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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. We'll pick up reading in verse 
14. As you're turning there, just to remind you that there 
was an awesome display of God's power in the previous section. 
It's just a longish portion of Scripture, so I don't want to 
spend too much time just in the reading. But prior to verse 14, 
the Spirit came upon the people in a powerful way. and that was 
manifested in the speaking in other tongues. The tongues were 
not gibberish, it wasn't confusion, but it was rather other languages 
by which they were able to make known the wonderful works of 
God. Of course, this perplexed the 
people that were witnessing this, and so Peter stands up to explain 
the significance of what had occurred. So that's where we 
are in chapter 2 at verse 14. But Peter, standing up with the 
eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and 
all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed 
my words, for these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only 
the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by 
the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in 
the last day, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on 
all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your 
young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. 
And on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour 
out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. 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. And it shall come to pass that 
whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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. Now, when they heard this, they 
were caught to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of 
the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter 
said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise 
is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, 
as many as the Lord our God will call. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
this preaching of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, 
and we pray now that you would give us ears to hear and hearts 
to receive these things, as this brother makes known the glory 
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you again for 
your kind provision in the gospel. We thank you for that blessed 
one who came to save his people from their sins. And thank you 
for including us in that plan. We ask for forgiveness now for 
any sin and those things that darken our minds and our hearts. 
We pray for guidance and leading and illumination by the power 
and the presence of your Holy Spirit. And we pray that God 
would be all in all in this place. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. So as I said, after the phenomena 
of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the church and the speaking 
in the tongues, they accuse the believers of being drunk. That's 
why Peter highlights that they're not drunk. It's only the third 
hour of the day. He points to the prophet Joel 
and he says, this is that which was spoken by Joel. It's not 
that there was no Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, it's that 
the giving of the Holy Spirit connected to the messianic reign 
of our blessed Savior was prophesied by Joel. And if you notice specifically 
at what Peter says, specifically at verse 21, notice he says, 
"...and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name 
of the Lord shall be saved." And now Peter takes this occasion 
to preach to them the Lord that they are supposed to call on, 
even Jesus Christ, our Savior. And he does so by setting forth 
the person and the work of Jesus in a few considerations. First, 
he sets forth the true humanity of Christ in verse 22. We know 
he's divine. John 1, 1, in the beginning was 
the Word. The Word was with God and the 
Word was God. But then in John 1.14, the Word 
became flesh and dwelt among us. If He doesn't assume our 
humanity, He doesn't redeem us. So it was necessary that the 
second person of the Trinity take on our humanity, live in 
our place, die in our place, and be raised again. And so the 
true humanity of Jesus is emphasized in scripture. He wasn't a phantom. 
He didn't simply appear to be a man, but he was a man. He was 
able to die. He was able to suffer. He was 
able to bleed. He did all the things that is true of manhood. 
So Peter sets that forth in verse 22. He then highlights the predetermined 
death of Christ in verse 23. They had lawless hands. They 
were culpable. They were responsible for what 
they undertook in the crucifixion of our blessed Savior, but as 
Peter stipulates, it was under the plan and purpose of God Most 
High. Sort of like that Joseph scenario 
in Genesis chapter 50, when Joseph said, you meant it for evil, 
but God overruled it for good. They meant it for evil, to get 
rid of Jesus. They despised him, they loathed 
him, they abhorred him, so they crucified him, but it was under 
the plan of God. And then in the passage that 
we're gonna investigate in verses 24 to 32, he highlights the glorious 
resurrection of the Savior. Now, this is intriguing because 
notice who Peter is addressing. He is dealing with Jerusalem 
sinners. I'm not suggesting that Jerusalem 
sinners were somehow worse than Chilliwack sinners, but there 
was a particular sin or crime that they had undertaken, specifically 
in the murder of our blessed Savior. When he highlights the 
resurrection of Jesus, he does so with a contrast. Verse 23, 
you crucified him according to your lawless hands, but God raised 
him up. When Peter comes to apply the 
sermon in verse 36, he says, whom you crucify. So he's addressing 
these Jerusalem sinners with the gospel of free grace. He 
is addressing these people that are pretty sinful in a way that 
shows them that they too can be saved. So the glorious resurrection 
of Jesus is what we'll investigate in verses 24 to 32, but he ends 
the sermon properly on the triumphant exaltation of Christ in verses 
33 to 36. It wasn't just that he was raised 
again, and then he went and lived happily ever after. No, he ascended 
on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men. And 
he's enthroned at the right hand of the Father, and he will come 
again in glory to judge the living and the dead. So that's the context, 
that's the emphasis, this is Peter's preaching on the day 
of Pentecost, so let's investigate this statement concerning the 
resurrection of our Savior. First, there is a declaration 
concerning the resurrection in verse 24, and then secondly, 
the prophecy concerning the resurrection in verses 25 to 32. But notice 
in verse 24, So again, the contrast, verse 
23, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge 
of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put 
to death, and then he goes on to say in verse 24, whom God 
raised up. Now in our theology studies, we're learning something 
about what's called inseparable operations. Everything outside 
of God is ascribed to the one God. But there are times when 
there are what's called appropriations, where certain persons of the 
Godhead are given, not credit, but ascribed the power of having 
done that. And here we see that the Father 
is responsible in the resurrection of the Son. In John 10, Jesus 
highlights His responsibility in the resurrection of the Son 
as well. Again, another appropriation. But the reason that He asserts 
this concerning the Father is because divine justice has been 
satisfied. Because Christ not only has a 
man-word reference in terms of His redemptive work. It's not 
only to save us from our sins. It's not only to restore us to 
fellowship with our God, but there is a God-word reference 
wherein Jesus does satisfy all of the will and all of the requirements 
laid upon Him by His Father. Turretin makes this observation. 
