Title: Peter’s Sermon: Explanation

Text: Acts 2:14-36

FCF: We often struggle turning to the Lord alone for salvation.

Prop: Because God through Christ brought the time when all who call on the Lord would be saved, we must repent and believe on Christ alone for salvation.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 2.

Last week we saw a miraculous event unfold before our eyes. We saw wonders that no eye had seen before and no ear had heard before. A temporary turning back of the tower of Babel. A pouring out of the Spirit of God. A supernatural, multilingual praise service about the greatness of God’s deeds and the miraculous work of His Son.

Nevertheless, despite all the wonder, the best it could produce was confusion and the worst, scoffing.

But today, we will see an apostle stand before those who jeer. He will stand before those who wonder. And he will preach Christ. We won’t quite get to the application of Peter’s sermon today, nor will we get to the response of the hearers. But we will at least see the explanation answering their question… “What does all this mean?”

Let’s start in verse 14 of chapter 2. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible starting on page 1230.

Transition:

From cowardly denier to bold preacher, Peter now preaches the answer to their question. Let’s waste no time this morning.

I.) God has prophesied that a day of wonder will come after which all who call on the Lord will be saved, we must repent and believe on Christ alone for salvation. (14-21)

a. [Slide 2] 14-15 - 14 But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. 15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.

i. So, after the general response from the nationally diverse Jewish crowd, in which they expressed both confusion and scorn, Peter stands up with the other 11 apostles and raises his voice.

ii. This does not mean that Peter is the only one speaking, for all the 120 were given the gift of tongues to prophesy.

iii. Instead, we should infer from this that Peter, stands up and raises his voice not in anger but in order to answer the questions and criticisms of the crowd.

iv. He addresses them as men of Judea and those who live in Jerusalem. This address is probably intended to include everyone rather than exclude anyone. Peter is neither interested in addressing only those who are from Judea nationally nor those who are residents of Jerusalem specifically, nor men only. Instead, he wishes to lump all of them into the same boat. They are Jews, just like him, whether they live in Jerusalem or not. And this is what he wants. They are all culpable for what he is about to tell them. He wants all of them to listen very carefully and attentively.

v. First, he deals with the easiest and most aggressive of the responses to the outpouring of the Spirit. He denies that those who speak in tongues are drunk. His reasoning is that it is only the third hour or as the NET renders this – 9am.

vi. Most likely this proves that they are not drunk because sweet wine would be wine that has only begun to ferment meaning the alcohol content would have been quite low. To be drunk on such wine so early in the morning would require them to have been drinking for many hours and consuming it in vast quantities.

vii. This, then, is either not possible or highly unlikely.

viii. Now Peter moves on to address the second response at length. Their question was… “What does this mean?”

ix. Peter goes on the offensive. Everything that follows should be seen as Peter’s answer “This is what it all means.”

b. [Slide 3] 16-19a - 16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below,

i. We should take note of Peter’s tactic in addressing such a question.

ii. When we face those who are confused or curious about the work of God, we must take them to scripture. This is exactly what Peter does. Although receiving the power of the Holy Spirit and armed with teaching from Christ – Peter goes to the scriptures to address his Jewish brothers.

iii. He tells them that what they have seen is both full of meaning and significance.

iv. He tells them that it was prophesied in the scriptures by the prophet Joel.

v. Peter adds the phrase “in the last days” as he understands that such a prophesy was not fulfilled in near vicinity to Joel’s time. When Peter quotes this it is about 900 years after Joel wrote it.

vi. The key points of this prophesy up to the first part of verse 19 is to recognize 3 things.

1. There will come a day when God will pour out His Spirit.

2. The purpose of this will be to empower people from all walks of life to prophesy, dream and have visions specifically revealing God’s message to men.

