1 Peter - 2022

1 Peter chapter 3, I'm going to read from verses 13 to 22. I'm just going to ask for the Lord's help before we do. Father, we thank you that this is your word that these have been recorded for us, inspired by the Holy Spirit in order that we might hear your voice today. And we thank you that you speak to us through the scriptures.

And I pray that as we read it, as Pete comes up in a moment to preach it, we would know that we're listening to you and to your word. So help us give us ears that are ready, give us hearts that are ready, in Jesus' name, R Men. From verse 13. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer what is right, you are blessed.

Do not fear their threats, do not be frightened, but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ, may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God.

He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. In which also, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits. To those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it, only a few people ate in all were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. Not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God.

It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. Well, welcome. My name is Pete Woodcock. I'm 1 of the pastors of the the church. We've been working our way through 1 Peter.

We're in this really difficult passage. So you're gonna have to try and pay quite a lot of attention. All kinds of weird things have been written about this passage. There are cults that have started up from this passage. I think there are some people here that were in a cult.

About baptism that was from this this passage. I am not gonna tell you, by the way, just to let you down, all the different theories on this passage. I have in fact read them, most of them anyway. I'm sure there's more that I haven't read. So I'm just gonna take you through what I see, so hope you're alright with that.

So, that's where we are. I I don't know whether you've ever been in a conversation and you just think you've blown it. You're trying to witness to the lord Jesus Christ and You you really wish Jesus would just turn up and speak. That's what you really want. It's not even what would Jesus do.

That's not enough. Or even what would Jesus say, you just want him there to say it. So I don't know whether you ever been like me and wish that there was such a product as Jesus Genie in a bottle. It would be a quite an amazing thing, just imagine that. You're arguing with your friend, You're losing the argument.

You're not getting on very well. You just rub Jesus Genie in a bottle and he springs to life comes to your rescue. Not only does he answer the questions, but he gives a personalized parable for the person. That would be amazing. Imagine the advertising for such a product.

Is your it would have to be American. I'm so sorry. Is is there probably is a product like this, by the way. Have a look on the internet. I'm sure you'll find something.

If not, let's start it. We could raise quite a lot of money in this 1. It it would go like this. Is your witness weak and your words like water? When you speak, do you feel like your tongue is tied and twisted?

Do you feel like you're getting nowhere with your friends, colleagues, classmates, family, neighbors? Then you need Jesus Genie in a bottle. Just rub the bottle and Jesus himself will appear and speak with all the authority of the word of God. That would be amazing. Now I doubt if anyone here is as crass as me in thinking up something like that, but seriously, I bet you you've been in a conversation where you thought I've failed.

I'm useless. I'm not very good. If Jesus would only come and speak on my behalf, it would be great news. Some of you have spent years with many tears and much prayer faithfully speaking, doing loving works, caring for your loved ones, and they've not listened. And you feel a failure.

And you feel if only Jesus had spoken, then perhaps those loved ones would have believed. Why why did Jesus ascend to heaven after the resurrection? What why actually did he just do a massive preaching tour and just keep going around the world, preaching? Why did he leave us to do the job? Good questions, aren't they?

Well, why doesn't Jesus raise up some prophets like Elijah or a Noah or someone like that? To get the nation's attentions because they did. Why doesn't he raise up a new Billy Graham? Or a CH spurgeon. Now, I'm all for praying and do pray and we as a church pray, that the Lord will raise up preachers and we'll come to that perhaps in a minute.

But Peter, in this little passage, I think is encouraging us that ordinary need to speak. And when you speak, it is not just you speaking. Even with your faltering words that you need to get better at, but when you speak the message of Jesus, Jesus speaks through you. You don't need Jesus Genie in a bottle. He's already there.

Speaking through you. When you speak the message of Jesus, Jesus speaks by his spirit through you. If people reject the message you're speaking, they're actually rejecting not you but Jesus. And it works the other way around as well, doesn't it? When the unbeliever says, well, you know, if Jesus would only show himself and speak than I would believe.