He says, there is a peculiar reason why the resurrection is 
ascribed to the Father. on account of the obligation 
which Christ took upon Himself, from which He ought to be released 
by the Father as Judge, who as He had delivered up Christ to 
death for our sins, so He ought to raise Him up again for our 
justification, in order to testify that a full satisfaction had 
been made by Him. That's what Peter is doing. He's 
appropriating the resurrection to the Father to underscore that 
what Christ has done satisfies the demands of divine justice. Christ is victorious. Christ 
was not defeated. Christ was not the loser in that 
transaction at the cross. Christ satisfied all that was 
laid upon Him by the Father, and He does so for us men and 
for our salvation. Peter highlights that reality. He provides a contrast between 
the unbelieving Jews who murdered Jesus and the God who raised 
him up. And then notice, whom God raised 
up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible 
that he should be held by it. It was not possible for at least 
two reasons. The first is the person of Jesus 
Christ. I've already mentioned John 1.1 
and John 1.14. What you have in Jesus is one 
person with two natures, divinity and humanity. It was not possible 
for death to hold onto him. It was not possible for him to 
stay or remain in that tomb. It was not possible. because 
of who he is in terms of his being. The hypostatic union makes 
it impossible for death to hold on to Christ. John 11, verse 
25, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. The apostle Paul 
in Romans 6, 9 tells us, death no longer has dominion over him. It has dominion over sinners. 
Christ never sinned. Hebrews 7 tells us he was holy, 
harmless, and undefiled. Why do we need that? We often 
talk about the empty tomb and the resurrection, and it's not 
just on one Sunday of the year, it's every Sunday. We can come 
together and pronounce that wonderful declaration that he is risen. We need the death, we need the 
empty tomb, but we need his life. We need his obedience. We need 
the imputation of his righteousness received by faith alone. Our 
sins need to be washed away, but we also need a righteousness 
to clothe us such that we can enter into the presence of God. 
As I said, our good works won't do it. His good works does do 
it. It secures for us everything 
we stand in need of. So it was impossible for death 
to hold on to him because he was holy, harmless and undefiled. And then Hebrews 2.14 tells us 
that through death, he might destroy him who had the power 
of death, that is the devil. So the person of Christ is one 
of the reasons why death had no possibility to hold on to 
him. but as well the fulfillment of 
prophecy. Notice how verse 25 begins. 4. This is a reason. This is rationale. This is argumentation. This is why Paul, or Peter rather, 
says that death, or it was not possible, that he should be held 
by it. Four, and that brings us secondly 
to the prophecy concerning the resurrection in verses 25 to 
32. Two things that we ought to appreciate 
here. First, Peter's appeal to this 
Psalm, and second, Peter's interpretation of this Psalm. Notice first the 
appeal, it's Psalm 16. We already read it at the outset 
of worship. Psalm 16, verses eight to 11. Notice in verse 25, Peter says, 
for David says concerning him. The Psalm is written by David. It's ascribed to him in the heading. 
It's a mictum of David. Now just for a bit of perspective, 
so that you know that the resurrection of Christ from the grave wasn't 
some sort of a haphazard event. It wasn't just a lucky sort of 
thing that occurred on that blessed day, but it was prophesied. It was promised to occur by the 
living and true God. So David, King David, lived from 
1041 to 971 BC. Now obviously in that career, 
he wrote many of the Psalms. And so it's ascribed to David. 
So at least 900 years prior to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
it was prophesied concerning his resurrection. Again, it wasn't 
haphazard. It wasn't just that the moon 
and the sun all aligned on that fair day, and boom, Jesus rose 
from the dead. Christ knew he was going to be 
raised from the dead. When he announces in his earthly 
ministry that he must go to Jerusalem, he must be tried by godless men, 
he must be crucified, and he must be raised again. He always 
knew the purpose for which he had come. So it's not a haphazard 
random event, but rather it was prophesied by King David at least 
again 900 years prior to the actual event. The prophet Isaiah 
wrote in the 700s, and he wrote concerning the crucifixion of 
our blessed Savior. And it's not just David, and 
it's not just Isaiah. You go all the way back to Genesis 
chapter 3 and verse 15. God told Adam that the seed of 
the woman would crush the serpent. And the rest of the Bible unpacks 
that promise. Such that, Paul can say in Galatians 
4.4, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son. So it 
was all prophesied, it was all planned, it was all according 
to what Peter refers to in verse 23, the determined purpose and 
foreknowledge of God. So the subject of Psalm, or the 
writer of the Psalm, is written by King David. But it's written 
about King David's greater son. Notice, verse 25, for David says, 
concerning him. David wasn't writing about David. David was writing about Jesus. 
