The Day God Kept His Promise
Acts 13:32-41
April 17, 2022
This morning is the time in which
We want to especially remember and focus on
The glorious reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
As you are well-aware it is the empty tomb
That totally distinguishes Christianity from every other religion.
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Totally SOLIDIFIES and VERIFIES His atoning work on the cross.
Throughout His ministry Jesus offered forgiveness to countless sinners.
• We think of that paralytic on the mat whom Jesus forgave and then healed.
• We think of that woman who washed His feet with her tears and dried them
with her hair.
• We think of that woman at the well or the woman caught in adultery.
All throughout His ministry Jesus offered and declared people forgiven,
But simply saying it doesn’t make it go away.
Every time Jesus offered forgiveness
In all reality He was simply agreeing to assume their debt f.
He was in effect telling sinners, “I’ll take your sin, I’ll bear it before a Holy God. I’ll pay your debt. I’ll suffer your punishment. You are free to go.”
And this is what He did on the cross.
He bore God’s wrath.
He paid the actual sin debt of those whom He saved.
And it is the resurrection that proves that.
Had Jesus remained dead we would have no assurance that His offer worked.
• How would we know He wasn’t just paying for His own sin?
• How would we know He wasn’t just blowing smoke when He offered forgiveness?
Well, the resurrection proved He was sinless.
• The resurrection proved His death was not for His own sin.
• The resurrection proved His offer to God was accepted.
• The resurrection proves to us that the cross of Jesus was successful!
On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished!”
The resurrection solidifies that statement in stone.
And we rejoice in the resurrection because of that.
We also look at the resurrection as a testimony of God regarding His STANDARD FOR JUDGMENT.
Paul said to the Athenians:
Acts 17:31 “because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
When God raised Jesus from the dead it was a glaring accommodation.
JESUS WAS THE KIND OF HUMAN GOD ACCEPTS.
And because Jesus is the only Man God ever did that for (only one to never die again) Jesus becomes the standard for judgment.
If you ever wondered
How holy or how perfect a man must be to earn God’s favor?
THEN YOU LOOK TO JESUS
Because He’s the only man whom God released from death.
So the resurrection is an IMPORTANT AFFIRMATION of Jesus
And REMINDER to us of God’s holy standard of judgment.
And those are realities that we have talked about and discussed before.
THIS MORNING I want us to consider
Another aspect of the significance of the resurrection.
That the resurrection signifies the day that God kept His promise.
Certainly God has made many promises,
And we would say that they are in one way or another fulfilled in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.
BUT THIS MORNING we want to be a little MORE SPECIFIC.
If I say to you that, “The resurrection signifies the day that God kept His promise.”
You might be tempted to ask, “Which promise?”
But not Israel.
For Israel, there was one promise
That dominated their thinking more than any other.
There were promises and then there was “The Promise”.
It’s the one you hear them ask about all the time.
It’s the one they were constantly looking for.
And it is this:
2 Samuel 7:16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”
That of course is referred to as “The Davidic Covenant”
• It was God’s promise that one of his descendants would reign forever.
Psalms 89:19-29 “Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. “I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. “The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. “But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. “I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven.”
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
And this was the promise that Israel was most consumed with.
• They waited for the King.
• They eagerly sought the kingdom.
You know this from the number of times you hear the disciples ask Jesus questions like, “Is it now that You are restoring the kingdom?”
• They were looking for the Christ.
• They were looking for the Messiah.
• They were looking for the descendant of David who would return the glory of the kingdom.
And of course you know that Jesus arrived.
• He was born in Bethlehem as the prophets said.
• He was worshiped by shepherds and wise men at His birth.
• Simeon recognized Him in the temple immediately.
• John the Baptist then came announcing Him to the world. (READ 23-26)
• The disciples followed Him believing that He was the One.
• And the people loved Him. (In John 6 they even tried to crown Him King.)
EVERYTHING WAS LOOKING POSITIVE.
It looked like Israel had found her long awaited King.
But those who held all the power in Israel answered with a resounding, “NO!”
• They did not view this Jesus as worthy.
• They had Him arrested.
• They put Him on trial.
• They had Him crucified.
So it appeared that the wait for a King would continue.
