SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, a community of listening saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand for the reading of the word.
SPEAKER_01: This is Acts 3, 11 through 26.
SPEAKER_01: Peter speaks in Solomon's portico.
SPEAKER_01: While he clung to Peter and John, all the earth utterly astounded, ran together to them in a portico called Solomon's.
SPEAKER_01: And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?
SPEAKER_01: And why do you stare at us as though by our own power and piety we have made him walk?
SPEAKER_01: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him, but you denied the holy and righteous one, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: To this we are witnesses, and his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.
SPEAKER_01: And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
SPEAKER_01: And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
SPEAKER_01: But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring, all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
SPEAKER_01: Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.
SPEAKER_01: You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you, and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.
SPEAKER_01: And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaim these days.
SPEAKER_01: You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: God, having raised up his servants, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
SPEAKER_01: The word of the Lord, you may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Great job, Emma.
SPEAKER_02: Well, hello everyone.
SPEAKER_02: My name is Zach.
SPEAKER_02: I'm uh the pastor here at the Way Church, and we exist to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.
SPEAKER_02: And we uh we planted a year and a half ago, so we're uh a new church in this neighborhood, in this city, in this community, and we're grateful to be here.
SPEAKER_02: Um as we were singing that last worship song, you know, I had a thought that God kind of impressed upon my heart that I wanted to share with you.
SPEAKER_02: You know, this phrase, like, God, you have been so, so good to me through the years, you've been good to me.
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, how do we tangibly, like, how do we sing that when we may not be feeling that, right?
SPEAKER_02: When when it may seem as though God is distant, when it may seem as though times are hard, there's struggling, suffering, whatever that may be, how do you sing, God, you are so, so good?
SPEAKER_02: And I think that the the truth for us this morning is we need to posture ourselves in such a way that we can sing that in the suffering, in the hardship, in the tough times, and also in the joy of life when times are good.
SPEAKER_02: Um that's been something that Chelsea and I have seen.
SPEAKER_02: You know, when times have been tough, we still have sought to sing, God, you've been so so good to me.
SPEAKER_02: And also when times are joyous, God, you've been so, so good to me.
SPEAKER_02: So hopefully that is an encouragement to you.
SPEAKER_02: Um, I just wanted to briefly share that with you.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if this is your first time here, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we would love for you to be a part of our way church family.
SPEAKER_02: Um what I what I often tell people is what I believe makes our church special is not the preaching, although we're going to faithfully preach God's word.
SPEAKER_02: Um it's not necessarily the worship music, although Ashton is an anointed worship leader.
SPEAKER_02: What I believe makes our church special is this family that God's building here.
SPEAKER_02: Um people from different walks of life who grew up on different sides of the track, who um may look different, talk different, act different, uh, but we're united under the banner of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so that's that's what we're about here.
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Uh this morning, though, uh we're continuing in our series through the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Our sermon series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.
SPEAKER_02: Uh last week, Pastor Roman preached on Acts chapter 3, verses 1 through 10, um, as we looked at the story of the lame man being healed.
SPEAKER_02: Um, who was here last week and can attest that Roman did an excellent job?
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: You did great.
SPEAKER_02: I listened to you.
SPEAKER_02: So uh thank you for letting me take that time uh with my wife uh to go down to Oklahoma for the Labor Day weekend.
SPEAKER_02: Um this week, though, we'll look at Acts chapter 3, verses 11 through 26.
SPEAKER_02: Um today, what we're gonna see is how the apostles and the crowd respond directly after the lame beggar is healed.
SPEAKER_02: Uh if you've got your Bible, you can go ahead and open it to Acts chapter 3, verses 11 through 26.
SPEAKER_02: And um, if you don't have a Bible, we'd love to give you one just outside of the sanctuary doors.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you can go out there and grab one.
SPEAKER_02: Bo just stocked the Bible shelf, so we are stalked.
SPEAKER_02: It looks real nice.
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, you can take it home with you, mark it up, put your name in it, all that fun stuff.
SPEAKER_02: Um, also, just a quick aside, there's these uh stickers on the chairbacks in front of you.
