Acts 2:34-40

We're coming to the end of a mini-series within the book of Acts, which is Peter's sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2.

And I guess the title of that series would be Lifting Up Jesus the Messiah.

And I get that from a key verse in the text where it says in verse 22,

Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God.

And so I've been kind of repeating this, but the word attested means to lift up, to put on display,

or to put on exhibition for one to look at and see and observe.

It also means to prove something or to proclaim something.

And all these are true about Jesus.

Peter is preaching this sermon.

He's like calling people to respond to the Scripture.

He uses several different Old Testament passages to prove what he's saying.

So just to remember that not even the apostles spoke on their own accord.

They gave weight to what men had said before them.

And he's putting Jesus on display.

Like he's saying, God put Christ on display.

So look to him and be convinced that he is the Messiah.

And he's doing that for everyone here today too.

It's not just at this time.

Like if you're struggling with where you are with God and who is Jesus,

like God is not trying to hide that from you.

He's putting Jesus on display.

And he's proving that Jesus was the true living Messiah.

Last week we talked about how Jesus' identity, his life, his death, and his resurrection

gave weight to the reality that he was the true Messiah.

And so he spoke of how Christ was...

He came and he lived and he died and he resurrected according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

The predetermined plan of God.

Namely that Christ coming to the earth was not plan B because man messed up.

It was plan A to display the glory of his grace and salvation.

And if you also remember the key term last week was that God used the greatest act of evil

in crucifying Christ to destroy evil and to bring down the collapse of evil itself.

So that's kind of where we're at.

He explains Pentecost.

He kind of at the beginning of this starting in verse 14.

He addresses the crowd and kind of says like the coming of the Holy Spirit,

you should not be surprised at.

But this was foretold of by the prophet Joel.

And so he explains the coming of the Spirit.

And then he begins embarking on this exposition of who Jesus is and how he was the true living Messiah.

So a couple other points today.

I am going to revisit the last point that we looked at last week

just because I think it's definitely just sort of connected.

So number one, if you're taking notes,

and all these are how did God put Jesus on display for us to see and for this crowd to see,

is the resurrection of the Messiah.

Okay?

And look at verse 30.

It says,

So just revisiting this from last week.

Our main text is going to be 34 through 40.

So I'll just revisit this for a second.

But he's saying that David, you know, the king, shepherd boy, David,

he prophesied about the resurrection of the Messiah.

And he kind of explains like David can't be talking about himself in Psalm 16

because he did die.

He did see corruption.

And his grave is with us today.

So go look at it.

He's not talking about himself.

He's prophesying about the Messiah to come.

Then he says,

God raised this man up.

God raised Christ up from the dead.

Then he says,

We are witnesses of these things.

We've seen him.

We've touched him.

We've heard him.

We've eaten food with him.

And even later on in one of Peter's letters,

in 2 Peter 1, verse 16, he says,

2 Peter 1:16

We did not follow cleverly devised myths

when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Like we saw this.

We all saw this.

So the resurrection of Christ,

you do need to see through just faith to be a believer.

But you should know also that for 2,000 years,

like this historical event has withstood the scrutiny of historians, scholars,

archaeologists,

archaeologists, for nearly 2,000 years.

Like it's withstood that scrutiny.

You can literally prove in a courtroom that Jesus did rise from the dead.

Biblical as well as extra-biblical evidence gives plenty of weight to this.

It's overwhelmingly revealing that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man who walked the earth

and that he rose from the dead.

Come and talk to me later.

We'll get more in depth about that.

But many have sought to disprove the historicity of the identity of Jesus as well as the resurrection.

And in the process of them trying to destroy that,

they have become followers of Christ

because they were just convinced by looking at all the stuff there that this actually happened,

that Jesus rose from the dead.

And so, what are some implications, I guess, of the resurrection?

So, just keep this in mind.

If Jesus has simply been crucified, laid in the tomb, and is still there today,

then everything that we believe is worthless.

Everything that we do and say is worthless.

It has no point.

Why?

Because, again, there's nothing good about a dead Messiah.

Yeah, he's no different than any other false prophet that's gone and started other religions.