You even see this REMORSE and DESPAIR among some in Israel.
Those two men on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”
Whatever they thought about Jesus…
Whatever they hoped about Jesus…
It was over now because He was dead
The search for the King would continue.
The wait for God to fulfill His promise would drag on.
And then we read:
(30) “But God raised Him from the dead;”
The religious elite rejected Him and said, “This one cannot be our king.”
God responded to their decision and effectively said, “Too bad! He is the One I have chosen!”
That is what Acts 13 is about.
• In Acts 13 the apostle Paul is on his first missionary journey.
• And he has come to the city called Pisidian Antioch.
• He has entered the synagogue and he has been asked to speak.
And Paul has An Important Announcement for the congregation there.
(32-33a) “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children”
What promise? – THE PROMISE!
• God has given us a King!
• God has restored the kingdom!
And God fulfilled this promise “in that He raised up Jesus”
The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise
To give us a King and a Kingdom.
This morning let’s listen to a portion of Paul’s sermon
Where he reminds of the promise and shows us how the resurrection is the fulfillment of that promise.
There’s 3 points I want you to see.
You’ll notice them because Paul quotes 3 times from the Old Testament.
#1 THE PROMISE OF A CORONATED SON
Acts 13:32-33
“And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to your children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”
TURN TO: PSALMS 2
Psalms 2 is of course a Psalm all about Jesus.
It starts with the REJECTION OF JESUS in verses 1-3
(1-3) “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
• They want no part of a King ruling over them.
• He is despised and rejected.
• God sent the King and the world said, “Send someone else!”
But God would not be deterred.
(4-6) “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
• You may not want this King, but He is the King I have chosen.
• I have already picked Him.
And then we read God’s decree to this King. This is part of the coronation service.
(7-9) “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
God promised a coming King.
But here we find something very interesting.
God calls this King His “Son”
And God says to His “Son”,
• I’m giving it all to You.
• You are the King!
• The world may not want You, but I have chosen You and I’ve given everything to You.
And so the Psalm ends with A WARNING to the nations that they had better get over themselves and bow the knee to God’s King.
(10-12) “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
The whole world had better submit themselves to God’s King
Because God has declared that
“the very ends of the earth” will be His possession.
Certainly Israel loved that Psalm!
(They had no idea they would first participate in the King’s rejection)
They loved this promise of God that one day
God would coronate a Son whom the world had first rejected.
They loved this promise of God that one day God would
Install His King upon the throne whether the world liked it or not.
It would be easy to look forward to that day!
It would be easy to wait with great anticipation for this King to come!
And Paul says here in Acts 13:33 – FULFILLED!
“God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”
God took Jesus, first rejected,
And then coronated Him in spite of the world’s hatred.
And THAT CORONATION Paul says WAS HIS RESURRECTION.
That was God putting His seal of approval
On the One whom the world had rejected.
Have you been waiting for the promise of Psalms 2?
Well it is fulfilled.
Jesus is that Coronated Son you’ve been waiting for.
The Promise of a Coronated Son
#2 THE PROMISE OF A REDEEMING KING
Acts 13:34
“As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’”
• Paul clearly doesn’t stop with Psalms 2.
• There is another promise that he wants to examine.
• This one comes from Isaiah 55:3
But to grasp its significance we have to back up a little.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 53
• You are familiar with Isaiah 53 as that great chapter on the suffering servant.
• Again, it is this One who is despised and rejected and forsaken and not esteemed.
(1-3) “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
No different than the opening stanza of Psalms 2,
Here again we have this servant of God rejected by the world.
Now, Psalms 2 went directly from His rejection to His coronation
But Isaiah 53 takes a different approach.
Isaiah 53 explains why God allowed Him to be rejected.
(4-6) “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
God allowed this chosen to King to suffer and die
Because He wasn’t just here to rule, but also to redeem.
ISRAEL WAS A WAYWARD PEOPLE.
• They were unfit for the kingdom they longed for.
• Even if their King had arrived there’s no way He would have allowed them in.
• They were sinful and their sin had to be atoned for.
HIS REJECTION ALLOWED FOR THEIR ATONEMENT.
This King would come and bear their sin and bear their punishment.
The RESULT of this redeeming act would FULL RESTORATION AND JOY.