SPEAKER_02: Um you can tap your phone to that sticker and you can access our kind of digital sermon notes through that, um, or you can go to the waykc.church slash sermon notes if you want to take digital sermon notes, or you can put it in the margin of your Bible.
SPEAKER_02: That's that works too.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I do.
SPEAKER_02: Um anywho, let's set the scene for this text.
SPEAKER_02: So today what we see, we once again see Peter preaching to an inquisitive crowd.
SPEAKER_02: Um this text takes place in Solomon's portico.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we see in verse 11.
SPEAKER_02: And this would have been a part of the temple complex, um, a covered walkway where teachers often gathered.
SPEAKER_02: It's where Jesus once taught in his earthly ministry.
SPEAKER_02: We see that in John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_02: And it is where early believers regularly gathered.
SPEAKER_02: It would have been on the eastern edge of the temple, and it was a public but sacred space.
SPEAKER_02: So by preaching here, Peter is positioning Jesus as the true fulfillment of Israel's hope within its own sacred space.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, as he preaches, he's not hiding, he is proclaiming Jesus right in the heart of Israel's religious life.
SPEAKER_02: So that's a little context, but this week there there's one simple truth that I want us to pull from this text.
SPEAKER_02: One simple truth.
SPEAKER_02: And it's this that there is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: There is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And maybe you're sitting here this morning and this truth doesn't seem real to you.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you feel like it's just like a churchy thing that people often say, that Christians often say.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe today you don't truly feel the power that is in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: As you look around the world, like, and as I look around the world, like there's so much brokenness, there's often hopelessness, there's there's evil that's just in the world.
SPEAKER_02: And I think we we we live in a world, we live in a culture that's that's full of broken systems, struggling bodies, disappointed hopes, just like this man who was healed at the temple gate that Roman preached about last week.
SPEAKER_02: And so what I think we'll see in today's text is that the name of Jesus still heals, the name of Jesus still restores, and the name of Jesus, it still provokes a response today.
SPEAKER_02: Here's our big idea.
SPEAKER_02: Our big idea.
SPEAKER_02: Calling us to respond with faith and share this good news with others.
SPEAKER_02: As we see the unfolding of God's redemptive plan through Him.
SPEAKER_02: Once again, there is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: You believe that?
SPEAKER_02: I know Rachel Mossman does.
SPEAKER_02: There is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: With this, there's there's three things that we're gonna look at.
SPEAKER_02: First, faith fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: Second, repentance brings refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: And third, we'll see prophecy fulfilled in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I'll pray and then let's dig in.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us here today.
SPEAKER_02: Uh thank you for being at work in and among us and through us, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Um, God, I just ask that you continue to knit this church family together, that we continue to be a people who are doing life together, who are living life together, who are celebrating together in the good days and crying together in the bad days, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: God, I pray, I pray that today as we look at your word, as we dig deep into your word, that you would uh that you would fall fresh on us, that your spirit would fall fresh on us, that you would make your word clear, Lord, that you would move me out of the way and allow your words to be preached.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for sending your son Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We love you.
SPEAKER_02: It's in his name we pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Point number one, faith fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: Faith fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: And faith fuels healing because there is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It is faith in the name of Jesus that fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: Let's dig in.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 11 of Acts chapter 3.
SPEAKER_02: While he, he being the lame man who was just healed, clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.
SPEAKER_02: So here we are.
SPEAKER_02: The lame man has just been healed.
SPEAKER_02: This text is showing us what happens directly after this miraculous healing.
SPEAKER_02: This man who had just been healed from lifelong lameness, now he clings to Peter and John.
SPEAKER_02: Clings to Peter and John.
SPEAKER_02: And the crowd gathers together at Solomon's portico, and the text says that they are utterly astounded.
SPEAKER_02: A hush has fallen over them.
SPEAKER_02: What in the world just happened?
SPEAKER_02: We've seen this man before.
SPEAKER_02: We know him, we know that he's been lame, he's been crippled for his whole life.
SPEAKER_02: He he had no shot of being healed.
SPEAKER_02: How can this be?
