What I hope to do this morning is really to follow Peter's lead, and hopefully it will be a very simple sermon and very clear and very straightforward. We're going to look at this as a model sermon, Peter's sermon, and spend a few weeks this Lord's Day morning in the Lord willing for Palm Sunday and then Easter Sunday morning as well. Very fitting is he preaches on the resurrection, but you might say it's a mini-series within our series. We had a mini-series within our series on the Holy Spirit. That sort of continues, I guess, and then a mini-series on this sermon, and then following Easter will have another mini-series as we see the reaction, the response of the early church which will tell us as a church how we should respond. So this kind of preaching, but also to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will be a great example to what it is to see a model, sure, but right now we begin where Peter begins, and that is with the interest of his hearers, and that's good advice. All the books on preaching and communicating will tell you that's good advice. Again, Peter's model sermon, that he does not ignore the questions of his hearers. They want to know what it's all this means. They're asking, what is this phenomenon? What is the fire, the trungs of fire? What is this wind that we're hearing in these foreign languages, explain this to his, are you drunk? Are the apostles drunk, and Peter sets out to answer those questions, and verse, if you look back at verse 15, verse 16 says, to compare by, make sure they understand, these are you, they are not drunk, how dare you, they're not drunk, and then verse 16 explains as the wind and the fire and the foreign languages, these are things they were spoken of by the Prophet Joel, and he goes on to explain what Joel meant, and that this is that, this that you're saying is that, which Joel said, this is none other than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was promised by God. So what Peter's doing, though, is answering the questions of the people of his day, and so should we. But the only way that you can answer the questions of the people in our day is to know what sort of questions are they asking. I would suggest to you that we live in a day in which many people feel insecure. This is a day in which people feel very lonely, they feel alienated, they have a sense and maybe it's because of the side of the time, just what's being taught, a lot of talk like this, but it's still none the left, it's an issue for people, that they feel that they lack self-worth, they lack a sense of significance. A lot of people have burned out, they're emotionally burned out, scores of people have given themselves over to the lust of the flesh, and they're addicted to it, but they're finding, even though they're addicted to it, they can't get away from it, that it's not fulfilling them, they're dried up, they're desperately empty. I think we live in a day when people want to know their questions, if this all there is, they're not more to life than what I have and what I'm seeing in front of me, and not only so, another question of the day is certainly the question, why, why is there such poverty, why is there such immorality, why isn't it that there's such a strong abuse and such high crime, what can be done, what is the answer, it's very distressing, it can be very confusing we need to learn to give as Francis Shaper said, honest answers to honest questions, because these are honest questions, why am I not feeling, why do I feel alone, why is it that life has no meaning, why do I feel empty, why do I feel alienated, we're the ones who have the answer, we have the honest answer, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're alienated, you feel alienated, because you are alienated, sin has separated you from God, you're alienated from the very one in whose image you are made, and so there's only one answer is because of sin that you're not able to deal with that need, and you need a Savior, you need Jesus Christ, we're not oversimplifying and saying, as long as you come to Jesus actually into your heart and all your problems will go away, we would never say that, but we are saying that at the heart of every problem is the heart of sin, at the heart of every problem is the problem that we live in the fallen, in a fallen world, and I believe in that again, that is at the very core, at the very heart of every problem we have, is that we need a Savior, we need a Redeemer, we need a reconciler, and that's the solution, that's the only solution is Jesus Christ, and that's that you're Christ indeed, it's my duty to preach it, it's our duty of the church, however, to give people answers to these questions and say that in the only answer it's found, the only solution is found in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. That's what Peter is preaching in the temptation today is to reduce Christian Andy to some sort of self-helpism, and that's what we hear very often coming out of our pulpits, the temptation very often for preachers is to not preach the word because they think people don't want to hear the word, they're not going to sit under expository preaching weekend and week down, and they call their sinners, and so they give end to the temptation and what comes from the, very often what comes from the pulp it is what we might refer to as top psychology, where a preacher takes a specific felt need, and he addresses that felt need and he uses the pulpit of the tool to give advice such as how to lose weight, how to gain friends, how to influence people and how to have good self-esteem and how to have self-worth, and you know what, it's very interesting and very often too, in these churches the churches are packed because people want to hear that you see, and it does help them, but it's not preaching, it's not preaching in its purist form, if the preacher does not deal with the problem of sin and the solution of a Savior, then that preacher has helped no one ultimately, maybe some short lives, little whims or the whims of the day, you see that Peter is preaching Christ, Terry Jarsen, I'm looking