Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.northharris.freechurch.org/sermons/71170/20425-pm-easter-sunday-service/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Good evening. Good evening. A warm welcome to the service this evening.! We're going to begin this time of worship,! and we'll sing to God's praise. [0:10] Going back to Psalm 16, Psalm 16. I've got verses 1 to 4 marked, but I think what we'll do is we'll sing the first two stanzas, the first two stanzas of the psalm. [0:23] Lord, keep me, for I trust in Thee. To God thus was my speech, Thou art my Lord, and unto thee my goodness doth not reach. To saints on earth, to the excellent, for my delights all placed, their sorrows shall be multiplied to other gods that haste. [0:40] These two verses of Psalm 16 to God's praise. And after we've sung in Gaelic, Donald will lead us in prayer in Gaelic, please. Please, if you voyagnete, I voyagnete, Please, if you hear, yeah. [1:00] I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Lord, and I am the main, O Thank you. [2:23] Thank you. [2:53] Thank you. [3:23] Thank you. [3:53] Thank you. [4:23] Thank you. [4:53] Thank you. [5:23] Thank you. [5:53] Thank you. [6:23] Thank you. [6:53] Thank you. [7:23] Thank you. [7:53] Thank you. [8:23] Thank you. [8:53] Thank you. [9:23] Thank you. [9:53] Thank you. [10:23] Thank you. [10:53] Thank you. [11:23] Thank you. [11:53] Thank you. [12:23] Thank you. [12:53] Amen. [13:23] Thank you. [13:53] Thank you. [14:23] Thank you. [14:53] Thank you. [15:23] Thank you. [15:53] Thank you. [16:23] Thank you. [16:53] Thank you. [17:23] Thank you. [17:53] Thank you. [18:23] [20:23] Thank you. [20:53] Thank you. [21:23] Thank you. [21:53] Amen. [22:23] May God bless you. [22:53] Thank you. [23:23] Thank you. [23:53] Thank you. [24:23] Thank you. [24:53] Thank you. [25:23] Thank you. [25:53] Thank you. [26:23] Thank you. [26:53] Thank you. [27:23] Thank you. [27:53] Thank you. [28:23] Thank you. [28:53] Thank you. [29:23] Thank you. [29:53] Thank you. [30:23] Thank you. [30:53] Thank you. [31:23] , voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy to Exodus chapter 13 and verse 21 and verse 22. [31:59] And what we see there is the pillar of fire by night. And the fire that guided the children of Israel was a sign of God's presence, that God was with them and God was guiding them onwards. [32:15] So they can hear and they can see on that day that God the Holy Spirit is there in power. [32:26] So what did God the Holy Spirit move them to do? Well, what he moved them to do is he moved them to speak. Verse 4 says, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. [32:50] And I think one of the things that is worth noting here is that there was no weird things going on. [33:02] Very often when we hear reported accounts of the Holy Spirit at work, or so-called at work, there are events which are reported of great drama and very strange occurrences. [33:23] But in this instance, where God the Holy Spirit is at work in mighty power, there are no one who is falling over. No one is thrashing about on the floor. [33:39] There's no hysterical fits of laughing. There's no one barking like dogs or making strange animal noises. But what happens is they all begin to speak. [33:54] And they're not speaking about themselves. They're not speaking about the weather. They're not speaking about the football scores this afternoon. They're speaking about Jesus. [34:10] In different languages. All the languages of the people who had gathered, the disciples, as they speak, they're speaking in tongues that were actually beyond their comprehension, but they were tongues that could be understood. [34:28] They were recognized languages, and as they were speaking, they were speaking about Jesus. As some of the commentators point out, it's a reversal of Babel. [34:42] Remember the Tower of Babel, where God comes down in power because there's a spirit of pride and a sinful spirit that's amongst them. [34:53] And God scatters the people with multiple languages. They couldn't understand each other. Well, this is a reversal of Babel. As God comes down in the power of the Holy Spirit, everyone can understand. [35:09] And as they speak, they speak about Jesus. And the people, verse 5 to 13, if you scan through the section there, the people were amazed. [35:25] The people were astonished. And as with all times when God the Holy Spirit is at work and Jesus is preached, there is a split opinion. [35:44] Some people, they made a joke of it. They became uncomfortable. They didn't want to hear any more. And so they dismissed the whole thing as, well, these disciples clearly have had too much new wine. [36:02] They must be drunk. But there were others who wanted to know more about Jesus. They wanted to know more of what the disciples were speaking about. [36:14] And so they listened on. Well, let's just note that before the sermon was preached on that day of Pentecost, and as that sermon was being preached, the power of God, the Holy Spirit, was at work. [36:35] And that's what we must pray for. As we come together on a Sunday morning, as we come together on a Sunday night, as we gather on a Wednesday evening, as the young people go through to Sunday school, as the YF meet after the service, let us be praying that God, the Holy Spirit, will be at work. [37:07] Because that's where everything is transformed. Let's be praying what we've sung. Come Holy Ghost. Our hearts inspire. [37:21] The power of the Holy Spirit is the first thing that we see here. The second thing that we can notice is the preacher. So who is the preacher on this day? [37:35] This day of Pentecost? Well, the preacher on this occasion is Peter. And I think it's important that we know that for our encouragement and even maybe to challenge us in our thinking. [37:55] Because we may look at this and read who the preacher was on that occasion and think, what? Is it really Peter, the disciple? Is this the same Peter who denies Jesus? [38:09] Is this the same Peter who made such a public mess of things? Surely it's not Peter that's going to