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Clarify the Call: Clarify the Gospel
August 10, 2025 · 55 min
Have you ever played a game of Telephone where a truth morphs into something entirely different as it passes through each ear? Pastor Jeff draws a captivating parallel to the Gospel, revealing how crucial it is to share its true essence amidst a world filled with misconceptions. In his powerful message, he urges us to "clarify the Gospel", emphasizing its importance in our spiritual lives. By exploring Acts chapter two, Pastor Jeff outlines five vital truths about the Gospel: standing boldly for Christ, sharing Scripture, exalting Christ's work, declaring His lordship, and calling for repentance. These truths are not merely academic; they have real transformative power in our everyday lives. Pastor Jeff passionately encourages us that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are compelled to share the good news boldly, just as Peter did on Pentecost. He invites you to assess your relationship with Christ—has He truly become your Lord? This sermon offers an urgent call to engage seriously with the Gospel and deepen your faith journey. Don't miss out on this life-changing message—tune in and discover the clarity God offers through His Word! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church August 10, 2025 · 55 min · BRAVE Church
Have you ever played a game of Telephone where a truth morphs into something entirely different as it passes through each ear? Pastor Jeff draws a captivating parallel to the Gospel, revealing how crucial it is to share its true essence amidst a world filled with misconceptions. In his powerful message, he urges us to "clarify the Gospel", emphasizing its importance in our spiritual lives. By exploring Acts chapter two, Pastor Jeff outlines five vital truths about the Gospel: standing boldly for Christ, sharing Scripture, exalting Christ's work, declaring His lordship, and calling for repentance. These truths are not merely academic; they have real transformative power in our everyday lives. Pastor Jeff passionately encourages us that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are compelled to share the good news boldly, just as Peter did on Pentecost. He invites you to assess your relationship with Christ—has He truly become your Lord? This sermon offers an urgent call to engage seriously with the Gospel and deepen your faith journey. Don't miss out on this life-changing message—tune in and discover the clarity God offers through His Word! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less Have you ever played a game of Telephone where a truth morphs into something entirely different as it passes through each ear? Pastor Jeff draws a captivating parallel to the Gospel, revealing how crucial it is to share its true essence amidst a world filled with misconceptions. In his powerful message, he urges us to "clarify the Gospel", emphasizing its importance in our spiritual lives. By exploring Acts chapter two, Pastor Jeff outlines five vital truths about the Gospel: standing boldly for Christ, sharing Scripture, exalting Christ's work, declaring His lordship, and calling for repentance. These truths are not merely academic; they have real transformative power in our everyday lives. Pastor Jeff passionately encourages us that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are compelled to share the good news boldly, just as Peter did on Pentecost. He invites you to assess your relationship with Christ—has He truly become your Lord? This sermon offers an urgent call to engage seriously with the Gospel and deepen your faith journey. Don't miss out on this life-changing message—tune in and discover the clarity God offers through His Word! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Well, morning. Will you help me welcome all of our brave campuses that are worshiping with us today? Good to have all of you. Just wanna add my words to this too. Make sure0:12 you're participating in our 21 days of prayer. If you didn't pick up a book on the way in, please pick up 1 on the way out. There are prompts. There's QR codes. We'll help you do this. Pick a friend. Use your spouse. Use0:22 your kids. Have different people any day, but let's pray as a team. Let's pray as a church. Let's expect God to do some great things. Amen? And with that, let's go before the Lord. Let's prepare our hearts for his living0:33 and his active word this morning. Will you pray with me? Our father in heaven, we give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise because you and you alone deserve it all. You're the God of0:45 the universe. We declare that. We've declared that in our songs and our prayers, and Lord, we're about ready to hear from your living and active word. And we're so encouraged by that because we as a people believe that0:56 every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning is speak Lord for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those of you who have gathered, who desire to hear1:07 the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what he says and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly by saying the word amen.1:19 Amen. When our kids were younger, 1 of the games they liked to play with their grandparents when we're having dinner with them was the game called telephone. Have you ever played that game before? Where 1 person makes up1:29
1:39 person at the end has to say, here's the story, and they tell the story. And it was always hilarious because I think my son always changed the story on purpose, but as the story went around, even
1:51 when we tried to tell the truth, it always came out just a little bit different. It was never quite the same as the details that the first person had said that. When it comes to the gospel of Jesus
2:02 Christ, I believe the telephone game happens quite a bit. That when we hear from the word of God what the gospel is, and then we begin to share it with others, what they receive may not be exactly what the word says. And
2:14 as they pass it on, it may not actually be what the word says. And this can go on through a family. It can go on through a generation where some people think I understand it. I've been told this, I get it. When in
2:24 reality, they've just been told parts of the truth or not all of the truth and they're believing something that's false. In this series called clarify the call, we've been talking about how to clarify the mission. What
2:35 is God's design for the world? What does he want us to be a part of? Then we talked about clarifying the foundation of what things we need to set in place in order to allow the Holy Spirit to have full reign in our life.
