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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of our God on this Sabbath day I have just a couple of announcements before we begin the first is there will be no Wednesday night Bible study this week I'll send out an email to remind everyone I'm going up to Vernon on Tuesday afternoon to meet with the people there try to give them some more encouragement and advice in terms of the church plant situation so I won't be returning till Wednesday and then as well tonight in our worship service we will be remembering the Lord in a particular way at the Lord's Supper well for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 132 Psalm 132 and I'll begin reading in verse 1 a song of a sense Lord remembered David and all his afflictions how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob surely I will not go into the chamber of my house or go up to the comfort of my bed I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob behold we heard of it in Ephrata we found it in the fields of the woods let us go into his tabernacle let us worship at his footstool arise O Lord to your resting place you and the Ark of your strength let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your Saints shout for joy for your servant David say do not turn away the face of your anointed the Lord has sworn in truth to David he will not turn from it I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body if your sons will keep my covenant and my testimony which I shall teach them their sons all also shall sit upon your throne forevermore for the Lord has chosen Zion he has desired it for his dwelling place this is my resting place forever here I will dwell for I have desired it I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her with bread I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her Saints shall shout aloud for joy there I will make the Horn of David grow I will prepare a lamp for my anointed his enemies I will clothed with shame but upon himself his crown shall flourish amen will please take your Trinity hymnal and turn to hymn number 204 hymn number 204 will stand and will use a familiar tune [Music] [Music] [Music] well let us pray our blessed God we come to you this morning and we gather together to praise your great and your Holy Name truly as we just saying you are the triune Majesty the God of absolute perfection Father Son and Holy Spirit from everlasting to everlasting the God who made the world and the God who governs the world and the God who has redeemed his elect out of the world certainly you are worthy to be praised for who you are and for your works and God help us now by the power of your Holy Spirit to approach you with reverence with awe and with great joy as we continue to reflect upon your mercies revealed to us in the gospel of your beloved son how we thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that you made him a new no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him we thank you that he bore our sins on the cross and that he took the the punishment that was due for us and how we thank you that he was raised the third day that he's ascended on high and that he will indeed come again in glory to judge the living and the dead help us by grace to look forward to that great day we pray for any and all who are not ready for that great day that today would be the day of salvation she would be merciful to sinners in this place that your Holy Spirit would bring the conviction of sin and show forth the glory of Jesus Christ as the one in whom there is forgiveness even even that salvation wrought out by him on the cross we would ask our Father that you would just grant us grace to worship you in spirit and in truth and may you receive from us our praise and adoration and may you be enthroned upon the praises of your people here do forgive us for our sins and our trash aggressions when we consider that triune majesty when we consider your excellence in your holiness when we hear you through the prophets say that you inhabit eternity and that you are a god whose eye is too pure to look upon any evil we see our own selves before you and we confess our transgression and our lack of conformity unto your law we know that law is a beautiful transcription a revelation of who you are and we have fallen short and we confess our iniquity and we plead the blood and the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ thanking you for the promise written that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness do this even now and promote in our hearts the fear of God and a right response into the worship of God do bless and strengthen and help each and every one of us as we gather for worship now and grant us help to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord we are so you'd be with those who are unable to be with us this morning we thank you God that you are not only the father of of eternal spiritual blessings but you do load us daily with benefits and you know you know our need and you provide to us as you see fit and as well God we all confess and we all know with a certainty that there are times and seasons and lives were life where our physical condition is run down or we sustained injury or some sort of the sickness and so we pray for our brethren God we commit them to you knowing that you are a good father knowing that you are kind and merciful we think of our brother dawn everything would go well for him than this procedure on Tuesday we think of our dear sister sue and ask that you'd continue to watch over her strengthen her God and give her the grace to be able to deal with these trials knowing that a sovereign God is on her side and please bless Shane our Father we pray for this young brother we ask that there would be wisdom granted to those in the medical profession we pray that there would be wisdom in terms of a a prescription for health and we just pray that you would restore our brother physically and continue to grant in grace spiritually that he may persevere in the midst of trial and affliction God may we all learn to say with the psalmist yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me certainly a great confession of faith knowing that he would walk through that valley knowing that God the Lord would be with him may you grant us all that type of faith and may he grant us all that kind of grace that we may indeed persevere in this valley of tears and that we may indeed one day arrive at the shores of the the shore of Emmanuel's land and God we look forward to that day and pray that you would just encourage us with a view concerning the resurrection of Christ he being the first and we coming in after him and we look pray that this would be a means to promote holiness in our lives and to promote earnestness and faithfulness and consistency in our lives as well God be with all of us as we all have spiritual trials we are all downcast at certain instances or periods in our lives we pray today that you would apply your word to us and that it would be the balm of Gilead that it would be a tonic for our weary Souls and that you would encourage us for the fight be with all here Lord God and bless our children and our young people how we thank you for this rich treasure and how we pray Lord God that they in their youth would remember their Creator that they would be guarded and protected and hedged in by your graciousness and that they would be kept from many of the sins that