WWUTT 2553 Exalted to the Right Hand of God (Acts 2:33-36)

Psalm 110 says the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

It's the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament, and it's always about Jesus when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast that we may be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. All right, in our study of Peter's sermon at Pentecost, we have one more section to look at here, verses 32 to 36, is what

I'm gonna start out reading. Hear the word of the Lord. This Jesus God raised up again to which we all are witnesses.

Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you both see and hear.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my

Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both

Lord and Christ. This Jesus, whom you crucified. And that's the conclusion of the sermon.

I included verse 32 in there, which was the last verse that we read yesterday in that middle portion.

And just to remind you of our outline, it begins with verses 14 to 21.

Peter explaining what it is the people there in Jerusalem are observing. The apostles are speaking in different languages, different tongues.

The people that are there celebrating at Pentecost, they hear the mighty works of God spoken in their own languages.

Some of them accused the apostles of being drunk. And Peter says, no, no, no. It's not even late enough in the day for us to be drunk.

What you see here is the fulfillment of what was prophesied by Joel.

So he gives an explanation of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that everybody there is observing.

And then after that, we have proclamation. It is the proclamation of the gospel, telling of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection in verses 22 to 32.

And the last verse of that section being where Peter says, this Jesus, who was crucified,

God raised up again to which we all are witnesses. And now we look at the third portion today, which is the declaration of Christ's exaltation verses 33 to 36.

And it's in this section too that Peter refers back to what he started talking about, telling everybody what it was that they were observing.

He has poured out his Holy Spirit, which you both see and hear, and bringing to their attention that Christ is the one that you crucified, but he is also the one that God has raised from the dead, making him both

Lord and Christ. And Peter doesn't have to say anything about judgment at that point. The people know that if Jesus is

Lord and Christ and they crucified him, this is really bad news. It's bad news if they don't pay attention to the good news, the declaration of the gospel that Peter has given.

So of course, going on from here, the people are pierced to the heart. Verse 37, and we'll get to this on Monday.

But Peter, or I'm sorry, the people say to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men, brothers, what shall we do?

And that's where Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. So just a teaser as to what we're gonna get into after we finish this.

But let's look at this final portion of the sermon. Once again, the declaration of Jesus' exaltation as he is ascended as Lord and Christ to the right hand of the

Father. And we have mentioned in this section the most quoted Old Testament verse in the

New Testament. So coming to verse 33, therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and this is in fulfillment of those

Old Testament passages that Peter had just referenced from the Psalms, from David.

David looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ that he was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

Jesus was raised again. And where was he raised to? He comes out of the tomb, as we read about in Acts chapter one, he was with his disciples for 40 days between his resurrection and ascension into heaven.

And then after his ascension, he is exalted to the right hand of God and received from the

Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit, which he has poured out of this, which he has, sorry, he has poured out this, which you both see and hear.

Now, something that I didn't mention when we started the Pentecost sermon, or when we started by talking about the

Holy Spirit coming upon them and them speaking in tongues and going out in Jerusalem, speaking these different languages, all the people see this, they are stunned by what it is that's going on.

And then Peter telling them, this is that outpouring of the Spirit that was prophesied in Joel 2.

Now, Peter wouldn't have said Joel chapter two, because chapter and verse markers weren't around at that time, but he just proclaims these words and the people know this is from the prophet

Joel. And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour out my

Spirit on all mankind. Now, this understanding of the

Holy Spirit being poured out, we know this is God, this is the creator God, this is the same

Holy Spirit that's talked about in Genesis 1, 2, as hovering over the face of the waters at creation.

Same Holy Spirit is being poured into the hearts of these apostles and the people are witnesses to his mighty power.

And they too will receive the Holy Spirit if they repent and become followers of Jesus Christ.

So this understanding of a spiritual outpouring is not limited or exclusive to Christianity.

At this time, of course, we're talking about Judaism, or at least Judaism as it would be truly following the scriptures, not

Judaism as it is today, but knowing the scriptures that were given to the

Jews. Remember Jesus saying to the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four, that worship is from the

Jews because the word of God has been given to them. The apostle Paul even talking in Romans chapter three, to them, to the

Jews were given the oracles of God. It's one of the benefits of being a Jew. We were the first to be called.

We were the first to receive God's word. And so a true Jew understanding the word of God, it was not exclusive to the

Jews, this understanding of a spiritual outpouring. Pagans believed in this too.

But of course the pagan understanding of a spiritual outpouring is not the

Christian understanding. It's not the Holy Spirit of God. It's not God himself being poured into the hearts of his people.

There's a spiritual essence that pagans believe that they would receive.