SPEAKER_02: What just happened?
SPEAKER_02: They are expecting an answer.
SPEAKER_02: And what does Peter do?
SPEAKER_02: Well, he provides for them an answer.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_02: And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people.
SPEAKER_02: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate.
SPEAKER_02: When he had decided to release him, but you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: To this we are witnesses.
SPEAKER_02: And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.
SPEAKER_02: And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
SPEAKER_02: So immediately off the rip, Peter he redirects the glory from himself to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They're trying to give him the credit, to give him the shine for this healing.
SPEAKER_02: But Peter's like, no, don't look at me, look at Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Peter's saying that it's not by our power, it's not by our righteousness, it's not by our holiness that this man is now walking.
SPEAKER_02: No, Peter is saying that it is Jesus who made this man walk.
SPEAKER_02: And what's so interesting, he doesn't tell them that just like super succinctly.
SPEAKER_02: No, he breaks it down for them, and he really like kind of keeps it real with them as well.
SPEAKER_02: He says, the God of Abraham, the God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, that they all glorified this servant Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And what I think Peter is doing with this statement is showing the crowd, which is mostly made up of Jewish people, that this faith in Jesus that they now have, that Peter and the apostles now have, it's not a faith that is divorced from the Old Testament scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: No, it's the same God, the same figures throughout redemptive history who were pointing forward to this man Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Who all of the prophets' voices have been glorifying.
SPEAKER_02: This servant, God's servant Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: The Jesus that the people, verse 13, delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate.
SPEAKER_02: He's saying that the people were complicit in Christ's death.
SPEAKER_02: Complicit in the death of not just any man, not a guilty man, not a man who deserved to be delivered over, not a man who deserved to be punished, not a man who deserved to be killed, but verse 14.
SPEAKER_02: A man who was holy and righteous, the holy and righteous one, the author of life.
SPEAKER_02: And they killed that man.
SPEAKER_02: They were complicit in that murder.
SPEAKER_02: And by stating that Jesus is the holy and righteous one, Peter is confirming Christ's identity here.
SPEAKER_02: He is confirming Christ's deity.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ is the holy and righteous one.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ, he is blameless.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ, he is without sin.
SPEAKER_02: Yet they still asked for a murderer to be released in his place.
SPEAKER_02: That's brutal, right?
SPEAKER_02: Then verse 15, Peter he goes on to summarize the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: And you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: To this we are witnesses.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he doesn't shy away from their guilt, but he shows God's sovereignty and redemption.
SPEAKER_02: And as I don't know about you guys, but as I read this text, I can't help but feel like, oh my, this is kind of a little harsh.
SPEAKER_02: Like Peter's bold here.
SPEAKER_02: Peter's keeping it real.
SPEAKER_02: And his boldness, it may sound harsh, but like I think it's important that we remember and that we look at the truth that he's not blaming the crowd in order to shame them, but in order to awaken them, right?
SPEAKER_02: He wants them to turn towards Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, look at Peter's own life, right?
SPEAKER_02: What we see in the Gospels is that Peter denied Jesus three times.
SPEAKER_02: So he's not here preaching in Solomon's portico from a pedestal from a holier than thou place.
SPEAKER_02: No, he's he's preaching from a place of deep repentance.
SPEAKER_02: And then verse 16, he drops the hammer.
SPEAKER_02: He shows the crowd, and I think he's showing us today that it is faith that fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 16.
SPEAKER_02: And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
SPEAKER_02: It's pretty straightforward.
SPEAKER_02: It is faith that fuels healing.
SPEAKER_02: But not just like faith in the name of something obscure, not faith in something nameless, not not faith in something distant, not a sort of abstract faith.
SPEAKER_02: No, it is faith in the mighty, mighty name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the fact of the matter.
SPEAKER_02: Faith, it must have an object.
SPEAKER_02: And for us, as followers of the way of Jesus, that object, that person is Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's not our feelings, it's not our own efforts, it is faith in the mighty name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And this sort of faith, it heals both physically, it heals spiritually, it heals emotionally.
SPEAKER_02: In this verse, faith in the name of Jesus is explicitly cited as the means by which this man is healed.
