Peter’s First Message
Acts 2:14-36
Jeff Hughes – February 9, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. All of us here can probably relate to our first time speaking or performing in public. Unless you are one of those individuals that has ice water in their veins, it was no doubt a nerve-wracking experience. I remember I was nervous and my palms were sweating for a speech I had to give in school one time. My delivery was horrible because I was so nervous. Praise the Lord that I have gotten over that!
b. We are going to look at one of those situations today. We will get a peek at a Pastor’s first sermon. But, it’s going to be a lot different. We won’t see stuttering or stammering, we will see power and poise, as the gospel is delivered effectively to a large crowd gathered by God for the sole purpose of hearing His message.
c. But, first, let’s get a little background. Last week, we saw that the disciples were gathered together, in the upper room, on the East side of Jerusalem, and that the Holy Spirit had arrived. The sound of the Holy Spirit filling the house was amazing and drew a large crowd, but what came after was even more miraculous. The crowd that gathered hailed from all over the Roman Empire. They heard the disciples speaking in their native languages. They heard the disciples glorifying and praising God in their native languages. That was truly a miracle, and the miracle the crowd saw that day drew them to the disciples, and the miraculous events surely served as a witness to what was going to be said that day.
d. At the end of the day, and as we will see next week, three thousand people come to Christ after hearing the message that day in Jerusalem.
e. Just like last week, we have a lot to cover today. Today’s study is out of Acts chapter 2, verses 14 through 36. Twenty-two verses. A marathon by my standards. But, we are going to get a chance to a chance to look at all of Peter’s message in its entirety. This will be fruitful for us today.
f. But first, let’s pause for a moment of prayer, and let’s ask the Lord to come and bless our study in His Word today.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. A story is told of two men who got into conversation on a boat when returning from India. One was an English sportsman and the other was a missionary. The sportsman said, "I’ve been in India for 25 years, and I never saw one of the natives converted." "That’s odd," answered the missionary, "did you ever see a tiger?" "Hundreds of them” was the reply, "and I have shot dozens in the hunt." "Well, I have been in India for many years," said the missionary, "but I have never seen a tiger. But under the power of the Gospel of Christ, I have seen hundreds of the natives of India turn to the Savior!" You see, one loved hunting and was looking for tigers. The other loved individuals who needed God and was looking ways to bring them to Jesus!
b. Likewise, a guest preacher came one Sunday in midwinter to an appointment. The day was unusually stormy and bitterly cold, and he found the building empty. However, he took his seat in the pulpit and waited. One man came in, and at the appointed hour the preacher stood up and opened the service. At its close the man in the pew departed without waiting to face the minister. About twenty years later, the same preacher was approached by a stranger. "Do you remember," he asked, "preaching years ago to one man?" "Yes, I do, indeed," replied Dr. Lyman Beecher. "If you are that man, I have wanted ever since to meet you." "I am the man," was the answer. "That sermon saved my soul, and led me into the ministry. The converts of your sermon, sir, are all over Ohio.
c. Guys, the gospel is powerful stuff. It changes lives. It is effective, just as God designed it. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s jump in.
d. As I said earlier, our study today comes out of Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 14. Acts is just past John in the New Testament and before Romans. Follow along with me starting at verse 14.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ 22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ’I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ 29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 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. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 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. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ’The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ’ 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
ii. There’s lots of scripture here, and an awesome message delivered through Peter by the Holy Spirit. Peter’s message demonstrated the bold power that the Holy Spirit had worked in his life. So, unlike the apostle that denied the Lord three times on the night of his crucifixion.
iii. As we looked in previous studies, we know that Peter was a leader of the disciples since Jesus’ departure. Peter was the brash, eager apostle. We can relate to that, right? He was the first to walk on the water, the first to draw his sword to defend Jesus, and as we will see today, the first to deliver the gospel message to the crowds in Jerusalem. His message is easy to understand, to the point, and uses a strong scriptural foundation. Everything that a message needs to be.
iv. Many times, today especially, we see the gospel message watered down in the name of being “seeker friendly” or “seeker sensitive”. The premise, which is to present the gospel to unchurched people in a way that they can identify with, is good. But what often happens is that the people often get a feel-good gospel that only presents one side of the gospel.
v. As we will see today though, Peter’s message pulled no punches. He presented the truth in love, as he outlined their need for a savior and presented the savior to them, Christ Jesus.
vi. We will look at six points today as we continue our journey through Acts. There is a place to take notes and follow along in the bulletin as we look at the refutation, the explanation, the attestation, the glorification, the realization, and the declaration.
vii. First, let’s look at Peter’s refutation. We find this in verses 14 and 15.
