← Back to sermon library

You can turn in your Bibles back 
to Acts chapter 2. This morning we read the entirety 
of the chapter, all of Acts chapter 2. We noted, of course, that 
our scope of focus was Acts 2, verse 22 to verse 36. So we'll 
read that portion of Scripture now, Acts 2, beginning in verse 
22. Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, 
a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, 
which God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves 
also know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and 
foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have 
crucified and put to death. Whom God raised up, having loosed 
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should 
be held by it. For David says concerning him, 
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right 
hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced 
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also will 
rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will 
you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known 
to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy 
in your presence. Men and brethren, Let me speak 
freely to you of the patriarch, David, that he is both dead and 
buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being 
a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him 
that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would 
raise up the Christ to sit on his throne. He, foreseeing this, 
spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ. that his soul 
was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This 
Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, 
being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from 
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this, 
which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into 
the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and 
Christ. Amen. Well, let's go to the Lord, 
our God, in prayer again. Heavenly Father, Thank you again 
that we can read from the scriptures now. We rejoice again and would 
praise you again for the fact that we can hold the full Bible 
in our hands because we know in many nations where there is 
much persecution and much opposition to the gospel that our brothers 
and sisters in Christ do not even have a full Bible, if a 
Bible at all. We do pray that we would count 
that a high and heavy privilege to hold your revelation in our 
hands and we pray now that you would bless this act of preaching, 
this act of worship, the preaching of your word, that you would 
be honored and glorified in this act and that the people gathered 
here would rightfully give you praise for all things and it's 
in Christ's name that we do pray. Amen. Well you'll remember if 
you were here this morning that We felt it a good thing to add 
something of a sermon accompaniment to Pastor Butler's preaching 
through the Gospel of Matthew. More specifically, that promise 
in Matthew 16, 18, I will build my church and the gates of Hades 
shall not prevail against it. We noted this morning that subsequent 
revelation in many ways is the opening up of that promise that 
Christ gives to his disciples there. I will build my church. 
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it because 
we come to Acts chapter 2 and we see the one to whom Jesus 
spoke that word at least one of the many to whom Jesus spoke 
those words standing up on the day of Pentecost and preaching 
Christ Jesus to those to whom before he denied the Savior now 
with the comfort and the courage that his Savior gave him he is 
proclaiming Jesus Christ and his riches and his glories. And 
it is by this means of proclamation, by this preaching, that Christ 
does build his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail 
against it. And we look this morning at in 
verses 22 through to verse 31, we looked at the central message. 
First off, we noted that the central message contained in 
verses 22 to 24 is concerning Jesus Christ, specifically His 
death and His resurrection. That this Jesus Christ who performed 
wonders and signs and miracles is the one that God prepared 
beforehand to carry out the work of salvation that you by lawless 
hands have crucified and put to death and that God has raised 
up. And we noted that yes, there 
is of course the reality that that is the central gospel message, 
the death and resurrection of Christ, but also that Peter tailors 
his sermon to his audience specifically at the point of they being the 
ones who crucified the Lord of glory. Remember, Peter is hammering 
the nail of guilt into the consciences of the gathered assembly, and 
he tells them that you, by lawless hands, have taken him, this Christ, 
crucified him, and put him to death. And we noted the scriptural 
anticipation that The Apostle Peter here appeals to Psalm 16. No doubt he appeals to the theological 
weight of other portions of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 7, and 
the Davidic Promise, the Davidic Covenant. But the idea is that 
Peter goes to the Scriptures, something that his audience would 
be familiar with, in order to argue for the certain truthfulness 
that this Jesus Christ was promised and that he was raised up by 
God. Well, now we get to two more 
things that we'll look at in subsequent verses. In verse 31, 
we see the historical, or excuse me, verse 32, we see the historical 
fulfillment. And in verses 33 to 36, we see 
the weighty implications. So first off, the historical 
fulfillment And we see this in verse 32. This Jesus God has 
raised up, of which we are all witnesses. You see, this Jesus 
spoken of by Peter, promised in the OT scriptures, in the 
Old Testament scriptures, did truly rise again as it was promised 
and prophesied that he would. Peter goes to the Old Testament, 
to argue for the certain truthfulness that this Jesus is the one prophesied 
by David, whom he calls a patriarch and a prophet. And then he brings 
to bear eyewitness testimony in order to confirm the truthfulness 
that God has raised up this Jesus, the Christ. This is F.F. Bruce, 
in asserting that Jesus of Nazareth had been so delivered and raised 
by God, Peter and his colleagues were making a claim which they 
