Acts 2:22-24

It is truly a privilege to be able to preach on Easter Sunday.

On one hand, it's the easiest Sunday to prepare for because your subject is already laid out for you.

! On the other hand, it's the hardest because it's probably the most important subject out there.

So, with that said, it is a privilege to be up here.

Our text this morning is Acts chapter 2, verse 22 through 24 is kind of where we'll start from.

Acts 2:22–24

And then we'll work our way out from there.

Resurrection Sunday.

If you're wondering, the songs that we've just sang are Friday night songs, the cross.

Today is Resurrection Sunday and you don't have Resurrection Sunday without Friday night.

And that's our thought this morning as we sing about the cross.

We sing about what Jesus has done.

And then after the sermon, we'll sing about the victory Sunday morning.

Resurrection Sunday.

Together and celebrate.

Let me pray and we will get started.

Father, what power, what glory, what magnificence have you shown on this morning.

By your word, by your hand, you have defeated death, defeated sin,

and made it possible for us to be adopted as your children,

to call you Father, to approach you all because of Jesus.

So God, we thank you for Jesus.

We thank you that those of us who know you are clothed in his righteousness.

We stand and sit here as if we've not sinned at all because of Christ.

So we thank you for Jesus.

I ask God that as I preach, as I speak,

that you would speak through me,

that my words would be clear,

that I would make your name great,

that my thoughts would be organized.

God, that if there's anything that comes out of my mouth that is not true,

that is not right,

they would fall from our ears to be remembered no more.

We want your will to be done this morning

as we celebrate what you have done.

So I pray this.

I plead all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

The Resurrection Sunday is the climax.

It is the culmination of God's plan A.

It is the time,

the moment,

where God's plan A comes together.

And my aim this morning,

what I'm aiming at,

is to prove to you,

is to show you that this Resurrection Sunday

has been God's plan A from the beginning.

We're not going to survey all of Scripture

if you were at secret church like David Platt did Friday night.

because I don't have the mind for that.

But we will,

I pray and I hope,

that I have proved it to you this morning.

There isn't a day more important

that has more of an impact

than Resurrection Sunday.

Our lives can be forever changed

through Resurrection Sunday.

There's no day like it.

It is that important.

And here's two reasons why it's that important.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 15 real quick.

Get your finger in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

because that's where we'll come back to.

1 Corinthians 15.

He used the words of Paul

to prove,

just for a moment,

and we'll come back to this verse in a little bit,

just to prove for a moment

the importance of the Resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 15,

we have Paul's full argument

about the importance of the Resurrection.

I just want to show you a couple verses.

Start reading in verse 13 of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians.

It says,

But if there is no resurrection of the dead,

then not even Christ has been risen.

And if Christ has not been raised,

then our preaching is in vain,

and your faith is in vain.

Useless.

Pointless.

Like chasing smoke.

We are even found

to be misrepresenting God

because we testified about God

that He raised Christ,

whom He did not raise,

if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised,

not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is futile,

and you are still in your sins.

There is no hope for you and I.

If Christ has not been raised.

So we have the words of Paul here

who wrote most of the New Testament.

We also have the words of Jesus.

And we'll find it in Matthew 28, verse 6,

Matthew 28:6

where the angel at the tomb,

where Nathan just read about,

to the kids,

speaks to the women.

The women go to prepare Jesus' body.

And the angel says to them,

He is not here,

for He has risen,

as He said, being Jesus.

Come see the place where He lay.

Now here's why this is important.

Because if the resurrection didn't happen

as Jesus said it happened,

then all of Jesus' teachings are not true.

Then we drop all of Jesus' teachings

because Jesus taught that He would raise again.

Now, this is important also

because Jesus gives us promises in Scripture.

If we can't cling to these promises,

then there's nothing to celebrate

on Resurrection Sunday.

So those two things,

Paul's words and Jesus' words

and Jesus' teachings,

make Resurrection Sunday,

Easter Sunday,

very important.

Now I want to talk about you for a minute.

Some of you guys are here

because you come to Christ Family Church regularly.

Some of you are here

because family has come into town

and you want to take them to church.

Some of you are here

because it's your religious activity

to come to church on Easter Sunday.

Some of you are here

and you don't even know why you're here.

You're just here.

I want you to do one of two things this morning.

I want you to either receive

what I give you this morning.

Receive the Word of God.

Receive the truth of God.

Receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Or reject it.

Those are your only two choices this morning.

You can only receive it

or you can only reject it.

Now, of course,

I want you to receive it.

I want you to receive the truth of God this morning.

But whether you have been a Christian for 50 years

or you're not a Christian at all,

you have a choice to make.

And I want you to receive the truth of God.

You cannot be neutral this morning.

You cannot avoid the truth of God this morning.

You cannot ignore Resurrection Sunday this morning.

So receive it.

Receive it this morning,

the truth of God,

as we walk through Scripture.

And to be honest with you,

if this is your first time here,

if this is the first time being at church on Easter Sunday,

I want you to come back.

I don't want you to come back

to Christ Family Church necessarily,

but I want you to come back

because the Holy Spirit spoke to you.

Because the Holy Spirit opened your eyes

to the truth of God's Word.

That's what we want to see happen.

So I want you to receive

the truth of God's Word this morning.

In my studying this week,

I learned that the resurrection,

the doctrine of resurrection,

the teaching of Resurrection Sunday,

is a greatly ignored truth.

It's a greatly ignored truth.

We talk about the cross.

We sing about the wonderful cross.

We talk about Jesus taking our sins

and paying it all for us.

We talk about us being made righteous

because of Christ.

But what we miss is we miss the resurrection

that makes all of that possible.

And so it's a doctrine that gets missed.

And I pray that that's not the case here.

I pray that we lift up Jesus,

the victory over death,

Easter Sunday,

but the truth is,

it gets ignored often.

So as we study,

as we go through here,

celebrate the truth of God's Word.

If you are a Christian,

I'm not going to tell you anything new.

I'm not going to tell you anything you haven't heard.

If you've read Scripture at all,

it'll be right out of Scripture.

Celebrate.

Revel in it.

Soak in it this morning.

And if you don't know Jesus,

if you're not a child of God,

hear,

listen,

and ask God to speak.

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We're going to read verse 22 through 24.

And then we'll just kind of dig through it.

Verse 22.

Now, a little background here real quick.

This is Peter preaching his first sermon at Pentecost.

Days after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Weeks after Jesus died on the cross.

So here's Peter.

In verse 22.

Men of Israel,

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.

Plan A.

You crucified and killed

by the hands of lawless men.

Let me just stop there for a second.

Now, the reason why I told you

this is days after the ascension

and weeks after the resurrection

is this is the same Peter

who denied Jesus three times

and one of the same disciples

who fled and hid after Jesus died.

After He was buried.

Okay?

And now,

He is poking at the religious leaders of Israel

and saying,

this Jesus whom you crucified.

He's making a statement to them.

He's being bold

because the Word of God

and because of the Holy Spirit moving.

Verse 24.

And here's our Sunday morning.

Resurrection Sunday.

God raised Him up.

Loosing the pangs of death

because it was not possible for Him

to be held by it.

Now,

in verse 22,

it starts with men of Israel.

And,

Peter,

preaching to the religious leaders in Jerusalem,

just because it says men of Israel

does not mean it's not true for you and for me.

Okay?

Just because Peter is speaking

to the religious leaders in Israel

2,000 years ago

does not make it less true for you and I.

Okay?

I want to make sure

I'm not going to dig through Scripture

any more than,

any deeper than that.

But I want you to understand

just because it says men of Israel

does not mean

it does not apply

to you and to me.

I want you to look at

look at this language

in verse 23.

This language,

it says,

this Jesus delivered up

according to the definite plan

and foreknowledge of God.

Definite plan

and foreknowledge of God.

Now,

some would teach

that foreknowledge

is God

looking down

the chasm of time

and seeing what happens

and then backing up

and saying,

okay,

I need to do this

and I need to do this.

Kind of like a DVR.

You know,

Jesus is sitting on his sofa

or God is sitting on his sofa

and he's like,

let's see what those guys

in Dahlonega do in 2012.

Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop.

Oh,

well,

I've got to make a plan.

I've got to put some things

together for them.

That is not the case.

Foreknowledge here

is an intimate knowledge

basically birthed out of God.

So we have the definite plan

of God here.

God making plan A.

And plan A starts with creation.

You and I were created

in the image of God.

We were created

as image bearers of God.

As worshippers of God.

That was our main intention.

That was our purpose

for being on earth.

Was to bring glory

and honor to God.

That was Adam and Eve's

main purpose.