SPEAKER_02: The name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: In Jewish thought, a name, it carried the essence and authority of a person.
SPEAKER_02: Faith in Jesus' name, it means trusting in his person, trusting in his work, trusting in his power.
SPEAKER_02: And so for Peter and the apostles to act in someone's name was to act under their delegated power.
SPEAKER_02: So healing in Jesus' name is not magic.
SPEAKER_02: It is the kingdom of God breaking in through the authority of the risen Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So it's faith, not familiarity, that brings healing.
SPEAKER_02: We must never hear this.
SPEAKER_02: We must never grow numb to the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I think of my life ten years ago, man.
SPEAKER_02: I was helpless, I was hopeless, I was broken, I was in the darkness, I was spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally broken, completely lost in the darkness of addiction, in desperate need of healing and restoration.
SPEAKER_02: I was the lame man seeking restoration and healing.
SPEAKER_02: And it was God, in his great mercy, who reached down and plucked me out of the muck and the mire and set my feet on solid ground.
SPEAKER_02: It is when I had faith in the mighty name of Jesus that I had experienced healing and restoration.
SPEAKER_02: It is nothing else but faith in the mighty name of Jesus that set me free.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's a lot of your stories as well.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever the story is, the backstory is, it is faith in the mighty name of Jesus that sets you free.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe, like the lame man, you may not see a way out of a situation.
SPEAKER_02: Family, have faith in the power of the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're in the midst of grief.
SPEAKER_02: Have faith in the power of the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you look around the world and see nothing but brokenness.
SPEAKER_02: Have faith in the power of the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you look around our neighborhood or our city and you see how you know some trust the things of this world, some trust in money, some trust in hustles, some trust in, you know, social services, maybe some trust in a lifestyle, maybe some trust in politics.
SPEAKER_02: But we, we, as the Way KC, we trust in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: He alone heals what's truly broken.
SPEAKER_02: Because there is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: To heal, to restore, to break every chain, to make all things new.
SPEAKER_02: But healing, it isn't the end of the story.
SPEAKER_02: It's the beginning of a deeper call, the calling to repentance, which brings us to point number two.
SPEAKER_02: Repentance brings refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: Because there is power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It is the mighty name of Jesus that brings about repentance.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 3, verse 17 through 21, the word of God says, Whom heaven must receive.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, sorry.
SPEAKER_02: That's 21.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 17.
SPEAKER_02: And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
SPEAKER_02: So let's break this down.
SPEAKER_02: In verse 17, Peter acknowledges the people's ignorance.
SPEAKER_02: But I think what he shows us is that ignorance is not innocence.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, if you look at the Old Testament, in Levitical law, sins of ignorance still required atonement.
SPEAKER_02: You can find that in Leviticus 5 if you want to look back at that in your free time.
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's true in the New Covenant as well.
SPEAKER_02: For us, ignorance doesn't make us innocent.
SPEAKER_02: No, it ignorance reveals our need for grace.
SPEAKER_02: And that's why Peter calls them to repent.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't tell them, like, hey, relax, chill out, everything's all good.
SPEAKER_02: No, he calls them to repentance.
SPEAKER_02: Because the fact of the matter is the Jewish people, they were not fully aware of the implications of Jesus' identity.
SPEAKER_02: But ignorance, it doesn't exempt guilt.
SPEAKER_02: But Peter, he's not like hateful, he's not like super standoffish.
SPEAKER_02: No, he is grace-filled.
SPEAKER_02: Peter's compassion, it echoes Jesus' words from the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
SPEAKER_02: Then verse 18, we see how God and his sovereignty foretold these events.
SPEAKER_02: Peter states that God foretold through the prophets that the Christ would suffer.
SPEAKER_02: I'll read verse 18 over you again.
SPEAKER_02: But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: So what Peter's doing here, he's blending prophetic hope with the sense of like apostolic urgency.
SPEAKER_02: And this statement in verse 18, it's an allusion to the servant motif found in Isaiah 52 and 53.
SPEAKER_02: The suffering servant prophecy in Isaiah.