many of us adults have engaged in in the past and may they walk in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and may they rise up and bless the God of heaven and earth we pray for those still in the womb and we pray that you would bless these little ones we know that you are the one who has knit these babies together and we pray that in your time they would come forth and one day they would come forth in the the new birth confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and our father we do pray for other churches here in Chilliwack thanking you that we're not alone thanking you Lord God for your work wherever it is manifested and praying that you would save sinners today through the preaching of the gospel and bless our brethren in Surrey we thank you for them and ask that you'd be with them in their worship give them the grace to come boldly to your throne and to find help in their time of need and we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can take your Trinity Psalter and turn to Psalm 16 Psalm 16 again will sing or will stand using a familiar tune Psalm 16 [Music] Oh [Music] well you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke we are in Luke chapter 12 for our scripture reading this morning Luke chapter 12 picking up at verse 22 very encouraging words from our Lord in this particular section similar to what we saw in our studies in Matthew's Gospel our Blessed Lord calls us not to be worrisome not to engage in carnal anxiety certainly there's a degree of anxiety or worry probably in all of our hearts at some points during the day or weeks or years but the Lord God Almighty is concerned that we do not give in to that and be paralyzed by that and so let us look to our Lord's instruction on this very important theme then he said to his disciples therefore I say to you do not worry about your life what you will eat nor about the body what you will put on life is more than food and the body is more than clothing consider the Ravens for they neither sow nor reap which have neither storehouse nor barn and God feeds them of how much more value are you than the birds and which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature if you then are not able to do the least why are you anxious for the rest consider the lilies how they grow they neither toil nor spin and yet I say to you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these if then God so clothes the grass which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven how much more will he clothe you oh you of little faith and do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink nor have an anxious mind for all these things the nations of the world seek after and your father knows that you need these things but seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you do not fear little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom sell what you have and give alms provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where nor no thief approaches nor moth destroys for where your treasure is there your heart will be also let your waist be girded and your lamps burning and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching assuredly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them and if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so blessed are those servants but know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect and Peter said to him Lord do you speak this parable only to us or to all people and the Lord said who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has but if that servant says in his heart my master is delaying his coming begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers and that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his Will shall be beaten with many stripes but he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few for every one to whom much is given from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more amen well as I said in this first section our Lord cautions us against carnal anxiety we are not to be overtaken by worry we are to be a people who confidently trust in their God and he says very clearly I say to you do not worry about your life what you will eat nor about the body what you will put on and his argument is manifold and one of them is simply this God knows what you have need of God will supply this doesn't mitigate against praying the petition in the Lord's Prayer give us this day our daily bread but it is to keep us from fretting it is to keep us sidelined and sidetracked and worried and paralyzed and not engaging in the calling that God has given to us rather we are to step out in faith trusting in God's provision and realizing that he clothes the lilies of the field even in a way that outshines Solomon and all of his glory and he feeds the birds of the air is he going to let his blood-bought children perish Jesus says no you need the trusts you need to you need to relax not in some sinful sort of chillout way but relax in the in the provision in the Providence and in the government and kindness of God most high and the underlying principle is verse 31 it's Matthew 6:33 here it's Luke 12 31 seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you instead of getting sidetracked or sidelined and all the other particulars of life we need to be making sure that God is our first priority that his kingdom is our first priority and then these things will be added unto you in other words if we are consumed with God God will indeed provide for us and even when we're not thankfully consumed with God he does provide for us I don't want to make that a conditional statement if you're not consumed with God he will not provide for you we know better don't we we know his constant provision and we know our lack of being consumed with him and then one final observation that comes from the reading of the passage later on is that Jesus teaches there will be degrees of punishment in hell and I realized that the doctrine of hell is offensive to many and the idea that there are actually degrees of punishment and Al is doubly offensive to many but this is what Christ taught the servant who knew his master's will and did not do it is liable to more stripes than the servant who did not know his master's will secondly that second servant who didn't know the Masters will still receive stripes there will still be punishment for him that is no excuse you need to avail yourself of what the will of God is and by the grace of God you need to pursue that will and this morning I intend to preach the Christian gospel and my encouragement to all of you is to pay attention to listen to who Jesus Christ is and what he has done and believe on him because that servant the new his masters will and did not do it did not come to the Savior did not close with the only Redeemer of God's elect that one will suffer more in hell to come well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for our Lord's cautions against worry and we confess Lord God living in this world that very often at least some of us are overtaken by such things help us to rest in you help us to find our stability our security our comfort in you and help all of us to prioritize godness kingdom give us grace to pursue those things that you've called us to in the first place resting and trusting in the fact that you will provide for those things in the in the second and third order we ask as well Lord God that you'd go before the preaching of the word