And that is what Isaiah 54 is all about.
• It speaks of the joys of being redeemed.
• It actually speaks of it by way of analogy.
In Isaiah 54 Israel is compared to 4 different women.
In verses 1-3 redemption is compared to THE JOY OF WHEN A BARREN WOMAN HAS A CHILD.
(1) “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;”
(3) “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.”
Those are the joyful kingdom realities Israel wanted.
They wanted to again be a fertile and prosperous nation that spread abroad.
In verses 4-8 redemption is compared to when THE RESTORED DIGNITY OF A WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN FORSAKEN.
(4) “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced…”
(8) “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer.”
Israel had been severely disciplined by God and they longed for the day
When they were once again welcomed back into God’s favor.
REDEMPTION WOULD MEAN RECONCILIATION WITH GOD.
In verses 9-10 redemption is compared to THE RESTORED PEACE OF A WOMAN WHO HAS GROWN SKEPTICAL.
(9b) “I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you.”
Just in case the above promises seemed to good to be true, God interposes with an oath.
• I will do it.
• And Israel longed for this peace and assurance.
And finally in verses 11-17 redemption is compared to THE RESTORED SECURITY OF A WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN AFFLICTED.
(11-12) “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones.”
You’ve had a hard time but I’m going to restore you and make you secure.
And in the last verse of chapter 54 God says:
(17) “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.”
So God had spoken of this coming Redeemer
Who would bear Israel’s punishment and actually Redeem her.
There was a coming King who would be rejected,
But in His rejection He would actually redeem
And restore Israel back to a joyful state.
That was a promise that God had made.
And it would come through this King from David’s line.
You can see why they anticipated him so much.
They wanted joy, they wanted dignity,
They wanted peace, they wanted security.
Well then you come to chapter 55
And God extends the offer to Israel.
The first 3 verses are significant here.
(1-3) “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”
Those last lines are actually the promise that Paul quoted in Acts 13.
“I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”
When Paul quoted it, he said, “I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.”
This was the promise Paul was referencing.
It was the promise that
• If you thirsted for the blessings of redemption.
• If you hungered to be forgiven and restored before God.
Then you should come.
• You should quit seeking the world and things that don’t satisfy.
• You should come to God and to His king.
He would be the King whom God would make
An everlasting covenant with like he spoke of to David.
And in Acts 13 Paul quotes verse 3 as if to say: JESUS IS THAT KING!
When God raised Him from the dead
It was God honoring that promise of an everlasting kingdom.
God was fulfilling His promise.
Jesus is that King God was talking about.
• He is the One who would bear your sin.
• He is the One who will redeem you.
• He is the One who will restore you to joy and dignity and peace and security.
And if you want that, then you should run to Him.
In Jesus are those “holy and sure blessings of David.”
YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR GOD TO FULFILL THAT PROMISE.
He just did!
He raised Jesus from the dead and made Him the eternal King!
The Promise of A Coronated Son The Promise of A Redeeming King
#3 THE PROMISE OF AN ETERNAL SAVIOR
Acts 13:35-37
And here Paul continues with one more promise.
(35) “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’”
This is a promise found in Psalms 16.
TURN TO: PSALMS 16
We studied this one a few years ago on Easter and again recently as we are studying through Psalms so it should not be totally unfamiliar to you.
In this Psalm we have David
Obviously praying a prayer for preservation and deliverance.
But it is the end of the Psalm which grabs our attention
For there this marvelous promise is recorded.
(10) “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Now clearly the first part of that verse is A REFERENCE TO DAVID.
• David is placing his hope in the fact that when he dies God will not abandon him in death.
However, the second part of that verse CANNOT BE ABOUT DAVID.
• “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
That can’t be about David, and Paul will tell you why.
Back in Acts 13
(36-37) “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.”
The last half of that verse can’t be about David.
His body most certainly decomposed.
BUT DAVID EXPECTED THAT.
He expected his body to decay, it was his soul that God would save.
And David knew that the way God would save his soul
Would be through a coming Savior whose body would not decay.
David uttered God’s promise that there was coming a Savior; a Holy One;
Who would never decay in death, but who would live eternally.
And this Savior would not only live, but would also be
The means through which David’s soul would be saved.
