Transcript of Unstoppable Part 8

Unstoppable Part 8 The Church Triumphant Acts 2:22-36 The pattern for a triumphant and unstoppable church is found in the Book of Acts. The world is looking on. They’re wondering, do we, indeed, know something? Do we, indeed, have the answer? They want to know. The world has tried everything, and nothing is working. And, nothing will work, dear friend, because you can’t make a good omelet out of bad eggs no matter how you try. I mean, we can mix it this way, mix it that way, but the only answer—and I mean it with all of my heart—is found right here in this book. Now, I want you to see what a New Testament church is to be. We will look at the message Peter preached. He preached the manner of Jesus’ life, the meaning of His death, the miracle of His resurrection and the majesty of His reign. A Christ-Centered Message And, may I tell you without the shadow of any doubt one of the elements in a church triumphant is a Christ-centered message? I want you to see the message that Simon Peter preached on that day of Pentecost, at the birthday of the Church. “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with powerful works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know. You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him, whom God raised up by loosening the pull of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw 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; moreover my flesh will dwell in hope.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Now, I’m telling you, folks, that when Peter got up to preach on the day of Pentecost, he did not preach philosophy; he did not preach self help. He did not preach new thought. He preached Jesus. He preached the Word, even quoting Joel and David. This is the heart of the letter Paul write to his young pastor, Timothy. There are twenty seven explicit commands given in 2 Timothy. In twenty seven words Paul tells pastors what to focus on. You have to be blind to miss the thrust of Paul’s instructions here, because eighteen of those commands, two-thirds, have to do with the ministry of the Word. Peter did not preach a social gospel. This is a popular message among theological liberals. Rather than discussing the gospel as “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16), these individuals speak about the gospel as though it was meant to bring so-called “social justice” and the redistribution of wealth. But Peter, on the day of Pentecost, set the standard for us all, and he preached a Christ-centered message. He preached the Word which testifies of Jesus. He preached… I. The Manner of Jesus’ Life For example, he spoke of the manner of Jesus’s life. Look in verse 22: the Bible says, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with powerful works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ That is, Jesus Christ lived among men. “Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with powerful works and wonders and signs…” Jesus performed supernatural miracles. Supernatural merely means “above nature.” God is not bound by the laws of nature because there really are no laws of nature. What men call the laws of nature are in truth the laws of God that nature must obey. God is sovereign over nature. The law of gravity is overruled when a magnet picks up iron filings. The superior law of magnetism has taken over. In like fashion, the superior law of divine sovereignty overrules the lesser laws of nature. The patriarch Job said of God: “For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven, to make the weight of the wind, and He weighs the waters by measure. When He made a decree for the rain, and a path for the lightning of the thunder, then He saw it and declared it; He prepared it, yes, and searched it out.” Job‬ ‭28‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬ Jesus performed seven signs in John’s gospel proving He was God so that people would believe in Him. These miracles were supernatural proving He was nature’s creator. Turning the water to wine demonstrates God’s joy for your disappointment. The noble man’s son demonstrates God’s assurance for your doubts. Healing the impotent man demonstrates God’s strength for your disabilities. Feeding the 5,000 demonstrates God’s satisfaction for your desires. Calming the storm demonstrates God’s peace in your despair. Healing the blind man demonstrates God’s light for your darkness. Raising Lazarus from the dead demonstrates God’s life for your death. There is one greater miracle. The miracle of the new birth. Remember that John’s purpose for recounting the seven miracles in his Gospel is to bring us to Jesus and the abundant life He alone can give us through the new birth. Listen again to what the apostle wrote: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬ You are saved by believing. Miracles done by the hand of God glorify Him and do not glorify men. They will validate the claims and the identity of Almighty God. They will advance God’s work significantly. Someone wrote these words: “Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today He (Jesus) is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader in the column of progress.” And then, this person eloquently said, “I am far within the mark when I say that of all of the armies that ever marched, and all of the navies that were ever built, and all of the parliaments that ever have sat, and all of the kings that have ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that one solitary life: Jesus of Nazareth.” II. The Meaning of Jesus’ Death So, Peter preached on the manner of His life—verse 22 (Acts 2:22). And then, in verse 23, he preached on the meaning of His death: “You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him,” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Now, notice what Peter said: “It was God’s plan, but men did it (the Crucifixion).” May I tell you that Jesus Christ did not die as an incident or an accident? Jesus died by divine plan. The Bible makes it plain here that Jesus was not a martyr. The Bible says that He died by the “foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). The death of Jesus Christ on the cross for my sins and your sins was planned from eternity. And, what is the meaning of His death? It is substitution. He died for us, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Sin had to be paid for; and, therefore, God, from eternity, planned that there would be a substitute. Some people say, “Well, God is too good to punish sin.” You’ve got it backward. He’s too good not to punish sin. God is a righteous and a Holy God. He’s the judge of the universe. They say, in a court of law, when a guilty man is acquitted, the judge is condemned. If a judge knowingly, willingly, deliberately, lets a criminal go free, he becomes a criminal. If God were to let sin go unpunished, God would topple from His throne of holiness. But, God knew that sin must be