In Acts chapter 2, we want to
begin with the 32nd verse, read through verse 36, and notice
verse 36 as our verse of emphasis, containing our subject and our
proof text for the subject of the Lordship of Christ. You recognize,
of course, that this is part of the Apostle Peter's Pentecostal
Day Sermon. It's just a part of it, as the
Spirit of God came, and Peter began to speak unto them, and
what we're reading from this morning is the second half of
that Pentecostal Day message unto the Jew. So, in the 32nd
verse, through verse 36. This same Jesus hath God raised
up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heaven, but he, that is, David said himself, the Lord
said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. And Peter said, Therefore, let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now notice the word made. God
hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ. Now in Philippians the second
chapter and verses 5 through 11. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, 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 and was made in the likeness
of men, made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Now listen. Wherefore God also
has highly exalted him and given him a name that 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. Shall I read Acts 2.36 again? Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now we understand
that there are three distinct persons that make up the Godhead
or the divine nature or essence. They are the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. There are three persons,
all of them having or possessing deity. Now these are not three
gods, but they are three divine persons sharing one indivisible
essence. This of course is the doctrine
of the Trinity that we believe in. All three persons in the
Godhead are both eternal and are uncreated. They have no beginning
and therefore can have no end. They have unceasing being. They have no beginning, they
are uncreated, and they have their being and essence in themselves. As to the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he was neither, as to his being, created or propagated. The Lord Jesus Christ was not
created by God, and he was not propagated in any ordinary fashion. This would completely destroy
his divinity and make him, at best, no higher than the angels
of God. Because he existed as the Son
of God before the world, before time, before the creation of
Adam and Eve, before the fall of our first parent and before
his incarnation in the flesh in the world. And he also existed
as the son of God before his resurrection and before his ascension. There are some, you know, who
teach that our Lord became the son of God and was born again
at the resurrection or at the ascension. But in this study
this morning, as we look at these scriptures that we have read,
we want to look at what Peter said in Acts 2, and what Paul
said in Philippians chapter 2, that the Lord Jesus Christ after
being raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and upon the right
hand of God, where there he exercises a mediatorial sovereign lordship
over all things, over his people, over the church, and over the
world. Now the two texts referred to
in Acts chapter 236, Philippians 2 verse 9 through 11, make statements
such as the God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ. And Paul writes in Philippians
that after Jesus was made in the likeness of men, he became
obedient unto the death of the cross, and then was raised up,
was highly exalted again, and given a name which is above every
name that might be named. And not only that, but to him
every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus
is what? Lord to the glory of God. Now, before we wade out, however,
into these very deep theological waters, let's consider something
I found written in the writing of Thomas Goodwin of Puritan
and found in others as well, and I think that it is a good
distinction to make concerning the particular lordship of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Goodwin called it, and I quote,
a two-fold lordship of the second person, unquote. Now think about
that for a moment, let it enter into our mind. a twofold lordship
there is of the second person, that there is a dual lordship
that is possessed by the Son of God, by the Christ of God. First of all, of course, we recognize
that lordship that Goodwin denominated or called, quote, natural, absolute,
and underrived, unquote. He has a lordship natural to
his being. It is absolute. It is absolute
in its exercise, and it is underrived. None bestowed it upon him, he
had it by nature. It is natural to him, it is innate
to him, as a member of the Godhead, one of the Holy Three, being
very God, having deity, being equal and one with God the Father,
possessing the very same attributes of the Godhead, having created
all things, for Christ is also Creator, being all-powerful and
all-sovereign. And this belongs to him in accordance
with his divinity and his eternal being and existence. He was never given this lordship,
never made lord in this first sense that we are discussing,
for it bears repeating. This particular lordship is natural,
absolute, and underrived, possessed by the Son, the second in the
Godhead. Second, however, there is the
lordship that we are discussing this morning. That was mentioned
in Acts 2 and verse 36, that he was made Lord and Christ. So this does not insinuate that
he was without lordship prior unto his incarnation and his
death and his resurrection and his ascension again to the right
hand of God. For this lordship here is bestowed
in relation to him as the priest and the mediator of the covenant
and the eternal purpose of the almighty God, and especially
in the matter of salvation and the saving of the elect. It is his entering into what
I am comfortable calling or referring to as his mediatorial lordship
or sovereignty. His mediatorial lordship or sovereignty. Let Israel know God has made
that Jesus that was crucified and that lay in the grave both
Lord and Christ. You remember, In Luke chapter
2 and verse 11, he was called Lord at his birth. Unto you is born a Savior, which
is Christ Jesus the Lord. And the two titles that are used
here in Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, only they are reversed in
order from Luke chapter 2 and verse 11. So he was sovereign
before he died and before he entered into his glory at the
right hand of God. Even here in the flesh, he did
as he pleased. He had power over all things,
over nature and all diseases and all people and such like,
because that was according to the will of the Father who had
put all things into his hand. But now, Let's look closer at
this passage in the second of Acts and put it in its immediate
context. It is an exhortation from the
Apostle Peter, spoken when the Holy Spirit was given on the
day of Pentecost. And the heroes on that occasion
were almost exclusively Jews. You see that in verse 5 and in
verse 22. Ye men of Israel hear these words. Verse 36 he said, Let all the
house of Israel know assuredly. So the message is principally
and primarily under the Jew. for the apostle is stressing
unto these Jews that are present and that are hearing and that
have seen the events of Pentecost from verse 22 and forward that
Jesus of Nazareth, as they knew him, whom they crucified, is
actually the Messiah, is actually the one that David wrote about
in Psalm chapter 16 verses 8 through 11. And the apostle hits them,
his audience, with two very sobering truths there that smite their
heart and that cut them very deeply. Number one, Peter says
to them, the one that you crucified was indeed Messiah. They are
charged with killing the prince of life. Verse 33, I'm sorry,
verse 23, by wicked or literally lawless hand, you have taken
and crucified and slain. In verse 36, he mentions it again. That same Jesus whom you crucified. Peter charges that upon his kinsmen. You'll see it again in Acts 3.15. You'll see it again in Acts 5
and verse 30. that in their blindness and in
their ignorance, they killed the very Son of God. They crucified the Lord of glory. Secondly, equally disturbing
as the first, you have killed the prince of life. And his second
statement is, God has raised him out of the grave. He is not
in the grave. He's not smoldering there. He's not held under death. He's
not seeing corruption. God has raised him up again. Looking through these verses.
In verse 24, whom God raised up. Verse 32, the same Jesus
has God raised up wherever we are witnessing. And over in chapter
3 and 15, whom God has raised from the dead. Chapter 5 and
verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus. All of those emphasis are given
unto them. Now the point of contrast here
is this. What they thought and what they
did to Jesus and what God thought and what God did unto Jesus. What they thought of Jesus and
what God thought. They crucified him. God cut the
pangs or the cords of death brought him back again to life out of
the grave after three days and that without seeing corruption
and that according to the Old Testament prophecy not only that
not only raised him out of the grave but but he received him
in the heaven at his own right hand and made him both Lord and
Christ. Now Christ was not raised from
the dead in the same sense or the same manner as was Lazarus
or the widow of Cain's son to resume their earthly life to
live a while again upon earth, and then at some point to die
again. But the Lord was raised, he ascended
up into heaven, and he sat down on the very right hand of God. Get it? He entered, says Hebrews,
into the very presence of God, something the Old Testament high
priest never could do. Now, this is a very important
part of the gospel, and it is very heavily emphasized and very
well documented in the Holy Scripture. Let's see it. Psalms 110 and
verse 1, put with Acts chapter 2. Psalm 110, the Lord would sit
on God's right hand until his enemies had been made his footstool. In Acts 1 verse 9, he went up
in a cloud in the sight of his disciples and they watched him
go. Romans 8, 34, he is risen again who is even at the right hand
of God. In Ephesians 4 and verse 10,
he is ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all
things. How about that glorious statement,
Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3, when he had by himself purged
our sin, sat down on the right hand of God. In Hebrews 4.14,
we have a great high priest that is passed into the heaven who
is Jesus, the Son of God. And this last verse is loaded
with truth there. in that passage in Hebrew. Number
one, we have a great high priest. We're not without a high priest.
He meets our need. He suits our situation. Number
two, this high priest is not, this high priest has not passed
within the visible veil of the earthly temple, but he has passed
into the heaven itself, into the very presence of God. And
three, what's more, this high priest is none other than the
Son of God. The eternal Son of God is our
great high priest. You remember in Acts chapter
7 when Stephen was being stoned and was being martyred for the
cause of Christ, in Acts chapter 7 and verse 56, he saw the heavens
opened and he saw the Son of God standing on the right hand
of God, which was Jesus, as is stated in verse 55 of Acts chapter
7. But again, back to Acts chapter
2, and the preaching and the message and the words of Peter,
that not only is Jesus raised up from the dead, that in accordance
with the will, the power, and the prophecy of David, and that
without seeing any corruption, for death was not able to hold
him and corrupt him, but he is exalted to the right hand of
God and is made Lord and Christ. Now it's time for us to take
a look at that word made which is emphatic in Acts chapter 2
and verse 36. It has in the scripture a very
wide range of meanings and of application. The word is If I
don't butcher it beyond recognition, pay ale, and it might help to
see how the same word is used in other places in the scripture,
but translated by another word. You have it in Matthew 1 and
verse 24. Joseph did as the angel bid him. The word did is the same word
made in Acts 2.36. In Matthew 3 and verse 8, it
is bring forth, have done, and will make. More often than not,
it is translated did and made, bring forth, made. That's how
it's translated more commonly in the New Testament. It is a
verb in Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, and it expresses an act or
an event or an occurrence or an action. It expresses something
that God did, something that God did toward the Lord Jesus
Christ, as well as what he did make him both Lord and Christ. Now, this word as a verb made
in two very prominent verses in the New Testament that I want
to point out. First of all, you're familiar
with 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. God made him to be sin who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. God
made him to be sin. Again in Ephesians chapter 3
and verse 11, we read of the eternal purpose which he purposed. And that word purpose is the
word made or formed or carried out in Christ Jesus. The eternal purpose, which he
made, carried out, and formed in Christ Jesus. Same word that
we have in Acts chapter 2 and verse 36. So the word made there
in Acts 2 and verse 36, made him Lord and Christ, may include
a couple a very important meaning. It declares to those Jews that
the one that they knew as Jesus of Nazareth, and that they crucified,
is indeed the Messiah. They made a dreadful mistake.
The one they crucified, Jesus of Nazareth, whom they took to
be a common Jew, was indeed the Messiah. James Alexander, in
his commentary on the book of Acts, wrote it like this, quote,
it attached the office of Messiah to the person of Jesus of Nazareth,
unquote. And it put their act in perspective. The whom they killed was the
prince of life. Now again, it is a declaring
of the Lord Jesus of Christ according to his official character in
the covenant of grace and the purpose of God. That if he were
not already Lord and Christ, the very son of God, he would
not have been raised after three days. If he were not already
God's Lord and God's Christ, he would not have been raised
after that fashion, for he would not have been the servant of
God, and would have seen corruption, but he must see none. And he
would not have been exalted to the right hand of God. But in
his exaltation, he entered into, listen to me here, entered into
a new phase of his mediatorial lordship and priesthood and such
like. Having authority over all flesh
and directly exercising that sovereign lordship. Because the
Father having put all things into his hand, all judgment is
committed unto the Son, all salvation, the oversight of the church,
life and death. He had the power of life and
death in his hand. The Jews, you know, used the
Romans to put the Lord to death. but he was not only restored
to life again, but he was raised to the right hand of God and
invested with an unlimited lordship and sovereignty. Now the Jews'
treatment of the Lord is reflected somewhat greatly in the parable
of the vineyard in Matthew chapter 21, verse 33 through 46. You'll see some great parallels
there between the son of the vineyard owner and the son of
God. When the owner of the vineyard
finally sent his own son, and the husbandmen caught him and
they killed him, whereby the owner destroyed those miserable
men, took away the vineyard. Even so, the Jews' crucifixion
of the Lord fill their cup of iniquity to overflowing, and
the kingdom of God was taken from them, and Judaism was put
to death with Christ upon the cross, so that it is no more
than a corpse or an empty shell It is a Christless religion without
a Savior. We also see this in type in the
life and the experience of the man Joseph in the book of Genesis,
the first book of the Bible. One of the closest types of the
Lord to be found in the Old Testament. That is, one of the human types
of the Lord to be found in the Old Testament. And he is typical,
Joseph is, in several aspects, such as he was the beloved favorite
of his father. He was envied and rejected by
his brothers, who plotted to take his life, sold him into
slavery, where there he was tempted, falsely accused, put down in
the dungeon under the threat of death, but then, This man,
so unlikely, was raised up out of that horrible condition and
made the prime minister over the land of Egypt, second in
command and power only under the king. And later, his brothers
were fearful when Joseph revealed himself under them, the one that
they were about to kill. They had plotted to kill him,
but instead sold him into slavery. And imagine their startleness
when they discovered that he is made Lord, that he is in charge
of everything in Egypt, that he holds their very life, and
their very being in his own hand. Naturally, they are terrified
in Genesis chapter 45 and verse 3. Joseph is yet alive. He is Lord over the land of Egypt. And so the Jews in Acts chapter
2 and verse 37, when they heard that, That they killed one, God
raised him, he's at the right hand, he is Lord and Christ. When they heard that, in verse
37, they were pricked in their heart. For he was dead and buried,
and a seal was set upon his grave, and a watch was put there, yet
not only is he raised, But he is at the right hand of God,
Lord and Christ. They were stung and smitten in
their heart and their soul and in their conscience. And I think
the word can have the meaning they were perforated. They were
perforated when they heard Peter say these things. A.T. Robertson
calls their feeling as being second-errest indicative, that
is, the word pricked meaning to pierce. or to sting sharply,
to stun, or to smite them. And that's what happened under
them, to pierce thoroughly into their heart and into their mind. It stung them to the very quick
of their conscience when they heard that. It agitated them
violently when these words were spoken under them. This is the
only place, I think, in the New Testament where this exact word
And their pain was not in their body, but it was in their heart,
in their inner self, when they heard what they had done and
what God had done. And rightly so, for they had
either participated in or they had approved the killing of the
Prince of Life. Remember, at Pilate's judgment
hall, they preferred Barabbas to be set free, Instead of the
Lord Jesus, they charged the Lord with blasphemy. They had
cried, crucify Jesus, crucify him. We will not have this man
to reign over us. We have no king but Caesar. Let his blood be upon us. All of those things they cried
in the judgment of our Lord. and then to have the full measure
of their guilt and of their sin brought home to their conscience,
heated hotter than Nebuchadnezzar's furnace had been heated. They
stood guilty of blasphemy and of treason and even what Alexander
called the judicial murder of the Son of God who had been raised
again and exalted to be sovereign over all. And the Apostle Peter
in this sermon counsels them to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ
and be saved from the doom that awaited that crooked generation,
be saved from this untoward generation, the generation that killed the
blessed Son of God, that endured the agony and the misery and
the destruction of 70 AD. Now, a few points concerning
Christ ascension into heaven and especially as it is expressed
by being on the right hand of God. Psalm 110 verse 1 again,
sit at my right hand. Hebrews 1 and 3, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high. Hebrews 8 verse 1, we
have such a high priest who is sat on the right hand of the
throne of the majesty of God in the heaven. Hebrews 12 and
verse 2, is sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Now we must ask ourselves the
question, give the best answer that we can. What is the significance
of this? What is the significance that
Jesus is raised, that he is set down on the right hand of God? Well, first of all, It is expressive
of one who is high in the favor of God. And by the way, none
other ever was granted this privilege. Not another in all of eternity
or time was ever granted this privilege to sit down on the
right hand of God. For only one who is very God
himself shall ever have this place, or this privilege, or
this honor. See the impudent request of the
two disciples, Lord, in thy glory may we sit, one on thy right
hand, one on thy left. That drew a strong rebuke from
our Lord unto them. So the first thing is, it is
expressive of one who is high in the favor of God. In fact,
who is very God. But then secondly, it is expressive
of one high in rank and in dignity. High in rank and in dignity. A place for one whom the king
delights to honor, as we read in the book of Esther. Now earthly
kings were wont to do that. Sit one at their right hand,
who they honored and brought into their presence. Joseph went
in. As Joseph was to Pharaoh, he
was the second in power and authority. But then there's a third thing
about this exaltation and lordship. It is a due and proper reward
For his humbling himself to the death of the cross did we not
read it in Philippians 2 9 through 11 wherefore wherefore because
he took on the form of a servant and the likeness of men and became
obedient to the death of the cross and Wherefore God has highly
exalted him on that account as a reward of that, given him a
name that is above every name, a name at which every knee should
bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. You have the same two things
in Isaiah 53 verse 11 and 12 in prophecy. He poured out his
soul. He made an atonement for his
soul. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great.
He will be rewarded. Number four, consider that place
in Hebrew 6, 18 through 20. where it is said that we have
a hope that is set before us, and that this hope is the anchor
of our soul. And said hope is said to be within
the veil, not the veil in the temple on earth, but even within
the veil, in these words. Whither the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus. Jesus, our great high priest,
is entered into the veil. It is literally where a forerunner
on behalf of us has entered. Now, a forerunner is gone ahead
to mark the way, to claim in our name a place for us, to prepare
a place, and make all preparation for our arrival that he has gone
away out of this world is not to the detriment and is not abandonment
of the people of God for Jesus himself is the forerunner claiming
heaven and in our name to announce our coming, each one to be received
unto himself, that where he is there they may be also. By the way, next week, God willing,
I hope to preach on the subject. We are saved by hope and this
text in Hebrews will come before us again. But let's be more specific. Name some of the benefits from
the exaltation of the Lord to sovereign lordship, such as,
number one, it is a special dispensation of sovereignty, what John Gill
called a delegated kingdom, unquote. The administration of the covenant
of grace is put in the hands of Christ. to apply the great
salvation purchased by his death in the cross to the one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now they are sadly
mistaken. I want you to hear me. They are
sadly mistaken anywhere in the world and in any religion. who imagine that they may come
to God and be saved apart from Jesus Christ. They are sadly
mistaken and under delusion, who think they may come to God
apart from Jesus Christ. No man comes to the Father but
by me. John chapter 10. He will rule,
says Paul, in 1 Corinthians till he has put all enemies under
his feet. 1 Corinthians 15, 24 through
verse 28. Secondly, concerning this Lordship,
when the Lord was exalted, he received the promise of the Spirit. He received the promise of the
Holy Spirit. That is, he received the Spirit
promised by himself and by God, and he shed it forth on the day
of Pentecost. Acts 2 and verse 33. this which
you now hear and see. Do we understand that? Has that
dawned upon us? That it was Jesus in his glorified
state that poured out the Holy Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. In John 7, 37-39, there is a
close connection between the glorification of
the Lord's righteous servant and the giving of the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit was not given
yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. But the exalted Christ
sent down the Holy Spirit as he said he would. John 16 and
7, If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if
I depart, I will send him unto you." Therefore, the coming of
the Spirit in the fashion of Pentecost confirmed the words
of the Lord that he had been exalted and made Lord and Christ. Thirdly, in his exaltation to
sovereign lordship, the Lord, as our great high priest, is
there to make intercession for the elected and the redeemed,
acting as our advocate. 1 John 2, 1 and 2, if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. He has presented himself before
God the Father as the surety of the elect. And the Lord is
and has an absolute sovereignty, Lord of all, the head of all
things, the first and the last, the mighty God. The government
is upon his shoulder, a king over his kingdom, and he rules
in the heart of his elect people. Now, a couple of closing thoughts
before we're done. There is a mediator between us
and God, but there is none between us and Christ Jesus. No, not even Mary. for the Son has assumed human
nature, is both God and man, God manifest in the flesh, now
glorified and at the right hand of God. Now, I want to close
by making a strong point. This must be made. The reason
there is no or little power in Arminian preaching today is because
the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ is not preached, is not
declared. They give it to the will of man,
rather than to the sovereignty and the power and the purpose
of God. They portray the Lord as a weak
savior. They portray the Lord as a beggar,
standing at the heart's door, knocking and begging, waiting
to be invited in by the sinner. They can take Jesus or they can
leave him. That is their thought. And the
Lord must abide by their decision, they are told, and not violate
their free will. John 17 and 2. He has authority
over all flesh. Thou hast given him authority
over all flesh. That He may give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given him. Have you ever read
that? Have you ever seen it? Have you
ever seen the meaning that has given him authority, power? over all, that he might give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Know this and
know it well in closing, Christ has sovereign power over all
souls. He has sovereign power It is
his sovereign power and prerogative. And that ought to prick the heart
of those who think, well, Jesus is there in case I ever need
him. He's ready and at hand. I'll
go on on my way. Someday I may make up my mind
to take Jesus. He's there if I need him. He's
standing by. My friend, he's sovereign Lord.
He's made Lord and Christ. It is with him that you have
to do, and he has power over all things. When we think about
that, it pricks us in our heart. If we're unconverted, it blesses
us if we are saved and know the Lord.