David was writing about the Messiah to come. We refer to Jesus Christ, 
well the Old Testament version of Christ in Hebrew is Messiah. 
And there was this expectation for Messiah in the Old Testament. David wrote of Him. David wrote 
specifically in Psalm 16 concerning Him. C. H. Spurgeon says, it 
has been the usual plan of commentators to apply the psalm both to David, 
to the saints, and to the Lord Jesus. But we will venture to 
believe that in it, Christ is all. Since in the 9th and 10th 
verses, like the apostles on the mount, we can see no man 
but Jesus only. So there's not a little application 
to David and a little application to Messiah. Psalm 16 is about 
Jesus. It is concerning Him. And it's 
concerning Him as Messiah, as true humanity, true divinity, 
united in the one person. That's why Messiah in Psalm 16 
expresses His trust in Yahweh, or God the Father. It's not suggesting 
that he's not deity, but rather it is referring to his earthly 
ministry when there was that dependence upon the Father. So 
let's look at the content of the psalm. Notice in verses 25 
to 28. First of all, the Messiah's focus 
on Yahweh. Look at verse 25. I foresaw the 
Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that 
I may not be shaken. His orientation was always Godward. His orientation was always consistent 
with the Father. This is why in John's gospel 
he can say, my meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. 
This is why he can say, I always do what pleases my Father. There is this consciousness that 
he lives in light of his Father every step of the way. Gil says 
Christ always had Jehovah in view throughout the whole of 
his life. Alexander says it's a constant 
recognition or remembrance. He asked the question, why do 
we need his life? Well, this is one of the reasons, 
because we don't have constant recognition or remembrance of 
our true and living God. The first commandment, in terms 
of summary statement of the first table, tells us we are to love 
the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 
Brethren, we don't do that. As the redeemed of Christ, we 
don't do that. We certainly didn't do it outside 
of Christ. So therefore, our champion, our 
victor, our Messiah must be one who walks in a constant dependence 
upon the living and the true God. Because you and I never 
do. We never have, and God helping us, we might more in the future, 
but it's not until that eternal state. Notice that the Messiah 
depended upon the help of the Father. Look at what verse 25 
says, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Now, 
later on, after Peter speaks about the exaltation of Christ, 
it says that Christ is exalted to the right hand of the Father. 
But yet Christ, as Messiah says, the Father is at His right hand. 
What does He mean by this? He means that He is my advocate. 
He's my defender. He's my protector. He is my friend. Father that sees me through the 
various difficulties that I face in life. The place of the advocate 
for one that is accused or in danger. And again, Psalm 16 is 
an expression of trust by Messiah to the Father. If we ask the 
question, why would he have to utter such a trust of the Father? Because his life was characterized 
as being a man of, or he was characterized as being a man 
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our 
faces from him. There was no form or comeliness 
in him that when we saw him we were drawn to him. No, the people 
that he came to rejected him. The people that he came to resisted 
him. The people that he came to oppressed 
him and persecuted and ultimately crucified him. So according to 
his humanity, if it was in fact true humanity, there were sorrows 
along the way. There was hardship along the 
way. He speaks as much when he says 
the birds have their nests and the foxes have their holes, but 
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. So how does he 
cope? How does he deal? How does he function? How does 
he persevere? He does so with the advocacy 
of God Most High at his right hand. Now brethren, we're not 
going to moralize this passage, but we should learn something 
from Messiah at this point. There's trouble in our lives. 
There's difficulties in our lives. Are we going to go it alone? 
Are we going to just knuckle under? Are we going to just grin 
and bear it? Or do we depend upon a gracious Father who has 
promised, I will never leave you and I will never forsake 
you? Are we going to depend on that one? who is able, or Owen 
David, who says, yea, though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Notice the reality. Though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death. He understands that the Christian 
life isn't the way Benny Hinn describes it. But then there 
is this resolve, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil. That's his resolve. It's not 
arrogance, it's not presumption, but it is founded on the reason, 
for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 
So David learned as well what it was to depend upon the living 
God, just as Messiah. And we see that Peter is telling 
us that David writes about Messiah. Notice secondly, in terms of 
the content of the Psalm, not only his focus on Yahweh, but 
the Messiah's joy in Yahweh. Look at verse 26. Therefore my 
heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh 
also will rest in hope. Now brethren, Bit of a candid 
admission here. I've often said there's optimists 
in this world and there's pessimists in this world. I like to think 
of myself as a realist, but I'm probably a realist that tips 
to the side of pessimism. I caught myself in prayer. If 
we have to persevere to the bitter end, wait a minute, it's never 
bitter when it's for Christ. It's never bitter when our blessed 
Savior is enthroned at the right hand of the majesty on high. 
