ACTS 2:22-36 CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT JESUS IS LORD AND SAVIOR2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 2:22-36 Clear Evidence That Jesus Is Lord And Savior

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. We're going to be continuing our study of the book of Acts and continuing to look at the day of Pentecost here in Acts chapter 2. And this week we'll be looking at verses 22 through 36. And we're jumping into the middle of Peter's message as he stands up

After the crowd gathers with the great commotion as the Holy Spirit is poured upon them, and it's a great sound like a mighty rushing wind, they're all speaking in tongues, and then the crowd gathers. They hear the people praising God and worshiping God in their own language, and some are scoffing and saying, oh, these guys are drunk.

But Peter stands up and he says, they're not drunk. This is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as foretold by the prophet Joel. And that's what we studied last week. That first kind of the introduction of Peter's message as he addresses the concern and the question about what is going on and is this a drunkenness or what is this? And Peter explains, this is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Now, that is really just the introduction as he addresses that immediate question. But now as we go on in verses 22 through 36, we get to the meat of his message, which is, of course, all about Jesus.

And so we want to take some time this evening to look at this message that Peter preached and see what God has for us in it. And so let's begin by reading this passage, Acts chapter 2, verses 22 through 36. And I'll read that and go ahead and read along with me.

in your own Bibles. Acts chapter 2 verse 22 says,

Verse 25. Verse 26.

Verse 29. Verse 30.

And knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Verse 32, this Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses."

Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this, which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly,

Here in Acts chapter 2, as we get into the heart of Peter's message, his message, of course, is the gospel. It's all about Jesus.

And now as he has been filled with the Holy Spirit, he has a great boldness and he brings forth some truths from the scriptures and some truths based on where their hearts were at and what they had just recently been through. And he addresses the reality of the crucifixion

And says, you guys crucified Jesus, but God has made him both Lord and Christ. And that gives me the title of the message for this evening. And that is clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. That's what Peter is giving to this crowd that has gathered on this day of Pentecost.

There's a crowd of, we don't know how many. We know at the end, there's 3,000 people who respond and believe as a result of this message. But with 3,000 people responding, it's likely that there was actually many more than that.

Now, as we talked about a little bit last week, if they were in the temple area in one of the upper temple rooms when this took place, there was a place there at the temple where they could gather and there could be, you know, upwards of 100,000 people in one place at a time. So you could understand it could be a very huge gathering, but we don't know exactly how many are there. But there's this crowd.

They've heard this great noise. They've gathered together to investigate. And as Peter gives this message, he gives them clear evidence that Jesus is both Lord and Savior. Now, in verse 22...

Peter says, men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs. That word attested there in verse 22, it means to declare, to show, to prove by arguments, or to demonstrate.

It's kind of a legal term. And the idea is, you know, in the courtroom, there's this proof that is brought forth and there's this, you know, testimony that is brought forth to demonstrate, to prove by arguments, to give clear evidence of the validity or the truth of some fact. And

And so as Peter talks about Jesus, that's what he's doing. He's giving clear evidence. He's saying God gave clear evidence, and he's walking through that evidence, proving that Jesus is both Lord and Christ, or both Lord and Savior. That he is not just, you know, someone who died, but he is something far greater. He is the promised Savior that God has been declaring would come from the very beginning. But not just that.

not just dying upon the cross for people's sins and granting them forgiveness, but he's also Lord. That is, he is to be our master. He is equal to God, and we are to be fully submitted to him. And

And so that's what Peter is addressing here in this message. It's clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. And so as he presents this clear evidence in the courtroom, as it were, there's four exhibits that we will consider understanding that Jesus is Lord and Savior. So exhibit A is miraculous works. He says, check out and consider the miraculous works of the Lord. Again, looking at verse 22, it says, men of Israel,

He says, okay, guys, hear these words. Pay attention. Jesus, this guy from Nazareth that was crucified, he was attested by God. Again, he was proven to be who he claimed to be by God, but he was not attested by God.

with the miracles, the wonders, and the signs that God did through him. And so as Jesus was doing miraculous works, the first of those miraculous works was turning water into wine. They're in John chapter 2, right? But then all throughout the Gospels, we see a great number of miracles take place. There's healings that take place. He heals the blind on many occasions. He

He heals the lame and says, take up your mat and walk on a couple occasions. He casts out demons on many occasions. He also does other miracles, other works like feeding the 5,000 or the 4,000, walking on water, calming the waves and the storm. His ministry was filled with miraculous works. And what Peter is saying is God did these miraculous works through Jesus and

to prove, to authenticate his message that he is Lord and Savior, that he is the Messiah that God had promised. And so he did all of these miraculous works. Now, I've just mentioned a couple examples, but it's interesting to consider what John said in John chapter 21, verse 25. He says, there were also many other things that Jesus did.

which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. And then he says, amen. It's not the end of the book, but you need to stop and think about that. I mean, amen. If the books were written and filled with all the things that Jesus did. Now think about that for a moment. Jesus ministered. His public ministry was three or three and a half years long.