that the Holy Spirit would make ready hearts that the Holy Spirit would grant receptivity and grant the graces of faith and repentance so that sinners here may come to the Savior and be spared of those that punishment those stripes in hell to come and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well turn with me finally in your Trinity hymnal before the preaching to him number 509 9 him number 599 will stand as we sing of Emanuel's land [Music] well before we turn to the book of Acts I just want to say that last week I used some hyperbole that I ultimately regret I should have said that if cam or I compromise with reference to the pulpit please fire us I apologize for going beyond that I did ask our brother Lucas to remove the sermon from sermon audio so again I apologize well please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts Acts chapter 2 our focus this morning is on verses 24 to 32 which incorporates Psalm 132 that's why we read it at the outset of worship and which is an application or an interpretation of Psalm 16 which is why we sang Psalm 16 focuses on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which is why we sang 599 there's a method to the madness here the hope the hope is is that the Psalms and the hymns serve the doctrine of the word and keeps those themes fresh in our hearts and minds well I want to pick up reading at verse 22 in Peters sermon on the day of Pentecost remember that he is answering those mockers who said that they were full of new wine when the gift of the Spirit or the gifts of the Spirit had been manifested through speaking in other languages so Peter says they are not drunk this is a fulfillment of the Prophet Joel specifically Joel 2 concerning the last days and now he goes on to explain who Jesus Christ is beginning in verse 22 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 it 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 in 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 off 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 in here for David did not ascend into the heavens but he says himself for you he says himself the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ amen let us pray father we thank you for this statement this sermon by the Apostle Peter concerning Jesus Christ and I pray now that your Holy Spirit would guide us and lead us and help us I pray that your Holy Spirit would illumine our minds and our hearts and that we would receive with thanksgiving your word and again father we pray for any and all who have not called on the name of the Lord that today would be the day of salvation that they would look to him who lived who died and who was raised a third day do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well last time in this study in the book of Acts Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost he basically presents who Jesus Christ is and in the context that makes sense if you notice in verse 21 as he finishes his quotation of Joel's prophet prophecy he says and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved now Peter will explain that Jesus is this Lord that Jesus has absolute lordship and that all persons listening to Peter should call upon him all persons listening to subsequent preachers should call upon him the Lord's if you have not called upon the name of the Lord you are dead in your sins you will ultimately perish in eternity the way of salvation is not by calling and working but by calling by looking unto Jesus by having faith in the the one who lived and who died and was raised again and last week we considered that Peter set forth the true Humanity of Jesus Christ in verse 22 and then he highlights the predetermined death of Jesus Christ in verse 23 now here in verses 24 to 32 he takes up the resurrection of Christ and then in 33 to 36 he'll deal with the exaltation of Christ which we will God willing look at next Sunday but this morning we're going to look at Jesus as the one who was raised by God the Father so let's look first at the declaration concerning the resurrection in verse 24 and then secondly the prophecy concerning the resurrection in verses 25 to 32 but note in the first place verse 24 whom God raised up now he had just said that God the Father had purposed that he be delivered up and that he ultimately be crucified but he does not negate or neglect the responsibility of these Jerusalem sinners for their responsibility in terms of the death of Jesus notice at the end of verse 23 you have taken by lawless hands have crucified and put to death and then he goes on to say whom God raised up so there's this great contrast between the law between the lawless hands of these unbelieving Jews and the father the father was pleased with the work the son and so the father raised him up there are other texts that specify that Christ laio takes up his own life or raises himself but all the persons of the Trinity are involved in this particular activity it is not out of the ordinary for the authors to describe it as the particular act of the father and he does here whom God raised up so there is this contrast FF Bruce says the sentence passed on Jesus by an earthly court and executed by Roman soldiers has been reversed Peter asserts by a higher court the Lord's if this is what the lawless hands thought of the Lord Jesus Christ this is what God the Father thought of the Lord Jesus Christ he raised him up and he loosed the pains of death he freed him from that temporary captivity he freed him from that earthly bondage in terms of the death of his own body his entrance into the grave and noticed specifically that it was impossible that he should be held by death the end of verse 24 because it was not possible that he should be held by it now we could say this is true of Christ by virtue of the hypostatic Union it's impossible for God to die Christ according to his humanity did in fact die but it's impossible for death to contain him because there wasn't a dissolution of the natures he is still the one person two natures so while it's impossible in terms of who Jesus is that's not Peters particular point in this presentation Peter says it was not possible for Jesus to stay dead because the Scriptures had promised otherwise note how verse 25 begins it begins with the word for it was not possible that death hold him for God had promised that death would not hold him in other words Peter is showing that what is happening in life and in terms of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is stuff that was written about him it was prophesied Peter's not the new thing on the Block when it comes to interpreting Scripture Peter is interpreting the Bible consists Peter is interpreting the Bible accurately and Peter wants to show these Jews that they've missed it that they've resisted it and that they need to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ and be saved it was impossible for death to hold on to him because the father promised otherwise again FF bruce says if his suffering and death were ordained by the determined counsel of god so were his resurrection and glory this was no accident none of the things that Peter highlights concerning who Jesus is was any accident it wasn't an afterthought it wasn't a plan B but rather it was indeed an application of God's Word in the history and in the work of Jesus Christ now let's look at that prophecy concerning the resurrection in verses 25 to 32 first Peter appeals to Psalm 16 verses 811 aah of 11 