b. The Refutation (Acts 2:14-15)
i. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
ii. We see here in verse 14 that Peter stands up with the other eleven apostles to address the crowd. This group included Matthias, the replacement apostle that we looked at two weeks ago. Remember last week that I said that the apostles were gathered with the other disciples in the upper room to pray and to wait for the Holy Spirit. As we saw last week, the Holy Spirit arrived, and filled all of those present in the upper room.
iii. So, what I envision here, is that Peter and the other apostles go out to address the crowd gathered by the commotion caused by the miraculous sound and the disciples speaking in other tongues or languages giving glory to God in the upper room.
iv. Now, I don’t know if Peter and the other apostles went outside to address the crowd or, if they addressed the crowd from the roof or a window, but I tend to think that they were either in the upper room or in some other elevated place as we see next week how many people were addressed.
v. One thing to note here is the unity of the early church. The apostles stood as one to address the crowd. That takes bravery considering how hostile the crowd could be. This was the same crowd that cried out to let Barabbas go and crucify Jesus. The crowd could have killed them. They already believed them to be blasphemers, we covered that last week. But, under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit they stood and proclaimed the Lord boldly, and with power.
vi. Peter addresses the whole of those assembled there, both those from Judea – the locals, and those dwelling in Jerusalem – other Jews that had either emigrated there from their own land or, those from other lands assembled there in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Pentecost.
vii. Peter raises his voice above the noise of the crowd and addresses them he says “Hey, you guys! Listen up! Pay attention!” to borrow some modern phrases.
viii. Peter says “We aren’t drunk!” Remember that some of those in the crowd accused the disciples of being drunk when they heard the miracle of the disciples speaking in foreign languages; we saw this in verse 13. You see, they chose to harden their hearts against the gospel message, and reject it, just as they had when they heard Jesus. Peter then goes on to give proof that they weren’t drunk.
ix. He explains that it was only the third hour of the day. It was about nine o’clock in the morning, adding three hours to the sunrise. First, we know that even drunkards aren’t usually drunk at nine in the morning, especially Jews, who didn’t usually eat a morning meal at that time. Second, even more so on this day, a religious feast day.
x. Peter had refuted the accusation against the accusation that we saw back in verse thirteen, that some in the crowd had rejected the miracle out of the hardness of their hearts and accused the disciples of being drunk.
xi. Peter’s first order of business was to correct an error, we see Peter doing this without a flaw here on Pentecost. This allows him to move on to his next point, and that was to offer an explanation for the miracles that the crowd had experienced that day. We see this in verses 16 through 21.
c. The Explanation (Acts 2:16-21)
i. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’.
ii. Peter starts his explanation by quoting scripture. There is no better place to start. Whenever someone steps up to a pulpit to teach or explain God, it is best to let God do it himself through His Word.
iii. He starts by quoting a passage of scripture found in our Bibles in Joel chapter 2, verses 28 through 32.
iv. The first part tells us that in the final days, God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, meaning the Holy Spirit. We saw the coming of the Holy Spirit last week, and He, the Spirit filled all the disciples gathered in the house that they were staying at. That is an important point to note, the Spirit filled all of them who were gathered there.
v. The prophet goes on to talk about different miraculous occurrences that will occur with the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh. Prophecy is mentioned twice here – we see that sons, daughters, menservants and maidservants will prophecy.
vi. So, what does that mean? That’s a valid question. Webster’s defines prophecy as a prediction of something to come. So, the question comes, is this still valid for today? Well, just like tongues, I don’t see where it stopped. But, also like tongues, it is a gift through the dunamis or dynamite power of the Holy Spirit and should be handled with caution. The scriptural standard for a Word from the Lord is that first, it has to line up with scripture, and second, it has to be true. It has to come to pass. If it doesn’t then you obviously don’t have that gift. You shouldn’t use it.
vii. Some people go around the church today claiming, “I have a word from the Lord”, when really it is a word from their imagination. I have known people that have the gift, and used it under the direction and guidance of scripture and they were a blessing to those around them.
viii. The prophet Joel also goes on to describe young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams.
ix. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for us today, including the revelatory gifts, such as prophecy. But the balance in the practice the gifts is what sets us apart. We believe that the gifts should be used in their proper setting – believer’s meetings, and that they should be governed by Scripture in their use.
x. Like I have said before though, the thing that most people notice – the gifts of the Spirit – are not the most important thing in this passage, and I think many people in the church today miss this. What is important and vital to us today is that the Holy Spirit fills and empowers us as believers to face the trials and tribulation that the world throws at us.
xi. Now, verses 17 and 18 have to do with the church as it is today. We are living in what is called the church age. Jesus has risen from the dead and the Spirit is here with us to give us power. Now, at some point in the future, maybe not too far from today by looking at the events in our world today, Jesus will return for His bride the church. Those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior will be caught up to join Him, those of us who haven’t made that decision are in for a time that is called the Great Tribulation by scholars. We see this in verses 19-21.
