WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.719 Lovid. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:07.360 I'd invite you to take your Bible and turn with me over to the book of Acts and chapter two. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:08.960 Acts chapter two. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:33.359 On the eighth of September in 19 or 2022, a ninety six-year-old woman passed away in a Scottish house. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:47.600 That very instant that she died, not that evening, um not that week, but that very instant that she did, her son, her eldest son, became king. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:54.079 The moment Elizabeth expired, Charles became king. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:02.479 There's an ancient law, uh Rex Nunquam Morator, which states that the king never dies. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:06.159 And so he became king instantly. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:12.560 Two days later, David White stood out on a balcony over a friy court in St. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.159 James Palace, and he made a pronouncement. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:20.319 And that pronouncement, two days later, didn't make Charles king. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:31.920 And eight months later, in Westminster Abbey, with all the preparations and all the fanfare and the ceremony of oil and crown, that didn't make him king either. 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:40.879 Prince Charles became King Charles, and known as King Charles III, the very instant his mother passed away. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:49.280 His authority did not need someone to put a crown on him or to cast a vote or to go through a process. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.239 He instantly became king. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.560 Not many authorities work that way in our life. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:57.760 There are a few. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:02.079 One of them is none of us took a vote on who was going to be our parent. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.719 They just instantly became our parents. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:16.400 And uh none of us woke up this morning and gave a consent form to the police department and told them that they only had a certain number of things they could catch us for once we got in the car. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.319 But we drive like we're the authority anyway. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:26.800 There's a lot of authorities that are over our life, but they don't come instantly over us. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:41.360 They're the kind of authorities that day by day kind of creep in and they take over, and we recognize eventually that they're actually ruling over us, and we're not quite sure how all that happened. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:42.960 One of those is fear. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:46.400 Now, of course, there's that sort of fear that you get at 2 a.m. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.039 when the phone rings and it shocks you awake. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.039 I'm not talking about that. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.800 Our bodies do what our bodies do, and God has built that into us. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:06.319 But that fear that's been gnawing at you for weeks and weeks and months and years, that's a fear that's been enthroned by you. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.199 Or take doubt. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.639 Now, certainly there are is room for honest question. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.800 There's room for someone to say, I really don't understand. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:17.919 Help me out. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:26.479 But then there's that doubt where you say you believe, but you've never actually settled it and say, I know. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.120 And nor have you investigated it. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.680 You've allowed that doubt to control and to rule over you. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:40.800 And some of us don't need an illustration of what kind of ruler is enthroned over us. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:46.639 You know right in your heart right now, those things that are actually controlling you. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:04:02.080 There is a ruler, however, that we've never asked for, one that we've never crowned, one that we've never voted on, and one that by ourselves we can never take off the throne. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.159 And that ruler is death. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:14.879 It's something that comes after every single one of us, and not a one of us has anything that we can say about it. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:16.480 It rules. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:26.240 And so here we are this morning with rulers that we haven't crowned, that are there, and we can't uncrown them. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:41.920 And then there are those things, those imposing things that we've put there, and then there's this one ruler as it is, death, that we can never set off of its throne. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:47.279 I want you to take into our look at Acts chapter 2 three questions. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:52.000 Is there a ruler who has authority over death? 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:00.480 Second question I want us to bring into Acts chapter 2 is if there is such a ruler, how can I know that? 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:09.680 And then last of all, is that ruler one I should surrender my life to? 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.839 So those three questions. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:15.519 Is there a ruler who has authority over death? 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:17.439 Secondly, how do I know that? 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:21.439 And third, should I surrender my life to that ruler? 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:37.600 So here in Acts chapter 2, seven weeks after a public execution of a man named Jesus, an ex-fisherman stands up in the middle of a Jerusalem street and answers those very questions in the verses we'll be looking at this morning. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.519 As we look at Acts chapter 2, we enter in to what we've been looking at for a couple weeks. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.480 Nine o'clock in the morning in Jerusalem. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:57.040 The spirit has fallen, a crowd is gathered, and some of them have already drawn some conclusions about what's happening, something that they can't explain. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:11.759 Now, Peter, as we saw last week, took them back to the promise of the book of Joel and showed them that what was happening there in the streets of Jerusalem was in fulfillment of a promise made hundreds of years ago. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:19.439 And now as we move deeper into this message, Peter is turning from the promise to the person. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.680 And what we're looking at is part of the first Christian sermon ever preached. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:30.399 And as we shall see, it has one subject the king. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:31.600 The king. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:14.800 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:23.199 Now, those are verses 22 through 24, but we're going to be looking through all the way down to verse 36 this morning. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:33.360 And here's the focus of our message in one phrase: Bring your life to King Jesus, who is already enthroned. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.800 Bring your life to King Jesus, who's already enthroned, enthroned. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.920 And here's how we're going to unpack that this morning. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:53.600 Because this Jesus who was crucified is both Lord and Christ, we are first of all to surrender our death to the king that death could not hold. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:08:05.680 And because God has made this Jesus who was crucified both Lord and Christ, we are secondly to settle our doubt according to the word that God has already kept. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:13.040 And then third, we are to submit our destiny to the one who is seated on the throne. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.759 So let's take these three points and turn. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:23.040 First of all, let's look at how we are to surrender our death to the king that death could not hold. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.639 And verses 22 to 24 make that point very clearly. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:34.000 And as we just said a moment ago, death is that one ruler that none of us have crowned, and yet none of us can remove. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:43.919 And Peter's first movement in his sermon is to speak about one who has authority over death itself. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.399 And let's watch how he does this, and then we'll bring it home to ourselves. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.879 First of all, Peter doesn't ask the crowd to believe something new. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.840 Notice what he does here in verse 22. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:01.120 He asks them to reckon with things that they've already witnessed themselves. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.559 And you'll see three phrases in verse 22. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:12.240 He says here that these things have been attested to you by God. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:24.559 And then he says also in verse 22 that God did among you through him, and lastly, just as you yourselves know. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:32.080 Three times in this one verse, he's telling them, Look, don't trust me. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:40.320 Let me don't let I'm not going to tell you about something that's happened far away in some other place at some other time. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:45.039 He's saying, You guys know what I'm talking about. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.440 You know this man, Jesus. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:52.159 You watched him, and perhaps some of you have been watching him the whole time. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:57.600 You watched him when he opened up a blind man's eyes. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.679 You watched him when he cleansed lepers' skin. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:07.120 You watched him when he called a little girl off of her deathbed. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:08.639 You watched him. 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:14.000 You saw when a storm went quiet as at his command. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:23.360 You saw and ate food among thousands of you from a little boy's lunch. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.240 I'm not telling you anything new. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.679 He's not preaching to them a legend that grew in the retelling. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:39.840 He's preaching an eyewitness account to eyewitnesses of the person of Jesus. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.559 He's not asking for faith yet. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:58.799 What he's calling them to is an honest recognition of the things that they had seen, not the final judgment that the high priest or even the rulers in Jerusalem had made, but what they had seen Jesus actually do. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.440 And notice what he does secondly. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:11.759 He goes on to tell them that God's plan does not excuse a single one of them as they drove nails into the hands of Jesus. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:13.840 He gets pretty direct here. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:16.080 Look at verse 23. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:25.519 Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you use lawless people to nail him to the cross and kill him. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.360 Now hold those two things together because we we often assume they canceled each other out. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:37.200 Well, because God planned it, um, it's nobody's fault. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:42.480 Or because we did this, God must have been caught by surprise. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.600 And we hold these two things separately. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:47.039 Peter doesn't. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:55.679 He says them both, and he says them both in one sentence, and he he doesn't even feel the slightest strain at all when he says that. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.720 Isaiah spoke about that hundreds of years ago, right, Barbara? 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:24.399 That this man would be crushed for our iniquities and pierced for our transgressions, and yet it was also the Lord's hand. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:27.360 It pleased the Lord to bruise him. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:36.000 Unjust hands, sovereign purpose, both through at once, no contradiction. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.519 Now watch how this works in a couple chapters. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.919 And we'll look at this when we get to it in chapter four. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.679 I just want to read this to you. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.440 The church has been threatened. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.120 They've been told to be silent. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:52.080 And what do they do when people are anxious and threatened? 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.840 They withdraw, but they didn't withdraw in fear, they withdrew in prayer. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:13.360 And when they prayed, they said this they prayed back to God that Herod and Pilate and the nations had conspired together to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:25.279 They recognized that there was a God in heaven who was moving through the difficult things, including the crucifixion of Christ and even the threats that they were receiving. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.000 And they knew that this God was in control of all those things and them. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.120 And so they could find comfort. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:38.159 They didn't have to cower in the face of all of this opposition. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:46.879 They didn't file away God's sovereignty as something to pull up in an argument with someone who wanted to deny it. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.600 They brought it to prayer, and it became a comfort to them. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.879 But notice how Peter continues this. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.080 He calls them to an honest recognition. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:11.440 He doesn't let them loose in the responsibility that is thors, and yet he wants to move them deeper into this argument about who is actually ruling over death. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:13.840 And in verse 24, he says it. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.039 I love that phrase, don't you? 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:34.879 It's not God chose to raise him up, or it it kind of worked out that way. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.759 It was not possible for death to hold him. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:53.120 Death reached out its authoritative hand to Jesus, just like it had reached out to every single other person placed in the grave. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:58.879 And it found out that it could not grip him, it could not hold him. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.720 It was not possible for him to do that. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:16.799 And I love how Peter puts this, and he draws from the Old Testament that moment where David himself is found to be wrapped up in the cords of death in Psalm 18. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:23.039 And he says that Jesus brings an end to the pains of death. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:34.240 It's an interesting picture because the way it's describing is taking us into the labor room of the hospital. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:43.440 And any of us who've been in that labor room as a witness know what that room looks like and sounds like. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.480 Until you hear a cry and you realize what it was all for. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.840 A life has come into this world. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:34.960 Christ entered into death in order to bring life. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:46.320 And on Friday, when he was crucified, it sounded like there was nothing but pain and loss and a sealed tomb. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.399 It sounded like it was over. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.720 It sounded like it was the end. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:01.919 It sounded like everything was finished, and someone must have thought, this this has to stop. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.160 Every expectation was that the story was over. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:13.839 But Friday didn't extinguish life. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:20.960 Friday was the beginning of the labor pains that would extinguish death. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.960 That's what it was. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.920 You see, the cross wasn't the dead end. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.640 The tomb was not the final prison. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.880 And what looked like defeat was simply the labor of redemption. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:45.279 And when that morning came on Sunday, that resurrection day dawned, the cries of a suffering grave ended with the shouts of life's victory. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:51.680 The pains of death could not do their work on Jesus. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:57.839 The Son of God stepped away from a grave and held on to a life that death could not hold. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.880 Now, here's what this is telling us here. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.079 Death is a servant, but death is not a king. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:16.240 Death is servile to a different king, and his name is Jesus. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.440 Now listen to how Peter puts it. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.160 It could not hold him. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.880 And these aren't just Peter's words. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:38.640 Paul himself, some eleven chapters later, goes back to the very same passage that Peter is proclaiming, and he says the exact same thing that Peter did. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:50.640 The spirit who raised him from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through the Spirit who lives in you. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:19:03.920 What happened to Jesus in the life that he had and the authority that he showed over death itself is promised to all who believe. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:11.440 Death is but a servant to those who own Jesus as king. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:28.720 Now, Peter's not talking about a metaphor here, and this is not the moment for us to sphere off into some sort of three steps on how to defeat the enemies in your life, and talk about, you know, your boss or you know the bad situation at home. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.519 He's talking about flesh and blood. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.920 He's talking about a real corpse. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:43.279 He's talking about a body that was taken down off of a cross that was wrapped up and stuck into a tomb, and people walked away with tears in their eyes. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:49.440 And what he's saying is that body is the body that God reached down to. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.039 And this is important for us. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.039 The writer of Hebrews talks about this. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:23.200 He said that all of us bear, whether we admit it or not, a common fear. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:30.640 We have the fear of death, and because of it, we're held in slavery all our lives. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.599 Hebrews 2, 14 and 15. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.680 Now we may not admit it, but it's there. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:48.400 It's a fear, though we may not admit or might not even in a moment be conscious of, it lies underneath and with the soul. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:56.880 For some of us, it is a very real and very visible and very tragic reality. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:10.000 Some of us have lost loved ones, some of us even this year, and we are still trying to come to grips with the hole in our life that's shaped exactly like that person. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:26.559 Some of us are dealing with family members, loved ones, parents who are watching move day by day just a little bit further away from the strength in life that we've watched. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:32.240 For some of us, we're the ones who are ill. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:43.920 We're the ones who are coming to grips every day with the reality that death is a lot closer to us than we had assumed even a few years ago. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:48.799 And some of us are just well perfectly well this morning. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:49.680 Thank you very much. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.440 And uh reminding me of death. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:56.640 Well, I didn't know I was gonna have to deal with that when I came to church this morning. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:01.200 But listen to what The scriptures say. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:07.200 They're not here to scare us, they're here to encourage us. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.000 It's telling us that death doesn't have to be the final authority we all assumed it was. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:16.640 Because it isn't anymore. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.960 Jesus is king over death. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:27.440 And that the same spirit who raised him up will also raise up all who believe on him. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.559 We can surrender our death to this King. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:32.799 We can give ourselves to him. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.839 I want you to ask, ask yourself this question. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:39.359 When was the last time you talked to God about your own death? 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:45.920 When was the last time you talked to God about the death of one of your loved ones? 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:57.680 When was the last time you said in faith, Lord, though I faced this, I know it will not conquer me because you conquered it. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:04.160 And maybe you're here this morning and you've done that and you're still afraid? 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:10.079 God will not send you home to work on your faith. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:17.759 The amount of your faith is not going to change one bit Christ's authority over death. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:25.119 There was a man who looked at Jesus when he found out that Jesus could heal his child. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.240 And he said, Lord, I believe. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.480 Help my unbelief. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:38.799 And Jesus didn't say, Well, as soon as you get that help, come back to me and we'll take care of the problem. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:46.640 He was giving his child back, even in the midst of his admitted weakness. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.640 Peter is not describing a technique here. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:58.559 He is announcing the reign of a king, Jesus. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:08.000 And because God has made this Jesus who was crucified, both Lord and Christ, we can surrender our death to him. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:13.519 And you might be saying to yourself this morning, well, that's a beautiful claim. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:15.200 How do I know it's true? 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:23.680 Well, this is exactly the very question that Peter anticipates and answers in the very next section. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.200 So let's move to that point. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:34.400 Not only can we submit our death and surrender our death to the king that death could not hold, but we can settle our doubts on the word that God kept. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.960 And we find this in verses 25 to 32. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:46.240 Now there's a big difference between believing something and having it settled. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:54.000 And Peter here is about to hand this crowd some things that will settle any doubts. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:25:04.640 And the first thing he does is that he mentions a psalm from David that cannot possibly be about David. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:15.119 Because it's talking about his grave, which is already in Jerusalem, and another one that's empty. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.519 Notice how he draws out this psalm by King David in verses 25 to 28. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.279 Listen to what he says. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:29.920 And he uses David's name specifically because David is the most, probably the most trusted name in this place. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:40.400 For David says of him, I saw the Lord ever before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.440 Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:50.720 Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:57.519 You have revealed the path of life to me, and you will fill me with gladness in your presence. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.319 That's a beautiful passage of scripture. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.039 It's one that speaks of confident hope. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:09.519 And it's one of those passages that you might want to put on some cardstock and put in a frame and stick on your wall. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:16.880 Or it might be one of those verses that's so nice you might you might go over to Levi and say, Levi, uh, does your company have a card for this? 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:19.359 And I'd like to take it to a hospital. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.279 But notice what Peter does with it. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.279 He doesn't put it on a wall or in a card. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.960 He announces this and he tells us exactly what it's talking about. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:30.160 Verse 29. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:37.279 Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about Patriarch David. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:44.240 He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us today. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:50.000 His tomb is still with us today. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:52.799 Think about this for a second. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:59.200 Peter is standing within walking distance of David's grave. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:09.759 This is a site that everyone that he's talking to could go visit, and probably a lot of them already have. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:16.480 And what he's saying to them is, go have a look. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:18.559 Go have a look. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:23.759 He's dead, he's buried, his grave is with us to this day. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.000 His bones are there. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:30.240 Decay took his body. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.920 So whatever Psalm 16 is about, it's not about David. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:40.720 Notice what else he has to say. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.759 This Psalm is not about David. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:48.880 David wrote as a prophet, and he wrote on the basis of a promise. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:50.079 Verse 30. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:57.039 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on the throne. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.119 Oh, that's what this is about. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.680 This is not about David himself. 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.480 This is about some future son. 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:10.079 And you can read about that promise in 2 Samuel 7. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.960 If you want to have a look at that, I encourage you to do so. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:16.160 Verses 12 and 13 are exactly where you want to have a look. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:24.319 So David is looking down the corridors of time and up until this point in time, nearly a thousand years. 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:27.279 And what is he seeing? 