and then Peter interprets Psalm 16 verses 8 to 11 but notice in the first place the subject of the song verse 25 for David says concerning him who's the hem it's to him that God raised up from the dead it's the him who was engaged in an earthly ministry it's the him who was attested by the Father with wonders and miracles and signs it's the him they crucified their lawless hands put him to death but the father raised him up and now we read that David wrote a song concerning him concerning Christ concerning Messiah David is the author of the psalm but David is not the subject of the psalm the psalm is descriptive of the life of Messiah now if you hear me use the word Messiah that's simply the Old Testament equivalent to the word Christ both Messiah in Hebrew and Christ and Greek mean The Anointed One God's anointed one the one whom the father anointed for a particular task and in the Old Testament the people of God were taught to wait for and look for this coming Messiah and so we need to understand that particular Psalm is not about David rather it is about Jesus and that Psalm just a brief overview we just sang it but if I gave you a test right now and asked you what Psalm 16 was about I I hope you pass I hope you'd all come through with flying colors and say oh yeah I remember exactly what Psalm 16 was when we sang it you know two themes ago or one one hymn ago but Psalm 16 is an expression by the Messiah a petition for God's preservation verse 1 uphold me preserve me keep me it's a good thing for Messiah to pray to his father the reason that he praised this is because of his relationship with and his commitment to Yahweh words he can ask the father to preserve him based on his past that the father has in fact preserved him and then in verses 7 11 7 to 11 he praises Yahweh he expresses his praise to God and his confidence in him in short Psalm 16 basically describes the life of Jesus Christ Psalm 16 expresses to us that Messiah is dependent upon the father that Messiah has a track record of dependence on the father that Messiah has a track record of experience wherein the father sustains him and blesses him and encourages him and he has hopefulness in his father that he will see him even through the grave itself so what God has done in the past furnishes material for praise in the present and gives him hope and stability and confidence for the future so the subject of Psalm 16 though written by David it's not David it's about the Lord Jesus Christ John Gill says the whole psalm belongs to the Messiah and everything concerning the person in it agrees with him Spurgeon said 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 he goes on to say since in the ninth and tenth verse is like the Apostles on the Mount we can see no man but Jesus only these guys got it right these guys knew what they were talking about because David says concerning him no when we go back to Psalm 16 verses 8 to 11 how does it function here in Peters sermon well in the first place it expresses the Messiah's focus on Yahweh other words the resurrection is what Peter is intending to prove here and he's intending to prove it by the fulfillment of Psalm 16 but he goes back just a little bit to sort of sketch for us a little more about the true Humanity in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ remember the whole context is verse 21 he's explaining the Lord that persons are to call upon his name and notice with reference to Psalm 16 the Messiah's focus is on your way look at verse 25 there in acts 2 I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken the the psalm itself says I I set the Lord always before my face and the idea here is that Jesus always lived in the consciousness of his father's presence in other words this Jesus whom you crucified is the subject of Psalm 16 he is the Messiah announced by David who would ultimately come into this world die and be raised the third day but dis Jesus what characterized him in his earthly ministry as the anointed of God as the as the the chosen one as the Christ or as the Messiah is the consciousness that he was always in the presence of God I set the Lord always before my face that was his focus that was his orientation that explains why according to verse 23 it was the purpose of the Father the pre purpose the predetermination the foreknowledge of God well Jesus doesn't straight back that Jesus doesn't say no I'm not going to do that I set the Lord always before my face so that whatever the situation whatever the condition whatever the trial whatever the affliction I can go through it the Lord Christ Most High was one who according to his humanity when he lived on earth lived in a conscious with a conscious focus upon the Father when he speaks of Yahweh being at my right hand now there's no connection here to ultimately Christ is exalted to the right hand of the Father this simply means that the father has always been his advocate this is where the the Advocate or the helper stands for someone doesn't he God's always been at my right hand Messiah says of Yahweh I foresaw the Lord always before my face he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken in other words the stability that I possess the confidence that I have the resolve that I manifest it's because the Advocate my father is at my right hand he is my shield my help my defender my friend this is how the psalm applies to our Lord Jesus Christ notice secondly this promotes joy in the Messiah verse 26 therefore my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad moreover my flesh also will rest in hope isn't that the case the presence of God affords what it affords joy see Spurgeon said it's written about Jesus only but I'll not argue later on that it's for Jesus only or it's really descriptive of the life of Jesus where a prayer of Jesus but you know believers by virtue of their union with him it is for us as well I think thereby it shows us some very important things why do we lack joy maybe because we don't set Yahweh before our face maybe because we don't rely upon his advocacy maybe because we don't depend upon him as our friend maybe the absence of joy in our lives is because of the absence of God in our lives which we are perfectly content with not so Messiah Messiah says I set the Lord always before my face he that my right hand that I may not be shaken therefore based on that reality Messiah says my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad literally my glory was glad moreover my flesh also will rest in hope so just let us take from this the joy or the presence of God produces joy in the part of the people of God I know that seems like a fundamental basic principle but it's one I think we stand need of reminding of being reminded of a lot why aren't we typically happy oh yeah we could use a raise or we could use a promotion and we could use a happier home life or we know because we need more God remember that interchange between Yahweh and Moses prior to their entrance to the promised land and God says I'm not going I'm giving you the gym Butler paraphrase I'm not going what's Moses say we don't want to go to the promised land if you're not there you're what makes the Promised Land good you're what makes the promised land a land of blessing you're not in it God we don't want to B's in there God you see the people of God throughout the ages of the church have this one thing in common they're the people of God they want Yahweh they want Jesus Christ they want all these things