Jesus tells a very powerful story like that. In Luke chapter 16. He tells a story about a rich man and a man called lazarus. Lazarus dies and goes to heaven. The rich man dies and goes to hell.

And in hell, the rich man asks Abraham, would you send someone back to my family to warn them so that they won't too be in hell? And this is how the conversation goes in Jesus story. Abraham replied they have Moses and the prophets let them listen to them. No father Abraham said the rich man. But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.

Abraham said to him If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. In other words, Moses and the prophets, the Scriptures are the very word of God. What else do you want? What else could there be? And of course Jesus who's telling that story is the 1 who rose from the dead.

But if they're not going to believe the Scriptures, they won't believe that. If they don't listen to God's prophets, and the scriptures that they have in their hands speaking. They won't listen to the very scriptures that testify that Jesus rose from the dead. Now, that is what I think this passage is about. It feels complicated to us, but actually once you work your way through it, it's not that complicated.

It. Peter is saying throughout this whole passage. I want you to get this and here's my first point and I'll rub this in many times. Be my first point, second point, third point, fourth point. Yeah, we got 4 points with many subsections.

So you're gonna have to bear with me. 1, here's my first point, when you speak the scriptures When you speak the very word of God, Jesus, the resurrected Savior speaks. Peter's already told us this sort of stuff before. If you look back at 1 Peter chapter 1 on verse 23 and verse 25, you'll see it. In verse 23 of 1 peter 1, for you have been born again, he's talking to the Christians.

You've been born again. You've been made Christian, not of perishable seed, but imperishable how through the living word of God. And then in verse 25, it was that word that was preached to you. So through the preaching, of this word you've been born again. It's living, it's active.

The word of God is a living word of God. It's not some dead thing on a page. And then if you look back a little bit more at 1 peter chapter 1 verse 11, He's in an argument. We've already looked at that. Tom opened these passages up but see what I'm seeing here.

Look, in verse 10 first of all, concerning this salvation, the prophets, so we got the prophets there, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with great care trying to find out the time and circumstances to which The spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah. So you've got the prophets spoke and how did they speak, they spoke by the spirit of Christ in them. Pointing to Christ. They weren't just preaching, the spirit of Christ was in them pointing to Christ. Paul in the book of Ephesians is talking to the Christians and he says that Christ came and preached peace to you.

Christ came and preached priest, peace to you. Now Christ at that point had never been to Ephesus. It was Paul the preached. So it is Christ preaching through Paul so much so that he can say, look, I preach to you or when Christ preached to you. Paul again in Romans chapter 10, is telling the Christians that it's our job to preach and he says this.

Faith comes through hearing the message. So you've got to get the a hearing. And the message, here we go, is heard through the Word of Christ. So preachers, if you put all this together, are preaching the scriptures, are teaching the word of Christ, and as they do that, the spirit of Christ, Christ himself preaches through them. The words of the preacher are the risen words of Christ or the the words of the risen Christ.

The Savior. And then just 1 more verse, the great commission where Jesus at the end of Matthew's Gospel is saying to the disciples. He says all authority is given to me on heaven and earth I have all authority, so I am the ruler of the world now. Therefore you go. That's the interesting thing, isn't it?

I'm not gonna hang around preaching. I have all authority. You go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you and I will surely be with you. You go because I've got all authority and I'll be with you when you go. All that is what Peter I think is encouraging us to do.

Speak and Jesus will speak through you. We're right at this point where Peter is telling us that we must speak confidently, persuasively and confidently. If people in a hostile generation that we live in, are gonna come to know Jesus Christ, they need more than our good works, they need to hear the message of Christ. Our behavior absolutely. We've had a whole look at that is absolutely vital and may open doors and opportunities.

