Seeking for the helm of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to our reading, the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 5, and reading for our text, verse 31. Verse 31. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour. for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And particularly, upon
my spirit these words, Him hath God exalted. Acts 5 verse 31. Our text is part of Peter and
the Apostles' answer as to why they were continuing to preach
in the name of Jesus. We have the beginning of the
answer in verse 29, then Peter and the other Apostles answer,
and the question that they're answering was in verse 28 when
they said to them, Did not we straightly command you that ye
should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us. How they viewed, they viewed
Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, as a mere man. They had crucified
and slain him, charging him with being an imposter and making
out that he was God when he was only a man, as that is what they
said. And with the apostles preaching,
they were telling everyone that the Jews had murdered the Lord,
they'd slain him, and that he was truly Christ. They were charging
upon them the death of our Lord. And so they say, yeah, fill Jerusalem
with your doctrine, your teaching, and intend to bring this man's
blood upon us was in Acts chapter 2 in the day of Pentecost Peter
very clearly charged them that it was that they had taken and
by wicked hands crucified and slain the one that God had delivered
by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. And under
the preaching there, there was many pricked in their hearts,
they fell under it, they received that they had done wrong, they
were brought to repent, they were brought to believed are
brought to be baptised and continue with the apostles in the breaking
of bread. But here we find the very ones
that should have been believed, the chief priests and the elders,
and they are resisting the word, the same gospel, the same preaching,
they're hearing the same things, they've been witness of the same
things, But they didn't believe and were trying very, very hard
to stop the apostles continuing to preach in this name, in the
name of Jesus. So in answer, Peter says in verse
29, and the other apostles, you ought to obey God rather than
men, because God And the Lord Jesus Christ had commissioned
them to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to every
creature. When taken out of the prison,
they'd been commanded to preach all the words of this gospel
and the setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they testified
this to those that were questioning them. And then they said, the
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged
on a tree. And really those that they were
speaking to had just had a witness of what God could do. They shut
the apostles up in prison and the angel had come and brought
them out of prison and brought them into the temple The Lord
Jesus Christ had been slain, had been buried, and a stone
and a watch put upon him, and he had been raised from the dead. They'd seen that, they'd known
that. Here they have the apostles preaching
in the name of Jesus, working the miracles in the name of Jesus,
coming out of prison by a miracle, and yet still they are not believing. Still they are fighting. against
the word of the Lord. Such is the heart of man. We
should never be surprised at it. These were those who knew
the Old Testament scriptures. They knew the prophecies of all
people. They should have been those that
would have believed. But the word tells us very clearly
that God has not given man the ability naturally, with natural
wisdom, to believe. but he has through the preaching
of the word. And this is where the apostles
are very clear they will continue to preach in the name of Jesus,
because it is through that way, it hath pleased God through the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And where
that is threatened, where we are told that that cannot be
so, then that is very clear that we obey God rather than men in
that matter. And, well, really in all matters
we do. The God, and then he testifies
further, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew
and hanged on a tree. They don't hold back. They realize
they are brought before them with the charge that they are
bringing this man's blood upon us, But they don't hide it, the
apostles are testifying it again. That ye slew and hanged on a tree,
him hath God exalted, with his right hand to be a prince and
a saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. And so we have the apostles very clearly
testifying, and how different the world is viewing, the religious
rulers are viewing the Lord Jesus Christ, the miracles that are
done, the wonders that are done, such a very different viewing
of it, and we should never be surprised We have one thing that
is done, miracles or wonders or the Word of God, and some
believe the Word spoken and others believe not. Some see it, some
do not see it. Regarding the preaching of the
Word, we read that as many as were ordained unto eternal life
believed. There's nothing wrong with the
preaching. but it is the sovereign will
of God that some will be given to believe and some will not. The important thing is with us
that we be amongst those that do receive the word and do believe
the word. Later on in this account, there's
very good counsel that was given by Gamaliel. Remember the apostle
Paul, he sat at the feet of this man And he learned the Old Testament
scriptures. The apostle knew them very, very
well. As soon as he knew the key, as
soon as his eyes were opened to see who the Lord Jesus was,
he could go right through the Old Testament and clearly show
that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. And he learned it at