3. The evidence of this will be wonders in the sky and miraculous signs on the earth below.

vii. Peter’s clear point here is that this time has come. Men and women and people from all walks of life – even Galileans – are prophesying (speaking in tongues) and receiving revelation from God to give to the world.

viii. But it is not merely the fact that these things have happened and that they are in the time Joel prophesied.

ix. Peter goes on with his quote of Joel 2 to pick up one significant thought that contributes to his entire sermon.

c. [Slide 4] 19b-21 - blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 21 And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

i. Many commentators, revealing their eschatological persuasions, try to make these events fit into either Christ’s crucifixion or the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. However, I believe these events correlate better to the end of the world and coming judgment.

ii. Meaning there is a gap between 19a and 19b. This is not abnormal in prophesy from the Old Testament.

iii. Verse 21 raises what becomes the main point of his sermon.

iv. Peter tells them that AFTER these events occur, after the Spirit is poured out, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

v. What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? And saved from what?

1. [Slide 5] First, let’s look at what it means to call on something.

a. To call on is an expression used throughout the New Testament to invoke.

b. It means to cry out in dependance on either a deity or an authority for assistance or protection.

c. But it inherently also includes a recognition of both submission and deference to that authority or deity. There is a surrender to the authority itself as well as respect and honor given to the authority.

d. We also should not expect this to be a single event in a person’s life. Indeed, if it were a single time of submission and deference the case could be made that it was mere lip service. Instead, this is an ongoing calling.

e. In this we see multiple layers of the gospel call.

f. We see repentance in the sense that dependance on one’s self, one’s efforts, or commitment to one’s own desires has all been cast aside and abandoned.

g. We see humility in the sense that there is recognition of the sad state of affairs one is in to come to the point of needing to be rescued or delivered.

h. We see also belief in the sense that there is absolute trust and dependance that the authority to which one is calling or appealing is the only one able to save them from their plight.

i. To call on the Lord addresses the motivations and posture of a convert.

j. Although what we believe at conversion does matter, and we’ll see that as we get to the end of Peter’s sermon, this particular expression points to the humble and desperate position of the person seeking salvation.

k. To call on the Lord then, is an expression indicating the hopeless state of the caller, the authority and ability of the Lord to rescue them, and thus the utter and complete submission and deference to the Lord.

l. To put it negatively, to call on the Lord is not a pre written prayer, magic spell, empty ritual, or mere statement of doctrinal confession. Instead, it is a desperate cry of eager repentance and absolute belief.

2. [Slide 6] But what are we saved from in Joel 2 as quoted by Peter?

a. When we went through the various theories of the atonement, we recognized several theories that tended to downplay God’s wrath or His intention to punish sin.

b. And in the context of Joel 2, sin was a problem. In fact, Joel is calling them to repentance just before this passage that Peter quotes.

c. But sin in and of itself is not the thing from which we need salvation in Joel 2. Sin is merely the cause of the greater danger to us.

d. Joel speaks of the great and terrible day of the Lord where He will come to judge and punish lawbreakers.

e. This is when Joel/Peter says they can and must call on the name of the Lord to be saved. They must call on the One who brings such a day upon them. There is none who could save them from His wrath except the Lord Himself.

d. [Slide 7] Passage Truth: So, Luke to Theophilus gives a doctrinal teaching that is clear in this text. God has fulfilled prophesy of the Old Testament by pouring out His Spirit on His church to enable them to perform various signs and wonders indicating that the day has come when all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

e. Passage Application: Theophilus then must rest in the fulfillment of prophesy and continue to call on the name of the Lord. He must continue to repent of His sin and His self-righteousness and trust only in the name of the Lord.

f. [Slide 8] Broader Biblical Truth: It is not hard for us to prove that this is exactly what the whole of the scriptures teach since Peter does this for us. He shows us that prophesy from the Old Testament has revealed this time of wonder to be the day of salvation. This time before the great and terrible day of the Lord is the time when men and women everywhere are called to repent and believe the gospel.

g. Broader Biblical Application: So CBC, we must do just that. The call to repent and believe the gospel is not a call only to those who are currently unbelievers. For the gospel is how we are sustained as believers. Repentance is an ongoing disposition of the hearts of those whom the Lord has saved. Indeed as 1 John 1:9 says, if we confess, or agree with God about, our sin then that is a sign that He is forgiving our sin and cleansing us from all unrighteousness – why? Because He is faithful and just. Thus, ongoing repentance and ongoing belief are necessary for all God’s people. For there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. We never leave the elementary principles of the gospel. We simply build on them.