could confirm by their personal ocular testimony. Ocular of course 
you probably or maybe you don't know what that means, but of 
or pertaining to the eyes The ocular organs again. He says 
that Peter and his colleagues Peter Peter and his colleagues 
were making a claim which they could confirm by their personal 
ocular testimony. This is something, as we'll make 
a note of later, that we do not do in this 2,000 years removed 
from the historical redemptive era or epoch that we have here 
before us in the Book of Acts. We no longer appeal to ocular 
testimony and to the testimony of our senses because Christ 
has now been exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high, 
and we no longer appeal to those things. But nevertheless, we 
have the historical fulfillment, and we see language all throughout 
the New Testament confirming the firsthand eyewitness accounts. And we'll move from the general 
to the specific, but first, we see the New Testament confirming 
the firsthand eyewitness accounts in the introductory statements 
of Luke in his two volumes. Now, you need to pay close attention 
as we read these texts, because as Christians, we do not follow 
after, as Peter would say, cunningly devised fables and the myths 
and the legends of men, as if this story concerning Jesus Christ 
was concocted in the minds of men in order to propagate and 
grow a religion in the first century. but much rather we are 
grounded in the revelation of God which contains in it references 
and allusions to and citations of eyewitness testimony. Notice 
the language of Luke. Chapter 1, verses 1 to 4, and 
hopefully you are familiar with these verses. We see that we 
do not follow after cunningly devised fables because we read 
in Luke 1, verse 1, inasmuch as many have taken in hand to 
set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled 
among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses 
and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, it seemed good to 
me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, 
to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that 
you may know the certainty of those things in which you were 
instructed." And following after that, of course, we have the 
life and the times of Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior. But you see 
the stuff of veracity, the stuff of certain truthfulness. Our 
religion does not rest upon fable and myth, but rather upon verity 
of verities, that is, truth of truths we see here that from 
the beginning or first off we see the language of things fulfilled 
among us that's why Peter could say God raised up this Jesus 
of whom we are all witnesses because those things were fulfilled 
among them from the beginning they were eyewitnesses and ministers 
of the word and they deliver them to Luke and others, it seemed 
good, he writes, having had perfect understanding of all things from 
the very first. We have, the inspired authors, 
given by divine power, perfect understanding. And notice it's 
an orderly account, and it is unto the end that Theophilus, 
and by extension Christians everywhere, may know the certainty. of those 
things in which they were instructed. You see, we have in these introductory 
statements of Luke and Luke 1, and now in Acts 1, the language 
confirming the firsthand eyewitness accounts of the resurrected Christ. 
Remember that Luke wrote two volumes, the Gospel of Luke and 
the Book of Acts. And we see here, we read here 
in Acts 1, Luke making mention of his former account as he opens 
up the book this way. The former account I made, O 
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. until 
the day in which he was taken up, after he, through the Holy 
Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, 
to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by 
many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days 
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." So you 
see here, Christianity is rooted Not in the eyewitness account 
of one man secluded in a cave or somewhere out in the wilderness, 
but rather upon the eyewitness accounts of a number of men, 
a great number of men, to whom he appeared after his suffering 
by many. And notice the language, infallible 
proofs. The religion of Christianity 
rests upon the things of infallibility. We have in the scriptures an 
infallible word that discloses to us the truth of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And this is why we must take 
heed, because these are the things of infallible proofs. And specifically 
in verse 3, we have what would be behind, no doubt, Peter's 
statement in Acts 2. In verse 32, we read, to whom 
he also presented himself, that is to the apostles, to whom he 
also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many 
infallible proofs, and we'll look at those proofs in a few 
moments, but just to note here, we see the language all throughout 
the New Testament, and we see it first in the introductory 
statements of Luke in his two volumes, that is, language of 
first-hand eyewitness accounts. Secondly, we see these first-hand 
eyewitness accounts in apostolic statements confirming eyewitness 
testimony. What do we read in John 1, 14? 
Remember, in that prologue to the Gospel of John, we read in 
verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God. And then later in verse 14, we 
read, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. They beheld His glory, and so 
they could speak concerning the certain truthfulness. of his 
resurrection. This is Gil. And not only were 
there some beams of his glory at his transfiguration, which 
were seen by the apostles, among which the evangelist John was 
one, and to which he may have here a particular reference, 
but even at his apprehension, his death, and especially at 
his resurrection from the dead. So you see, Peter could say with 
great confidence, this Jesus God raised up, of whom we are 
all witnesses, because He, like John, beheld His glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And 
have you ever considered this language in 1 John? You can turn 
there with me. In 1 John, we have more of this, 
more of these apostolic statements confirming eyewitness testimony. 