And in that time, John is saying he did so much that if it was written down, it would be hard to fit all of those books in this world. A great number of things Jesus did. What we have in the Gospels is just a little bit of what Jesus did. Some of the highlights, some of the different ones that stood out to the disciples as they recounted the life and the ministry of Jesus. But you can imagine with John,

That type of multitude of miracles and wonders and signs, as Peter is preaching to these people, every one of them has had some type of exposure to the miraculous work of Jesus. Remember, this is only a few days after Jesus has been crucified and then resurrected.

This is, you know, the same people who were likely involved in that because that happened during Passover, which was one of the feasts that was required. So the men of Israel would come to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover feast. And then they would go home for about a month and a half. And then the Feast of Pentecost, they would come back to Jerusalem to celebrate that.

And so a lot of these people were probably here just, you know, a few weeks earlier when Jesus is crucified. They're the same people. And as Jesus was going around administering, it's very likely that, you know, their own towns were impacted. People in their city, people that they knew, you know, that blind guy that they recognize every time they walked by. Oh yeah, that's blind Bartimaeus. We know him. And then suddenly he's healed as Jesus goes through their town. Like they all had some

They all had some, you know, impact, or it had impacted them, the life and the ministry of Jesus. And that's why he says here in verse 22, God did these miracles through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know. You know this. And so he's kind of stirring up within them. Hey, remember, maybe your friend, maybe your family member, that guy down the street from you, that guy in your own town, you know there was these miracles that took place.

These miracles that Jesus did. And through that, God was solidifying and verifying his claim to be the way, the truth, and the life. The savior of all humanity that God had been promising from the very beginning. And so he says, you know, there were these miracles that took place, these signs and these wonders. But then he goes on to talk about the greatest miracle. And that is the resurrection. Check out verse 23 and 24 here.

He says, And so he is recounting the story of Jesus in his life, in his ministry. He did all of these miracles, but then he was put to death. He was crucified.

He says this was done by lawless hands. The way that they handled the case of Jesus was illegal. Peter's pointing that out. The whole trial of Jesus, well, he actually went through multiple trials. Three Jewish trials. All of them were illegal. All of them were against their own laws.

And then he was handed over to the Romans and he was tried by the Romans. He was found innocent all three times, but then ultimately condemned to death. So all the trials that Jesus went through as far as the court proceedings and such, they were all illegal trials.

They couldn't get witnesses to agree in their testimony against Jesus. And the requirement of the Jewish law was that there had to be two or three witnesses to agree in order for there to be the sentence of death. Their own laws forbid a death penalty or a trial of this kind the day of or the day before a feast.

Because, along with that, the Jewish laws were that you could not have a trial that lasted only a day when it involved a death penalty. Because they wanted to give time for the witnesses to come forward and the defense to be brought. So there wouldn't be just this injustice. Well, let's just do it quick before anybody has a chance to recognize what happened. And that way we get rid of this guy. Well, that's what the Jewish leaders did. But that was against their own laws.

Also, as partial judges, these were the guys who had, you know, had some interactions with Jesus, some battles with Jesus. They were partial. They were supposed to recuse themselves from the proceedings if they were involved directly, if they were, you know, enemies of that person. And on and on, there's, you know, different people have come up with different numbers of reasons. Usually the number I see is 12 reasons why the trial of Jesus was illegal, right?

And so there's a bunch of different factors. But here Peter says this was done by lawless hands. What they did was illegal. The way they arrested Jesus without having an accusation ahead of time, like even today, we know that in our own society, right? I mean, if they arrest you, they have to say, here's what you're being charged with. And they can't hold you unless they have a charge against you. But they didn't have a charge of Jesus when they arrested him.

