Father in heaven, I know what a difference
you can make in a person's life.
I know the difference you've made in my
own life, Lord God.
I pray right now that in the name
of your dear son Jesus that this message
will be used of you to bring someone
here to know the liberating power of the
gospel and to know your son Jesus Christ.
I need you today.
I'm bankrupt without you, Lord.
I need the enabling power of that spirit.
Give me a touch of heaven today, I
pray.
Come move in hearts today, Lord, and let
these dear people see a bloodstained Christ who
has power to save.
Let them know your resurrection power in the
liberating gospel of Christ that Jesus can give
eternal life, that Jesus can set the captives
free.
Come and touch hearts today, Lord, I pray.
Come touch them with a blessing.
I pray these things in the strong name
of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, I believe, friends, the gospel can set
you free.
I believe there is liberating power in the
gospel.
The good news of the gospel is the
greatness of its power, and it's about a
great savior from sin.
In Ephesians, we get a sense of this
liberating power over sin where we read, and
what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us, Lord, who believe according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the
dead and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places.
And does not the apostle Paul over in
Romans speak of the power of the gospel
as well in the salvation of man when
he states, for I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek.
The teachings of Jesus as seen in the
gospels are different from the teachings of other
wise men.
Buddha was a wise man.
He lived, he taught, he died, and he
was buried.
Confucius was a wise man.
He lived, he taught, he died, and he
was buried.
Muhammad was a wise man.
He lived, he taught, he died, and he
was buried.
Jesus was a wise man.
He lived, he taught, he died, and he
was buried.
The comparison stopped there.
Because he rose again, Christianity was never built
on a coffin lid.
Jesus was not a mere man, but he
was the Son of God.
He was the only begotten Son of God,
who died on a cross for the sins
of man.
He was crucified at Calvary, and he was
buried in another man's tomb, and after three
days, his body was not a decomposing corpse
as other men, but on the third day,
the resurrection, supernatural power of God, made Christ
rise from the dead.
He then appeared unto many of his disciples,
and he ascended back into heaven, where he
now sits.
On a throne at the right hand of
God, he is a risen Christ, and the
only one who will believe such a thing
as that is either a madman or a
truly born-again Christian.
Christianity differs from other world religions in that
we don't follow the teachings of a prophet
who lived and died, but we follow a
risen Savior who lives and reigns, and who
is the Son of God, and on top
of all that, as believers, he lives in
us.
The life of God in the soul of
man is a supernatural occurrence that only God
can work.
A Christian is an individual who has the
Spirit of God living inside of them, and
to believe that, you have to either be
insane or a born-again believer.
You want to try and denigrate Christianity by
making a decision that man makes like he
would choose to become a Hindu or choose
to become a Buddhist?
No, sir.
A Christian is a supernatural work of God,
born of God, by the regenerating work of
the Spirit of God.
But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his
name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, not of
the will of man, but of God.
The main reason our brand of Christianity today
is not much different from other religions is
because many in our churches today were never
really changed.
They made a decision by the will of
man to become a Christian along the same
lines you'd choose to become a Buddhist.
But when one reads the book of Acts
and observes there that the early church turned
the world upside down, and we compare that
to our brand of Christianity today, we've got
to ask ourselves, why do we lack power?
If we were truly filled with Christ's Spirit
and had faith, we could pull down strongholds
of opposition and move mountains of resistance and
drive the devil crazy by shaking the very
gates of hell.
If you think God has gone out of
the miracle working business, friend, then you are
just plumb out of your mind.
I was taking my oral exam for my
PhD, and two professors who were interviewing me
were questioning me, and I said to one
of them, when I read the book of
Acts, I see the power of God in
the gospel as the early Christians turned their
world upside down.
But when I look at our powerless brand
of Christianity today, there's little similarity.
Well, my theology professor got so mad at
me, he said in a condescending tone, that
was for that day, not our day.
And I wanted to jump out of my
chair and holler, why not?
Why don't we have that power?
Don't we serve the same God?
But I wanted to graduate, so I kept
my mouth shut.
But it's true, friends, we limit ourselves by
our unbelief.
The underground church in China has supernatural power.
Christians in persecuted countries like Iraq and Iran
have supernatural power.
Christians in northern Nigeria who are getting butchered
have supernatural power.
Why is the western church so powerless today,
that it's even a laughing stock today?
