Acts 2:22-36

[0:00] for the reading of God's Word this morning from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. And we will begin at verse 22 and read through verse 36.

[0:13] That's Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verses 22 through 36. This is how it reads.

[0:26] Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.

[0:46] This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

[1:00] God raised him up, loosing the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me.

[1:16] He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope.

[1:28] For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.

[1:43] Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

[1:55] Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

[2:15] This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

[2:40] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

[2:53] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified.

[3:07] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Amen. Amen. Let me remind you that after we leave here this morning, we are headed to breakfast at Valois.

[3:24] It's on 53rd Street between Harper and Lake Park. Hope that we will see you there. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the morning.

[3:35] Thank you for the morning. Thank you for the morning. And what a morning it is, what a morning it was when Jesus rose victorious from the tomb.

[3:46] So be glorified in us, Lord Jesus, this morning, even through your word preached is our prayer. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

[3:57] Over the past three weeks, we've looked at the resurrections of three people in the Gospels. Two men. Lazarus of Bethany and the son of the widow of Nain.

[4:15] And then on last week, we saw one little girl, Jairus's daughter in Capernaum. Each was raised from death to life by Jesus himself.

[4:31] Imagine, I would think that that kind of experience would stick with one for life. I mean, just think about some of the things that have happened in your life that have indelibly imprinted you.

[4:46] And think about the potential of the impact of being raised from death. But such also is the impact of spiritual resurrection.

[4:57] I loved what Julius was saying. I mean, he's got it marked eight years in November. Well, believe it or not, I celebrated my 49th spiritual birthday in the same day that little Grace Benner came into the world.

[5:15] March 29th, 1964, if you will, before some of you were around. But I remember because that was my grandmother's birthday.

[5:27] She was born March 29th, 1888, if you will. And then I came to Christ realizing, like Julius, boy, I needed a savior, huh?

[5:41] I needed a change of life. And so, just like spiritual resurrection indelibly imprints you, I would think that these people who were raised from death by Jesus, their lives were imprinted.

[5:56] while these resurrected three, as we could call them, of the Gospels, were raised only to die again, Jesus Christ is unique in all of human history.

[6:12] He was resurrected from death and he lives today, 2,000 years later. Such is the message of Scripture and the reason for our celebration today.

[6:29] And it's right, friends, that you and I would celebrate the resurrection, which is the absolutely crucial tenet of our faith, our cherished Christian faith.

[6:42] There's a sense in which everything rides on the resurrection. And it's interesting, though, that the uniqueness of Jesus' resurrection fits the uniqueness of the pattern of his entire life.

[6:59] His is a one-of-a-kind, matchless, inimitable kind of life. And Peter's message in our text today really centers on the resurrection of Jesus, but at the same time, it touches on other very unique things about the life and the ministry of Jesus.

[7:23] And these things are worthy of our consideration on this Easter morning. Time doesn't allow an exhaustive treatment of our text, yet there is adequate time, I would trust, that our faith this morning would be strengthened.

[7:40] And perhaps would even whet our appetites to look at this Scripture again this week, or even the whole of Acts chapter 2, which is an absolutely stunning passage.

[7:52] But I would pray that each of us would be strengthened having spent time in this Word on this morning. Look at the first thing that I want you to see is in verse 22. And there, we see the ministry of Jesus.

[8:08] The ministry of Jesus. The ministry of Jesus, friends, was a one-of-a-kind, absolutely unique kind of ministry.

[8:20] Notice what the text says about him. Peter's words concern, in verse 22, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth.

[8:30] Notice in verse 23, that speaks about this Jesus. We see that repeated in verse 32, this Jesus.

[8:42] And finally, we see it again in verse 36, that speaks about this Jesus, whom you crucified. Jesus of Nazareth.

[8:52] That's who he's speaking about. He was a man, if you will, with the stamp of God's approval on his life and ministry.

[9:05] How do you know that? Look what the text says, is that he was a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.

[9:17] God's kingdom authority, his kingdom rule, was demonstrated through Jesus and his kingdom order in ways that it was expressed in no ways before him or since then in a very, very unique way.

[9:35] At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he proclaimed in John and Matthew and the other gospels, repent. Why? For the kingdom of God in the person and the work of the Son was at hand.

[9:50] It was near. And it was the words and the works of Jesus that demonstrated the truth of this. His miracles, his wonders, his signs were visible signs of God's approval, a divine thumbs up, if you will.

[10:07] Jesus expressed it this way in John chapter 5. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

[10:26] Peter would later say at Cornelius' house how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him.

[10:42] The ministry of Jesus was a one-of-a-kind, unique ministry. But also notice what else we see. Look at the death of Jesus in verse 23.

[10:54] The death of Jesus was a one-of-a-kind, unique kind of death. Peter's Pentecost preaching included the truth that Jesus' death was a part of God's plan for redemption of the world and his preaching indicted, Peter's preaching, sinful men for the death of Christ while at the same time noting God's eternal plan called for the saving death of his son.