And so he says, this was all done by lawless hands. But notice also he's saying, but this was done by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. And so there's a balance here. You know, he's saying this was done illegally. This was done, you know, it wasn't right. But at the same time, it was part of God's plan to bring redemption to humanity. It was illegal, but it was according to the determined purpose of God.

And so Jesus is crucified. He's put to death. It's not lawful, but it takes place by God's plan. And then in verse 24, he says, God raises him up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it. So this Jesus who did these miracles, who is proven to be authentic by God in the miracles that he did,

This Jesus who you crucified illegally, this Jesus God raised up. Making sure this is very clear. Kind of, you know, following a chain of custody here. You know, it's like this same Jesus. It's not another guy named Jesus, you know, who later came along and then these things happened to him. And like, well, we get them confused because they're both named Jesus. No, no. This same guy you heard about, you know about, people in your town were affected by. He did all these miracles. He was illegally tried. He was put to death.

This is the guy that God raised up. And it was not possible for death to hold him because he is Lord and Savior. And so he gives the resurrection as clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Now, as we look at this message that Peter gives to the group there on the day of Pentecost, I want us, of course, to consider this message and

how it would have impacted them but also as we look at these things we we need to consider how this impacts our own life and our own heart and so as we look at clear evidence that jesus is lord and savior i would also challenge you to consider if this is evidence in your life that jesus is your lord and savior jesus is the lord and savior he is the lord he is the savior he is the way the truth and the life

But that doesn't automatically save everybody. We have to appropriate that for ourselves and say, Jesus is my Lord and Jesus is my Savior. We have to receive that offer of salvation that he offers. We have to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We have to respond to the message of Christ. And so is there clear evidence that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? And exhibit A for that in your life is miraculous works.

In the same way that Peter recounts the miraculous works of Jesus in his ministry, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, there is going to be miraculous works as an exhibit in your life that testify, that demonstrate that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. Now, I'm not saying that you're going to be walking around like Jesus and healing people and walking on water and doing that. But here's a reality. When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, miracles happen.

happen in your life. That is a reality for us as believers. Miracles take place in your life because you are submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ and believing in him for salvation. Now, Peter highlighted the resurrection as kind of the first and foremost of those miracles, and he goes on to talk about it in the next few verses as well. And that's the thing for us, I would say, is also first and

Life where there once was death the first thing that happens when you believe in Jesus is you're born again And you're given spiritual life where once you were spiritually dead Paul tells us in Ephesians We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but he made us alive in Christ. There's a new birth. There's a new life there's a spiritual resurrection that takes place when we believe in Jesus and

And so the very foremost, the very first, the beginning of the miraculous works that will take place in our lives as we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior is this spiritual birth, this spiritual life that he gives to us. Consider what Paul said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. He says, Here's the reality.

If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. There's a spiritual resurrection. There's a spiritual life that's given. And the old things pass away and all things become new. This is not just a spiritual truth. It's not just an abstract concept for us to say, oh, that's a cool verse. This will be demonstrated in your life. When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you are a new creation and that will be reflected in the life that you live.

That will be reflected in what takes place in your heart and what goes on within you because your spirit once was dead, but now your spirit is alive. And that's a miracle. That is the first of many miracles of God working in your life. But there's going to be growth now where there once was just wasteland, spiritually speaking. There's going to be life where there once was death. There's going to be, you know, the living water where there once was just dry, parched, nothing.

You're going to have life in Christ and your life is going to be transformed as you walk with God. Miracles are going to take place in your life. As you trust in the Lord, he's going to provide for you. As you walk with the Lord, he's going to change you and transform you. He's going to deliver you from addictions. He's going to deliver you from bondage. He's going to deliver you as you walk with him and trust in him. Miracles are going to take place as Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

And so the question I would ask you to consider this evening, does your life present clear evidence that Jesus is Savior and Lord? I'm sure you've heard the age-old question, right? If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? It's essentially the same idea here. Does your life demonstrate, is there clear evidence in your life? People looking on, they see the reality. They see the truth presented. Whether they receive it or not, that's up to them.