It may be tough, it may be hard, it may be lonely, it may be difficult, 
but it's never bitter the way that the pagan has to face. in 
a godless, Christless condition, but we always have that blessed 
Savior. We always have the Lord of glory. We always have the ability and 
the propensity to be joyful in whatever our circumstances. The 
apostle Paul enjoins that upon us, to rejoice always. Again, 
I will say, rejoice. Well, he doesn't mean when you've 
just received a gift. He can't mean when you've just 
gotten a job promotion. He can't mean when you just got 
a brand new car that's beautiful. We're already dispositionally 
inclined to rejoice in those moments. What do you think Paul 
is saying? Rejoice always, even when you 
get terrible news. Not because you're some sick 
sadist or masochist that gets twisted delight in bad news, 
but it's the inner stability, it's the inner peace that whatever 
may come my way, God most high is for me and therefore what 
can man do? So Christ Messiah finds joy in 
his father. Verse 26, therefore my heart 
rejoiced and my tongue was glad, moreover my flesh also will rest 
in hope. So this blessed promise or this 
blessed result of joy is intimately connected to nearness to God, 
right? That's what he sees. In verse 
25, his focus is on Yahweh. Verse 25, the Lord is always 
at my right hand. Well, when the Lord is always 
at your right hand as your advocate, as your protector, as your defender, 
as your friend, then whatever may come your way, you can deal 
with it. And not only can you deal with 
it, you can deal with it with joy and with thanksgiving. Jesus 
addresses this in John 16, 33. In this world, you will have 
tribulation. If he would have stopped there, 
probably everybody after him would have said, okay, why would 
we come to you? Why would we want to come to 
you if in this world we're going to have tribulation? He goes 
on to say, but be of good cheer. Rejoice. Why? Because I have 
overcome the world, Christ says. So Christ evidences that according 
to His humanity. Not only does He focus on the 
Father, but He finds joy in the Father. But then notice thirdly 
in terms of the content of the psalm in verse 27, the Messiah's 
confidence in Yahweh. Verse 27, you will not leave 
my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. 
So Messiah knows he's gonna die. Messiah knows this is gonna happen. As I mentioned, Matthew 16, Matthew 
17, Matthew 20. And again, in Matthew 26, Jesus 
announces that he must go to Jerusalem to die. So he always 
understood this. He knew the obligation that was 
laid upon him. He knew he must obey the father 
in terms of active obedience to the law, but he knew he must 
go to that cross in terms of passive obedience to that law. 
He knew he had to do all that was given of him by the father, 
but he nevertheless has this hope and confidence that the 
father will see him through it. The father will not leave him. 
The father will not abandon him. The father will not forego him. 
The father is always there to sustain his son. Notice in verse 
27, you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow 
your holy one to see corruption. That's resurrection. He's going 
to die, but God will not leave His soul in Hades, nor will God 
allow His Holy One to see corruption. See, brethren, when we die, guess 
what's gonna happen? The worms are gonna eat our body. 
The grave is going to contain us. On that grand day, when Jesus 
comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, He will 
raise us. He will reunite our body and soul. He will bring 
us into that eschaton, or that heavenly kingdom. But for Jesus, 
there was no decay. There was no corruption. There 
was resurrection by the power of God Most High. And the language 
that is used here in the New King James is preferable. Hades 
is the right rendering, not hell. Hades translates Sheol and is 
the realm of the dead. The Geneva Bible has here grave. But the bottom line is, is that 
God would not abandon the Son. The Son would be raised on the 
third day. That's the nature of David's 
prophecy, again, over 900 years prior to the coming of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, in terms of 
the content of the Psalm, notice in verse 28, the Messiah's dependence 
on God. You have made known to me the 
ways of life. You will make me full of joy. 
in your presence. The constant dependence resulted 
in God making know his ways to the Savior. And that yielded 
for the Savior, pleasure. Brethren, how would we respond? 
What makes our joy full? Notice, you will make me full 
of joy in your presence. At the end of Psalm 16, at your 
right hand are pleasures forevermore. Is that what we would say? Where 
are your pleasures today? Well, I love my wife. I love 
my husband. I love my children. I love my 
job. Where does God come in that list? Where is our ultimate pleasure? It is in God. It is at the right 
hand of the Father. It is tied up in the person and 
in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Peter appeals to Psalm 
16 to underscore the contents. Now let's look at how Peter interprets 
it in light of the empty tomb. Notice, again, the subject of 
the Psalm, verse 29, 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. He's not writing about himself. Psalm, or verse 25, David says 
concerning him. It is not about David, Psalm 
16. It's about Messiah. It's about 
Christ. It's about Jesus. Now, when Peter 
calls them men and brethren, he's not suggesting they're saved 
the way Christians call each other brother or sister. He's 
speaking to the Jews. The Jews had received the Psalter. 
