Word of Salvation – Vol.34 No.24 - Jun 1989

 

The Poured-Out Spirit Points To Christ

 

Sermon by Rev. D. Groenenboom on Acts 2:22-36

Reading: Ps. 110; Acts 2:22-36

Singing:

170; 125; 319; 407; BoW H.904

 

There were many questions in the minds of the people in Jerusalem.  For several years, and especially the 8 weeks before the events that we read about here, there had been a lot of interest in the person of Jesus the Nazarene.

As Peter reminds the Jews, He had performed many miracles, signs and wonders.  But even though he was acclaimed as a prophet, he died the death of a criminal; crucified on a cross.  At that time the earth was darkened and many rose from their graves.

But the people of that time could not get over the fact of Jesus' death.  If Jesus was the Messiah, how could He die?  How could the anointed King of the House of David die the death of a criminal?

Those questions became a stumbling-block to them.  They just could not believe that He was God's Messiah; that He was the Christ.  For them He should have been powerful, able to defeat any force marshalled against him, and He would certainly not be crucified as a criminal.  They just could not accept it.

But notice Peter's response!  He tackles that objection head on, and makes the point that Jesus' death doesn't affect His claim to be the Messiah at all.

Yes, Jesus died, but NOT because He lacked the power to annihilate His enemies.  He had said to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane that He could call on His Father and at once have more than 70,000 angels at His disposal!  (Matt.26:53).  No, Jesus lacked no power.  That did not explain His crucifixion.

Further, it was not just chance or "bad luck" which led to Jesus' death.  He was no victim of circumstances, carried to death on the tide of unfortunate events.  That does not explain His crucifixion either.

Peter says, "NO!"

Christ was delivered only and nailed to the cross in accordance with the SET PURPOSE AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD!  It was a necessary outworking of God's eternal decree that Christ should die that way.  It was God's deliberate will.  That's why Jesus Himself had said before he ascended,
            Did not the Christ have to suffer these things
            and then enter His glory?  (Luke 24:26, 44).

It all had to be fulfilled as the Scriptures had said.

God had clearly set the course of events.  They were both planned and governed by the Sovereign Lord o hosts.  God knew all this beforehand; not only THAT it would happen, but WHEN and HOW it would happen, right down to the most minute of details.  God had set all this out in His secret and decretive will.

Now that causes many people problems.  If it was all in the will of God, how could people have had any say in it?  Now could people be held responsible?  Wouldn't they just be machines in the process, predetermined and set out by God?  Like a typewriter, completely at the will of the typist, or a car, completely controlled by the driver?

But, people, this is the marvel of God's sovereignty.  Whilst God is totally sovereign, ordaining events before the beginning of time; even though man's mind is bound up in sin and all creation does this Sovereign Lord's bidding, this sovereign decree of God DOES NOT OVERRIDE MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY.  These people were not like machines, thoughtlessly doing the bidding of a despotic celestial computer programme.  For the words of Peter tell us that whilst God is sovereign, these people are totally responsible for crucifying Jesus Christ.

God's sovereignty does not decrease our ability to be free agents, or the guilt of our actions.  Peter says to these Jews "you, with the help of wicked men nailed Jesus to the Cross.  You, you are guilty, you have the blood of Jesus on your hands".

And we can remember that the people with united voice sought the Lord's death.  Even the silent bystanders are guilty because of their refusal to defend the innocent Jesus.  All guilty.  Every one.  But especially because it was also their sin which drove Jesus to the Cross.  They were all guilty.  And so are we.  Just as guilty as the ones who nailed His wrists and feet to the Cross.  We crucified Him; He died for us.  That's what we sing, isn't it?

Who was the guilty?  Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee !
T'was I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee;
I crucified Thee!  (Psalter Hymna 351:2).

Now that's why this all occurred according to the set purpose and foreknowledge of God.  Because from eternity He had undertaken to redeem men and women from sin.  And the only way was for the innocent and sinless Son of God to take our sins upon himself.  Christ had to die, that we may be given eternal life.

