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.
Opening Prayer
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.
Introduction
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.
Declaration of the Resurrection
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,
Why Death Could Not Hold Christ
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.
Peter's Appeal to Psalm 16
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.
The Messiah's Focus on the Father
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.
The Messiah's Joy in the Father
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.
The Messiah's Confidence 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.
The Messiah's Dependence on God
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.
Peter's Interpretation of the Psalm
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.
Application
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.
Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant
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.
Resurrection as Proof of Accomplished Mission
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.
Closing Prayer
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.