Jesus: The Superior King: Acts 2:25-41
OUTLINE: (note: Acts 2:25-36 quotes From PSALM 16:8-11, 68:18 and 110:1)
Peter’s Pentecost message from God is to an unsaved world and, like all of scripture, the spotlight is on the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
1. The Superior and Eternal King spoke 1,000 years before His death about His Death through David.
2. The Superior King Jesus is LORD and Christ, RULER over ALL and SAVIOR.
3. The Message of the Superior King Jesus cuts through STONE-HARD HEARTS.
4. There is only one OPTION to the Message of The Superior King:
a. Repent (Turn from sinful unbelief to gratefully serving God with mind, with heart, with life.)
b. As an act of obedience, confession and intent, we receive water baptism- Acknowledge Jesus as YOUR ONLY Savior and Lord.
c. Receive the Spirit (You will never be alone; you receive the Promised Seal of the Spirit when you turn to Christ.)
We have been studying the Birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit of God, promised by God the Father through the prophet Joel some 500 years before Christ and also promised by Jesus the Messiah is poured out on the Church gathered in Jerusalem. Peter’s message from God is to an unsaved world and, like all of scripture, the spotlight is on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who carried out the plan of God the Father, and who sent the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Today we look at Acts 2:25-28 (Peter quotes from God’s written and God-breathed Word from Psalm 16:8-11) but I am going to begin at 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-- 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it:”
In History (for REAL) Jesus was delivered to death by lawless hands, not by accident but by the determined purpose of God …and raised up by God… Jesus is Savior God, ordained from all eternity to accomplish the saving work of the Messiah, to live a perfect life and die as the sacrifice for sinful man.
Are you certain Jesus was the one? Peter says: “Consider the evidence: Use your minds and logic!” Look at Verse 25 “For David says concerning Him: (King David said about Jesus of Nazareth! David trusted in the LORD for everything in his life, but Peter says, “In this Psalm, David is speaking as a prophet: He is speaking about Jesus.): "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, (Gr. Kyrios- title of God the Messiah, in OT Heb- YHWH from Ps. 16:8-11; it is the name God gave HIMSELF as the everlasting, self-existent God! ) Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You (LORD, understood) will not leave my soul in Hades, (Sheol, in the OT; NOT HELL but the grave, the place of the dead.) nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (Jesus is referring to Himself, the Holy One; I will not rot in the grave.) 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; (All that the Father has been made known to the Son!) You will make me full of joy in Your presence.'
The point Peter is making here from Psalm 16 is that David not only had predicted that Jesus would rise from the dead, but David also declared that the resurrection was necessary in view of the HOLY life Jesus would live. David foresaw Jesus saying, 'I foresaw the Lord ALWAYS before my face, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." For David, a life lived in continual dependence upon the power and authority of the Father results in hope at death. Faith and trust RESTS UPON God, my Savior. That’s the prediction of David for himself as a human being who is would die physically but still have life, but Peter tells us: The Superior and Eternal King Jesus spoke 1,000 years BEFORE His own death ABOUT His own Death through David. Jesus HAD TO BE God, from everlasting to everlasting, IN ORDER TO DO WHAT HE DID!
Human, sinful but SAVED human beings, like you and me, find a whole new basis for living when we receive NEW LIFE IN Christ. – Through the Holy Spirit and the Gospel we have what Jesus earned, applied to US so that we can begin to BE what HE WAS and IS: We receive HIS WORK, His Holiness, the benefit of His shed blood to cover our filthy sinful lives. We LIVE in GRACE each day, DELIGHTING in serving our God. We follow THE HOLY ONE, knowing that JESUS will not allow His Holy Ones (Saints) to stay in the grave either! He makes them FULL of Joy in His Presence. Didn’t David, “a man after God’s own heart” live that way?
Acts 2:29-32: "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 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, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”
Peter makes it clear that David was not only talking about himself, but pointing to the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. David died and was buried, and his body remained dead, and is dead to this day. Peter says; “If you don’t believe me, go and visit his tomb; it’s still there today, but as you all know, Jesus’ arose from His grave without His body ever rotting.” Peter’s argument is that death had no power over Jesus, neither to his soul nor to his body, and the apostles, all witnessed this fact: that Jesus was raised on the third day.
