Kingship of Christ in The Acts, Part 1

Review and Introduction to the Period of Proclamation

0:02 In writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul could say that he was determined to know nothing among the Corinthians save Jesus Christ and him as crucified. If we, as the professed people of God, share anything of this sanctified fixation of mind and heart,

0:30 we can never grow weary of contemplating the person and the work of Jesus Christ our Lord. The person who finds it tedious to contemplate Christ is the person who is a stranger to the grace of Christ. At this point in our Sunday morning meditations, we are concerned with this very issue of contemplating Christ as He is set forth in the Scriptures, particularly in the

1:00 in his threefold offices as prophet, priest, and king of his church. And I remind you as I have again and again, and I'm willing to run the risk of appearing tedious or even insulting your intelligence, it's so vital, that he occupies these offices not as a luxury for himself, but in pursuit of the salvation of his people. As the old catechism says,

1:29 Frames it, who is the Redeemer of God's elect? And the answer is, the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God became man, and so was and continues to be both God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever. Well, if that's who He is, then what offices does He execute as our Redeemer? And the answer is Christ is our Redeemer, executes the office of a prophet, priest, and king, both in His estate of humiliation and in His estate of exaltation. And so our concern has been to behold Christ as our Savior, accomplishing the work of salvation as He functions in the capacity of a priest, the capacity of a prophet, and now

2:23 the capacity and office of a king. And we have had but one basic concern in the initial studies on the kingly office of Christ, namely, to establish from the Word of God that Jesus Christ is indeed a king. Not that He was a king, He shall be a king, but that He is now a true king in the work of redemption.

2:53 And we have sought to lay out the biblical materials as they come to us in our Bibles. We considered the pivotal text in the Old Testament, calling the Old Testament the period of preparation. And we saw that the great theme of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Redeemer, the Messiah, the promised deliverer of sinners, is that He would accomplish His work of deliverance

3:21 As a true king. Then we spent two Lord's Day mornings. Considering the pivotal materials in the period of manifestation. That is the gospels. When Christ is actually among men. How is he manifested to men? And we saw from the opening words of the New Testament. Matthew 1.1. Right through to last Lord's Day morning. His closing act in life.

3:49 we saw that He is set before us as a King. Again, I emphasize not one who one day will be a King, but one who was, while He was here amongst us, a true King, whose kingdom was not of this world, but who did have a kingdom and who exercised the prerogatives of a King. Now we move today to the third segment, of God's revelation as it comes to us. We've covered the period of preparation, we've moved into the New Testament, the period of manifestation, and now this morning, and God willing, the first Lord's Day that I am back from the ministry abroad, we shall consider the period of proclamation, and that is, of course, the book of the Acts of the Apostles. And I call that book the period of proclamation for the simple reason

4:44 that those of you who were in the adult class and who were attentive at all will remember that the theme of the book of Acts is given to us in chapter 1 in verse 8. Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

5:13 And so the great theme, and in a very real sense the inspired outline of the book of the Acts is given to us in verse 8. It will be the record of the spirit-impelled witness to Christ beginning at Jerusalem and moving out to the ends of the earth. And so we can rightly call the book of the Acts the account of this period of proclamation. Proclamation.

5:40 Now our concern in coming to the book of the Acts this morning is very simple. And it is this. What place is given in the recorded preaching in the book of Acts to the kingship of Christ? In other words, in bearing witness to Christ according to verse 8, did they bear witness to an enthroned Saviour?

Word Studies: Christ and Lord

6:11 That's our simple concern, to answer that question. Because you see, it bears upon the overriding concern that we have in looking at the kingly office of Christ, namely, to establish that kingship as the pervasive testimony of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. Now, if we're to feel the weight of the materials in the book of Acts, There is a simple linguistic and theological fact that must be understood at the outset. And I remind you, if you're too lazy to wrestle with words and wrestle with theology, then you're too lazy to understand your Bible. Every child of God, no matter how limited his mental and educational faculties and background may be, must be serious about the words of the Bible and understand.

