Beautiful testimony. Thank you, Heather. I want to just take a moment and look at you all and savor this moment for several reasons, because number one, there are not very many empty seats and you don't get to see that every Sunday morning. And then number two, some of you that normally sit back there sitting up here. I'm just going to take a moment and enjoy this. You don't have this very often. So Indulge me just a moment or two while I just look around and see who's here and where you're at. So good to see all of you here today. I guess it proves what we read on a church bulletin sign once. It said, come early to get a back seat. Amen. So some of you came early today and some didn't come so early, but we're glad for all of you that you're here on this Easter Sunday morning. Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Acts, please. The book of Acts, chapter 5. Acts, chapter 5. An American evangelist, D. L. Moody, told of a soldier that was shot in the Battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War back in the 1850s. This soldier was somehow able to crawl back into his tent, and he died there and was found face down with an open Bible before him and his extended hand on the Bible. His body was pulled off the Bible and the blood that he'd shed had dried. His hand was stuck to the page of the Bible. And as they lifted his hand, they were able to read on his hand where the blood had dried, part of a verse. And the verse read this way, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, yet shall he live. The evangelist that related that story said that I want a faith like that which can comfort even in death and unite me with my loved ones. What gloom and darkness would settle upon this world were it not for the hope that we have of a living Savior that we've heard sung about so beautifully this morning in choir numbers and in congregational numbers as well as special music. Thank God He does live. He's alive. I love those words that we just read, John 11, 25. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And then, we don't often read the next verse, which says, and Jesus, by the way, was speaking to Martha, sister of Mary. Both of them were sisters to Lazarus, who was a little bit later on in that passage raised from the dead. But Jesus said to Martha, after he made that statement, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Point blank to Martha. Believest thou this? Well, he might have assumed she believed it because he had stayed in their home. He was their dear friend. He was a dear friend of Lazarus and Mary Martha. In fact, when Lazarus became sick in the death, they sent for Jesus and they said, tell him, he whom thou lovest is sick. Your friend is sick. Your dear friend. So he might have assumed, well, yeah, hey, She believes. I mean, we've been together. I've taught. She's seen miracles. We would have thought that maybe he would have assumed, but no. He said, do you believe this, Martha? I should not assume that every one of you here today believe that Jesus Christ is alive. I hope you do. There's reason for you to do that, but the Word of God will do its work in your heart today if you hear. Maybe you're an honest skeptic. Maybe you're just an unbeliever. You've not seen compelling reason to this point in your life to believe and to make a public confession like these two men did this morning, this boy and this young man did this morning. I pray that you will see from the Word of God today just a simple reason why you should believe, as Keith said. Changed his life. Not a religious system, but a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what makes the difference between life and death. You have your Bibles open to Acts chapter 5. I want to just read a couple verses. Acts chapter 5, beginning in verse 28, saying, Did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? These are the chief priests, the high priests. This is the high priests speaking. Religious leaders of Jesus' day. They had crucified Christ. They had hung Him on a cross. And after the crucifixion, of course, Jesus was buried and rose again and was alive. And it changed these apostles' lives. They who were once timid and shy and who once fled and did not want to be associated too closely with the Lord Jesus, they now were bold. They were willing to go to prison. In fact, Peter just had gotten out of prison. And went right back to the temple, because that's what the Lord told him to do. Went right back to the temple and began to preach the same doctrine that you preach. And so the high priest once again caught up with him. And here's what he said in verse 28. Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? You get the feeling he doesn't even want to mention the name Jesus. He's so high above this. He can't even bring himself to say, did we not command you that you should not teach in the name of Jesus. That's what they had done. But he says this to them. And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man, not Jesus, this man's blood upon us. So distasteful in this high priest's mind that his mouth was not able to come forth with the words, Jesus, Jesus. Notice what Peter's response was, verse 20. And then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. In other words, we have a commission from heaven to preach the Word, to preach the Gospel, to tell the world. And by the way, in another place in Scripture it says, this Gospel and these apostles with the Gospel turned the world upside down. So compelling was their message. So dynamic was their testimony. So believable was their witness that they turned the world upside down. We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Would you just fix your eyes and minds for just a few minutes on that last verse especially, where the Lord Jesus Christ is identified as Prince and Savior. He is both Prince and Savior. The two seem almost contradictory because a Prince is not usually thought of as a Savior. He's a ruler. He's exalted and Jesus is exalted. He was raised up by God and He was exalted and set upon the right hand of God the Father. But before He is going to be a Prince literally upon this earth, he's already seated at the right hand of God, but before he's going to be a prince who rules from his kingdom, throne, he became, first of all, a savior. So he's prince and savior. And this is the simple message that Peter preached. This is how he answered the high priest who said, who challenged him and said, how dare you do this? How dare you speak this man's name? How dare you come and In fact, all of Jerusalem with the doctrine that this man has taught, and mainly it was the doctrine of the resurrection. And Peter wanted to underscore that when he said, You slew Him and hanged Him on a tree, but God exalted Him with His right hand to be Prince. I want to declare today that God has made His Son Jesus Prince. He's made Him Prince in that He has exalted Him. and raised him up. Death could not hold him, the song says. The grave could not keep him. It had no power to keep him. He came forth from the grave. He was raised after three days and three nights. And not only that, but as we read here in verse 31, God exalted him. Exalted him. Stephen, when he was being stoned, just a chapter over, I think it is, before he died, he lifted his eyes toward heaven, and he saw, the Bible says he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. He was raised, and he ascended in due time. And he went to heaven, and the Bible says he's seated at the right hand of God the Father. But on the occasion of Stephen's stoning, he said, I see heaven, I see the heavens open. I'm reading verse 56 of Acts chapter 7. And the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God the Father." That's where He is today, seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Seated because His work is finished. Seated because He came and did what He was supposed to do, and that is He became the Savior of the world. And so He was crucified, as Peter said here. He got it right. You slew Him, the nation of Israel. He's not pointing the finger at any particular race or but he was just stating a fact. He said, you slew him. We slew him. Peter was a Jew, too. We slew him. The leaders of the nation of Israel slew him. They rejected Jesus and his authority and his rulership and said, we will not have him rule over us. And so you slew him. You put him on a tree. He was put into the ground, put into a tomb. And God raised him up and lifted him up out of the grave and gave him a name, by the way, that is above every name. Would you just let me read to you Philippians chapter 2, a couple of verses from that great passage. I know you probably could quote this with me, but I want to read it because we cannot think of the exaltation of Jesus without reading, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Is there a name like Jesus today in the world? I think not. No other name calms fears. No other name gives hope. No other name liberates from bondage. No other name gives faith. No other name under heaven saves a person than the name of Jesus. Acts 4.12 No other name, no other person, no other name with power that is in the name could cause a man to be transformed like dozens of you have and like Keith Coors testified of being today, transformed and made like a child in faith believing. Not some namby-pamby man. Not some person that doesn't have any courage or strength. He has all of that, but he's willing to stand here and testify in tears of what Jesus means to him. That's because Jesus is real today. He's a real person. He's a great Savior. He's given Him a name. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, Philippians 2.10, of things in heaven, things in earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Listen, God hath highly exalted Jesus Christ His Son. And put Him in an exalted position in heaven. And one day, if not today, one day, you will bow your knee in the presence of God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You will do that. Better do it today if you've never done it. Better be willing to say today, oh, I'm a sinner. I need to be saved. And Jesus Christ is Prince. He's been exalted. He came and was humiliated like no man was ever humiliated. He was crucified. He was put upon a cross. He was stripped of every stitch of clothing. He was beaten mercilessly. He was bloodied and bruised. And He died there and stayed on the cross for me and for my sins so that on His precious body could be put the sin of the world, including my sin. Oh, He's a great Savior today. And we have today Jesus who God hath raised and exalted. He's given him power. In fact, Jesus said before He ascended in His resurrected body, He said in Matthew 28, 18, All power is given me in heaven and earth to the disciples. He said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It may look like we're losing a battle, but we've already won the war. Amen? Believers. Because Jesus said, All power is mine. It's been given me of the Father. because he has been exalted. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 24, one day every enemy shall be put under his feet. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And death shall be no more. He's going to rule and reign over all enemies. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 24 verse 30 that one day he's going to come with all his holy angels And with the saints, and He's going to come back to this earth, in power and in great glory shall the Son of Man come. In glory, it says in Matthew 24, verse 38. He's coming back. He's coming back in great power and great glory. Listen, folks, we have a Savior. As Peter said, he wasn't telling anything but the truth when he said, God exalted Him with His right hand to be a Prince. Like every Old Testament prophet prophesied of a coming king, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would sit upon a throne, literally, and rule from Jerusalem. And he's going to do that. He did not do it here in the Gospels. He was crucified and buried and rose again and ascended to heaven. And the establishment of his kingdom upon this earth, literal, physical, rule and reign, was postponed. And there is a parenthesis in the plan of God The plan of God for the ages, and that is what we know today as this age, the church age, where he's calling out a bride for his son, the Lord Jesus, a holy bride, the church. And one day when that bride is complete, Jesus will come back for his bride. And he's going to come back in great power and glory, Matthew 24, 30, and establish that kingdom, the establishment of which was postponed temporarily. So that's the story, and Peter was telling it right here when he talked to the high priest. Konrad Adenauer, former Chancellor of West Germany, said, if Jesus Christ is alive, then there's hope for this world. If not, he said, I don't see the slightest glimmer of hope on the horizon. Then Konrad Adenauer added these words, I believe Christ's resurrection to be one of the best attested facts of history. There may be some Honest skeptic here today says, I just don't know if I can believe it. That just seems incredible. That just seems too much for anybody to ask anyone to believe that someone that was dead is now living. Somebody that was dead and put into a tomb and grave in darkness and death is now alive. Well, it's true because the Bible said he was seen of more than 500. In fact, Luke the historian was painstaking In his description he said that he, Jesus, presented himself alive after his passion or death with many infallible proofs, appearing to his disciples for more than 40 days, with proof after proof after proof. There was a teacher that said, there was an unbelieving teacher who said to her class, she said, there really are no miracles, no miracles in the Bible, Take for instance, she said, the crossing of the Red Sea, that's just, we know that's just a body of water that's just about six inches deep when the Israelites crossed over at that certain place. And some lad from the back of the room said, praise the Lord. Well, the irritated teacher stopped and said, what's that? Praise the Lord. Well, what are you praising the Lord for? Well, to think that God could drown Pharaoh and all of his armies in six inches of water, that's a miracle! And there is no natural explanation for the resurrection. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. Thomas Arnold said it was the best attested fact in history. If you care for a historian's view of the resurrection. Sir Edward Clarke said, as a lawyer, I have made a prolonged study of the evidence for the events of the resurrection. To me, the evidence is conclusive. And over and over again in the High Court, I have secured again and again verdicts on evidence not nearly so compelling. I say the Christian faith is the only so-called religion where its founder is one whose tomb is empty today. There was a vase closely sealed, found in a mummy pit in Egypt, by the English traveler Wilkinson. In that vase was discovered a few peas, an old wrinkled, a few peas that were old and wrinkled and hard as a stone. You can imagine 3,000 years they would have been sealed and so these peas were shriveled up to just like a hard stone. So the discovered peas were planted under a glass And at the end of 30 days they sprang to life after