Promises Fulfilled pt. 3

Introduction:

Good morning, if you have your bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Acts chapter 13… if you need a Bible just slip up your hand and one of our church members will be coming down the aisle with extra copies.

In a broken world like ours, there is one thing that people cannot survive without.…

We can endure a lot of hardship.

We can walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

We can persevere through darker days then we previously thought possible.

But not if we are lacking this particular thing that our souls need.

And that thing is hope.

Hopelessness is mentally and emotionally unsurvivable.

We all need hope for a better future so that we can persevere through the difficult present.

This is partly the reason why celebrities get to the very dark place of contemplating suicide.

They reach their goals.

There is nothing they can’t buy.

There is no earthly experience out of their reach.

Yet, they still feel that there is something missing,

and since they cannot fill that void with anything this world has to offer….

they are robbed of hope.

There is nothing to look forward to, no hope of reaching a place of joy and contentment.

The human soul in a deep way hopes for a better future than the corrupted world we find ourselves in,

and thus we are always grasping at the wind trying to attain that better future for which our soul longs.

The God of the Bible meets our longing souls with promises.

God gives hope by making promises of a future toward which we look.

A better future than our present experience of sin, suffering, and death.

The Old Testament is the story of how God’s world was plunged into corruption.

But it is also a story of how God entered into that corrupted world with promises.

Promises of salvation, promises of blessing, promises of a better future.

We come this morning to the next point of Paul’s first recorded sermon in the New Testament.

And here is the point he is making.

The Old Testament is full of Promises God Made.

and Jesus is the fulfiller of those promises.

Paul will make that point by quoting several Old Testament texts that point us to Jesus.

As we read this morning, Our goal is three fold.

We want to behold the glory of Jesus in these promises.

We want to learn from how Paul read the Old Testament in light of Jesus’s coming.

And we want to strengthen our own faith and hope in the promise keeping God.

So with those goals in mind,

Let’s turn to the text.

Acts 13:32–39 ESV

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ 34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Lets Pray

Acts 13:32–33 (ESV)

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,

33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus

This is the missionary task.

Christians are good news bringers.

We bring good news about a God who makes promises.

We bring good news about a God who keeps his promises.

Though Paul doesn’t quote an old testament text in verse 32, he certainly echoes the language of Isaiah 52:6-7.

Isaiah 52:7 ESV

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

We are good news bringers.

We bring the good news that Jesus is Fulfilling all of God’s promises

Paul argues this by quoting three Old Testament texts that all reference a particular promise that God made to King David.

King David as we are finding out in our in our community groups this semester…, is a special person in redemptive history, because God made a promise to David.

God promised that he would establish an eternal kingdom on earth through David’s family line.

This promise was made in 2 Samuel 7, and though Paul doesn’t quote 2 Samuel…, each text Paul does quote references back to the 2 Samuel promise.

So direct your attention to the screen for the promise that Paul is pointing back to with all his Old Testament quotations.

2 Samuel 7:12–16 ESV

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”

The promise is one of an eternal kingdom,

a dynasty that has no end,

through a special offspring of David who will have a special relationship to God like that of a son to the father.

And Paul’s argument, is that this promise and all the blessings that come with are fulfilled in Jesus.

Acts 13:32–33 ESV

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’

Truth #1 Jesus Establishes the Eternal Kingdom Foreshadowed in Psalm 2.

Now when Paul quotes an Old Testament text to make a point, I assume that Paul doesn’t just have in mind that one sentence he is quoting.

I assume that Paul is familiar with the whole context and primary message of the Psalm he quotes

So in order to get into Paul’s mind we need to turn our attention to Psalm 2.

So turn in your Bibles with me or direct your attention to the screen as we read Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 was written by King David in light of the promise he had been given.

Psalm 2 ESV

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Whats the point of Psalm 2?

God’s enemies rage against God’s plan in vain.

They plot against God’s anointed one.

And God laughs at their attempts.

God appoints his king.

He begets him like a son.

and anyone who takes refuge in God’s appointed king will be blessed.