Many times we may wonder how God's sovereignty and man's responsibility can so harmoniously work together.  We have no simple answer, but here we do have the perfect illustration.  Wicked men nailed Jesus to the Cross, executed Him; yet God planned it long beforehand for the redemption of mam from Sin.

But that was not the end of the story.  Jesus certainly was delivered over to death for our sins, yet Peter doesn't stop there.  Yes, nailed to the Cross, BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE AGONY OF DEATH BECAUSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR DEATH TO KEEP ITS HOLD ON HIM.

Peter challenges his Jewish listeners to remember what David said in Psalm 116:

"You will not abandon me to the grave,
  nor will you let your holy One see decay".

Peter shows that these words could not possibly have referred to David the Psalmist, because he died and stayed dead.  He was abandoned to the grave.  His body did see decay.  And what's more the Jews knew that David's tomb was only 4km down the road at Siloam!

And so Peter makes the point that these words were prophetic words spoken by the psalmist David about Jesus, God's anointed Messiah!  Jesus was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see corruption and decay, because death was not able to hold Him.  David prophesied Christ's resurrection!  God raised Him from the dead on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.  It all fitted perfectly with the plan and the Word of God.

And this act of God in raising His Son to life shows us two things:

1.  That Jesus, was innocent and perfect, sinless and therefore, righteous.  We know that death is the wages of sin.  Those who sin, die.  Yet Jesus' resurrection from the dead proves He had no sin of His own.  Death therefore had no claim upon Him.  He was the perfect God/man.

2.  It also shows to these Jews and us that Jesus WAS God's promised Messiah.  It was not His task to relieve Israel from foreign domination and earthly military powers.  Rather, it was to win spiritual victory for His people and free them forever from the curse and power of a greater enemy: death.  GOD RAISED JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD AND THEREBY DEMONSTRATED HIS DEFEAT OF THE FORCES OF SATAN.  He died for the sin of his people, and rose again to show that his propitiatory sacrifice had been accepted by God.  His claim of Messiah was vindicated, and the age old promise of God to deliver his people was fulfilled.

Yes, Jesus of Nazareth died – and for our sin – yet was raised victorious over death!  And so Peter can tell us we can be assured that He is the Messiah, the anointed Saviour.

Let us also realise that Jesus Christ gives that same victory over sin and death and hell to all those who believe and by faith are joined to Him.

DON'T STOP AT BELIEVING JESUS WAS MESSIAH FOR THESE JEWS.
  IS HE YOUR CHRIST?  YOUR MESSIAH?
  HAS HE SAVED YOU FROM YOUR SIN AND DEATH?

Make no mistake; through faith in this Jesus, by believing that he has taken your sin and guilt, He will also make you a partaker of His victory.  Death will have no hold on you, as it had no hold on Him.  Of course, we will still die w but not to pay the debt for our sins – Christ has done that!  The death of a believer is the end of their sinful existence in this sinful world; their entrance into the presence of the Lord for eternity.

Don't you want to escape eternal death?  Then believe in Christ, who holds the victory over death.  God raised Him to life, and will also raise you to eternal life with Him.  You will be exalted in His glory on the basis of His death and resurrection.

That is precisely how we should view the resurrection of Christ: as the beginning of His exaltation; not merely the end of His earthly abasement and suffering.  Not just "revived", but RESURRECTED as the Victor over death and hell.

Even more, after his resurrection, Peter says, He was exalted to the right hand of God.  Now, being spirit, God does not have hands as such.  This phrase "right hand of God" is merely another way of saying Christ ascended to the place of all glory, power and authority.

That REALLY must have tingled the ears of the Jewish listeners.  Wasn't this man, Peter, speaking of Jesus of Nazareth?  And now he says that he arose by the power of God, and that He has ascended to the place of all power?  COULD THIS BE POSSIBLE?