But, if Jesus is alive, it's a big deal.

It means like he is on the throne right now, that he is going to come back,

and that we all are going to have to answer to him one day for how we've lived.

Neither you will belong to him or not belong to him.

So, three days after he was crucified, God raised him from the dead.

He came out of the tomb victorious.

So, this is God's greatest validation of who Jesus said he was.

Right?

The greatest proof is the resurrection of the son of David.

Right?

Turn, hold your hand in Acts chapter 2, but there's just two other places for you to look.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

But look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 today.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

This is the hallmark chapter on the resurrection.

That Paul talks about the resurrection, expounds on the resurrection.

1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3.

1 Corinthians 15:3

This is what Paul says.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.

There it is, according to the old Scriptures.

That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

And then he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,

most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

So he's like, we've seen him.

Like, he's appeared to all these people, even at one time.

Well, they were just hallucinating.

Well, no two people had the same hallucination.

They all saw him.

And they touched him.

So go on down to verse 6.

And he's kind of getting to the implication here, but verse 6.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we above all are the most...

Excuse me, I can't talk.

We are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

So he says, like, you know what?

If Christ has not risen, everything we're saying is worthless.

It's meaningless.

And then he says, but at the very end there, but in fact, I'm not just saying this, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

Because we've seen him.

We've touched him.

And it was promised in the Scriptures that this would happen.

So this is how big it is.

Everything we believe hangs on this.

And he even says, if Christ is not risen, we apostles are above all the most to be pitied.

We are the most to be pitied.

And I want you to, you who know Christ and belong to Christ, like, chew on this for a second.

If you were to find out today that your faith in Christ has been in vain, that Christ has not risen from the dead,

what would you say?

Would you be able to say, well, it's still been a good life anyway.

It's been a lot of peace.

It's been a lot of purpose and a positive life.

Or would you say, wow, like, I'm to be pitied because I have literally thrown my life, everything I have, into the cause of Christ.

I hope you can say that with Paul.

Like, pity me if this isn't true.

But guess what?

It is true.

That's why he says that.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

So this is the greatest validation of the Son of God being resurrected.

Some people may say, this is the most idiotic thing in the world to say, but you'll hear it.

We talked about this when I was in school and some of my history classes.

But one of my professors said, you can't test historical events with the scientific method.

People will say, I'll believe this if you just prove it scientifically.

But the idiocy of that is like you don't do history that way because historical events are not observable, measurable, or repeatable.

You can't go back and look at a historical event.

Rather than that, we are to use the evidentiary method.

We look at the evidence, facts, documents, accounts, archaeology, whatever,

that lends weight to the reality that something actually happened.

So, the resurrection of Jesus, a true historical event.

But even bigger, it means that he is here with us now, that he always will be with us,

and that he's coming back one day, and that we have not believed in vain.

So, that's number one, the resurrection of the Messiah.

And getting into the next part of this in Peter's sermon, kind of where we find ourselves today,

is in verse 33.

Look at verse 33.

I'll just go ahead and read this whole little section, and then we'll unpack.

But it says, I broke one of the fundamental rules of preaching,

which is read the whole text and then expound on it.

But, let's look at, start in verse 33.

It says,

It says,

That's just so awesome.

And the same God is here with us today who worked this.

So, point number one, the resurrection of the Messiah.

Point number two is the ascension and exaltation of the Messiah.

It's just right in our text, in verse 33,

that he was exalted, and he ascended to the Father.

So, he was risen from the dead.

He walked among his disciples,

and showed himself to many other witnesses.

And then, later on, he was taken back.

He descended back into heaven, or ascended back into heaven,

to be with the Father.

And then it says right here that he was seated at the,

exalted in the place of honor, right?

The place of honor and authority by the Father.

Then he kind of brings it back full circle,

and says,

This is what you're seeing today,

again, like the Holy Spirit coming on the people.

You're seeing this come to pass, this day.

And he draws attention again to the Scriptures,

to prove that this is the case.

And this is the second place I want you to turn,

but again, hold your hand in Acts.

This is a monumental text, Psalm 110.

It's not very long, so we're going to unpack it.