King David wrote Psalm 2 as the king God appointed,

but the fullness of the promise was not just an earthly king that could pass away, but an eternal kingdom that would never pass away.

What is Paul arguing by quoting Psalm 2?

Jesus is that King.

Jesus is that Beloved Son eternally begotten by God the Father.

He is the King whom the nations raged against.

They killed him.

But they plotted in vain because Jesus rose from the grave.

His kingdom will be unlike any other king who came before him.

Death won’t end his reign.

The throne will never be vacant, and no enemy can overthrow Jesus.

The nations may rage against the kingdom God is building through Jesus but those attempts are laughable in the eyes of God.

Truth #1 Jesus Establishes the Eternal Kingdom Foreshadowed in Psalm 2.

In Jesus’ first coming, he came to give his life as a ransom for sinners.

In his second coming, he will come as a warrior king to fully and finally destroy all competing kingdoms and establish his eternal earthly and righteous reign.

When the Jews tried him, they asked him if he was the anointed one, the Son of God, whom they had been waiting for.

Hear Jesus’ response.

Matthew 26:63–66 ESV

63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

The Jews killed Jesus because he claimed to be the promised king.

Then Jesus got up from the grave.

Now what does all that mean for us?

It means that the woes of man’s kingdom we experience now are but the useless raging of nations just as Psalm 2 said.

Jesus’ resurrection proves forevermore that man’s attempts will not overthrow what God ordains.

It means that our future does not depend on this year’s election.

It means our best life is not now in the fallen kingdom of man, it is in the future of the coming kingdom of Christ.

It means, we should not live our lives in the endless pursuit of building our own little kingdoms of success and comfort.

We should as the Psalmist says in Psalm 2…, kiss the son and find take refuge in him.

Truth #1 Jesus Establishes the Eternal Kingdom Foreshadowed in Psalm 2.

Paul continues.

Acts 13:34 ESV

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Here we have another quotation speaking to the same promise, but in a different Old Testament book.

Truth #2 Jesus Provides All the Covenant Blessings Promised in Isaiah 55.

While Psalm 2 speaks to the un-conquerable nature of God’s appointed King, it doesn’t say very much about the blessings that come from being a part of that secure kingdom.

The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55 expounds.

Isaiah speaks in a day long after King David’s death when Israel’s kingdom was in absolute shambles.

The people were in exile, scattered, and suffering outside of the promised land and under the rule of a pagan king.

And Isaiah prophetically points the people’s eyes toward the future kingdom.

look at Isaiah 55 with me. We are going to read all 13 verses here so lock in and listen to what Isaiah is promising you.

Isaiah 55:1–13 ESV

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Whats the point of Isaiah 55?

God will provide free of charge thirst quenching water and bread that satisfies.

God will accomplish the everlasting covenant he made with King David.

God’s thoughts aren’t your thoughts and your ways are not his.

His word will not return empty. Its going to happen.

And the kingdom coming will bring joy and peace and creation itself will sing and clap.

And the thorns and briers will transform into cypress and myrtle.

In other words, the curse and effects of sin will be turned back.

The holy and sure blessings of David will be more than just a human kingdom,

it will be a renewing of the world as we know it.

Every human need will be met, and every effect of sin’s curse will be reversed.

Why does Paul quote Isaiah 55:3?

Because he believes Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruits of these covenant blessings to all who believe in him.

Acts 13:34 ESV

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Truth #2 Jesus Provides All the Covenant Blessings Promised in Isaiah 55.

What does that mean for us?

It means we have much to be thankful for in Christ.

He will give us the holy and sure blessings of David.

A world where thorn and briers are no more.

Along with cancer and covid and coveting.

All hunger and thirst and longing will be met with the living bread and living water that we might never thirst again.

Listen to the echoes of Isaiah 55 in Jesus words…

John 6:32–40 ESV

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

If you are hungry this morning,

if you are thirsty,

if you are empty,

if you are longing for something and you don’t know what it is.

Hear the words of Jesus…

He brings to humanity free of charge all the covenant blessings our souls yearn for.

