AN EVERLASTING KING Psalm 110:1-7; Acts 2:22-36 Key Verse: Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. (Acts2:31). Lesson Aim: To clarify that the prophecies of the coming King were fulfilled in Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension. Introducing the Lesson • Psalm 110 is the most famous of the Royal Psalms. The purpose of the poem was to acclaim the ruler as both priest and king. The declaration was made in two parts. Kingship, - emphasized in verses 1-3, Priesthood, emphasized in vv. 4-7. The ideal ruler was envisioned as possessing both kingly and priestly functions. • The ruler would have three characteristics as king, and three characteristics as priest-king. Characteristics as King: 1. He would enjoy great power, 2. He would enjoy continuing youth, 3. He would enjoy enthusiastic cooperation of his subjects. Characteristics as Priest-King: 1. He would function by divine appointment and not by hereditary position. 2. He would serve continually and not by temporary assignment. 3. He would press for a victory of righteousness and not simply hold office. • Today we will study two texts that show us Jesus resurrection to be that definitive turning point. Our texts come from: Psalms 110 (Israels collection of inspired worship songs) and The Book of Acts (the New Testaments history of the first-century church). • Todays lesson presents evidence of the certainty of Gods determination to convince His people of His infallible oath to raise up Jesus, the eternal power and authority of God, to rule the kingdom of heaven and earth. The Old Testament repeatedly declares it, and the New Testament confirms it. THE SCRIPTURE LESSON TEXT Psalm 110:1-4; Acts 2:22-24, 29-32 (NIV) _______________________________________________ Psalm 110:1-4 1 The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Acts 2:22-24 22 Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by Gods set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:29-32 29 Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. ........................................................................................................................... The Passage in Summary 1. Psalm 110:1-4. David was recording a conversation between two people - the LORD and a person David called My Lord. The N.T. identifies Him as Jesus. The LORD instructed the Lord to sit at His right hand. God told Him to occupy this position until He has subdued His enemies. 2. Acts 2:22-24. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed in Jerusalem that the person proved by God to be the Messiah of Israel had been crucified and resurrected. 3. Acts 2:29-32. The various issues surrounding the covenant and Davids writings concerning the promised King. Peter used Davids role as a prophet, and Davids words to show that his descendant would sit on the throne. EXPOSITION I. Victory Promised (Ps. 110:1-4) David records the Lords decree in establishing his anointed as king over all in spite of the opposition of man. A. Subdued Enemies (v. 1-2). This psalm begins with a conversation between the first and second members of the Godhead. The LORD, God the Father, says to my Lord, God the Son, something remarkable. Jesus Christ, Davids Lord, is appointed to sit at God the Father right hand, (the place of highest authority, privilege, and honor), until He, God the Father, make Jesus enemies His footstool. B. Loyal Subjects (v. 3). The Father assures the Son that his troops, those true believers who are enlisted in Christs service, will be willing to join and support his kingdom. On a specific day, Gods power will be unleashed and his chosen ones will volunteer willingly to enter his cause. Christ will be dressed in holy majesty, without any sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is pictured here as so strong and mighty that he is perpetually in the bloom of youth—strong, vigorous, and aggressive. [Holmans O.T. Commentary]. C. Eternal Priesthood (v. 4). When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Father honored Him by placing Him at His right hand. When the Son was exalted and enthroned at His ascension, the Father made three promises to Him: 1. He promised to defeat His enemies (v. 1). To use the enemy soldiers as footstools meant to defeat and humiliate them. The Lord has enemies who oppose Him, but He is sovereign and rules from His throne even though they refuse to submit. When our Lord was here on earth, the powerful ministry of the apostle brought defeat to the devil (see Luke 10:17-20), and today His church has victory through Him as we pray share the Word, and depend on the Spirit. 2. He promised to extend his kingdom (v. 2). Ensuring that this future reign of Christ will come to pass, The LORD, God the Father, will extend His Sons scepter until there is no one left to oppose his rule. This given to Christ represents his authorized sovereignty. Once enthroned, the Father commands the Son to rule and establish His kingdom over His enemies. These enemies are all unbelievers who oppose the gospel and reject his kingdom. 3. He promised to give Him a victorious army (v. 3). The third promise is that the Messiah has a great army to assist Him in the final battle against the enemies of the Lord (v. 3). This victory is described in Ps. 110:5-7. Read what the Scripture says... • He will crush kings on the day of his wrath (v.5). • He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth (v. 6). • He will drink from a brook along the way and so he will lift his head high (v. 7). This army is remarkable in three ways: 1. It is made up of willing volunteers (Ps. 110:3a). 2. They are dressed in holy garments like priests (110:3b; cf. Rev. 19:14). 3. They are a great multitude, like the dew that falls in the early morning (110:3c) . • The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). In Summary: 1. Verse four is important because the present high priestly ministry of Christ in heaven is described in Hebrews 5:6, 10. 2. If Jesus were on earth, He could not minister as a priest because He was from the tribe of Judah and not from Levi. But because His priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek, who was both a king and priest (Genesis 14:18-24), He can minister in heaven today. Melchizedek was not an appearance of Jesus Christ on earth; he is only a type of Jesus in His present priestly ministry. (Read, Hebrews 5:1-11). 