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Good morning to everyone. Hopefully, 
with me, for you, it's a joy to be in the house of the Lord 
this morning. You can turn in your Bibles to the second chapter 
of the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2. We're going to look this morning 
and this evening, in fact, at the Herald and his proclamation. And when we say the Herald, kids, 
we're not talking about H-A-R-O-L-D, given name of some men in this 
lower world, but H-E-R-A-L-D, one who has been commissioned 
by a king to bring the message of the king. In the earthly monarchs, 
in the international kingdoms throughout our history, we have 
the monarchs sending heralds to the people, sending heralds 
even to enemies to bring the edicts, the dictates, messages 
of the king, among other things. They were commissioned military 
officers, but there is no nobler heraldic office than that which 
finds as the sender, the agent, the king of kings, the Lord of 
lords. There is no nobler heraldic office 
than the one which finds as its message, the message of the king. 
The sending messenger is the content of the message preached. 
The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our Savior, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So we're going to read Acts chapter 
2, beginning at verse 22, and read to verse 36, and then we'll 
get into an examination of the herald, Peter, and his proclamation 
here on the day of Pentecost. This is Acts chapter 2, beginning 
in verse 22, the word of the living and true God. Men of Israel 
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 us go to the 
Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we rejoice. 
We can gather now for this act of worship, the preaching of 
your word. We would ask again, you would 
be with us. You would send the ministry of 
your Holy Spirit to help the preacher in the pulpit. That 
same spirit would, by your word, attend unto the gathered saints, 
that they might be strengthened and encouraged by your scriptures, 
that they might be well equipped by your word to go into this 
upcoming week to rejoice in Christ and to live in a manner worthy 
of their calling by grace. We do pray that you would be, 
Lord God, present as well in the salvation of sinners, that 
you would come upon the wings of victorious grace to raise 
dead sinners to life in Christ. We pray that by spirit and word, 
sinners would be made alive, that by grace they would be saved, 
and that they would leave these doors singing the praises of 
our Christ. We do pray that your name would be hallowed now, that 
your name would be praised, and Lord God, that you would be honored 
in this act of worship. We pray everything done now and 
done this evening would be done unto the praise of your Most 
High Name. We pray in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, Amen. Well, the statement, the promise 
by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, upon this rock, I will 
build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against 
that. When the Protestant and the true rehearse that promise 
of the Savior, we don't find the proof of that promise in 
a silly-looking pompous man seated upon a bejeweled throne in the 
Vatican. We see the proof of the promise 
of the words of our Savior in occasions like this, where a 
man with weathered sandals and a tunic proclaims the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. Where preachers like Peter, like 
those with him and like those who followed him, stand up and 
proclaim with great boldness the riches and the excellencies 
of Jesus Christ, the Lord. We see the report throughout 
the Book of Acts that accompanying or following after such bold 
preaching The Lord added to the church daily those who were being 
saved. You see, the church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ is built upon the right and the faithful confession 
and proclamation of Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living 
God. And here in Acts chapter two, 
we have such an occasion on the day of Pentecost when bold Peter, 
now bold Peter, stands before the gathered assembly and proclaims 
with great boldness the riches and the excellencies of Jesus 
Christ. So what we're going to do this morning and this evening 
is look at five things. Possibly the first three, Lord 
willing, the first three this morning from Acts 2, 22 to 36. And those things are this. The 
first, the gospel herald. Secondly, the herald's chief 
proclamation. Thirdly, the revelational expectation. And then tonight, Lord willing, 
the voracious history and the ponderous Christology. Lots of 
big words there, right? But we'll define them as we go 
along and seek to show that by this text we can speak in such 
a manner. So first off then, the gospel 
herald. Now this is something that we've 
done from this pulpit on many an occasion, and hopefully it's 
wholesome repetition, is that we've called you to engage in 
a wholesome exercise of reflection upon who is speaking, in a biblical 
text or who is writing a particular biblical text. In this case, 
our gospel herald is Peter, the disciple and the apostle of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Some case studies before we come 
back to Peter in examining the person speaking or the person 
writing. It is a good thing to come to 
Psalm 32. where we read, blessed is he 
whose sins are forgiven. Blessed is the one to whom the 
Lord does not impute iniquity. Reading that text in and of itself 
is a glorious thing because truly blessed is the one whose sins 
are blotted out. Blessed is the one to whom the 
Lord does not impute iniquity. But you see, does it not import 
more strength and glory into the text when we realize that 
that is David? When that is the one who lay 