But Psalm 110 is another psalm of David.

It's a messianic psalm about the Messiah.

And astoundingly, like it's given so little attention in the church.

Most believers have heard of the 23rd Psalm.

They've heard of, you know,

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

But this particular psalm, Psalm 110,

is quoted and referred to 27 times in the New Testament,

which means that it was a big deal to the early church and the apostles.

Psalm 110, let's read it together.

It says,

The Lord says to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.

Rule in the midst of your enemies.

Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power

and holy garments.

From the womb of the morning,

the dew of your youth will be yours.

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord is at your right hand.

He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

He will execute judgment among the nations,

filling them with corpses.

He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.

He will drink from the brook by the way.

Therefore, he will lift up his head.

And this psalm, again, is speaking, again, of the coming Messiah, the true Messiah.

David is not referring to himself.

He wasn't exalted to God's right hand.

And this was a question that scholars of this time, Pharisees, scribes,

they all asked this question.

Because they could look at the language and just say,

Who is David talking about?

Because it definitely is not him.

But here is the question they were asking.

How could one who is descended of David,

who is a son of David,

also be the Lord of David?

How could that be?

Since David preceded Jesus by a thousand years,

how could that be?

So Peter explains it here.

The Lord says to my Lord,

and he uses like the sacred name of God here.

It really says,

Yahweh said to my Adonai,

which is also like,

God himself said to my sovereign,

sit at my right hand.

So in the context,

this is clearly a conversation going on within the Godhead,

namely between God himself, the Father,

and the one whom he was going to appoint to be David's Lord.

Yahweh said to David's Adonai,

right,

sit at my right hand,

which the right hand is a place of power,

and exaltation,

and authority.

But it also,

interesting enough,

is a place of subordination.

It's not on the top,

it's a place of subordination.

And as we know,

even within the Godhead,

the Son is perfectly,

and happily submitted to the Father,

to do the Father's will.

And that's what it says,

like,

God granted Christ that seat of cosmic authority at his right hand.

And he,

it says in Hebrews 1,

after making purification for sin,

he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

So then he goes on,

just look at the psalm.

It says,

until I make your enemies your footstool.

So this is an ancient figure of speech,

denoting how a hostile,

resistant,

rebellious enemy

is finally conquered and brought low,

and is forced to submit to his conqueror.

That's what this is.

And this is a picture of our Lord,

again,

sends forth from Zion,

his mighty scepter,

rule in the midst of his enemies.

So Christ will come back one day,

is what this is saying.

Like,

one day,

this Son of God,

who's seated at God's right hand,

He will one day return,

and not as a baby,

meek and mild in a manger,

but as a conquering king

that we just sang about a minute ago,

who will crush all who have resisted Him,

and who have rejected His terms of peace.

He died for them,

but yet they reject Him.

So He comes back to conquer.

So,

this is a reality.

This is what Peter is expounding on.

He will make His enemies His footstool.

So,

when He returns,

it goes on,

it says,

He will shatter kings on the day of His wrath,

execute judgment on the nations.

So those who hate Christ,

again,

will utterly be destroyed.

All His enemies,

visible,

invisible.

This is an inconquerable king.

Yet,

it goes on to say this,

many of us on the earth

who love Christ,

and who belong to Christ,

who have given our lives to Him,

who are washed in His blood,

it says this,

His people will offer themselves freely

on the day of His power.

Like,

they'll want to give themselves to this king.

So,

that's a question to ask yourself this morning.

It's,

do you,

like,

eagerly await the return of Christ?

Do you long for it?

Why did you come this morning?

Because you were forced to,

or because you wanted to?

Did you come willing and freely,

like this explains the people of God to be?

Offer ourselves freely on the day of His power.

So we,

His church,

will rejoice at this time,

with joy inexpressible.

And then you see a really cool image

at the end of the psalm.

It says,

He will drink from the brook by the way,

and therefore,

He will lift up His head.

Also,

another ancient image

of a conqueror

returning from a conquest,

and having exhausted himself

in the process of that conquest,

he stops

and takes a drink

from a cool stream of water

to refresh himself

after the conquest.