But they see the evidence is there, Jesus is Savior and Lord. And they see that evidence that Jesus is Savior and Lord when Jesus is your Savior and Lord. You see, in order for you and I to be this kind of witness, to be this kind of declaration to the world around us, it's got to be genuine. It's got to be real. And when Jesus is our Savior and Lord, he does miraculous things within us

in changing us, in transforming us as we walk with God. And so exhibit A is miraculous works. Exhibit B now, as we go on in verses 25 through 31, is scripture is fulfilled. Here's clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. And you can point to the scriptures and say, look at the

passages. Look at the verses. Look at what God said in advance and has been fulfilled by Jesus. Now as we look at these verses, Peter is still talking about resurrection. And so he looks to the scriptures to show that the resurrection wasn't unplanned or, you know, unknown. It was foretold by the Lord. And

And as we look at that, that's important because the scriptures are the standard, the basis by which we judge things. Miraculous works are awesome. They're really good. But by themselves, they're not sufficient evidence. Even the miraculous works of Jesus, all the miracles that he did, by themselves are not sufficient evidence. Think back to the Old Testament. Moses, as he goes before Pharaoh and says, let my people go, and he throws down his staff and it becomes a serpent. Right?

Remember what the magicians of Pharaoh did? They threw their staffs down and they became serpents. As Moses put his hand into his garment and brought it out and there was leprosy, they followed suit. As even the plagues were being brought forth, turning water to blood, the magicians were doing miraculous works or at least faking it incredibly well.

miracles by themselves are not sufficient. There's going to be false prophets. There's going to be false works. In fact, the Antichrist, when he comes on the scene, the scriptures tell us there's going to be many signs and wonders that the Antichrist and the false prophet do in their effort to deceive the whole world to worship them. And so they're important. They're an important part of the evidence, but they're not the end of the evidence. Those miraculous works need to go along with

the word of God and the fulfillment of scripture. And so that's what Peter is pointing out here. It's not just these amazing things happened, but this fits. This is part of what God has declared. In verse 25, Peter says, for David says concerning him. And so now he's quoting from Psalm chapter 16, which is interesting because that's part of our reading this week. It's kind of cool how God ties those things together.

And so he quotes from Psalm chapter 16 and verse 25. He says,

Here is Peter quotes from Psalm chapter 16. It's a Psalm of David that is speaking prophetically about the Messiah. And David will make that point in the next couple of verses. And so he's speaking as if he is Jesus. And there in verse 27, he says, you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. He's speaking as Jesus saying, I can trust in the Lord. I can rest in hope.

Because I know, Lord, you're not going to leave me in Hades and you're not going to allow me to see corruption. I'm going to experience the fullness of joy that comes from your presence. Now, as he mentions Hades...

Don't think of that as hell, like we typically would think of it. But Hades, looking back at the Old Testament, the word in the Hebrew was Sheol, S-H-E-O-L, which was just a way that they referred to the grave. And it was whether you are righteous or wicked, when you died, you went to Sheol. It was just, you know, the grave. It was the place of the dead as far as physically dead, whether you were righteous or wicked.

And so Jesus experienced that. He went to the grave. He died physically. But he says, you're not going to leave me there. That's not the end. And he says, you won't allow your Holy One to see corruption. So again, talking about his body, the body of Jesus did not decompose. He didn't waste away until only bones were left. Well, we know what happened, right? The third day he resurrected.

And so Peter grabs this passage from the Old Testament, Psalm chapter 16, prophetically speaking about the Messiah and says, look, not only did Jesus resurrect from the dead, and it's an amazing miracle, it's like incredible, but that's also what the scriptures said would happen. It's the fulfillment of the word of God. And so again, the miracles by themselves are impressive. They're amazing. They're awe-inspiring, right? But they're accompanied by the word of God.

which solidifies the evidence and again gives this clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Now, Peter explains this a little bit more in verses 29 through 31. It says, So Peter says, look, David is not talking about himself there in Psalm chapter 16.

He's not talking about his own life. He's not talking about his own death. He says, let me speak freely to you guys. David is dead and he's buried. His tomb is right here with us. Now they were in Jerusalem and David is buried in Jerusalem. And so he says, look, we're right there, you know, and probably at that time they knew the location of David's tomb. We don't know for sure, but, you know, they knew where it was. They knew where David had been buried. And

It was right there nearby. And so he says, look, we visited the tomb of David. We've seen it. We have a place where we remember David. And we know that. And we have that. And his bones are there in that tomb. David is not talking about himself. Verse 30, therefore, being a prophet, 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 to sit on the throne. So he says, look, David is not talking about himself. But here's what he knows, right?

he knows that God had promised the Messiah would come from him. That would be physically, biologically, of his lineage, there would be this man in the future who would be the Messiah, the Savior, who would sit on his throne. And so he says in verse 31, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

And so Peter brings great clarity to this passage there in Psalm chapter 16. And he says, David was not talking about himself, but he knew that God promised that the Messiah would come forth from him. And so he speaks clearly

in first person as if he is, you know, that descendant saying, you're not going to allow my soul to stay in Hades. You're not going to leave me there. And my flesh is not going to see corruption. And Peter says, he's talking about the resurrection of Jesus. David died. David is buried. They knew where the tomb was. David's body decomposed and all that was left there were his bones. But that's not what happened to Jesus.