that the Bible says are available to them they don't want to absent themselves they don't want to not participate they don't want to not read not pray not look to God no they want more of God because it's God that produces joy therefore based on the fact that I set your way before my face the fact that he is at my right hand therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad and then this produces hope and confidence for the future moreover my flesh also will rest in hope and notice then thirdly the Messiah's confidence in Yahweh verse 27 specific reference to the resurrection for you will not leave my soul in Hades nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption you see what Peter is doing it's brilliant again Peter doesn't need Butler to say it's brilliant but it's brilliant he's moving this crowd to consider that this Jesus whom they crucified is the Messiah that's why verse 32 isn't simply repetition of what he's already sad when he says in verse 32 this Jesus that's what he's been leading to Psalm 16 is not about David David wrote about Messiah we may agree to that but verse 32 takes them in this specific direction that Messiah is Jesus Jesus is Messiah and everything Psalm 16 says it says concerning him now note specifically in terms of the Messiah's confidence in Yahweh according to verse 27 the proven faithfulness of God in the past the proven faithfulness of God in the present means the proven faithfulness of God in the future so as the Messiah speaking the words of Psalm 16 looks at the life to come and he knows that that's going to entail death as he knows it's going to entail Sheol or Hades he knows equally as well that the father will bring him forth and Hades here is the preferred translation it's not hell this is not a proof text that Christ physically and literally went to hell Hades and Sheol are the place of the dead the Geneva Bible translates the word here as grave and I think that's as good a translation as one can give the doctrine here is not that Jesus went to hell it's that Jesus body went to the place of the dead but God did not allow his Holy One to see corruption God would not leave his soul in Hades but rather God the Father would raise him up on the third day the very events in the very situation that Peter is prosecuting in terms of the life of Jesus Christ and then notice the Messiah's dependence on Yahweh verse 28 you have made known the ways of life I don't think that's by revelation okay Jesus Messiah here's what life is going to entail I don't think it's that at all I think it's you've been with me every step in the ways of life you've been at the head of every path in the ways of life you have been my constant and ready companion every step of my way this is the acknowledgment of Messiah with reference to the father and he says you have made known to me the ways of life and then notice you will make me full of joy in your presence isn't that what God brings to the believer it's probably a place where more than one person should say Amen brother where does our pleasure come from it's interesting because Psalm 16 has another section to verse 11 it's as if it didn't even need to be stated but the psalm ends with at your right hand are pleasures forevermore you see I think man by nature is a pleasure seeker isn't he well yeah I've heard about those sorts of guy just think about it for a moment pleasure seekers I mean you don't have to parent long before you see this is true and your children I don't mean pleasure we always think carnality or sexuality or so no we just want to be full you may have one cookie but I want to why one's enough to get the taste and whatever nutritional benefit the cookie provides why do you have to have two we want pleasure and we want a fullness of it I'm not even saying that's necessarily bad but what I am suggesting is man seeks his pleasure in things that are bad and that might be true of some of you you seek pleasure and drugs you seek pleasure and alcohol you seek pleasure and sack you seek pleasure in pornography you seek pleasure in work not that there shouldn't be in some of those things but do you seek your pleasure in God God is the source of pleasure God is the giver of pleasure God is good god is merciful God is kind and this is what Messiah says concerning his own earthly sojourn you have made known to me the ways of life you will make me full of joy in your presence at your right hand are pleasures forevermore I think it was Lewis who said it's not that we desire pleasure that's the problem it's that our sights are set too low we're like the child that would rather make mud pies in the gutter than enjoy a holiday by the seaside god holds forth to each of you this morning pleasures forevermore why in the world would you reject that and go and make mud pies in the gutter why in the world would you resist and reject those things which God the Lord has promised to all those who come to Jesus Christ in faith in fact turn to the prophet Isaiah he nails this very clearly better than CS Lewis or better than any of Lewis's imitators notice in the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55 he says ho everyone thirsts come to the waters you who have no money come by and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without price and then note the question the interrogation why verse 2 do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy listen carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight itself in abundance incline your ear and come to me here and I will make your soul live you see what the prophets saying he's in dining the nation and he's indicted in the Covenant community saying why are you spending your money on that which does not satisfy why are you going a whoring from Yahweh why would you follow after bail why would you go to a shrah why would you go to Molech they can't deliver they have no goods they have no resources they have no benefits they have no blessings to confer upon their worshipers why do you spend your money on that which does not satisfy we can extrapolate and bring it to our own particular context and ask the same question why young people do you spend your money on that which does not satisfy I don't mean you buy cheap stuff at Walmart I mean your resources your hopes your dreams your life your orientation why do you spend it on porn why do you spend it on drugs why do you spend it on whatever is not God the soul miss the the prophet all say come to God you want pleasure that's not a bad thing but seek your pleasure in the one who is perfectly equipped to deliver that pleasure and that pleasure is the forgiveness of sins that pleasure is a conscience that is void of offense toward God and men that pleasure is the life of faith that pleasure is knowing Yahweh always before our face y'all way as an advocate or a helper in our right hand that pleasure is the confident reality that though we go into the grave we will arise we are going to follow the Savior what the Savior do in terms of the grave for his people he took the fangs out of it isn't that what Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15 grave where is your sting death where is your victory it's been D death and been defang by our Savior see those are the pleasures that we need to orient ourselves toward the reality that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living in the dead the reality that he's going to say to wretched miserable horrible sinners like us well done good and