2:47 Last week, talked about clarify the presence when the Holy Spirit comes and the ministries that he does by regenerating us, indwelling us, filling us, sealing us, marking us, all the different ministries
2:59 that lead to this, which is clarify the gospel. Because if those things are in alignment, 1 of the truths that happens when you're filled with the spirit is you can't help but tell other
3:11 people about who Jesus is and what he's done for you. And this is so important. This message you need to hear, and I would encourage you, especially for those who have been in church for a period of years or decades
3:22 that would say, I already know this. I would encourage you to listen and make sure you're hearing the true message. And if you do have the true message and you do say this is what I believe, then these would be 5 truths
3:34 about the gospel that you should have when you go ahead and you share it with another. These are 5 truths that are so important, that's what we're gonna talk about this morning. So I would encourage you, if you have your
3:45 Bible with you, open it up to Acts chapter 2. We're gonna begin in verse 14 and go through verse 38 today. Acts chapter 2 starting in verse 14. And as I mentioned, I'm gonna share 5
3:56 truths about the gospel in order to clarify it and how we can share this with others. Now you remember at the end of last week, what had been going on was the Holy Spirit came
4:08 upon them as Jesus had promised. Jesus said, I'm going to the Father. When I get there, I'll I'll have him send you the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes and falls on these
4:20 hundred and 20, and what happens is they begin proclaiming the excellencies of God in all these varieties of languages. And the reason we know it's languages is because there's people in
4:31 Jerusalem from all the nations in the world that are listening to these mysteries being proclaimed in their own native tongue. And they're wondering how in the world can this be? What is going on
4:43 that's allowing us to hear God clearly in our own language when it's clear that these are from Galilee? They don't even have our dialect. They're not even from here. How can they do this? And they're saying, this is the
4:54 Holy Spirit. And so there's all of this that's going on because some are saying, yeah, it's the Holy Spirit. We're amazed at this. And others were mocking them saying, no, they've just been drinking sweet wine. They've
5:05 just had new wine. They're drunk is really what's going on. And so here's what happens in verse 14. It says this, but Peter taking his stand with the 11 raised his voice and declared to
5:17 them, men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk as you suppose for it is only the third
5:29 hour of the day. So when all the chaos is going on, what happens? Peter stands up and Peter begins to talk. Now, why is this important? Because you need to understand the
5:41 first method of sharing the gospel is this, you need to stand with boldness. You need to stand with boldness. Now, what's the big deal about Peter standing up? Because in Jesus' earthly ministry, there is no
5:53 1 who is a bigger failure than Peter. Peter told Jesus on the night he was betrayed, even if all men fall away on account of you, I will never fall away. I'll even die if that's what's
6:04 necessary. And Jesus told Peter this, Peter, I tell you the truth. Before the rooster crows, you will deny me 3 times. When they come to arrest Jesus, Peter takes his sword out, tries to cut off the head of a
6:16 servant named Malchus, misses him, cuts his ear off. Jesus reaches down, picks up the ear, puts it back on Malchus and immediately heals him and looks at Peter and rebukes him and say, He who lives by the sword shall die
6:27 by the sword. As Jesus is being led out and all the disciples scatter, Peter follows to see what the soldiers are gonna do with Jesus. And while they're around a campfire, not once, not twice, but
6:38 3 times as people start prodding him saying, you're you're 1 of them. You're you're with him. You you know him. He denies it 3 different times and even calls down curses. And after the third time, guess what happens?