If you behave in in a righteous way. It's absolutely right that you live righteously but it's absolutely right that you live righteously so that people may ask you for the hope that you have within you and you can declare the message of Jesus. Peter is saying when opportunities come to you, be ready to speak but when you speak, you're speaking like a prophet. You are, even with your faltering words, be assured that when you speak the message Jesus is speaking through you. You don't need a Jesus genie in a bottle.

He's there. Now of course, the Lord calls people and gifts preachers to talk to big crowds. There's no doubt about that and we want to pray for that as I say at the end. But the Lord raises you to be in the place that you are and no 1 is better than you, to be the profit in that place. So that's my first point.

When you speak, you speak the word of Jesus and he's with you speaking. Here's my second point. Suffering for speaking. There will be suffering if you're going to speak and Peter's warning us of that. Look at verse 18, it's a fabulous verse.

And really we should stop on that verse and spend several several weeks on the verse because it's just a wonderful Christian verse, isn't it? For Christ also suffered once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. But Peter's put that in in this this section that's talking about not just living good works but preaching. So Christ also suffered once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. How did he suffer?

What did he suffer for? For all kinds of reasons, but largely for preaching. They wanted to shut him up. That's why they executed him. In Matthew, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus gives these wonderful beatitudes, blessed stuff.

Peter uses that very same word actually, and we've looked at that in the past. But listen to Jesus, he says, blessed, happy, completely happy, content. Bless to those who who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of God. But now listen to this, blessed to you when people insult you. Yeah?

Do you wanna be blessed brother? You. Bless to people when they insult you, persecute you, not just insult you and persecute you but insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, because of Jesus. Ridjoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So if you're called to speak the words of Jesus and Jesus speaks through you and you're the prophet to the people that are around you, then the prophets were persecuted for speaking. Why were the prophets insulted and persecuted and falsely accused? Not because they did good things, not because they did miracles, but because they spoke a word that was against the world's word And like Christ, they suffered. Like Christ, the righteous 1, who suffered for sins like Christ, who spoke the word of God and suffered for it If we are to speak to the unrighteous, righteousness, we'll suffer like the prophets. If you speak the righteous word like Christ to the unrighteous, you'll suffer.

Now, Christ's suffering obviously. Was ultimate once for sin, but in odd talking of that message, we're in the shadow suffering. You were brought to God by Christ's suffering for you, People will come to God by your suffering for them, the righteous, for the unrighteous. Therefore, suffering has a meaning for the Christian. When people don't like you because you're speaking the word of God, then that in itself has a meaning.

Christ died, the righteous for the unrighteous. You're now suffering. The righteous for the unrighteous. That's fine because that That has meaning because that is the opportunity that people will come to Christ. You see that?

We often think the other way around as Christians. Oh, let's blend in. Let's be all nice. Let's be the fun loving ones which I think we are to be quite honest. But let's blend in, let's not upset anyone, and then someone might be led to Christ.

But actually, he's saying if you're like the prophets that stand up and preach. That message is the thing that's not liked. And the suffering that you reveal. The people that say, we don't like that. Band them.

Stop them. That in itself, in the end, as we'll see in a minute with Noah. In the end, is the place where salvation will happen. That's my second point. My third point.

You ready? Here's the difficult bit, I've been putting it off, the hostile world of Noah. We're in the hostile world of Noah. We go to Noah. These verses versus 18 to 20.

Let me read them. Now let me say this. That the n I v 20 11 We changed in the reading, so we need to sort of open up that. Because in verse 19, it says after after. The word after isn't in the Greek.

And what we put in in the reading was the alternative translation that you get at the bottom of the NOIV 2011. And so that's what we've put up there. But let me read this passage with the alternative For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. In which also he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of no while the art was bay being built.

In it, only a few 18 all were saved through water. There you go. Finish there and go home. There's all kinds of views on this, but I think it's not that difficult. This is how it goes, I think.

Jesus died on the cross was made alive by the spirit. The same spirit says Peter, that Jesus had gone and preached to the people in Noah's Day through Noah. Those people did not believe the preaching of Jesus through Noah, Their bodies are now dead and buried, but their spirits are in prison. They were dead and imprisoned people at the time that Peter was writing. Peter speaks of them as spirits and he speaks of them as spirits in prison, inhale in other words.