preach. And yet, it is Peter. [38:23] Is that because there was nobody else available on that day? Well, no, it's not that at all. Because we know from the text here that there were many other disciples who could have been used to preach on that occasion. [38:37] There were many other disciples who hadn't made such a big mess of things. And so we might think, well, surely one of them could have been used. Surely that would have been a better option. [38:50] But no, by God's will, the appointed preacher for that day is Peter. Peter. And think about that. [39:03] just, if my calculations are right, just 52 days before this, Peter had denied his Lord with curses. [39:20] Just 52 days before this, Peter has made such a huge public sin. And that's not hidden from us. [39:34] That's very much detailed for us in the Gospels. Peter sinned. Spectacularly, publicly, drastically. And Peter had to be disciplined by Jesus. [39:49] We can read about that in John chapter 21. Peter is called into a one-to-one meeting with Jesus. And Jesus went deep into Peter's soul. to make sure that he had repented. [40:03] And with that question three times to Peter, do you love me? But Peter did repent. And now we see Peter restored. [40:20] And like the prodigal, he's back in the father's house, we could say. He's not locked in the garden shed. He's a son, not a slave. [40:35] And so even as we approach the sermon that Peter preaches, we see in the appointment of Peter as the preacher, we see the grace of God at work. [40:48] we see a picture of the grace of God in action. Just as we saw the grace of God sparkle in the mess of Jacob's life. [41:02] Going back to Genesis, we see here the grace of God sparkle in the mess of Peter's life. and that same grace is offered to us day by day by day. [41:22] This is the same God. This is the same grace. No matter who we are, no matter what we may have done, none of us are beyond the reach of the grace of Jesus. [41:43] And that should encourage us as sinners. And that should challenge us when a judgmental spirit sometimes may rise up within us. [41:59] The power of the Holy Spirit, the preacher, is Peter. And the third thing is the preacher, which is preaching, the preaching of Jesus. [42:13] Because Peter, he very clearly preaches Jesus. And I love how Peter begins the sermon as God the Holy Spirit puts the words in his mouth. [42:28] We have the introduction to the sermon from verse 14 and onwards. And it says, but Peter, standing with the eleven, and even that point is a point worth noting. [42:39] Peter hasn't been cut off. Let's see that. Peter hasn't been sidelined by the eleven. The eleven aren't standing at a distance from him. [42:53] He's standing with the eleven. And Peter hadn't cut himself off, as often can happen. He hasn't distanced himself from the other disciples and withdrawn. [43:08] He's with the eleven. So Peter, verse 14, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them. [43:22] Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. And again, there's such encouragement in Peter's introduction. [43:35] Peter, he, as a sinner who is saved by grace, he doesn't begin with a kind of withering apology. He doesn't begin his sermon with a kind of apology. [43:49] He doesn't say, yes, it's me. I'm sorry, it's me. I shouldn't really be standing here. I know you didn't expect to see me here. After all I've done, Peter doesn't see any of that. [44:04] There's nothing timid about Peter. He's not a shrinking violet. He's bold. [44:16] And he speaks with authority. Because Peter knows that he's forgiven. And Peter is not preaching about Peter. [44:29] Peter is preaching about Jesus. And so he takes the spotlight and he focuses the spotlight on Christ. Peter preaches Christ three points in the sermon. [44:45] The first thing he says is, first point is Christ predicted. Peter second point is Christ revealed. And Peter's third point is Christ resurrected. [44:57] That's the structure of a sermon. In verses 15 to verse 21, Peter takes the congregation back to the Old Testament. [45:09] And he shows them that the events that were unfolding, the events that they were part of on that day, were actually predicted by Joel. Verse 15, Peter says, for these people are not drunk as you suppose, since it's only the third out of the day. [45:24] This is what is uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants in those days. [45:42] I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. And that's what was happening in real time. time. It's the passage from Joel being spoken out. [46:01] And so Peter, as he opens the Old Testament, he's showing the Jews who were so familiar with the Old Testament, that what was happening was of God. [46:16] Lord. And he's showing them from the text that they were so familiar with, that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the one who was predicted in the Old Testament. [46:30] Jesus is the promised Messiah. Jesus is the Savior. And Peter is showing them with great clarity and confidence that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus. [46:46] We'll be saved. Peter is preaching Christ, Christ predicted. And then Christ revealed, verses 22 and verse 23. [46:58] Men of Israel, says Peter, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him. In your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. [47:25] And so Peter, he talks with great clarity, great simplicity and immense courage about the life of Jesus. [47:39] Jesus. And they had seen Jesus. They had listened to his sermons. They had known his touch. They had been witnesses to these mighty signs and wonders. [47:51] And Peter is saying, these mighty signs and wonders, they are what authenticate that he was and is the Christ. Peter speaks about the life of Jesus and then about the death of Jesus. [48:09] And he says, the sovereign God planned this death. This was part of the salvation plan. And yet, he says to those who were there on that day in the congregation, lawless people would be held responsible for that death if they did not repent. [48:35] There's the sovereignty of