7:05 the ideas embodied in those words? Well, the minute you do, you are a philologist and a theologian, whether you know it or not. For a philologist is the student of words and the theologian, the one who seeks to integrate the concepts that the words convey. And this is a very simple matter, but I trust it will be of help as we stand on the threshold of the book of Acts, seeking to examine whether or not testimony to the Savior is testimony to an enthroned Savior, this very simple linguistic and theological issue. And it is the parallelism that is found between the words Christ or Messiah and the word Lord. Now, according to Acts 17 and verse 3, and I invite you to turn to that passage, if you will,

8:01 Insertions of Jesus being the Christ formed a major element in apostolic testimony. We read in verse 2, Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and to rise from the dead, And that this Jesus, whom said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. So you see the concept of asserting and proving that the Christ, that is, the Messiah, must suffer, must be raised from the dead, and then demonstrating that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed that Christ. This formed a major element in apostolic preaching.

8:55 Now what significance does that have for our study? Well simply this, as we saw in our study of the Gospels. A Jew could not think of the Messiah, that is, the Christ, without thinking immediately of kingship. In the mind of the Jew, Messiah and King were synonymous concepts. Wherever Messiah was, a king was. And if Israel's king has come, Israel's Messiah has appeared.

9:24 King, Messiah, the Christ, King. Those ideas are inextricably bound together, tighter than with the best epoxy. They are stuck together in the Word of God and in the consciousness of the Jew. Then we come to the second word, Lord. Now this is a very broad word in its usage, all the way from a polite address to nothing less than an ascription of Deity.

9:53 a synonym for Jehovah God Himself. But particularly in the Roman world, this word points in its overarching emphasis to the concept of supreme ruler and unrivaled authority. And I give you but two examples of that usage to affirm or to demonstrate what I have asserted. 1 Timothy chapter 6 says,

10:23 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 15. Which in its own times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate, that is, ruler, the king of kings,

10:45 And Lord of Lords. and Lord of Lords. So then we have these two words that occur again, or three words, in the preaching of the book of the Acts. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. He is the Christ. The Messiah, of course, being the Hebrew, the Christ being the Greek. We have then in those words Messiah and the Christ, the Anointed One,

The Kingdom Bookends of Acts (1:3 and 28:31)

11:41 a concept that binds to itself kingship of necessity. And then we have the word Lord, which has as its dominant point of emphasis supreme ruler and royal and unrivaled authority. Now, with that basic matter established, let us wrestle with the question, is Jesus Christ presented as King, as Messiah, as Sovereign, as the Christ in the period of proclamation. And if He is, then we will come to this inescapable conclusion that there is no proclamation of Christ that can be considered apostolic and biblical unless it sounds the note of His royal prerogatives. And then secondly, no faith is healthy unless its object is a great king

12:38 upon the throne. All right, now let's proceed then. And this morning all I propose to do is to give you two lines of biblical argument from the book of Acts. The first is what I'm going to call the opening and closing note of the book of the Acts. And then the second will be an examination of the first Christian sermon in the book of the Acts. Now we return to the first chapter of Acts.

13:14 Verse 1, the former treatise I made, O Theophilus, referring most likely to Luke's writing of the gospel according to Luke, the former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was received up. After that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. As Luke, by the guidance of the Spirit, is led to record the activities of the risen Lord through the apostles,

14:10 It is significant that he begins with this note that focuses upon the kingdom and the king. According to this passage, you will notice that our Lord's main activities subsequent to his resurrection and prior to his ascension were twofold. Look at them. The first was a work of confirmation, and the second was a work of explanation. Verse 3.

14:40 To whom he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs appearing unto them by the space of forty days. What was our Lord doing from the resurrection to the ascension? He was confirming the validity of his resurrection.

15:02 And as we shall see in the first Christian sermon, the resurrection is so pivotal to the entire structure of apostolic preaching that our Lord would leave no doubt in their minds that He had indeed been raised from the dead. And so He spends forty days in this work of confirmation. I am indeed the same Christ who died. I am alive. And that was one of His great concerns today.