punished, but He loved the sinner. And so, God let His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, die a substitutionary death on the cross. III. The Miracle of Jesus’ Resurrection In 2009, Richard Stearns, CEO of World Vision, published a book titled The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? Stearns stressed the importance of putting the Christian faith into action, particularly as it relates to caring for the poor and downtrodden around the world. For Stearns, the “hole” in the Gospel for many Christians is that most American believers think that Christianity is primarily about a personal relationship with God, and they neglect a public relationship with the world designed to transform the culture. He drifts into the message of the “social gospel.” Popular pastor and blogger, Kevin DeYoung was asked to write a review of Stearns’ book. In his critique, DeYoung acknowledged that Stearns’ book had many strengths, and then he highlighted some of its problems. For example, DeYoung states, “I can’t count all the times in the book we are told to change the world, start a social revolution, or usher in the kingdom of God. If only we gave more or had the will, we could eradicate hunger and win the war on poverty.” DeYoung closes his review with the following words: “We must use words if we are to preach the gospel, because the gospel is a message we must proclaim. If we never live like Christians, we are not Christians. But to tell people that they must repent and believe in Jesus for the remission of sins, to tell them that God sent His Son in love to bear His just wrath, to tell them that they must receive the kingdom in faith like little children, is not a gospel with a hole in it.” Yes it is but it’s a different hole. What did he miss? The resurrection. The resurrection is what worried the religious leaders in the book of Acts. It was because the Apostles preached the resurrection that they were in trouble with the authorities. “As they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly troubled, because they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ This is the message Satan wants to remove from our preaching. Notice what Peter preached. Peter preached the manner of His life—verse 22 (Acts 2:22). Then, he preached the meaning of His death in verse 23 (Acts 2:23). And then, he preached the miracle of His resurrection in verse 24: “whom God raised up by loosening the pull of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Boy, I love that. You know, there were those who said, “We’re going to kill Him. We’re gonna put Him in the grave, and we’re gonna be rid of Him.” But friend, the corpse has outlived the pallbearers. Amen? It’s not possible that death could hold the Lord of life. Remember, one of the requirements for the Apostle to replace Judas was they had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection. All of the sermons recorded in Acts focus on the resurrection of Jesus. It might initially seem like there is one exception in Acts 7, but in fact that sermon was interrupted when the risen Jesus himself opened heaven and appeared to Stephen while he was preaching! Let’s see what was first in importance for Paul. What was his primary concern? 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ESV Paul reminded the Corinthians of the gospel message he preached to them, and by which they were saved. He said that this message was “of first importance.” Years ago, I read a fable—just a fable, but a beautiful story—of a lion, the monarch of the jungle, who was sleepy, and he saw a cave. And so, he said, “I’ll go into that cave, and I’ll take a long summer’s nap.” And, the old lion with his massive mane went into the cave, gave a yawn, and lay down. There was a spider who saw him, and the spider says, “This is my chance. I will imprison that lion in here.” And so, the spider, at the mouth of the cave, began to spin a web. Up and down, back and across, and around, and around, and around, and around, the spider spun ’till he almost spun himself away. And finally, there was the spider’s web. And, he said, “Now, I have the lion as my prisoner. No longer will he stalk his prey in the jungle. No longer will he strut through the mighty forest. He is my prisoner!” But, the old lion arose from his nap and stretched himself, shook himself, and the dust went off his mane. He stretched one more time and let out a roar that echoed through the valley. And then, he walked out of the cave and never even knew that the spider’s web was there. Death said, “I have Jesus. I’ve got Him! I’ve got Him in my hold now!” My friend, I want to tell you the Lion of the tribe of Judah is alive and well today. Death could not hold is prey—Jesus, my Savior. He tore the bars away-Jesus my Lord? Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph of His foes He arose a victory from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose! Why is the church unstoppable? We have an eternal Savior. He defeated our greatest enemy. Death. We have been delivered from the fear of death. We overcome by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, and love not our lives unto death. The gospel isn’t the good news only because Jesus died for our sins; it is good news because He died for our sins and He conquered death, which allows Him to perform His present and future ministries and give us resurrection life now and for eternity. IV. The Majesty of Jesus’ Reign What is the ingredient of a New Testament church? It is Christ-centered preaching: the magnificence of His life, my dear friend; the meaning of His death; the miracle of His resurrection; and the majesty of His reign, for Peter’s not finished yet. Look, if you will, in verse 36: “Therefore, let all the house of Israel assuredly know that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭36‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ He is the head, we are the body. He is the groom, we are the bride. He is the vine, we are the branches. He is the foundation, we are the stones. He is the shepherd, we are the sheep. He is the High Priest, we are the priesthood. We talk about “making Jesus Lord”—you’re too late! He already is. Now, you can get in on it if you want to, but you’re not gonna make Him Lord. Friend, He is Lord and Christ! He’s risen from the dead. He has ascended. And, one day, He’s coming back again. Any church that calls itself a church that is not presenting this kind of Jesus is not worth the real estate that it occupies. It’s a bogus church. Its apostate. Every church is to be a Christ-centered church that is preaching a sinless Savior, who died a substitutionary death; who came up out of that grave, literally, bodily, actually; who’s gone into the heavens; and who is coming again. His name is Jesus. And, my dear friend, I want to tell you that a New Testament church has a Christ-centered message. This makes the church unstoppable. The church is triumphant!