having lain in the dust of a tomb for 3,000 years. This is just a faint illustration of the mortal body which shall someday put on immortality. It may have been in the dust thousands of years. It may have disintegrated back to dust and probably will have, but someday the Lord God who fashioned that person and breathed into you and me and our ancestors the breath of life. Someday he's going to breathe into those dry bones and dead bones and dust bones. Once again, the breath of life. And bring us forth, because there is a resurrection. Somebody that wanted to start a new religion was bemoaning the fact that he was having little success. And he went to the French diplomat statesman, Talleyrand, and said, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Could you give me some help? Well, Talleyrand said, I would suggest you get yourself crucified die, be buried, and then be sure to be raised again after three days. You want to start a new religion. Well, it's not going to happen. It's already been started. Amen. The true faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Attorney Francis J. Lamb of Madison, Wisconsin brought forth, got a book from Oberlin Press, a book entitled The Miracle and Science and He took this book and subjected, as he read the book, the New Testament evidences to jurisprudence, laws of jurisprudence, questioning every statement exactly as would be done in a court of justice, where human life was at stake and where judge and jury alike were going to determine or discover the absolute truth involved in the procedure. After 284 pages, The attorney, Francis Lamb, said this, and I quote, "...tested by the standards and ordeals of jural science by which questions of fact are ascertained and demonstrated in contested questions of right between man and man, in courts of justice the resurrection of Jesus stands a demonstrated fact." An honest lawyer who subjected all the evidences to all the laws of jurisprudence and said, it stands. It stands as a fact. Well, Jesus Christ is a Prince because God raised Him up and God exalted Him. Let's go on. Let's go back to our text this morning. I want you to see something else here. He's not only a Prince, but Peter says He is Prince and Savior. He is Prince and Savior. Notice what Prince and Savior does. First of all, Savior gives repentance. for to give repentance to Israel. That's what the Savior does. He gives repentance. Did you know the Bible says in Acts chapter 17 that God has commanded all men everywhere to repent? That's what God's commanded us. All men everywhere. God's commanded in this day, in these times, He's commanded all men everywhere to repent. What is repentance? What do you do when you repent? Do you work up a certain kind of feeling? Somebody says, I want to be saved, I'm trying to be saved, but maybe I don't have a certain feeling yet. That's not repentance. You don't agonize before God and weep and wail until some special feeling comes over you. Repentance starts up here, between your ears. It's a change of mind. It affects your heart. But it's a change of mind. It's a change of attitude that results in a change of action. You turn to God from sin to serve the living God. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. That's what repentance is. It's just a change of mind. Change of mind. Change of attitude. About who you are. You realize Candidly before God I'm a sinner because the Bible said all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Before that you probably thought I'm not so bad. I'm doing the best I can I'm living by the golden rule I'm keeping the Ten Commandments. I'm a I've been baptized. I'm a member of church upstanding member of the church. I'm okay, okay But when you have repentance come over your life, you really oh I'm a sinner. I Just I agree with God. He said all have sinned and I've sinned I mean, put me up against the standard of God's holiness, I fall far short. The best of persons could say that. I fall so far short. I'm a sinner! Repentance causes you to admit that, acknowledge it. You cannot save yourself. You're helpless because there's something within you that's out of step with God. Try as you may, try as you might, You cannot keep all God's commandments. You cannot please Him fully and wholly in your own strength. It just doesn't happen. It won't happen. So you say, I repent. I acknowledge I'm a sinner. That's repentance. God's commanded all men everywhere to repent. But you can't work it up on your own. You can't determine today, I'm going to repent. Repentance like faith comes from God. It's the Holy Spirit working on your heart. That's a gift of God. It's the Holy Spirit bringing you to the point that you are willing to recognize, I'm a sinner, I need to be saved, and He's a Savior. He's my Savior. And that comes, as Peter said here, to give repentance. To give us the opportunity to repent. to give us the privilege, to give us the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. And right here today, you have an opportunity. God gives you an opportunity to repent and turn to Jesus Christ and say, I accept Him as my Savior. Will