It's a picture of having

satisfaction of a mission accomplished,

but still having a final goal to come.

So,

God's purpose in Christ

will prevail.

This was

what Peter is saying

to these people.

Like,

He is this,

He is the Lord

that David is referring to,

and He will come

and make His enemies

His footstool.

In your bulletin,

if you have one,

a great commentator

on the psalms

was the reformer,

John Calvin.

And this is what he said

about Psalm 110

that we just read.

He says,

From this,

let us learn

that however numerous

those enemies may be

who conspire

against the Son of God

and attempt

the subversion

of His kingdom,

all will be unavailing.

For they shall never prevail

against God's

immutable purpose,

but on the contrary,

they shall,

by His greatness

of His power,

be laid prostrate

at Christ's feet.

Footstool.

However much

the world may rage

against Christ,

they will never

be able to hurl Him

from the right hand

of the Father.

Moreover,

as He does not reign

on His own account,

but for our salvation,

we may rest assured

that we will be

protected

and preserved

from all ills

under the guardianship

of this invincible King.

Let that language

just encourage you

that this is who we worship,

the King of kings

and Lord of lords,

the true and living Messiah

who reigns on our behalf

and for our good

and for His glory.

So then Peter closes

this little section

right here.

Let all the house of Israel

know that God has made Him

both Lord and Christ

and you crucified Him.

And so,

know for certain,

this means like

without a shadow of a doubt,

without any doubt at all,

that Christ's life,

death,

and resurrection,

and ascension

has proven Him

as the true Messiah.

Then He kind of adds in

and you crucified Him.

So,

this is a guilty,

guilty crowd

that He's speaking to.

Christ's blood

is still on their hands,

literally.

And,

this is the response.

This is the third thing.

So,

we have

the resurrection

of the Messiah,

the ascension

or an exaltation

of the Messiah,

and number three,

the response

to the true Messiah.

Verse 37.

Verse 37.

It says,

Now when they heard this,

they were cut

to the heart

and said to Peter

and the rest of the apostles,

brothers,

what shall we do?

That was their response.

They were cut

to the heart.

It means,

the word cut

means to stab,

to pierce something,

to abruptly

get hit.

Unexpected,

startling.

That's like what this implies.

And the word actually

is only used

at this place

only in the New Testament.

So,

it makes me think that

He's trying to get

something across.

They were cut,

pierced,

and stabbed in the heart.

They were shocked.

Like they realized

that this Messiah

that had been promised

for thousands of years

in the Scriptures

that

they crucified Him.

They rejected Him.

The very Messiah

that was sent

to save them

rejected the prophets

and then rejected Christ.

So,

imagine that.

Being that

indicted in that way.

Like you

crucified Him.

This one that I've been

talking about

that the Scriptures foretold,

you crucified Him.

So they are

terrified.

This isn't

impersonal at all.

So,

they probably could even

be asking this question.

If this Messiah

is alive,

what is He going to do

to us

that we rejected Him?

They could be asking that

so they're panicking.

Like,

what could they do?

And that's what they said

to the apostles.

What shall we do?

This is reminiscent

of the Philippian jailer

later on

in Acts 16

where He says,

brothers or sirs,

what must I do

to be saved?

So,

listen,

like everyone in this room

has to answer that question

at some point in your life.

Like,

what must I do?

What shall I do

to this reality

of a living Messiah

who shed His blood

for me?

So,

let's get into the

application

a little bit here.

Look at verses

38 through 40.

It says,

Peter said to them,

Repent and be baptized,

every one of you,

in the name of the Lord

Jesus Christ,

for the forgiveness

of your sins

and you will receive

the gift

of the Holy Spirit.

Okay,

so He says,

okay,

repent.

This word literally

just means to like,

to turn away from something,

to change the way

that you think

about something.

It's not just,

it's not just an action.

So,

just imagine like a sin

that you struggle with

a lot in your life.

God's not just saying,

stop doing that.

He's saying,

change how you feel about it.

Change how you think about it.

Hate it.

Despise it.

And love me instead.

So,

it's a turning away from sin

and turning to Christ

and by His grace

resorting not to go back

to it again.