And the word of God records for us this prophecy about Jesus that he would not decompose. He wouldn't remain in the tomb. His soul would not be left in Hades, but he would be raised from the dead on the third day. Now, this is one example of scripture being fulfilled by Jesus in the resurrection here from Psalm chapter 16. There's hundreds more.

So Peter pulls out this one because he's talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but there's prophecies about the timing of when he would appear. There's prophecies about the place of his birth and the type of ministry that he would do, how he would be received as he ministers to people. Hundreds of prophecies about Jesus that are fulfilled by Jesus in his life and his death. And there's still many more prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled when Jesus returns alive.

for the rapture and then again for the second coming and so the fulfillment of scripture is taking place in the life of jesus and it gives this clear evidence that jesus is lord and savior the scriptures were fulfilled by the life ministry and death of jesus

But again, as we consider this for our own selves, is there clear evidence in your life? Is your life clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior? Or in other words, is there evidence that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? That is, are the scriptures fulfilled in your life? Think about what Jesus said in John chapter 14. Jesus answered and said to them, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.

He who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. The fulfillment of the scriptures might take place a little bit differently in our life than in the life of Christ, in that we don't have hundreds of prophecies, you know, about our own lives. There's promises that are fulfilled in your life as a believer, and there are lots of those promises that we could consider here.

But here what Jesus says is, here's something significant about the word of God in relationship to the believer. A believer will be obedient to the word of God. A follower of Jesus will keep the word of God. He says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And so there's this permanent relationship. Those who love Jesus keep the words of Jesus. They fulfill the scripture. They live it out. They put it into practice. They do ministry.

what the word of God says. And then he, just to make sure it's crystal clear, ultimately clear, right? He says the reverse of that. If you don't love Jesus, you don't keep his words. And so he leaves kind of no room for gray area. Well, what if I just kind of like Jesus? He says, look, here's the evidence in your own life.

You can use this to test your own life if you love Jesus or you don't love Jesus. Because, of course, we all know the reality. Lots of people who say they love Jesus don't actually love Jesus. If you love me, you keep my word. Now, just to make sure we're clear, Jesus is not saying you'll be perfect without sin. But overall, looking at your life, if you keep the word of God, if you walk according to the word of God, well, that's evidence that you love Jesus.

And if you don't love Jesus, then your life is going to demonstrate that in that you don't keep the word of God. You don't put it into practice. You don't live it out. It's something where we ought to evaluate ourselves. It's something Jesus gave us to help us have a clear picture so that we're not deceived. If I love Jesus, I'm going to be keeping his word. I'm going to be seeking to obey him. I'm going to be seeking to honor him. That's the reality.

And so is there clear evidence that Jesus is your Lord and Savior by your fulfillment of the scriptures? Because you obey God and you keep his word. Does your life present clear evidence to the people around you that Jesus is Savior and Lord? Because people around you look on and see your obedience to the word of God and they see that being fulfilled in your life.

Moving on to verse 32 now, we have exhibit C, and that is eyewitness testimony. Verse 32 says, So again, Peter's really hitting home this resurrection. This Jesus, now again, making sure it's clear, this is not another guy named Jesus.

This is the same guy who lived and did these miracles, was put on trial illegally, but by the plan of God. He was put to death and crucified, but then raised again. This Jesus, God raised up, and notice what he says, of which we are all witnesses. We are all witnesses. Now, it tells us earlier in Acts chapter 2 that Peter stands up with the 11, right?

with actually with the 12 disciples now with Matthias being part of their group. He stands up with the 12 as he's delivering this message. So the rest of the disciples are standing there with Peter. And so he's, you know, I don't know if they're behind him or alongside of him or whatever, but he's kind of motioning towards them and saying,

These guys right here, along with myself, we are witnesses that this is the same Jesus who did these miracles and lived this life and was put to death. And it's this Jesus who was raised from the dead. And we can all testify to that. In essence, all these disciples are volunteering and saying, yes, we will testify. This is what Jesus said.