15:30 confirmation of the reality of His resurrection. But now He does a second thing, according to the latter part of verse 3. And here was His second great activity, speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. He was not only engaged in a work of confirmation, but in a work of explanation. And He is explaining the things that cluster around this great theme, the kingdom of God.

16:00 That which is called in Matthew the kingdom of the heavens. Now, why is he doing this? Well, he is obviously doing this, as the subsequent context indicates, to prepare them for the great charge of verse 8. Ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost coming upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto me. So you see, the emphasis upon the kingdom is not an emphasis...

16:29 that bypasses the central truths of the gospel and puts in its place some future social, political, earthly realm that will be limited to a certain nationality and a certain hunk of real estate in a certain part of the world, he's preparing them for the task outlined in verse 8. If they are to be witnesses unto Christ, They must understand the nature of the kingdom of Christ. And this was one of their greatest problems in the days of our Lord's flesh. They did not understand the nature of the kingdom. They were always mixed up with these carnal Jewish hopes and expectations.

17:17 And so our Lord now, as we read in Luke 24, begins this mighty work of opening the understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. And He begins to show them that the kingship is indeed a spiritual kingship, and His rule is a spiritual rule. And He spends forty days not only confirming them in the fact of His resurrection, but explaining to them the nature of His kingdom.

17:45 Now then turn to the last words of the book of Acts. Where Luke begins, Luke also ends with this dominant kingdom motif. Like a great symphony which in the opening bars announces its theme and then in the closing and climactic section takes that theme up and once again causes it to reverberate through the hall and into the ears of all appreciative listeners. So Luke does this with the kingdom theme, for the last two words of the book of the Acts are these. The Apostle Paul is a prisoner of the Roman government, not a prisoner as we generally think of it. He had great liberties. He's awaiting his formal trial and

18:39 And he abode, Luke says, concerning Paul, two whole years in his own higher dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him. Now as Paul is there at Rome with these great liberties, he has his own rented house. And he spends all of his time in terms of his predominant activities doing this one thing. Preaching concerning the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he was teaching and preaching the kingdom in such a way...

19:31 as to sound a note that focused continually upon the person and work of Christ. He preached concerning the person and work of Christ in such a way as to continually draw attention to the realities of the kingdom. So you have the kingdom and the person and work of Christ again inextricably bound up in one great block of biblical truth, in the ministry of the apostle. Now, if this is not an accidental emphasis, that on the threshold of the period of proclamation recorded in Acts, we confront the Lord Jesus teaching concerning the kingdom, and then we come to the back door of the book of Acts, and as we exit, the kingdom motif is there, dominant again, if that's not an accident. But if it is a calculated emphasis by the Spirit through Luke,

20:31 then we should expect that the Lord Jesus should be preached throughout the book of Acts in such a way as to give predominance to the reality of His place as King. Should we not? And we will not be disappointed. And this morning we turn then to the first recorded sermon, and we see that our expectations are not disappointed. And we're now in Acts chapter 2.

Setting the Context of Pentecost in Acts 2

21:03 The Scripture says in Romans 15, we that are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak. Some of you are strong in knowledge, some of you weak. So don't grow weary if I take a moment to summarize some things that will be very obvious to you who have a background in the Bible. But as we counsel with people, it's quite evident that the Lord brings to us those who have very little background in general biblical knowledge.

21:29 and we want to be considerate of them. So you who are strong in knowledge, you bear with the weak as I summarize some of the basic content of this chapter prior to the actual sermon of Peter. If you have your Bible before you, you will notice if you have a paragraphed version, the first paragraph of chapter 2 is verses 1 to 4. This paragraph contains what we might call the facts of the beginning of the day of Pentecost. And the facts are very simple.