I'm thinking more specifically about the Mesopotamians because I mentioned to you when we were reading in the beginning of Acts two, that some of those who are there at Jerusalem are residents of Mesopotamia.

That's in Acts two, verse nine. Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia are among the people that are there.

In Mesopotamia, there is this spiritual essence, so to speak, called melamu, which refers to this awe -inspiring and fearsome radiance that a king is given.

And a king believed himself to be divine. Among pagan kings, this was very, very common.

Those pagan rulers, pharaohs, kings, emperors, whatever you would call them, there was always some understanding of them being divine.

Even if the king did not proclaim himself as divine, the people might still recognize him as divine or appointed by the gods because if they're gonna receive any prosperity at all, if they get any blessing, if they get any protection, it's gonna come from the guy who is ruling over us.

Any sort of benefits that we reap from our society, our government, et cetera, there's somebody at the top, and that's the guy that they acknowledge as being either a god himself or exalted by the gods.

And this is one of the reasons why kings would wear gold crowns, why it's typically associated with a king or a ruler to wear a gold crown.

Pharaoh had that big gold headdress, right, with the serpent in the middle of it. But this had an aura of radiance.

That's what the gold crown symbolized. There was this radiance coming off of him. Whenever the ancient

Roman Catholic paintings would depict a saint, they put the halo around the head. That actually is derived from this somewhat.

That has something of a pagan connection to it. So there was this radiance that the pagans believed that their anointed had.

And they would, at least among the Mesopotamians, refer to that as melamu, and that melamu was also what would strike fear into the hearts of their enemies.

So have you ever been in a room with a really, really important person, and there was just something really intimidating about them?

Have you ever been in this position before? Maybe it was a governing official. Maybe it was somebody famous, somebody that a lot of people pay attention to.

And maybe you've had your attention on that person to a certain degree that in your mind, you put them in kind of an elevated place.

Maybe it's not God -like status, but you kind of see them as, they're bigger than me somehow, right?

Because they're so popular, so famous, so many people are looking at them. I understand this because I spent so much time, so many years growing up in the contemporary

Christian music world. There were obviously artists that I liked, and it was amazing to meet them.

There were others that I was not so impressed with. So I've seen this. I can honestly admit that I've probably even done this, looking at somebody and thinking they're more important than other people.

Well, a Mesopotamian or a pagan would refer to that as melamu. It's that radiance.

It's that sheen or that glamor that a person would have, and to a certain degree is even fearsome.

So once again, going back to the example of a very important person being in the same room with them, and it's intimidating somehow.

Like if you were in the presence of the President of the United States, wouldn't that be a little, there would be a little fear there.

Even if you didn't think of him as being some person greater than everybody else, you still know, if I make a wrong step, if I look at him the wrong way, like what's gonna happen to me?

What sort of repercussions would come to me? So there's always still that little bit of timidness, even when it comes to meeting a governing official of some kind.

The pagans would refer to that as a kind of a spiritual outpouring or a spiritual blessing that has come upon that person, and that's what makes him so fearsome.

This is what strikes in the hearts of their enemies. Why are our enemies afraid of us? Well, because our ruler has that melamu.

He just has that radiance, and it is, again, of the God, something spiritual that has come upon our earthly or human ruler.

So even the pagans believed in this to some degree. What we're seeing here happen in Pentecost, happened at Pentecost, that even

Peter is giving testimony to multiple times. What you see in here, he has poured out this, but what the apostles are demonstrating, far beyond what any king or ruler with any amount of melamu has ever demonstrated.

This is real power. This is truly getting the attention of the people that are there.

When they see this, they know something miraculous is going on.

They know it's a miracle, because these Galileans can't just be speaking this stuff this way.

These are uneducated men, and how are they speaking all of these different languages? Like each one of these guys went and studied a language for years and years and years, and now they are out here proclaiming to us in our language, these mighty works of God.

So they can observe God has poured something out on them. All Peter has to say is, this is what this is, and they come to recognize it.

We have heard about this. We've heard about it from the prophet Joel. No other king or ruler on earth could demonstrate what it was the apostles were doing, and these men were just peasant, ordinary men, fishermen, tax collectors, carpenters, some of them perhaps, we don't even know what all the occupations were, but just ordinary guys, and here they are demonstrating the power of God, and it's gonna get wilder than this.

Even beyond this, all of the miracles that they're going to perform, and they will see the power of God working through these apostles.

It's incomparable to what any pagan would believe that they could gain through melamu or some sort of spiritual outpouring.