Why aren't our young people going to church
in droves, rather than going to hell in
droves?
It's because we lack power from on high.
We lack authority.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
A believer has a power from above to
live in a fallen world and be used
of God in remarkable ways.
I like what Vance Havner said.
He said, if we serve such a dynamite
God, why are so many of us living
firecracker lives?
Well, we don't have to.
We don't have to live a firecracker life
because we can access that power through the
liberating gospel of Christ Jesus.
You must be born again, friend.
And that's my subject today.
We've seen the book of Acts, the liberating
power of the gospel of Christ, as the
apostle Peter addresses his audience in his first
public sermon.
My first public sermon was given in a
federal prison, and I was so scared to
death that the prisoners were going to jump
me during my sermon.
I was nervous as a cat in a
room full of rocking chairs.
But Peter here had boldness.
He was once afraid of a maid, but
now he's not afraid of anybody.
He's seen the resurrected Christ.
He has power.
And in Peter's first public address, he fears
no man, and he preaches with a holy
boldness as he informs them about the power
of God and raising up the Son of
God.
Listen to his words.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
Let me pause here to say, friend, that
includes you as well.
That includes the biggest sinner in this town
tonight.
The liberating gospel of Christ is available to
you right now.
Right now.
Listen to Peter as he continues.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God
among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst
of you, as ye yourselves also know him
being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge
of God, ye have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain whom God raised
up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be
holding of it.
Well, that's an amazing thing, friend, for Almighty
God to raise up his Son from death
to life.
He is a living Savior.
He is a risen Lord.
The God I serve is not dead in
a prophet's tomb.
He's not dead in just the written precepts
of man.
Oh, no, my Savior is alive.
My Savior is a risen Christ.
Notice after Peter preached Christ and him crucified,
the Holy Spirit did a number on those
Jews who had a part in slaying the
Son of God.
He brought conviction, and that conviction fell on
them like lightning bolts out of heaven.
Look how they responded, friends.
Now, when they heard this, they were pricked
in their heart and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
Well, isn't that wonderful, friend, that Jesus can
forgive your sins, no matter how big they
are, no matter how many they are.
Jesus can wash your sins away in His
blood.
You don't have to worry one skinny minute
of ever ending up in a devil's hell,
because when you believe on this blessed Savior,
He washes your sins away.
Gone is the penalty of sin.
Gone is the power of sin, the liberating
gospel of Christ, and its good news is
good news to every man, woman, boy, and
girl, that Jesus can take your sins away.
He can set you free.
He can give you eternal life, where you
will live forever and ever in God's glorious
presence, in a glorious heaven, in the presence
of God and angels.
Some of you have loved ones there waiting
for you.
You don't have to risk never seeing them
again, friend, because we serve a mighty God,
who gave His only begotten Son to die
on a cross for sinful man, yet to
take upon Him our sins and its penalty,
so we would have life, eternal life.
Oh, what a Savior!
What a Savior is Jesus, the only remedy
and refuge for sin.
What a wonderful gospel that can save you
from your sins.
It has power, liberating power.
Don't you want this power, friend?
Don't you want your sins forgiven?
Don't you want to know this blessed Savior,
Jesus?
The Holy Spirit did a number on those
Jews, and they cried out, what must we
do to be saved?
And if you get saved, friend, the Holy
Spirit will do a number on you as
well, in conviction of sin, and show you
the glorious truth of the gospel of the
Son of God, who suffered and died on
a cross at Calvary, who was buried, who
rose again, who now sits at the right
hand of the Father, and who earned that
right by way of a bloody cross.
Oh, look at that bloodstained Savior from sin,
friend.
Look at Him there, hanging there with His
arms outstretched, beckoning you to come to Him
and believe on Him.
Why won't you come?
Why do you delay?
What's your excuse to spurn the love of
this Savior?
We love Him because He first loved us.
I love my Jesus because He loved me
and gave Himself for me.
The message of the liberating gospel of Christ
is power unto salvation to everyone who believes
in the liberating power of Christ in the
gospel, friend, can set you free, free from
sin's penalty, free from sin's power.
It can give you life eternal.
Oh, friend, don't you want to know this?
Blessed Jesus, put your trust in this.
Blessed Jesus, He can change your life.
When He was here in His earthly ministry,
He healed the sick and gave sight to
the blind.
And as He passed from town to village,
all who encountered Him experienced change.
