The Book Of Acts | Spirit - Filled Ministry Part 2 (April 26th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

All right, good morning, church.

As you see it there, we're in Acts chapter two today.

So hopefully you've got a Bible and you've got yourself uh turned there.

We're gonna be in uh verses 22 to 36 this morning.

Now I know that over the years I've shared a story or two about my very first vehicle ever, which was a 1986 Ford Ranger pickup.

Now, I I couldn't find a picture of my actual truck.

It was before the days of digital cameras, but here's a picture for you to take a look at to give you an idea what I was working with.

Only the the truck you're looking at right now uh was much, much nicer in way better condition uh than mine ever was.

Now, in some ways, my truck was kind of amazing and I loved it and in kind of a funny way, but but in a much more accurate way, it was the worst vehicle ever, and I hated it.

Okay, because besides it being a total eyesore in the community, which it definitely was, its real defining characteristic was how utterly gutless it was.

Right.

And I always noticed just the lack of power in it whenever uh I would, you know, drive up north uh to the cottage on the weekends.

And you know that drive up to Muskoka, I'm sure you've done it before.

You're heading up the you know the 400 and Highway 11.

Uh, we're not exactly talking the Canadian Rockies, right?

It's it's fairly gradual hills kind of rolling up and down.

It's kind of a nice drive, actually.

But in my truck, uh it was misery.

I remember, you know, whenever you would start to hit uh uh, you know, a hill, it would it would go from 110, which is basically what I could max it out at, and it would start to drop the speedometer wood down to, you know, 80, you know, 70, 65.

Old ladies are ripping past me, giving me dirty looks.

And I would kind of get to the top of that, and then I would coast down, and that's where I'd start to pick up steam again.

And by the time I hit like 120, the whole thing is just rattling and uh and kind of shaking.

Okay, but it wasn't just roads where I felt that.

I I literally sensed the powerlessness of my truck uh whenever I was driving like against the wind.

How sad is that?

Okay, I would drive against the wind and everyone again is ripping past me, and I just couldn't get it going uh past a certain speed.

Uh, whenever I had a passenger in the truck with me, and then there's like a little bit of extra weight, I noticed the sluggishness of it.

Honestly, it was the worst vehicle ever, and I was so glad uh to finally uh get rid of it.

Now, why am I mentioning all this?

Well, I share it because uh power, okay, real power, is such a defining characteristic of spirit-filled ministry.

In the events of Pentecost, you know, we're we're struck, I think, in multiple ways by by just you know God's sheer might, right?

We we see his power in that his you know promises to save are are fulfilled.

Right?

We see it in how he raised Christ from the dead in the giving of his spirit to the disciples in the beginning of Acts chapter two.

Obviously, that is a moving of his of his of his power, and and how you know we see the work of transformation that we started to look at last week in the life of Peter, okay, and how he how he uses uh just an ordinary guy like Peter uh to preach and proclaim uh the message of the gospel in other people's lives so that they would be radically changed and experience the power and transformation uh of the Lord as well.

All of it, all of it is the power of God moving through the spirit of God.

Okay, and it's awesome.

And there's just nothing, you know, 86 Ford Ranger about spirit-filled ministry, not at all.

Okay, so if you're you know anything like me, you're probably thinking, man, like that's what I want.

Like I want God's power.

I want the spirit poured out in my life in deeper ways and in more epic ways.

Lord, would you transform me?

Would you use me in the lives of people?

Would you you pour out your spirit uh in our church, in the ministry of our church?

And I think we really see all of this here uh in this text.

And so I'm gonna read it for us.

You can follow along in your copy of God's word, starting in verse 22.

It says, Men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, Peter says, 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.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.

Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.

My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy ones see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life, you will make me full of gladness with your presence.

Brothers, Peter continues, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he is both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him, that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

God, as we uh take a look at this middle section here of Peter's uh amazing sermon at Pentecost, uh Father, I pray that our hearts with would surge with joy and and Lord eagerly long for you to pour yourself out in our lives in power.

And so, God, would your spirit do this?

Lord, I pray that we would see you transform us by saving people who are attending our church, Lord, by sanctifying us and making us more like Jesus Christ.