"YES...!!" says Peter, and again referring to the O.T., he continues to point them to the word of God in Ps.110:

The Lord said to my Lord: "sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet".

Again, by reminding His listeners that David did not ascend into heaven, Peter points out that these prophetic words could only have been fulfilled in Christ, who has been exalted to God's right hand.  This Jesus has received all power and authority, and it is He who has poured out the Spirit.

That's the point that Peter wants them to understand.  "You wonder about what you see and hear?  It all shows that Jesus Is Lord and Master, lifted up on high, and it proves He has poured out His Spirit on His people as David, Joel and He Himself had prophesied.

Can we see that?  Here that important principle is illustrated again: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit bore direct witness to the work of Christ.  Contrary to what many people think of Acts 2, the central figure of Peter's Sermon is NOT the Spirit, nor his power, nor the effects of his power.  THE CENTRAL FIGURE THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE EVENT IS CHRIST THE EXALTED LORD AND HIS WORK OF REDEMPTION.

The whole Pentecostal event points us right to Jesus Christ and compels us to believe in Him!  The promise of Christ that His disciples would be witnesses begins to be fulfilled because the Spirit, poured out, enables them to do so.

But let us also notice something we all too often forget.  In verse 33 Peter mentions that the exalted Christ has poured out the Holy Spirit whom He received from the Father.  Then he immediately mentions the fact that the Lord will be enthroned as such until all forces hostile to Him are defeated.  So what's the significance?  It DEMONSTRATES THAT THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT RESULTS IN THE CONTINUED DEFEAT OF THE FORCES OF EVIL.

Have you ever thought of that as a sign of the presence of the Spirit?  No?  Perhaps because we are so deluded by this over-personalised and individualistic present day Charismatic teaching.  The Spirit's work is much more than giving "grace gifts" to individual Christians for service in the Church.

For this same Spirit calls all Christians to a life of obedient service and valiant struggle against the evil in their lives and in the world.  A Spirit-filled life – let us understand – is a life of thanks to Christ, and life of obedience to Him as the Spirit empowers us in our task to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  And so your life, governed by the Word and Spirit, is a constant testimony to the exalted Lordship of Christ over the whole world.  UNSWERVING OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S WORD IS EVIDENCE OF THE SPIRIT'S FULNESS IN A PERSON, AND A CONSTANT REMINDER THAT THE LORD IS RETURNING.

This world is full of forces hostile to Christ's Kingdom.  And so every advance of the Kingdom of God is testimony to us that Christ's Spirit has been poured out on his people.  We may take that as a great comfort.  For Christ HAS ascended, He has given His Pentecostal power for witness, for Christian service, for the preservation of the Christian family, for our perseverance in faith.  All of this tells us that we are not left as orphans!  We are not alone!  Christ's Spirit is our counsellor and our Comforter.  He will remain with us until Jesus Christ returns.

That is Peter's great conclusion!  Jesus is the Messiah who saves, yes, and also the Lord who will judge the living and the dead.

"THIS Jesus", says Peter, "is the One!  The Christ of the Scriptures; the Lord; the King; and He commands repentance, allegiance, and obedience"..

He is exalted as Lord in Heaven.  Proven by this poured out Spirit!  He has defeated death, has won the victory, and redeemed his people.  He continues to grant them victory, and empowers them to live as his people.

See to it now, that you do not set yourself against him by refusing to believe.  See him as Lord and Saviour, your Redeemer, and pray that God may grant you his perfect righteousness.  Don't refuse.  For all His enemies will be placed under His feet.

You will meet him either way: as redeeming Lord who brings all his faithful ones to glory; or as the Judge of the living and the dead, who will send all His enemies into everlasting death.

Plead that His victory will be granted to you.  Repent, seek forgiveness in His name.  And be assured that He was delivered to death for your sins, raised to life for your justification, and exalted to God's right hand that you, too, may be a partaker of His eternal life and everlasting glory.

AMEN