The Book of Acts ~ Study Ten

"A King About The King"

Today we are taking a big chunk of Acts 2. We'll break it down into chewable pieces and see what God wants us to learn. It's exciting to learn about the previously secret things of God. The Israelites didn't know them until this miraculous day on the Temple Mount when God sent the fullness of Himself to dwell within those who loved Jesus. He sent His Holy Spirit. It didn't rest on them  like it did on the Patriarchs of the Old Testament ~Abraham, Moses, Joshua, King David and others, it actually nestled up inside their souls, wrapping around every fiber of their being. The same is true for us today. Even today,those who love Jesus have this miracle dwelling within them.


King David prophesied about Jesus many years before. Let's look at what He said:


Acts 2:25-28 (NLT) King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’


This portion of Acts 2 is actually a prophecy about Jesus. God never left Jesus and Jesus depended upon His Father. He totally relied on Father God to sustain Him as He walked as God in human form on this earth. Jesus knew that He would be offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of man but He also knew that God would not leave Him in the grave and this was His joy. He was in complete submission to God and never swayed from it.


What is your joy? How do you know that God indwells you? What are some examples of when you thought He had forsaken you? What are some examples of times when you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was with you? God never leaves us nor forsakes us. Why would someone who was willing to lay His life down for you ever want to forsake you and leave you alone?


Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”


This scripture in Deuteronomy was God's message to the Israelites through Moses as he passed the reigns to Joshua. It was a scary process for all of them and took faith. God had never let them down before and He wasn't about to then. The same holds true for you and me. God now indwells those of us who love and serve Jesus and He won't ever take that away. Again Jesus was and is the perfect example for us to conform to.


Romans 1:2 (NLT) "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."


Let's move on to the next portion of today Scripture. 


 Acts 2:29-31 (NLT) “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. (See photo below this is believed by some to be King David's tomb.) He was a man, a king he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. David was looking into the future by the power of the Holy Spirit resting on him and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him (Jesus) among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave."

King David believed God. He was a faulted human like the rest of us, but He always believed God's promises. This King (David) spoke about the King of Kings (our sweet Jesus). We are witnessing through the scriptures how God kept His promise to King David. He indeed raised David's ancestor, who is the Messiah Himself, up from the grave. The Jews at "Shavuot" (Pentecost) that day witnessed the fulfilling of Scripture too. All the things they had heard about God and the prophecies they studied were coming together for them. Can't you feel the electricity in the air? I'm sure some didn't believe it but many did. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place for them that day.


Acts 2:32-41 (NLT) God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, "'Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.'" “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!" 
     Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
     Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
     Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.


Those who really listened to Peter's message had their hearts "pierced." The NIV puts it this way, "They were cut to the heart." The Greek for "cut" is "katansyssomai" and means "stabbed." The Greek word for "heart" is "kardia" and means "heart and mind; the seat of thought and emotion." Essentially that were stabbed in their soul. Everything came into focus and they were desperate to  know what they should do.


Peter was very willing to tell them what to do. He was giving them a lifeline. Have you ever felt that kind of pain before where you knew you had been wrong and now you wanted to make it all right? This is how they felt and now they were thrown another chance to love God through His Son Jesus the True Messiah.
           
That day 3000 people came to faith in Jesus. They were baptized in the ritual baths "mikvoths" they had used for years, located right there at the temple mount. (See picture to the left.) However, this time when they dipped into these ancients pools of water, they came up new creatures completely cleansed by their Savior. Everything had come together for them. The rituals were over and a perfect relationship with their long awaited Messiah had begun. 


King David prophesied about King Jesus. God raised Jesus from death to life and seated Him at His right hand. All this came together for the Hebrew faithful who chose to believe that Jesus was Messiah. Their ritual religion was now a wonderful relationship. 


God is good. Everything He had spoken will take place. He allowed an earthly King to foretell of the coming King of Kings ~ Jesus. Is your faith based on religious notions or on a relationship with a King who laid His life down for you? Don't allow religion to overshadow what's important ~  having relationship with Jesus.

Lay down religion for a relationship with Jesus!