These are the miracles that he did. He did actually die. We know that. He is alive. We've seen him. We're able to testify of that. This Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses. In other words, Peter looks at the rest of the disciples and says, you guys have questions about this? Come talk to us. We want to tell you.

about Jesus. We want to tell you about what he did. We want to tell you that he really did rise from the dead. We can tell you authoritatively because we are eyewitnesses to these things. We can verify the facts. You've heard lots of rumors. You've heard lots of speculation. You've heard lots of people mock and scorn. We can tell you the truth.

were eyewitnesses. And we've been with Jesus since the beginning of his ministry. Remember that was the criteria that the disciples set in Acts chapter 1 in replacing Judas as a selected Matthias? It had to be someone who had been with Jesus from the very beginning, from the baptism of John the Baptist, and then had been with them through the life and the ministry of Jesus through his death, and then had seen him after the resurrection. And so all these 12 disciples, including Peter,

are all standing up and saying, come talk to us. We can testify to you the truth, the facts about Jesus. Now this testimony that they're offering would come at great cost. Again, think about the time frame here. This is only a few weeks after Jesus has been crucified.

This is a hostile environment for followers of Jesus. This isn't, you know, everybody accepts, you know, whatever religion you want to practice and you can just do whatever you want. They're in Jerusalem, in the very city where Jesus was illegally tried so that they could put him to death before anybody had an opportunity to object. There was going to be some significant cost for them to stand up, put a mark on themselves and say, we can testify today.

that jesus is lord and savior we can testify of his life his death and his resurrection and they would receive as a result of their testimony great persecution and hatred they would be cast out of society church history tells us that all 12 of the disciples were faithful witnesses faithful witnesses until the end of their lives most of them were martyred put to death

testifying clearly to the end that Jesus is Lord and Savior, willing at the very cost of their life to testify that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so we have this strong eyewitness testimony. It's Exhibit C, which clearly proves that Jesus is Lord and Savior. As you consider this for your own heart and your own life,

Is there clear evidence that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? Here's what that looks like. Eyewitness testimony. You see, this applies to your life as well. When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you're willing to testify even at great cost. You're willing to testify of Jesus. You're willing to stand up in the crowd and say, you want to know about Jesus? I can tell you about Jesus. Here's what Jesus said in Mark chapter 8, verse 38.

He says, Jesus ties these two things together. If you're ashamed of him, he says, I'll be ashamed of you.

Similar to what we looked at in the last point. If you love him, you're going to keep his words, right? If you don't love him, you're not going to keep his words. In a similar way, Jesus says, if you're ashamed of me, then I'm going to be ashamed of you. A requirement for a disciple of Jesus, for a follower of Jesus, is a refusal to be ashamed of Jesus. Now, notice what he says. If you're ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, right?

I think it's good that he adds that in for us because a lot of times we could excuse ourselves, right? Well, you know, it's so much harder today, you know, to be a witness for Jesus and agree with Jesus, but it's harder today than it was, you know, in those times. But here's the reality. Again, they were in a hostile environment.

And Jesus calls this an adulterous and sinful generation. Yes, the ways of God, the things of God are contrary to society. That's just as true today as it was when Jesus said it. The ways of God have always been different than man's ways. And there's always going to be the opposition. And so standing up to testify of Jesus, to offer your own eyewitness testimony. You know Jesus. And here's what Jesus said.

It's going to come with opposition because we are in an adulterous and sinful generation. That's why Jesus said you need to count the cost. If you're going to follow me, you need to count the cost and think about the gospel message is going to divide households. It's going to separate people because, well, as you cling to Jesus, people are going to refuse that. There's going to be a separation between

Not that we have to separate ourselves from everybody and never talk to anybody, but when we cling to Jesus, the world will separate from us. When we're not ashamed of the words of Jesus, when we're not ashamed of Jesus himself, the world backs off. That's the reality. But when we are ashamed, we're not willing to represent Jesus. We're not willing to hold fast to his words, to declare his words, to declare the truth. Jesus says, I'll be ashamed of you when I come.

in glory. That's heavy stuff to talk about. That's heavy stuff to consider. But he gave us this so that we would understand what we're getting ourselves into. We're in hostile territory and we're called to stand up and say, you want to know about Jesus? Come talk to me. I'll testify of Jesus. I'm not ashamed of him. Like Paul said in Romans, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. And so there will be a willingness on our part

When Jesus is our Lord and Savior, there will be a willingness on our part to declare what Jesus said, to talk about what Jesus did, to confess that Jesus died, that he resurrected, that he's alive and on the throne. Does your life present clear evidence that Jesus is your Savior and Lord? Because you're not ashamed of Jesus or his words. But like the disciples, you stand up and say, we're eyewitnesses. I know about Jesus. I know him personally.