6:51 Just like Jesus prophetically said, a rooster crows. He meets eyes with Jesus and Peter turns away and goes off weeping. I mean, in the time that he could have stood with Christ, in the time that he could have
7:03 said, yeah, I'm 1 of his followers, do with me whatever you want. He couldn't do it, why? Because he hadn't been filled with the Holy Spirit of God yet. He failed miserably just like Jesus said he was gonna fail
7:13 miserably. But when Jesus rose from the dead, he went and restored Peter. They had breakfast together on the beach. Remember they ate fish. He asked Peter 3 times, do you love me? It hurt Peter because he wanted to say
7:23 yes. He's like, Lord, you know I love you even though I can't, all this. And he tells them 3 different times, feed my sheep, tend my lambs, feed my sheep. But here's what happens now. When the Holy Spirit comes
7:35 upon Peter, this failure of a man, this 1 who was scared for his life, this 1 who had been in hiding for a period of days, who didn't know what was gonna happen, the ones who 1 who was afraid of the Romans,
7:47 now what does he do? He stands up with the 11 and said, let me tell you what's going on. I'm not afraid anymore because the Holy Spirit of God is inside of me. And here's what he tells him. He tells him
7:59 this very boldly. He says this, he's taking a stand with the 11 raised men of Judea and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let it be known to you and give heed to my words for these men are not drunk as you suppose for
8:10 it's only the third hour of the day. He says, it's only 9 in the morning. Like it's 9 AM, this is not what's happening. We are not drunk. He's standing with boldness. Now all throughout the Bible, the
8:21 Bible tells us when we have the Holy Spirit, that God has not given you in second Timothy 1 7, God has not given you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and discipline or sound
8:33 mind. That's what the Lord says. So you have to understand fear is a spirit. Fear is not a feeling. Feel it Fear is not an emotion. It's a spirit. But when you have the spirit of God, you have a
8:45 different spirit. You have a spirit of power, you have a spirit of love, you have a spirit of discipline. So you can choose to do the very things God wants you to do. Boldness is essential in the life
8:57 of a believer. Even in Proverbs 20 eight:one, 1 of my favorite verses on boldness, it says, The wicked flee when no 1 is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold
9:09 as a lion. It's boldness. Now let me be clear on boldness. Boldness, I'm not talking about being an extrovert. I'm not talking about being verbose. I'm not talking about being colloquial with your speech. I'm I'm talking
9:20 about standing firm on the truths of Jesus. You can be an introvert and you can be bold. You can whisper and you can be bold, but we're called to
9:32 stand with boldness. Even the apostle Paul, who may be the greatest missionary theologian in the history of the church, even to this day, when he was in prison and he was writing to the Ephesians,
9:43 he wrote them and after he told them to put on the full armor of God, he said, continue to pray. Pray for all the saints. And then in chapter 6 verse 19, he says this, and pray on my behalf.
9:56 So in other words, pray for me that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness, the mystery of the gospel. So the apostle Paul that gave his entire life that said,
10:08 for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Doesn't matter if you beat me, I'm still gonna proclaim it. Doesn't matter if you imprison me, you can kill me, and that's the goal of my faith. I'm not intimidated by any of
10:18 you. What does he ask the Ephesian church to do? Would you please pray for me That I would have the utterance to say the right words and have the boldness with which to say
10:30 it. Question, if the Apostle Paul was calling on the church to pray for boldness, how much more do we need to be praying for boldness in our own lives? Amen? I mean, boldness is essential if we're gonna share
10:42 the gospel. Boldness is unapologetic. Boldness is this is the way, this is the truth, this is the life. I'm not going to apologize for that. And here's the truth, If the spirit fills you,
10:54 fear can't define you. If you have the spirit of God, it will be known to people that he lives inside of you, and you never know when you're gonna have a chance to
11:05 stand boldly for Christ. I didn't move to Denver until 20 10, but some of you lived here on April twentieth, 19 99 when there was a school shooting at Columbine High School.