Transition:

[Slide 9 (blank)] So we see that prophesy is being fulfilled before their eyes in the pouring out of the Spirit. But how did that come about and who specifically is the Lord they must call on to be saved?

II.) Jesus is both the fulfillment of this prophesy and the Lord on whom all must call to be saved, we must repent and believe on Christ alone for salvation. (22-36)

a. [Slide 10] 22-24 - 22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know—23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.

i. Before Peter merely said that the events that they had seen were a fulfillment of Joel 2.

ii. Now he will be a little bit more specific about how exactly these signs correlate to Joel 2 and how these signs came about.

iii. His argument points to Jesus the Nazarene being the direct fulfillment of all of this prophesy. Not the apostles. Not the church. Jesus.

iv. How is Jesus the fulfillment of these prophesies?

v. By God, Jesus performed miracles, signs, wonders, and many marvelous deeds.

vi. They know this better than most, for they have all been in the area during many of these events. Whether they are Jews visiting or Jews living in Jerusalem, they have seen these mighty works displayed.

vii. God has authenticated Jesus as His anointed one. His Messiah. Indeed, no one can say He performed these deeds by any other power than by the power of God.

viii. Now Peter moves on to some of the mightiest works of Jesus.

ix. That he was handed over, he was delivered. To whom was he delivered?

x. He was delivered to them. Perhaps some of them in the crowd that day yelled out “Crucify Him” But at very least he was delivered to fellow Jews just like the ones Peter is speaking to right now. The best of the Jews actually. The religious and political leaders.

xi. Well, what did they do with Him?

xii. They executed Him. How did they do this?

xiii. By nailing Him to a cross at the hands of the Gentiles.

xiv. This is some fairly aggressive language. Peter is accusing the people there of having some part in the execution of Jesus of Nazareth, a man through whom God was clearly demonstrating His power. A man whom God had anointed.

xv. To both Jews and Gentiles the question would remain. How could God allow someone whom He anointed, His Messiah – which He claims to be – How could God allow this to happen?

xvi. [Slide 11] He says, “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” There are two words we need to define here. “Predetermined” and “Foreknowledge.”

1. Predetermined is something that has become definite, or decided as an outcome. This means that Jesus’ crucifixion was something that God Himself planned, decided, and ultimately saw to fruition. Indeed, the scriptures say that Christ was slain before the foundation of the world.

2. Foreknowledge is sometimes used to speak of what is known ahead of time. However, as we’ve seen in other studies, when this is applied to God’s knowledge it cannot mean raw knowledge beforehand since God is not bound by any limitations of knowledge or time. Instead, when it is used here it means to plan or plot in advance. When used in reference to God it always speaks of His divine ordination of events according to His will. Events that cannot be undone or thwarted in any way.

xvii. [Slide 12] Although God planned and brought about the death of Christ to reconcile His people to Himself – it did not absolve the sin of the Jews in killing their own Messiah and King.

xviii. But just as God planned His death, He also raised Him up.

xix. We see that there are pains of death. Pains here is often used in birth language and it is an interesting mix of metaphors here to refer to the sting or finality of death.

xx. But Jesus was not able to be contained or held in death’s power.

xxi. But why? Why was He not able to be held under death’s power? Notice it is not the fact of His resurrection that Peter sets out to prove – rather it is the reason of it. Why must He be raised?

b. [Slide 13] 25-28 - 25 For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of joy with your presence.’

i. This is taken from Psalm 16.

ii. It seems that David speaks to his own salvation and prevention of death – but Peter sees and points out the inconsistencies of David’s statements here indicating that David cannot be speaking of himself at all.