God did not make them

because He was lonely.

God did not make them

because He needed them.

God created man

to bring glory to Himself.

And here's the truth.

The darkest chapter

in all of Scripture

is Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

It's where the fall occurs.

It's where Adam and Eve

and you know the story,

the kind of cartoon story

of Eve eating the apple

and passing it on to Adam

and they eat the apple,

they disobey God.

Well, that little story there

is a story of truth.

The impact, though,

ripples through time

and through eternity.

We have been cursed

because of the choice

of Adam and Eve

because Adam and Eve

chose to worship,

not God,

but worship themselves.

To make a decision

for themselves

instead of a decision

for God.

So this ripple effect

changed them

and changed us.

We no longer

can worship God

on our own.

We no longer

can be image bearers

of God

and reflect His glory.

We no longer

can do any of that

because of the ripple effect

of sin

and the choice

of Adam and Eve.

We now

are worshipers

of ourselves.

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

We

go to Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

quite often

and Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

tells us

some of us

it reminds us

of who we are

who we were

before

Jesus Christ

entered

our lives.

Some of you

here this morning

this may be you

right now.

In Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2:1

verse 1 it says

and you were dead

in the trespasses

and sins

in which you once walked

following the course

of this world

following the prince

of the power of the air

the spirit that is

now at work

in the sons

of disobedience

among whom

we all once lived

in the passions

of our flesh

carrying out

the desires

of the body

and the mind

and were by nature

children of wrath

like the rest

of mankind.