with Bathsheba, when that is the one who set Uriah to the 
forefront of the hottest battle, yet was restored by God, the 
mighty man of God. We come to texts like that when 
we know the man who is speaking, the man to whom the joy of salvation 
was renewed. It brings great weight to those 
words of Psalm 32, doesn't it? Consider another case study, 
Philippians 3, 7-8. When we come to that text, Philippians 
3, 7-8, and we read, But what things were gained to me, these 
I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things 
loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count 
them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. You see, we read those 
words and without yet considering the author for a moment, we say, 
praise God. What a glorious statement of 
one now saved by Christ for the glory of God and commissioned 
to be a minister of the gospel of Christ. But when we then consider 
the author, the Apostle Paul, who once was opposed to the Savior, 
who once stood with an approving thumbs up when Stephen was murdered 
by those unbelieving Jews when rocks were heaped upon his head 
and his body. One who dragged men and women 
out of their homes and carried them off to prison. One who, 
in the words of Henry, cast his eyes upon the bloody spectacle 
of the martyrdom of Christians in the hopes that it would put 
an end to Christianity. Yet he was met by grace. Yet 
he was met by the mercy of God. And he can pen these words, once 
an enemy of Christ, that he now counts all things loss for his 
Jesus, for his Christ. So we come back to Peter in Acts 
chapter 2, back to our text. And you see, we can read these 
words, and if we just pass them by and not for a moment consider 
the one who preached these words, I think we can do our Christian 
souls a disservice. So first, the Gospel Herald. Notice three things by way of 
some comparison and contrast. with regards to Peter here. First 
off, notice his zeal under control. Simply three words, men of Israel. Now, hopefully you don't think 
as we're doing this exercise, oh, this is bringing a little 
bit too much weight to the text. This is a little bit of an imposition. Brethren, when we see Peter here 
saying these words, speaking these words to this gathered 
assembly, men of Israel, we need to consider this. 50, only 50 
days ago, this was a man who was lopping off ears in this 
heedless and this impious zeal. Now, if this zeal under control 
before those who delivered up his Christ unto death, before 
those before whom he was willing to lop off ears in the so-called 
service of his master, he now with boldness, and a calmness 
and a heedfulness can speak men of Israel. Hear these words. 
You see the grace of our God visiting the apostle Peter to 
bring no longer a zeal which is marked by heedlessness but 
one marked by control for the glory of his God. Notice secondly 
under the gospel herald his courage to own and proclaim Christ. Men of Israel, we read, hear 
these words, Jesus of Nazareth. You might be saying, okay, well, 
yes, that's what the text says. That's what Peter preached. What, 
you know, what's so amazing about that in an examination of the 
preacher? Well, it was only 50 days ago 
that this same preacher, Peter, who is now before this multitude 
preaching Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, 
only 50 days ago, he couldn't even own his savior before the 
patio interrogations of a servant girl. Right? But now we come 50 days later, 
and we see him now empowered by God, now empowered by the 
Holy Spirit, evidenced by those tongues of clove and flame that 
rested upon the gathered Christians. And now before a multitude before 
whom, or before which, earlier he denied his Savior, now with 
composure, zeal under control, empowered by the Holy Spirit, 
he owns upon his lips the name of his Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. It's a glorious testament to 
the grace of God given to this minister. Again, only 50 days 
ago, he couldn't even confess Christ. before that servant girl, 
yet now before a gathered multitude of opponents of the Savior, opponents 
of this sect of the Nazarene, he speaks with great courage 
and he owns his master and Savior. What is this but an answer to 
the prayer of the Savior prior to his crucifixion, resurrection 
and ascension? Remember what Jesus prayed for 
Peter. Jesus comes to Peter before he denies him, before Peter denies 
Christ. He says, Peter, I have prayed 
for you. That what? That your faith would not fail. 
Jesus has, or sorry, Satan, rather, has sought to sift you like wheat. 
You see the great mediator, the great Christ, says to Peter, 
I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. When you 
have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. And now, after 
having denied, yet after having been restored, we see him now 
owning his savior. And it must have, if we can now 
import something that we don't necessarily know, but it must 
have immensely warmed his heart to have these lips, to have these 
words drip off of his lips before this gathered multitude. Because 
before he denied this Jesus of Nazareth, now he owns him strong 
before a gathered multitude of enemies. And thirdly, under the 
gospel, Harold, notice his acceptance of the full messianic task. Men 
of Israel 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. Now notice him being 
delivered by the determined purpose and for knowledge of God. The gospel herald, Peter, evidences 
that he now has an acceptance of the full messianic task. Let's 
get our minds and our fingers moving now to keep us awake as 
we move to the book of Matthew 16 to see what we mean by this, 
his acceptance of the full messianic task. Now notice Matthew 16 verse 
21. This follows after that great 
promise of Christ to his disciples that he would build his church. 