Lord, I pray that you would take each person and by your spirit urge them, urge all of us now to go out into the world and proclaim the gospel with boldness and in power.

God, as we see you moving in the very beginning, in the very start up here of your church, Father, I pray that we would join you in your mission as it is still to do the very same thing, to start and plant and mature churches everywhere.

And so, God, do this in us.

I pray that do this in us as individuals, in our in our families, in our homes, and of course, as redemption, we pray that you would do this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, so spirit-filled ministry part two again today, all right?

So it's part two of three.

And to kind of help you, you know, hit the ground uh running with us today, uh, Acts chapter two.

Okay, you might remember it began with the disciples.

They're gathered together in the upper room.

There's about 120 of them, and and they're praying, right?

And they are waiting for the promised Holy Spirit when all of a sudden uh it comes, right, in power upon them.

And they're filled with the Spirit, which which causes them to proclaim uh the mighty works of God.

Right?

They do this in other tongues and in other languages that they uh didn't naturally, you know, know, so that the multilingual crowd that was witnessing this understood what was being said uh in their own languages, that the ones that they spoke naturally.

And now some of them, in their in the response to this whole scene here, some of them, you know, sense that this is God's doing, you know, and others are thinking, like, well, more no, this is more like alcohol's doing.

Okay, so Peter, in response to all of that, he stands up and under this new filling and again urging of the Holy Spirit proceeds to show them that no, this is God's work.

Okay, this is the Lord moving.

Okay, and and so in this whole scene, like we said last week, you and I now we get a strong glimpse, a picture into what spirit-filled ministry looks like.

Okay, what God does through the Holy Spirit, and then of course what our role is as well, as believers who now have the spirit within us.

All right, so with that said, let's jump into this first thing.

Two points today.

Here's the first one what spirit-filled ministry looks like.

Okay, it's the power of our triune God clearly on display.

Now, as we work ourselves through here to today, the you know, the second portion of Peter's sermon.

Remember, it was one sermon.

We're breaking it down in kind of three, you know, hopefully bite-sized chunks here.

But as we go through this, I want you to notice a couple of things.

Okay, first of all, just how many references there are uh to each member of the Trinity, right?

The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Okay, because there's an amazing and and a very distinct, you know, unity and cohesion that is happening here among each member of the Godhead in the plan of redemption.

Okay, because remember from you know last Sunday, you know, the Spirit, he he's not, you know, establishing his own agenda here, right?

It's not like the work of the Father and the Son are now done at Pentecost and the Spirit just kind of takes over and those other two guys are finished.

That's not the way uh that it works at all.

No, he works to glorify the son.

Remember, we looked at that according to the father's plan as established in the scriptures.

All right, so then on top of that, that's the first thing I want you to notice.

On top of that, the second thing here really is today.

Just notice, you know, how many times we we see here in the language just the power of this triune God demonstrated here.

We don't always see the word power, but what's being said and what's being described is absolutely God's epic power.

All right, so as we get into this now, verse 22, remember that Peter, as he started his sermon, okay, he's providing biblical evidence now.

Remember, last week we looked at you know Joel chapter 2, right?

Joel 2 · chapter mention

Biblical evidence that the speaking in tongues, that whole phenomenon that that these Jews were, you know, witnessing here is actually God moving.

Right?

And we know that because it had been predicted in the Old Testament all along.

All right, God said, This is how it's gonna go, it's gonna happen.

Okay, so now verse 22, take a look.

Okay, Peter says, Men of Israel.

Okay, so so remember, Peter's addressing the development that was mentioned uh back in verse 5, okay, but but there's also a sense here in which he's just he's addressing you know Israel as as a whole.

Okay, because because remember, has have the Jews, okay, just in general, have they embraced Jesus as the Messiah, as Savior, and as their true king who came to die for their sins and rise to new life in power.

Have they done that?

Have they accepted him?

Well, no, they have not yet.

And so Peter here, again, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he has some very strong words that he needs to say to them as he proclaims the message of salvation.

Okay, so here's what he says: Men of Israel, okay, hear these words.

