In Acts chapter 2, we're going to start reading
in verse 22, and we'll read through verse 36.
Starting in verse 22 of Acts chapter 2. Men of
Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene,
a man. attested to you by God with miracles and
wonders and signs which God performed through
him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered over by the predetermined
plan and for knowledge of God, you nailed to
a cross by the hands of godless men and put him
to death. But God raised him up again, putting
an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible
for him to be held in its power. For him to be
held in its power. For David says of him, I saw
the Lord always in my presence, for he is at
my right hand so that I will not be shaken. Therefore
my heart was glad and my tongue exulted. Moreover,
my flesh also will live in hope, because you
will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow
your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made
known to me the ways of life. You will make me
full of gladness with your presence. 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. And so, because
he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn
to him with an oath, to seat one of his descendants
on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the
resurrection of Christ, that he was neither abandoned
to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. This
Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all
witnesses. 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
heaven, but he himself says, The Lord said to
my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your
enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore,
let all the house of Israel know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This
Jesus, whom you crucified. Let's pray. Father,
I come before you this morning, Lord, I ask and
I pray for your help in proclaiming the gospel
of your blessed Son, your glorious gospel. Father,
I ask and I pray that the hearts and the minds
of the people present would be receptive and
welcoming of the truths of your gospel. of the
person of the Lord Jesus. Father, I ask and I
pray that you would be honored and that you would
be glorified by all that is said and done and
thought and considered this day at this time.
I pray this in Christ's precious name. Amen.
You may be seated. So if you will remember the
context of what's taking place here in... Peter's
sermon. Last week, we looked at the message and
the means of that message. So we looked at the
act of preaching and we looked at the message
which Peter declared to the nation of Israel
and to the nations that were present. And we
looked at verses 14 through 21 last week. And
if you'll remember, As we looked at that last
week, we talked about how the coming of the Spirit
and living on this side of the cross, we're in
a new era. We're really, we're in the gospel
age, the age when the gospel is proclaimed, when
the mission of God is going forth, and where
people are saved by the power of the gospel.
So we're living in that age, but that age will
come to an end. So today, I want to talk... really
about what is the gospel of this age? What is
the gospel which is to be proclaimed and to go
forth in this age? We know that in Acts chapter
1 that the primary role of the apostles was to
proclaim Christ, to be witnesses of Christ. And
here we see the fulfillment of that taking place.
So what is... I know it's a basic question, but
what is the gospel? We hear that term all the
time, don't we? We hear the word gospel center.
We hear gospel preaching. We hear gospel music.
We hear share the gospel. We hear present the
gospel. We hear consider the gospel. What is
the gospel? We hear phrases like, well, that's
gospel. Or that's a gospel conversation. So what
is the gospel? This is very, very important to
get the gospel right. Very, very important. Because
after all, this is the Christian message, isn't
it? The gospel of the Lord Jesus. And it's not
just the message of Christianity, but this is
the Christian's message. So it's Christianity's
message, but it's the Christian's message to
the world and to those around them. So why is
it so important that we get the gospel right?
That we proclaim the correct gospel? That we
know what the gospel is? In Galatians 1, verses
6 -10, we read just how important it is that
we get... The gospel right. This is Paul writing
to the church at Galatia. And he says this, I
am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him
who called you by the grace of Christ for a different
gospel, which is really not another. Only there
are some who are disturbing you and want to distort
the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel
from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary
to what we have preached to you, he is to be
accursed, anathema, set aside for judgment in
the wrath of God in a unique and special way.
He is to be accursed. As we have said before,
so I say again, Now, if any man is preaching
to you a gospel contrary to what you have received,
he is to be accursed. It is vitally important
that we get the gospel right, that we understand
what the gospel is, that we have a working definition
of what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is.
Here in this text in verses 22 through 36 of
Acts chapter 2, we have what may be one of the
greatest, most clear gospel presentations in
the history of the church. Peter beautifully
clarifies for us what the Christian message is
and what the message of the Christian is. which
Peter preached on the day of Pentecost to the
thousands of hearers which were in front of him.