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:41.680 He's not seeing something for himself, he's seeing a future tomb, a future tomb that's going to also be there on this very same day of Pentecost. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.079 One that these people could visit. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:53.920 And he's saying, Look, you could visit my tomb and I'll be there, but you can go to that tomb, and it's been promised for a thousand years that it'll be empty. 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.119 There's a greater son. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:02.480 There's a greater son who will go into a grave, and the grave will not be able to keep him. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:06.079 It will not be able to find decay on his body. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:17.920 And Paul stands up and says the exact same thing in Antioch when he says this you will not let your holy one decay. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:25.200 David, after serving God's purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried with his fathers and decayed. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:28.240 But the one God raised up did not decay. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:36.480 Two apostles, two cities, one psalm, one promise, one person. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:47.440 And so here Peter is telling us that we can surrender our death to a king death could not hold. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:52.960 Because there is something we can rest our doubts on. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:01.119 We can give our doubts and put them underneath the God who kept his promise. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.039 Who kept his promise. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:08.799 Verse 32. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:12.319 God has raised this Jesus. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:15.920 We are all witnesses of this. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:22.400 Peter didn't say, We all believe he rose from the dead. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:25.519 We're witnesses. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.000 We ate with him, we touched him. 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:36.480 Paul would later say there's 500, most of which are still alive. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:40.240 And Paul was saying that to the Corinthians as an invitation. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:43.200 If you would like to have a talk with them, there are a lot of them. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:45.279 I'll give you their phone number. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:47.920 You can speak. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:51.440 What is Peter offering to them? 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:56.480 Promise and testimony in the face of their doubts. 00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.799 Promise and testimony. 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:06.240 The word of God spoken centuries earlier and the attestation of the people who watched it happen in real time. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:17.119 Some of you bought a house, and in the process of buying a house, probably someone went through some records that you might not even have realized. 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:27.359 They went back through the claim deed of your house and title of your house, and they searched whether or not there was a clear record. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:35.839 And everything that might have been held against that house and every transaction that affected that house was examined. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:41.599 Every sale, every transfer, every lien, every loan, everything. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:50.960 And if that title was clear, you could, before you said, I love this house, and before you signed the papers, they would have to determine it can be yours. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:32:01.680 And here the Lord, for a thousand years, has offered in Jesus Christ the clean record of the promise of God. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:04.079 And he's saying, It is here. 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:07.519 And this is what Peter's doing in the streets. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:12.480 He's holding up the promise, and he's saying, We saw this happen. 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:22.720 You can submit your death to this king because you can offer your doubts to the promises of God that have been fulfilled. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:24.640 They're there. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:30.319 Sunday morning, the resurrection. 00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:32.799 Christ is ruling. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:36.559 Now notice where Peter is saying all of this. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:45.279 Peter is not headed off to some far distant land and speaking about the resurrection of Christ. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:52.559 He's not waiting for some future generation where all the memories of a person named Jesus have grown dark and dim. 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.599 This is seven weeks after the execution. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:58.079 This is in the city where it happened. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:02.000 This is within walking distance of both tombs. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:10.480 And he's preaching the resurrection in the very place where it could be dispelled if it had never happened. 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:14.240 What does he give them? 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:23.279 He gives them a text, Psalm 16, he gives them a location, David's tomb, and the empty tomb. 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.319 And he gives them a roster. 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:28.480 We are witnesses. 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.079 Have a talk with each of us. 00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:40.400 So a document that predates the event, Psalm 16, written some thousand years before it happened. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:48.240 A grave that any one of them could have visited, and witnesses any one of them could have interviewed. 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:51.359 What is he telling us here? 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:56.559 The gospel that Peter is preaching is not asking these people to stop thinking. 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:02.960 The gospel he's preaching to them is meant to answer their doubts. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:06.960 He's giving them the answer. 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:14.000 And he's asking them look, if you do have doubts, just go and see. 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:21.119 Read the word, go to the tomb, and talk to us, and we can tell you. 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:23.519 And think about this. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:37.679 The people that didn't want to hear this message that Peter is proclaiming, the people that wanted to put Peter and everybody else uh into prison and to stop this, who had every reason to do so. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:42.000 Think about them just for a second. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:52.239 They had the authority to do so, they had the jurisdiction to do so, they had seven weeks to do so, they had a garrison behind them to do so. 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:56.960 There was only one thing that they needed to do to quash this group. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:34:59.039 Show them a body. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:02.559 There wasn't one to show. 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:08.320 They could not offer that body, they never produced it. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:13.599 Now think about this for a second. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:23.599 It's one thing to die for something that you believe, it's a whole nother thing to die for something you dreamt up. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.719 Think about what happens to each of these apostles. 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:33.360 They all face horrendous deaths. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:42.000 And to a person, there wasn't a single one of them that said, you know, you know, we just kind of made this up. 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:44.960 Not a single one of them. 00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:49.519 What is this telling us? 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:53.280 Faith in Jesus Christ is not a leap in the dark. 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:54.800 It's not. 00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:03.199 It's not I've decided to believe something lovely because, well, the opposite just kind of scares me. 00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:06.800 It's not that either. 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.559 It's a conclusion to be drawn from a promise made. 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:18.239 It's a conclusion to be drawn from facts that have been witnessed. 00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:21.599 It's a conclusion that can be yours. 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:25.280 It can be yours. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:30.079 Peter's not telling people to try harder to believe. 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:33.840 He's not telling them to make peace with their uncertainty. 00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:36.639 He's telling them to go check it out. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:46.000 And once you do, your doubts will be dispelled, and you can give yourself to the promise God has already fulfilled. 00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:50.639 So here's something if you have doubts this morning. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:53.840 Take 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:58.159 Read those early verses of chapter 15. 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:04.239 And underline every single name that's written there. 00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:06.639 How many witnesses are there? 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:13.360 And then read Luke chapter 24, where Luke writes about the resurrection. 00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:16.320 And mark this out. 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:26.960 Luke takes the very first words of the proclamation of the resurrection and shows that it was the women who made the declaration. 00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:33.840 Now that may not seem like much to us at all, but in that day it meant a lot. 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:50.800 Because God, in his glorious irony, who likes to upset the wisdom of men, took the message from the very people, women, that the society in that day wouldn't listen to to begin with. 00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:58.400 Because their testimony could not be held in a court of law as authoritative. 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:06.000 And yet, to the whole earth, the king of heaven said, You better listen to that testimony. 00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:08.719 It's glorious irony. 00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:16.239 So if you have your questions, go to 1 Corinthians 15. 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:19.199 Go to Luke chapter 24. 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:21.360 Go to those other places. 00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:23.920 And if you would like, let's talk. 00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:26.639 Micah would love to talk with you. 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:27.360 Right? 00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:29.519 I would love to talk with you. 00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:31.840 Ethan would love to talk with you. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:33.519 Bob would love to talk with you. 00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:40.480 Find some trusted person right with you here and say, can we talk about this? 00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:42.960 I would love to talk about this. 00:38:43.599 --> 00:39:03.119 Because Peter is not saying, you know, you just need to believe, or you need to just sort of accept something that's sort of a dreamy, dreamy possible future that can help comfort you in the midst of the stark realities that were all just particles of dust that will return to dust. 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:11.039 He's saying, look, God gave a promise, God fulfilled a promise, and we saw it happen. 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.920 And that testimony is recorded to our day here. 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:23.760 So we can surrender our death to the king, death could not hold. 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:27.920 Because we can settle our doubts on a word that God kept. 00:39:28.159 --> 00:39:31.440 And here's the last point that Peter wants to draw out here. 00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:35.920 Submit your destiny to the one already seated on the throne. 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:41.039 Submit your destiny to the one already seated on the throne. 00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:46.159 Every one of us lives under some authority. 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.239 Some we've put there, one we can't take away. 00:39:53.840 --> 00:40:00.400 But there's an authority we can submit ourselves to, and we should, and Peter invites us to. 00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:31.599 He said, Since he's exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:33.280 Catch that. 00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:54.480 Peter is saying everything about this person, Jesus, the things that we talked about before, the miracles, the plan, the cross, the empty tomb, everything that you're witnessing right now, the people scattered about, the sound that you heard, the splitting of all those tongues that you saw, the people crying out in your language, the mighty acts of God. 00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:56.320 Let me tell you where all that came from. 00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:03.119 There's a person that you crucified already on the throne. 00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:06.880 And it's happening now because he is. 00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:08.800 He's there. 00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:12.639 And he brings the next verse into play. 00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:14.480 Verses 34 and 35. 00:41:14.559 --> 00:41:25.920 For it was not David who descended into the ascended into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord declared to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies my footstool. 00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:28.960 Same move he made before. 00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:30.639 Talking about David again. 00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:33.840 And he's saying, David is not talking about himself here. 00:41:34.719 --> 00:41:36.719 David never ascended. 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:41.599