faithful servant said of him he's saying Christ is gonna say that I can think of a thousand reasons Jesus Jesus should never say that to me but the one reason why he will is because he died and he was raised again that's pleasure pleasure is not doing whatever it is you want to do pleasure is coming to the father through the son knowing the joy of being found in him not having your own righteousness which is from the law but that which is from God through faith in Jesus so I want to encourage young people children adults as well your problem isn't that you want pleasure the problem is is where you're seeking to satisfy seeking to find seeking to fetch out that pleasure and I want to encourage you find that pleasure where Messiah found it namely in his father Psalm 16 is appealed to now Peter comes to interpret in verses 29 to 32 he reminds them of the subject of the psalm he's already said David says concerning him in verse 25 now in verse 29 he's going to say you know men and brethren he's not speaking to them as brethren Christians but brethren Jews and some have observed that he softens his language a little bit here in terms of men and brethren because he's going to press on them something that is going to be very difficult for them to understand and receive I hope you appreciate the contrast this Jesus whom you crucified is the Messiah that David wrote about this Jesus whom you crucified is the Messiah that David wrote about and the one whom God raised up so men and brethren I want to take you by the hand now I want to work our way through the interpretation of this particular Psalm and I want to show you how it finds its fulfillment in Jesus and first I need to remind you who the subject of the psalm was it wasn't David it wasn't David notice in verse 29 men and brethren let me 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 so Psalm 16 couldn't have been about him because he was both dead and buried and his tomb is present with us to this day now whether its present to us in our day is not the point its present to them in their day and they could see it they understood it they knew it they knew that this could not be true of David because he both died he was buried and his tomb is with us to this day now notice he goes on to indicate that's that David was a a prophet and that David functioned as a prophet and David operated according to things that he had known and things that he for saw notice in 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 there's a bit of a variant if you're using the NIV NASB there's a bit of a variant there if you're interested you talk to me afterwards and we can debate the merits of this particular interpretation we're gonna stick with what's here in New King James but the backdrop is Psalm 132 and the backdrop B of Psalm 132 is what's called 2nd samuel 7 now this is very important and it encourage you all to just pay attention not to suggest that you're not but it's always good to get a little reminder what's second samuel 7 it's the promise of god to david that from david's line one would rise up and one would sit on David's throne and one would rule over the kingdom of God forever and ever it's beautiful promise isn't it David receives this the psalmist you know amplify it so I'm 132 as well Psalm 89 you notice I often choose Psalm 89 as a an opener for worship because it's a it's a psalm of Christ it speaks to Jesus it speaks to his relationship to David his father and it's all under that that promise of second Samuel chapter 7 and that's precisely what's happening so the Lord had sworn with an oath to him look at the language there for being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath that's kind of redundant isn't it he's just swear he swore with an oath in other words what God says in 2nd Samuel 7 is not open for debate it is not compromisable it is not something that will vanish it is not something that can be threatened God swore with an oath to David that from David's line God would raise up us on sit him upon his throne and he would rule and reign over all things again 2nd Samuel 7 Davidic covenant Psalm 89 Psalm 132 so David knew these things David understood these things David had accurate sort of a perception concerning the scope of future history but notice as well in verse 31 he says he for singing 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 of Jesus Christ in Psalm 16 we've already established that we already know that well let's proceed he says the reference so rather the reference to his flesh notice in verse 31 his flesh did not see corruption highlights further the physical mass of bodily resurrection the Lord's there are those who taught that it really doesn't matter whether Jesus rose from the dead or not it's what it inspires from his people it really doesn't matter if the body that went into the tomb came out of the tomb it's the thought that counts no it absolutely does matter that the body that went into the tomb is the body that came out of the tomb we hang our souls on that data and it most certainly does matter the sorts of people would say well it really doesn't matter how God created the world or how long it took to get for God to create the world those the same sort of people that say well it doesn't really matter if Jesus did what he says he did rather than the authority of God's Word hangs on such things and if we suggest or rather sacrifice one then the whole thing collapses but Peter telling us the flesh was raised true bodily resurrection and noticed that the psalm prophetically announces the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and it does not do so with reference to a future Millennial Kingdom but it does so with reference to the reservoir of our Lord Jesus in other words there are those who teach us that we need to wait 14 Jesus to reign asawa Peter says verses 33 to 36 are going to show us that he is both Lord and Christ that he rules and reigns over all things psalm 110:1 is true of him yahweh said to my lord sit thou at my right hand till i make all of your enemies your footstool brethren we're not waiting for the king to come we are submitting to the king in his reign now when does Peter tell us that Jesus occupies David's throne not in our future but rather at the resurrection he was raised from the dead he was exalted on high and dare he seats her sits rather on the throne of David all the promises of God are yes and amen in him the promise concerning the son of God who would build a house for God is now fulfilled in and through our Lord Jesus Christ and then notice in verse 32 the specific application of the song to Jesus again the name Jesus was announced in verse 22 but then here it's encapsulated or rather brought back to show that this Jesus God raised up of which we are all witnesses the psalm was not about David but the Messiah and the Messiah is this Jesus now I don't know that we feel the full import of this particular statement because we're not Jews living in the 1st century we're not Jews who by and large rejected this man Jesus of Nazareth we're not Jews who you know scoffed or or ultimately set away with them away with them crucify him but but you see Peters impeccable object David's not writing about David David's writing about Messiah and Messiah is this Jesus whom you crucified now brethren thankfully they were cut to the heart about 3,000 were added to the church that day but for those who were not added I am sure that this name this application this series