with me tonight, if you will,
to Acts chapter 13. I think most of you were here just
a couple of weeks ago when I brought a message from this chapter,
and my text was verse 48. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. And I pointed out to us the message
which they believed. The message which the Apostle
Paul preached here in the verses that go before this text. And I pointed five things out
to us. First of all, the message which
they believe, the message, the gospel, that is the power of
God unto salvation unto everyone that believeth. It's a message
about a person, a person. And the second thing about this
message is a person who died. And the third thing, a message
who rose from the dead. And the fourth thing was a message
in whom the sure mercies of David are. And then the fifth point
was that Paul preached for a decision. He wasn't just preaching for
the fun of it. He preached for a decision. And
he encouraged all to believe. and be justified from all things
from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. When I came
to that fourth thing, the sure mercies of David, I pretty much
just skipped over that for time's sake. And I think I mentioned
the fact that maybe I'd come back and bring a message from
that text, verse 34, Acts 13 in verse 34. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. And I want us to thank tonight
for our message about the sure mercies of David. First, what
are the sure mercies of David? What are the sure mercies of
David? Well, look back with me to Isaiah chapter 55, and we
are told what the sure mercies of David are. We only find this
phrase in these two places. They're in Acts chapter 13, and
here in Isaiah chapter 55, and verse three, incline your ear and come unto
me here, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." What are the
sure mercies of David? They are the mercies entailed
to God's people in that new covenant, in that covenant of grace. What is that covenant? We'll
look over a few pages towards the New Testament to Jeremiah
chapter 31. These are the sure mercies of
David, the blessings of the new covenant. And this is just one
of the places where we are told about this new covenant. And
we'll read Jeremiah chapter 31 in verse 31. We'll begin here. Behold, The days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel. After those days, saith the Lord. Now here are the sure mercies
of David. I will put my law in their inward
parts and write it in their hearts. When God saves a sinner, the
new birth, God gives us a new heart. That old heart is incurably
wicked, as the scripture says. But God gives us a heart. A new
heart. We're made new creatures in Christ
Jesus. We have a new man that's created
in righteousness and true holiness. God writes, as the scripture
here tells us, this is one of the mercies of the new covenant.
God puts his law, his word, in our inward parts and writes it
in our hearts. The fear of the Lord. We have
the true fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. And
then here's the second thing. God says, I will be their God
and they shall be my people. What a great mercy is that? What
a great mercy is that? I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Isn't it wonderful tonight to
know that God is your God? If you know Christ this evening
as your Lord and Savior, that God is your God, the God who
created the heavens and the earth, the God to whom nothing is impossible,
that this is your God in Jesus Christ through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, And then here's another mercy, sure mercy
of David. And they shall teach no man,
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only
true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. When He saves
us, we come to know Him. Now, we know about God, most
of us, from our childhood. We know about God. We know that
there is a God, sure. And we believe. The devils believe
and tremble, the scripture says. But when God saves a sinner,
then we come to know God. Know God as our Father. Know
Christ as our Savior, as our Lord. And we're able to say my
beloved is mine and I am his. What a blessing. Notice this
last mercy. The sure mercies of David. For I will forgive their iniquity
and remember their sin no more. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. not imputing their trespasses
unto them. If God does not impute our trespasses
unto us, our sins unto us, then to whom are they imputed? To
Christ, right? They are imputed to the substitute,
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the reason he was
punished. That's the reason he suffered,
because he was bearing the sins of His people that God may say,
as He does here, I will remember their sin no more. Well, here's
a second question. I have three questions. That's
the first, what are the sure mercies of David? We're in agreement,
I trust here, that we understand the sure mercies of David, even
the everlasting covenant, the covenant that God made with us
in Christ. before the foundation of the
world. God made with his elect in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Second, why are they called the
sure mercies of David? Why are they called the sure
mercies of David? When Isaiah spoke of the sure
mercies of David there in Isaiah 55 in verse three, you know how
long David had already been dead? Over 300 years. I'm talking about
King David. He had been dead over 300 years
when Isaiah wrote about the sure mercies of David. And when the
Apostle Paul, in our text there in Acts chapter 13, when he preached
about the sure mercies of David, David had been dead over 1,000
years. And you know in the book of Acts
that both the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul in their messages,
Peter on the day of Pentecost, and Paul in our text there in
Acts chapter 13, they both enforce the fact that David, his sepulchre,
was there in Jerusalem at that time. That the text could not
be speaking of literal David the king, the father of Solomon,
but it is of David's seed. the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
the sure mercies of David, that is, of David's son, of his son
that he called his Lord. The Lord said to my Lord, set
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Our Lord asked the Pharisees
that question, didn't he? How did David, who's, How did
David call his son his Lord? And they couldn't answer that.