I know about him. I can tell you the truth. What really took place. What's really going on. And so we need that eyewitness testimony. Well, finally, Exhibit D, found in verses 33 through 36. Exhibit D is the outpouring of the Spirit. This is where Jesus being Lord becomes clear in Peter's message. Verse 33 says,

Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this, which you now see and hear. After Jesus resurrected, he walked on the earth for a few days, a couple weeks, and then he ascended into heaven where he sits now at the right hand of the throne of God. And that's what Peter talks about in verse 33, being exalted to the right hand of God. Now, when Peter talks about the right hand of God,

He's not talking just about, you know, kind of a geographic location. Well, if you look at the Father, Jesus will be the one on the right, not the one on the left. He's going to be the one on the right. He's not just distinguishing between left and right when he says the right hand of God. There's some symbolism here. Right hand points to equality, right?

It alludes to the equality of Jesus with the Father, that Jesus is equal to God, that he has the same power as God. He has the same authority as God. Remember in Matthew chapter 28, as Jesus is giving the great commission, he says, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

All authority. He has all authority. He has the authority of God. He has equality with God because, of course, he is God who became man, who died on the cross, then resurrected and ascended to the Father. And so he is with the Father. He's at the right hand of the Father, which is not just his geographic location, but it also speaks of the equality of Jesus. He is God. He has the power of God. He has the authority of God.

And Peter elaborates on this in verse 34, again, quoting from David. He says, Here, Peter quotes from Psalm 110, verse 1. And he says, look, David, again, talking about Jesus, says, That's where Jesus is, at the right hand.

Until I make your enemies your footstool. As Jesus has ascended to the Father, he's at the right hand of the Father, and he's waiting for the time for him to return when the enemies are his footstool, when he establishes his kingdom here on the earth. But the emphasis here is the Lord said to my Lord. Now, Jesus also quoted this verse in Matthew chapter 22. And he quoted this verse to make the point that

that the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus, was not just a man. If he was only human, David would not have called him my Lord. But David says, the Lord, talking about the Father, said to my Lord, talking about the Savior. The Father said to Jesus, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. And David calls Jesus Lord. He calls the Messiah Lord. And that's the point here.

That's what Peter is saying. He's exalted to the right hand of God. He is the Lord. He is God. He is the master. He is the one that we are to be submitted to.

He is over all things. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the Lord. My Lord said to, or the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Then verse 36, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

So he says, therefore, he's concluding his argument here. He's saying, look, here's the point. The Lord said to my Lord, Jesus is at the right hand. He's the one that Peter is talking about. He is the Lord. So let everybody know. I like how he says it. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly. Here's clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Christ. Now the word Christ means Messiah or Savior, right?

And so all along, God has been promising the Christ, the Savior, who would save his people and all humanity from their sin. That's Jesus, Peter says. He's the fulfillment of all those prophecies in the Old Testament. He is the Christ, the Savior, but he's also Lord. He also is God. He's alive and he's at the right hand of the Father. And he proves that with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That's going back to verse 33.

He says, therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this, which you now see and hear. Again, this is the day of Pentecost. They've gathered together to investigate the commotion. And Peter says, this is happening because Jesus is Lord, because he's alive and he's at the right hand of the Father. He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples. And that's what you see. And that's what you hear.

the Holy Spirit at work because Jesus is Lord. It's clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior. But again, as we consider this for our own selves, do you have this kind of clear evidence that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit will be poured out into your life. Remember a couple of weeks ago in Acts 2, verses one through four, we talked about receiving the promised empowering gift

And the first point that I went through there in that passage, the first thing to do in order to receive this promised empowering, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the first thing that we need to do is to surrender our life to God. That's the first thing. We can't expect to be empowered with the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, if we're not submitting our life to God. It's not going to happen. But when we submit our life to God, we're putting it in terms of what we're talking about this evening today.