11:18 And I read of a story even at the time and I was refreshing my memory on it this week of a 17 year old girl named Rachel Joyce Scott, who was 1 of the first to be shot and killed in that horrible tragedy that day,
11:30 and 1 of the questions she was asked by her killer was, do you believe in God? She said, yes. Later, it was said by her parents and others that had read her journals that she had written down, I'm not
11:42 going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus. If I have to sacrifice everything, I will. Amen? She
11:53 had no idea on that day 26 years ago that that was gonna cost her her life. When you stand for boldness, you stand firm in what is the most essential thing on the planet, and that's having a
12:05 relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're gonna share the gospel, share it boldly. Share it like you actually believe it. Share it like you actually mean it. Say it with conviction. Amen? So
12:17 stand with boldness. That's exactly what Peter's doing. And then do this. Number 2, boldness without a foundation is just noise. So do this. Share the scriptures. Share the scriptures. The first thing that Peter's gonna
12:29 do is he's gonna take them to the scriptures. Notice this. He says, you know, it's only 9 in the morning. It's only the third hour of the day, verse 16. But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel. What's he
12:40 gonna do? I'm gonna go right to the word. I'm gonna go right to the scriptures. They didn't have the New Testament. Hadn't been written yet. Acts 2 hadn't been written because acts 2 was being unfolded as he was
12:50 speaking. He went to Joel, and what does he say? And he says, it shall it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth my spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall
13:02 prophesy and your young men shall see vision and your old men shall dream dreams even on my bond slaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my spirit and they shall prophesy. What's
13:14 he saying? A couple things. Number 1, he's going back to the scriptures and he's declaring, we're in the last days. Jesus Christ made it to heaven. We know he made it to heaven because he promised to send the holy
13:25 spirit. And guess what? The holy spirit has been sent. He's here and he's indwelling us. So he's going back to Joel and it says, in the last days, I'm gonna pour forth my spirit. So number 2 is what he's telling him is
13:35 he's explaining the outpouring of the spirit. Joel said it centuries earlier. I'm saying we're living in it, that's what you're seeing. Then number 3, he's gonna give them
13:47 a warning of the coming judgment of God. In verses 19 and 20, these are things that haven't happened yet, but he's warning them of what's gonna happen. He says, I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the
13:58 earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. He said, before that great day of judgment, you're
14:10 gonna see signs. I'm warning you. The good gospel presentation warns people of coming judgment. And then fourth, he offers a way of salvation. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the
14:22 name of the Lord shall be saved. Now notice this. When Peter is making his argument, where does he go? He goes right to the word of God. He goes right to the word. Listen,
14:34 if brave church isn't where you attend for the rest of your life, please go to a church where they open the word of God and all their thoughts come from the word of God. If the pastor's preaching is not coming from the
14:43 word of God, you don't need to listen to it because it's not gonna change your life. When you share the gospel, share the word, share the scriptures. These 66 books that make up 1 book from
14:55 Genesis through Revelation, nobody in the history of the world has ever been able to refute. Isaiah 40 verse 8 says, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord stands forever.
15:07 Amen. Not 1 jot or tittle of this law will ever go away. This book is eternal. This book is useful for This book is God breathed. It's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and
15:18 training in righteousness. So the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy at its origin in the will of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
15:28 God. Everything in this book reveals who Jesus Christ is. The written word reveals the living word. You cannot share too much scripture when you're
15:40 sharing the gospel with people. Let this be your plumb line. Let this be your resource. Let this be what you're sharing. Certain gospel tracks do a good job at this. Other gospel tracks don't. They just tell
15:52 stories. Use the word. Use the word of God when you share the gospel. Amen? Hebrews 4 12 says, for for the word of God is a living and active,
16:04 sharper than any 2 edged sword. It penetrates to divide both soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the attitudes and intentions of the heart. When this word is proclaimed, spoken, preached, read, God has a way
16:15 of speaking into the depths of who you are. This book, as I've said many times, it's not just a book you read, this is a book that reads you. The author is still alive and part of the book. It's the only book you can