Come to him and believe.

His resurrection from the dead is our guarantee that he is the one who offers eternal life.

Paul continues to make this point with yet another quotation. This time from Psalm 16.

Acts 13:35–37 ESV

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

Truth #3 Jesus is the Way to Eternal Life Hoped for in Psalm 16.

Again Paul quotes a Psalm of David.

This time David is in a moment of difficulty and he himself is clinging to the promise God had given to him.

Psalm 16 is a declaration of David’s dependence on God for his provision, his blessing, his guidance, his joy.

David declares these words with confidence because of the promises his God had given him.

Psalm 16:8–11 ESV

8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

How could David be so sure that his soul would not be abandoned to the grave?

How could he believe that his flesh would not see corruption?

How could he look forward to pleasures at God’s right hand forevermore?

He believed these things on the basis of God’s promise.

So why does Paul quote this?

Because its clear that although God made the promise to King David, David wasn’t the one to fulfill the promise.

David died.

His flesh did corrupt in the grave.

His hope had to be placed on a future someone who could bring these promises to fulfillment.

And Paul’s argument is again that Jesus is that someone.

Jesus was not abandoned to the grave.

Three days later God raised him up.

Jesus’ flesh did not see corruption.

His glorified body got up from the tomb.

David served God’s purpose in his own generation but then he died.

Jesus serves God’s purpose in every generation because he lives!

and because he lives, through faith in him, we will live.

We who have faith in Jesus can pray Psalm 16 with David with even more confidence…

Psalm 16:10–11 ESV

10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Death has lost its sting for us because death doesn’t have victory over us.

The one who rose to life has promised eternal life.

Truth #3 Jesus is the Way to Eternal Life Hoped for in Psalm 16.

Now, maybe you are here this morning and you find all of this to be interesting, but you have some questions:

- Why did Jesus need to live and die and rise again to fulfill any of these promises?

and furthermore

- Why does any of this really matter for you?

Well lets read just 2 more verses

In verse 38, Paul turns back to speak directly to his hearers.

Acts 13:38–39 ESV

38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Why does any of this really matter to us?

We do not deserve any of the blessings that we have talked about thus far.

This time, Paul doesn’t quote just one verse.

He alludes to the entirety of God’s law written by Moses.

And God’s law is clear…, law breakers deserve curse not blessing.

There are due penalties for breaking God’s commandments.

Sin deserves death and separation from God, not eternal life with God.

and we all have sinned….

Therefore, God’s law has this kind of enslaving effect on all people because all have sinned.

All are in need of forgiveness.

And here is what Paul is saying.

Truth #4 Jesus Offers the Forgiveness We Need for Breaking God’s Law

Acts 13:38–39 ESV

38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

You could not be freed from the law of Moses

Your sin condemned you.

But Through this man forgiveness is proclaimed to you.

By him everyone who believes is freed.

Jesus secured this forgiveness by perfectly fulfilling every expectation of God’s law….

He obeyed perfectly,

and then he became the perfect sacrifice.

He paid the penalty for us through his death on a cross,

so if we believe in him, we find forgiveness

If we believe in him, we find freedom from the guilt, shame, and death our sin brought upon us.

If we believe in him, we look forward to all the covenant blessings of an eternal kingdom yet to come.

We believe in good news.

We get to place our hope in what God has done,

and what he will do,

not in what we can do.

If you are not a Christian here this morning, I urge you to believe in him.

If you are a Christian, do not enslave yourself to a guilt that God has already set you free from - through Jesus?

Do not find your hope in any earthly kingdom that will one day pass away.

Look to Jesus and believe he fulfills all the promises of God.

He is our hope in life and death.

Truth #1 Jesus Establishes the Eternal Kingdom Foreshadowed in Psalm 2.

Truth #2 Jesus Provides All the Covenant Blessings Promised in Isaiah 55.

Truth #3 Jesus is the Way to Eternal Life Hoped for in Psalm 16.

Truth #4 Jesus Offers the Forgiveness We Need for Breaking God’s Law