He's like, listen up, okay, Jesus of Nazareth, okay, that's the Son, a man attested to you by God, okay, God the Father, with mighty works and wonders and signs.

Right?

So there's the first glimpse that we really see there of power, right?

He uses the word mighty, okay?

These mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.

And now you notice there uh in that sentence that word attested, okay?

Attested means uh clearly demonstrated for one's benefit.

Okay, so so in other words, God clearly demonstrated that Jesus was in fact the Messiah by the various, you know, and miraculous, you know, powerful works and wonders and signs, the verse tells us.

Okay, it's it's it's obvious, it should be.

Okay, this Jesus, now verse 23, delivered up, you know, according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Now that verse 23 is an amazing verse uh in and of itself because it paints a picture for us here of that of that great paradox.

You know what a paradox is, right?

Two truths that appear to be you know contradictory, but they're really not.

Both are true.

So you've got in in this verse here, in verse 23, man's responsibility for the for the death of Christ, okay, and also God's role in it, right?

His plan coming to uh fruition.

Okay, so Peter, he he clearly you know holds both Jews and Gentiles, right?

The the Romans responsible for the crucifixion.

Right?

When speaking to these Jews who are who are listening here, he says, You crucified and killed him, right?

By the hands of lawless men.

That's that's the Romans.

They they did not submit to God's law.

That's what that uh means.

Okay, and yet ultimately, okay, ultimately, we see that Christ's death was also God's doing.

Okay, it was.

His definite is the word there.

So clear-cut, uh, a plan, right?

It was all according to God's.

The word there is foreknowledge.

Okay, sovereignly determined well in advance by the Father.

Okay, so so have both of these truths here in front of you, in your mind as you think about Christ's death.

Again, you know, man responsible for it, but all according to God's plan.

That's the paradox that we see here in verse 23.

Now, the next verse, verse 24, it says that God raised him up, okay?

God, the God the Father raised up the Son, loosing, and that word loosing there means means freeing from or or bringing to an end, okay, the pangs of death.

Because it was not possible.

How amazing is this?

It was not possible for him to be held by it.

Man, I mean that the power of God, you know, expressed there in that sentence.

Okay, death's power, do you realize this?

Death's power, you know, is no match for God's power.

Okay, and we know that the power of death is strong.

We're all headed for that.

We cannot escape death.

Yet God has power over and above uh life and even death, in that God raised up Jesus from the grave.

Right?

There was no chance whatsoever that death's power could could hold Christ down.

It was not possible for him to be held for it.

I mean, held by it, right?

That that is that is power.

That's what I'm talking about right there.

Okay, and and to show here that this has indeed happened, okay, Peter, again filled with the Spirit, he provides more scriptural evidence.

Right?

Last week he went to Joel chapter two, and this week he goes to two different psalms, okay, starting in verse 25.

Take a look.

It says, for David says concerning him, him.

Okay, so Peter quotes now from Psalm 16, okay, if you want to write that down, Psalm 16, uh, verses 8 and 11.

Okay, and of course it was written by King David.

For David says, concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.

Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced.

My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life, you will make me full of gladness with your presence.

So David, when he wrote this, he's expressing his his trust in the Lord, right, in the middle of very difficult times, his joy, his his his hope that that is in God, that God will not abandon him to be killed by by enemies, that you know, nor cast him away and toss him aside from from God's presence.

David is expressing his hope and joy in these things.

Okay, now why would Peter quote this passage?

Okay, why would he do that?

Well, beginning in verse 29, take a look.

He explains, again, I'm always saying this, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, remember this is Peter now, okay?

Um, and and and see this, how how Psalm 16 is not just David expressing his trust and his confidence and his commitment to the Lord, okay, but it's also to be understood as a prophetic or or or messianic reference to Jesus.

Okay?

Look what he says.

He says, brothers, okay, this so this is Peter now again speaking to the devout men that are watching this, you know, tongues and you know prophecy all taking place.

He says, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Hey, being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne.

Okay, that was a promise, you know, made to David by God in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

All right, so he sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne.

Read that.

Now, verse 31.

He, this is David, foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.

Okay, that he was not abandoned to Hades.

Hades representing death, okay?