This message, think about what it brought about,
the results of it. Nearly 3 ,000 people were
saved, were pierced to the heart, and the Spirit
of God came upon them and dwelt in them and regenerated
them. and converted them, and dwelled in them.
And 3 ,000 were added to the church that day
as a result of this gospel message. As a result
of what Peter has just said. Nearly 3 ,000 people
came to Christ. One person in this, when they
were working on this text, when they were preaching
it, they titled it, The Sermon That Saved 3 ,000
People. Now, I've never preached a day in my
life compared to this. My goodness. This is a
powerful text. But here's the thing I want you
to see in this text, and we'll see it today.
It's not complicated. It's a simple, straightforward,
black and white message about who the Lord Jesus
is. So today, first, we're going to look at the
gospel according to Peter. In doing that, we're
going to follow the natural break of this. And
so, if you would, grab your Bible and just look
at the Bible as I read through these sections,
and you'll see these natural divisions as we
look at them. So first, we see in verse 22, in
looking at the Gospel according to Peter, we
see the life of Jesus in verse 22. In verses
23 through 24, we see the death of Jesus. Then
a lot bigger chunk in verses 24 through verse
32, we see the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And then in verses 33 through 35, and we'll talk
about it a little different and a little bit
separated from the other three. In verses 33
through 35, we see the exaltation of Jesus. So
already we can see that this is about the Lord
Jesus. It's about His work and who He is and
what He's accomplished. So first, let's look
at those individually. We see the life of Jesus
in verse 22. He says, Jesus the Nazarene, a man.
Jesus the Nazarene, a man. The life of Christ
tells us about the humanity of the Lord Jesus.
It tells us about the fact that He lived with
flesh and blood. It tells us of the incarnation,
God taking on flesh and dwelling among us. The
Creator stepping in to creation. That's what
the life of Christ tells us about. It tells us
the fact that He was tempted as we are tempted.
It tells us the fact that He faced and He encountered
the troubles and the issues of this life yet
without sin. It tells us that Christ was excellent
in His humanity. It tells us that Christ was
perfect and holy and pure in His humanity. The
text says, a man attested to you by God. miracles
and wonders and signs and then it talks about
how God did these things through him in their
midst so in the life of Christ we see God working
powerfully and God's approval of the person of
Christ that he lived in a manner that was pleasing
to the Lord that he lived in a manner that was
pleasing to the Lord's law, God's moral law.
And so if you think about Christ and you think
about Christ's heart, you think about Christ's
perfection and His holiness and His purity, consider
the Ten Commandments the moral law of God. And
consider yourself in regards to the Ten Commandments
and the moral law of God. The Ten Commandments,
they don't just give us one simple negative,
don't do this, but they also reveal to us the
heart of God on that issue. So if the Bible says,
you shall not murder, it also means that you
shall love your neighbor. It means not just the
action of murdering somebody, but it means the
motive of hatred and enmity within your heart,
which causes you. to murder them. So Jesus, in
his life, in his living, never ever broke a single
commandment of the moral law of God. Not just
in action. Not only did Jesus not ever murder
anybody, he only worshipped the Lord his God.
He never made for himself an idol. He never worshiped
God improperly. He never took the name of the
Lord God in vain. He never broke the Sabbath.
He never dishonored his mother and father. He
never... He never lied. He never bared false
witness. He never committed adultery in His heart.
He never coveted anything that wasn't His. Not
just in the surface action, folks, but Jesus
never desired in His heart to do those things.
His motives and His desires and His longings
were pure and holy and perfect. The reality that
he never did those came from a pure and a holy
and a genuine and a sincere and a godly heart.
So the life of Jesus, his living, shows us his
perfection, his holiness, his keeping the moral
law, but not just on his behalf. So when Jesus
got to the end of his life, He had kept the law
of God perfectly. And what are the wages of sin?
The wages of sin are death. What is sin? The
breaking of God's law. So Jesus never had any
wages upon his own life because he never sinned.