iii. That prophetically, David must be speaking of one greater than he.

c. [Slide 14] 29-32 - 29 “Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 So then, 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, 31 David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it.

i. First, he points out the most obvious discrepancy. David died, is currently buried, and Peter can actually walk them all to the tomb of David to prove it.

ii. Second, since the Holy One not being allowed to decay is connected to the soul that is not abandoned in Hades, we must assume both of these predictions refer to one who is NOT David.

iii. Third, if this one is not abandoned in Hades nor allowed to have his body decay, it must be referring to one who dies but returns from death in a relatively short time after they have died.

iv. Lastly, he points to David being a prophet having received prophesy from the Lord specifically in the Davidic covenant where God promised to put one of his descendants upon his throne forever. These are quoted from Ps 132 and II Sam 7. Since every descendant of David had died and not been resurrected, these obviously point forward to someone who is coming or has come recently.

v. These inconsistencies motivate the apostle to conclude that David does not speak of himself, but prophesies about God’s Messiah. This was a common and accepted way to interpret some of David’s more troublesome psalms among Jewish Rabbis at the time. David was seen as a prophet who often spoke of the coming Messiah.

vi. So, since someone would be on David’s throne forever and it obviously wasn’t him or any descendants to date – And since God validated Jesus the Nazarene as the Messiah through many mighty works and since Jesus was a descendant of David both by his adopted father and His Mother’s side, And since Jesus died but was resurrected, then David must have been foreseeing the resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene who was also called the Christ or the Messiah. He was not abandoned to Hades nor did his body decay.

vii. This is why death could not hold Him… because He is the descendant that David prophesied about that would not be abandoned to decay or to hades.

viii. And to prove that all this is so – Peter attests that all 120 of the church had seen Jesus of Nazareth after being confirmed dead – now alive.

ix. But this still leaves the matter of the throne of David. How is Jesus to sit on it forever since He is no longer present on earth?

d. [Slide 15] 33-36 - 33 So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’ 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”[1]

i. There is no higher throne than the one at the right hand of God. A position of authority, honor, and privilege.

ii. Jesus has been exalted; indeed, they saw Him go. And He has also received the promise of the Holy Spirit.

iii. Jesus acquired the Spirit who poured out everything that these people today have seen and heard.

iv. This is the fullest fulfillment of Joel 2. The signs they have seen and the pouring of the Spirit are only because the King has returned to His throne and is seated at the right hand of God.

v. It also fulfills another prophesy of David.

vi. David again in Psalm 110 cannot be speaking of himself since he did not ascend to heaven. Indeed, as Peter said, his body was subjected to the grave, decay, and Hades.

vii. But David wrote that the Lord said to his Lord. Well, who might that be? Who is David’s Lord that is not the Father?

viii. The Father says to the Son sit at my right hand. Until when?

ix. Until all the enemies of Christ are fully and finally subjected to him.

x. By all this prophesy and by the words of one of the highest esteemed patriarchs, all of Israel must know without shadow of doubt that God has made Jesus – the same one that they crucified – both Lord and Christ. Both Absolute Authority and Anointed One of God.

xi. What does this mean?

xii. It means that the days when God pours out His Spirit have come. And since they have come, they are days that all those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

xiii. What Lord?

xiv. Jesus the Nazarene. The Jewish Messiah. The Anointed One of God who has been promised since the beginning. But this anointed one is also The Lord above all lords. King above all Kings. He is David’s eternal heir.

xv. And He is available to any who call on His name.

xvi. It is by desperately abandoning our old ways and declaring our dependance, submission, and deference to Jesus and only Jesus that we can be saved from the wrath to come.

e. [Slide 16] Passage Truth: So Luke not only reveals that God has fulfilled prophesy in order to bring about a day when any who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. But also, that prophesy was fulfilled by Jesus, who is both the Messiah and the Lord. He is both the fulfillment of the prophesy and also the Lord all must call on for salvation.

