01:06:32,875 --> 01:06:34,917 and we will tell the truth from here, 1376 01:06:35,000 --> 01:06:38,667 and we will love and serve from here. 1377 01:06:40,583 --> 01:06:44,125 Hey Mars Hill, Pastor Ryan here, and welcome to the armory. 1378 01:06:44,167 --> 01:06:46,833 This is the home of Mars Hill Everett. 1379 01:06:46,875 --> 01:06:50,083 This place used to be used for so many years to hold guns 1380 01:06:50,167 --> 01:06:53,208 and weapons of war, and now it's an outpost for the gospel. 1381 01:06:53,292 --> 01:06:55,125 It's a place where Mars Hill Everett 1382 01:06:55,167 --> 01:06:56,667 is going to equip the saints 1383 01:06:56,750 --> 01:06:58,417 for the work of the ministry. 1384 01:06:58,500 --> 01:07:00,875 We've got an amazing