Nor did his flesh see corruption, talking about, you know, the decay of death.

Okay, so do you see what Peter's getting at here?

Okay, do you see it?

Do you do you notice it?

Okay, because because because David, you know, obviously, you know, died, right?

He he didn't rise from the dead.

And remember, Peter's like, man, his tomb is with us to this day.

I could I could take you over there.

Okay, so so the person that David is referring to here in Psalm 16, okay, the holy one whom God would not allow, you know, or not abandon to Hades, to the grave, and and not allow to see corruption or or bodily decay in the tomb, right?

That's a very clear reference to who?

Right, to well, to the Messiah and Jesus, you know, fitting the description uh to a T perfectly, right?

As the one whom God raised up to life in this mega awesome display that we celebrate on Easter Sunday, displaying his power over death.

But Peter, I mean, he's not even done yet, he just keeps going here.

Verse 32, take a look.

He says, This Jesus, God raised up, he restates that.

And of that, we are all witnesses.

Remember that the disciples saw him risen bodily.

He appeared to them.

We're all witnesses.

He says, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God.

Okay, God's right hand, when it when it refers to that in the scripture, it's a picture of his power, right?

His right hand is power.

Okay, and sitting at his right hand, okay, you know, signifies the authority that Jesus had been given by the Father.

Okay, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, okay, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so you notice there, each member of the Trinity uh mentioned in those two verses, okay, notice that.

It says that he has poured out, okay, again, in power, this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing, right?

The tongues and the prophecy that you guys are are viewing right now, this is absolutely the Lord moving in power.

Uh recognize it.

Okay?

Now, now, verse 34, take a look.

Peter says, For for David did not ascend to the heavens, meaning that his body didn't, right?

His spirit did, but but his body didn't, his two, his tomb is with us.

Okay, but but who did Peter see do that?

Peter saw Jesus do that.

He saw that through the ascension.

Okay, and so so Peter shows them that that too, that event uh was also predicted uh in the Old Testament, in the scriptures, and and then he goes to Psalm 110, verse 1 for this.

Psalms 110:1

Look what he says.

He says, but he himself, okay, referring to David, says, the Lord, in other words, the Father, said to my Lord, Jesus, sit at my right hand, okay, until I make your enemies your footstool.

Okay, so all through these verses here, Peter is declaring to these devout men, right, that what they are seeing, what they are hearing, what they are witnessing is is happening, you know, in and through the disciples.

All of it is happening, you know, according to the Lord's power, and and all of it is exactly what God said would happen.

Right?

All of it is just a crystal clear display of the triune God's staggering power.

So listen.

As we think about spirit-filled ministry, as we think about this in our own lives, you know, and you know, in the life of our church and in the community that God is building here.

Listen, are we seeing God's power clearly on display?

And are we seeing that?

Because make no mistake, he's moving, right?

He is working in power.

The issue really is, you know, do we have the eyes to see it?

You know, I think about that that quote from John Piper where he said, you know, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.

Right?

How awesome is that?

Right?

So I think it really kind of begs the question are are we aware of God's spirit at work in our lives?

Are you aware of it?

Can you can you see it in your own life?

I tell you right now, I've I've had an opportunity over the last month plus to you know connect with some of you, a number of you, and that's been through texts and some Zoom calls and emails and phone calls and you know, all of that.

And you know, I can you know say confidently that the Lord is definitely moving and working powerfully at work.

You know, some of you who I've talked to, you know, you're just sensing that, man, my my sin is really being exposed here, right?

And we're all at home, and and maybe you're you're noticing that your your heart and your mind, you want to kind of go to junk and and selfish things.

Okay, okay, you better believe that is the spirit of God moving in power in your life.

Because I think sometimes what happens is we think of God's spirit moving in power as as only the mountaintop experiences.

Right?

We even like look at at Acts chapter two, and and we're like, wow, look at how God moves so dramatically in ways that I could see with my eyes.

And that's the only way that God works, which is, of course, nonsense, right?

God, God works through his spirit many times, I think a lot of the time, you know, in in the valley, valleys and in those kind of you know, gritty moments with us in the trenches where he's just kind of unearthing sin in our lives and trying to show us here that those things don't satisfy.