[11:25] Notice, look at what verse 23 says. This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of wicked men.

[11:40] From one angle, we see that Christ's death was according to the predetermined plan of God drawn up from eternity past that God's son would die for the sins of the world.

[11:57] It was the plan of God. It was ordered by a righteous, the righteous God of heaven as a payment, a just payment for the sins of mankind.

[12:08] Scripture agrees with this. Listen to Isaiah. All we, humankind, like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has turned, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[12:25] But listen particularly to verse 10. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. It was the will of God to crush him, to bruise him.

[12:41] God's plan from eternity past called for the death of his son. But also, there's another angle from which we need to view the death of Christ.

[12:53] while the death of Christ was sovereignly ordered by the God of heaven as a just payment for the sins of man. From another angle, as the text notes, Jesus was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

[13:10] The apostolic prayer in Acts chapter 4 expresses it like this. Listen. For truly in this city they're gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, listen to this, to do whatever your hand and your plan has predestined to take place.

[13:36] From one angle, God from eternity past signed on to the death of his son and ordered it from a human perspective, from the underside.

[13:47] It was the responsibility of man. Here again, one of those places where sovereignty and human responsibility are wedded together. God has a way of even hijacking the most evil of man's plans in order to accomplish his purposes.

[14:04] The sacrifices. Jesus' death was unique. The sacrifices in the Old Testament system were limited in their effectiveness. Unlike the sacrifices under the law, the death of Jesus, friends, was a once and for all sacrifice offered once in the end of the age.

[14:25] Hebrews puts it like this, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until his enemy should be made his footstool.

[14:40] For by, listen to this, a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Huh? The ministry of Jesus unique.

[14:53] The death of Jesus once and for all a unique offering. Huh? The ministry of Jesus unique.

[15:03] The death of Jesus. But notice, boy, this is what Peter spends the most time in verses 24 through 32. The resurrection of Jesus.

[15:15] One of a kind. Unique. Huh? The resurrection of Jesus and he explained it from scripture. The reference that he uses is to Psalm 16.

[15:29] David, of course, was the human author and the initial experience in Psalm 16. Psalm 16 was his. But there was also a prophetic dimension to the psalm.

[15:42] And prophetically, the reference was about the experience of a future descendant of Jesus. I mean, of David. Even Jesus of Nazareth.

[15:54] Oh, the psalm ultimately is a psalm of great comfort and confidence. But there, David expressed confidence in the Lord for himself, but also on behalf of his future son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[16:09] That he would not be abandoned to the circumstances that he was up against, particularly death. Look at verses 25 and 26 particularly because there, you get a vision or David's soul a vision as it were of God's protection.

[16:27] Look at what he says. And what David says concerning him, here it is, I saw the Lord always before me for he is at my right hand and I will not be shaken.

[16:41] Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also shall dwell in hope. He saw one who would protect him at his right hand.

[16:53] That was where one would stand. Even today we use a similar expression. There one would stand for protection. We talk about a person who is my right hand man.

[17:05] Ever had a right hand man to stand with you? To go with you in times of need and stand by you? Maybe someone that would go to court with you or someone that would go in maybe a defense of a dissertation or a thesis.

[17:22] Someone to go with you to stand by you. I remember when I was in, I remember very vividly I was in junior high school and I was at a party one evening and some of the some of the neighborhood stiffs they called me out.

[17:42] They were outside in the alley. I mean everybody else was in there having a good time and you know when the neighborhood stiffs call you you sort of go out and see what the neighborhood stiffs want.

[17:53] But I remember there was a God there that I had confidence in and everyone will forget his name was Paul Dawson. So Paul came out with me. Paul was my right hand man that gave me confidence even when I was going in an uncomfortable situation that may have called for my protection.

[18:17] Huh? Someone who makes you feel confident and secure. Someone who is bigger and stronger and wiser.

[18:29] Huh? This vision I saw the Lord always before me but also notice confidence in the Lord's preservation and presence that we see in verses 27 and 28.

[18:40] You will not abandon my soul to the grave to Hades nor let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make known you will make me full of gladness with your presence.

[18:56] Huh? The reference here is that Christ would not experience the corruption of the grave. Rather than the realms of death as his portion the path of life and the presence of God would be our Lord's portion through resurrection.

[19:14] He would be raised from the dead. Huh? Jesus' resurrection was one of a kind. Even those he raised from death died again. Not so with him.

[19:25] He conquered death once and for all. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him.

[19:38] Romans 6 and 9. Thus our Lord could stare death in the face with these words. Oh death where is your victory? Oh grave where is your sting?

[19:50] His was a unique resurrection a unique death unique ministry but notice also his was a unique exaltation the exaltation or the ascension of Jesus we see that in verses 33 through 35.

[20:06] Huh? The ascension of Jesus one of a kind. Huh? Not only did Peter see the resurrection of Christ as being based on Old Testament scripture.