They couldn't answer that. That just doesn't happen. A father does not call his son
his Lord. The father is greater than the
son. But no, David called his son
his Lord. Now, how is that possible? Because
yes, after the flesh, he was the son of David, but he's also
the son of God, the eternal son of God. Now, the third point of my message
is, I want us to say that David, King David, that he served as
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we have many types
in the Old Testament, don't we? Types of Christ. That's the reason
we don't like to talk about Bible stories. Bible stories. No, they're historical facts. They're not stories like Alice
in Wonderland or Cinderella or anything like that. No, these
are true historical facts and many of them picture are a type
of Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's the reason it's so
important to realize wherever you're reading in the word of
God, look for Christ. Look for him in the scripture. The ark in which Noah and his
family were saved, that's a type, isn't it? It's a type of Christ.
The wrath, the rain fell upon the ark, but those inside the
ark were safe. Isn't that a wonderful type and
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ? There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. The wrath of God fell upon our
ark, and we're in the ark, and we're safe, and God's wrath cannot
touch us. It all fell upon him, the Passover
lamb. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us, the Apostle Paul says. The manna, the bread with which
God fed the nation of Israel for 40 years was a type of Christ,
the living bread, the bread which came down from heaven, which
gives life unto the world. And so David, In different ways,
he also serves as a type. And I want you to look in 2 Samuel
chapter 23. We'll look at this one verse
and there's several pictures of Christ and what David says
about himself. 2 Samuel chapter 23 and verse
one. Now, these be the last words
of David. David, that's the first way he's
a type of Christ, his name. What does the name David mean? It means beloved, beloved. And two times during the earthly
life of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father declared that
the man, Christ Jesus, was his beloved, his beloved. At his baptism and also at the
Mount of Transfiguration, remember, a voice from heaven was heard. And what did that voice say?
And that voice was the voice of the Father. This is my beloved
son, David, his name. reminds us or pictures to us
Christ, the Lord Jesus, who is the beloved of the father. There
are several verses that we could look at, but I'm going to read
a few verses from the gospel of John, which reminds us of
how the father loved his son, how he is the father's beloved. in our Lord's prayer that's recorded
in John chapter 17. And many times we refer to this
as his high priestly prayer. But in verse 24, he said, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me. Now listen, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. David, beloved, a picture,
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God's only begotten Son,
His well-beloved Son. In John 3, in verse 35, we read,
The Father loveth the Son. The father loveth the son, and
hath given all things into his hands. So the name David means
beloved, and he is the father's well-beloved son. Notice the
second thing, his progenitor, the son of Jesse. David, the
son of Jesse. Keep your place here, but turn
back to Isaiah just a moment. Isaiah chapter 11. In Isaiah chapter 11, and this is
a prophecy concerning Christ. Verse one, and there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. and a branch shall grow
out of his roots. Now, you know, Jesse was David's
father. Now, when Isaiah wrote, David,
as I said a minute ago, had already been dead for several hundred
years, Jesse even longer. But here the prophecy is, there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. And then look down to verse 10,
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
be for an ensign of the people. You know what an ensign is, don't
you? It's the flag or the colors. Many times an army, different
parts of the army will have their own ensign, their own flag. And people see that flag, soldiers
see that flag, and they assemble to it, they rally around it.
And it's a prophecy here of Christ who has given us an ensign to
the Gentiles, to all of God's elect, all over the world. An
ensign of the people, to which shall the Gentiles seek. And
His rest, the rest of this ensign, the rest of this one who's pictured
by the ensign, This rest shall be glorious. And His rest is
glorious, isn't it? If you've come to Him by faith,
I thought just a moment ago as we were singing that hymn, Drinking
at the Springs of Living Water, have you ever really been thirsty?