Notice what we read, and this is 1 John right at verse 1. that 
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we 
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands 
have handled concerning the word of life." The blessed apostles 
whose eyes had seen the Lord, who looked upon Him and who handled 
Him with their hands. You see, Christianity, and the 
apostles knew this very well and rejoiced in it, Christianity 
does not rest upon cunningly devised fables, but rather is 
the stuff which the apostles had heard, which they had seen 
with their own eyes, which they looked upon, and which their 
hands had handled. And then notice 1 Peter, if you 
back up in Revelation a couple books. Excuse me, 2 Peter. In 
2 Peter, we have where we find this language of cunningly devised 
fables. And notice the language of the 
Apostle Peter who, remember, is the one proclaiming the word 
in our passage under focus this evening in Acts chapter 2. 2 
Peter 1 verse 16, for we did not follow cunningly devised 
fables when we made known to you the power and coming. of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the 
Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the 
excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which 
came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain." 
Again, behind Peter's statement that Jesus was raised by God, 
of whom we are all witnesses, is the stuff of certain truthfulness, 
for we did not follow cunningly devised fables. We see as well, 
throughout the New Testament, language confirming the firsthand 
eyewitness accounts. We see that third in the narrative 
accounts of the post-resurrection eyewitness testimony. Turn with 
me, for me as well, but you can turn to Luke 24. You see, what 
we have here is probably the language behind at least some 
of the truth, some of the realities behind John's statement when 
he writes, whose hands have handled. In Luke 24, we have the post-resurrection 
appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. The patience here of 
our Savior is, I guess, not surprising, but to us, who wouldn't be this 
patient in the face of such ignorance, no doubt it can be sometimes 
surprising. But it all the more highlights 
the fact that Christ is very different from us. But notice 
what we have here in Luke 24, beginning at verse 36. Now, as 
they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of 
them and said to them, Peace to you. But they were terrified 
and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And he 
said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your 
hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, 
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit 
does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When he said 
this, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and 
his feet. But while they still did not 
believe for joy and marveled, He said to them, have you any 
food here? So they gave him a piece of broiled 
fish and some honeycomb and he took it and ate it in their presence. You see again why Peter can say 
this Jesus God raised up of whom we are all witnesses because 
in his pre ascension, post resurrection appearances, not only did they 
a hear him because we read and he said to them, But no doubt, 
they saw Him. But that, you see, that still 
wasn't enough. You see the text does say, for 
joy, they marveled. But you see something of the 
ignorance and the unbelief here, because Jesus has to go through 
a number of infallible proofs in order to make known that this 
is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He speaks to them. 
That isn't enough. They had already cast their eyes 
upon him, but that wasn't enough because frightened, they supposed 
him to be a spirit. And then he says, handle me and 
see. So he moves from hearing to seeing 
to handling to the sense of touch. And yet they still do not believe. And so the final proof is that 
they hand him or he asks for some broiled fish and honeycomb 
and he eats in their presence. And then he gives them that wonderful 
Bible study, opening up their minds that they might apprehend 
the scriptures. But you see, here we have the 
stuff of Christ presenting himself alive by many infallible proofs 
to the gathered apostles. And then, fourthly, with regards 
to language, all throughout the New Testament, confirming the 
firsthand eyewitness accounts, we have Paul's argument for the 
certainty of the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 
15. And you'll hopefully remember 
what we have in that passage, everyone, is that we have the 
Apostle Paul, among many other things, bringing to bear the 
implications if Christianity is not true, if the resurrection 
of the dead and the resurrection of Christ is not true. Paul brings 
to bear many leveling and sobering implications if that truly is 
the case. But before he gets to that point, 
notice the stuff of, we are all witnesses of the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Remember, this morning we came 
to this passage to see a definition of the gospel, so we'll pick 
up there in verse 3. For I determined, excuse me, 
for I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, 
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 
and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according 
to the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the 
twelve. After that, he was seen by over 
five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained 
to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he 
was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then, last of all, 
he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. You see what Peter is, what Peter, 
what Paul is doing here in 1 Corinthians 15 is he's dealing with this 
bad doctrine of those who were rejecting the resurrection of 
the dead. And he goes to the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to prove the reality that the 
dead in Christ also will rise again. And you see where he goes. He speaks first off with regards 
to the scriptures, because no doubt and of course, that is 
the ultimate authority, especially in our time and era, the Bible 
alone. But then he goes to the fact 
of eyewitness testimony. He is doing what Bruce noted, 
Peter and his colleagues making a claim which they could confirm 
by their personal ocular testimony. He was first seen by Peter, or 
here we read Cephas. He was seen by Cephas, then by 
the 12, then by over 500 brethren at once. You see, they could 
at this time find people, and there were many alive that had 
seen the risen Christ. They could speak to them. They 
could ask them if they really doubted, and if they were really 
plagued by unbelief, they could go to these men who saw the risen 
Christ, and they would hear yes. I laid my eyes upon that one 
who was crucified. He did rise again, and he's now 
ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high. You see 
the Bible, the New Testament, time and again brings us language 
confirming the firsthand eyewitness accounts. And again, what Paul 
brings to bear here is the reality the sobering reality of what 
would be the case if Christ had not risen from the dead. Notice 
in verse 12, and this is very important, when we say, when 
we talk about the fact that our religion, our profession, our 
confession of faith does not rest upon cunningly devised fables 
that were the case, this would be true. Notice what we read 
in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached 
that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you 
say that there is no resurrection of the dead? You see, that was 
the problem in Corinth, at least one of the many problems in Corinth, 
the one that he's dealing with right now in chapter 15. Why 
are there some among you that say there is no resurrection 
of the dead? Notice he goes on, but if there is no resurrection 
of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, 
then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses 
of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, 
whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. 