He never transgressed the law of God. So Jesus'
active obedience to the law of God is what gives
us our righteousness and our... keeping the law
of God in his sight. So Jesus' life is very,
very important. Jesus' life was not just for
himself, but Jesus' life was to be the life and
the place of his people. So when he got to the
end of his life, when he got to the end of his
perfect life, after he'd worked signs and wonders
and God had worked through him in the midst of
the people, He did not get what he deserved as
having lived a perfectly holy life, did he? No,
he got to the end of his life. And what does
the text say? This 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. Put him to death. at
the hands of godless men. So this holy and pure
and perfect and lovely Christ Jesus, who never
transgressed the law of God, who did not have
an imperfect bone in his body, got to the end
of his life and he had nails driven through his
wrists and he had nails driven through his feet.
Was that for His life? Was that because of what
He had done and how He had lived? No. His death
was substitutionary. Meaning He died on the cross
for His people to propitiate or to remove the
wrath of God from the people of God. Jesus lived
a perfect life, perfectly obeying the law. You
and I, we don't. We break the law of God. We
break the law of God fairly regularly. We commit
adultery in our heart. We long for things that
are not ours. We do not always worship the Lord
our God and have no other gods before him. We
commit idolatry in our heart. We worship God
improperly. We do not approach God in worship
reverently and in awe, and we take His name in
vain, and we do not love our neighbor as ourself,
as God has commanded us. Now what do we incur
as a result of transgressing the law of God,
the anger and judgment of God? the just penalty
for breaking God's law. We deserve the wrath
and the judgment and the anger of God to come
down upon our lives to destroy us for eternity
because of our transgression of God's moral law.
That is what we deserve as a result of breaking
His law. So when we come to the end of our life,
that is what we should receive. That is how we
should be paid. Yet, the Lord Jesus at the end
of His perfect life gets to the cross and He
bears the wrath of God taking the penalty of
His people. He takes the punishment on behalf
of His people so that they would not suffer the
penalty of breaking the law themselves. So he
was a substitute for those whom he died for.
So his death was in the place of his people and
his life was in the place of his people. The
text tells us in verse 23 that he was delivered
over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God. The life, the death, the resurrection,
the person of Christ, redemption as a whole,
and humanity. It is not accidental. Not only
does God know what's going to take place with
foreknowledge, not only does He see down the
quarters of times, but God preordains and decrees
and predetermines and plans the future. If this
is true with the Lord Jesus Christ and His gruesome
death, then this is true for all of us. The Gospel
which we proclaim and we'll see through this
text is a sovereign, God -given, God -ordained,
God -designed Gospel. It is a Gospel which is
not... Plan B, it is a gospel which is not accidental
or a backup plan, but it is the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ fixing what Adam ruined, bringing
us back to the original providential plan of
God and redemption, redeeming all things, lifting
the curse in due time. So he was delivered over.
We see that he was nailed to the cross by the
hands of godless men. So we're marking about
his physical sufferings, but the cross wasn't
just about physical sufferings, it was about
spiritual suffering. We see that he took the
punishment of God's people on the cross. Now
I think it's really important for us to realize
If you are a child of God, if you are a Christian,
if you are a born -again believer, the death
of the Lord Jesus tells us that if you are in
Christ, that God will never punish you ever again
because he took your punishment on the cross.
You will never again be under the wrath and the
anger and the judgment of God, and He will never
punish you. Now, that does not mean that God
will not, in love, in love for His beloved children,
discipline and correct, but it's always done
in love. It's never out of Him being a judge.
It's never coming out of His wrath. It's never
coming out of His judgment. It's always coming
out of His great love. So the believer will never
be punished because Christ has taken our punishment
in His death. We will never be punished. I think
it's important for us to realize that. Now, the
Bible says that Jesus gave up His spirit. This
text tells us, and Peter's telling this crowd,
that Jesus died at the hands of godless men,
but did he stay dead? Did he remain dead? Did
he get overtaken? by the power of death? Was
he consumed by death? Did he get held in the
grave where his body rotted and he couldn't get
out? No! This text tells us, and it spends more
time on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, that
death could not hold him. That it wasn't just
that he was able to get out, but it says that
death was incapable of holding him in its power.
That God rose Him from the dead. Verse 24 says,
But God raised Him up again, putting an end to
the agony of death, since it was impossible for
Him to be held in its power. Jesus' resurrection
defeated our greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy.