The Jews were hopefully familiar with the contents of Psalm 16. They'd probably read it many 
times. They'd probably thought through it many times. They probably 
recited it many times, perhaps heard it taught on. in the synagogue 
or in the tabernacle or in the temple, they were somewhat conversant 
with Psalm 16. So the Apostle Peter doesn't 
say men and brethren because they're somehow already saved. 
He's addressing Jews. And he says very clearly to those 
Jews, David couldn't have been writing about resurrection from 
the dead because David's dead. David is dead, David was buried, 
and David's tomb is with us to this day. So Peter wants to make 
sure that everybody's singing off the same page to understand 
that this is a messianic song. Now notice how he underscores 
the function of David. Verse 30, therefore, being a 
prophet. So David was the king over Israel. 
David's kingship was paradigmatic for Israel's kings. Now certainly 
Solomon knew a time of peace that David didn't, but Solomon 
knew that time of peace because of David's ventures against the 
enemies of Israel. David went out, was a man of 
war, a man of bloodshed, and as a result, he was able to offer 
up to his son a kingdom of peace. And under that time of peace, 
that's when Solomon was given the task to build the temple 
for God Most High. But with reference to David, 
he was not only a king on Israel's throne, but he was a prophet 
to Israel's hearts. He was a prophet in the Psalms. 
He was a prophet when he communicated the truth as it is in Jesus, 
as he wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And notice 
specifically, verse 30, 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. How did David know that? It's 
a lot of stuff for David to know about Jesus Christ, isn't it? 
How would David have possibly known that being a prophet, 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? Get back to 2 Samuel chapter 
7. 2 Samuel 7, we call this the Davidic covenant. It was a covenant 
made by God with David and it concerned kingship in Israel. It concerned kingship concerning 
the house of God. And it's very intriguing because 
in 2 Samuel 7, David is simply musing upon his power. He's musing 
upon his success. He's musing upon the fact that 
he has been a helpful king in terms of Israel. But then he 
understands that he's living in a very nice palace. I mean, 
it's good to be the king, right? He's living in a very nice situation. And then he understands that 
the Lord, the tabernacle, is this mobile sort of tent-like 
structure that they have to basically disassemble and reassemble based 
on their wanderings. David says, I've consolidated 
power politically, I've consolidated the religious center as Jerusalem, 
and I think it would be good to build a house for God. Now, 
initially, Nathan the prophet says, go right ahead and build 
a house for God. But then God calls back Nathan and says, no, 
it's not his task to build a house for God. And then God promises 
to build a house out of David. And what he means by that is 
a dynasty, a dynasty of kings. So David would be the head and 
then from him there would be this lineage or a line of kings 
and it would result or terminate in Messiah. It would come to 
fruition in David's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So notice 
what God says to David in 2 Samuel 7 at verse 12. When your days 
are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your 
seat after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish 
his kingdom. He shall build a house for my 
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits 
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with 
the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart 
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 
and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever 
before you. Your throne shall be established 
forever." David understood the nature of kingship. David understood 
that from his line, from his flesh, God would raise up the 
Christ. And God would station the Christ 
at his right hand to rule and reign over all things. Turn to 
Luke's gospel. This is certainly in the background 
of the angelic announcement concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Luke chapter 1, verse 31. Well, verse 30. And the angel 
said to her, do not be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor 
with God. And behold, you will conceive 
in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name 
Jesus. He will be great and will be 
called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give him 
the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house 
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 
So going back to Acts chapter 2, Peter's talking about the 
same thing. God gave this covenant or promise to David that from 
David's line, there would be a son born, and that son born 
would build a house for God. That son born would undertake 
what David desired to undertake, what Solomon did in the physical 
and temporal realm, but what Jesus would do concerning eternal 
reality, eternal blessedness, the coming of the kingdom of 
God most high. So back in Acts chapter two, 
specifically at verse 30, this is what David knew. But then 
this is what David prophesied in verse 31. It says, he foreseeing 
this. reflecting on 2 Samuel 7, reflecting 
on that covenant given to him, reflecting on that reality, it's 
probably on the heels of that, he writes Psalm 16, he writes 
Psalm 89, he writes Psalm 132, which Psalms have their taproots 
in the covenant made by God with David. So notice in verse 31, 
he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, 
that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see 
corruption. So the prophet David spoke in 
Psalm 16 concerning the resurrection of the dead. Brethren, again, 