You see the brilliance of the Apostle Paul, mounting argument 
upon argument, if this, then that, if that, then this. And 
he continues, for if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not 
risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, and you 
are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen 
asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have 
hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. You see, the importance of Peter 
on that day bringing to bear the reality that Christ most 
certainly was raised by God, and we are all eyewitnesses of 
this truth, is because Christianity rests upon the truthfulness of 
that claim. And we know that it is not just 
a claim, but it is confirmed by the Scriptures, and in the 
context of Peter and the Apostles, it was confirmed by eyewitness 
testimony. So we have the historical fulfillment. Secondly and lastly we have the 
weighty implications. If you move back to Acts chapter 
2, we have the weighty implications in this follows upon that statement 
in verse 32 where we have already dealt with this Jesus God has 
raised up of which we are all witnesses and then in verse 33 
we have that very important word the therefore where Where we 
have the implications brought these weighty implications brought 
to bear as Peter closes up his sermon I guess if we're to be 
precise, he doesn't necessarily close up his sermon there because 
in verse 40 we read, and with many other words, he testified 
and exhorted them. But nevertheless, this section 
of our focus in this section of Peter's sermon, he brings 
to bear these weighty implications upon his audience. Upon preaching 
the message of Christ, supporting it with the scriptures, and confirming 
it by appealing to the eyewitness testimony of many, Peter then 
brings to bear some sobering Christological realities. What we mean by that is, because 
this sermon is about Christ and the truthfulness about Christ's 
life, death, resurrection, and ascension, these Christological 
realities he brings to bear, truths concerning Christ, he 
brings to bear upon his audience. And there are three that we'll 
consider based upon the text before us. And the first is, 
he has been exalted. to the right hand of God. Notice 
verse 33A, excuse me, 33A, therefore being exalted to the right hand 
of God. Jesus Christ upon the perfect 
completion of his messianic work, the giving of his life for guilty 
sinners upon the cross, culminating upon the cross, rising again 
the third day, he is exalted ultimately to the right hand 
of God most high. And no doubt his audience understood 
the implications of the scripture quotation Peter employed. Bear 
with me as we go through this exercise. Again, his audience 
understood the implications of the scripture quotation Peter 
employed. And what is that? But a verse 
from Psalm 110, and it's seen here in verse 34. For David did 
not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord 
said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies 
your footstool. So what we're saying when we 
say that they understood the implications is as their minds 
are rolling Peter's sermon in their head and as they're understanding 
what he's saying, they would say, in effect, Peter is saying 
that we are the enemies of Christ, that he will crush under his 
foot. You see, there's no other way 
to wriggle out of the implication. The Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
You see, his audience would have understood the messianic nature 
of Psalm 110. You read the ancient and even 
modern Jews with respect to Psalm 110 and Psalm 116 and other passages 
of the Old Testament. And they understood the messianic 
implications of those things. They didn't apply them to Jesus 
as they ought to have, but nevertheless, they understood that Psalm 16, 
quoted before, and Psalm 110, quoted now in verse 34 and 35, 
that those applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, to King Messiah. They did not apply them to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, but they had a messianic understanding. So 
the weighty implication here in Christ being exalted to the 
right hand of God is that their understanding Peter to say to 
them, you are the enemies of the Lord. And when the Lord said 
to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your 
footstool. You are the ones that are in view as Christ lowers 
his weighty and heavy boot upon his enemies throughout time in 
history. And so you see that Peter, in driving the nail of 
guilt, hammering the nail of guilt into the consciences of 
his audience, brings to bear this weighty implication that 
this Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of God, where 
he rules and reigns for the good of his people, but also rules 
and reigns crushing those who would oppose him. They understood 
the implications of the scripture quotation Peter employed, and 
perhaps even other ones that Peter didn't employ, but were 
no doubt connected and in the background. For example, they 
would have had a messianic understanding as well of Psalm 2. Remember 
what we read there, kiss the sun, previously referred to as 
the Christ in the first couple verses. Kiss the sun, lest he 
be angry. and you perish in the way when 
his wrath is kindled but a little." It also says before that ending 
to the psalm that this Christ anointed by God and exalted would 
dash his enemies to pieces like a potter's vessel. And so they 
would have understood what Peter was saying here. The weighty 
implication in verse 33a is that they were the enemies of God 