21:59 Although strange, very simple. The people are gathered together. The day of Pentecost arrives. The Spirit of God comes in a very unusual way as the sound of a mighty rushing wind. Cloven tongues of fire appear above each of those that are sitting in the room. They are filled with the Spirit, and then they begin to speak with other languages, by the enablement of the Spirit. Now those are the simple facts of the first four verses. Now verses 5 through 13 tell us something of the sequel to those initial facts. And we read in that next paragraph that there were devout Jews gathered from all parts of the Roman Empire, having come up to Jerusalem for one of those stated feasts,

22:51 And these now leave, apparently, the place where they were sitting, unless it was some public place in the proximity of the temple or a part of the temple. But in any case, the 120 who are gathered together, upon whom the Spirit comes, giving them this ability to speak in other languages, they are in close enough proximity to all of these dwellers from various parts in the Roman Empire that they can hear...

23:18 Both the sound of their speaking and possibly even the sound of the rushing mighty wind. For we read in verse 6, And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were confounded. Why? Because they're hearing these people all speak in their own native tongue and with a perfect dialect. And they cannot deny that this is what their ears are hearing. And as they hear the words, they notice that they are speaking the mighty works of God.

23:48 And they said, how in the world can this be? Verse 12. And they were all amazed and perplexed, saying one to another, what does this mean? Well, somebody's there with a ready answer. You always have the skeptic present. And their answers were, these guys are half looped. They're full of new wines.

24:09 Others, mocking, said they are filled with new wine. Now, do you get the picture? The day of Pentecost has come. There's this unusual collection of events. Here is this reaction. Now, Peter's going to stand up, and he's going to explain what this really means. And in his explanation, beginning with verse 14, you have three main segments. You have, first of all, a flat denial statement.

24:37 Of the smart aleck's remark. And we have that in verse 15. These are not drunken as ye suppose. Seeing it is but the third hour of the day. According to our customs Peter is saying. None of us has even sat down to a proper meal. Where the wine would be available. How then can we be drunk at nine o'clock in the morning. So he dismisses that in that very brief negation.

25:06 Then he does basically two things in the rest of his sermon. The first thing he does begins with verse 16. But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Job. He is going to explain and demonstrate that everything that they have seen and heard precisely fulfills a prophecy from the Old Testament.

25:35 No, this is not some bizarre behavior, getting drunk this early in the morning. This is a fulfillment of a divine prediction. Now, I notice a number of you going off into the land of Nod. Now, please, I know you lost an hour's sleep because of the time change, but will you gird up the loins of your mind? I've labored in preparation with very little sleep over the past week.

26:01 And if ever I was tempted to drag out a sermon preached elsewhere and give you the fruit of labors elsewhere to catch up on sleep, it was this week. But I've labored to give you fresh food. I trust you'll labor to keep awake to receive it. If you need to bite the inside of your lip, reach your hand under your thigh and pinch it. I've done it more than once in preparing for you. Maybe you can do it while listening. So please, don't allow yourself to be drowsy. These are vital issues.

26:27 They're in your own interest. Now, I've deliberately not looked at anyone, so no one would be embarrassed. Now that my exhortation is done, I'll start looking at your eyes again as I preach. All right? After the flat denial, he then explains and demonstrates that this fulfills prophecy. The prophecy of Joel, which predicted...

26:48 that there would be an age of the Spirit in which the Spirit would be given to all, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, verse 17, and in which salvation would be available to all, verse 21, and it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So Peter says, now look, we're not drunk, we are simply witnesses that the prophecy of Joel is fulfilled. What prophecy? What prophecy?

Peter's Argument from Resurrection and Enthronement

27:18 that an age of the Spirit would come called the last days, and in that age the Spirit would be poured upon all, and salvation would be available to all. That's the first great point of his sermon. But now the second great point of his sermon is this, that Jesus of Nazareth,

27:42 is the Lord of that salvation and the initiator and administrator of the age of the Spirit. And he begins that emphasis in verse 22. Ye men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth. And he begins now to speak of Jesus of Nazareth as being what? Well, the key is verse 32 and 33. This

28:10 Jesus, this Jesus of Nazareth, did God raise up, whereof were all witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this which ye see and hear. You see what he is saying? What you see and hear is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecies.