And so you're seeing that in your life.

Know that that is God's spirit moving in power.

You you don't have the ability to see your sin for what it is and walk away from it.

Right?

You don't have that.

You're not you're not strong enough.

In fact, we're all kind of like dumb sheep.

That's how the Bible describes us.

And so we just kind of keep going back to our vomit.

We keep going down to that kind of poisonous well, right?

So we need the Holy Spirit to help us see and then walk away from it.

And God is doing that in you, he's doing that in our people.

I've heard you talk about that, right?

Others of us are just you know learning to trust the Lord in you know, in deeper ways and cast our fears and our anxieties on him.

I don't think it's you know news to anybody that you know this pandemic has caused a lot of fear, right?

It's caused a lot of anxiety, which has driven us, I think, to God's word and to pressing into it more.

And you know, we're looking at you know, Psalm 91 and Psalm 43 and Psalm 57, and you know, we're going into that, we're clinging to it.

Lord, I'm anxious.

Would you, would you take that?

Would you would you you know ease that burden for me and help me to see that you are strong, that you are great?

Help me to cast my anxieties, my fears on you.

That is the spirit of God moving and urging you to trust the Lord more.

I love that I'm seeing that uh in our people.

Okay, for some of us, it's like gratitude welling.

I talked to somebody just the other day who's like, man, I get to spend so much time, you know, with my kids now.

Others of us are saying that as a burden, maybe, but think about how great that is.

Because we're gonna go back to, you know, life is normal at some point, I would imagine, and the kids are gonna go back to school.

Maybe that'll be next year, who knows?

You know, but but right now we have this opportunity to be with our family, and and you know, some of us, you know, have work and we're working through the challenges of that.

Others of us are, you know, looking for work and wrestling through all of that, but but in that, you maybe you're you're just more grateful uh for the core things in your life, the fact that you are saved, right?

The fact that God is good and he is providing, and we're not suffering in in as many ways, maybe as as others are.

And so this gratitude is welling up in you.

That is that's the spirit, right?

That's the spirit of God moving, right?

Others are just thankful for the gospel.

I see that in your social media posts, some of you, and how how you're pointing your followers to Christ, the fact that he has risen and he has saved us from sin.

I thought I saw it through Easter, but I've been so blessed to see that's that hasn't let up, right?

And you're just like, how awesome is the Lord?

He has forgiven a wretch like me, and you and your joy is in Christ and and what he has done and the plan of God.

I mean, that is that's the spirit of God working.

Okay, one more way, and then and then we'll move on here.

But I I've loved to see the spirit working in the fact that so many of you are so you know, just burdened to which you want to care for people in the church.

And you're like, I want to I want to serve people during this time.

And I know that it's you know, there's some ways that we're limited in how we can do that, but you're you're thinking through, you know, creative, you know, examples, and how can we make sure that that people are, you know, their burdens are being eased?

And can I like drop groceries off for somebody?

You know, is there anybody that needs their tires changed on their car?

Like these are examples of different ways that you have looked to work and and and bless people in our church.

Again, what is that?

That's that's God's spirit moving in power.

Without God's spirit, we're selfish.

We've got our eyes turned inward.

The fact that we want to be a blessing to the community and reach people is an amazing example of God's power in our lives.

Okay, so realize it, okay?

See it here, right?

God the Father, right, the Son, the Holy Spirit, which is of course the Trinity.

His power, I think, is clearly on display in the church.

Okay?

So to take some time today, you know, maybe right after this is all done, and certainly through this week, to you know, to intentionally and thoughtfully and very carefully consider the various ways that God is at work in you.

Right?

How are you seeing him move?

Maybe it's in a season of just humbling you, you know, and stripping away the comforts that you would want to run to normally, the idols that would you know you think are gonna satisfy you, he's showing you, no, they're not.

That's God's spirit.

Right?

Maybe you know, for you, he's he's just encouraging you and filling you with with new joy, despite this being a you know a time of trial.

That is obviously God's spirit moving.

Ask him for eyes to see him at work, not just in your life, but in the life of others as well.