and of his exalted Christ. Secondly, he poured out the Holy 
Spirit upon the disciples. The second weighty implication 
is that he poured out the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, again, 
verse 33, this time 33b, therefore being exalted to the right hand 
of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the 
Holy Spirit, he poured out this, which you now see and hear. This sect of the Nazarene, is 
the recipient of the blessings prophesied by Joel. You'll remember 
in the opening, in Peter's response to the crowd saying in verse 
13, others mocking said, they are full of new wine. Peter's 
response is an explanation of what was actually going on. These 
are not drunk, he says, as you suppose. since it is only the 
third hour of the day, and then verse 16, but this is what was 
spoken by the prophet Joel, and he quotes the prophet specifically 
with respect to the pouring out of the Spirit of God in the last 
days. And so the weighty implication 
here is that this sect of the Nazarene is the recipient of 
the blessings poured out by or the blessings prophesied by Joel 
poured out by God, it is not the nation of Israel as presently 
understood as the ones who put to death the Prince of Life and 
hung him upon a tree. You see, they may have had, the 
unbelieving Jews of this day, may have had perverse notions 
an irreligious fantasy, that they would be the recipients 
of this Joel prophecy, and that they would have the spirit poured 
out upon them, and that they would then go about propagating 
their irreligion, as understood from our vantage point. But it 
is this sect of the Nazarene, rather, these Christians, this 
early church movement that has the Spirit poured out upon them. And it is they who prophesy. 
It is they who see visions. It is they who dream dreams. 
It is those menservants and maidservants upon whom the Spirit is poured 
out, and they prophesy. And so you see the implication 
is that they are outside of that Joel prophesied blessing. They 
are not the recipients of the Spirit, but rather these followers 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see, just like we noted 
before, they would have understood the implications because you 
see what follows after this reality of the Spirit being poured out 
upon all flesh. Notice what we read in verse 
19, I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth 
beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned 
into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the 
great and awesome day of the Lord." Joel uses the language, 
the great and terrible day of the Lord. What is he referring 
to? Well, it follows immediately 
upon the heels of those last days in which God poured out 
His Spirit. Gil, writing, says, When he shall 
come in power and great glory, specifically, I will show wonders 
in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and 
fire, and vapor of smoke. when He shall come in power and 
great glory, as He did in a few years after this, to take vengeance 
on the Jews and destroy their nation, city, and temple, in 
which there was a display of His greatness and power, and 
which was awful and terrible to them, as in Joel it is called." 
You see, perhaps they even remembered the words of the Lord Jesus Christ 
in that parable. You remember the parable of the 
vinedressers, Matthew 21. The parable of the vine dressers, 
the landowner leases his vineyard to these vine dressers in order 
that they might render the fruits in their seasons. And he sends 
to them, in fact you can turn there because we need to see 
the language and see the understanding of the unbelieving Jews in that 
particular context. In Matthew 21, notice what we 
read in verse 33. Here another parable, there was 
a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around 
it, again Matthew 21 verse 33, dug a wine press in it and built 
a tower, and he leased it to vinedressers and went into a 
far country. Now in vintage time drew near, 
he sent his servants to the vinedressers that they might receive its fruit. 
And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, 
and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, 
more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last 
of all, he sent his own son to them, saying, They will respect 
my son. But when the vinedressers saw 
the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us 
kill him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him 
out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner 
of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? 
We see that they Unbelieving Jews hear Jewish leaders answer 
rightly. They say, verse 31, they said 
to him, he will destroy those wicked men miserably and lease 
his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits 
in their seasons. Jesus said to them, have you 
never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders 
rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's 
doing and it is marvelous in your eyes. Therefore, I say to 
you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you. and given 
to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this 
stone will be broken, but on whom it ever falls, it will grind 
him to powder. Now, just as we read in verse 
45 here, so it was on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 
two, they understood the implications. Now, when the chief priests and 
Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking 
of them. But when they sought to lay hands 
on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet." 