28:33 Joel said, a time is coming when the Spirit will come not just upon a prophet here and upon a prophetess there, but my Spirit shall be poured upon all flesh. An age of the diffusive ministry of the Spirit is coming. Don't think it strange that you see men and women speaking under the impulse of the Spirit. Joel said that day should come. Furthermore, don't think it strange that we're speaking the mighty works of God.

29:02 in all likelihood the works of God in Jesus Christ, because Joel said a day is coming when salvation is made available to all. But now he says, I want you to know something. It is Jesus of Nazareth who is the One who has initiated and administers the New Age, He being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Spirit,

29:31 poured forth this. Who has done this? He says, Jesus of Nazareth. The new age has come, and the administrator of the new age is Jesus of Nazareth. And that's the heart of his sermon. But now the great question for our study this morning. In what capacity does Jesus administer the new age? In what official office does he administer the new age?

30:02 Well, that's the filler of Peter's sermon. And it's beautiful. People who say Peter was just sort of rambling, they have no appreciation for what he's doing in this sermon. It's a masterful thing. He starts with what they cannot deny. Verse 22, Jesus of Nazareth in what capacity? A man of

30:24 A man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders. He starts with the validity of Christ's humanity. They won't argue with that. Then he moves to the validity...

30:35 of the miraculous, the attestations of His God-appointed mission. And they can't argue with that. Remember how they wished they could? They said, we can't deny. Notable miracles have been done in the healing of the blind man. The whole world is going to go after him. We've got to squash this thing. But we can't convince people that the thing hasn't happened. It's obvious that it has. Well, they can't argue with that. So he says, this Christ who is the administrator of the new age is the Jesus of Nazareth whom you saw.

31:04 whose miracles you know. And then he went on to say, it's the Jesus whom you crucified. But he's the Jesus whom God raised from the dead. And once he mentions resurrection, verse 24, whom God raised up having loosed the pangs of death, now he really begins to prove and to demonstrate and to buttress the resurrection. So he reaches back for a psalm of David and he says, for David saith...

31:34 concerning him. And he quotes from the 16th Psalm. And I'll not read the Psalm there or in its quotation here, except to show the point that he makes. In that Psalm, David makes this prediction. Verse 27, Thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, nor wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption. David says...

32:00 that the Lord will not allow my flesh to rot in the grave. I will not see corruption. Thy Holy One will not see corruption. Now, Peter is going to argue from that prediction in verse 29. I say unto you freely of the patriarch David, he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. His body did see corruption. Well, he couldn't argue with that. No Jews.

32:30 ever claimed that David had been raised from the dead. His body saw corruption. Nor would any Jew argue that David said, Thy Holy One shall not see corruption. So what happened? Did the Word of God fail? Or was David talking about someone else? Well, Peter says, verse 30, Being there for a prophet,

32:51 And knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne, he had that promise through Nathan that David's seed would never lack someone upon his throne. Knowing this, what did he do? He foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of Christ that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we are all witnesses, being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Spirit. He hath poured forth this which ye see and hear, for David ascended not into the heavens, but himself saith, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. Now his concluding statement.

33:45 Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God hath made him both Lord, supreme ruler, and Christ, the anointed Messiah, the anointed King, this Jesus whom ye crucified. Now can you bring that all together? Can you bring it all together? Don't let any of the details cloud the main heart of this argument.

34:15 You Jews, you wonder what's going on here. Well, I'll tell you, we're not drunk, all right? We've dispensed with that. What's happening is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Diffusive ministry of the Spirit. Salvation to all. The Spirit upon all. Jesus of Nazareth is the great administrator of the new age. He has shed forth the Spirit. What right does he have to do this? In what capacity does he do it? He tells them.

34:44 He does it in the capacity as the approved one, the crucified one, the resurrected one. Now get his argument. He does it as the rightful heir to David's throne. As one who actually sits on that throne at the right hand of the Father. For God has made him Lord and Christ.