There have been people who have reached out to you, that there have been people that you have connected with.

Praise the Lord that he is stirring in them to be a blessing in you.

All right, here's the second thing, final thing, what spirit-filled ministry looks like.

The gospel proclaimed with powerful boldness.

Have you noticed uh all through these verses here today, uh, just the ferocity of Peter's boldness, right?

Have you seen that?

And I know that last week we we looked a bit at the transformation that was happening uh in his character as the spirit filled him and then empowered him to correct the devout men who are who were mocking the work of God, right?

Well, all of this leads him, of course, to just you know proclaim the gospel now with with such power, with such profound boldness.

Okay, so just a couple of verses here that I want us to really just parachute into here for a second that highlight this.

Okay, back up a bit now, uh back to verse 22.

And notice how he says there, you see it?

You got your Bible there?

He says, Men of Israel, hear these words.

Hey, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you.

Again, that means clearly demonstrated to you, 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, look, know.

You yourselves know this.

I love the boldness of Peter in that moment.

He's like, you guys, you guys know that Jesus is Lord, right?

Right?

It's obvious God has done so many miraculous wonders and signs and miracles through him that that you you you you can't deny it.

Not not really.

You guys see that.

You're only denying it because of your hard and uh and unrepentant hearts.

He's like, you guys know this, recognize it.

He is the Messiah.

Okay, or how about the boldness of what he says next in verse 23?

He says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

Look, you crucified and killed.

Okay, not exactly subtle uh about who God holds responsible for the murder of Christ.

Okay, not at all.

Okay, okay.

Peter's, you know, he's not giving in to fear here whatsoever, like we've seen him do in the past.

Why?

Because the Spirit of God is empowering him now, right?

He he points out very clearly that these devout men, you know, Israel as a whole, that they're they're guilty before God because of their sin.

And I think that's just such a far cry from what we hear, you know, of about what evangelism should look like these days.

Have you heard about the whole idea of friendship evangelism?

I'm not like a thousand percent against it or anything, but but so many people will urge you, you you have to be like best friends with a person before you can ever even remotely broach the subject of God.

And so make sure that they know that you're not really weird and make sure that they know that you're you know you're really winsome.

And and so then and only then really should you be sharing Christ.

And you want to do that like uber sensitively and and and kind of minimize sin because that offends people, and get to the you know, the lovey-dovey stuff about how you know how God loves people and and heaven is waiting.

Okay, only we don't see Peter do that.

Right?

Peter doesn't know these guys, right?

He doesn't know there's a whole crowd there, and yet he just goes after the heart of it.

Right?

He just he he grabs the jugular.

Now, now he's not being a jerk.

Okay, he's not being harsh, he's just being truthful, he's being bold.

There's a diffic uh difference between boldness and and and harshness.

He he's filled with with courage, and it gives him this razor-sharp clarity now that this is the news, this is the truth that these people need to hear.

Right?

I I love that boldness in cr in Peter.

Right, and then down at the very end, if you jump down to the bottom here in verse 36, which we haven't really looked at yet, he he just drives the point home again with boldness and encouraging and again clarity.

Look what he says.

He says, let all the house of Israel, okay, all Jews, okay, all Jews who have, again, large in part, they've rejected Christ uh as the Messiah.

He says, Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain, right?

Because he's just stated his case and linked it to the scriptures which they believe, right?

Know for certain that this God has made him, Jesus, both Lord and Christ, meaning master and messiah.

He is your master.

God has made him both Lord and Christ.

This Jesus, whom, just in case you forgot, you crucified.

Again, the the boldness of Peter all throughout these verses here, as he delivers this first spirit-filled sermon, right, it's it's unmistakable.

Right?

You you can't deny it.

He proclaims the gospel, like he doesn't soft pedal sin, but at the same time, he also declares the solution, right?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

That is our power over sin when we repent and trust in Christ by faith.

Right?

Peter, he Peter magnifies the Father's sovereignty.

He he exalts the Son in his work, and then he emphasizes the mighty working of the Spirit.

And in so doing, the gospel is proclaimed.

God's extremely lost and yet at the same time extremely loved people, that's that's Israel, you know, hear the message of the gospel.