of implications made by Peter in terms of in in terms of his interpretation of Psalm 16 would have just blown their minds and enraged that they would have been outright Jesus is not the Messiah this man from Nazareth this carpenter's son remember the kind of disdain they held for him during his earthly ministry do you think that magically changes at this particular point yes some do come yes some do believe yes some do call on the name of the Lord but brethren as we proceed through the book of Acts who's the chief enemy of the Church of Jesus Christ at least primarily or initially it's on believing Jews that is not an anti-semitic statement it is a statement of fact initially the Roman Empire saw Christianity as a subset of Judaism and the Roman Empire for the most part left-left Judaism oh and it mess with that and so for the Roman Empire it was a moot point who these believers were who these Christians were it's a sect of a Nazarene but they just assumed it under the banner of Judaism the first primary enemy is unbelieving Judaism that's who the Apostles are gonna have their troubles with that's who they're going to be appeal it be opposed by because they didn't say wow I guess David was writing about Jesus no they didn't see it that way they didn't think it that way I submit that verse 32 is not just the repetition of information but it is taking like a dagger the reality of who Jesus Christ is and screwing it into their conscience it's this Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses Alexander said what he said in the preceding verse was that David spake of the Messiah's resurrection what he here says is that the Messiah was no other than Jesus whom they crucified why so because in him and him alone the prophecy has been fulfilled the Messiah was to rise from the dead Jesus of Nazareth has risen from the dead therefore the two must be identical it's impeccable logic on the part of the Apostle Peter and it's affirmed by two witnesses God raised him up and we the disciples saw him we the disciples looked at him we the disciples saw the self-same body that went into the tomb is the self-same body that came out of the tomb we are eyewitnesses of this fact that's Peters interpretation of Psalm 16 now before we move to some concluding thoughts of application I think it's important that we learn to read the Bible the way the Apostles read the Bible notice that the words Christ and resurrection are not found in Psalm 16 but Christ and the resurrection are found in Psalm 16 right you see that if you ever walking down Yale Road on a Saturday morning you'll probably bump into the watchtower society and what's one of their biggest arguments against the doctrine of the Trinity well the word Trinity's not in the Bible the word Trinity is not in the Bible take your concordance out and they're right take your concordance out look up T or better yet type it in on your computer concordant it's a lot easier than getting up and having to walk five steps that's a boner type in Trinity you won't find it in the Bible well it's called the word concept fallacy the idea that the word is absent so therefore the concept is absent that's false it's a lie the Trinity is everywhere in the Bible even if the word is absent Christ and the resurrection are clearly plainly taught by David in Psalm 16 even though those words are absent from Psalm 16 let's read the Bible the way the Apostles did as well if you're interpretated method couldn't yield peters interpretation of Psalm 16 I would say get a new interpretated method now for those of you might be scratching your melons and wondering what I'm going on about well there a whole hermeneutic that we ought to adopt in terms of reading Old Testament texts and that hermeneutic is not what is oftentimes bandied about in pulpit after pulpit and seminary after seminary we need to arrive at how these men read the Old Testament and we need to function likewise well just had to get that out of my system there I think interpretation one of my aims or hopes or goals and preaching is not only to preach what the tax says but hopefully to encourage you how to read texts so that you don't need mean I mean we always need churches and we always need ministry and all that sort of thing but on a Monday or a Tuesday or Wednesday be good for you to say oh yeah I get it I see how Peters operating yeah I see you Peters functioning you know the old adage you give a man a fish you feed them for a day you teach a man to fish you feed him for the rest of his life I think the people of God need to be taught how to fish they need to be taught biblical hermeneutics or principles of interpretation so they can yield the meaning of texts on their own because that's what God wants from us well in terms of some thoughts concerning application first the whole context Peter is concerned to explain this lord of verse 21 it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved and that Lord is Jesus Christ that Lord is the second person of the Holy Trinity who came into this world and took on our humanity with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin he is our fellow in terms of his humanity and that one lived in obedience to the father's law why because we have not we do not we will not and he obeyed every step of the way and then he was offered up as a sacrifice and he gave himself willingly and there on that cross he was just at a sacrifice to God for sin and he was also a substitute there because we deserve to be a bear that punishment and wrath the Christ took it for us not a beautiful thing wonder if we've lost the freshness of the what if we've lost the sort of awe and the wow factor about this reality I mean I think we touch on you know the doctrine of justification a lot we speak about salvation a lot we look to the gospel a lot brethren the purpose of looking to the gospel a lot a lot is not to lose the wow factor we'll do the lord god almighty that we'd be wowed every day as we consider our lot in life we are that servant who knew our masters well we didn't do it we deserve a multitude of stripes but lo and behold our master our Savior our Lord and Redeemer he came in and he bore those stripes on our behalf Wow let us never lose the wow factor the gospel provides at the beginning of our salvation may it be the case that it always provides that throughout our salvation he not only died but he was raised a third day and as Paul sort of encapsulates that whole event that's sort of two things that the death and the resurrection he tells us in Romans 4:25 that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses there was why did Jesus die because of our sins and he was raised for our justification secondly we ought to appreciate the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant the promise made by God to David in 2nd Samuel 7 12 to 16 and there in that particular section God says death does not annul the promise in other words David would die Solomon would die the subsequent Judean kings would die and the idea might be well the promise would die then as well no death does not annul it he says as well that sin does not destroy it Lords David's in solid and sinned and all the subsequent Judean kings sinned doesn't that mean that the threat or the threat is there for the dissolution of this Davidic covenant now god knows that they would send but the one who would come to fulfill it would never sinned and as well time will not exhaust it and then that Davidic covenant is further