Look at Acts 2:33-37 for more evidence of Jesus’ Deity and Messiah-ship: “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. (The PROOF FROM GOD is right in front of you: First in Jesus’ incarnation, life, death and resurrection, and in the very tongues of fire that you are seeing.) 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD (Yahweh in OT, Kurios in Greek) said to my Lord, (Adonai in OT Heb. {title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence RULER.}, Kurios again in Greek NT-title is given to: God, the Messiah) "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ' (From PSALM 68:18 and 110:1) 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Did anyone see David ascend into heaven? No, so David wasn’t speaking about himself; but Peter says: WE SAW Jesus ascend BACK to the right hand of God, the same place He occupied in the Psalms when David spoke about Him, the same place where He promised to go. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
"Lord" means ruler of all things, king over all men, the One who holds the key to life and death, the power of heaven and hell are in his hands. All power in heaven and in earth is committed to him and there is no authority or power that exists which does not take its direction and its limitation from him. "Christ," of course, means "Messiah." Jesus is LORD and Christ, in other words, the The Superior King Jesus is LORD and CHRIST, RULER over ALL and SAVIOR. He is Sovereign LORD over salvation-if He is Sovereign, he is Sovereign over ALL things.
We say the words, "Jesus Christ:" Jesus is his name; Christ is his title. Christ means Messiah -- the promised One, the anointed One, the Deliverer, the only hope that sinful mankind has ever had is in THIS LORD. Suddenly all this made perfect sense to this multitude.
They were given the evidence, and now look at verse 37: Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
Those who heard realized that it was our words and actions that crucified JESUS. It was OUR SINFULNESS that killed Jesus. We are responsible for killing the Messiah! Is there any hope for us? They were convicted, like a knife being stabbed into each of their hearts. MY SIN KILLED HIM! They had a deep, piercing hurt in their hearts, like a person who KNOWS that they are surely dead! Is it possible to recover from what I have done?!?!
That is what the Message of the Superior King Jesus does when it is coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit: The message cuts through STONE-HARD HEARTS. WHAT CAN WE POSSIBLY DO?
Peter gives them this response in verse 38- Then Peter said to them, "Repent, (Turn from sinful unbelief to the Savior) and let every one (it’s personal) of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (HIS DISTINCTIVE WORK, NOT YOURS) for the remission of sins; and you shall receive (take upon yourself, just like the individual tongues of fire) the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, (available for generations) as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”
There is only one OPTION to the Message of The Superior King: The case for Christ is stated plainly. HE is the LORD, whether men know it or not, whether they believe it or not. Jesus Christ is NOT one of many options. It is not a matter of believing or NOT believing. Bowing to Him, BELIEVING in Him, is the ONLY option other than eternal judgment from Jesus. Will you turn to Him as your Savior or will He one day be your Judge?
Peter's answer is a glorious declaration that Christ is not angry at us but willing to receive us, just as we are, everything wrong that we have done and all the righteousness we have NOT DONE. We turn to Him in faith, and REPENT; We TURN from sinful unbelief to gratefully serving the Savior with mind, with heart, with life. Our wills are changed. We don’t immediately become perfect in all of our actions, but serve the Savior purposefully. We “change our mind” concerning Him because He has changed our heart concerning Him, which enables us to CONFESS that He is Lord, and that HE ALONE has the supreme right to Leadership and Lordship in your life and in mine. Your Heart and mind have been changed by Him so that you turn to Him.
In confessing Jesus as Lord, WE turn to the ONLY ONE who will save. Water doesn’t save you. Water never saved ANYONE from sin, only from physical starvation. As an act of obedience, confession and intent, we receive water baptism. In so doing, you acknowledge Jesus as YOUR ONLY Savior and Lord. You acknowledge that you are “Calling on the Name of the LORD” to be saved and trusting the God of the Bible who has revealed Himself in His Word, in the Work of Jesus through the Power of His own Holy Spirit, and in none other.
You receive the HOLY SPIRIT as a gift from God, the same way you receive SALVATION. You were not saved by any effort or works of your own, and God does not have you SERVE HIM alone either. You receive the Promised Seal of the Spirit when you turn to Christ just as clearly as the fire-like tongues danced on the believers at Pentecost. They were the first to receive the promised Spirit of God, and YOU WILL TOO. YOU WILL NEVER BE WITHOUT HIM, never alone; God promised and He will deliver.
Jesus is the only King who is without sin and who conquered sin and death by DYING. He is the King of Glory, the King of Life and Love and Grace and of Mercy to ANYONE and EVERYONE who will follow Him. HE ALONE grants those Kingdom privileges to His subjects.
Jesus IS the Only King who is risen! Following Him guarantees life and life after the grave. Following Him promises LIFE IN ABUNDANCE.
Jesus IS the only King who is reigning FOREVER and who reigns NOW in the hearts of believers through His very own Spirit. Grace to redeem comes from Him. Grace is granted to Live for Him and grace is given by Him to share with others. Will you receive Him as the Only Sovereign in your life in order to fulfill His Redemptive will in you?