SPEAKER_02: What we see, what this shows us undeniably, is that the suffering of Christ was foretold, and suffering preceded his glory.
SPEAKER_02: And real quick, just for kind of our insight, and I just think this is so beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to read Isaiah 53, verses 4 through 12 over you.
SPEAKER_02: And what I want all of us to do is to pay attention to how these prophetic verses are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: We're in Acts chapter 3, but there's such a strong pull, strong allusion to the book of Isaiah, just with that simple phrase in verse 18.
SPEAKER_02: But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that this Christ would suffer.
SPEAKER_02: He has that He thus fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm going to read these verses from Isaiah 53 over you.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 4.
SPEAKER_02: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
SPEAKER_02: Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
SPEAKER_02: But he was pierced for our transgressions.
SPEAKER_02: Who is this he that was pierced for our transgressions?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: He was crushed for our iniquities.
SPEAKER_02: Who was crushed for our iniquities?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
SPEAKER_02: Whose wounds?
SPEAKER_02: Christ's wounds.
SPEAKER_02: By Christ's wounds we are healed.
SPEAKER_02: All we, like sheep, have gone astray.
SPEAKER_02: We have turned, everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord has laid on who the iniquity of us all?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, Crystal.
SPEAKER_02: He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opens not his mouth.
SPEAKER_02: That's where we see Jesus being silent before those casting judgment.
SPEAKER_02: Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
SPEAKER_02: By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
SPEAKER_02: And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
SPEAKER_02: Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
SPEAKER_02: He has put him to grief.
SPEAKER_02: When his soul makes it an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
SPEAKER_02: Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.
SPEAKER_02: By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant.
SPEAKER_02: You see how earlier in Acts it talks about Jesus as the holy and righteous one, and here in this prophetic verse in Isaiah it refers to him as the righteous one.
SPEAKER_02: My servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many.
SPEAKER_02: Yet he bore our sin and makes intercession for the transgressors.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see the beauty in that?
SPEAKER_02: How all of Scripture is interconnected, how the suffering Messiah was expected by Isaiah in Isaiah 53.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't a contradiction of the covenant, but it's its fulfillment.
SPEAKER_02: So Peter, he makes this point, and then he calls the people to repentance.
SPEAKER_02: He calls them to a turning from their sin and a turning towards God.
SPEAKER_02: And I think we see some purpose in this repentance that Peter describes.
SPEAKER_02: First, we see that sins may be blotted out.
SPEAKER_02: We see that in verse 19.
SPEAKER_02: We see that times of refreshing may come later on in that verse.
SPEAKER_02: And then we see that J so that Jesus may return to bring full restoration.
SPEAKER_02: Sins being blotted out, times of refreshment coming, and all things being made new.
SPEAKER_02: Sins so that sins may be blotted out.
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that when you receive Christ, your sins are blotted out?
SPEAKER_02: You are seen as not in your sinfulness, you are seen in Christ's righteousness.
SPEAKER_02: It's this idea of being clothed in Jesus Christ's righteousness.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ, the holy and perfect one, the author of life, the one who never sinned, we are clothed in his righteousness.
SPEAKER_02: There's no way that our righteousness could ever cover up our sins.
SPEAKER_02: No, we we sin on a daily, on a moment-by-moment basis.
SPEAKER_02: But Christ, his righteousness covers us.
SPEAKER_02: Sins may be blotted up.
SPEAKER_02: We also see that times of refreshing.
SPEAKER_02: It means relief or rest or revival.
SPEAKER_02: And what this points to is both the present work of the Spirit and the future restoration when Christ returns.
SPEAKER_02: The phrase, it echoes Isaiah's hope of streams in the desert that's found in Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 44.
SPEAKER_02: Really, this phrase refresh uh times of refreshing, what it does is it points to the in-breaking of the kingdom of God through the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the thing: repentance, it always, I think, usually maybe precedes refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to make a blanket statement.
SPEAKER_02: I'll just say repentance precedes refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: The world often seeks refreshment in the things of the world.
SPEAKER_02: The world often seeks refreshment without repentance.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, think about this.