16:26 read where the author speaks to you about his book. I mean, it's awesome. The word of God is different than any other book, which is this, don't just preach. If you're a preacher, don't just preach what's trending,
16:37 preach what's true. If you're sharing the gospel, share the truth. And I would say this to you as your pastor, if there's only 1 verse that you know of scripture, then use that
16:49 verse. And if you could pick If I could pick 1 verse for you, I I I would pick Romans 6 23. Just memorize that for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal
17:00 life in Christ Jesus. If you only know that verse, I've shared the gospel of that verse with hundreds of people 1 on 1. What? The wages of sin is death. What you earn for what you've done is death. You're
17:12 gonna die. You're gonna face a holy God. You're gonna you're gonna stand accountable to the holy God of the universe for all your sin. But the free gift, that's what a gift is. God wants to give you something. The free
17:22 gift of God is what? It's eternal life. Where do I get it? In Christ Jesus through his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead. That's the gospel summed up. Right? When you share the gospel, when you share
17:34 truth, and there's so many places in this prayer journal you have for 21 days. Every single day is a scripture that talks about the good news and the hope that you have in Jesus Christ. The more
17:45 scripture you can share, the more powerful your witness is gonna be. Peter spent 3 and a half years directly with Jesus. They ate meals together. They probably slept in the same camping ground together. They laughed
17:57 together. They cried together. He doesn't say, let me tell you about Jesus. I know him really really well. He where does he go? He goes right to the word of God. He goes to Joel and says, this is what Joel said. This is
18:07 what the word says, go to the word. Amen? So share the scriptures, preach the scriptures. Why? Because these are unchangeable. I heard about some hikers out in Alaska. They got they got lost as they
18:19 were out going where they were going because such a huge snowstorm came in. It wiped out GPS. It wiped out all their landmarks. The only way the rescue team could find them is they had to use a traditional old
18:30 map and find out exactly where they were because GPS didn't work, landmarks didn't work, nothing. They had to follow the map. Friends, this is your map. This word is the
18:42 map. Follow this book. This book will lead you where you want to go. Amen? Amen. And if the gospel is God's plan, the reason this is so important is we have to deal with the
18:54 biggest problem that we have and that's our sin, which leads us to point number 3. If we stand with boldness and share the scriptures, then we need to exalt Christ's work. We need to exalt Christ's
19:05 work. We need to exalt the person in the work of Jesus Christ. What does he say in verse 22? Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man
19:17 attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst just as you yourself know. This
19:29 man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. What does he say? He goes, let me
19:40 tell you about Jesus. He's the God man. He's God in flesh. You know he's God in flesh because he did things here nobody else did. Not only did he fulfill the law and all the requirements that
19:52 were met, but you saw what he did. He he gave recovery of sight to the blind. He healed leprosy. He even raised people from the dead. You saw it all. You know who he is, and oh, by the
20:04 way, even for those of us in this generation who say, oh, I don't know who he is. I never saw any of that. If with an open mind and you wanna be genuine and you go study the history of a person named Jesus Christ,
20:16 there is overwhelming evidence to show that he lived, where he lived, even there were historians in the day that didn't believe in Jesus as their Messiah that still wrote about everything that he
20:28 did. There's overwhelming evidence to show Jesus Christ is exactly who the scriptures proclaim him to be. K? So what is he talking about? When it comes to sharing the gospel,
20:41 can we please talk about Jesus? Yeah. He's unlike anyone else who has ever lived. He's God in flesh. No
20:53 other God has ever lived in flesh. No other God has put on flesh. It means that Jesus, the second person of the trinity, has always existed from eternity past. There's never a time he didn't exist,
21:05 but 2000 years ago, he put on flesh, came to this earth, demonstrated that he was God in flesh, and then did what? As a predetermined plan that God
21:16 had, he died on the cross in your place for all your sin. That's the good news of the gospel. Jesus Christ paid for sin. Now I know what some of
21:28 you think, why do we always have to talk about sin? Because it's your biggest problem. Most people don't think it's that big of a problem. Most people think when I tell people they're sinners, they're like, well, they
21:39 know they're sinners. People, you don't know that you're sinners. You were born dead apart from Christ. You were known as a child of wrath. God is going to pour out his wrath on all
21:51 mankind. Because not only is God loving, and not only is God kind, and not only is God merciful, but he's holy, and he's righteous, and he's just, and he's true. And because of his holiness, he has to punish sin.