You see, they understood. They would have understood on 
Acts chapter 2, and perhaps some of them were there when Christ 
gave this parable. And they would have understand 
that what he is saying is that we will be the ones who are the 
recipient of that Joel judgment. And they would have no doubt 
recognized and understood, based upon this sending of the Spirit 
and the outpouring of the Spirit, they may have hearkened back 
to Christ's words in Matthew 23. You can turn there with me 
as well, because there we read the promise of the Lord Jesus 
Christ as to what would happen. Notice in Matthew 23, we read 
in verse 31, Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves 
that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up 
then the measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, 
how can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I 
send you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you 
will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your 
synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may 
come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood 
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, 
whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, 
I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." 
Now, hopefully you can see the connection, but just to force 
it a little bit more, we have in Acts chapter 2, the Spirit 
poured out upon these prophets, wise men and scribes, if you 
will. And they bring the message of 
Christ. And those who are against them, 
we read Christ saying are promised. Those who are against them, we 
have this promised judgment that all the blood shed on the earth 
would come to bear upon them. Those who are the murderers of 
the prophets and the murderer of the just one. So you see when 
Peter quotes Joel 2, and when he talks about the pouring out 
of the Spirit upon the disciples, the weighty implication is that 
those who are against Christ, those who reject His message 
and are not found believing in Him, are the enemies that will 
receive the judgment subsequent to the pouring out of the Spirit 
on all flesh. And then lastly, we see, with 
regards to the weighty implications, if you move back to Acts chapter 
2, we see The third and last weighty implication is that Christ 
has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Notice 
this closing statement, if you will, a summary statement that 
begins again with a therefore in verse 36 of Acts chapter 2. Therefore, let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom 
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. You see, he's bringing 
back out the hammer and the nail. In fact, he never put them away. 
But he has the nail and he has the hammer and he's continuing 
to drive home the reality of the guilt and of the bloodshed. into the consciences of his audience. 
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly." You 
see, he wants them to know with a certainty, with a weighty certainty 
that would bear down upon their consciences. You see, it is the 
hope of the preacher that the message of God and of his Christ 
will haunt the unregenerate. Now, that might sound a little 
indelicate in our modern era that we want a message to haunt 
someone. Well, we do, because we know 
the implications and the eternal truth that is at stake, their 
eternal souls. Might the weight of a gospel 
message preached to every unbeliever haunt them until such day that 
they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and find solace and peace 
in the King of Kings and in the Lord of Lords. You see, If you're 
an unbeliever here tonight, these words should haunt you. That 
this Jesus Christ that was crucified, was raised by God the third day, 
and has been exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high. 
And he will come again to judge the living and the dead, and 
those outside of the scope of his salvation. will be in the 
fearful place of calling upon the rocks and trees to hide them 
from the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ. But those in the blessed 
fold will be in the blessed place of being found safely in Him 
and hearing those words, enter into your rest. He has been given 
all authority in heaven and on earth. And once again, think 
of the implication here. Because again, we're 2,000 years 
removed, but it was only, let's say, 50 days ago, from the vantage 
point of the day of Pentecost, 50 days ago, this Christ that 
Peter is talking about was a bloody massacre upon a Roman implement 
of execution. There's no king of kings and 
lord of lords. Peter, are you talking about 
the same Christ? This one that we saw was brought 
down to the feeblest of men by the bruisings and the batterings 
and the whippings and the spittings and the mockings and was lifted 
up upon a Roman implement of execution, the cross, between 
two criminals? This is the one that you're saying 
has been exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on High? 