The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. We read in 
Matthew 16 21 from that time. Jesus began to show to his disciples 
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the 
elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be 
raised the third day. Jesus is announcing what he has 
been sent to do and what is about to happen. Notice Peter here. Verse 22, Then Peter took him 
aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, 
this shall not happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, 
Get behind me, Satan, you are an offense to me, for you are 
not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men. Peter now, in Acts 2, this side 
of having been restored, this side of being equipped by his 
Savior, now owns the full messianic task. You see, before, he rejected 
this idea. Christ announces to him and the 
disciples that he must be delivered up by wicked hands to go and 
be crucified. This is in accordance, though, 
with all that had been written concerning him. And Peter would 
not have it that day. He opposes the Savior, and the 
Savior brings that very strong and weighty rebuke, Get thee 
behind me, Satan. You know, Peter was not himself 
Satan, but insofar as he spoke against the kingdom mandate, 
against Christ's words, against the promise that the Christ would 
be delivered up, he was bringing the words of the devil himself 
in opposition to God's divine plan. But you see, he is a rock 
on this day, on the day of Pentecost insofar as he boldly proclaims 
the verities of gospel truth in honor of his triune God. And so we see again his zeal 
under control, his courage to own and proclaim Christ, and 
now his acceptance of the full messianic task. And when you 
read this and when you consider what we are considering, him 
being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of 
God, You ought to have your minds thinking and working back to 
that amazing day, the day of the resurrection of the Savior 
in Luke 24. What does he do with his disciples 
there in Luke 24? He brings them before himself 
and he teaches them from the scriptures, right? He gives them 
a Bible study because their faith was weak. There were two that 
were weary and sad on their road to Emmaus. Christ comes to them. And he gives them a Bible study. 
He shows them that the law, the prophets and the Psalms, these 
all spoke concerning me. Psalm 16 was probably the content 
of his sermon, one of the constituent elements of his Bible study. 
And he said, this speaks concerning my resurrection. Don't be weary, 
don't be sad, but rather be believing. And he gathers the rest of the 
disciples then before him because they were weak in faith as well. 
And he says, believe that it is I. He first goes through the 
process of saying, cast your eyes upon me. Handle me and see. 
Touch. The print of the nails in my 
hands, in my feet. They still don't believe, so 
he eats broiled fish and honeycomb before them. You see, specters, 
phantoms cannot do this. It really is me risen with great 
victory and triumph from the grave. But you see, then he teaches 
them from the scriptures the things concerning himself. And so, having come out well 
and strong, this side of that Bible study, Peter, empowered 
by the Spirit, brings before the gathered assembly, not this 
opposition to the messianic task, but rather this mind conformed 
to the scriptures, and he says, he was delivered up by the determined 
purpose and for knowledge of God. A wonderful Peter, a wonderful 
herald on the day of Pentecost, preaching with great boldness 
the things of his Savior. I think we need to notice two 
things at this point, or consider two things at this point in addition 
to Peter himself, for our own context. First, we need to recognize 
that ministers of the gospel require the grace of God in prayer. If anything, and more things 
than this should, but if anything ought to call to your minds and 
your hearts the right idea to pray for your ministers here, 
but ministers of the gospel everywhere. It is the occasions and the instances 
of Peter. He needed prayer, didn't he? 