22:03 Well, where does sin reside? In sinners. So who does he punish? Sinners. How long does he punish them? Eternally. What's your biggest problem? Your biggest problem is that you're born
22:15 dead in your sins. Your biggest problem is that the wrath of God is on you. Your biggest problem is that you're blind to your sin, so you don't even see it and you're offended when somebody tells you that you're a
22:24 sinner. That's why the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. What do I need to what do I need a person dying for my sins? Well, I'm I'm a pretty good person. But if you know that
22:36 you're gonna stand judgment before the God of the universe, and you're gonna stand there in your sin, and you're gonna hear the words, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you. You're
22:48 gonna wonder how in the world can this be paid for? And the only payment for sin anywhere in the world is the lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Why am I not Muslim? Because Mohammed and Allah
23:00 can't pay for my sin. Come on. The 3000 Hindu gods cannot pay for my sin. Confucius cannot pay for my sin. See, if you understand the gospel, whether you're in
23:12 England or Israel or India or wherever you go, you preach the same message because you don't care about what their false gods are any more than you don't care about what the false gods are in America, you proclaim Jesus
23:23 Christ and him crucified. Amen? That's the gospel. That's the gospel. I mean, all throughout the scriptures, this is like a first importance.
23:35 I mean, Paul writes to the Corinthians in first Corinthians chapter 15, and here's what he says in verses 3 and 4, he says, for I delivered to you as of first importance, that's primary importance, what I
23:47 also received. Here's what it is, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. How does he know that? Because the scriptures teach that. And that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day
23:59 according to the scriptures. It's the word of God that teaches us about who Jesus is and what the gospel does. Christ died for sinners. He was wounded
24:10 for our transgressions. He was pierced through for our iniquities. Peter says the same thing in first Peter 2 24, it says that he himself, that's Christ, bore our sins in his body on the cross
24:22 so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by his wounds, you were healed. Amen. I mean, think about this. I wanna say this because in
24:34 church, I hear this a lot, especially from people who are younger, they'll say stuff like this. Well, man, that was a great testimony that person had. I don't have a very good testimony. There's a lot of adults here say,
24:45 well, don't really have a great testimony. Can I just tell you what your testimony is? Here's your testimony if you're saved. God loved you so much. He sent his son from heaven to
24:57 earth who put on human flesh for you, not just for 33 years, but for all eternity, who fulfilled the law on your behalf because you couldn't do it, who demonstrated that
25:08 he was God, who went to the cross, and in your place, he died for all your sins. And when he died, he said, it is finished. You don't need to pay for your sin anymore. Second Corinthians 5
25:20 21 says, God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So on the cross, Jesus Christ took the sin of anyone who would ever
25:32 believe, and God treated Jesus Christ the way that your sin deserved. He punished Jesus for what you deserved, and then turned around and looked at you and treated
25:43 you just as if you'd never sinned. He was the substitutionary atonement. That's your testimony. Friends, your testimony is not, I was once this and now I'm a little bit better.
25:55 I was really, really bad. Now I'm a lot better. Or I was kinda bad, but I wasn't really bad, but now I'm kinda better. That's like Oprah Winfrey stuff. That doesn't mean anything. Right? The gospel is, I was
26:06 dead and I was a child of wrath, and God sent his son who died in my place for all my sin and rose from the dead and gave me life. That's my testimony. Amen? And
26:20 that's what he's talking about here. Friends, if you have a testimony that you came to Christ at 4 knowing that, it's powerful testimony. Your testimony is not what you did or what you're doing. Your testimony is what
26:32 God did and what he's doing. It's God who saved you. Don't ever apologize for that testimony. The sooner it happened in your life, the more glorious that is. You
26:44 know, mean, if you were like 4 and like, I think I stole a piece of gum 1 time, but I didn't know, and who who cares? If you came to the realization I was dead in my sin and I didn't wanna die in my sin and God gave me
26:55 the faith to believe that Jesus died for me. It was awesome. Amen? Amen. Christ died for our sins. You know, in 19 41 at Auschwitz prison camp, there was a
27:07 was a prisoner that escaped, and in order to make a deal of that, the guards decided they were gonna put 10 other men to death. And so they separated 10 men and said, these men die. And there was
27:19 1 guy that said, my wife, my kids. And so there was a priest by the name of Maximilian Colby who stepped forward and said, I'll take his place. I'll die so he can live. And that's exactly what happened.
27:31 Friends, that's what happened on the cross, but infinitely greater. Jesus Christ died so that you could live, not just in this world, but eternally with
27:43 him. But the good news is the gospel doesn't just end in death even though Jesus said to tell us die, it is finished. And I need to point this out just so that we understand this. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, do
27:53 you remember what he said to the thief on the cross? He said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He said, truly, truly, I say to you, today, you'll be with me where? In Where did Jesus go when he died? He
28:05 went to heaven. He didn't go to hell and fight the devil for 3 days like it was some big battle. He defeated him at the cross. If he went to hell, it was just to say, I won, and he went to heaven.