This idea

of dead

isn't just

you're not just

sick

you just don't

have a problem

you just don't

have an issue

you're dead

we were dead

before Christ

we were

I read a sermon

this week

from Charles Spurgeon

if you don't know

who he is

look him up

he's a pretty

incredible guy

he's dead

of course

a little dead guy

they call him

one of the greatest

preachers who ever

lived

this is this guy

and I am not

articulate as he is

I am not

as well of a literary

mind as he is

so he's describing

this dead

he's using these

adjectives

and I'm like

oh my gosh

I couldn't stand up

there and say

any of this

he's just painting

the picture for you

this dead

is dead

smelly stinky

dead

dead

that's as far

as I get

dead

we are dead

in our sins

before Christ

which means

that because of sin

we can't do anything

on our own

you don't see a dead man

walking around

you don't see a dead man

getting water to drink

or getting dressed

that's the picture

that Paul is trying

to paint here

that he does nothing

we can do nothing

to help

ourselves

help our souls

okay

so that's

that's

that's the New Testament

describing

who we are

well the Old Testament

we have the fall

we have creation

we have fall

we have the Old Testament

pointing

to Jesus

we have the Old Testament

pointing

to not

to us

not to what we're

going to do

but what Jesus

is going to do

we have the law

that God

puts in place

for his people

the people of Israel

the people that he's

setting apart

making a nation

set apart

from the world

to

be the illustration

of the church

the illustration

of God's people

he sets them apart

he says

follow these laws

follow these rules

do these things

and what happens

it's a law

written that they

could not follow

it's a law

written that

that they could not

keep

and the purpose

of that

purpose of that

was not to

not to be mean

and not to be this

cruel God

who's just

up there

pointing his finger

and moving

chest pieces

the purpose

was to point

to someone

who could

follow the law

the purpose

was to point

to Jesus

if you know

anything about

scripture

you know that

Jesus lived

a perfect

sinless life

he fulfilled

the law

he kept

the law

to a T

we cannot

do it

we also have

we also have

the prophets

in the Old Testament

pointing to Jesus

we have Jonah

you know the story

of Jonah

who stayed in a

whale for three

days

like a tomb

like Jesus

who stayed in a

tomb for three

days

Jonah

pointing

to Jesus

turn to

Isaiah 53

we have another

prophet

named Isaiah

this is written

hundreds of years

before Jesus

hundreds of years

before Jesus

by the guidance

of the Holy Spirit

in Isaiah 53

starting in verse 2

it says

for he grew up

before him

like a young

plant

and like a root

out of dry

ground

he had no

form or majesty

that we should

look at him

and no beauty

that we should

desire him

he was despised

and rejected

by men

a man of

sorrows

and acquainted

with grief

and as one

from whom

men hide

their faces

he was despised

and we were

esteemed

and we esteemed

him not

surely

he has

borne

our griefs

and carried

our

sorrows

yet

we esteemed

him

stricken

smitten

by God

and afflicted

but he was

wounded

for our

transgressions

he was

crushed

for our

iniquities

upon him

was the

chastisement

that brought

us

peace

and with

his

strife

we are

healed

all we

like

sheep

have

gone

astray

we

have

turned

everyone

to his

own

way

we

have

worshipped

ourselves

and the

Lord

has laid

on him

the iniquity

of us

all

this is

Jesus

he is

talking

about

he is

writing

about

hundreds

of years

before

Jesus

even

comes

to earth

born

as a

baby

see the

Old Testament

points

to Jesus

so now

we have

Jesus

Jesus

is here

100%

man

100%

God

he

lived

a

perfect

sinless

life

those

moments

where you

nail your

thumb

with a

hammer

and

thoughts

and words

come out

didn't

happen

to

Jesus

guys

those

moments

when you

see a

beautiful

woman

and

thoughts

jump

in your

head

didn't

happen

to

Jesus

those

moments

when he

was

wronged

or when

you

are

wronged

by

someone

and

you

just

hate

you

are

just

angry

with

hate

didn't

happen

to

Jesus

Jesus

lived

a

perfect

sinless

life

why

for

God's

plan

A

in

verse

23

of

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

this

Jesus

delivered

up

according

to the

definite

plan

and

foreknowledge

of

God

Jesus

is

delivered

up

for

us

a

perfect

sacrifice

for

you

and

for

me

now

this

this

delivered

up

is

is

not

this

presentation

like

I

don't

know

like

you

take

your

kid

to

summer

camp

and

you

say

here's

my

son

it's

not

like

that

it's

not

a

present

wrapped

up

and

God

just

this

delivered

up

here

is

the

most

horrific

vulgar

excruciating

death

that you

can

imagine

Jesus'

face

was

unrecognizable

when they

got done

beating

him

and it

gets worse

it's worse

than anything

you can

think of

in Mark

Mark 14 · chapter mention

chapter

14

Mark

gives us

an account

of Jesus'

