As it may please the Lord to
bless us together this evening we'll continue our meditation
in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2 and we'll speak from verse
25 down to verse 36. As we read together this evening
we read the whole of this sermon that Peter actually spoke on
this day of Pentecost and just to remind ourselves that When
he spoke, he spoke very gently really, especially as they'd
been criticized that they were drunk because of the effect the
Holy Spirit had upon them. And then he quotes to them the
Word of God. And in this account, in his sermons
often he quotes the Word of God, he quotes the prophecy that was
in Joel so clearly. And then he comes down and he
reminds them and he tells them that that he being delivered
by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, year taken,
and by wicked hands of crucified and slain, whom God has raised
up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible
that he should be holding of it. And then we come to verse
25, and again remember he is speaking largely to the Jewish
people and he brings to their attention the word of God, the
prophecy in the Old Testament and that which perhaps they may
have thought spoke by David concerning himself he proves in actual fact
that it was indeed speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and so
he comes and he says for David speaketh concerning him the Lord
Jesus Christ. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Now it's a very, these words
are very beautiful really we're reading here tonight and it is
really holy ground because they are the words of the Lord Jesus. It's speaking of what he says
and he says I foresaw the Lord always before my face. It was
of course his father. We think of the Lord Jesus when
he was on this earth, what a blessing it was for him. He took on a
human form to be blessed in this way. To be able to say this,
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right
hand. that I should not be moved the
saviour enjoyed the strength and support of his father as
he journeyed through life with all the opposition and all the
difficulties that he faced and then he comes and says therefore
did my heart rejoice He said, I shall not be moved, therefore
did my heart rejoice. The Lord is on his right hand,
that I shall not be moved, therefore did my heart rejoice. And you
may realise that I read the 16th Psalm because that's what Peter
is referring to. And in that 16th Psalm from verse
8 to 11 we read, I have set the Lord always before me because
he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore my heart
is glad and my glory rejoices my flesh also shall rest in hope
for thou would not leave my soul in hell neither will thou suffer
thine holy one to see corruption thou would show me the path of
life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand and
our pleasures for evermore. And if we can consider those
are the words of the Lord Jesus speaking really with reference
to his father and the joy that it was what a blessing and how
wonderful to think that there was recorded by David all those
years ago the word and the situation which so clearly spoke of the
Lord Jesus therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad moreover
also my flesh shall rest in hope. Ponder the words of the Saviour
as he says my heart rejoice he rejoiced in the work that he
was doing He rejoiced in the glory of it. He rejoiced in the
outcome that it would be. What cause there was for the
Saviour to rejoice. And my friends, what cause there
is for us tonight to rejoice in such words. He says, therefore
did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad Moreover also, my flesh
shall rest in hope. The Lord Jesus was able to declare
when he prayed that prayer for his father. He says, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. And so the Saviour was indeed
glorified, the wonderful occasion that was. Therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope, shall not forget what a blessing these things
were. Again, David says in Psalm 89, with whom my hand shall be
established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. God speaking
now of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, because
Because, they are rejoicing here, because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption. The Lord Jesus was raised the
third day. He died and He was raised the
third day. And in that physical sense, His
flesh did not see corruption. it had not begun to putrefy and
in the book of Leviticus in those days of the law when those sacrifices
were offered we have the situation it was not allowed to remain
more than on the third day and here was that great sacrifice
and it was not allowed to be in the grave beyond that third
day and in Leviticus 7 we read, and the flesh of the sacrifice
of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that
it is offered. He shall not leave any of it
until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering
be a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day
that he offereth his sacrifice. And on the morrow also The remainder
of it shall be eaten. But the remainder of the flesh
that is sacrificed on the third day shall be burnt with fire. It is not to remain any longer
because it would have become corrupted. So here we have this
statement. Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption. that was rejoicing, he would
not be left. What a blessing for us today,
if depending upon the grace of the Saviour, to realise the truth
with regard to our souls. Yes, we shall be delivered. Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full