And it was his savior who prayed for him. I have prayed that your 
faith would not fail. Pray for your ministers because 
we don't, we don't come up here and grip these pulpits and stand 
up here and open our Bibles by our own strength. Heaven forbid 
that we ever do. Before we enter into the pulpit, 
we come before our God and say, Lord God, give me strength in 
this pulpit. With knees buckling and hearts 
pounding, body shuddering, because we're not bringing, we're not 
coming up to present to you a new flavor of Skittles. You know, 
we're not coming up delivering some sort of new, you know, marketing 
endeavor for our business going into the future. We're coming up here with an 
opposing devil. and with a railing against the 
soul flesh. Weary, weak, afraid, nervous, 
because of the weightiness of the matter. Ministers of the 
Triune God entering pulpits to preach such a Christ, such a 
Savior, need the prayers of the people. We need the grace of 
God, or else we are Peters. Pre-Bible study, pre-restoration, 
That is pre-Bible study given by Christ, pre-restoration, feed 
my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. We are like that, denying 
Christ before the patio interrogations of a servant girl. Without the 
boldness to proclaim, we need the grace of God, we need the 
prayers of the people, because it is a task of great solemnity. We also need to seek to be, and 
hopefully this doesn't sound like the title page of a Christian 
Sunday school coloring book, we need to seek to be a post-resurrection 
Peter. In our own Christian lives, you 
see, we need to be bold. We need to have, first, a zeal 
under control, don't we? If we are so invigorated by our 
Christianity, but then we go out into the world or we go out 
onto the internet and we're just marked by a heedless and impious 
zeal for the cause of Christ, We're going to bring not joy 
or not good things to the reputation of Christianity, but rather we'll 
bring reproach. We need to have a Petrine post-resurrection 
Bible study zeal under control. We need to be zealous about our 
Savior, and we need to have that under control going about our 
daily lives with great control, with great temperament, yet with 
meekness and fear to defend our Savior, to defend our to defend 
our Christianity and to speak well of the Word of God, to adorn 
the Gospel, to bejewel it wholesomely with our works, with our deeds, 
and with our words. We need to own and proclaim our 
Christ with great courage. Fear not, men, when we go out 
into the world. Fear not the ridicule of the 
world. We have the truth of the Savior, 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are all, in a sense, 
heraldic in our Christianity. That is, we are the sanctioned 
proclaimers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Ministers 
in the pulpit, pastors, elders, those preaching by the ordainment 
of the triune God to bring the message of the Lord Jesus Christ 
have a peculiar responsibility to bring the message of the King. 
Yet we are all called, wherever God places us, to be courageous 
Christians, able to defend, able to speak, able to declare with 
great boldness, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our dying 
and rising again Christ. Well, that's the Gospel Herald. 
Let's look now, secondly, at the Herald's chief proclamation. The Herald's chief proclamation 
in Notice very simply what it is that Jesus proclaimed by Peter 
is, to use the language of Pink, the sum and substance, the center 
and circumference, the light and life of the Christian message. What do we find here? Peter on 
the day of Pentecost coming before the assembly and bringing a pep 
rally. You know, bringing a message 
of morality to the gathered assembly, you need to pick up your socks 
and and just live a life of obedience to the law of God. We need to 
live lives of obedience to the law of God, but what comes first? 
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men are not saved by 
legislation. They're saved by grace through 
faith in Jesus Christ, by the means of the proclamation of 
the gospel. And then they are to live in 
accordance with God's law, to not bring reproach upon the word 
and upon the gospel. All of that to come back to this. 
What is the Herald's Chief Proclamation? Very simply, kids, it's Jesus 
Christ the Lord, isn't it? What is the namesake of our high 
and holy religion? It's Christ. It's Christianity 
is our religion. Christ is the high and heavy 
and holy namesake of that religion, Christianity. And so what is 
to be the Herald's Chief Proclamation? Well, it is Christ Jesus the 
Lord, and that's exactly what we find here. Because the text 
says, as Peter is preaching here, 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 for knowledge 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. Why did I just 
read all of that? Because the central message, 
the Herald's chief proclamation, concerns the life, the death, 
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, doesn't it? And so we're 
going to look at those three things because this Jesus, proclaimed 
by Peter, is the sum and substance, the center and circumference, 
the light and life of Christianity. First off, his life, notice again 
the text to read it again, 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, 
his messiahship is evidenced by the whole course of his ministry. 
You see, you need to understand this. We need to understand this. And hopefully Christians will 
understand this at large. that the miracles, the wonders 
and the signs were not ends unto themselves. They were not the 
things upon which the Christian message terminated. In other 
words, it was not all about the wonders and the miracles and 
the signs. Turn with me for a moment to 
Luke chapter 7. Luke 7. We see there that the 
people do not glory in the miracle, the wonder and the sign necessarily, 
but rather they glory in something else. Notice in Luke 7, beginning 
at verse 11. Now, it happened the day after 
that he went into a city called Nain and many of his disciples 
went with him. This is Jesus, of course, and 
a large crowd. Verse 12. And when he came near 
the gate of the city, behold, A dead man was being carried 
out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow. And a large 
crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he 
had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep. Then he 
came and touched the open coffin. And those who carried him stood 
still. And he said, young man, I say 
to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and 
began to speak. and he presented him to his mother. 
Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, A 
great prophet has risen up among us, and God has visited his people. And this report about him went 
throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. Hopefully 
you see how this touches upon the statement that the miracles, 
the wonders, and the signs of the Lord Jesus Christ were not 
there to cause the gathered observers to glory in the miracles and 
the wonders and the signs, but rather to stress that his messiahship 
was voracious. It was true. It is vindicated 
his messiahship by the miracles, the wonders and the signs. You 
see, this dead boy sat up. Then he came and touched the 
open coffin. So he who was dead sat up and 
began to speak. If there was any time for someone 
to glory in a miracle, it was there, wasn't it, to glory in 
the miracle itself? But you see, the report isn't, 
isn't it amazing that the dead man sat up? But rather, God has 
visited his people. You see, the right soul and the 
soul that is taught and stable, his glorying doesn't rest upon 
the miracle. His glorying rests upon the God 
of the miracle. Is this not a great prophet? 