But they weren't in prison when Jesus went to pre them in noah's day. They are now. They are now. They are now, says Peter in his day and they are now. But they weren't when Jesus preached to them.

In Noah's Day. They are now disembodied spirit in hell. But Jesus preached through Noah, and they were humans. They were once alive on this earth. Today, they're without bodies waiting for the resurrection body it'll be awful of the dead.

Their spirits in hell. In Noah's Day, the spirit of Christ was at work. In Noah's day, Jesus Christ went and preached. In the days of Noah, Jesus Christ preached through the preaching of Noah. That's what gave Noah the authority and that's what gives any preacher authority Jesus preached through them.

But these people were disobedient to the world. Jesus preached through Noah for a hundred and 20 years and had the biggest visual aid you can ever imagine, a flipping great arc. Well actually the big biggest visual aid is is the is creation. To be honest with you. But Jesus preached through Noah for a hundred and 20 years with that massive massive visual aid the orc.

And that's the measure of the patience patience and the longsuffering of God. They remain disobedient. They drowned. Their spirits were cast into prison at the drowning at the flood and they're still in prison now. They have no excuse because Jesus spoke to them during their lifetime when Noah was alive.

They can't say well look, it's not fair. You only gave us Noah. If only we had Jesus speaking. If only Jesus were speaking here, then we may well have believed. They can't do that because Jesus was the 1 who spoke through Noah when they were alive.

Now, I want to say and I've got loads of points here before I move on to my last point, But loads have pointed to just say how amazing this this passage is. It's so deeply powerful and humbling and moving and I hope you are so please bear with me with this. Once you've got this, it's so Peter is telling us this. That it's not just those in the days of Jesus first century Palestine that heard the voice of Jesus. It's not just those that heard the voice of Jesus.

It's not just that if you happen to live in that time in that area you'll heard the word of Jesus. The Lord Jesus speaks to every age and every damped generation and he does it through his people. If you lived in Palestine in the first century, you could have heard Jesus speaking aramaic to the crowds. If you live in London in 2022, you'll hear Jesus speaking through preachers in English. If you lived in Noah's Day, You would hear in whatever language that was, chaldean or whatever the language was, Jesus speaking through Noah in your own language.

It's amazing. And do you see why Peter is writing this? Noah preached in a very hostile hard time of luck of the world. They were sinful people. Genesis chapter 6 says the Lord saw how great wickedness of human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was evil all the time.

This was an evil hostile world that loved its sin and Noah was to preach. So if you think Peter saying to those in the first century, you've got a hard time. Noah had a hard time. And if you think here in 2022, wow it's a hard time, remember no 1 had a hard time. Sinful, disobedient, hardened people.

That's why he picks on this. And then notice Noah, he didn't see masses of conversions. Only 8, his family. It feels like a very small thing, doesn't it? A hundred and 20 You think my sermons are long.

A hundred and 20 year sermon with a massive visual aid in the desert of an ark. I've been in this place for 10, 20 years. I've led no 1 to Christ. Yeah, try again. Try it again.

Try it again. I'm gonna try again. I'll speak of Christ again. But still, no 1 just listen, no 1 listens. I can't remember anyone who's become a Christian through Or I've spoken to everyone in the office about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I've tried to live the life of the Christian I've tried to love and do good every day to people. None of them believe. Well Peter says, Christ spoke through Noah. Christ has spoken through you but only ate. Were saved in Noah's Day.

Although, you think about it, every 1 of us is here is because of So the fruit of Noah is much bigger than Noah realized. That's what faith does, it's always looking. I'll preach the word if no 1 listens or if only 8 beasts are saved and in the end we'll see a harvest. But then, When you speak and I'm rubbing this in, when you speak about Jesus, Jesus speaks through you. Whoever you are, however weak, however feeble, however pathetic, When you open your mouth and tell someone about Jesus, Jesus speaks through you.