prayer

in the

garden

of

Gethsemane

the

night

of

his

betrayal

and

Jesus

takes

three

disciples

with

him

Peter

James

and

John

and

he

says

sit

here

I

must

go

and

pray

sit

here

and

wait

for

me

and

he

goes

and

he

says

my

soul

is

very

sorrowful

even

to

death

he

tells

them

and

says

remain

here

and

watch

and

in

verse

35

and

going

a little

farther

he

fell

on the

ground

and

prayed

that

if

it

were

possible

the

hour

might

pass

from

him

that

what

was

to

come

might

pass

and

he

says

Abba

father

daddy

father

all

things

all

things

are

possible

for

you

remove

this

cup

from

me

right

this

is

this

is

pre

friday

night

Jesus

knows

what's

about

to

occur

he

knows

what's

going

to

happen

and

he's

not

worried

about

the

pain

he's

not

worried

about

the

suffering

because

Jesus

words

tells

us

to

suffer

with

joy

he's

not

he's

not

worried

about

the

mocking

he

tells

us

that

people

will

mock

you

because

of

me

because

of

him

because

of

Jesus

not

because

of

this

guy

he's

not

overwhelmed

and wants

this cup

to pass

because

he's

worried

about

what

other

people

are

going

to

say

when

he's

up

there

Jesus

wants

this

cup

to

pass

because

Jesus

is

going

to

bear

the

full

wrath

of

God

for

our

sins

for

the

sins

of

the

world

the

full

wrath

the

full

anger

the

full

hatred

that

magnitude

that

we

deserve

Jesus

bears

on

the

cross

and

that's

why

Jesus

says

let

this

cup

pass

before

me

because

Jesus

is

innocent

he

is

sinless

he

is

perfect

we

are

the

guilty

ones

nonetheless

he

ends

that

by

saying

your

will

be

done

God

father

whatever

you

decide

to

do

is

okay

by

me

I

will

obey

Jesus

willingly

laid

his

life

down

for

you

this

is

why

in

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

he

was

delivered

up

for

us

he

was

delivered

up

for

us

in

a

definite

plan

and

foreknowledge

of

God

turn

to

2nd

Corinthians

chapter

5

around

here

a

very

familiar

verse

this

is

God's

plan

a

as

well

this

illustrates

God's

plan

a

verse

21

of

chapter

5

2nd

Corinthians

for

our

sake

for

us

for

our

sake

he

made

him

to

be

sin

who

knew

no

sin

so

that

in

him

we

might

become

the

righteousness

of

God

he

was

delivered

up

for

us

now

see

this

what

I

mentioned

at the

introduction

about

the

resurrection

kind

of

being

missed

and

ignored

and

neglected

a

little

bit

sometimes

we

want

to

end

in

verse

23

we

just

want

to

say

Jesus

bore

our

sins

we

became

righteous

because

of

Jesus

we

bear

righteousness

we

be

able

to

stand

as

Hebrew

said

we

are

able

to

approach

the

throne

with

boldness

because

of

Jesus

but

if

you

go

back

to

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

God's

plan

A

continues

and we

get

verse

24

we

get

Friday

night

that's

happened

and we

get to

celebrate

Sunday

morning

verse

24

God

raised

him

up

loosing

the

plan

the

pangs

of

death

because

it

was

not

possible

for

him

to

be

held

by

it

so

God

raised

him

up

Jesus

didn't

raise

himself

up

God

raised

him

up

only

God

can

raise

him

up

Jesus

died

on

the

cross

hung

died

he

buried

he

was

buried

to

be

raised

up

now

if

somebody

is

raised

up

that

means

they

got

to

be

down

they

got

to

be

dead

right

Jesus

died

and he

was

raised

he

was

resurrected

he

wasn't

he

wasn't

brought

back

to life

like

Lazarus

was

Lazarus

was

brought

back

to

life

in

order

to

die

again

he

was

going

to

die

again

see

Jesus

in

resurrection

teaches

in

the

bible

that

that

Jesus

was

brought

back

to

life

to

live

forever

so he

wasn't

just

revived

he

wasn't

just

brought

back

to

life

just

as

a

normal

human

being

maybe

no

he

was

brought

back

to

life

to

live

forever

!

forever

to

defeat

death

and

sin

look at

this

in

verse

24

loosing

the

pangs

of

death

the

agony

the

anguish

of

death

now

that

does

not

mean

that

does

not

mean

that

there's

not

going

to

be

sorrow

here

on

this

side

of

eternity

it

does

not

mean

that

there's

not

going

to

be

sadness

what

it

does

mean

is

that

we

through

Jesus

if

you

know

Jesus

if

your

faith

is

in

Jesus

that

we

are

no

longer

separated

from

God

we

will

no

longer

be

separated

from

God

we

will

be

able

to

stand

eternity

with

God

and

not

separated

from

him

see

in

the

garden

of

Eden

we

talked

about

the

fall

what

happened

was

that

God

separated

them

from

his

presence

God

removed

them

from

the

garden

forever

!

And

that

was

to

signify

for

us

as we

!

the

story

that

we

are

separated

from

God

we

no

longer

have

fellowship

with

him

apart

from

Christ

the

pangs

of

death

the

anguish

and the

agony

no

longer

being

separated

from

God

is

you

yours

and my

possibility

through

Jesus

so we

can say

because of

Jesus

resurrection

death

death

no

longer

has

power

because

we

know

that

we

will

no

longer

be

separated

from

God

now

here's

here's

the

trick

death

no

longer

has

sting

only

if

you

know

Jesus

only

if

your

faith

is

in

Jesus

only

if

you

have

trusted

in

Jesus

now

to do

that

is

simple

repent

of

your

sins

admit

that

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

being

dead

in

your

trespasses

and

sins

is

who

you

are

turn

from

that

and

believe

and

put

your

faith

in

Jesus

trusting

him

as

Lord

and

Savior

that

is

when

death

no

longer

has

sting

and

only

Jesus

and

only

God

can

make

you

alive

can

give

you

a

new

life

can

make

what

was

dead

alive

Lazarus

did

not

assist

Jesus

in

coming

back

to

life

it

was

a

one

man

show

Jesus

walked

up

Lazarus

has

been

in

the

tomb

three

days

I

think

stinky

smelly

rotten

disgusting

the

ladies

even

said

don't

go

near

that

he

smells

he's

dead

and

Jesus

walks

and

says

Lazarus

come

forth

and

Lazarus

comes

out

it

wasn't

Lazarus

saying

hey

Jesus

call

me

out

buddy

I'd

like

to

come

out

I'm

feeling

better

no

it

was

a

one

man

show

and

like

Lazarus

not