Has God, God has visited his people. God has in his graciousness 
condescended to bless his people with an instance of his favor 
and his grace. You see, so finding our way back 
to the book of Acts and chapter two and the stuff of 22 to 24. 
We see here that the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is largely 
marked by this. His messiahship is evidenced 
by the whole course of his ministry. Peter's language here is a man 
attested by God to you. So the veracity of his claims 
to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, the veracity 
of Christ's claims to be the Messiah, the mediator, are vindicated 
by the fact that he went about doing miracles, wonders, and 
signs. Secondly, his death, the Herald's 
chief proclamation. Peter moves quickly from his 
life marked by miracles, wonders, and signs, which vindicate the 
claims of his messiahship, And he moves now to his death. Is 
that not, to deliberately use a play on words, the crux of 
Christianity? The death of the Savior, the 
crosswork of Christ. The crosswork of Christ is the 
chief content of the gospel minister's message. You see, and remember, 
the Jew could not endure a crucified Messiah. The Greeks sought after 
wisdom, right? But you see, the Christian minister, 
the gospel herald, preaches unapologetically Christ crucified for the salvation 
of sinners. Because in that is true wisdom. The Jews would think, would ponder, 
contemplate, the unbelieving Jews, a crucified Messiah. And they would say again in the 
words of Spurgeon, should all of our multitudinous sacrifices 
and washings all be put away and nothing remain but a bleeding 
Savior? And Paul and Peter and the company of preachers throughout 
the ages of the church would say yes, those things are to 
be put away and nothing remain but a bleeding Savior. Jesus 
Christ, the cross of Christ, is the crux of Christianity. Spurgeon speaking about another 
gospel herald The Apostle Paul writes that Paul's motto was, 
we preach Christ crucified. He had the cross for his philosophy, 
the cross for his tradition, the cross for his gospel, the 
cross for his glory, and nothing else. Isn't that the report of 
the Apostle Paul? Isn't that the report of the 
Apostle Peter? He comes on this day again now 
with zeal under control, with boldness to proclaim, and with 
the right apprehension of the ministry of Christ unto his cross 
death, and he preaches what? The cross death. That it was 
appointed by God. That it was, in the text, in 
verse 23, that Christ was delivered by the determined purpose and 
for knowledge of God. Christian, your heart ought to 
be warmed that the death of the Savior is not some haphazard 
event in the annals of history. It's not just something that 
happened to this Christ. God did not just set the world 
a ticking and whatever happened happened, but rather before the 
creation of the world, the triune God purposed that the sun would 
come in the fullness of the times to be born of a woman, to be 
born under the law, to go to the cross and to redeem those 
who were under the law. Him being delivered by the determined 
purpose and foreknowledge of God, Christian, your heart ought 
to be warmed. That our God is a purposive God, 
a God who plans, a God of determination, a God of before-the-world counsel 
and foreknowledge. He is, in His glory, found in 
unmitigated sovereignty. The cross is the plan of God, 
and what a plan. What a story. When I say story, 
of course we're saying a true story, not the stuff of fiction, 
but what a story. 4,000 years to round maybe down or 
up a few years. 4,000 years before the cross. 
What do we have? We have a promise of the cross, 
don't we? The hero, born of woman, would 
crush the serpent with his heel. And time in history after that 
is filled with promise and prophecy and covenant. and type, and copies 
of the true, all pointing forward to Christ upon the cross, working 
out the salvation of sinners. What a story! When we look, when 
we come to our Old Testaments, and we'll see that shortly, when 
we come to our Old Testaments, we don't come to a Christless 
Old Testament, we come to a Christ-full Old Testament. To use borrowed 
language, the Christological trajectory of the Old Testament 
is clear, page upon page, chapter after chapter. Christ upon the 
cross, working out the salvation of sinners. The Herald's chief 
proclamation, his life, his death, that is his cross work, and his 
resurrection. Because notice what we have in 
Acts chapter 2, 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. Talk about what a story. You see, because human eyes and 
unbelieving eyes reflect, contemplate a bleeding Savior, and they say, 
what is, wherein do we see a hero in that? Someone put to death as a blasphemer 
and an insurrectionist upon the cross? Of course, he was not 
any of those things, undefiled, unblemished, our perfect Savior. 