this is apologetically powerful. Typically, when I preach on the 
resurrection, which I didn't do too long ago, it was in our 
Lord's Supper service a few weeks or two months ago, I think, we 
were in Matthew 28, verses 1 to 10, the discovery of the empty 
tomb. Whenever I preach that message or that stuff, I always 
try to highlight the appearances of Jesus, the fact that he appears 
to, you know, mass amounts of individuals, he appears privately, 
he appears to groups. There's apologetic value in studying 
the narratives that are involved in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 
There's also apologetic or defense material when you consider the 
prophetic word. Consider what the Old Testament 
says concerning our blessed Messiah. Again, it's not haphazard. It 
wasn't just some, you know, luck of the draw. Fate just didn't 
smile her face that day. This was the plan and purpose 
of God Most High, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to save His people 
from their sins. When you go back into history 
and see it recorded that this one will be raised from the dead, 
and then there's this empty tomb, and one who claims to be the 
one that was raised from the dead, And when there's all these 
eyewitness testimonies and people still reject it, people still 
resist it, people still refuse it, it just goes along with what 
we've witnessed over the last couple of years. It's all about 
science. Unless it's science, we don't 
happen to like. Unless it's science, it doesn't 
happen to fall in line with our particular agenda. Then we'll 
get rid of that science. The science of an empty tomb, 
the science of the angels calling upon persons to come in and investigate 
that empty tomb, the science of the grave clothes folded on 
the bench in the tomb itself, such that no grave robber would 
ever do. They'd go in there looking for 
stuff, they'd rifle through the body, get rid of the body, they 
wouldn't fold clothes and put them back on the bench inside 
the tomb. Again, the eyewitness testimony, 
the several persons that saw the Lord Jesus. Why don't they 
accept that science? Because they're committed against 
the one who was raised from the dead. They're committed against 
the Christ who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. 
That's us in Adam. We were the same. It's not like 
we had an epiphany. Wow, I've studied the empty tomb. I've come to research the data 
and I've come to my senses. No, God brought us to our senses. God opened our eyes. God opened 
our heart. God gave us the gifts of faith 
and repentance, such that now when we look at that particular 
data, we stand and marvel, we stand in awe, and we stand and 
reflect on this reality. God loved the world so much that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. And He's included me in 
that lot. He has given me a vested interest 
in the Savior. He has given me a heart that 
desires the blessed Christ. Again, we didn't happen into 
this based on scientific analogy alone. God opened her eyes to 
behold the truth and the wonder of that empty tomb. It was prophesied. David said, he foreseeing this 
spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ that his soul was 
not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. And notice, 
he connects Christ's kingship, not with a future event, but 
he connects Christ's kingship with the resurrection from the 
dead. In other words, brethren, we're not dispensationalists. 
We're not waiting for a future millennial kingdom where Jesus 
is going to set up shop and be the King of kings and Lord of 
lords. Christ is the King. Christ is the Lord. Christ is 
stationed at the right hand of God Most High. He, foreseeing 
this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ. Notice at verse 
33, 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. Now, in conclusion of the exposition, 
we're going to have a few thoughts in terms of practical, but it 
won't be too long. But notice how David, or rather 
Peter, applies the psalm in verses 31 and 32. 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." So the psalm was 
not about David, just in case you missed that. The psalm was 
about David's greater son, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah 
prophesied, who was to come to live, to die, and to be raised 
again the third day. So Peter makes that clear. This 
Jesus God has raised up again, the contrast should still be 
in our minds, the one whom they crucified according to their 
lawless hands. And then he says, of which we 
are all witnesses. The Lord God bore witness to 
the fact that Jesus was the Messiah by the resurrection from the 
dead. But he also bore testimony through these apostles. That 
was one of their functions. Turn back to Acts 1, specifically 
at verse 8, you see one of the reasons why we have the book 
of Acts in our Bibles, why we have the apostles as foundational 
with reference to the church. Acts 1.8, but you shall receive 
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be 
witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria 
and to the end of the earth. What do these men do? Do they 
go out and engage in story time with all the people that would 
come? Oh, yeah, I want to tell you about my hot wife. Pastors 
do that today. I want to tell you about my hot 
wife. That's weird. I'm not here to hear about your 
hot wife. I'm here to hear about the life and the death and the 
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the apostles 
did. Wherever they went, they proclaimed 
Christ and Him crucified. Wherever they went, they shined 
the light upon this blessed reality. We call it the gospel, the good 
news concerning Jesus, the good news concerning what he did on 
behalf of needy sinners. They never tired to witness of 
this. They never shrank back from declaring the truth of it. 