So,

it's imperative.

Repent.

That's what He says.

Then He says,

be baptized.

So,

don't take this as like,

well,

you have to be dunked in water

to be saved.

That's not

what this is saying

for a lot of reasons.

But,

one is,

it goes against

what we know

in the whole of Scripture

that one is not saved

and made right with God

through water baptism.

That would make it

another ritualistic work

that you had to do

to be saved.

And then even on

the book of Acts later,

it says that

many people have been baptized

but they really weren't

genuinely saved

by water,

you know,

in water.

So,

not saying that,

but what He is saying

that is this public baptism

would not allow

for them to have

any secret disciples.

Like,

you couldn't just believe

in the corner of your room.

He was saying,

come out

and show yourselves.

Like,

make this firm break

with the old order,

with the old Judaism

of the day

and come forward

and be baptized

proving that your repentance

is true.

So,

not necessarily like

another work to be saved,

but just come out

and make a break.

Don't hide.

So then He goes on,

He says,

this promise is for you

and your children.

So this was,

this was a promise

given to them

to the nation of Israel.

And He was saying that,

come on,

like,

embrace this.

It's here.

It's been promised to you.

Come and receive it.

It was for you

and for your children

and all that God calls

to Himself.

So,

the result,

3,000 people

are born again

and baptized that day.

So,

just a couple things

here in closing.

So,

if you're without Christ today,

if you don't know

where you stand,

if you have doubts,

or if you clearly know

that you don't belong to Him,

listen,

like,

Christ is a good,

loving,

and compassionate King.

And though you've been

His enemy,

He will treat with you

kindly.

He will come to you

and He will heal you

and restore you

back to God

and give you the life

that you were originally

created for,

which was to know God

and to walk with Him

and to honor Him

in all that you do.

Jesus said,

I'm the bread of life.

He who comes to Me

shall not hunger,

and he who is thirsty

shall never thirst again.

So,

repent of your sin

and cling to Christ.

And then He said,

to save yourself

from this crooked generation.

There's a lot of junk

in our world

pulling you away,

everything pulling you away

from the reality

of the risen Son of God.

So,

go to Christ

and have salvation

and everlasting joy

in Christ.

But if you reject Him,

know that this

invincible King

will be your enemy

if you continue

to revolt

against Him.

So,

come and be

His friend

on His peace terms,

His terms,

not yours.

You don't have

a special deal

with God.

You don't.

You treat people

the same way.

Come through Him

and Him alone

or be separated

for God

in eternity.

So,

but if Christ

is yours

today,

rejoice

because it says

that your sins

are forgiven.

That's what it says

right here.

That all the stuff

that you have done

against God,

that you have

rebelled against Him,

it is forgiven.

You're not your

old self anymore.

Though you loathe

your sin

and you hate it,

your sins

are wiped away

and they've been

put away

as far as the East

is from the West.

So,

rejoice in that.

Rejoice that you

possess all things

in Christ.

As the old saying goes,

who knows who coined it,

but it's true.

Christ

or everything

minus Christ.

Right?

Remember this?

Everything

minus Christ

equals nothing.

But Christ

minus everything

equals everything.

You can have

Christ,

the most treasured

possession,

and literally

lose all you have

and still have

everything in Christ.

That's how

great He is.

So,

rejoice

that because

He lives,

you will live.

This world

is tough.

Like,

it's rough.

You're going

to suffer,

like given.

You're going

to suffer,

you're going

to have pain,

and you will die.

It's just the reality.

And it's a

scary reality,

especially if you

don't know who

you belong to

and where you're

going.

But if you

belong to Christ,

because He

has risen,

you will also

rise and have

life with Him.

He says,

hear His words

to you,

I am the

resurrection

and the life.

Whoever

believes in

Me,

though he die,

yet shall he

live.

And everyone

who lives

and believes

in Me

shall never

die.

Do you

believe this?

So,

go to Christ,

cling to Christ,

and be

transformed by

Him.

Look to this

King.

He's been put

on display

by God

Himself.

So,

look to Him

and be saved

by Him.

Let's pray

together.

Amen.

Let's pray.