Yes. You see, when they, in their 
unbelief and in their mocking, set upon Him the crown of thorns, 
and mockingly called him the king of the Jews, they were absolutely 
right. They put upon him in a mocking 
fashion that crown of thorns, but it was, though it pained 
him, and though it marked the shame of the cross, it was still 
a crown of victory. Because through the crown of 
thorns would come the crown of gold, and of jewels bespecking 
our valiant king. It is through that, or it is 
quite the implication here, when Peter says that this Christ whom 
you crucified, you see, He wants that to be brought to the four 
of their minds. This one that you put to death 
upon the tree, that you saw as a bloody mess, that you wanted 
to silence as an insurrectionist, is holy and pure, the just one 
that was promised. And it is in Him, it is to Him 
that has been given dominion and glory and a kingdom. And 
He will come to judge the living and the dead and bring recompense 
upon those who would reject Him in all His glory, in all His 
splendor. What a startling thing. And if 
you think about, you think about Stephen as well, and we get to 
him in only five chapters, the account of Stephen. When he, 
before he's about to be stoned, he says, behold, I see God and 
Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God. Would have 
been the same thing for that audience. Wait a minute. This 
is that Jesus that we put to death only a few years ago, only 
a handful of years ago. What do you mean you see him 
standing at the right hand of God? We see the response there, 
don't we? They run at him with one accord. You see, there's two types of 
one accord in the book of Acts. The one accordness of the gathered 
assembly, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is that 
wicked, treacherous, diabolical one-accordness of the opposers 
of Christ and his people. And in that case, Stephen sees 
the glory of the risen Christ, exalted, sitting at the right, 
actually standing, the right hand of the majesty on high, 
and they reject the king of kings. This one who was crucified is 
the one who you say has been exalted to the right hand of 
the majesty on high? Yes, most certainly, and he will 
come to judge the living and the dead. And you see, remember, 
Peter doesn't let these truths dangle. He doesn't let them just 
sit there. When we read the account of Joel 
and we talked about this language of signs of the earth beneath 
and wonders in heaven above, blood, fire, vapor of smoke, 
the sun turning into darkness, the moon into blood, etc. the 
great and terrible, the great and awesome day of the Lord, 
that's language of judgment. But you see, Peter did not stop 
there because we have verse 21 quoted. And it shall come to 
pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 
You see, we talk a lot about, and hopefully you don't think 
it's anti-Semitic, the unbelieving Jews, the unbelieving Jewish 
leaders, the ungodly Jewish leaders, and that's most certainly true, 
but it's not because they're Jews, it's because they oppose 
the one promised to them. It's because they oppose the 
Lord of Glory, whether Jew or Gentile. A wicked and abominable 
generation rejects the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 
But you see, when we talk about all of that, we see here that 
there is hope. Whether Jew, as in this case, 
before the preaching Peter, or Gentile, later on in the book 
of Acts, and throughout the history of Gospel proclamation, whether 
Jew or Gentile, there is always this most certain hope. set before 
the hearer by the preacher and it shall come to pass that whoever 
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Later on in this 
account we read at verse 39, for the promise is to you and 
to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord 
our God will call. You see, Gil has, and I believe 
rightly noted, and you've probably heard this before, that what 
is in the background of that statement is the unbelieving 
Jewish declaration and crying out at the crucifixion where 
they said, let his blood be upon us and our children. So Peter, 
by this offer of hope, by this proclamation and command to repent, 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus, he's offering, 
if you will, an overturning, an overriding, an absolution, 
if you will, of that curse that they call down upon themselves 
when they said, let Christ's blood be upon us and our children, 
because he says this promise is for you and for your children, 
and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will 
call. You see, Peter covers God through Peter. covers all bases 
here if it was if it was stirring up and arousing up in these mind 
in the minds of these unbelieving Jews as they're hearing this 
message well oh wait a minute he just said repentant and believe 
and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of 
sins but but we said and we cried out to God let his blood be upon 
us and our children well God through Peter satisfies or brings the peace 
and the balm of clarification that this promise is for you 
and your children. The curse will not be good if 
you believe by grace. The curse will not be good because 
this promise is for you and for your children. And so we see 
brethren, or we have seen the central message, the scriptural 
anticipation, the historical fulfillment, the weighty implications, 
and just two things as we conclude now before we pray. First off, 
Just some concluding thoughts before we close in prayer. First 
off, in the Christian gospel, we are to have the highest confidence. As we stated earlier, you see, 
in Christianity, we do not follow after cunningly devised fables. 
We do not follow after legend and myth, but rather we follow 
after God's most certain truth. Calvin says, it gives us much 
courage when we know that we labor in a matter that is certain. lest then the faithful should 
think that in these labors they were beating the air. And now 
comes to set forth the certainty of the gospel. And he denies 
that anything had been delivered by him but what was altogether 
true and indubitable. And they were encouraged to persevere 
when they were sure of the prosperous issue of their calling. We now 
obtain certainty in another way, for though Christ has not risen 
before our eyes, yet we know by whom his resurrection has 
been handed down to us. And added to this is the inward 
testimony of conscience, the sealing of the spirit, which 
far exceeds all the evidence of the senses. But let us remember 
that the gospel was not at the beginning made up of vague rumors, 
but that the apostles were the authentic preachers, of what 
they had seen. In the Christian gospel, we have 
the stuff of the highest confidence. Not the stuff of maybe and perhaps, 
and if we gather together all the evidence and all the proofs, 
then maybe it could be the case, but it might be... No, we have 
certain truth. Paul uses the language of a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptance. Luke uses the language of things 
by which you may be assured, and in which you may have, in 
which you have infallible proofs. we have the stuff of certainty, 
the stuff of truth. And then lastly in Christ we 
have a great champion, don't we? You see when we read accounts 
like this We have to understand that there is no story greater 
and there is no story, and by story I mean in this case of 
course a true one, not Mother Goose and those sorts of things. 