f. Passage Application: So Theophilus must not call on the name of any Lord or even some vague notion of Yahweh affiliation. He must instead repent and believe on the name of Christ. No one is saved except through Jesus.

g. [Slide 17] Broader Biblical Truth: The scriptures come together to teach this truth loud and clear. Jesus is the fullest expression of all the promises for obedience. He also took for His people the fullest expression of all the curses for those who are disobedient to His law. Jesus is our all in all. He is everything. It is in His life and work that we must trust. He becomes our substitute. He stands in our place.

h. Broader Biblical Application: So CBC, to trust Him, is to abandon any way of life that is counter to what He taught. It is to abandon any hope in any other way of rescue from the coming judgment of God. Whether that be our own words and works, our rituals, a prayer we’ve said, or anything else that is not simply Christ and Christ alone. Let us abandon these cheap imitations and cling to Christ and Him only for our salvation. You must call on the name of the Lord to be saved. You must submit and show deference and honor to His name, and continue to do so, to be saved.

Conclusion:

So, CBC, what have we learned today and how then shall we live?

[Slide 18] Luke has given two precious truths today. They are correlating truths. The first teaches us that God fulfilled Old Testament prophesy in pouring out the Spirit upon the church at Pentecost indicating a shift in the redemptive history of the world. The end is coming and we are in the final days. But any who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. The second truth simply expands on the first. That Christ is both the fullest expression of the fulfillment of this prophesy since He ascended to heaven to send the Spirit but He is also the Lord on whom we must call if we are to be saved. To put these two truths together we simply can say what Peter concludes – that because He fulfills prophesy - Jesus is both Messiah and Lord. He is both Lord and Savior.

[Slide 19] Living in light of this truth is to obey the commands of John the Baptist, Jesus Himself, and the teaching of the church since the beginning. It is to repent of sin and self-righteousness and it is to desperately cry out in submission and honor to our Lord and King. If we are doing this, we are promised, that He will save us from the judgment that is to come.

Today I have four main takeaways from the text this morning. Four items that are worth a deeper look as we consider the truth and application of this text.

1.) [Slide 20] The first is the tension that God’s Sovereignty does not negate human responsibility or vice versa.

a. As we have seen in this text it was God predetermined and foreordained plan to crush His Son for the sin of His people.

b. As the scriptures elsewhere reveal, Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world.

c. This means that before the Lord ever spoke creation into existence, He had already ordained that Christ would die for His people.

d. Nevertheless, those who crucified Christ are still held accountable for their grave sin of executing the Lord of glory.

e. I can think of no other text that so plainly illustrates the tension of God’s Sovereign will juxtaposed against man’s responsibility.

f. Our logical mind assumes that if the Lord planned for Christ to die, why does He hold the sin of those who killed Him against them? But such thoughts betray a flaw in our thinking. Our thinking is that God is not being fair by punishing sin when it was in His plan to use the sin to accomplish His purpose.

g. Instead, God is both just to punish sin and sovereign to use the sin of men to accomplish His purpose.

h. In all instances of God’s Sovereign will and its natural tension held beside the responsibility of man to act, the one thing we cannot do is negate either for the sake of the other.

i. We cannot emphasize the sovereignty of God to such a degree that all men are robots or slaves to fate to the extent that they are innocent victims of a God who forces them to play their part against their will.

j. But nor can we emphasize human responsibility to such a degree that God yields in any way to the will of man to the extent that there is any shadow of uncertainty of the world and all that will happen.

k. Somehow both are true. And as an illustration of this we can look to the crucifixion of Christ. God’s divine purpose was to crucify His Son on a tree for the sin of His people. But He still holds guilty those who executed Him.

l. So, God is Sovereign and will not permit the will of man to undo His decrees of predestination, election, foreordination or any other decree that He has made since the beginning.

m. But man is also responsible to seek the Lord and call on Him for salvation. God’s decree of an individual’s election is known to no one but God Himself. For one to say, I cannot respond for I am not of the elect, is to assume knowledge that he does not have.

n. For man to acquit himself of sin because he is merely acting out in the nature of his will and for the purpose God has destined him since He is not elect is both to assume knowledge he does not have and also to ignore the law of the same God with whom he pleads innocence.

o. No matter how attractive it is to resolve this tension – we must let both stand in their fullest sense. For man is always held accountable for what they do but God is in complete control of all of His creation… including mankind, their wills, their actions, and their plans.