xii. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
xiii. This is talking about the time of the Great Tribulation, when the Lord will judge and smite the earth and its inhabitants in one last ditch effort to try to get them to turn to Him. Some will be saved during that period, but they will still have to go through the tribulation, until the Lord comes back to conquer, as Joel calls it the great and awesome day of the Lord. It is on that day that Satan will be defeated, and bound up, and Jesus will begin to reign on the earth for a thousand years.
xiv. I want us to pay special attention to verse 21 though. The prophet Joel writes, and Peter quotes him in saying, “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.”
xv. Underline that word whoever in your Bible if you are an underliner. What this means is that salvation is for everybody. No one is cut off from Salvation by God’s choice, it is their own choice. I like to take people here if they are struggling with their salvation, and thin that they can’t come to Christ because they have too much sin. This scripture is clear in explaining that salvation is for anyone who asks.
xvi. Maybe you haven’t made that decision in your life, if you haven’t I pray that you will even today, by the time you leave this service.
xvii. Now that Peter has talked about calling on the Lord, he is going to introduce Him – Jesus Christ. We see this in verses 22 and 23.
d. The Attestation (Acts 2:22-23)
i. 22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
ii. Peter starts off by telling them to listen to him. He seems to be trying to let them know that he had something important to tell them. The gospel is the most important thing that we can tell anyone. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 verse 16 - I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. This is the power of the gospel. It is a powerful, important message. It meant eternal life or eternal death to the listeners. This is what Peter what Peter was trying to convey.
iii. The important message that Peter was proclaim or to attest to was the life ministry and divine nature of Jesus. Jesus told them in John 14:9 that he who has seen Me has seen the Father.
iv. Peter declared Jesus as the Lord to them along with all the miracles God did through Him to attest to His divine nature. HE was proving that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah that the nation of Israel had been waiting for. The crowd had seen and heard Jesus.
v. The prophets had described Jesus as both a coming king and a suffering servant. This was confusing to many Jews. So much so that one sect – the Essenes, believed that the Messiah would be two people – one a military leader, and one a king of the line of David.
vi. Peter described Jesus as the suffering servant, especially in verse 23, where he describes Jesus being crucified at the hands of lawless men. This was foretold in scripture, and Peter knew that his hearers would know this two. Peter continued to build his case for Christ. These two verses described Jesus on earth, the next ones describe the risen Lord, which would also be made clear.
vii. But, I want us to notice something here. Peter lays the death of Jesus on their conscience. He does this because it is certain that some of the same crowd here were the same ones that called for Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus, and the same ones that cried for Pilate to crucify Jesus. The death of Jesus was on their heads, along with the religious leaders and Judas. Peter didn’t back down from this statement at all, even though some hearing him might not like it. Peter spoke the truth, but he spoke the truth in love. I think a lot of people miss out on that today. A lot of pastors and teachers teach the truth without the love. Jesus never did that, and Peter wasn’t doing that here either. After accusing them of having a hand in Jesus’ death - he gives them hope. He tells them about the risen Lord. We see this in verses 24 through 28.
e. The Glorification (Acts 2:24-28)
i. 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ’I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
ii. Peter tells that Jesus was raised up by God, as He was. He then uses a peculiar phrase to describe the resurrection. Peter says that God loosed the pains of death. This is a very peculiar phrase – loosed the pains of death. In the original Greek, the pain describes the pain of childbirth. Now, I don’t know about that first hand, but I have seen it, and I imagine it to be pretty painful. What is peculiar here is that death is described as not able to hold back Jesus from being raised from the dead. He was not held by it because He was the Messiah, the savior and king that they had been waiting for.
iii. This was truly a miracle, even more so than the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it, there is no hope. Peter was declaring hope to those gathered there, and describing the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. The attest to the veracity of this statement, again, as we saw before, Peter takes them back to the Bible. We see this in verse 25 through 28.
iv. Peter quotes the psalmist, King David. We find this quote in Psalms chapter 16, verses 8 through 11. In these 4 verses, we see a man devoted to God pouring out his heart in prayer to the Lord. He is not only praising God for His hand always being upon him, but David goes on to rejoice in the hope that he has in the coming Messiah, who Peter had just declared to the crowd as being Jesus.
v. Many people ask how folks who lived before Jesus, like the nation of Israel got saved. The answer is simple. They got saved the same way that we do today, by believing in the Messiah. They looked ahead to His coming, while we look back. But, just as Peter described earlier, there is a time that we do look forward to as believers, and that is we look forward to His glorious return, when He will come for His church.
vi. I want us to look in particular at verse 28 here, in which Peter is quoting Psalm 16:11. David says here that God had made known to him the ways of life. I want to take us to John chapter 14, where we will see a conversation between Thomas and Jesus. Turn there with me if you will, just a few pages back – John chapter 14, starting in verse 4, this is Jesus speaking here.