God at work, there's the responsibility of man to consider. And Peter says, you crucified him. [48:52] Must have been quite a moment on that day. As Peter opens up the Old Testament, he shows them Christ is predicted. [49:04] Then he applies the Old Testament and he shows them Christ is revealed in the text and in all that he did, in his life and his death. [49:17] And then he says to the people who were there, and by the way, you crucified him. You killed him. And Peter's final point before he applies this, is Christ resurrected. [49:35] God said it. And I don't need to go into the details of this. We looked at this this morning. Again, Peter opens the Old Testament. He goes to Psalm 16, he goes to Psalm 110, and he shows them that the resurrection of Jesus, it was foretold by the psalmist and it was fulfilled in their day. [49:56] And then Peter applies all of this by saying, let all the house of Israel, verse 36, therefore know for certain that God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified. [50:17] So just to recap before we finish, as God the Holy Spirit works, what we see here is that the focus is not on Peter. [50:37] The focus is not on the rushing wind, supernatural as it was in its sound. the focus is not on the tongues of fire, which must have been an amazing and disturbing thing to see. [50:55] The focus is not on the supernatural ability of the disciples to speak in languages that they did not know. The focus is not even on the Holy Spirit himself. [51:11] The focus is on Jesus. on who he is as Lord and Christ, on what he's done through his life and his death and his resurrection. [51:25] And that's what Peter preaches. He preaches Christ. In the power of the Holy Spirit, he preaches Christ. And if we are Christians, we are called to preach the same thing. [51:38] And it might be at a fellowship meeting that we're called to do it, or it might be on a football pitch. It might be in church. [51:51] It might be at a choir practice. But whether it's proclamation or whether it's conversation, we are to tell people about Jesus. [52:03] that he is the Christ, that he is the promised Son of God, that he is the one who came into this world to live a perfect life for us, the life that we could never live. [52:18] And he is the one who went to a cross to die a sinner's death for us, the death that we deserve to die. And we can tell him that he did die. [52:34] And that on the third day, he rose from the dead. And he promises forgiveness of sin and everlasting life to all who believe. [52:54] sin. Often people will say, and often I will think, what will I say? You know, we feel the weight and we feel the call to evangelize, but we're fearful because we think, what will I say? [53:15] How do I do this? Well, what we are to say is simply what Peter said. The power is not in the method. [53:28] The power is not in the presentation. The power is in the message. So we are called, as the old hymn goes, to tell them the old, old story of Jesus and his love. [53:48] And all of that story is 2,000 years older than it was on the day that Peter preached that in Acts chapter 2. [54:00] This story has not dated. This story is still relevant to every person in every place at every time. [54:11] time. The preaching of Jesus. And finally, the people's response. [54:25] Verse 37, now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [54:49] For this promise is for you and for your children. And for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. [55:06] With many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [55:31] So the people's response, it was split. Some did not believe. Some did not listen. [55:44] But three thousand people were cut to the heart, and they said, what shall we do? And maybe there's someone here tonight, and that's the question that's in your mind. [56:03] What do I do? Maybe God, the Holy Spirit, is working in the life of someone here tonight, and you know that because you've now realized that you're a sinner. [56:16] and you can see that Jesus is the Savior, and you're saying, what shall I do? And Peter says, it's very clear. [56:30] Repent. Turn away from sin. Confess your sin. Believe in Jesus. grace. And you will be saved. [56:46] Three thousand responded on that day, and were saved. And the question tonight that we end with is, what will you do? [56:59] What will we do in response to this sermon that Peter preached, in response to this same message? will we confess our sin? [57:12] Will we believe in the Lord Jesus? Will we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as we receive the salvation that is offered to us in Christ? [57:28] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the sermon that Peter preached at Pentecost on that day. [57:43] We thank you that he preached a message which is relevant to every one of us on this day, that Jesus came and lived and died and rose for our salvation. [57:56] We pray that we would hear, that we would believe, that we would turn from sin, that we would turn to Christ, and that every one of us would know the salvation of God and the Spirit's work in our lives. [58:14] And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll sing to conclude the hymn on the screen, Your Grace That leads this sinner home. That leads this sinner home. [58:35] That leads this Pure grace and peace is still our home, from death to life forever. [58:56] I sing the song of righteous death, by mother not by men. [59:06] Pure grace and peace is strong and wide, to every tribal nation. [59:20] Has brought my heart to enter in, the joy of your salvation. [59:30] By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored. And now I feel you walk into the arms of Christ alone. [59:49] Pure grace and I am of death's sin, not by my earthly wisdom. [60:03] The prince of life without a sin, was taken for this sin. Pure grace and I am of death's sin. [60:42] I pray for the έ voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy arms of Christ my Lord. [61:17] And now may that grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all now and always. Amen.