But this one is a bloody massacre upon a tree and he's laid in 
a grave? You see, God raised him up. He loosed the pains of 
death. It was not possible that he should 
be held by it. What a story, this one who was 
such a beaten and a bloodied massacre upon Calvary's tree. is the one who is now raised 
from the dead in great victory and in great triumph. Christian, 
if you're out there, unbeliever, if you're out there, kids, you're 
in the pews. You heap to yourself some stories 
that human authors have written. You find yourself smiling at 
the, you know, the genius of the way words and phrases and 
paragraphs are formed. You spend hour upon hour reading 
stories and plots and character developments, and you put the 
book away, you go have some ice cream, you do something else, 
you end the day having never considered the greatest story 
ever told. The hero born of woman who would 
crush the serpent with his heel comes in time and in history 
to do exactly that, to save his people from their sins. He's 
put to death upon Calvary's tree, but he's Raised by the power 
of God. He appears to many by many infallible 
proofs. He's ascended to the right hand 
of the majesty on high. Victorious. He's given glory, 
dominion, and a kingdom. Story of stories and yet you 
neglect it. You heap to yourself poison weeds. 
Coldness and languor. You reject the King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords. Read this story. Love this story. Own this true story. Therein 
is salvation. Therein is the most blessed man, 
the most blessed Christ, the most blessed God-man who came 
into this world, sinners to save. The resurrection is the vindication 
of the claims of Christ. You see, if the signs and wonders 
and miracles attested to the veracity of the claims of Christ's 
messiahship, most certainly the resurrection was a vindication 
of the claims that this is the Christ, the son of the living 
God. That's what we see here, and this is what we see elsewhere 
as well. Notice, if you turn with me to 
the book of Romans in chapter one, right at the outset, the 
book of Romans, we have this very thing that the resurrection 
of Christ is a vindication of the claims of Christ. It is more 
than that, to be sure, but it is that and it is that gloriously. Romans one, Paul, a bondservant 
of Jesus Christ. Called to be an apostle separated 
to the gospel of God, which he promised before before through 
his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, who was born of the seed of David, according to the 
flesh and declared to be the son of God with power, according 
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, 
you see Christ arising victorious from the grave, preaches a sermon. It preaches a sermon. That this 
truly is the Christ, the son of the living God, just as he 
said, just as he said of himself, this truly is the one whom God 
promised to send the hero born of woman who would crush the 
serpent with his heel. Notice a couple of things here 
as we consider then the Herald's chief proclamation. Is your chief 
proclamation the same as Peter's? And we can consider this from 
two angles. Is your chief proclamation the 
same as Peter's? First off, do you get the gospel 
right, Christian? Do you get the gospel right? 
Is your gospel due and live? Is your gospel, yes, we must 
believe in Jesus, but you know, we do need to contribute in a 
certain measure to our salvation in order to be accepted before 
the bar of divine justice. If that's your gospel, then you're 
not a Christian. Is your chief proclamation the 
same as Peter's? Remember that the gospel isn't, 
of course, that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for 
your life, the platitudes, the empty spiritual ambiguity of 
our modern age. It's not the gospel. You see, 
the gospel isn't, and this shouldn't scandalize because we're going 
to define it, the gospel isn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. That is the summons. That is 
the offer. That is the command which follows 
upon the heels of the gospel preached. What is the gospel? It is Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again 
the third day according to the scriptures. The gospel is Christ 
was delivered up for our transgressions and he was raised for our justification. The gospel is found here on this 
glorious day in the book of Acts, chapter two, the day of Pentecost, 
when the herald does what? He preaches the life, the death 
and the resurrection of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel 
is that Christ died for the sins of his people in accordance with 
the scriptures and that he rose again the third day victorious 
in great triumph. Believe that gospel. Believe 
that good news. you will have everlasting life. 