SPEAKER_02: I love a good soda, I love a good Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Pepper, and when I'm thirsty and I should drink water, I drink a Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Pepper seeking refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: It might temporarily like.
SPEAKER_02: And yes, it is turning from sin, but it's also turning to joy.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: Like for so long I thought that if I stopped living a certain way, if I stopped living in sin, if I stopped living for the ways of the world, that all the joy in life was gone, that all the happiness in life is gone.
SPEAKER_02: But what I found is that turning from sin is the place that leads to true joy.
SPEAKER_02: Repentance brings the refreshment of forgiveness, the living water, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the hope of restoration.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what we see in verses 20 and 21, that Jesus may return, Jesus will return to bring about full restoration.
SPEAKER_02: The scriptures show us that one day Jesus will return and make all things new.
SPEAKER_02: No more pain, no more hurting, no more grief, no more sorrow, no more tears.
SPEAKER_02: Just straight up joy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And we're living, we talk about this a lot, we're living in the already and the not yet.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: We're living in the first fruits of God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: And one day it'll be fully realized.
SPEAKER_02: New heavens, new earth.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what our hope is.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we look to in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So at the Way KC for us, may we be a repentant people.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people who repent.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people who turn from our sin and turn to joy.
SPEAKER_02: Turn to the joy that is found in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people who are bringing about refreshment and who are seeking that full refreshment.
SPEAKER_02: Looking to the day when Christ will return.
SPEAKER_02: And like I said, make all things new.
SPEAKER_02: Point three, and our last point today is simply, it's not something super creative.
SPEAKER_02: It's just simply prophecy fulfilled in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Prophecy fulfilled in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: That's what like all of these uh five verses show us.
SPEAKER_02: And once again, family, can I just tell you?
SPEAKER_02: Can I just tell you, Crystal?
SPEAKER_02: Yes, that there's power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: There's power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 22 through 26.
SPEAKER_02: Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.
SPEAKER_02: You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you, and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.
SPEAKER_02: And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaim these days.
SPEAKER_02: You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenants that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
SPEAKER_02: God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he doesn't miss this moment.
SPEAKER_02: No, he takes the crowd straight to one of the most powerful and expected promises in all of Scripture.
SPEAKER_02: What he's doing is quoting Deuteronomy 18, which reads, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.
SPEAKER_02: In the first century, in the time of the early church, that promise was electric.
SPEAKER_02: They were longing for a new Moses, a prophet, deliverer who would break the power of Rome like Moses broke the chains of Egypt.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter, he's just straight up with him.
SPEAKER_02: He declares that man, that prophet, that deliverer has come.
SPEAKER_02: And his name is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Because what we know and what we see is that Jesus is the true and greater Moses.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is the long-awaited prophet.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is also, though, much more than a prophet.
SPEAKER_02: Hebrews 1, 1 through 2, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son.
SPEAKER_02: So Jesus, yes, he is the final prophet.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus isn't just the final prophet, though, he is the final word.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is a messenger, but he's not just the messenger, he's also the message.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter goes even further as he continues on in his sermon.
SPEAKER_02: From Samuel to Isaiah to Abraham, every prophet was pointing to this moment, to this Messiah, to this Savior.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 25, in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
SPEAKER_02: That blessing, that's from Genesis, that blessing was never just about land or nationhood.
SPEAKER_02: It was always about redemption.
SPEAKER_02: Always about rescue.
SPEAKER_02: Always about sinners turning from their sin and towards the joy found in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And then Peter, he looks at his Jewish audience, looks them in the eye, and he says, You are the sons of the prophets in the covenant.
SPEAKER_02: He's saying, Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_02: This is your inheritance.
SPEAKER_02: And maybe you're sitting here and it's like you're reading this and you feel detached from these words.
SPEAKER_02: But church, there's good news for us.
SPEAKER_02: To my knowledge, I think that the vast majority of us in this room, we're all Gentiles in this room.
SPEAKER_02: We'd all have been considered Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: But the beauty of the gospel is this: we have been grafted in.
SPEAKER_02: We've been adopted, we've been included.