35:12 And here the word Lord obviously does not mean divine. God doesn't make Christ divine. He is as to His deity eternally and unchangeably God. But as to His office as the Redeemer of sinners, there comes a point where He who is the King is formally installed with that office at the right hand of the Father, And the Scriptures tell us that David, foreseeing that resurrection, knew that in the resurrection of Christ the promise would be fulfilled, thy holy one should not see corruption, and the promise that he should have one to sit upon his throne would be fulfilled. Therefore, he says, not let all the house of Israel know that in some future time period, God will make His Son King. No.

36:10 He has already made Him both Lord and Christ. That's why He can be the Lord of the new age. This is why He can shed forth the Spirit. This is why whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord should be saved, because there is a Lord upon a throne who came to that throne by way of a cross, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,

36:38 fulfilling all the predictions that Messiah must suffer. He must be the Lamb who is led as a lamb before its shearers. He must be the brunt of divine wrath. And all the prophecies of His sufferings have been fulfilled. Now God has highly exalted Him, and He sits upon a throne as the administrator of all the blessings of the new age. And He sets before His peerers,

37:07 this enthroned Lord and Christ. You see, the first Christian sermon comes to its climactic moment in asserting the universal kingship and the saving sovereignty of the Son of God. Do you see it? The sermon comes to its climactic point in asserting the universal kingship and the saving sovereignty of the Son of God. There is no suggestion that the throne is empty, awaiting its establishment in Palestine in an age to come. There is not a hint of a throne that is waiting in the wings. It is a throne established in the heavens.

Application of the Sermon: Repent Before the Throne

38:01 There is not a suggestion that the regal authority is potential and only actual when we will own it. He doesn't say, let all the house of Israel make him Lord. Let all the house of Israel know that God has made him Lord and Christ. And there is no intimation that the power exercised from that throne is primarily God.

38:30 political, and earthly. Because he's saying it is from that throne that this whole new age has been ushered. You see his argument. They're saying, what does this mean, Peter? He says, if you'll hang on, I'll tell you. What's happening down here is the fruit of what he's doing up there. And he's doing it from a throne. Furthermore, he's doing it from David's throne. He's dispensing the sure mercies of David to all who will come

39:00 And bow before that throne. Therefore when they cry out. What shall we do? Verse 37. If this Jesus who was approved amongst us. Whom we regarded an imposter. Whom we crucified. Whom God raised up. To whom the promise of the Spirit has been given. Who has sent forth this that we now see and hear. If all of this is so. Then Peter brethren. What shall we do?

39:28 is upon the throne, if He is the true heir to David's throne, if all the prophecies and promises are fulfilled in Him, what do we do? Look at Peter's answer. Repent. He goes to the heart and deals with the issue of sin. Repent. Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.

39:58 Come into this open identity with Jesus of Nazareth, who is your promised Messiah. He is the anointed prophet, priest, and king. Give yourself up to Him to be taught of Him as your prophet, to be cleansed and forgiven and kept by Him as your priest, to be governed by Him as the King of grace. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins.

40:26 And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise. And to your children. And to all that are afar off. Does he entertain their fancy with anything? Saying, and because you are Jews, your real blessing is going to come out there so many years at the end of the age. This business of witnessing to Jews and saying, because you are of Abraham's seed, God has a wonderful plan for your

40:56 My friends, there's not a shred of that in the apostolic preaching as Jews to Jews. Where is it here? Not a shred of it. The promises for spiritual blessings dispensed by a spiritual king seated upon a spiritual throne in fulfillment of all the promises. And there's a beautiful Beautiful little distillation of that whole sermon in Acts chapter 5. And I want you to look at this just as sort of an additional buttressing. Acts chapter 5. Peter and the apostles are getting in trouble for their preaching. They're being opposed. Now notice the emphasis, verse 30 of Acts 5. The God of our fathers...

41:52 Raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree. You slew Jesus of Nazareth, you hung him on a tree. Him did God exalt at his right hand to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins.

42:18 The Jesus whom you slew has been exalted to a place of power. The right hand of God is the place of power. He says He occupies it now as a what? A prince and a savior. To do what? Not to give you the land of Palestine, but to give you a heart that's broken for sin. To give you a heart that grieves over sin. A heart that turns from sin.