Even greater than the devil himself. What is
the one thing that no person in this world can
escape death? When we come to the end of our
life, we die. We are consumed by it. All because
Adam disobeyed God and transgressed his law.
Sending all of humanity plunging into sin, wickedness,
rebellion against its maker, against its creator.
Now, when Adam ate the apple, he did not drop
dead at that minute, did he? No. He continued
to live physically for some time. But he died
spiritually immediately. The death of Jesus brings
about the death of death because of what Christ
accomplishes and because the fact that the resurrection
demonstrates that Christ made an acceptable payment
for sins. It was acceptable. accepted the payment
which Christ gave for his people, giving them
eternal life. We may still physically die. We
will have to walk through that door if Jesus
doesn't come back. But we do not have to fear
death. Death has no sting. Because we know that
it's just a door that we step into glory with
Christ. We go to be with Christ. We go to be
with Him. We don't go in uncertainty into the
dark abyss. We go to be with Christ. We can have
confidence and we can die well because death
has no power. Christ. killed death. Death tried
to hold Christ in the grave, and death attempting
to hold Christ in the grave by its power is like
me trying to fill up the ocean with a glass of
water. It's not going to happen, and it's ridiculous.
I cannot fill up the ocean with a glass of water.
It takes a whole lot more water than that. But
that shows just how great and mighty and powerful
Christ is. He defeated death because He was raised
again on the third day. The resurrection, and
Peter goes on here to tell us about a prophecy
which Christ fulfilled regarding the resurrection.
It's one of the final proofs for the people of
God, for the nation of Israel, that Christ was
their Messiah. That He was the promised one of
Israel, the Holy One, as we saw in Proverbs,
as we saw in Acts 2, the Holy One of God. That
was Christ. And He proved it and He demonstrated
it because He fulfilled the scriptural prophecies.
and because He rose from the dead. His resurrection
was not just a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies
as we see in verses 25 through 29 and then a
little bit farther down in verse 31 and eventually
in 35 again in verse 35. But we also see that
the death of Christ or the resurrection of Christ
was God vindicating Christ, but it's also God
declaring that our sins are forgiven and that
Christ was who he said he was. We don't have
to question whether our sins are forgiven if
we're in Christ. We don't have to question whether
we have eternal life if we're in Christ because
God accepted his payment when he rose from the
dead. He rose. historically in time. There's
several other things regarding the resurrection
that we cannot talk about and that we cannot
emphasize, but the doctrine is amazing. There's
a reason that Peter spends more time on the resurrection
in this text and throughout the book of Acts
than he does any other throughout the book. Now,
finally we see the exaltation of Christ. We see
in verse 33, in verse 33 of our text, we read
this, Therefore, having been exalted. Now it's
important that we pause there and we see the
therefore, because that signals some sort of
change in thought, some transition in this text.
What has he presented up to this point? He's
presented the life, the death, and the resurrection
of Christ. Now he says, therefore, having talked
about the life, the death, and the resurrection
of Christ, therefore Christ has exalted to the
right hand of God. We see in his exaltation,
we see, that he's at the right hand of God, we
see that he receives the Spirit, but we also
see that he gives the Spirit. So in this text,
when he talks about the exaltation of Christ,
we see Peter bringing this full circle. You remember
last week when we were talking about... Peter
preaching, he said, when he was explaining to
the crowds what they were seeing and what they
were experiencing, and he explains the prophecy
of Joel, and he explains to them what was taking
place, he said, this, what you're seeing and
experiencing right now, this is that which was
prophesied. So Peter's bringing us, circling
us around. So the very reason which the Spirit
of God was poured out in Pentecost and the very
reason these great crowds, these thousands of
people are gathered and Peter is addressing them
is a direct result of the gospel of the Lord
Jesus. It's a direct result of His life, His
death, His resurrection, His ascension, His exaltation,
His receiving the Spirit and Him giving the Spirit
to His people. Him sending the Spirit and pouring
out the Spirit upon His people. So even the people
at that time, they were receiving the benefits
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what
is the gospel? What is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus? How do we define the gospel of the Lord
Jesus? So finally, let's talk about the definition
of the gospel according to Peter. We see Peter
explaining it and Peter giving this sermon about
it. But what does Peter define it as? What do
we see in this text up to this point? What all
is the content of Peter's message in verses 22
through 36? What's the content? What fills up
this space? Just think with me. We see the life
of Jesus. We see the ministry of Jesus. We see
the miracles and the signs and the wonders of
Jesus. We see the humanity of Jesus. We see Jesus
among... The people. We see the death of Jesus.