In this true story we have the stuff of the greatest story to 
which there is no rival and no match. And the gem of the story, 
the hero of the story, the champion of the story is this Jesus Christ 
who was taken by lawless hands and crucified and put to death 
as a so-called blasphemer and an insurrectionist, an insolent 
man. Of course, he was wholly harmless 
and undefiled. And it was not the case that 
he should be held by the power of the grave or Hades, but rather 
God has raised him up. and this one whom he has raised, 
he has exalted to his right hand where he ever lives to make intercession 
for his people. Nowhere do we have a champion 
like our Christ. And kids and adults, maybe kids 
because maybe we just see this more as adults, but we can bring 
before us so many so-called champions and heroes, can't we, that we'll 
spend so much time on and and pour out so much money onto musicians, 
actors, sports heroes and those sorts of things. Now there may 
be and there is no doubt a lawful use, I don't say never ever watch 
another hockey game and cheer for the Canucks because that's 
wicked and evil. No, I would not say that. I just watched 
them play last night and they won, that was great. But you 
see, We are not to find the stuff of high hope and the stuff of 
champions and heroes and the stuff of this lower world. Do 
not be preoccupied and do not be overly occupied by following 
after so-called heroes to the point where they're exalted to 
the place of idols before your eyes. We have a champion in Christ 
Jesus the Lord, and you'll never be disappointed. You'll be disappointed 
watching the Canucks. If you think the Sedins are heroes, 
you'll be disappointed because they occasionally play bad. Moving 
away from the Canucks and moving to the stuff of infinitely higher 
glory, you will never be disappointed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Never. Herein we have a champion of 
the highest order. Here we have one who now sits 
at the right hand of God He received from the Father the promise of 
the Holy Spirit. He poured out that which they 
saw and hear. He was promised, prophesied by 
the patriarch David. And he has been made by God, 
both Lord and Christ. If you believe, praise God. If 
you do not believe, fear. Be haunted by the message of 
Peter. and find yourself resting upon the King of Kings and the 
Lord of Lords for all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places 
in Christ. Before we pray I'll close with 
a reading of this by Spurgeon. It's extended, but it's a wonderful 
sermon. It's called, Christ Our Champion. 
And on this note of in Christ we have a great champion, Spurgeon 
writes, he is in the tomb and his foes have set a guard and 
a seal that they may keep him there. You see, what's in view 
is the resurrection. Remember, we've been dealing 
in part, in large part, with that, this Jesus God raised up, 
of whom we are all witnesses. He is in the tomb and his foes 
have set a guard and a seal that they may keep him there. Will 
any now help him to escape out of their charge? Is there any 
man who will aid him? No, there is none. If the champion 
escapes, it must be by his own single-handed valor. Will he 
make a clear way for himself and come up from the midst of 
his foes? You know he will, my brothers 
and sisters. For the moment the third day 
comes, he touches the stone and it is rolled away. He has defeated 
death. He has pulled up the posts of 
the grave and taken away its gates and bars. As for sin, He 
treads that beneath His feet. He has utterly overthrown it. 
And Satan, too, lies broken beneath the heel that once was bruised. 
He has broken the old dragon's head and cut his power in pieces 
forever. Solitary and alone, his own arm 
brings salvation unto him and his righteousness sustains him. 
I think I see him now as he goes up that hill which is before 
Hebron, the hill of God. He bears upon his shoulders the 
uplifted gates of the grave and tokens of his victory over death 
and hell. Doors and posts and bar and all, 
He bears them up to heaven. In sacred triumph, He drags His 
enemies behind Him. Sing to Him, angels, praise Him 
in your hymns. Exalt Him, cherubim and seraphim. 
Our mightier Samson has gotten to himself the victory and cleared 
the road to heaven and eternal life for all His people. There 
in our Christ we have a champion. These would have seen the implication 
of this Christ who was that champion, who did affect the promised scriptures 
that were beforehand written concerning him. And they must, 
they need to close with the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read that 
some did. We read that some cry out and 
say, men and brethren, what must we do? And of course the reply 
is always by the preacher, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
you shall be saved. Rest in that certain truth and 
you will find bliss forevermore.