42:46 And then wonder of wonders to blot out all of those sins by his own precious blood. He is a king to give repentance and remission of sins. You see on that day, the day of Pentecost, they saw that Jesus Christ was Lord and Christ. That could mean one thing to their ears. Influenced by Rome and the Greek language and the concept of that Greek word. God has made Him Lord. He's supreme ruler. God has made Him Christ. As Messiah He is King. So the moment Peter says, repent and be baptized into His name. Openly confess.

Pressing Questions on the Enthroned Christ

43:33 That you are identified with Christ in the bonds of faith and love. It could mean only one thing. We are dealing with someone on a throne. And all the forgiveness and all the grace and all the mercy. Was forgiveness, grace and mercy that issued from a throne. And all the blessings that he would give are the blessings of the Spirit. Now.

44:02 I am going to proceed no further this morning in the biblical materials, but I want to close by pressing on your conscience several very vital questions in the light of these two lines of evidence opened up from the book of Acts concerning the reality of Christ's kingship. The first question is this. Have you as an individual, have you, man, woman, boy, girl, have you,

44:32 reckoned with what God has made His Son in the work of mediation. God has made Him Lord, that is, supreme and sovereign ruler, and God has made Him Christ, the exclusively anointed prophet, priest, and king in whom alone salvation is to be found. Now, have you reckoned with that reality? You see, my question is, not have you had some kind of dealing with a Christ of your own conceiving, a Christ who is the product of your own clever manipulation, on the one hand of a desire to be fireproofed and not go to hell when you die, and on the other hand a desire to maintain the sovereignty of your own life. Now you can concoct a Christ who conforms

45:27 To your native desire for safety on the one hand. And your native desire on the other hand for bliss. While clinging to your sins. But that's not the Christ of the Bible. Peter says God's made him Lord in Christ. And if you ever get forgiveness from him. He'll be at the footstool of his throne. Now if you reckon with that.

45:54 Have you reckoned with the fact that if you are ever brought into union with Christ, somebody's will's got to bend and it ain't going to be His? Have you reckoned with that? So that you have consciously stepped down from the throne of your own heart and welcomed King Jesus for what He is, Lord Jesus.

46:28 My second question is, have you been brought to see your desperate need of this King of grace? You see, God's bound up all the forgiveness He'll ever give to sinners in His Son. He is the administrator of this new age with all of its blessings of forgiveness and the promise, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But who is that Lord? He says, Jesus is that Lord upon the thrones.

46:55 And you see, when God the Spirit makes you conscious of how much you need Him, you welcome Him for what He is. And you give up all your efforts to manipulate Him into something that your flesh would like Him to be. That's why Paul could say, we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord. Not as a whimpering, simpering Savior who pleads with the sinner to accept Him.

47:25 He's an enthroned and gracious and compassionate Lord who welcomes, who entreats, who commands, and who never stoops to whimper and to simper, my friend. He'll lose nothing of His glory if you are in hell forever. But you'll lose the one thing you need to escape the wrath of God, the mercy and forgiveness of an enthroned Christ.

47:58 The next question I'd press upon your conscience is this. Do you see why, and I speak here primarily to believers, do you see why it is such a disgrace to our Lord to say, oh yes, I believe He is a king, but He will only exercise that kingship in the future. Do you see what a disgrace this is to our Lord?

48:25 His investiture with the kingly office and throne officially and manifestly was the crowning reward of his agony and his suffering. And now to say, well, he earned it, but he can't have it till some future age. How it robs him of glory. You see how it robs the Christian of the ground of discomfort. What a wonderful thing to know that my Savior is on a throne.

48:52 exercising absolute sovereignty in every realm for the good of His people. No, we do not want to grub our Lord of the glory of His present enthronement. Furthermore, we do not want to rob the gospel of its ethical demands of submission. And my friends, you can never bleed the biblical concept of faith of that inherent element of submission.

49:20 That's why Paul can talk about obedience to the faith among all the nations. That's why the writer to Hebrews can say he's the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him. The Bible knows nothing of a faith that does not have the ethical element of submission. It does not recognize it. Because it's non-existent. And the framework of present thinking with regard to the kingship of Christ...