We see the suffering of Jesus. We see the physical
suffering of Jesus and the spiritual suffering
of Jesus. We see the delivery of Jesus by God
to the people. The death of Jesus at the hands
of godless men. We see the murder of Jesus. We
see the defeat of death by Jesus. We see the
resurrection of Jesus. We see the power and the
deity and the Godhood of Jesus. We see the prophecy
concerning Jesus. We see Jesus fulfilling that
prophecy about Himself and Jesus as the Messiah
of Israel. We see the people witnessing all of
this about Jesus and what is taking place in
the life. We see the exaltation of Jesus. We
see the rule and the lordship of Jesus. We see
Jesus receiving the Spirit and sending the Spirit.
What do we see in this text? We see a whole lot
about the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So if we want to define what the gospel
is, we have to start with the person of the Lord
Jesus. He filled... this sermon with Christ.
He explains Christ. He instructs us about Christ.
He builds upon Christ. It's all about Christ.
That's why this entire text is about the good
news. It's about the person and the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's not super overly complicated.
It's about who Christ is and about what Christ
has accomplished and what He has done. With an
emphasis, with a heavy emphasis upon the life,
the death, and the resurrection. We see those
three elements which were accomplished in the
humiliation, And the triumphant nature of his
resurrection, we see those three elements identified
over and over and over in the preaching of the
gospel in the Bible. We see Acts chapter 15,
his life, death, burial, resurrection. We see
all through the book of Acts those three things
emphasized. They're important. It's about the
life, the death, And the resurrection and the
person who accomplished those things. That is
the gospel. The message of Christianity is about
a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The message
of Christianity is about what a person has accomplished
and done in history. What Jesus Christ has done
in history. The gospel is not. And this is important,
I think. Because it helps me clarify in my mind
a lot of times what something is by understanding
what it is not. So the gospel is not an ethic.
The gospel is not a morality to live by. The
gospel is not a way of life. The gospel is not
a principle. The gospel is not even an idea.
The gospel is a living, breathing person who
is exalted and reigning and who lived on earth
and who was killed on earth and who rose from
the dead. It's a reality which took place. It's
not a principle. It's not an idea. It's not a
morality. It is about the person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to be very
careful about those distinctions. The gospel
is not, here is Jesus, this great and wonderful
teacher, now go and be like him. That's not the
gospel. The gospel is Jesus did everything because
you could do nothing. The gospel is all of Christ
and none of us. The gospel is not. Jesus loves
you. Accept him into your heart. That's not the
gospel. Who is this Jesus? Do I want him in my
heart? Who is this Jesus? Jesus, what did he
do? What has he accomplished? Who is he? In this
text, I think it's important to clarify this
as well. In maybe one of the greatest gospel
presentations of all time, The word love is never
used. The gospel is not just a thing of a ball
of fluff. It's a heavy reality about what Jesus
Christ has accomplished. Does God love us? Yes.
Does God love His elect in a special and unique
and electing way? Absolutely. But you also have
to repent. And you have to believe and you have
to trust in what Christ has done. The gospel
is bloody. The gospel is gory. The gospel is
challenging, but it's also encouraging and uplifting.
We have to be careful about how we think about
the gospel. The gospel is not keep the law. The
gospel is not repent and believe. Why should
I repent of? What am I supposed to believe in?
Anything? Can I believe in Bob over there? No,
the gospel is not repent and believe. That's
the call or the response to the gospel. The gospel
is not be a better person. That's not the gospel.