You get the same teaching in acts chapter 2. When Peter speaks the church into being, he says that the Holy Spirit will give all kinds of people prophecies and dreams. And visions. It's just a word for how the prophets worked. In other words, there's a message from the daughters and the sons and the old men and the old women and the young men and the young women.

All of them, everyone in the church can have this prophecy, speak Jesus. It's a wonderful thing when you speak Jesus speaks. When you sit with a friend in McDonald's and draw the little bridge to life diagram. Jesus is speaking in McDonald's. How how is Jesus ever going to speak, to Coom Girl School.

Is he supposed to come back as a first century Jew? Is he going to wander in speaking Aram? And say, the the the police would be called very quickly. How is Jesus going to speak into Kum Girl School through you. When you speak the word of Jesus, Jesus.

How is Jesus ever going to speak? Into Tiffany Boy School. Through you, how does Jesus speak to the children? Now, a hundred of them. In Sunday school.

Through the Sunday school teachers. Jesus is speaking. Jesus is here. How does Jesus speak at hub club or hub crafts or film club or corner stone. Now, how does Jesus speak?

He speaks through someone who stands up and declares the scriptures. Jesus is speaking, To the kids now. Don't say, wouldn't it be good if Jesus would come and physically walk in the building? He's here speaking. These people that were in prison, these disembodied people They were disobedient to the word.

Peter's already used that term disobedience in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 3. They're disobedient to the word. Jesus preached for a hundred and 20 years plus 7 days. That's the beauty of the story of the arc, if you know it. A hundred and 20 years and then leave the door open for another 7 days.

As long as it took God to create the world, another 7 days, leave it open and they did not listen and it wasn't they weren't listening to noah, they weren't listening to Jesus. The persecuting majority were lost forever and now are in prison spirits in hell. The persecuted minority, Noah, It's in the kingdom of God. Where do you want to be? God was very patient and didn't change.

But they didn't change. And so in the end, he steps in. And as soon as these unconverted people were drowned, Their bodies go in the grave or were left rotten on the on the in the world and their spirits were imprisoned in hell. Think of the privileges of this country. There's preachers in this area that some really preachers in this area.

There's Bibles, you can go and get almost at any bookstore. There's leaflets. We just put 30000 leaflets around the area. There's Sunday schools, kids work, there's all kinds of the privilege of this country. The history of our country is amazing.

Even names when you go you know, in very I mean I I remember walking around with us doing a mission in Cambridge and you know, Cambridge must unbelievably will be judged more than almost any other town in the entire world. Everything is Jesus college, Christ college, Jesus lane, Jesus green, Christ green. Everything reminds you of Jesus. But will people listen? Jesus has spoken and they're judged for not hearing Jesus.

Not noah. And then noah knew that God's judgment was coming. There are 2 periods in history when the judgment of God will fall on the entire world. The first was at the time of noah during the flood. The second is when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to wrap up the whole world.

The task of proclaiming God's salvation before the first judgment came was to Noah. Jesus in Noah. The task of proclaiming the gospel before the second judgment come is down to you and me. Jesus in you and me as we speak the word of God. They must have laughed at him.

They they they thought he was mad and mental and a loony and he was against culture and how dare you talk about judgment? What is up with our lives? Who are you to tell us that we shouldn't live like this? They would have had all of that. But they didn't listen, and judgment came.

And Peter's saying be bold, be strong for the lord your God is with you. You students at school, you've got it tough but hey, what, you want to be different, you want to stand out and be different, talk about Jesus. See what happens. Be bold, be strong. Allow the spirit of God to use you.

What does it matter if they laugh at you? For a hundred and 20 years, these people have been in prison for thousands of years that laughed at them. And that brings me on to my fourth point. Okay? This is where I'd like to have ended But Peter goes on and we need to go on.