He can bring change to your life, friend.
He can set you free.
He has power to save and power to
deliver, power to transform.
Listen to the apostle Peter once more here
in the book of Acts.
And the reason I keep bringing up Peter
is that I can relate to him more
than the other disciples.
Peter was an impulsive man, always putting his
foot in his mouth and stepping on a
cow patty.
He was a big loving guy who wore
his emotions on his sleeve and he was
always doing and saying the wrong thing, just
like me.
Then one day he met Jesus and Jesus
changed his life.
Here before magistrates and his enemies, Peter has
no more fear of men because Peter has
already died.
He's died in Christ.
That's right, friend.
And he no longer fears death.
And when a man doesn't fear death, he's
dangerous to Satan.
Listen to his bold preaching here in Acts
chapter 4.
Let me set the scene before you, friend.
Peter and John are brought before the Jewish
leaders because Peter and John had gone up
to the temple one day and they came
across a lame beggar who asked them for
some money.
But Peter told the man, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have,
give I thee in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
And that's what he told them.
And that's what the man did.
He stood right up and started walking around
to the shock and awe of everyone there
because Peter knew the liberating power of Christ.
Jesus had showed it to him.
Jesus had demonstrated it to him.
Peter had even walked on water, just like
Christ, before it took his eyes off him
and sank down in that water.
But Jesus showed him that he was the
son of God.
He knew he could work miracles.
He knew Jesus could keep on doing it.
And he was so convinced of it, he
told that lame man to rise up and
walk.
And Jesus healed him.
All things are possible to him who believes
because with God, all things are possible.
Do you believe that, friend?
Do you believe in a miracle working God?
I do.
He hasn't gone out of the miracle working
business.
If he saves you, friend, it's going to
be a miracle because Christ still has resurrection
power.
So he tells the crippled beggar to stand
up.
And sure enough, the man's legs are straightened
out.
They're healed.
And this causes a riot outside the temple
because everybody who saw him was jumping up
and down, praising God and going to shouting.
And you know, when God does a thing
for you, you can't help going to shouting
either.
We need more shouting in our churches today
because we need the presence of God in
our churches today.
We need lives transformed today in the power
of God and means today.
If that happens, you'll go to shouting too,
friend, just like I'm shouting now because nobody
can shut you up when you know the
liberating power of Christ Jesus.
And that's what was going on here when
this crowd was running up to Peter and
John in wonder and amazement.
So this enrages the Jewish leaders and they
have John and Peter arrested and they're put
in jail.
And in the morning, they're hauled out before
these Jewish leaders like Ananias, the high priest
and Cephas.
And they asked John and Peter, by what
power, by what name have you done this?
You know, I wouldn't be surprised to learn
that some of these religious leaders were Baptist
preachers because some Baptist preachers get riled up
if God begins to move and they don't
understand it.
So here are these religious men interrogating two
of Jesus' best disciples and pointing fingers at
them saying, how dare you work the work
of God here?
We thought we put this Jesus to death.
We're going to have none of this work
and miracles here.
Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said
unto them, you rulers of the people and
elders of Israel, if we this day be
examined of the good deed done to the
important man, by what means he is made
whole, be it known unto you all, it's
all the people of Israel that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even
by him, doth this man stand here before
you whole.
This is the stone which was set at
nought of you builders, which is become the
head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for
there is none other name unto heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved.
Oh friend, there's power in the gospel.
There's liberating power in the gospel of Christ
Jesus.
I know I am a sinner and I
need a substitute for sin in the person
of Jesus Christ and so do you friend,
so do you.
Oh friend, the cross is the place where
wicked man sought to get rid of him,
but by his death, it becomes the place
where his saving power flows out to all
who come in repentance, confessing they are sinners
and own them as savior and Lord.
It was my sins that nailed unto that
tree, but it was his love for me
that kept him on that cross so he
could die for me.
Dear friend, won't you come to this blessed
savior now?
Won't you come?
Surrender your all to God right now friend,
if the spirit has been doing a number
on you.
Oh don't delay friend, don't you delay coming
to this Jesus.
You come to this bloodstained Jesus now.
There's power in his blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power in
the blood of the lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power in
the precious blood of the lamb.
Would you be free from the burden of
sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the
blood.
Would you or evil victory to win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power in
the blood of the lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power in
the precious blood of the lamb.