SPEAKER_02: So these are also our promises.
SPEAKER_02: These are also our inheritances.
SPEAKER_02: Paul, he later on in the New Testament, Paul puts it like this: Galatians 3, 29.
SPEAKER_02: If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring.
SPEAKER_02: Heirs according to the promise.
SPEAKER_02: So what that means for us is that this story is your story too.
SPEAKER_02: This covenant language we read about is your covenant too.
SPEAKER_02: This blessing to turn from the wickedness and to walk in the light is your blessing too.
SPEAKER_02: Because the gospel is not just for one people group.
SPEAKER_02: No, it's for all nations.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel doesn't like skip over a people.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel infiltrates the hearts of all people.
SPEAKER_02: It's for all nations, just as God promised Abraham.
SPEAKER_02: So, family, from Abraham to Moses to Isaiah, every page of Scripture, every page of Scripture is pointing to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: He is the true and greater Abraham.
SPEAKER_02: He is the true and greater Moses.
SPEAKER_02: He's the true and greater prophet.
SPEAKER_02: He is the thread that holds the Bible and your life together.
SPEAKER_02: So, Ashton, if you want to come up, I'm going to land the plane.
SPEAKER_02: There's a couple things we want to do.
SPEAKER_02: First, to kind of summarize where we've been today.
SPEAKER_02: The name of Jesus heals, saves, and restores.
SPEAKER_02: There is power in the mighty name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And the gospel, it's not merely for amazement.
SPEAKER_02: No, it demands a response.
SPEAKER_02: So here's my final encouragement to you this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Would you live in the power of the mighty name of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Are you trusting in Christ daily?
SPEAKER_02: Where you live, work, and play, not just when you come to church on Sunday, but when you're at work with non-believers, when you're at basketball practice with teammates who may not believe?
SPEAKER_02: When you're at Shawnee Mission North with fellow students who don't believe, are you living and trusting in Christ daily?
SPEAKER_02: Where you live, work and play?
SPEAKER_02: Are you clinging to the name of Jesus like the healed man?
SPEAKER_02: Are you clinging to the mighty name of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: If you've never trusted in Jesus, if you've never turned to him in repentance and faith, today can be the day.
SPEAKER_02: The same Jesus who healed the lame man in Acts chapter 3 is calling you to walk in newness of life.
SPEAKER_02: So is today that day?
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe you've been walking with Jesus for a while.
SPEAKER_02: Ask yourself this.
SPEAKER_02: Is repentance part of your rhythm?
SPEAKER_02: Are you living a life of repentance?
SPEAKER_02: Are you living a lifestyle of repentance?
SPEAKER_02: Of turning from your sin and turning towards the joy that is found in the Lord?
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe it's this for you.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you need to be proclaiming the name of Jesus to others more often.
SPEAKER_02: Are you offering his hope to others?
SPEAKER_02: Are you proclaiming his name boldly?
SPEAKER_02: Are you living as though, because he is, are you living as though Jesus is the central figure of God's story?
SPEAKER_02: Church, may we be a people who lift high the name of Jesus in this neighborhood of Rosedale in Kansas City and beyond.
SPEAKER_02: We're not here to sit and soak.
SPEAKER_02: We don't come to the Way Church KC to sit and soak on a Sunday and then go out throughout the rest of the week like the mighty name of Jesus don't matter.
SPEAKER_02: No, we are a sent people.
SPEAKER_02: There are people in your apartment complex, there are people at your job, there are people at your school, there are people at your barber shop who need to know his name.
SPEAKER_02: They need to know, Roman.
SPEAKER_02: They need to know.
SPEAKER_02: So let's be bold.
SPEAKER_02: Let's lift high the name of Jesus in Rosedale, in Kansas City, and to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_02: It's Jesus' name that made this man strong.
SPEAKER_02: In Texas, it was perfect health, right?
SPEAKER_02: Like that's complete, perfect restoration.
SPEAKER_02: The mighty name of Jesus did that.
SPEAKER_02: So in the same way, may that name, the name of Jesus, make us bold.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_00: Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.church.