They were not scared men, they feared nor flattered the face 
of any man, but rather they faced the world, contra mundum, they 
were like, or they were prototypical Athanasius's, and they faced 
a hostile world and proclaimed to them the death and resurrection 
of our blessed savior. Peter says, we are witnesses 
of these things. Now, before we enter into some 
thoughts in terms of application, notice the interpretative method 
of Peter. If you look at Acts 16 or Psalm 
16 rather, there's no mention of Jesus Christ and no mention 
specifically of resurrection. But the Psalm is about the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ. If your method of interpretation 
does not yield the fruit that the apostles did, then you need 
to change your method of interpretation. Peter and the apostles are showing 
themselves in an instrumental way in the book of Acts as being 
the leaders of Israel. Right? They're going to the temple, 
they're confronting the religious leadership of that day, which 
was bankrupt morally, spiritually, theologically, biblically, and 
they are showing that they are the true interpreters of what 
the Old Testament prophets said. And so Peter needs to be listened 
to, Paul needs to be listened to. How did they handle the Old 
Testament scriptures? We need to model our interpretative 
method after the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, 
in conclusion, we have first the fulfillment of the Davidic 
covenant in our Lord Jesus. He is that King. Turn to Matthew 
16 for one beautiful example of this. I mean, we've seen the 
passages. Luke 1 tells us, Acts 2, 30 and 
31 tells us that Jesus is the realization, the fulfillment 
of that Davidic covenant. but in a real practical way. 
Remember David's desire? It's going back a long way in 
the sermon, like 10 minutes, 12 minutes. What did David want 
to do in 2 Samuel 7? He wanted to build a house for 
God. And by house, he didn't mean 
with a kitchen and a living room and all that sort of thing. He 
meant a place where God and his people could meet together. They 
already had something like that in the tabernacle. Again, it 
was a portable tent-like structure that they would go or they would 
put up wherever they were in terms of their wanderings. Well, 
David wants it to be more secure. He wants it to be more permanent. 
He wants it to reflect something of the glory of God Almighty. 
And so David wants to build a house for God. God says, no, I'm gonna 
build a house out of you. I'm gonna build a house for you. And then from your sons, one 
will rise up. This is all in what we read in 
2 Samuel 7. And he will build a house for 
my name. So God most high understands, 
recognizes, prophesies, foretells that this one who comes from 
the line of David will arise as the King of kings and the 
Lord of lords, who will, in fact, build a house for God. Look at 
Matthew 16, verse 17. When Jesus came into the region 
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do 
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John 
the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the 
prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon 
Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the 
living God. Don't miss that, that's significant. The son of the living God. What 
was told in the covenant? That there will be a son from 
David. He will be a son of God. And it will be that one who builds 
a house for my name. Look at what Jesus says in verse 
17. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Barjona 
for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father was 
in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on 
this rock, I will build my church. He builds a house for God. He does what was prophesied and 
promised in 2 Samuel 7. From David's line comes a king 
who will be the king of kings, whose kingdom will have no end, 
and he will be the house builder for God Most High. Brethren, 
that's us. Not just us in particular, but 
us as the church. How does Paul describe the church 
in 1 Timothy chapter 3? He calls it the house of God, 
the household of God. Christ does what was specified 
of him in 2 Samuel 7. Not only builds the house for 
God, but he saves the inhabitants who become the household of God. 
Secondly, in terms of the resurrection, we have fulfillment of promise, 
again, through the prophets, but in the life and ministry 
of our Lord Jesus. What would we call a man we hung 
around with for a while who said that he would be killed and then 
would rise again from the dead, and that never happened? We call 
that man probably a lunatic or he's touched or there's something 
wrong with him. He's a nice enough fellow, but 
he spins a tall tale. See, when Jesus announces that 
he must die and that he must be raised again, his veracity 
is riding on that, his truthfulness. In John 14, he says, I am the 
way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the father 
except through me. So if he's a liar or a lunatic, 
he's no good to anybody. But with reference to His promise, 
it's consistent with what you have in the Old Testament, and 
it comes to fruition when the disciples discover He is risen. He is not here. He is risen like 
He said. As well, this is the crowning 
proof that He has accomplished the mission that the Father gave 
Him. Turn over to Romans 4. Romans chapter 4. The Apostle 
summarizes the Gospel, as he does often in Romans and elsewhere, 
but he does so beautifully in Romans 4.25. Well, verse 23, 
now it was not written for his sake, Abraham's sake, alone that 
it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to 
us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 
who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised 
because of our justification. He was delivered up not because 
of his offenses, he was delivered up because of our offenses, our 
idolatry, our blasphemy, our Sabbath-breaking, our insubordination, 
our murder, our adultery, our lies, our theft, our covetousness. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses, but he was raised for our justification. Two men, 
I think, helpfully explain what this significance is. Hodge says, 
with a dead Savior, a Savior over whom death had triumphed 
and held captive, our justification had been forever impossible. 
And Fesco says, Christ's death atones for the sins of God's 
people. His resurrection is the evidence that death had an illegitimate 
claim upon Him, for He lived His life in perfect obedience 
to the law. Attempt to extract one of the 
three, life, death, or resurrection, from justification, and our redemption 
collapses. He was raised for our justification. This was, as I said, an essential 
feature of apostolic preaching. All throughout the book of Acts, 
guess what they preach? Christ lived, Christ died, Christ 
was raised again. Shouldn't the church today imitate 
that? Shouldn't the church today have 
that evangelistic thrust? Shouldn't the church be about 
proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus Christ, never tiring 
of it, never substituting it, never trying to be hip or cooler, 
try to be somehow culturally relevant by denying the very 
relevance that we possess? This lost and dying world needs 
the gospel of our salvation. They don't need us to be cool. 