the feet of this man. So this man, no doubt, knew very,
very clearly the Old Testament, and yet he needed as much as
the Apostle Paul, his eyes to be opened. You think of those
two on the way to Emmaus, so sad, so cast down, they couldn't
see, and no doubt they knew also the Old Testament Scriptures. But our Lord, he began there,
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He opened to them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And it was
the same way with Philip with the eunuch, opening up in Isaiah
53 that this is the Lord Jesus Christ that was set forth. But Gamaliel, he points out several
that had risen up and drew many men after them, saying that they
were somebody, but they had perished, and those that followed them
were scattered. And he makes this very important
observation in verse 39. If it be of God, we cannot overthrow
it, lest happily ye be found even to fight against God. And he just said before that,
if this council or this work be amended, it will come to naught. It is what is of God that we
want and that will not come to naught. 2,000 years after this
time, we still have the Gospel preached in every nation, kindred
and tongue. Still it is set forth. Still
God is raising up His ministers. Still the fathers to the children
are telling the wonderful works of God. Still the Holy Spirit
is convincing man of sin. Still the Lord Jesus Christ is
being exalted, giving repentance. and remission of sins unto the
Israel of God. And so in the line of what this
man has said, we may clearly say this is not of man, because
it has continued, it hasn't ceased, even to this day, and it will
not cease, it is of God. And so they listen to him, and
so It didn't stop them beating the apostles and then still trying
to command them not to speak in the name of Jesus, but they
let them go. And we read at the end of the
chapter there, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. It's a great example to the Church
of God, to the end of time, when there are those that would try
to stop the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and setting
him forth. No doubt there still is reserve
to the Church, the attempts to extinguish it and the attempts
to persecute and punish those that will continue to do as the
Apostles did here. But may we truly know what they
knew and be able in the words of our text to say, hem, has
God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour,
for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And of course, not just to the
nation of Israel, but to the Israel of God, Jews and Gentiles
alike. It's not until we come to Acts
10 that we have the equivalent of Pentecost with the Gentiles
and the Holy Spirit given to them. But the promise has always
been, and our Lord in John 10, he says, And what he's referring
to is the fold of the Jews and those of the Gentiles, which
are not of that fold. Well, I want to look with the
Lord's help at three points this evening. Firstly, Jesus exalted
by God's power. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand. And then secondly, exalted to
be and to give. To be a prince and a saviour,
and for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And then lastly, where he is
exalted now. Where he is exalted now. Firstly, Jesus exalted by God's
power. Our text says, him hath God exalted
with his right hand. Now he is exalted at God's right
hand, but the truth is here set forth that he has been exalted
by God's right hand, that is by the right hand of his might
and his power. And we must remember that What
we are looking at here is what these Jews viewed as just a mere
man. Our Lord, while upon earth he
worked the miracles, the miracles, they bore testimony as to who
he was. And many saw and believed that
he was truly the Christ. He said very clearly to the woman
at the well of Samaria, I that speak unto thee am he. And she said, come to those of
the Samaritans, come and see a man that told me all things
that ever I did, is not this the Christ? And the important
thing is that seeing a man that this had never ever happened
before, mere man, as many viewed him,
that they are to see him as what he testified that he was, truly
God and truly man, born of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that are under the law, and that God was his Father. I and my Father are one. What
he testified was true. The Jews, they understood very
clearly in John 10, that he was claiming to be God, not just
a created angel or a man in some special way, yet still a sinner. They said that thou being a man,
make thyself God. And though he, of course, was
God making himself man, yet God manifest in the flesh. The difference then that was
wrought upon this man was that the God of heaven and of earth,
and when the apostles are speaking to the scribes, the pharisees,
the chief priests, they believed in God. They believed in the
eternal God. They believed in the Old Testament
scriptures, and God, God the creator, God the giver of the
law, They believed in God. Our Lord said at one time in
his ministry, ye believe in God, believe also in me. And so the apostles speaking
in this way, they would say to these chief priests, the God
whom you worship, the creator, the eternal God, he is the one
that has exalted this man. He has lifted up this man. He has shown him who he really
is. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand, with his almighty power. Paul, when he writes to
the Ephesians and he tells them what a wonder and a miracle it
is that they believed, says that it was the same power that made
them believers is that raised up Christ from the dead and is
spoken of as almighty power. We think of the power that will
be put forth at the last day when all those that have ever
lived shall be raised again by God's power, given a body and
