Daily Archives: February 27, 2019

THE BOOK OF ACTS – DAVID IS DEAD

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DAVID IS DEAD

“‘Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestor David is dead and buried – his tomb is in plain sight today. But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah — ‘no trip to Hades, no stench of death.’ This Jesus God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Father, He poured out the Spirit He had just received. That is what you see and hear.'” Acts 2:29-36 (The Message).

Someone once said, “Life is lived forward but understood backwards.” The same can be said about prophecy. Until it has been fulfilled, it is obscure and does not make sense. Once it has been fulfilled, it all comes together in an “o-o-oh” moment!

Peter must have been in his element when he preached his first sermon. All the Scriptures that he had memorised as a child came flooding into his mind through the revelation of truth from the Holy Spirit. What was once a mystery was now clear and it came pouring from his mouth in a torrent of declaration and, I guess, worship.

His message didn’t take hours to prepare, writing copious sermon notes and practising in front of a mirror or preaching to the dog! He stood up, opened his mouth and out it came with a fire that burned deep within him. It was graphic, logical and convicting, saturated in the Word and revealing the truth which cut the hearts of his hearers

Imagine what would happen in our world if those who proclaim the Word of God were energised by the Holy Spirit in the same way as Peter was. His sermon followed ten days of prayer and waiting on God.

Just as the life of the believer is a partnership between us and God, so also is preaching. Sometimes there is so much effort put into the technicalities of a sermon that the result is a carefully structured and crafted work of art which has no heart and no fire.

Peter got his message on his knees. It touched his heart first before it could touch any other. It flowed from his inner being through his mouth like a river and caught the hearers up in the mighty power of conviction.

Step by step, Scripture by Scripture, he built the throne, not David’s throne which the people were longing for God to re-establish, but a far greater throne, the throne of Jesus, David’s Son, to whom all the prophecies pointed and in whom they were fulfilled.

David was the greatest of Israel’s kings and the model against which every other king was measured. But, like every other mortal, he died and the proof of his death was still with them. David had spoken of a greater king, his descendant, who would not be a victim of the power of death. He died, yes, but death had no grip on Him because He had no penalty of His own to pay.

Imagine the energy Peter put into his triumphant declaration, ‘This Jesus God raised up’! It echoed around the building, stunning the people into silence and stabbing their hearts with shock and terror. “We killed Him. He’s alive again. What will He do to us now?” But Peter was not finished with them yet..

THE BOOK OF ACTS – BETRAYED – KILLED – RAISED UP

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BETRAYED – KILLED – RAISED UP 

“‘Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by God to you — the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through Him are common knowledge — this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned Him to a cross and killed Him. But God untied the death ropes and raised Him up. Death was no match for Him…'” Acts 2:22-28 (The Message).

What was Peter to say on an occasion like this? The events of the past six weeks were fresh in the minds of his audience. Many of them had been in the city when Jesus was crucified. Passover was an important feast of the Jewish calendar. As pious Jews they would have come then and stayed for Pentecost.

They knew the events. Now it was time to understand their meaning. It was Peter’s role to interpret the prophetic Scriptures which would clarify everything for them.  True to the promise of Jesus, the Holy Spirit in them brought everything into sharp focus. Peter saw it all and was more than eager to explain what he himself had finally understood.

His famous first sermon was the outpouring of the revelation which had produced worship from the mouths of the disciples when the Spirit came. His mind was alight with the truth of the Old Testament which had lain dormant in him from his early childhood. It was all so clear and all so real!

What did Peter say? He began by quoting from the prophet Joel. ‘You think we are drunk or crazy. This isn’t something that just happened. God spoke about it centuries before through the prophet Joel. Like everything else God has done, He told us it would happen and now it has – just so that we will know it’s God.’

‘Jesus didn’t just happen either. God set it all up and then got it going. You and your unscrupulous leaders put God’s plan into action. They betrayed Him, handed Him over to you and you killed Him. But that didn’t work because God raised Him up again. Death had no permanent grip on Him and now He’s alive!’

What a bold and courageous thing to do! How could Peter have spoken like that when, just a few weeks before, he cowered before a serving maid in the courtyard of the high priest? Now he lays the blame for Jesus’ murder squarely at the door of his hearers. They could have easily mobbed and lynched him and all the others right there!

Instead of being apologetic, he declared the truth, loud and clear. But his intention was not to accuse or blame. He put their culpability in the context of God’s sovereignty and plan. Yes, they did it but God set it up because He had a higher purpose for His Son and for all who believe in Him. This was not about them. It was about Jesus.

When we compare the weak, tame preaching of the gospel in many streams of the church today – “Come to Jesus. He’ll forgive your sins so that you can go to heaven when you die” – with Peter’s startling declaration on the day of Pentecost, we miss the robust content of his message. ‘God planned it; you did it – killed Him by nailing Him to a cross. God had the last word; He raised Him up and He’s alive. Your little scheme didn’t work. And now? You are guilty. You will have to answer for what you did.’

What did Peter mean? Take ownership for your guilt. Only then does God’s mercy come into play. We were all guilty of murdering Jesus even if we weren’t there. Our sin was responsible for nailing Him to the cross. We can never receive mercy until we have received the verdict – guilty as charged.

“God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because, in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who believe in Jesus.” Romans 3:25-26 (NIV).