They don't need me to have holes in my pants and a latte in my 
hand talking about whatever it is that is in vogue for the day. They need the truth of Christ 
and Him crucified and resurrected. That's what the apostles do, 
and that's what the church, the faithful church, has done ever 
since. And then with reference to the 
resurrection, if there is no resurrection, as Paul the Apostle 
teaches, we will die in our sins. He says, if Christ is preached 
that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you 
say there is no resurrection of the dead? 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. 
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And 
if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still 
in your sins. Then also, then also those who 
have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. And then he makes 
this statement, 1 Corinthians 15, 19. If in this life only 
we have open Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. Of 
course, the resurrection is an essential feature to the gospel. If we renege on that, sinners 
have no hope. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses. He was raised for our justification. And if you are not in Christ 
today, I wanna remind you of who Peter is addressing, Jerusalem 
sinners, very, very bad sinners. Why do you think that's in the 
Bible? To show us that Christ's grace, 
Christ's mercy, Christ's blood avails for very, very bad sinners. It's therefore a reason, Peter 
says, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name 
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. So the audience or the 
hearers, we need to remind ourselves of who they are. These aren't 
upright people. These aren't polished, perfect 
people that just need a bit of an example from Jesus and then 
they can bring it home. No, these are dead sinners. They had engaged in a horrific 
crime, but there is hope to be had in the Lord Jesus, even for 
desperately wicked sinners. The object of faith is clear. 
Remember verse 21. It shall come to pass that whoever 
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Well, who's 
the Lord? He's the one, truly human. He's the one, dead by 
the plan or according to the plan of God by lawless hands. 
The one raised up by the Father, the one who now sits enthroned 
at the right hand of the Father. He is the object of faith. Those 
who look to Him will have everlasting life. It is most glorious. You're not being told today to 
reform your life, to try a little harder, to get a little better. 
Perhaps you've seen that clip floating around. I saw it on 
Twitter. Perhaps it was on Facebook. I don't think it's new. Probably 
the last few years, a pastor, a preacher by the name of Alistair 
Begg. And Alistair Begg is talking about that day when we meet God 
on the day of judgment. What's it going to be when God 
asks, and you've heard this question before, if you were to die today 
and you stood before God, and God said to you, why should I 
let you into my kingdom? I mean, that's a perennial question 
that Christians impose to non-Christians. Begg says it better not be first 
person. I did this, I did that, I went 
here, I performed that. It better be the third person, 
that man, he, him, the Lord of glory, he lived, he died, he 
was raised again. And then Begg goes one step further 
and he says, I'd really like to talk to the thief on the cross. 
You know, when that thief on the cross entered up into heaven, 
the angel perhaps stopped him at the door and said, why are 
you here? Do you know the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone? Nope, never heard of it. Did 
you do a lot of good things in your life? No, as a matter of 
fact, I'm a criminal that went to the cross to die rightly for 
my crimes. So why are you here? What's the 
thief say? The thief says, the man on the 
middle cross said I could come. The man on the middle cross said 
I could come. That's the gospel of our salvation. 
It's not our works, it's not our efforts, it's not our law 
keeping, it's not us working our fingers to the bone. Even 
if we did that, we would still be filthy and undone and deserving 
of hell. It's all about Jesus. It's all 
about Christ, His life, His death, His resurrection. That's why 
Peter, standing on the day of Pentecost, doesn't preach Peter. 
He preaches Jesus. And all those who by grace look 
to Jesus will have everlasting life. Whether you were a Jerusalem 
sinner, whether you're a Chilliwack sinner, whether you're in the 
first century, or whether you're in the 21st century, the answer 
has not changed. The remedy still holds. Those 
who look upon the Lord Jesus Christ in faith will have everlasting 
life. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for the man on the 
middle cross who said we can come. And God, I pray this gospel 
would go forth today, that many people would believe, many people 
would know the joy of being found in Him. Many people would know 
the blessedness of having God with us, even in the valley of 
the shadow of death. And encourage our hearts, Lord 
God, those of us who by grace have believed, strengthen us 
with might in the inner man and cause us to walk and to persevere 
in a manner consistent with what we find in Holy Scripture. And 
we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We'll 
close by singing 564 in our hymn book. You can turn with me to 
564. We'll stand as we sing together. to all eternity. ♪ Amen, so let it be ♪ ♪ The whole 
earth let his glory hail ♪ ♪ Amen, so let it be ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
all. Amen. Father, thank you again for this 
beautiful day. Thank you that you have given us the desire 
to be in the house of God and to worship Father, Son, and Spirit. 
And we pray that you would go with us now, cause your face 
to shine upon us. May we know your peace and your 
nearness. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
Please be seated for a brief time of meditation.