Also, under is your chief proclamation the same as Peter's, do you get 
the gospel right, which we just looked at, but are other things 
your main thing? Have you moved on, Christian, 
past the gospel? And are the main things of your 
Christian conversations now the rabbit trails of trivialities 
and things that shouldn't be really chased after as the stuff 
of our fellowship in the gospel? Do you have these hobby horses 
that now constitute the stuff of your main declaration and 
proclamation and conversation? Or is the heart, the sum and 
substance of your Christian message and your Christian contemplations 
a bruised and battered and massacred Christ upon Calvary's tree delivered 
up by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God? Raised 
again the third day in great glory and great victory. Is that 
the stuff? Is that your message? It should 
be. We are never to move past the main thing of Christianity, 
setting it aside and now just spending hours and hours on the 
computer researching things of no eternal value. Even if they're 
under the banner and the rubric of Christianity and Christian 
religion, let's be about what? About the stuff that the heralds 
of the gospel are about. I determine to know nothing else 
among you. Save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Is your chief proclamation the 
same as Peter's? Now lastly then, we looked at 
the Gospel Herald. The Herald's chief proclamation 
will close now with the revelational expectation. The revelational 
expectation. What does that mean? That Jesus 
proclaimed by Peter was promised in and anticipated by the Old 
Testament Scriptures to come, to live, to die, to rise again. You see, isn't Peter, hopefully 
as you're reading this with me, looking at this text, isn't Peter 
a good preacher? Hopefully you think a good preacher 
does at least this. He reads and quotes the Bible. 
He explains the Bible that he just read and quoted, and he 
closes with a command and an exhortation, a call. That's what 
Peter does, doesn't he? You see what Peter does here. 
He quotes the Bible. After bringing to bear the gospel, 
the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior, he writes, or 
he preaches, for David says concerning him, and then he quotes Psalm 
16, 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. So Peter quotes the Bible. Every 
good preacher, worth his weight in whatever, reads and quotes 
the Bible. But you see, the preacher doesn't 
stop there, nor does this gospel herald stop there. Notice another 
men and brethren that comes in verse 29. He explains what he 
has just quoted. 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. You see what 
Peter's doing here? He's just quoted Psalm 16, and 
he's now saying, first off, that this Psalm 16 is not about David. You see that? David is both dead 
and buried. His tomb is with us to this day. 
So when David penned the words, you will not leave my soul in 
Hades, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption, his 
writing concerning Jesus, not himself, because notice what 
Peter goes on to preach. Therefore, verse 30, being a 
prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him 
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. You see the greatness 
of this proclamation of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. 
He reads the Bible, quotes the Bible, and he explains it. Every 
Christian's heart should be warmed by a measure of the simplicity 
of such a preaching exercise. Read the Bible, he explains. 
We're to love the word, we need to understand the word, and a 
preacher's job is to read the Bible, to quote the Bible, to 
explain the Bible. Psalm 16 is not about David, 
Peter says. It is about the Christ you crucified, 
whom God raised up. Notice, not only do we have Psalm 
16 in view, but we have 2 Samuel 7 in view, don't we? Covenant 
promise, covenant theology. Because we read, God had sworn 
with an oath to David, to him, that of the fruit of his body, 
according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on 
his throne. We have the stuff of Psalm 16 
and the stuff of 2 Samuel 7, 12 to 16 specifically. And notice as well, as we continue 
reading in the text, Peter preaching, and we have Psalm 110. For David 
did not ascend, verse 34, 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. Peter comes, he preaches the 
gospel. He supports it by quoting the 
Old Testament scriptures, explaining what the scriptures were doing. 
And I think one of the things that Peter's point, in large 
part, is to stress the Christological trajectory of the Old Testament. 
David spoke not of himself, His tomb is here. He's dead and buried. He spoke concerning this Christ, 
whom you with lawless hands crucified, whom God raised up. He goes to 
2 Samuel 7. He brings that to bear in the 
weight of his argument. And he's saying that 2 Samuel 
7, not terminated upon an earthly king from the loins of David, 
but a divine and earthly king, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who, yes, according to his humanity, is of the lineage of David. But 
according to divinity, he's from everlasting to everlasting. And 
his throne, his kingdom, will be forever. And you, by lawless 
hands, have taken him and put him to death. But he is the one 
to whom the Lord said, Psalm 110, sit at my right hand till 
I make your enemies your footstool. You see, time and again here, 
time and again, Peter is hammering the nail of guilt into the consciences 
of this gathered, unbelieving assembly in order to bring them 
to the point where they later cry out, some of them do, men 
and brethren, what shall we do? Repent. Repent and let every 
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins. The revelational expectation, 
brothers and sisters, always remember, Always remind yourself 
of the consent of all the parts in the Holy Scriptures and the 
scope of the whole more to the point, which is to give all glory 
to God, showing the perfection and the glory of his plan to 