a lot at his exposition in Acts, and this is what he said in his sermon, felt needs are only pointers to ultimate needs which are only met in Christ. You know that crowd, the crowd at Peter's preaching too, they didn't anymore want some superficial answer about that phenomenon of the Holy Spirit and tentacles, and Peter couldn't anymore stop at verse 21, he couldn't do it because it wouldn't be truth, he wouldn't have given them the word, he wouldn't have given them the answers to their questions, had he stopped at verse 21, he praises Christ, the result of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is preaching that is Christ centered, and that's precisely where we find him, precisely where we find it in this model sermon, look at verse 22, where he praises Jesus Christ, hear these words of Jesus of Nazareth, very basic, fundamental, that's the way Peter starts out, that may be his technique to start out slugs, that he's going to get crimes on, you better believe it, he's going to let it all out, and he is not going to let anybody off the hook, he doesn't hold anything back, but he begins very slow, deliberate, of Jesus of Nazareth, he says, a man attested by God to you, he's building his case, he says, by miracles, wonders and signs, I want you to notice there, the purpose of miracles, the purpose of the wonders, people today are crying out for miracles, they want the signs again, but don't need the signs that we have the Word of God, the signs were pointing to the fact that he was indeed from God, which is said there, which God did through him in your midst, and then obviously everyone had either seen these signs, first hand, or they had heard, because it says, as you yourselves also know, and you know there's tremendous value in preaching the life of Jesus, I've told you before we spent in Clarkstale over two years in the gospel of John, reason being, it was our premise that we just want to get to know Jesus, we've said it many weeks there, we just want to fall more in love with who Jesus is, we want to get to know Him again, or when was the last time you read through one of the gospels? When was the last time that you sat down and just read through the sermon on the Mount, now seeing how Jesus related with people, there was the last time you were overwhelmed by His awesome compassion. You can thought of a well by who He is, I urge you at some point soon, go and just sit down and read through one of the gospels, get to know Him, it'll change your life, and then He created Jesus' death in verse 23. Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands and crucified and put to death, why then, look at the verses when I saw that earlier, so I want you to see it for yourself, look for yourself at that first 23 and think about, tell me why was Jesus crucified? Why was He crucified according to Peter, He gives two answers? The first is Jesus was crucified because it was the will of God that He based on. Look at what is the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. His death was part of God's plan, you see. And then secondly, because the lawless days of Godless men, you never to Peter of salt paddling, he didn't soften his sermon by using the pronoun we, he called us straight to state and he said, you have taken by lawless hands and crucified and put to death. Certainly, it teaches us that God is in control, on the one hand, yet Ephesians 1-11, God is in control, but nonetheless we are responsible for what we do. No excuses, you realize of course, Peter is preaching the sermon in the face of the very one through seven weeks previous, nailed his Lord through a cross. They murdered his friend, his Lord, his Savior, and every commentary, just about every commentary I read on this mention, the fact that this was a fearless sermon. And then notice he preaches Jesus' resurrection and ascension. This is really the heart of the sermon. Verse 24, whom God raised up having loose the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it. He said, and you killed him and God has raised him up. Peter knew exactly what he was doing. In verse 23, he was sticking the bike in their heart. In verse 24, he's twisting the knife. He said, you not only killed him, but God has raised him up. How does he know? How is he so certain that God raised him up? How can he be so sure? We're going to find now a scripture testified of that fact. He's seen it with his own eyes and the spirit confirms it. Look at beginning in verse 25, he quotes from Psalm 16, David says concerning him, I thought the Lord saw the Lord always before my face, where he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was black. Moreover, my flesh will also rest in hope. And then here's the main point, because you will not leave my soul and hate, nor will you allow your holy one to seek corruption. You have made knowns of me the ways of life and you will make me full of joy in your presence. David is talking about this holy one that's never abandoned and he will not seek decay and Peter is saying he couldn't be referring to himself because we know that David was dead and he was buried. He is dead. He was buried and he did seek decay. Look at verse 29. Obviously, they already knew this. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch, David, that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day. And then what's David's point, verse 30, therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ and sit on the throne. David is a prophet and David is speaking as a prophet here when he mentions this one who would die but he wouldn't remain under death or in death. And David is looking ahead, he is speaking of the resurrection of the Messiah and he said, I know that he will be one of my descendants and he will sit on the throne forever and ever and ever. Look at verse 31. For saying this, he spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hiding in order to his flesh to the corruption. One thousand years before the event, he is predicting the death and the resurrection of Jesus. And Peter is just saying, I'm an eyewitness to this fact in verse 32, he says, this Jesus, this Jesus, you remember now, he's talking, he's trying to answer their questions. He's saying, this Jesus is a descendant of David. The Christ is none other than this Jesus and further, God has raised him up of which we are all witnesses. Many of them have seen the empty zone. Many of them have seen Jesus himself. Paul tells us that he showed himself, at one time to 500 people, he talks about that in first Corinthians 15. And what you're going to find and what you will find is that the apostles come back to this again and again and again and again in their preaching just for times like, let me just raise them instead of you turning, but first John 1,1, John says, they preach that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands of handles, concerning the word of life. And then Peter, in another context, in second Peter 1, he says, we did not follow cunningly devised fables, which we may know to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but where eyewitnesses of His majesty, 1 Peter 1, and 2 Peter 1, 16. And then in his other, another sermon of praises, next sermon in Acts chapter 3, he says, a fact to which we are witnesses. They're saying, we're praising the three and it's not fantasy. This is not something we made up. It's not folklore. This is not some kind of mass delusion. We saw it with our own eyes. And they were so certain of that. They were certain of the resurrection as they were of their own existence, and they proclaimed that they were even willing to die for it, and many of them did die for it. And because they died for it, we are here this morning, and we believe. And we believe there are witness accounts, which brings them to the his final point, really, the Holy Spirit testimony and brings it all together in verse 33, therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father of the promise of the Holy Spirit. He poured out this which you now see in here. He just needs to explain it to me saying, this is what you're seeing. This is what you're hearing. This is the explanation. This is the answer to your question that Jesus has ascended. He is exalted to the right hand of God, the father, and from the right hand of God, the father, he has poured out his spirit, and that is what you are witnessing. This is what you're saying. And he is alive. It proves that he's resurrected. And it proves that he's at the right hand of God. Not only to script your prayer, but not only if I've seen it with my own eyes, but you see it too. That's what he's saying to these people. He goes back to scripture again in verse 34. He said, for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, said it my right hand, until I make your enemies a pistol. Again, David's not talking about himself. There's no way he didn't ascend into heaven. He says, the Lord, which is the name Jehovah, said to my Lord, my hand and I, my Messiah, my Savior, he is alive. Peter preached a living Christ. Are we doing that? Are we communicating that we believe that Jesus Christ is alive? When people say that and they visit our church, having sat next to you, they walk out of here, and they know to say that first, not that next to you, they change more like a watch than worship today. I know because I went to Trinity Church. Jesus is alive. Do they gather that from us? Are they gathering that from your lifestyle? Do your coworkers and your friends? Do your children know from watching you that you know beyond a shadow without you would even give your life for the fact that Jesus Christ is alive? We serve a living Savior. You have the other side of what based on my would visit our church, and they say, they're not any different than anybody else. That's just some social club over there. That's just some study group over there. Would they say that about us? Certainly not. We want them to say they're serving their worshiping Jesus Christ as he is alive. And then lastly, and concludes, I want you to see Peter's persistence in verse 36. He's relentless, and this is what will actually take us into the next week. He says, therefore, let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus home you crucified Lord and Christ. He has done light up on me saying, you killed him. You murdered the greatest man that ever lived on the face of the earth. And now God has raised him from the dead. What are you going to do about it? How are you going to deal with him? Why is it that Peter's slower relentless? I suggest to you that Peter is relentless and is preaching because he knows that true, biblical preaching addresses the conscience. It pricks the heart. It presses for a verdict. You ought to demand that. Some people say, they don't want to go to churches, they don't want to leave feeling like their conscience has been pricked. Those that lost the Word, that's what they want. And I say demand out of it, but if you pray for me, you pray that I study in such a way and deliver it in such a way that the conscience is pricked, that the Spirit is pleased to do that in our church so that every Lord's day, a verdict, a verdict is pressed from us. Peter just wants to say repentance because you crucified him. Now what are you going to do with him? And so we can and we can't, we come to this run in the sanctuary. And we say the same Jesus, this Jesus, miracle-working, miracle-working Jesus, crucified dead and buried. You said it earlier in the creed. He descended to the right hand and now he sits there and he has sent forth His Spirit and he is so alive in this place that it is this, the finger of Peter, is pointing out of that scripture that's in your lap right now, and pointing at you and saying what are you going to do with and you murdered? And you're sin murdered and God raised him up. Now what are you going to do with him? You have to give a verdict, you have to. And you will, you walk out of here and you later do it actively or passively. Either consciously or subconsciously, but every single one of us are going to walk out of here with a verdict. I just pray that you find yourself on the side of Jesus Christ, that you've given yourself to him, he who is Lord and Christ as we pray together.