So I hope you're with me, a bit more work, and I hope it will pay dividends. The fourth point is The same message that saves is the message that judges. The same message that saves is the message that judges or the same message that judges is the message that saves. The message of the flood that Jesus preached through Noah brought salvation to those who believed and judgment to those who didn't. So look at verses 20, to 21 of 1 peter 3.

So those who were disobedient long ago, Jesus preached to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the art was being built. In it, only a few people 18 all were saved through water. And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience to God God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, okay, there's complicated things here.

But largely, this is what he's saying certainly at the beginning. Is that the water of the flood did 2 things. The water of the flood did 2 things. Those who disbelieved were drowned Their bodies die, their spirits are in hell. Those who believe was saved by the same water.

It floated the ark. It drowned those but it floated the ark. The water that killed is the water that floated the ark, therefore it's the water that saves. They were saved by the water. The waters rose and carried the ark to safety.

Now of course, the ark is a very beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're in the ark in judgment, you're saved. The water The actual judgement saves you. If you're in Jesus Christ and Peter's talked about If you are in him, you're saved. If you're in the ark, you're saved by the water, and then when the water receives you're into a new world, if you're in Jesus, you're saved from the judgment to come and he'll bring you by his resurrection into the new world.

That's the message. That's the 1 they didn't believe. That's the 1 that Nora and his mates his family did believe. So we're saved because we're in Christ. And this is why Peter speaks about baptism and this can muddle up.

There's no way Peter is saying that physical water baptism, you know, just water on your head or water down in the way that the Bible would say you should do it under the water and up that that that action will save your soul. Clearly not, that that's just the washing of the body. That's just the outward. It may wash you outwardly clean but it doesn't change your conscience, he says. For that to happen, you need to be in Christ.

And baptism is a symbol of picture that's why we do it the way we do it. You die, you go down, we push people right under the water. You die, you go under the waters, almost under the waters of judgment. You die in Christ and then you rise again, you come out of the water, risen person in Christ. That doesn't save you but it's a picture of what does save you which is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what he's saying here. The baptism that saves you is the 1 that cleans your conscience, and that's what happens with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The symbol is important, but it's not all important. It's what it symbolizes that it's important So verse 21 and 22, it saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and he's at the right hand with the angels authorities powers in submission to him. In other words, that's the gospel.

The baptism is the gospel that was preached in Noah's Day. That Jesus came and died on the cross for your judgment and rose again for your justification. That's the gospel. That's the gospel Jesus preaches. That's the gospel Jesus is preaching now.

So done. If you want to know all the different views, then you can talk to me afterwards, we may do a podcast on why I just disagree with the other view. But let's just ram this in. Just a few lessons to them. Bear with me.

What do we learn from this? Well, 1 and I've been keep on saying this that when I speak the message of Christ, when I speak the gospel, Christ speaks through me. There's no 1 better than you, profit of God, To be in line with the prophets is a wonderful thing. I don't know about you. I I love history.

I really love history. History. And I love I love finding out wherever I go wherever I go on holiday, I try and find out Christian history. What happened in this area? What what what were the brothers and sisters doing?

Yeah? I love doing that. And read up on it if I can or or go and look at old buildings to see whether this is any sort of information or museums or something. It's a wonderful thing. People love family tree.

They love finding their roots. It's wonderful when you go on holiday and you think actually right here there was a brother who preach the gospel. Right there. See that building there. In that building there.

See that building there? James Denny. 15 13 in that building was tried for preaching the gospel. In that building there, that little building there. He was tried for preaching James.

I love you. He was taken into Kingston marketplace where the old hub used to be. And burnt alive for telling people about Jesus. From that building, he would walk. He had to carry what they called faggots which was like straw, bundles, had to carry it from that building into Kingston Center.

So if you're going to do that today just carry some faggots. Yeah? And carry them and he carried them and he was stuck there in Kingston and burnt alive and asked would he recant Jesus and he said no Jesus is my Savior. You can't kill me. I love that, but you are connected to him.