The gospel is you're a sinner and Jesus was the
only good person. Trust in His goodness, not
your own. That's the gospel. This means that
the gospel, based on what it is and who it is,
the gospel is not something that we outgrow or
we move beyond or we progress out of. Historically,
I think the gospel is one of those things that
you embrace the gospel, you believe the gospel,
you hear the gospel, and you get saved, and then
you kind of leave the gospel there, and then
you move on to bigger and better and greater
things in the Christian life. If the gospel has
to do vitally with who the person of Christ is,
then you will never outgrow the gospel because
you... have to get to know Christ more to get
to know the gospel more. The more you know Christ,
the more you love the gospel, the deeper you
dive into the person of Christ Jesus, the more
you plumb the depths of the Son of God, the more
you will realize your need for the gospel of
the Lord Jesus. So it's not something we outgrow.
We mustn't ever forget that the Christian daily
needs power to overcome sin in their lives. We
don't just need to be freed from the penalty
of sin in our lives. So what is the gospel? The
gospel is the redemptive, substitutionary, satisfying,
pleasing, redemptive work of Christ, the person
of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. It's
who it is and what he did. It wouldn't be the
gospel, and we just focus on the works and leave
out the person. It wouldn't be the gospel if
we just look at the person and leave out the
words. Those are two extremes. We can't separate
the two and we can't pull them apart. It's who
Christ is and what Christ did and what Christ
accomplished. So what does this matter to us?
Well, there's people in here who have never embraced
the gospel. There's people in here who have never
believed and trusted in the gospel. There's people
in here, there's kids, there's young people in
here who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ and
they haven't believed in the person and the work
of Christ. That has not been credited to their
account yet. That righteousness, His sin -bearing,
wrath -satisfying death is not there for them
yet. So this is an urgent plea and an urgent
call for anybody that has not believed in the
Lord Jesus and turned from their sin and trusted
in all that He is and who He is to do that. To
look to the Lord Jesus and consider Him. Believe
in Him. Trust in His life, His death, and His
resurrection. Don't go to God without Christ.
Don't die and stand before God without Christ
standing with you. You will not make it. You
have no goodness. You have no righteousness.
You have no holiness in yourself. You need the
gospel of the Lord Jesus. You need the person
of Christ. You need His righteousness. You need
His life. You need the person of Christ. This
gospel was a confrontational gospel. In this
text, we see Peter repeatedly saying you. Now
he's talking to Israel. He's talking to the Jewish
people present. He's talking to them because
many of them, Jesus walked among them. He was
around them. They saw him in his resurrection.
They saw him in his death. Some of them were
yelling, crucify him, crucify him. He's talking
specifically to the nation of Israel. But he
did not withhold the gospel. He knew that that
nation needed to come face to face with the person
of Christ Jesus. So take heed whenever you do
share the gospel, which is not complicated. But
when you talk to individuals about the person
of Christ and who he is and what he's done, take
heed that when you do that, don't try to walk
around the issues. Don't try to get around the
offense. Don't try to get around the call to
repentance. their sinfulness and their need for
a Savior. Don't try to avoid that. Don't try
to soften that. Let it be and allow the gospel
to do what the gospel does. To confront people
in their sin and show them their great need for
a blessed Savior. So as a confrontational gospel,
that does not mean that we are unloving. We should
always be loving in our proclamation of the gospel.
But we can still love and confront sin. We can
still love and proclaim the pure, clear, transparent
gospel of the Lord Jesus. It's more loving to
yell at somebody who's about to go over a cliff
to their death than it is to just... Whisper
gently and kindly, hey, hey, come on. No, we
need to allow the gospel to do its work. We need
to present them with the facts, the truths, the
reality of what Christ has accomplished and what
he has done. I think finally we have to remember
that as we share the gospel, as we proclaim the
gospel, or if we don't proclaim the gospel, we
don't. Share the gospel. We do that in light
of Christ's current state and condition. Where
is Christ now? What is Christ doing now? Christ
is exalted. He's ruling and he's reigning. He's
not dead. He's not in the grave. He's living.
He's the head of the church. So remember, as
you go into this world, remember as you talk
to individuals about the gospel of the Lord Jesus,
that Christ is risen, He's reigning, and He's
ruling. That if they reject the gospel, they
don't just reject an idea, but they reject Christ.
That if we... Deny the gospel going forth. We
deny telling people about a risen and exalted
Lord. We must share, we must communicate and
proclaim the gospel in light of the reality that
Christ is exalted, He is risen, and He is reigning.