KJV

KJV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Prior Book Prior Section Back to Commentaries Author Bio & Contents Next Section Next Book
The Blue Letter Bible

Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for Acts 3:25

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
TO BLESS US
I. GOD HAD PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT THROUGH HIS SEED, ALL OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD BE BLESSED.
A. Peter makes reference to this promise.
B. Paul points out that in the Hebrew the word Seed was singular not plural, and that Seed is Christ.
C. The whole earth had been cursed because of Adam's sin.
1. God said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow you will eat of it, all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
2. All of the misery and sorrow that you see in the world today is the result of man's sin.
a. You do not see the world as God created it, you see a world that is under the curse because of sin.
b. You do not see man living today as God intended him to live, you see men living under the curse of sin.
c. All of the suffering that you see in the world today is the direct or indirect result of man's sin.
d. Pain, sorrow, suffering, death have resulted from the curse brought by sin.
D. God has now promised that all the earth will be blessed through one of Abraham's descendants. By one man Adam, a curse came upon all. Now by one Man Jesus a blessing will be available to all.
E. To the Galatians Paul declared that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.
II. PETER DECLARED TO THE PEOPLE THAT GOD HAS SENT HIS SON TO BLESS THEM.
A. The truth is that God loves you and wants to bless you.
1. In spite of your failures and shortcomings, He still desires to bless you.
2. This was His purpose in giving to man the law, it is the secret to the life of blessing and to fail to keep it will bring pain and sorrow upon your life.
3. The Psalmist said, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in the law does he meditate day and night." He then tells of the blessings of meditating in the law. "He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth its fruit in its season, his leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper."
4. Keep the law of God and you will be blessed and happy. Disobey the law, and you are inviting pain and sorrow.
5. Let's take for instance, in the law Exodus 20:13 God said, "If a man lie with a man as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they shall both die."
a. Some men have scorned that law, and demand that lifestyle to be treated as a normal lifestyle. They want it to be treated as an alternate lifestyle.
b. Look at how Aids is decimating the community. Is it the judgment of God? I don't believe so, I believe that it is just the natural consequence of the unnatural practice.
1. When God designed the human body He built in a marvelous immune system so that the body recognizes any foreign protein that is introduced into it and builds up an immunity to protect the body from that foreign invader. This is how you fight off the flu and other viruses.
2. When the body is receiving scores of different foreign proteins, the immune system begins to breakdown from overwork, so that it can no longer provide adequate defenses against the different viruses.
c. I believe that God loves the homosexuals just as He loves any other person. He sought to warn them of the consequences of the unnatural practices, even as He knows the pain and sorrow and breakup of the family that adultery causes, and with the breakup of the family the social disorder, and has warned against that form of sin also.
6. Man has broken the laws of God and is living under the curse of sin, yet, God so loved the world that He sent His Son to bless us by turning us away from our iniquities. Look again at that Baby as He lies cradled in a manger, that Baby is the Son of God come into the world to turn us away from our iniquities that we might be blessed of God, rather than cursed because of our sin.
III. JUST WHAT ARE SOME OF THESE BLESSINGS THAT GOD WISHES YOU TO ENJOY?
A. Listen to the announcement of the angels to the shepherds.
1. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. Before He was ever born the angel said to Joseph, "You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." His name means Jehovah is salvation.
a. The first blessing is salvation.
b. Salvation from what? The consequences of our sins.
c. As God has pronounced the sentence of death upon all sin, that Baby is born to die that He might save you from death.
d. What a blessing it is to know that I am no longer condemned to die. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
2. Christ, the anointed One, Messiah.
a. The word Messiah means the anointed one.
b. It was the custom to anoint the man who would reign as king over the people.
c. The priests were also anointed before serving in the priesthood.
d. The Jew understood that the Messiah was God's anointed One to reign as King and priest forever.
e. Over and over God had spoken to the prophets of the coming of the Messiah and the glories of His reign.
f. That little baby lying there in the manger is the One who the prophets for thousands of years had been prophesying about for He is the promised Messiah.
3. Lord.
a. How we needed someone to rule over our life that had our good at heart. You see, whether you like it or not, you've got to serve somebody.
b. Satan had been ruling over man, but he is intent upon destroying man. Look how destructive sin is.
c. Those who are being ruled over by Satan are in the process of being destroyed.
d. Those who have submitted to the rule of Jesus Christ are being prepared to live forever in the glory of His presence and His kingdom of which there shall be no end.
e. That little Baby lying there in the manger is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever and ever.
4. Peace on earth.
a. Man had been at war with God and with the law of God.
b. The prophet had said, "Woe to him who strives with His Maker."
c. Man had been striving with God, the Bible says that we were actually enemies of God and at enmity with Him.
d. That war with God had taken its toll on mankind. The Greeks used to say that the dice of the gods are loaded; i.e., you cannot go against God and possibly win.
e. This little child that lies in that manger has come to bring to man the possibility of peace with God. The scripture says, "He is our peace who has broken down every wall." He can break down the walls of bitterness, hatred, and strife that you have built up, and can give you peace.
f. One day He said to the multitudes of people, "Come unto Me, all of you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
5. Good will toward man.
a. You really cannot have good will toward man until you have peace with God.
b. When men sign peace treaties that is not a guarantee of peace. It often says, "I still hate you and want to kill you, but I won't." Love is the only guarantee of true peace. I have come to love God thus I have peace with God. I now have through God good will towards man.
These are the blessings of God that have been brought to man through the birth of that child in Bethlehem. But a gift is not truly yours until you have received it. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believed on His name."
Sermon Notes for Acts 3:18 ← Prior Section
Sermon Notes for Acts 4:1 Next Section →
Sermon Notes for John 1:1 ← Prior Book
Sermon Notes for Romans 1:16 Next Book →
BLB Searches
Search the Bible
KJV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
KJV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

CONTENT DISCLAIMER:

The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.