save a multitude that no man can number by the finished and 
perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures are not 
the Old Testament scriptures are not Christ less. They are 
Christ full. The intention of the revelation 
is to point men to the Lord Jesus Christ. Timothy, from your childhood, 
Paul writes, you've known the Holy Scriptures, that they are 
able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ 
Jesus the Lord. The revelational expectation, 
we go through the pages of the Old Testament, and we see page 
after page, chapter after chapter, Christ upon the cross working 
out the salvation of sinners. Whether it's promise, whether 
it's prophecy, whether it's type, those copies of the true thing 
which is to come. Whatever it may be, we have the 
trajectory which is unto Christ Jesus, coming into the world 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, being delivered 
up by wicked hands, being crucified, but being raised by the power 
of God the third day to the glory of God. Well, we're going to 
continue to look at this passage this evening. Before we close 
in prayer, though, remember what we just said. Peter, this great 
preacher on the day of Pentecost, is a good preacher. He quotes 
and he reads the Bible. He explains the Bible. Guess 
what he also does? He commands. He first brings to bear the weightiness 
of what he has preached. Therefore let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you 
crucified, both Lord and Christ. You see, the preacher never lets 
the message dangle upon an explanation of the scriptures. Never lets 
it dangle there because he needs to come to this point to bring 
it home that you must believe in this Christ if you are to 
escape condemnation, the wrath of God. rests upon all those 
who reject his Christ, who reject his law, who break his law day 
in and day out. All have sinned and have fallen 
short the glory of God. He is infinite, eternal, and 
unchangeable in his holiness and his justice. He will not 
cast a favorable eye on sin. He will not simply turn away 
and not look upon it without judging it. All have sinned and 
have fallen short of the glory of God. If you're a Christian 
here this morning, your heart is warm. Sentence upon sentence 
by our glorious Christ. Yes, crucified. We know what 
that meant. He was put to death to bear the 
sins of many. He bore our sins in his own body 
on the tree. Christians, that we, having died 
to sin, might live for righteousness. By his stripes we are healed. Every text, every sentence comes, 
is delivered to our hearts. And hopefully, inwardly or outwardly, 
you're rejoicing with smile upon smile, the glory of our Savior, 
the salvation of sinners, the salvation of your soul. But you 
see, you're an unbeliever here this morning, and you come against 
the opposition of this true text. You come against the weightiness 
of this Christ. And hopefully, your hearts are 
not at rest, but you're constantly laboring, aren't you, against 
the veracity and the truth of the scriptures, that you are 
a sinner. There is a holy God. There is only one means of escape 
and salvation. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. You try to suppress it, don't 
you? Kids out there, I've been preaching too long. I'm about 
to finish. Adults. Almost done. We're going 
to pray in a minute. You see, perhaps you've been 
listening. Perhaps even your eyes have been 
focused up here at the preacher. They're glazed over with ignorance 
because you're thinking about other things. You don't want 
to hear this. You don't want to hear of this Christ. You don't 
want to hear a sin. You don't want to hear of a holy God. You're 
here. You want to leave really quick 
and you want to get back to your mac and cheese, your grilled 
cheese, your salad. You want to get back to whatever 
you're going to do. Perhaps your eyes are looking 
somewhere else. They've kinked back with your neck to look at 
the clock, looking somewhere else. You don't want to hear 
the preacher. Stop doing that for a minute, all of those things, 
and listen. God has made this Jesus, whom 
these wicked men crucified, both Lord and Christ. He's been exalted, 
given dominion and glory and a kingdom. You right now, if 
you're opposed to the Savior in unbelief, you fly the banner 
of these who put the Lord of glory to death. Do not leave 
here before considering the holiness of our God. He must punish sin. Do not leave here without considering 
the fact that you have, all have, fallen short of the glory of 
God in their sin and in their transgression, in your sin and 
transgression. Yet know this, the Lord Jesus 
Christ came into the world to save sinners such as you, to 
save sinners such as us. Believe on Him. No longer run, 
no longer have the full-time job without vacation, suppressing 
the truth and unrighteousness, but rather flee to the Savior. 
Find in Him your all in all. And you will, along with us, 
not have your hearts fearing sentence after sentence, but 
sentence after sentence rejoicing in the King of Kings and Lord 
of Lords. Believe on Him and you will be saved. Let us pray. 
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in your truth. We thank you for 
our Christ. We thank you that we can read word upon word, sentence 
upon sentence, and rejoice in our Savior, the one whom you 
sent to come into this world, sinners, to save. We pray, Lord 
God, that you would help us to know this Christ, to rejoice 
in Him day by day, to not be found in long seasons of coldness 
where we neglect the knowledge of the reading of our Savior, 
but rather that we would raise our heads each day, glorying 
in and rejoicing in Jesus Christ. And upon each night as we rest 
our heads on our pillows that we would be dwelling upon the 
riches and the excellencies of such a Savior. We pray that you 
would strengthen your saints, that you would save sinners, 
that all of this, Lord God, would be done unto the praise of your 
glorious grace. And it's in Christ's name that 
we pray. Amen.