KNOW THIS (Closed captioned)
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[Please rise] for the reading of this morning's Sermon Text
recorded for us by Luke in the Book of Acts, where we read
from Chapter 4, beginning with Verse 8:
THEN PETER, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
SAID TO THEM: "RULERS AND ELDERS OF THE PEOPLE!
IF WE ARE BEING CALLED TO ACCOUNT TODAY FOR AN ACT OF
KINDNESS SHOWN TO A CRIPPLE
AND ARE ASKED HOW HE WAS HEALED, THEN KNOW THIS,
YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE IN [ALL THE PEOPLE OF] ISRAEL:
IT IS BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH,
WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED BUT WHOM
GOD RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THAT THIS MAN
STANDS BEFORE YOU COMPLETELY HEALED
HE IS " 'THE STONE YOU BUILDERS REJECTED,
WHICH HAS BECOME THE CAPSTONE.'
SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER
NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN TO MEN BY WHICH
WE MUST BE SAVED."
Let us pray: This is the day that
the Lord has made. Let us rejoice
and be glad in it. Amen.
[Text taken from THE HOLY BIBLE:
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 1973, 1978, 1984,
used by permission of
Zondervan Bible Publishers]
Dear Followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
There were so many things that occurred
on that first Easter Sunday.
If we look at the events that happened
in the lives of the disciples, it is
almost mind-boggling
the roller coaster of emotions
that those men and women were on.
Those women who went to the tomb
carrying 75 pounds of spices,
to embalm Jesus' body
concerned and worried how they were even
going to get in. And then to find that the stone
had been rolled away and Jesus' body wasn't there.
But then to see the angels that were there
and an angel who spoke with them
and told them not to be afraid!
The fear ... the joy ...
the amazement. Mary herself
attacking whom she thinks
is the gardener that has taken Jesus' body,
only to find out minutes later
that it is her Lord and Savior Himself.
The joy ...
the amazement! The disciples themselves
running to the tomb
to find out what was going on. To see
with their own eyes what had happened.
Those disciples that were on their way to Emmaus
who were discussing with each other all of the things
that had happened in just a matter of seven days.
All of the news from Jesus'
entry into Jerusalem to the whole suffering and
death and then their departure.
Only to have someone come and
stand among them to teach them
this is what had to happen.
And when they begged that man to sit down with them and
eat and stay with them and He broke the bread
and they realized it was
Jesus Himself!
What JOY must have filled their lives
from the depression that they had and Jesus then
disappeared. And they got up
and went back to Jerusalem. Because they had
news to tell. There were things that were happening.
And they were gathered together, those disciples,
in that locked room and Jesus comes and stands
in the middle of them.
Because they were afraid. There was terror
of what the Jews were going to do to them
and Jesus Himself comes to them and says: Peace.
Peace be with you.
Look. Here I am. I have flesh
and bones. I am alive.
And if you don't believe Me by what you see and
what you can touch, give Me something to eat.
And they had joy
and amazement. All of this
emotional turmoil must
have been draining for the disciples.
But yet, Jesus coming to them
said: Now you
are going to go into action.
This isn't
the end. This is the
beginning. And I am going to send you out.
You people are going to
be My witnesses. You are the
ones who are going to go and tell
what you have seen. Tell what you know about.
Proclaim Jesus Christ once you receive
the Holy Spirit and that power from God the Father
Himself. And in our
sermon text for this morning, we see
Peter acting with that power.
We see Peter standing before the ruling
council of the Jews.
No longer afraid are the disciples.
No longer locked in a room, but they are out doing
what God told them to do.
They are telling the news of Jesus Christ.
They healed a crippled man by the power of God and
they got in trouble for it.
But Peter stands before that ruling council,
before those elders of the church, and doesn't back down.
He has no fear. He said:
If you people think that you have brought us here
because we did an act of kindness,
because we healed someone ...
you KNOW THIS
and you better pay attention to it.
Because it wasn't us. It has
nothing to do with us as the disciples.
It has everything to do
with Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
And KNOW THIS: He is the One
who was crucified. He is the One who was
raised from the dead, and His is the ONLY name
by which people
will be saved.
The strength, and the power that the Holy Spirit supplies
in the life of a believer
is tremendous and transforming.
And you and I
have that Spirit.
You and I have that same Spirit of God
working with us and working within us.
And yet, you and I like those disciples,
sometimes in our lives can get so overwhelmed
with what is going on.
So overwhelmed with the events of our lives,
and the fears that we have, and the joys that we have,
and the things that pile on, time after time after time.
And all of that amazement in our life.
But yet, God comes to us as well.
And He says: Peace
be with you.
And get the message
that you,
you are the people
who are to go out and tell.
You are the people who have
the message. You know
what God did. And you have the power
of the Spirit to go out
and share that knowledge. To tell others in the world
to KNOW THIS.
To KNOW Jesus Christ of Nazareth ... who is our Lord
and He is our Savior. Who has accomplished
EVERYTHING for us. Just like
He told the disciples that He was there to fulfill
all of the Old Testament; the prophets, the Law;
He kept those things perfectly.
Even from our Psalm this morning:
"THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE
CAPSTONE." [PSALM 118:22] The stone that got placed at the
top of the arch. The stone that took all of the
pressure from all of the stones
leading up to it. To hold it in place.
To keep it solid.