When we are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus, when He's the master, when He dictates what we do, where we go, when He dictates our life, we will experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The condition for us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit is a submission to Jesus. Along with that, Jesus commanded you to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. And so as you're submitted to Jesus and His Lordship and you ask, He gives the Holy Spirit.

He's going to pour out the Holy Spirit in your life. And so as people around you in your life look on, do they see this clear evidence that Jesus is Lord and Savior because they see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Now, as we've been talking about over the past couple weeks, the outpouring of the Spirit in our lives individually looks different. It operates different. The Holy Spirit works differently in each of our lives.

We have different gifts. We have different callings. We have different things going on that the Holy Spirit is doing. So it's not going to look identical. It doesn't mean there's going to be, you know, fire over your head and, you know, the same kind of thing, loud wind, you know, or loud noise like a wind. That's not, it's not going to be the same. But when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is taking place in your life,

There will be evidence. There's going to be a work that God is doing. There's going to be things that people take notice of. And so do you have this clear evidence? Is it present in your life that Jesus is your Savior and Lord? And you can tell because the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon you. Do you have this clear evidence? Can you identify it in yourself? And then beyond that, can the people around you in your life

Jesus is Savior and Lord. He is Lord and Savior of that person, but he is Lord and Savior of all because I can see the evidence of

The miraculous work in your life, as I observe, I can see there's life where there wasn't life before. There's change. There's transformation that God is doing. There's the fulfillment of the word of God. They're keeping the word of God. There's an obedience to the word of God. And there's this testifying of Jesus. There's this talk about Jesus. There's this boldness when it comes to Jesus, not shying away or being ashamed of Jesus, but

And that goes along with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to be a witness to Jesus. Does your life present this clear evidence that Jesus is Savior and Lord? Peter presents this message. He makes it clear. This is who Jesus is. As we consider those things for ourselves, perhaps you would say, you know, I don't really know if there's that clear of evidence in my life. What do we do when we don't have this kind of evidence? Well, look at verse 37.

It says, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? They're cut to the heart. They say, Jesus is Lord and Savior. We didn't recognize that. We failed in that. What do we do? Verse 38, Peter said to them, repent.

Notice that. This promise is to every believer. Repent. Be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins.

Turn from your sin to follow God. If you don't see the clear evidence in your life that Jesus is Savior and Lord, then you need to repent, turn from your sin, and follow God. You need to pursue God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you. This evidence is not just for church leaders. This evidence is meant to be in your life.

Your life is meant to be a testimony to the world around you that Jesus is both Lord and Savior. And if you don't see that happening in your own life, if the people around you can't see that happening in your life, you need to go back to the basics, back to the drawing board. Peter says, repent. They say, what should we do?

Now we recognize Jesus is Lord and Savior. We recognize we haven't submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. We recognize we haven't received that salvation of Jesus. What should we do? Peter says, repent. We need to stop pursuing sin. Stop pursuing our own life. Stop pursuing our own flesh and our desires. And be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Now that speaks of the water baptism, but also baptism.

baptism was that of identifying with Jesus Christ. It was start now to identify with Jesus Christ and to make a stand for Jesus, to receive the forgiveness of sins that he offers, but to live the life that he's called you to live and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He will empower you to be a witness to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider this message that Peter gave, I pray, Lord, that you would continue to speak to our hearts and

Lord, bring clarity, Lord, regarding our position and our standing with you. Lord, is there clear evidence in our own life that you are Lord and Savior? If the people around us only knew of you by their relationship with us, would they know that you are Lord and Savior?

Do we represent you well or are we ashamed of you, Lord? I pray, God, that you would give us clarity, Lord, that we would know where we stand, Lord, that we could respond like the people do, understanding what do we need to do. We need to repent, to turn to you, to submit our lives completely to you, to ask you to fill us with your Holy Spirit, Lord, that we would have the boldness to be witnesses to you as you've called us to be. And so, Lord, I pray that you would forgive us where we fall short.

Help us, Lord, to receive your forgiveness, to walk with you in obedience the way that you've called us to. And I pray, God, that you would help each and every one of us to present in our lives clear evidence that you are Lord and Savior. And we can't present that, Lord, without it really being true. We can't present that. We can fake it for a little bit, Lord, but people can see through that and you can see through that. I pray, Lord, that you would give us a genuine submission to your Lordship.

a genuine acceptance of your salvation. Lord, that we could live the life that you've called us to live, that we could be your witnesses to the ends of the earth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.