And now they have an opportunity to respond to it, and that's what we're gonna look at uh next week.

Okay, but but for us, uh now are we seeing okay, the the spirit's power at work in us to evangelize with boldness?

Okay, do you have a passion for the lost?

Do you have a passion for souls?

Because that's what spirit-filled ministry looks like.

We see this here in Acts 2, right?

And how the Spirit will motivate us and urge us and embolden us to engage with people, right?

With with, again, courage that overcomes fear.

I'm not saying you're gonna have zero fear, but courage is the triumph over it, right?

With the spirit gives us confidence now in the message.

You see that certainly with with Peter.

He gives us confidence in the scriptures and he gives us this inner fortitude to tell people of Christ.

We don't have any of that ourselves, not naturally.

It's not up to you to dig deeper and find that strength and find that boldness.

No, this the Spirit wells that up uh within you.

Right?

He gives you and I the willingness to you know to take a risk and talk to a person about Jesus for the sake of their eternity, right?

And with clarity, you know, just share God's love uh with them.

Listen, will you pray with me this week for just a deeper surrender to God's spirit in this, right?

For for repentance and and confession of sin, whatever that might be in your life, that that kind of mutes God's, you know, God's spirit power at work in your life, in and through us.

God, would you please you know give your church a heart for lost souls, right?

And a desire to see them turn in faith to Jesus Christ.

And Lord, would you use this in us?

Would we not just pray that God would you use somebody else?

God, would you use us?

Would you pray for those things?

Would you you know seek those things with me?

I am gonna be praying that for myself more.

I'm gonna be praying that uh for you this week.

And listen, I also want to say this if you have not yet surrendered to Jesus Christ, can I challenge you strongly here and and and and lovingly to do that right now?

Right, to to recognize that that you've got a sin problem in your life, right?

And that and that's not no big deal, right?

It's a massive deal because that puts you at odds with your creator, right?

Your God is is holy and which means he is perfect and he is also just, which means he has to punish sin.

And the Bible says that we're all headed for judgment, where we're gonna stand before God for the things that we have done.

And then now the bad news is that you can't you can't fix that.

You you can't pay the penalty that that that that is deserved, which is death, which is which is hell forever.

Now, now the good news though is what we've been talking about here today is that Jesus paid that price for you.

Right?

He he went to the cross, he absorbed God's wrath for you, he took the punishment that you deserved so that you could be forgiven, so that his perfect righteousness could become your own, so that you could be given the Holy Spirit as well, so that he could move and work and begin to transform you in a very practical sense and get you a part of the mission and unleash you to go and see God's kingdom established and built through the local church.

Listen, would you would you trust Christ today?

Would you just pray even now, just a very simple prayer and just admit your sinfulness before God, recognize God's love for you, thank him for dying on the cross for you, and and commit that that you are a follower of Jesus now.

Trust him as your Lord.

Listen, I want to pray for you right now.

I want to pray for us as a church that we would we would see these things, spirit-filled ministry taking even more root and having more effect in our church.

Join me as I pray.

God, we come before you now.

And first of all, I pray for anybody that's listening to this right now who has not yet uh bent their knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Lord, I pray that you would urge them by the power of your spirit to do so.

Lord, would you help them to see would they see so clearly that they've got sin in their lives and it's against you?

Lord, would they be shaken by that?

But at the same time, would they be filled with such gratitude and amazement that you decided to pay the price for them?

And that if they would just trust that what Jesus did on the cross was for them, if they would repent of their sins and apologize for it, Lord, they could be saved.

Lord, I pray that you would lead somebody to do that right now.

God, I pray that you would give your church a desire to see more people do that, Lord.

I pray that you would give us a hunger and a passion to see people turn to Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord.

Help us to weep over these things.

Lord, stir up our hearts, Lord, get our selfish, you know, inward-focused eyes turned outward onto you and onto what you are doing in the world.

God, I pray, I pray, God, that we would we would see you move, we would see you work in power and that you would use us, help us to be a part of that mission, not not going against the grain in any way, completely surrender to your will.

God, do it, do it we pray to the glory of the Father.

We pray all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen.