Acts chapter 4. The context of this text is where
Peter and John went up to the temple to pray and they healed
this man that was laying from his mother's womb. The Pharisees
and the scribes were very irritated that They had did this and also
that they were preaching in the name of Jesus, the resurrection
from the dead. They threatened these apostles,
James and John, and told them not to speak in His name anymore.
And they let them go. They went back to the church.
And they told the church about their threatenings and the oppositions
that they had faced from these Pharisees and scribes and Sadducees. They lifted up their voices to
God and prayed. Approached Him to the throne
of God and said, You're the Lord, You're God that made the heavens
and the earth and the sea and all that in them is. And then
they quoted the second Psalms, a portion of it. And that's what
I want to read in Acts chapter 4 and verse 25. And then I want
to turn to that psalm and read it. Acts chapter 4 and verse
25. And this is the quote from David,
and they use this quote in their prayer to the Lord. They said,
Who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said? Why did the
heathen rage? And why do the people imagine?
Why do they plot vain things? And He told who these people
were and who they were plotting against. He said they were the
kings of the earth stood up. The rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against His Christ. For of a truth against Thy holy
child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together,
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings,
and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak
thy word, by stretching forth your hand to heal, that signs
and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they
were assembled together, and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with boldness." Now turn
over to Psalms chapter 2, and I want to read that Psalms. And
in this Psalms chapter 2, we find this same quote. Psalms chapter 2, page 637 in
the Pew Bible. Why do the heathen reign? And the people imagine a vain
thing. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His Christ, His Anointed. And here's what they're saying.
Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from
us. But he that setteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord
shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and distress them, vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree, God
says. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. You shall break them with a rod
of iron. You shall dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings of the earth. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear, reverence,
and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Son of
God. lest he be angry, and you perish
from the way when his wrath is kennel but a little. Blessed
are all they that put their trust in him. And if I had the title
of what little I've got to say this morning, it would probably
be opposition to Christ. And maybe you would put a question
mark at the end of that. Opposition? Opposition to the
Lord? Opposition? To the Son of God,
to Christ, the Anointed of God? Both our texts that I read to
you this morning says that. Against Christ, the Son of God,
and therefore against God. Their opposition was against
the person of Christ. They were opposed to Him, who
He actually was and who He claimed to be. They were opposed to everything
He did and everything He said. But their opposition, Peter says,
was not only against the Lord, the Christ, but against the Lord. Because He said, I came not of
Myself, but the Father sent Me. If they were opposed to Christ
who was sent, they had to be opposed to God who sent Him.
And also their opposition had to be against the Holy Spirit.
For it was through the Holy Spirit that Christ was born. It was
through the Holy Spirit that He did the miracles that He did. I with the finger of God, with
the Spirit of God cast out demons. So their opposition was against
the triune God, wasn't it? But this morning we Mainly, we'll
look at the opposition against Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And the question here is asked. It's obvious that it's not asked
for information, but the question is asked, why? In both our texts,
why? It wasn't asked because God doesn't
know, but He wants you and I to ask the question. He wanted them
in the early church to ask, why? And I think any reasonable person
would come to this conclusion. Why is there such opposition
to Jesus Christ? And I think any reasonable, intelligent
being would have to say that it's unreasonable. Any opposition
to the Son of God would have to be unreasonable. Christ Himself, Jesus, the Son
of Mary, the Son of God, appealed to the conscience of the scribes
and Pharisees in His day, and He said this, Which of you convinces
Me of sin? If there had been something in
Him of sinfulness or iniquity in him, then they would have
had just cause of opposing him. But he had no sin in his heart,
and out of the abundance of his heart his mouth spoke. He never
opposed God, or he never opposed Caesar. Which of you convinces
me of sin? Unreasonable, is it not? Not
only did He never do any evil, not only did He ever speak a
vile word, but to the contrary, the Scripture says that He went
about doing nothing but good and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil. And when you consider the Lord
Jesus Christ coming into this life, it is evident that he voluntarily
took the lowest place in humanity. He was born of a woman who was
in poverty. He lived in a town that had a
mean reputation. He lived, he worked, he traveled,
often hungry and thirsty, the Bible says, with no place to
lay his head. He voluntarily humbled Himself
to suffer hunger and thirst and weariness and need? And do you ever find one place
that He performed a single miracle to relieve His own need? Even after forty days of fasting,
He did not perform a miracle to relieve His hunger. His miracles
were always performed for the relief of others. He denied himself
of much-needed rest and necessary food and shelter from the elements
only to relieve others who had need. He never performed one
miracle for himself, even to feed himself, but he did to relieve
the hunger of others. He denied himself rest but gave
rest to the multitude of others." The Bible says that he was rich. And yet, for your sakes, he became
poor that you through his poverty might become rich. Does anybody
and did anybody find any fault with the Son of God, with His
own words and actions, towards himself and towards others. Nothing. There was no sin in him or came
out of his mouth. We just sang that blessed old
song, I think, that tells the true story of our Lord and how
He lived, not for Himself, but to help others. Barned among
cattle in poverty sore, living in meekness by Galilee's shore,
Dying in shame as the wicked once swore. Jesus, what a wonderful
Lord! Weary, yet He is the world's
only rest. Hungry and thirsty, with plenty
others He blessed. Tempted, He promises grace for
each test. Jesus, what a wonderful Lord! Friend of the friendless, betrayed
and denied. Help of the weak in Gethsemane,
He cried. Light of the world in gross darkness,
He died. Jesus, wonderful Lord. He had no tears for His own griefs,
did He? Do we ever see Him praying and
crying over His own griefs? Never once do we. His tears were
for others. How many tears did he wipe while
he was here? A widow weeping over her dead
son, he wiped her tears. Sisters weeping over the loss
of their brothers, he wiped their tears. A poor sinner in the town
weeping over her sins, he forgave her and wiped her tears. How many sorrows did he relieve
And yet he remained a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Why, then, the question comes
to us, why such opposition? Why such opposition to Christ,
the Son of the living God? How many of his followers, how
many of his disciples did he feed and relieve from the oppression
of the devil? and all kinds of physical oppression. But let's go one step even farther
than that. It was not just His kindness
and goodness to His followers and His disciples, not just to
those who sought mercy, but how often did He put Himself in the
place where those who would have never have found Him otherwise,
if He had not What about that poor woman with
an issue of blood? How was she going to find relief
unless Jesus had passed by her way? Poor blind Barnabas, he
couldn't see to go to the Son of God, could he? He had no means
to find Him. He was a poor beggar. And he
never would have received his sigh until Jesus passed by his
way. How many did He seek out? That
poor Samaritan woman that had five husbands and living with
one that wasn't hers. A sinful woman. How was she to
obtain that living water that springs up into life eternal?
She knew nothing about the Savior, but He knew her, didn't He? And
went and put Himself in her way so that she could find Him. in
that living water. Oh, the good He did, not only
to those who sought Him, but the good He did to those He sought
out. When we consider the person of
Jesus Christ and His character and His goodness, isn't it not
unreasonable that anyone would oppose Him? Lord, why? Why do the heathen Why do they
imagine a vain thing? Why are they in opposition to
the Son of God? When you and I consider His teaching,
never such truths came from the lips of any man, because these
were the truths of God that He spoke. My doctrine is not mine,
but His that sent me. Oh, what truths! He told us who
God is, didn't He? He revealed the true God to us. He told us what we really are.
He told us how we should live in this world and how we should
die. He taught man how to live and
He taught man how to die. And He taught us how to trust
in God for everything, even our daily bread. And let me ask you this, brothers
and sisters, did His teaching ever lead one man to dishonor
God? Did His teaching ever lead one
single person to do harm to any? Did not His teaching bring everyone
who heard and believed Him to holiness of life and trust in
God and dedication to His cause? Oh, His teaching for those who
believed Him turned men's hearts to God and holiness, to trust
in God and serve Him. Why then such opposition to Christ? Oh, one place it said, such gracious
words never came from any other mouth like they came from His.
Gracious words of comfort to those who need comfort. Listen
to these gracious words. Who could be opposed to these
words? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are you when people persecute
you and say all manner of evil against you falsely. For my sake,
great is your reward in heaven. Oh, people try to tell us today,
happy are you if you're rich. Happy are you if you're strong.
Happy if you have all kinds of friends and everybody speak well
of you. Oh, but the Lord Jesus speaks comfort to those who really
need comfort, those who are poor in their spirit, those who are
under the load of this life and sin and human nature. He speaks
comfort to them, doesn't He? Why then such opposition to the
Son of God? If such gracious words as these
cause the heathens to rage, then we would have to ask why? Why? I would conclude quickly that
the cause of such opposition must not be found in Him. It
must be found in those who are opposing Him. Study Jesus Christ
from every angle, from every point of view, and you will find
in Him that opposition To Him is always unjustified. It's unwarranted, brothers and
sisters. And haven't you found Him so?
Two thousand years later, haven't you found Him so? Has He ever
dealt unkindly, unjustly with you? He never has, has He? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Consider this, this rage and
plotting against Jesus Christ must be most unreasonable when
we consider this, when we consider that they opposed that teaching
that sprang from His very death. They pursued Him unto death. By wicked hands they crucified
and slain Him. And then if that wasn't enough,
they pursued Him and His disciples for that wonderful news that
sprang out of that death. The Gospel. The death that He
foretold Himself was for a cause. And here was the cause of it.
The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister
and give his life a ransom for many. Were they opposed to their need
of a ransom? Were the Pharisees and scribes
angry because the Lord Jesus implies to them that they were
slaves to sin and Satan and must be ransomed from their fall? How unreasonable their opposition
would have proved if they would have only listened to their screaming
conscience. We have no sin, they said. Then
listen to your screaming conscience. They knew more, brothers and
sisters, sometime, than we give them credit for. I know they
were ignorant of Him that they crucified. They never crucified
the Lord of glory. But they knew down deep in their
souls more than they were willing to admit. One of the chief Pharisees came
to the Lord Jesus one night and he said, We know something. We
know something about you. We know that God sent you We
know that you're from God. We know that no man can do these
miracles except God be with him. Then why won't you admit that?
Because of the consequences. If you're who you say you are,
then the consequences is terrible because we're in opposition to
you. We know that you're of God. But
they knew more than that, didn't they? They knew more than that. They brought this woman taken
in adultery. And they said, let's stone her. And they handed the Son of God
a stone and said, we want you to be the first one to stone
her. And the Lord Jesus said to those
scribes and Pharisees, let him that's without sin first cast
a stone at her. And what happened to those men?
They began to feel conviction down deep in their souls. They were made to acknowledge,
yes, I am a sinner against God. I am a slave to sin. I do need
to be washed. I do need to be delivered from
this bondage to Satan and sin. And they went out. They went
out. Oh, this good news that came
from the very death of the Son of God. A ransom! A ransom! You and I could understand, brothers
and sisters, if out of the death of the Son of God brought us
all into some kind of a bondage and put us in a kingdom that
a dictator ruled over that harassed us and threatened us. But that
is not so with this Christ and His death. It speaks of a ransom. Then why such opposition? I bet
there's nobody here this morning, if you'll be honest before God.
If you'll be honest before God, I bet you there's not a single
soldier this morning, even these young children, that will have
to confess, yes, I am indeed in need of a ransom. I am indeed a slave to sin. I need deliverance from my guilt
before God. And you may be here and acknowledge
that to your own self and yet live in opposition to the Son
of God just like these did. Why do the heathen rage? I have no sins, they said. Oh, but they knew better. They
knew better, didn't they? I want to consider verse 3 here
too. Look at this because this is
what I'm saying. Look in verse 3 of Psalms chapter
2. I think this speaks to the point
here of what springs out of the gospel. Here's what they were
saying to the Lord and His Christ about Him. Let us break their
bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Let us break their
bands asunder. What are these bands? What are
these cords? It's the Gospel. It's the Gospel
by which the Lord draws His people and saves His people and rules
His people and binds His people to Himself. He said, I have drawn
them with cords of a man and with bands of love. How does the Lord draw us to
Himself but with cords of goodness and mercy and love? I'll admit, it don't always seem
that way when the Lord convicts a man of sin. He feels more of
the judgment that he's under than the goodness of God. But
what is it that brings us to repentance? Is it not the goodness
of God? Is it not the cords of love?
I have drawn thee with loving kindness." The Lord doesn't draw us to Himself
with cords that gall our necks and make us calloused, but He
draws us with cords that break us and tender our hearts in conscience. and it tugs at our affections
and makes our wills pliable and yielding. What has drawn you
here this morning to the public worship of God? What has drawn
you here this morning? Have you come here out of the
threats of hell to worship? Have you come here because you
want to do something to earn your salvation with God? What
has drawn you here this morning? Is it not the Gospel? Is that
not the cords by which He has saved you and bound you to Himself? Cords of love. I have drawn you
with loving kindness. Oh, what a rope! What a rope! What a cord! When they used to
offer the sacrifices on the altar, sometimes the sacrifices were
so big, when they began to burn, they would fall off the altar
and be corrupted in the dirt. So they would bind the sacrifice
to the horns of the altar with cords. We're bound to Christ,
aren't we? bound to him with these cords
of the gospel. What is it that constrains you
to leave this place this morning and live a life honoring to God
and profitable to your fellow man? What is it that constrains
you to be merciful to others? Is it not that you have obtained
mercy yourself? What is it that constrains you
to love others? Is it not this cords of love?
The love of Christ that's been revealed to you? What is it that
constrains you to forgive others? Is it not in that you've been
forgiven yourself? Oh, it's the gospel that binds
us with cords that cannot be broken. binds us to Christ and
binds us one to another. Who in His right mind would want
to oppose such cords and cast such bands from them? How unreasonable
it is! If they had been successful in
accomplishing their purpose, we would not be here this morning. When the early church went preaching,
they went preaching the gospel. Oh, preaching this gospel that
bound people, that drew them to the Lord and His goodness.
Miserable sinners in a corrupt society. When they went preaching
this gospel, look at the good that was done. Look at the mountain
of sins that was forgiven. Can you imagine from the day
of Pentecost as the Gospel spread through Asia and Rome and Spain
and Africa? Can you imagine in that short
time the mountain of sins that were forgiven? Starting there
at Jerusalem, those blood red sins, sins of Shedding the blood
of the Son of God Himself. And yet that very blood they
shed now wash their sins away. Oh, the good that was done. Look
at the idolaters that were rescued from idolatry. and turned to
worship the living God. Look at the drunks that were
delivered from their drunkenness to live lives of sobriety. Look
at murderers that were saved, extortioners and thieves and
haters and hateful people and abusers of themselves with mankind. All manner of sin and sinners
saved and delivered to live lives that were honorable to God. and
helpful to their society. The Gospel. What was it that
drawed men out of such degradation and misery to God and salvation? It was the cords and the bands
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These bands and cords were not
only the Gospel itself, that wonderful news that sprang out
of the death of Jesus Christ. But in a greater sense, in a
broader sense, these bands and cords are God's redeeming purpose
in Jesus Christ. What were these heathen and the
kings attempting to do but thwart the very purpose of God in Christ? Somebody said, What did God purpose
in the death of Christ? And another man says, what's
He doing? What's He doing? We don't have
to remain ignorant of that death. What's He doing? What was His purpose in the death
of Christ? What did He do with Jesus Christ?
He raised Him from the dead, Artaxas, and set Him at His right
hand and said, My son, set here and reign until I have accomplished
my purpose. What's He been doing for 2,000
years? What's Jesus doing this morning? What He's been doing
for 2,000 years? He's reigning. He's saving His
people. He's saving His people by His
grace. He's reigning by His grace in
the hearts of His people. And He's living to inflict justice
upon the rebels that will not bow to Him. He's reigning. He's reigning. That's His purpose. That's His purpose. And to think
that such a purpose can be defeated by men or devils is not only
unreasonable, but it's high presumption. It's vain. Why do the heathen
imagine something that they cannot accomplish? It's impossible, isn't it? To
oppose Jesus Christ is not only unreasonable, but you cannot
prosper in it. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. He shall have them all in derision. Isn't it very strange how God
takes men of their own craftiness sometimes? How He twists their
wisdom and makes it utter foolishness? How they plan and plot, and yet
at last their plots and plans fail. And God mocks in His laughter. They said if we let Him alone,
then the Romans are going to come and they are going to take
away our place and our nation. So we must oppose Him. But in
their opposition, what happened? The Romans came and took away
their place and their nation. And what does the Lord do? He
laughs. He takes the wise in their own
craftiness. He turns the wisdom of this world
into foolishness. Oh, we can't outdo God, can we? His very foolishness is wiser
than our greatest wisdom. In vain. In vain. Do men thank, men or
devils, thank to defeat the eternal purpose of the Sovereign Lord? Oh, our text says, you're the
kings of the earth. They set themselves. They take
their stand. They establish themselves. They
said, here we stand. We've got our weapons piled up.
And we've taken our stand. They set themselves. But God
says, I have set my King upon His holy hill of Zion. Who do
you think is going to win this battle? Who do you think is going
to be left standing when all is said and done? I tell you,
it's not only unreasonable to oppose Jesus Christ, it's dangerous. It's dangerous. He's going to
outlive us all, is He not? I have set my King upon my holy
hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The
Lord has said unto me, set on my right hand until I make your
enemies your footstool. Let us sniff out the burning
sun, brothers and sisters. Let us lasso the stars and bring
them down in our fist. Let us dry up all the waters
in the sea. But never let us set ourselves
in opposition against the Lord and against His Christ. Is there
anyone here today that sent in this crowd that we read about?
This was a mighty crowd, wasn't it? This was the kings. This was the rulers. This was
the scribes and Pharisees, people of their day who were well respected
and feared. Is there anybody here this morning
that sits in this crowd in opposition to the Son of God? You say, oh
Bruce, Bruce, I've never sat in a crowd like that. I'd never
take such opposing views to the Son of God. If I had been there, well listen to this. The Lord Himself said, if you
are not with Me, you are against Me. There is no thing that has been
neutral in this. There may have been men who watched
the Son of God dying upon the cross and said, I am not going
to be a part of this. I am going home. But He went
home and He was a part of it. If you are not with Me, then
you are against Me. If you are not gathering with
Me, if you are not coming to Me and bowing to Me and trusting
Me and living for My glory, then you are scattering abroad. You are as opposed to Him as
they were in this day. If we are not for Him, then we
are for Satan. If we are not against this world,
then we are against God. If we are not the enemy of our
own self, if we do not deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow
Him, then we are indeed His enemies. To love Satan and his ways, to
love the world, to love flesh and its sinful pleasures is to
be against the Son of God. What does the Lord here instruct
these to do? Well, He says here in verse 10,
Be wise now therefore, since you have heard of these things,
the unreasonableness of it, the danger of it, the vanity of it,
Be you wise, O you kings, be instructed, you judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with a holy reverence and rejoice with trembling. Look at this, kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. What do you do
when you kiss somebody? Oh, you can't kiss somebody with
your back to them, can you? What's the first thing you do
when you kiss somebody? You turn and face them. Do you not? And is that not the
first thing the Bible tells us to do? Let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous men his thought and let him return
unto the Lord? Let him come to the Lord? The Lord accused Israel of old.
You've turned your back to me and not your face. You're opposed
to me. The second thing you do if you're
going to kiss somebody, you're going to have to get close to
them. You're going to have to draw very, very close to them
if you kiss them. Draw near to God. Is that not
what the preacher preached? Draw near to God in Christ. Come to God through Christ. Get
near Him. There's no other place of safety
but near Him. At His side. And to kiss someone in the true
scriptural sense of the word, you must love them. You must
love them. Don't kiss Him like Judas kissed
Him with a kiss of betrayal. But kiss Him like that poor sinful
woman did who came weeping at His feet. and kissed His feet,
mourning over her sins, and mourning also when she heard
the words, and rejoicing with trembling when she heard the
words, Your sins, which are many, are forgiven Thee." Now if you
are here this morning, dear soul, in your opposition to Christ,
If you're here and you've lived your whole life in opposition
to Him, don't leave this building in opposition. Stack up your
weapons at His feet. Stack them up at His feet. Set
them on fire and burn them to ashes. And say, Lord Jesus, I'll
not fight you anymore. I'll not fight you anymore. Throw
up the white flag of surrender in your heart. And hear him say, neither do
I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Lord bless this word. Let's pray.