This is the true spiritual outpouring, and the fearfulness of this and the message that Peter proclaims is what strikes the hearts of the people who are listening to it.

Verse 34, for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my

Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

That is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. This is

Psalm 110. It's referenced, I think, 14 or 15 times in the

New Testament, and always pertaining to Christ. Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

So yeah, as you read it in the Hebrew or as you would read it in the Legacy Standard Bible, it's

Yahweh. Specifically, Yahweh says to my Lord, sit at my right hand. And again,

Peter saying, what you have known from Psalm 110, what you have probably even been singing right here at Pentecost, who are you singing about?

You're singing about Jesus Christ. He's the one who is the fulfillment of exactly this word.

Therefore, verse 36, let all the house of Israel know for certain, know this, hear it said to you, that God has made him both

Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, as Peter is talking about this, as he's given testimony to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, he's not saying these things to a group of people that have never heard this, even with regard to Jesus' resurrection.

They had all heard about the miracles, or as I said yesterday, they had either witnessed the miracles themselves or they knew someone who did.

It was so well -known around the area, even those that had come from distant lands and he'd come to this place knew about it.

And those that had come from these distant places, they've been there since Passover. Jesus comes in at Passover or like the week of Passover in the triumphal entry to people shouting, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

Lord. And the people saw that. Jesus does miracles. He preaches in the temple. That drew a lot of attention because the

Gentiles that are there in the temple are not even able to come in and worship because of the money changers and those that are selling doves and other sacrifices in the temple.

What does Jesus do? He goes in and cleanses the temple. This shall be a house of prayer.

You've turned it into a den of robbers. It'll be a house of prayer to the nation. So the nations are gathered there.

So you have so many people from all the different areas that have come to Jerusalem for this particular time.

And they've been there. They've known about Jesus being crucified and they've known about him risen again.

Remember that what we read in Luke 24 with the disciples that were on the road to Emmaus, when

Jesus comes upon them and he's walking with them, he asked them what they're talking about and they're like stunned that he's asking, are you like the only person in Jerusalem that has not known what has gone on here these last few days?

So that right there testifies to the fact everybody knew about this. So what Peter is saying here about his life, death and resurrection, they were there, they've heard about it.

Peter's just connecting the dots now. He is giving the sense you could say of the mighty works of God that the rest of the apostles were proclaiming that.

And I'm getting that phrase from Nehemiah 8 .8 where it said there that the word of God was taught and those who taught it gave the sense.

It's expository preaching, right? That's what Peter is saying. He is giving the sense of what it is they're hearing proclaimed.

He is going through Old Testament scriptures and showing all of this was about Jesus. You've heard about it.

You've known about it. You've witnessed it yourself. This is who it's about. It's always been about Jesus.

He rose from the dead. You crucified him. God raised him and exalted him to his right hand.

This Jesus whom you crucified. And now they're terrified because the guy we killed did come back from the dead.

He ascended back to his father and he reigns there. So they know the judgment of God will rightly be poured out on them if something doesn't change.

And that's why, oh, sorry, I hit my microphone. I'm getting excited. I'm actually like waving my hands around here.

So they say to the apostles, men, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter says, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

And that's where we will pick up on Monday because that's Peter's answer.

But you know there's a lot of controversy in that answer, right? Repent, each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

We've got an argument for baptismal regeneration that usually comes out of that phrase. And you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children. We get an argument for pato -baptism that comes out of that one.

For all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. So what do we need to understand about that answer that Peter gave?

And how does it pertain to us? That's what we'll come back to when we return to our study in Acts 2.

But in the meantime, we know that Jesus Christ is exalted to the right hand of God. He who died for us, rose again from the dead and ascended back to his father, who is there at God's right hand interceding for us on our behalf.

As said in 1 John 2 ,1, he is our advocate before the father. So he speaks favorably on your behalf before the father.

He's coming back again to judge the living and the dead, but all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

My friends be confident and know, be comforted that Jesus, your savior, is even still at work for you at the right hand of God, interceding for you.

He hears you. He has reconciled you to God, you who believe by faith. And so fear not, the

Lord is with you. He who sits at God's right hand, who is putting all of his enemies under his feet.

If you are on his side, what can man do to you? Heavenly father, we thank you for what we've read and I pray and we understand that death itself has been conquered on our behalf.

We have nothing to fear of the grave, for by faith in Jesus Christ, we are promised resurrection that we too will ascend into glory and we'll celebrate

Christ and all he has done to the glory of God the father forever in his eternal imperishable kingdom.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, be with us in these days and may we continue in our walk of faith to your honor and glory, turning away from sin, walking in paths of righteousness for your name's sake.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.