amplified or rather referred to in Psalm 89 and Psalm 132 and then throughout the song David reporting more and more to us about Messiah about this one who would be the one to achieve all that God promised in the Davidic covenant Psalm 22 we call it a psalm of the Cross why because it speaks of crucifixion my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and then here specifically in Psalm 16 he speaks of the Resurrection lords if you only had your Old Testament you would have enough to have saving faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your souls one man a recent Bible teacher somewhere said we need to we need to separate ourselves or disattach ourselves or or get rid of the Old Testament please don't do that you get rid of the Old Testament you get rid of Jesus you don't ever get rid of your Old Testament brethren read it study it sing it praise God for it because it's all about Jesus didn't Jesus say this you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but these are they that testify of O me that any preacher would ever say that the Christian Church doesn't need the Old Testament there's a guy that should be fired hyperbole or hyperbole within boundaries that's not hyperbole he should be fired that's terrible bad what does it make a Paul statement second current second Timothy chapter 3 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness why that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work what Scripture is Paul primarily speaking of in that particular instance the Old Testament you have known the sacred scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ brethren we ought to take the Word of God seriously and when we see here that Psalm 16 was about Jesus we ought to be thankful the application to Jesus in the birth narrative in Luke's Gospel we see the fulfillment in Jesus at his resurrection and exaltation and then we have that sort of snippet in Matthew chapter 16 which gives us the fruition in other words it gives us what the the second Samuel 7 covenant promise was all about what was it it was that a son of God would build a house for God and he would rule over it isn't that Matthew 16 who do men say that I the Son of Man am they go about explaining speaking what's going on out there and then Jesus says but who do you say that I am Peter says thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God what's Peter or rather Jesus go on to say I will build my church you have a son of God building a house for God ruling over it for all eternity it's a blessed fulfillment in terms of our Redeemer and then finally the practical benefit of the passage hopefully all of this has been practical but so that we get some specifics the Union believers have with Christ means the truths set forth by Psalm 16 are true for those in him in other words it does apply to Jesus but we in him we have life eternal in him we are bound up in Messiah so what he prays there in Psalm 16 is true for his people as well shouldn't we each and every day pray Psalm 1 I saw a verse 1 of Psalm 16 preserve me o Yahweh and uses an argument God's past faithfulness you've always been with me in the past the lines have fallen to me and in in Pleasant places you have never left me destitute you have never left me what left me wandering you have never left me alone isn't this the way the people of God ought to pray pray the way Spurgeon says as those who have tried and proven their God that's precisely how Messiah Jesus prays there in Psalm 16 preserve me and I know that you will because you always have and when I come to a particular crux in my life for the Lord Jesus that meant the cross I am confident that you will not leave my soul in Sheol and you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption you will raise me from the dead brethren those things Christ prays in Psalm 16 are true for us God is our preserver God is at our right hand God is the source of our joy God is our stabilizing influence God promotes hope for us in the future we are going to die but we have a certain confident hope that we're going to pass through that grave it functions as a portal for the people of God to send them into the place of God takes the death of the sting right out of it doesn't it when you look at it that way you've heard the old adage I don't mind dying I just don't want to be there when it happens I get that death is unnatural it's the sort of consequences of sin it's not good it's not pleasant but for the people of God who foresee the Lord always before their face who know his presence at their right hand who have that joy unspeakable and full of glory who have that confident hope and expectation we say with Paul grave where is your victory death where is your sting not that we get cocky or arrogant but we know that there's a day coming wherein we will enter in to Emmanuelle's land we will sing stanza for a $5.99 really the king there in his beauty I'm sorry I always mess this up when I try to when I try to wing it another sign that my memory is not as good as it was even five years ago but the bright eyes not her garment but her dear bridegroom's face I will not gaze at glory but on my king of grace not at the crown he gifted but honest Pierce at hand the lamb is all the glory of a Manuel's land that's our future Saint that's in our future brethren that's what we have the hope for he will allow our soul to perish in Sheol or in Hades he will not let our our flesh see corruption well he will for a time the worms are going to get to it but there's a resurrection day coming there is a Judgment Day coming there is a final glorious appearing before the Lord coming and in that we hope in that we rejoice in that we trust please please please see Psalm 16 yes first and foremost as the Messiah's experience of Yahweh in his earthly ministry but see it as well as your prayer to the God of heaven and earth preserve me keep me hold me be there at my right hand because sometimes life is a mess sometimes it's challenging look at what it was for Christ came to his own his own received him not a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief he needed to depend upon his father and what does he do he depends upon his father brethren please take Psalm 16 add it to your prayer life I think you'll be happier for it and enjoy singing that song of praise to God Almighty and if you're not a believer this morning I want you to have all that Psalm 16 says is true for the people of God and the way of salvation is so clearly outlined in verse 21 we'll simply end with a statement concerning it whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved let us pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for the glory in the majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord his true humanity his predetermined death his glorious resurrection and God willing as we consider next week his exaltation to the right hand of the Father how we thank you that the Old Testament is all about Jesus and how we thank you that it's beautiful and wonderful and expressive of his relationship with the father and God I pray that we would find great encouragement and great hope for our own souls in such Psalms as these and we pray these things through Christ our Lord amen well why don't we close by singing the docs ecology of praise to our triune God if you're not familiar it's page Roman numeral 16 in your Trinity hymnal will stand as we sing the doxology [Music] great that you do preserve us [Music] you