28:17 That's it. K? There wasn't a battle. The battle was on the cross. He paid for all your sin on the cross. He went to heaven. But 3 days later, he rose from the dead in his resurrected body, which
28:29 means this, Jesus is so humble. The second person of the Trinity put on flesh, not just for 33 years, but for all eternity so that you could have a relationship with him. If you ever stop being
28:41 God, your sins aren't forgiven. If you ever stop being human, you and I have no relationship with him. He's the God man. That's why he's the only way. He's the only truth. He's the only life. Why? Because that's what the
28:53 scripture teaches. Friends, I'm banking my entire eternity on the fact that Jesus is who he says he is, that he died in my place for all my sins, and that by grace
29:05 through faith, I have a relationship with Jesus. He rose from the dead. He's alive. He's the God of the universe, and he's sitting on his throne. Amen? That's who I believe in. That's what we're preaching here. That's
29:16 what Peter was talking about. So notice what Peter goes on to say. He says, but God raised him. I'm in verse 24 of acts 2, but God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death since it was
29:27 impossible for him to be held in its power. Now it's interesting for me. If you talk to people, most people will tell you when they die, they're gonna go to heaven. Most people will tell you that. Here's
29:39 a question. How are you gonna get there? If you can't raise yourself from the dead, how are you gonna get to heaven? The only way someone gets to heaven is if somebody
29:51 raises them from the dead. Jesus Christ is the only 1 who was raised from the dead. Jesus Christ is the only 1 who has the power to raise people from the dead. So if you don't believe in Jesus, how are you getting to
30:02 heaven? Jesus' resurrection from the dead is how we're getting to heaven. First Corinthians 15 17 says, for if Christ has not been raised, then we have no faith.
30:14 Right? If Christ has not been raised, it's all foolishness. Matter of fact, I'm gonna quote it to you exactly because I'm paraphrasing. First Corinthians 15 17 says it this way, and if Christ has not been raised, your
30:25 faith is worthless and you are still in your sins. Worthless. I mean, if Jesus just died, hey, he died for your sins. Good. Where is he? Well, he's dead. Well,
30:37 what good can a dead Lord do? But he's not dead. He's as alive as he's ever been. He conquered death. He rose from the dead.
30:49 He gives people new life. It's life in Christ that takes you into the next life, and he's the only 1 that can do it. Who are you gonna put your faith in? Mohammed's dead.
31:01 You can go to his grave. Confucius is dead. You can go to his grave. Buddha's dead. You can go to his grave. Never been. It's probably a little bigger. But he's still dead.
31:14 I've been to Israel and the 2 different places that theologians say he died. He's not there, he's risen. You won't find DNA samples of Jesus's decaying body cause he never
31:25 decayed. And that's why Peter's gonna go back and do what? He's gonna quote the scriptures again. In verses 25 and following, he's gonna quote David from the Psalms. For David says of him, I saw the Lord always in
31:37 my presence for he is at my right hand so I will not be shaken. Therefore, heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will live in hope because you will not abandon my soul to Hades
31:49 nor will you allow your holy 1 to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Now he's gonna go on and explain that. What does he mean?
32:01 He says, brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. So David's writing these words about the holy 1 won't see decay.
32:13 David's writing this word about the holy 1 will not be abandoned to Sheol or hell. David's writing this, but hey, we have great confidence because we know king David died. A matter of fact, his tombs right over here. We
32:23 can go look at it. That's what he's saying. And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him an oath to seat 1 of his descendants on the throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ
32:34 that he was neither abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh suffer decay. He's saying David was speaking prophetically. God said someone from David's line would ultimately sit on the eternal
32:45 throne. Jesus, if you go back through the genealogy and some of you say, why would you ever read the genealogy? This is why you read the genealogy in the Bible. In Matthew's gospel, it starts with the genealogy. You go
32:55 right through all the people down to David, all the way down to who? Jesus. He's in the genealogical line of David just like God said the Messiah would be, and guess what? His
33:07 body did not decay. And his body was not abandoned to Hades because the moment he died, he went to paradise to be with his father. Amen? That's who Jesus was talking about. So Peter again is
33:19 using the word of God to declare what God was saying. He's saying David certainly wasn't talking about himself because David's dead. David was talking about the Messiah and this Messiah is
33:31 alive. This Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. In other words, Peter's like, we've seen him. We know he's alive. All of us have seen him.