3. Aaronic priest was a priest forever because each high priest died and was replaced by his eldest son. Being a mere human, Melchizedek died, but there is no record of either his birth or death in the Scriptures. This makes him a type of Christ, the eternal Son of David and a High Priest forever. In Jesus Christ, David has a throne forever. (Read: 2 Samuel 7:13, 17; Luke 1:30-33). II. An Apostolic Witness Of the King (Acts 2:22-24, 29-32) (v. 22) This man was handed over to you by Gods deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. (Acts 2:23-24). It is impossible, at this distance of space and time, to realize, even in a faint degree, the effect upon the minds so wrought up and possessed of such facts, produced by the announcement made by Peter. Filled with amazement, as they were already, by a visible and audible manifestation of the Spirit of God, they now see that the whole of this amazing phenomenon is subservient to the name of the Nazarene whom they had despised and crucified. This conviction is brought home to them, in a sentence so replete with overwhelming facts, as to make them reel and stagger under a succession of fearful blows rapidly repeated. In one breath they have just heard no less than seven startling propositions: 1. That Jesus had been approved by God among them, by miracles and wonders and signs which God had done by him. 2. That they, themselves, knew this to be so. 3. That it was not from powerlessness on his part, but in accordance with the purpose and foreknowledge of God, that he was yielded up to them. 4. That when therefore yielded up they had put him to death, by the torture of crucifixion. 5. That they had done this with wicked hands. 6. That God had raised him from the dead. 7. That it was not possible that death should hold him. Here is a complete summary of the four gospels, condensed into one short sentence. The name “Jesus of Nazareth” brought vividly before their minds a well-known personage, and all his illustrious history flashes across their memory. The first assertion concerning him is an appeal to his miracles as a demonstration that he was from God. There is no need of argument to make this demonstration clear; nor of evidence to prove the reality of the miracles; for they were done “in your midst, as you yourselves also know.” (Acts 2:22). The fearfulness of the murder is magnified by the thought that he had been voluntarily delivered to them, in accordance with a deliberate purpose of God long ago declared by the prophets. The manner of his death makes it more fearful still. They had nailed him to the cross, and compelled him to die like a felon. These things being so, how penetrating the appeal to their consciences, “with wicked hands you have crucified and slain him!” This was no time for nice distinctions between what a man does himself, and what he does by another. The “wicked hands” are not, as some suppose, the hands of Roman soldiers, who had performed the actual work of his execution, but the hands of wicked Jews. Here, before him, were the very persons who had been assembled but fifty days before at the Passover, and had taken a hand in the proceedings of that awful day. He appeals to their individual consciousness of guilt; and this gives intensity to the effect of his discourse upon their hearts, which it could not otherwise have possessed. Conscious of fearful guilt in having thus cruelly murdered the attested servant of God; and suddenly revealed to themselves as actors in the darkest scene of prophetic vision, how shall they endure the additional thought, that God has raised the crucified from the dead? Never did mortal lips pronounce, in so brief a space, so many thoughts of so terrific import to the hearers. A Commentary on Acts of Apostles, with a Revised Version of the Text Concluding the Lesson Peters Sermon. Many scholars, beginning with C. H. Dodd, identify six themes that appear repeatedly in Peters sermon in Acts 2 through 4. 1. The age of fulfillment has dawned. 2. This has come about through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. 3. Jesus was raised from the dead and is now exalted at Gods right hand. 4. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the sign of Christs power and glory. 5. The Messianic Age will soon end in the return of Christ. 6. The preaching always ends by an appeal for repentance, the offer of forgiveness and of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of salvation to those who enter the elect community. All these themes are in Peters Pentecost sermons. Its preaching about Jesus was principally functional in nature rather than philosophical. • Proclamation. Peter therefore proclaims our Lord as Jesus of Nazareth, a man accredited, handed over, put to death, and rose from the dead. • The True Author (v.22). God was the true author of Jesus miracles, the ultimate agent in Jesus death, and the only cause for Jesus resurrection. • Peters Form of Address. Peter begins his proclamation with an inclusive form of address: Men of Israel, (v. 22). His topic concerns Jesus of Nazareth. The ministry of Jesus is characterized by miracles, wonders and signs that God did among the people through Jesus. • The Death of Jesus. The death of Jesus is presented as resulting from the interplay of divine necessity and human freedom. The purpose and foreknowledge stand as the necessary factors behind whatever happens; yet whatever happens occurs through the instrumentality of wicked people expressing their own human freedom. • The Resurrection (v. 24). Here the resurrection of Jesus is attributed directly to God, apart from an human action or even Jesus Himself. The imagery is of death pangs and their awful clutches from which God is freeing Jesus because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. The climax and conclusion of his sermon. With the proclamation of Jesus as Lord and Messiah, Peter reaches the climax and conclusion of his sermon. The initial therefore (v. 36) shows that Gods resurrection and exaltation of Jesus accredit Him as humankinds Lord and Israels Messiah. And Peter calls upon all Israel to know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord ad Christ. [Expositors Bible Commentary]. Let us pray... Father, thank you for the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. May we allow Him total control our lives so that our behavior as individuals, family members, and participants in the body of Christ may be everything God wants to show a needy world. In Christs name we pray. Amen. Charley Smith
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:36:49 +0000
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