vii. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
viii. Jesus was the way of life for David, Jesus was the way of life for the crowd listening to Peter, and Jesus is the way of life for us here this morning. Let’s go back to Acts chapter 2 again, to verse 28; I want us to see something else here.
ix. We see at the end of verse 28, that David says God will make him full of joy in God’s presence. Well, we know that joy in one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5, something that should be in our life if we are a believer. But I want to read to you 1st Thessalonians 2:19. Paul is writing here. Paul writes - For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? Now, Paul’s question was a rhetorical one. Our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing is to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.
x. King David’s joy was in Jesus, Peter was making a convincing argument to the crowd gathered that their joy should be in Jesus, and ours should too.
xi. Many people that are Christians go around moping about all the trials and tribulation that they go through. We should be joyful and rejoicing in our faith. Philippians 4:4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. That is a command. We are commanded by God to rejoice in Him, no matter what our circumstances. James tells us to count it all joy when we fall into trials, that the Lord is working in us through the trials.
xii. Peter gives them a little commentary about King David’s Psalm, and we will look at this next, in verses 29 through 35.
f. The Realization (Acts 2:29 - 35)
i. 29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 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. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 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. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ’The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ’
ii. Peter starts by telling them the obvious – that David was dead and buried, and his remains were in his tomb. Peter was creating a link between his Jewish audience and the gospel by using the prophetic writings of David found in the Psalms.
iii. Peter continues on to tell them that God had sworn to raise up the Christ through David’s descendants, and that this same Christ would sit upon the throne of Israel. David foretold that the Christ would not have his soul left in Hades, and that his flesh would not see corruption, that is that his remains would not rot away, because He would be raised from the dead.
iv. They were following Peter here. The Jewish crowd knew the Scriptures, as they had been taught them from an early age. Peter then confronts them with the truth of the risen Lord in verse 32.
v. He proclaimed the resurrection boldly along with the other apostles, because they had all been eyewitnesses to that fact. Not only were they witnesses to His resurrection, they were witnesses to His Ascension and His promise of the Holy Spirit, we saw this back in chapter 1.
vi. Peter tells them about Jesus’ being exalted to the right hand of the Father to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. Peter goes on to bring his message full circle here in verse 33, telling them that the Spirit had been sent by Jesus, eluding back to the miracle of the crowd hearing the different languages, which was foretold by the prophet Joel, as we saw in verses 16 through 18.
vii. Peter draws up his very persuasive argument that Jesus was the Messiah by bringing them back to scripture. He starts of by saying – that it wasn’t David who ascended to the father as he prophesied in the Psalms, by Jesus. Peter makes his case by quoting David in Psalm 110, verse 1 - ’The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ’
viii. This verse was used by Jesus to confront the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 22. The Pharisees thought that the Messiah would be David’s soon only, so Jesus asks the simple question – how could David call him Lord, if the Messiah was David’s son. The answer was that the Messiah was not only David’s son, but also the son of God. This was a fact that Peter was going to declare to them plainly, we see this in verse 36.
g. The Declaration (Acts 2:36)
i. 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
ii. Peter declares to all who would listen – even the whole of the house of Israel that Jesus, whom they had crucified, was both Lord and Christ as declared by God.
iii. That word assuredly there in the original Greek is the word Asphalos. It means for certain. It means that something is true beyond a shadow of a doubt.
iv. Jesus had lived, taught, ministered, and performed miracles among them. No doubt many of those gathered there that day had seen and heard Jesus. God attested through Jesus’ life and ministry that He was the Christ.
v. As John MacArthur puts it – the verdict was in, and they were on the wrong side. They had been guilty of opposing and rejecting God’s Messiah, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
vi. But remember, Peter was speaking the truth in love, along with the indictment Peter handed down to them, he also gave them hope. He had given them all the information they needed to get saved in his message.
vii. They had to believe in and trust the Lord. They had to call upon His name, and they would be saved, we saw that in verse 21.
viii. Maybe you’re sitting here this morning, and you haven’t made that same decision. Maybe you’re like the crowd Peter was preaching to. Jesus tells us in the Bible the he who is not against Him is on His side. That’s the most important question you will ever answer in your life. That’s the question before you this morning. Who’s side are you on? In a few minutes, we are going to pray, and we are going to give you the opportunity to make that decision, to be on Jesus’ side.
ix. Hey, I’ve read the end of the book, and you know what? Our side wins… I’d like to close our study this morning with a quote from our former President – Ronald Reagan.
V. Conclusion
a. Meaning no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can’t help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father’s shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father’s shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who left no written word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that? We can’t -unless he really was who he said he was."
b. Let’s Pray.