you do that? Will you do that? He's given you, He gives you repentance today. All you have to do is act upon it. Say, yes, I repent. I turn to God. Turning to God, I turn from my sin. He gives repentance. Notice also, the Bible says, He gives forgiveness. He gives forgiveness. Oh my, what a wonderful, wonderful statement. He gives repentance and forgiveness of sins. We've established the fact that if you repent, you've got to acknowledge the fact that you're a sinner. There's something between you and God. You agree with Isaiah the prophet who said, Your iniquities have separated you and God. Your sins have caused Him to hide His face from you, Isaiah the prophet said. Our sins has caused God to hide His face from us. He cannot look upon sin, and so there's a barrier between us and God. Sin. Repentance causes us to acknowledge that, and when we acknowledge it and turn to God, we have instantaneously full and free forgiveness of sins. A Welsh minister spoke about the burial of Moses. Remember, it says in the Bible, Moses died and God buried him, and only God knows where. He said in that burial, not only the body was buried, but the grave and the graveyard. He said that's an illustration of the way in which God's mercy buries sins. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. was on a ship crossing the Atlantic One night in the middle of the ocean, he asked the captain of the deck of the ship, he said, how far are we from land, captain? Captain said, well, which direction? And so he said, east. So he said, well, we're so many miles from land going west. And it was a long ways either way. But the captain said, we're so many miles from land east and so many miles from land west, but we're closer to land than that. Dr. Bob said, ìHow so?î He said, ìWeíre only 5,000 feet from the bottom of the ocean.î And Dr. Bob said, ìI stopped there on that dark night on the middle of the lake, and I said, ìOh, praise God.î He said, ìThank God thatís where my sin is, in the bottom of the ocean, as deep as the ocean is.î As far as the east is from the west, God hath removed our transgressions from us. There is forgiveness of sin today, folks. There's forgiveness of sins. A little boy was being tucked into bed by his mom, and he said, Mommy, he said, I want you to leave, please. And I want to pray to God. And so Mommy said, well, is there something, Bobby, that you need to talk to me about? No, Mommy, he said, you leave. He said, I'll talk to God and He'll forgive me. If I talk to you, you'll scold me. Little boy was smart, wasn't he? Typical little boy, I'd say. You know, one of the most striking illustrations, and I've used it before, but I'm going to use it again, of forgiveness, is what I heard about a few years ago that maybe you remember. The site, if you saw the picture in the paper, out of the Vietnam War, you'll never forget it. And I saw it once, and it's burned into my memory that I'll never forget it. A young girl fleeing from a village in Vietnam that had been A US plane had gone over and dropped a bunch of poison, napalm. And this little girl had seen the plane coming and just fled for her life. Her skin was burning, her body was on fire. And some photographer captured the picture forever and it was in the newspapers. A little girl, not a stitch of clothes on her, fleeing for her life out of a burning village in Vietnam. Her name was Kim Phu. Years later, she didn't die. Years later, she came to the United States when they were going to dedicate the memorial to the Vietnam War. And she stood there. She was a guest of honor. She stood there and shared her thoughts with the crowd that day, with the dignitaries and other people. And she said, you know, she said, I have no hatred in my heart for the the American people, or for the pilot, or for the soldiers, she said, I have come to know Jesus Christ as my Savior. He's given me a forgiving spirit, and if I saw the man who flew the plane today, I'd give him a hug. She didn't know that in the audience that day, in the crowd that day, was the very man. John Plummer was his name, who flew the plane, that dropped the poison. the little girl was running from. After the meeting was over, he made his way to Kim. He said, I was a man. I was a pilot. Oh, she embraced him. She gave him a hug and said, oh, I forgive you. I forgive you. He said, I have found Jesus Christ, who is my Savior. There was a happy embrace of two people who knew Christ as Savior. Only Jesus can do that. in the hearts of people. Only God can put that kind of a forgiving spirit because our sins have been forgiven. Therefore, we want to have a spirit of forgiveness to other people. Kim had it. John had it. Do you have it? Do you have forgiveness of sin? Do you go to bed tonight with a clear conscience and say, Lord, I know that my sins are under the blood. The Bible says the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. That's the way we get it. The blood of Jesus. Putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Embracing the one who is the Prince and the Savior of the world. Let's bow our heads and hearts in prayer this morning.