49:50 has lent itself to the whole idea. He's a Savior now. We need only reckon with the reality of His cross to be saved. He'll be a king later, and then we better shape up and start thinking seriously about the throne. My friend, no. No, no. Just as He came to the throne by way of a cross, you get to the benefits of the cross by way of a throne. And no other way. If you'd bypass the issue of who shall govern this life, you forfeit the right to lay any biblical claim to saying, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses me from my sin. Then it shifts, you see, the emphasis, this other perspective from the spiritual to the material and the political. And it takes the emphasis of the Bible and utterly distorts it. You say, Pastor Martin, would you have some complaint?

50:46 If the Lord were to have an earthly kingdom sometime in the future and reign over the whole world, I wouldn't have any complaint with anything God wants to do or anything He's clearly promised to do. But to say that all that the Bible says concerning the kingship of Christ has its primary fulfillment in such a supposed age, I say, is a mishandling of the Word of God.

Summary and Final Appeal

51:12 So this morning I am not carrying on a tirade against an eschatological system. I could care less about eschatological systems. My concern is to be true to apostolic gospel. That's my great concern. And anything that undermines apostolic gospel is not your friend nor my friend. Because it will rob your soul and it will obscure the glory of Christ. Is Christ a king right now?

51:41 Well, we saw that according to the period of preparation, the only Messiah who fit the bill was one who came as king. Was he a king in the days of his flesh? We have seen in the period of manifestation the Jesus of the Gospels is the Jesus of kingly authority and power. Is he a king according to apostolic proclamation in the period of proclamation? The book of Acts comes to us.

52:09 On the threshold, the kingdom motif is sounded. As we move out the back door, the kingdom motif is sounded again. We turn to the first Christian sermon. And the great climactic point is, God has made him Lord and Christ. And oh, my friend, remember, He's made him that. Why? In the interest of the salvation of sinners. That's His great concern. God isn't doing all of this to add something to Himself. And Christ has been made God's Christ, His anointed one. He is the Lord in the interest of your salvation. Therefore, I can plead with you in the name of the enthroned Christ. Seek mercy by kissing the Son, lest ye be angry and you perish in the way.

53:04 You who plead for the conversion of your unsaved loved ones plead this biblical concept. He's a prince and a savior. Not only to forgive and receive penitent sinners, but the scripture says to give repentance. You see, if you're a Christian this morning, it's because King Jesus put forth his scepter and struck a blow to all the bars and bands of satanic blindness and bondage. He stormed your soul.

53:34 And set you free. Oh how wonderful to have such a king of grace. Who goes forth in his chariots. Not to destroy. But to deliver. But that king according to Revelation 19. Is going to come someday to destroy. And it will be as king of kings and lord of lords. That he comes upon his white charger of judgment. Oh my friend. What a terrible thing. To be on the wrong side of the king in the day.

Closing Prayer

54:05 Of his return to judgment. Fall before his throne now. Find the mercy promised. To the vilest of sinners. Seek it. Where it alone can be found. At the throne. Of the one who came to the throne. By way of a cross. Let us pray.

54:37 Father, how we thank You for giving to us the Scriptures. And we thank You for Your dear Son, who is the great theme from Genesis to Revelation. We praise You for all that You have said concerning Him. We thank You that these are not cunningly devised fables. We bless You that there is substantial reality embodied here.

55:05 In all that you have said to us, we pray that you would give us a sight of your Son, enthroned as Lord in Christ. We pray that the day may come when from the pulpits of this land the note of an enthroned Savior will be sounded with power and with great concern that sinners recognize their rightful sovereignty.

55:35 We pray for those who sit here this morning who have avoided the issue of an enthroned Christ. O God, give them no rest until they know that they have received mercy from that enthroned Savior. We pray now that the Holy Spirit Himself would seal to our hearts the word read and preached and that this day we may all find joy

56:04 in living under the scepter of our King of Grace. Hear our prayer and be with us as we leave this place. We plead through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.