appear in the presence of God at the last judgment day. God's
power will do that. We are used to seeing and knowing
something of the power of nature. We think of the thunderstorms,
we think of tsunamis, we think of the earthquakes, the volcanoes,
the great power that can be seen in the earth. And God's power,
he spake, and the world was made and was formed, but it was the
power of God. that raised up the only man that
had ever been raised up from the dead to never die again. And not only was it God's work,
but the one's work who was raised. I have power to lay down my life. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
by his own power as Almighty God. It is a great mystery, God
manifest in the flesh. But it is set before us here,
the seal is that it is God's work. And going back to again
what Gamaliel said, he was comparing man's work, God's work. Man's work that ceases, God's
work that continues. and Paul had set forth God's
work. It is the work of God that is
needed because each one of us will stand before God's judgment
throne at the last. It is God's law that we have
broken. It is God's judgment throne. It is the God who has created
us and made us. We need a salvation approved
of God. We need a salvation that God
is the author of. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
was not truly God and didn't have the approval and seal of
heaven, then we have no business whatsoever to put our trust in
him, to believe in him, to follow him, to rest on his name in life
and in death. But if what he is and claims
to be is true, then what a solemn thing, to turn away from that,
and to despise it, and to not seek the Lord for those things
that he is exalted to do and to be. Him hath God exalted with
his right hand. Now, of course, whenever We think
of exalted, we think of what position was he in before he
was exalted. If he truly in the beginning
was the eternal God, you cannot get any higher than God. How can God be exalted higher
than himself? And so it presupposes that there
is a humbling before being exalted. And of course, the apostles here
are speaking of God manifest in the flesh. And Paul, when
writing to the Philippians in chapter two, he so clearly sets
forth how our Lord humbled himself first, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation took upon him the form of a servant,
was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. That is the testimony of the
Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians. This is the testimony of Peter
and the other Apostles, him hath God exalted with his right hand. to be a prince and a saviour
for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. In the
mouth of many witnesses and the holy inspired word of God, exalting
and lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus exalted by God's
power. But secondly, to be and to give. We read in our text That is,
him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and
a saviour, and for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Exalted him to be first, to be
a prince and a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. He is exalted to be the Captain
of our Salvation. He is exalted to be the Head
of the Church of God, the Bridegroom of the Church. He is exalted
and given to be a Prince, a position beautifully really typified with
Joseph in his life when Joseph was brought from the prison and
very quickly brought to be next done to Pharaoh. Pharaoh saying
to Joseph that only he on the throne was greater than he. And Joseph went throughout all
Egypt with the authority of Pharaoh and in a position that really
beautifully typifies what is said here of our Lord to be a
Prince. We think of almost the same with
Mordecai who sat at the King's Gate and who was exalted as well,
speaking peace to all his people and ruling amongst the Jews. And so we have these types in
the Old Testament of the Lord being exalted in this way. For him hath God exalted with
his right hand to be a prince. But it's not only a prince, but
and a saviour. There is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. He is the Saviour, His
very name of Jesus, the name that they did not want to have
set before the people. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And so we have
in this 31st verse in Acts 5, the Lord set forth that he is
exalted by God's right hand to be a prince and a saviour. It is one thing to have one exalted,
but what is he exalted for? And again, what a beautiful type
is Joseph. When Joseph was made known to
his brethren, Then he said, God sent me before you to preserve
your lives by great deliverance. What was threatening their lives
then was a famine. And Joseph was the means to provide
them that food and that bread and to bring them into the best
of Egypt and to preserve them alive. Of course, it was bringing
about God's will. That's the seed of Abraham should
be a stranger in a strange land. In the fourth generation, they'd
come again and be brought to their own land. But Joseph was
a saviour in that sense. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
to save his people from their sins. Your sins, my sins, we
need saving from them. We are sinners by nature. We sin in thought and word and
deed. And whoso sinneth in one point,
is guilty of all, and all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. And that sentence of sin is a
sentence of death. And we have it all about us in
a naturally way. We have it about us in a spiritual
way. Man is spiritually dead. He cannot
know the things of God. And it is then the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ to give that spiritual life, to save us from
spiritual death, to save us from the eternal death, after death,
and to give eternal life. I give unto them eternal life.
They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. And it is the Lord's saving work
that begins here in this life in conversion, and through saving
his people daily from their sins as they work in their hearts
and bring them at last to be in heaven and to be saved from
the condemnation due to their sins. It is the Lord's sufferings
upon Calvary, that which is spoken of here by the apostles, that
death upon Calvary's tree, The blood that was shed there, that
is what makes atonement for sin. There's no salvation out of Christ,
and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And so
this is why it is vital that the apostles kept on rehearsing
that Christ had died. His blood was shed and he was
risen again, because it is in his sufferings and death that
he is to save his people from their sins. And that is why later
when we observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper here, it
is the church's never to forget this, always to remember that
it is through Christ's shed blood that sin is put away. His broken
body, we do show forth his death till he come, we do it in remembrance
of him, and it's that specific act of his sufferings upon Calvary
that is to be remembered because it is in that way that he is
able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
God's justice is satisfied, the debt is paid, the sins are put
away, the wrath of God is pacified, and to those that believe on
his name they are given a robe of righteousness that shall stand
them faultless before God's throne. And so he has been exalted to
be a prince and a saviour. He still is a prince and a saviour,
but we have a second part. Not only what he is to be, but
what he is to give. And how vital that this is. Still,
A gift that the Lord gives and it is a title to heaven, it is
the work of God and it is the blessing that God gives through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Two things that are joined together,
repentance and forgiveness of sin. It all has to do with sin. Sin and salvation, you can't
Separate the two. Hymn writer says, sinners can
say, and none but they, how precious is the Saviour. And if you and
I are saved, He will be precious to us. If you and I believe,
unto you is belief, He is precious. And so the two gifts, repentance
is a turning, turning from sin, a change. a change of direction,
not just turning over a new leaf, it is that which is a reviving,
a complete difference in that soul, a bringing one, instead
of being in love with sin, to hate sin. The way the Apostle
puts it in Romans 7 is after his conversion, it was that he
wanted to do good, he did not want to do evil. He testified that the good I
would, I do not, the evil that I would not, that I do. He felt
the lack of power to actually perform and to keep himself from
sin, but he was given that mind to desire that which was right. And we know, as the hymn writer
again says, the outside may be kept clean, but we feel the filth
within. The Apostle says, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? God's
people, though their lives change, though their wills change, they
still are sinners and still feel sin, and they still groan under
sin. And if not kept by God's power,
they can, like David, fall into sin and bring God's chastening
hand to be upon them. that David was brought after
he had sinned in that open way of murder and adultery to repentance,
to be sorry for what he'd done, to profess this, and to beg for
forgiveness, and to seek of God that he would restore unto him
the joy of his salvation. We have in 1 John 1, if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. One thing that's implied here,
you and I, we do not have that power to repent of our own sin. This is a gift from the Saviour
and this is the Gospel. When the Lord convinces of sin,
he brings one to want to turn, but the power to turn and the
power to repent is sweetly, most blessedly given by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those that know this blessing
will know the sweetness and yet bitterness and sorrow of really
mourning over our sins, to be really sorry for our sins. And it is in that position that
the Lord assures his people of the forgiveness of sins. Sin seen in the light of the
law of God hardens. But when we see sin in the light
of the sufferings of our Lord, and look upon him whom we have
pierced, then mourning for him then we will really see sin in
its true light. See the suffering, Son of God. And it is that repentance, that
godly sorrow for sin, that hatred of sin, the desire to change
that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his children, gives to his
people. If you feel hardened, if you
feel your heart hurt, you feel so impenitent, so far off. May you know so clearly this
is the gift and blessing to ask of the Lord. He is honoured and
glorified in this. Tell him, Lord, I see my sins,
but I only feel it just as seeing it in the Word. I don't feel
really sorry. I don't feel broken. I don't
feel to mourn over it. and I cannot turn and beg of
the Lord that he'd give you that softened heart and a real turning
and a real repentance. And the Lord is exalted to give
that. He doesn't say to a sinner, sinner,
you repent, you turn, you do this first and I'll forgive you
your sins. It's not half, it's not here.