Now I know everyone in this building, we all say, yeah, I've been thirsty
before. No, I mean, have you ever, ever? really been thirsty
to the point you'll never forget it. I have. It'd have to be over 70 years
ago now. And I can still remember that
day just like it was yesterday. And I'm telling you, when I got
to a place where there was water, oh, how good that water tasted. How good that water tasted. And oh, for a sinner. a double-dyed
sinner, to be thirsty and come to Christ and drink. Drink! And our Lord told that
woman, whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him,
it shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto
everlasting life. This ensign This flag pictured
the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, but notice it's out of the root
of Jesse. David in our text here says the
son of Jesse. The family of Jesse was not a
great family. When David was anointed to be
king over Israel, his family was not a great family, but when
he became a king, his family became great in Israel. And one
king after the other followed until they went into captivity.
But you know, you think of it like a giant oak tree, and with
the beautiful branches just spread out. That was a picture of David's
family. But it was cut down. The tree
is cut down. And now you just see a stump
in the ground. Not much there. When the Lord
Jesus Christ was born, a son of David, the family of David,
his supposed father, according to Luke, remember, he says his
supposed father, Joseph, he was a carpenter. When he was born,
he was not born in a palace. He was born in a stable, in a
cave, the son of Jesse. This pictures
to us the lowliness, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the eternal
son of God, and yet he came into this world You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he was made poor, poor, a son of Jesse. Now notice the third thing David
says in this text. I'm taking this somewhat out
of order. But David says, David, the son
of Jesse, and then look down just a little bit, it says the
anointed of the God of Jacob. David was anointed by Samuel. God sent Samuel, remember, to
the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons. And God told Samuel that he was
going to anoint a man that was after his own heart. I believe
we find that two times in the scripture, and never about anyone
else other than David, a man that God had found after his
own heart. He was anointed. Samuel poured
that oil, and that oil was a type, it wasn't a pitcher, of God the
Holy Spirit. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
was baptized, remember, He was anointed of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God descended in
the form of a dove. The thing about the anointing
of Christ, it remained upon him. The Spirit of God remained upon
him, and we're told that he was anointed without measure. Everyone else had been anointed
and many had, no doubt, many had been anointed of God the
Holy Spirit throughout the Old Testament days, but always in
measure. Not Christ. Not Christ. He was anointed, the scripture
says, without measure. In fact, in the Psalms prophesied
and in Hebrews we read, God hath anointed thee with the oil Now
listen, the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Fellows there must
mean men, his elect children. He was anointed with the oil
of gladness above every other man. In fact, I would imagine
you could put all the other men together. And he was anointed
above all together. Here's the fourth thing that
David says, and in our text it is, David the son of Jesse said,
and the man that was raised on high, and I think of this in
two ways. First, he is the man raised up
on high, that is raised up on the cross. Remember he said in
John chapter 12, and I, If I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me. And just before he said that,
he said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die,
if it die, and he did die, he was lifted up on that cross,
and he did die. As a sacrifice, as a propitiation,
Satisfy Almighty God, the justice of God for His people. The man, David here says that
David, the son of Jesse, the man who was raised up on high,
he is the man who was raised up on high, raised up on the
cross. That's the first way I look at
it. But also, secondly, he is the
man raised up on high. I mean, there cannot be a higher
place. Because where is He tonight?
He's at the Father's right hand. All authority, all power, both
in heaven and in earth is given unto Him. What a picture, what
a type here of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the last thing
that David says, the sweet psalmist of Israel. Now David, when he wrote that,
of course, he's speaking of himself because he was the author of
most of the Psalms. But listen, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the subject. David was the author of the Psalms,
but the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the sweet psalmist of Israel. In other words, he's the The subject, he's the subject
of the Psalms. In Luke chapter 24 and verse
44, he was speaking to his disciples after his resurrection and he
said this, these are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were
written in the law of Moses and the prophets. and the Psalms
concerning me. He truly is the sweet Psalmist
of Israel. All the Psalms, you know, we
sing hymns, I love to sing hymns, don't you? But you know, someone pointed
out one time, almost every good hymn is about Jesus. If it doesn't have his name in
it, it's not quite as good, is it? Jesus is the sweetest name
I know. Can you say that tonight? Can
I say that tonight, really? Jesus is the sweetest name I
know. I want to, don't you? I want to be able to say that
in all sincerity. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there's none upon earth that
I desire beside thee. The sweet, sweet name of Jesus. Let's sing that hymn, I believe,
Bill, if you will. The sweetest name I know. And
you can stand if you will, please.