[20:17] Huh? The exaltation of Christ was based on Psalm 110. It's quoted. Psalm 110 and one is quoted or referred to 25 to 30 times in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament text is Psalm 110 quoted in the New.

[20:38] And the essence is what we see there in verse 34 the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

[20:49] Huh? The essence of Psalm 110 is the father speaking to the son to take the highest honor until a future appointed time. And Jesus friends occupies that place today at the right hand of God and according to scripture scriptures like Romans 8 34 Colossians 3 and 1 he is there in the presence of God for you and me and he's making intercession for us.

[21:17] Furthermore Peter explains that the oh I love this that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the work of Jesus Christ.

[21:28] it is a divine prerogative. As a matter of fact look in Acts chapter 2 verse 17 where Peter is quoting Joel and he says this that in the last days it will be declares God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams but notice what Peter says in verse 33 being therefore exalted speaking about Jesus at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit guess who pours out the Spirit Jesus Jesus does a God work because he is God he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing there's no conflict as far as who's doing it because the

[22:41] Son's work is the Father's work and the Father's work is the Son's work the outpouring of the Spirit of God then on the day of Pentecost and the work of the Spirit of God in the earth today is the work as a result of the exalted Jesus Peter's explanation of Scripture helps his audience and helps us friends to see that the footprints of Jesus of Nazareth the man fit the scriptural footprints of the Son of David Israel's Messiah the promised deliverer that's what his message does helps them and helps us to see those footprints went from earth to the grave and then to the heights of glory David could not have been speaking of himself in Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 he was dead and buried and Peter made reference to his tomb but these texts needed another needed someone else for their ultimate fulfillment and he was speaking of the one who would

[23:50] David was speaking of the one who would descend from him that's alright I love that noise over there by that child he's giving me some feedback on this morning y'all don't hear him saying amen Peter says huh we look the ministry of Jesus the death of Jesus the resurrection of Jesus the exaltation of Jesus but finally look in verse 36 that we see the lordship of Jesus do you see that there let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him who Jesus both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified huh this is the call for response huh response to Jesus in a hard friends with his uniqueness huh his ascension into heaven it validates it confirms the fact that he is lord he is the lord of the world and the messiah of Israel the long awaited deliverer huh the son's resurrection and exaltation by the father validated the truthfulness of Jesus claims of who he was and of his redemptive work huh the price of forgiveness

[25:13] Jesus shedding his blood on the cross the proof of forgiveness his resurrection from the grave huh you say well Pastor J so what for Easter 2013 well here's the application for us today as you and I look at this account of the resurrection may we leave with several reminders huh several resurrection reminders reminders from the life and ministry of the resurrected Christ unfortunately when some look at Acts chapter 2 they come away with only information as whether to speak or not speak in tongues huh but more importantly here we have here we have a model exposition an explanation a marvelous example of Peter's Christ-centered preaching at its best huh those of us who are preachers should look here and learn but also all those who hear can can can listen to this word as it relates to Christ huh an explanation of scripture with Christ at the very center but it's not just for those of us who preach the word it's good friends for the saints of the ages huh it's good it was good for those who heard it in first century

[26:32] AD and it's good for those who hear it today what's so essential so critical about these words words these verses there's several things I want to reinforce and I'm about through huh Jesus is Lord huh Jesus is Lord we should see him as such and we should receive him as such huh we should see him as such we should receive him as such Jesus is Lord we should repent if we haven't repented of our sins verse 38 repent and be washed from our sins by Jesus who alone can do that what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus who from eternity was ordained by God to die for the sins of mankind Jesus is Lord repent Jesus is Lord call upon him according to verse 21 whoever will call upon the name of the

[27:38] Lord shall be saved forgiven of their sins you will receive spiritual resurrection by calling on the name of Jesus he's Lord he's Lord repent he's Lord call upon him he's Lord verse 36 worship him he's worthy of our worship we've done that this morning but don't let your worship in with a worship service that celebrates Jesus may your whole life be a life of dedication and worship and service to him may we see with fresh eyes the demands of the lordship of Christ upon you and me those of us who claim his name he is Lord in Christ love him and labor and serve him as your king Julius you talked about being on the throne of your life and then getting self off if Jesus is king king of my life

[28:48] I crown thee now thine shall the glory be is he king are you living as if Jesus Christ is in fact king of your life Jesus is Lord be devoted to him verse 42 they were devoted to him and by giving themselves to the apostles doctrine to prayer to fellowship breaking of bread he's Lord what am I saying today on Easter 2013 simply this the outpouring of the Holy Spirit attested to the fact that Jesus lives and that he is Lord we should submit to him worship him and serve him accordingly may that be our posture as we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ is Lord even today let me pray even as our musicians come heavenly father thank you for this glimpse of the resurrected

[29:56] Christ unique in so so many ways may we see him with fresh eyes may we love him with renewed hearts and love be glorified in us this day is our prayer in Christ's name amen let's stand together and sing our last song