2.) [Slide 21] Secondly, speaking of God’s sovereign provision, we must celebrate the blessed privilege it is to live in time of the New Covenant

a. For two thousand years we have lived in the church age.

b. All we have known and all anyone has known for the last 80 ish generations, has been to look back on the fulfillment of the promise of the coming Messiah and King.

c. We are so blessed to live in a time when the redemptive plan of God is completely revealed to us.

d. Paul talks about the mystery of the cross. That these things were not made plain before but are now revealed.

e. And how privileged we are now. We live in an age where we can consult the writings of John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Polycarp, Luther, Calvin, Bunyan, Watson – and we can do so in the click of a mouse. We can have all this and much more available to us at the cost of a week’s wage or less.

f. We have entire libraries at our fingertips to plumb the depths of church interpretation of the scriptures and we have the bible, not just in our language… but in several versions of our language.

g. We are blessed… but we are cursed too.

h. For my friends, to whom much is given… much will be required.

i. Jesus said of Bethsaida and Chorazin that if the same signs and wonders had been performed in Sodom and Gomorrah that were performed in their cities, then they would have repented in sack cloth and ashes. Jesus goes on to say that in the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for these cities.

j. How can any neglect so great a salvation? But today so many have hardened their hearts to the truth.

k. This leads me to the third item on my list today.

3.) [Slide 22] How can we be saved?

a. Perhaps today you see that God stands as judge waiting to judge the world. That He will hold the wicked accountable for their sins. That He brings justice to all who have broken His law in the smallest detail.

b. Perhaps today, for the first time, you have heard that Jesus is truly the Messiah of God.

c. He was proven to be God’s Anointed One by the power He displayed. He accomplished His Messianic purpose by dying for the sins of His People. He was raised from death because Death could not hold Him. He was brought to God’s side by His right Hand for that was His rightful place. Now He sits as Lord of all.

d. Perhaps today you see that He is the Lord on whom you must cry out in submission and in deference if you are to be saved.

e. Perhaps today, for the first time, you realize that you need that saving work from the coming judgment of God.

f. The Lord who brings this judgment has also provided salvation to you. Submit to Him and Honor Him with your life as your God and King. He alone is able to save you from the judgment He is bringing upon the world.

4.) [Slide 23] My final thought today is both to those who feel compelled to call on Him today for salvation and also for those who think they have done that but their lives show they haven’t. He must be your Lord if He is to be your Savior.

a. My friends to call on the name of the Lord is not simply to ask him to save you. It is not simply to accept him as your savior. It is not simply to say a prayer saying you believe he exists. It is not simply to say you believe he did what he said he did or is who he said he is.

b. To call on the name of the Lord is to bow the knee. It is to submit to and honor Him as the Lord of glory and trust Him completely for your salvation. This is what it means to call on the name of the Lord.

c. In short, Jesus will not be your Savior unless He is also your Lord, Master, and King.

d. So, if you for the first time are calling on Jesus’ name for salvation, you must count the cost. He does not save you so you can be free of His judgment but live as you wish. He only saves those who cast aside their former ways to follow Him.

e. And if you are here today and have made a profession of faith but have never desired Jesus to be your Lord, your Master, and your King – may I suggest to you that He cannot possibly be your Savior if He is not also these.

[Slide 24] Jesus is the fullest fulfillment of the prophesy of scripture that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit and make salvation available to those who submit to and trust Jesus. So trust Jesus and submit to Him. Abandon your former ways and keep running from them. Follow Him. He will lead you in the paths of life. He will lead you to His heavenly home. He will lead you to that promised land.

[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Ac 2:14–36.