And again Paul says: FULFILLED!
Israel was looking for an eternal savior and Paul says,
God fulfilled that promise when He raised Jesus from the dead.
Now, I know that’s a lot of Scripture to cover in a short period of time,
But it is merely to point out to you that
The resurrection of Jesus WAS THE FULFILLMENT of God’s promises.
• In Psalms 2 God promised A CORONATED SON
• In Isaiah 55 God promised A REDEEMING KING
• In Psalms 16 God promised AN ETERNAL SAVIOR
And on the day when God raised Jesus from the dead,
He satisfied every one of those promises.
God had promised
• A King who would reign forever on David’s throne.
• He would be rejected by the world and yet coronated by God.
• He would come and redeem Israel and restore her kingdom.
• And He would save them forever.
Paul says that King has arrived!
God testified to that when He raised Jesus from the dead!
JUST CHECK OFF THE BOXES
• Was He rejected? Yes
• In His rejection did He redeem? Yes
• Did God select Him in spite of the world’s rejection? Yes
• Will He now reign forever? Yes
And the resurrection settled all of that.
Easter Sunday was the day when God fulfilled His promise.
The resurrection proves that Jesus is God’s Messiah; God’s King.
He does reign and He will reign.
He has saved and He will save.
THE SEARCH IS OVER!
However, THE RESPONSIBILITY on your part remains.
In Isaiah 55 Isaiah reminded his readers that their obligation would be
To come to this King if they thirsted for redemption.
Notice that Paul’s message is the same.
(38-39) “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”
In Jesus you get forgiveness and freedom.
He can forgive you of your sins because He bore the wrath of God.
• (Isaiah 53 taught us that)
He can free you from the penalty of sin as well
• (Psalms 16) taught us that.
Jesus alone can save.
Jesus alone can forgive.
Jesus alone can set you free.
Why Jesus alone?
Because He’s the only One whom God ever raised from the dead to be an eternal King!
Isaiah 55 would continue on beyond what we read a moment ago.
Isaiah would go on to say:
Isaiah 55:4-7 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
This One whom God would raise is “a witness”.
He is “a leader and commander”
He is also the savior of the world for He calls even Gentiles to Himself.
God has glorified Him as the only King.
And Isaiah’s advice is very similar to Paul’s
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He wil have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Do you want forgiveness?
Do you want freedom?
Do you want redemption? (joy, dignity, peace, security)
Then forsake your sinful ways and run to God’s king!
You seek Him while the offer is available.
You seek Him while you have time.
And we know who He is.
It is Jesus! The One whom God raised from the dead.
But Paul also has A WARNING for his congregation and us.
(40-41) “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: ‘BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”
If you don’t recognize that passage, it comes from Habakkuk 1:5
• Habakkuk grieved over his sinful culture
• And he asked God why He had forced him to live among such evil.
What Paul quotes is the answer God gave to Habakkuk.
“I am accomplish a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you”
What was God talking about?
What was this great work?
Habakkuk 1:6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.”
God was sending the Babylonians to destroy Israel.
Now do you understand Paul’s sermon?
• God has made it very clear who His King is!
• God has raised Jesus from the dead
• God has set an undeniable seal on Him that He is the Promised Son, Redeemer, and King.
You should run to Him, trust in Him, and call on His name
So that you will be forgiven and set free from your sin.
But if you don’t then you should know.
That those who hear the truth of Christ and then reject Him,
You can’t even imagine the judgment which God has in store.
IT IS NOT OK WITH GOD FOR THE WORLD TO REJECT HIS KING.
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
AND THAT IS WHERE WE SIT THIS MORNING.
• God has fulfilled His promise!
• He has sent us His glorious King!
• Jesus reigns today in heaven and He will one day soon reign upon the earth!
• The resurrection fulfilled that promise.
This morning God has seen fit to ask you to trust in Him.
God has seen fit to call you to submit to Him.
If you do, there is forgiveness and freedom and redemption.
If you don’t, then you cannot even imagine the judgment that will come.
AND SO THIS MORNING
• I invite you to believe in Jesus.
• I invite you to forsake your ways and run to Him.
• I invite you to submit to God’s King and call upon His name.
And He will abundantly pardon.