To keep it steady. Because if it cracked or
it had a flaw, or it had a weakness,
the arch would fall. But Christ didn't have
any weakness. He didn't have any flaw. He had
the strength of God and
He carried out God's will. And
people rejected Him. The Jews
rejected Him and they
crucified Him. Jesus was crucified
by the Jews, through the power
of Pilate, but by the will of God.
As the payment for our sins.
As the payment
to wash away our sins.
And you know this.
This is so important to your life because you know
you can't hide your sins. You can't make them
go away. You can't erase them. How often
in our life aren't we troubled
by those things that we do because they come back to us.
In different form. In different ways.
People don't forget the things that we've said. Or the things
that we've done. No matter how many years
pass between the event and today.
We can't erase it.
We can't get our way into heaven.
It is only through Jesus Christ
who was crucified for our sins that they
have been removed from us.
And we know that. And that is
our faith. And that makes a difference
in our life.
The Apostle John wrote
that means that we're not going to sin because we live
in the life of God. We no longer live in that darkness
of sin. If we say we're not sinful, we're liars.
We're making God out to be something less than
what He is and His sacrifice meant nothing.
We know how great that sacrifice was.
And we know what it means to us.
So in thanks for all that God has done, we live in
that forgiveness.
We go back to Him for that comfort and then we know how
to comfort those who sin against us.
How to speak to each other
without grudges, without resentment.
Without making them jump through some hoops
that God didn't make us jump through. To simply
and from the heart say:
You are forgiven.
Christ died for your sins.
Christ forgives you.
I forgive you.
Know this. Know this because it is such
a change in perspective in our lives.
We are not perfect.
Christ was! We are
forgiven, each of us
for every one of our shortcomings,
and every one of our faults.
And, therefore, we rejoice!
We rejoice that Christ was crucified.
We also rejoice that God raised Him
from the dead. That God did
not allow Him to stay in that tomb, but
put that sacrifice and said:
This is the atonement that I sent. It is the atonement
that I was looking for. And I will raise
My Son from the dead to prove that it was
acceptable. He will conquer death
and He will bring life, eternal life,
to those who believe in Him.
KNOW THIS! And we do.
It IS our comfort in life
that knowing that our eternity is secure
and it is taken care of. That doesn't mean that
we are going to struggle with it and be frightened
of death at some time. But we come back
to the knowledge that God has said.
He didn't say our life as Christians was going to be
easy and we were going to lay our head on a feather pillow
in a featherbed and pass peacefully in our sleep.
He said we are going to
die. And for some of us
that's going to be painful, and for some of us
it may hurt. And for some of us
it may be long and drawn out,
and for others of us it may be quick.
And that's a sobering thought.
But the reality is
and the truth is, that does not matter
in comparison to what
happens when the soul separates
from the body and goes to be with Christ.
Where there is ALL perfection
and ALL glory to be with God
for all eternity does not compare at all ...
to anything in this life.
But our human nature wants to make it
all about here.
And I'M in control of my life.
And I am the one who determines what makes my life
fit to live or someone else's life fit to live and I have
the right and authority to take that life into my hands
if I do it lovingly and mercifully.
And only God has that right.
He gave us life.
He will take that life from us
in His time.
And we rejoice that He gives to us eternal life
because of His Son.
And that knowledge calms our fears.
That knowledge keeps us steady in the days
when it looks like it's going to be long
and difficult. But we know God
still loves us. We KNOW THIS.
And that's what we need to share with people ...
to give THEM comfort. To give
THEM hope for what is in the future and be able to
stand at the bedside
of our family members or our church members
and strengthen them at that moment of death.
Coming with strong words of encouragement
from Christ, with love and
understanding. Reminding them their sins are
forgiven and heaven is theirs. That God
has prepared a place for them and He's coming to take them
to be with Him.
To strengthen that faith in those days
when it is going to be severely tested.
So that they will KNOW the comfort of
Jesus Christ.
Because there is no other name.
There is no other way
to salvation
other than through Jesus Christ.
other than through Jesus Christ.
That
statement has such power
and such weight for us.
It is our
motivation and it is our strength.
We're not playing games here.
We're not just trying to make
a better world. We're not just trying
to keep people in line.
We are bringing people
the salvation of Jesus Christ.
The forgiveness of sins ... eternal life
in His name.
There is no other
option. There is no other
way.
Do you know that?
Do you trust that?
Because sometimes I think our human nature
gets dulled to that fact.
There must be some other way.
God's gonna kinda be loving. All of this stuff
really doesn't matter. It does.
Because faith in Jesus Christ
IS what saves.
And those people that you know
who don't know that are not saved.
Those people who believe in something
OTHER than Jesus Christ
are not saved.
And we have that knowledge.
And back to the fact
that we have the power. We have the power
of the Holy Spirit. And no one is denying,
even from Irene this morning,
that sometimes that's scary.
Sometimes that makes us nervous.
Sometimes that makes it difficult.
But what other option do we have?
We who have the knowledge,
we who know Jesus Christ ...
what's our option?
what's our option?
There isn't.
There is no other name under heaven
given to men by which
we are saved. And thank God
He has shared that knowledge with us.
Thank God we KNOW THIS.
Now let us show our appreciation
as we tell others
to KNOW THIS as well.
Amen.
Let us rise.
Now may the peace of God which goes beyond all of our
understanding keep your hearts and your minds and
especially your lives in the one true faith
unto life everlasting. Amen.