He is exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour,
for to give forgiveness of sins to those that repent. Yes, that
is the case, but the repentance he has given himself. And we must not take the gospel
and make it to be like the law and command that men are to do
the same as what the law commands. The Gospel is pointing helpless
sinners, sinners that feel sinners and powerless to save themselves
to the Saviour, to give these very things that are in our text,
repentance and forgiveness of sins. Now I want to look at the
last point, where he is exalted now. Where he is exalted now. There's five places I've set
before you. First he's exalted in heaven. He ascended up into heaven. He sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God on high. He is there as a lamb as it had
been slain. And there he is exalted in the
highest of heavens. He is exalted in the Word of
God. In all of the New Testament,
in these letters, in the Acts of the Apostles, and right through
the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all the Scriptures,
He is exalted. And may we be very clear on that,
that Christ is right through the Word of God, and He is exalted. The Lord Jesus Christ is. Our Lord said of Abraham, Abraham
saw my day and he rejoiced at it. He is exalted in the third
place in the Gospel, lifted up on the pole of the everlasting
Gospel. Our Lord in John 3 says that
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but should have. eternal life. And in the Gospel,
it is the preacher's privilege and duty to lift up and exalt
a precious Christ. Paul says, I determine to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. In the fourth place, he is exalted
in the hearts of his people. None of those that are saved
will ever have the Lord in their hearts as one that is not exalted. He is precious and he is high
and lifted up. When the Lord gave sight to the
man that was born blind in John 9, we read that the Jews again
tried to take from him what was done. They tried to rubbish the
Lord Jesus Christ. They said, we know of Moses,
but this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The poor blind
man, he said, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see.
And why, herein is a marvellous thing. He know not from whence
he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Has there ever been
known before that a man could open another man's eyes that
has been born blind? If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. And you know, in that dear man's
heart, he did not yet have Christ revealed to him. Clearly, later
on, our Lord met with him and clearly said who he was. But
he was exalted in his heart. Those that have the blessings
of God in their souls, the Lord is exalted there. He is high
and lifted up. He is not despised. He's not
ridiculed. He's not spoken of lightly or
in a flippant way. or sometimes we hear of those
who have a profession of religion and they speak of someone looking
down from heaven, or in some flippant and light and easy way,
speaking of the things of God. No, God is greatly to be feared,
and by His people, they reverence Him, they worship Him. He is exalted in their hearts. He's not put down on the level
of men, No, He is truly lifted up as the Saviour and precious
unto you which believe He is precious. Is He exalted in your
heart and in mine? Is He exalted in our language,
in our speech? For out of the abundance of the
heart man speaketh. And lastly, he is exalted in
the Church of God. God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints to be had in reference of all them
that are about him. We read in Psalm 29 and verse
9, that in his temple does everyone speak of his glory. And that is what we would expect
And that's what we expect in the true Church of God. His glory
is spoken of. He is lifted up. He is reverenced. He is feared. He is exalted.
He has the highest position. Him hath God exalted, with his
right hand to be a prince and a saviour, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Well, may it be true with
each one of us that God has exalted him in our hearts. May it be
true of us as a church that God has exalted the Lord Jesus Christ
in our midst. May it be true in every aspect
of our lives that we speak well of the Lord Jesus Christ, highly
esteeming him. May the Lord add his blessing
and help us after we've closed this part of the service to come
to the Lord's table. Amen.