Who's connected to Isaiah, to Noah, to Elijah. Because Jesus speaks through them all. Just just the thought of that. You know, you you you kids at school, you want to be different. Man, you walk in and you say I'm just, you know, I'm connected to the prophet Isaiah, so I will speak.

Yeah? I'm connected to Noah. Yeah. You laugh. Of course you laugh.

Come on. Bring it on. Bring on the laughing. Noah had the laughing. It won't be long before you're a disembodied spirit.

You don't have to necessarily tell them that, but it won't be long. And you don't do that with joy, you do that with sadness. So preaching The Scriptures are preached here. Don't miss it. Jesus is speaking.

Imagine if we said Jesus was here, the actual Jesus was here speaking, we would have crowds around the block. Well, Jesus is speaking. At the sunday school, right now. And of course we need to be about raising preachers up. Shortly, it's the job of the church to raise more young men up to preach.

We're trying to do that. Come and and support Giren tonight. He's preaching for the first time to know it. Isn't that exciting? Yeah?

Don't come and moan. Don't come and say I could have done it better. Well, do it then. Come and encourage him. Preaching.

We must get this message out because it saves as a judgment to come. There is hell. There are people now in hell that laughed about it when they were alive. That's why we want to do share life. In the autumn to tell people about the Lord Jesus.

Let's be righteous. We want to be righteous, then we have to tell the unrighteous, a message don't want to hear. And that may bring them to God. Let's not fear. Let's not fear.

Like but let's be like James. Can can't you I just like I wanna go in there now. He was there tried. The religious leaders said that he was a heretic and he wasn't, he told people about Jesus, they were the heretics. There in prison spirits, he is alive with Christ.

Excited, isn't it? I wanna be a James. I've got another story, but I'm just trying to stop it because of time. Just going through my head about a woman, and I have to tell you that 1 day in the center of Kingston. 1 of his mates.

Anyway, let's move on. I can't get it out of my head. I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to move on. Don't fear, be like him. Why not fear?

Look at verse 22. Jesus who has gone up into heaven is at the right hand of God and the angels and authorities and powers in submission him and it's all authority given to him to tell us to go and preach the gospel. Here's my last point on this though. I think Peter is telling us this and I think there's a little suggestion that some of these Christians were were finding it difficult to be baptized. Because in baptism you're declaring, I'm a follower of Jesus and that is saying I'm gonna suffer.

I'm gonna suffer. And I think he might be saying hey, that's what goes with the territory. You really are baptized in Christ, then perhaps the symbol of baptism is worth doing to show that you're on the suffering servant's righteous side. So there's a challenge to you. Let's bow our heads and pray, and I'll hand over to Ben.

Father, we thank you for the immense privilege. It is to hear not just Pete's words, not my words, not just any person's words, but the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that the same spirit that raised him from the dead is in us. Who believe. Thank you therefore that the spirit of Christ speaks through people who open up your scriptures faithfully.

And we thank you, therefore, that we have heard the voice of Jesus. We thank you that the young people in this church have heard the voice of Jesus. But father, the voice of Jesus is not just there to soothe and balm, it is. But it's also It's also largely here to to warn. The message of noah was judgement's coming.

And so Jesus proclaims the same message to us today. Judgment is coming. But yet, here is salvation, here is water that saves, as well as judges, water that cleanses, as well as seals. To father, thank you for the Lord Jesus. Thank you for baptism.

Thank you for that picture we have, where we see our old nature our old selves dying and our new selves being raised to life because of the lord Jesus. Thank you for Easter and how Jesus has defeated death. He has made a way for us not to be imprisoned spirits, but he has led us captives free. Thank you for him. Thank you that you sent him.

Thank you that this has been your plan all the way through scripture. Thank you that that was the sermon, the 1 sermon preached everything, through creation, through the old testament, right through the new, right to today, Jesus Christ, savior of sinners. We pray, lord, that we would follow him. We would give our lives to live for him. We thank you for what we've heard in Jesus time.

Oh, man.