of joy with thy countenance. Go in the statements of the Lord
Jesus to think of that. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. He looked upon the countenance
of his God. May we then look upon the countenance
of our God and to rejoice in that grace and glorious truth. So Peter then comes and says
men and brethren let me freely speak unto you the patriarch
David that he is both dead and buried and his sepulcher is with
us unto this day. See he died and he was buried
and there he is, there he was, therefore being a prophet And
knowing that God had sworn with an oath that of the fruit of
his loins, that's David, the fruit of David's loins, according
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. And so it came to pass. What
a blessing. Isn't it lovely to be able to
Read in the word of God the prophecies being so wonderfully fulfilled. Those prophecies written so many
many years ago. And those who wrote them no doubt
not really understanding what they wrote. And yet you see they
were fulfilled. And so we today can rejoice in
the truth of it to know that God's word indeed is true. He's seen this before. Speak of the resurrection of
Christ. that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did see corruption. Now Peter is explaining these
things to this great multitude. He is pointing out to them the
great blessing that was theirs. And he is directing them so wholeheartedly
to the life, the death, the resurrection and the ascension. of the Lord
Jesus Christ, because he comes and says, this Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. And of course he is
referring now to those who the Lord had revealed himself to,
the disciples and those 500 people, etc. And we know that the Lord
therefore was seen of them and they were indeed witnesses and
God had raised him up therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost he has shed forth this which he now see and hear
the law was now seated on the right hand of God in glory and
that had been fulfilled of which he had spoken about, the Holy
Ghost coming upon them. They had remained in Jerusalem
until this day. And now that had been fulfilled. And the Holy Ghost had come down
in those flaming tongues. What a revelation it was. What
a blessing it was. Again another fulfilment. Wonderful
favour. And again we read in Psalm 132
The Lord has sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from
it, for the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. Yes, the Lord Jesus, the fruit
of David's body will also be set upon the throne. For in the
110th Psalm, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right
hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Another promise
you see, gloriously fulfilled as we read in verse 34, for David
is not ascended into the heavens. No, David wasn't. But he saith
himself, the Lord saith unto my Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. You see David, he died. He sets forth, hear the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is seated, ascended, risen from the dead,
ascended in the glory, and there, seated in the Father's right
hand, to intercede for the Church of God. Oh, try and imagine this
great scene, and all these thousands of people, and the Apostle Peter
preaching these great truths, and proclaiming those things
which had been prophesied had now been revealed they now come
to pass and this was the Lord Jesus Christ that David was prophesying
about and he says therefore therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ this same Jesus my
friends today this same Jesus what do we believe tonight in
this same Jesus do we rejoice in this same Jesus. Do we bless
God for all that he did, for all that he endured, for all
that he passed through. Do we bless God for the wonderful
fulfilment of those promises given to the Church of God, commenced
in the Garden of Eden, fulfilled at Calvary so many years later. And here we are thankful to God
and he's brought together in this short sermon by the Apostle
Peter for those great truths the fulfilment of them so that
our faith our faith tonight might be strengthened to realise that
these things are true so often the devil will come and pretend
well we're believing a false Christ we don't believe a true
gospel and all the Bible's lies but as we may be encouraged to
consider these things to realize that they are not lies they are
true and the word of God in Matthew's gospel chapter 22 the Lord Jesus
Christ said what think ye of Christ? oh how vital isn't it? whose son is he? whose son is
he? They said unto him, The son of
David. He realized that. He said unto
them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Set thou my right hand, till I make
mine enemies thy footstool. If David then called him Lord,
how is he his son? And no man was able to answer
him a word, neither doth any man from that day forth ask him
any more questions. So the Lord had confounded them.
He had spoken to them the truth of God's word. And oh may this
powerful word, these words here that the Apostle Peter preached
so many years ago come into our hearts. and that we may rejoice
to realise in the wonderful fulfilment of those things which were spoken
and to believe that now we worship the risen Saviour seated on the
Father's right hand there to intercede tonight as we prayed
that our prayers have ascended up and have been accepted through
the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and so may we tonight
Go on our way, thankful and rejoicing in the knowledge of these great
truths. Amen.