33:43 Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father, the promise of the holy spirit, he has poured forth this, which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into
33:54 heaven, but the Lord himself who himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Who ascended? Who's at the right hand of God? Jesus. Who is
34:06 the scripture talking about? Jesus, the promised Messiah hundreds of years later was being spoken about in the old testament and it happened the exact way God said it was gonna happen. Right? We use the scriptures and we
34:18 teach the person and work of Jesus. It's his death. It's his very life that he lived. It's his death, his burial, and his resurrection. That's what makes Christianity unique to any other religion in the world. You
34:29 can study them all. You can you can look at them. There's there's not 1 you will find that claims I'm God and I came here because I'm so holy, you can't get to me. Only
34:41 Jesus makes that claim. Any other 1 than Jesus is a made up false claim. And I promise you this and I'm pleading with you, you do not wanna die apart from knowing Jesus Christ
34:53 as your personal Lord and savior. You might think back on your life and say, remember this day is the worst day I ever lived. That day would be the best day you've ever had if you don't know Jesus. Right?
35:06 But if you do know Jesus, you can look back in your life and say, was the best day. That was the best day. Friends, your best day's coming. You haven't lived your best day yet. You haven't lived your best life now.
35:18 Your best life is on the way. Your best life is coming. The best life is Christ in you, the hope of glory when he comes and redeems you. Amen? That's what we believe. That's the gospel. So when you share
35:29 Jesus, most people will have smokescreens. Well, you don't really believe in a flood. I totally believe in a flood. You don't really believe God created the world in 6 days? I do. You don't really believe. I believe all
35:40 those things. But when I'm sharing the gospel, I'm like, we can talk about all those things, but let's see what you say about Jesus first. When you're sharing the gospel, make it about Jesus. Make them reject Jesus.
35:51 Right? Well, I believe in Jesus. He was a good man. He was a good prophet. He was way more than that. Good men and good prophets don't rise from the dead. Good men and don't and good prophets don't claim that they're
36:01 God. Good men and good prophets don't say, if you don't believe I'm dying for all your sin, you have no hope. That's not a good man. I mean, if I told you those things about me, you would think I'm a moron.
36:13 You think I need to be locked. If I told you I'm God and if you don't believe everything I am, you're going to he's a lunatic. He's crazy. So he's either crazy, he's
36:25 a liar, or he's what? He actually is the Lord he claims to be. I'm telling you, he's the Lord he claims to be because that's what all the bible talks about. And because he's alive, I'm telling you, there's no
36:37 doubt who's sitting on the throne of the universe, which leads me to point number 4. When you're sharing the gospel, please do point number 4. Please please please share point number 4. People shy away from point number
36:48 4, but no 1 in the Bible ever shies away from point number 4. Please declare his Lordship. He is the Lord. He's the Lord.
37:00 Now listen to this, what Peter's gonna go on to say. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and
37:12 Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now what's he talking about? He was talking about the Jews of that day that had him crucified by the Romans, but who's he also talking about? He's talking about you.
37:24 You crucified him. Why why would God punish you? Because he's holding you in account for his son's death on the cross because what put Jesus to death on the cross? Your sin.
37:36 So that's what you're being held. That's what your sin has done. Your sin killed the Messiah. Right? And if you're gonna say, well, want nothing to do with him, then God will hold you accountable for your sin and will
37:47 punish you. That's what the Bible says. And here's how God punishes. He will say these words, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you. And then you'd cast into outer darkness where there's weeping and
37:57 gnashing of teeth. Make no mistake about it. Hell is not a place of fellowship. Hell's not a place where a bunch of people gather together. Hell is isolation. Getting together, that's
38:09 a good thing. That's a gift. You don't have that. It's just physical, mental, emotional pain for the rest of your existence, which is forever because you have an eternal
38:21 soul. That's why the things that we're talking about here are so important because yes, God is loving, but please declare his lordship. Peter is like, this 1 you crucified is now both what? Lord and Christ.Show more
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