Acts chapter 2 verses 1 through 41. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, the residents of Mesopotamia, Judah and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own languages the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? But others, mocking, said, They are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them. Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit. and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced, my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy ones see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness in your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 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 make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, 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 for the promises for you and for your children, for all who are far off and for everyone who calls or for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would help us, help our minds to understand what is true, and help our hearts to receive it with gladness. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Today, we're going to think big thoughts about God, big thoughts about Jesus, and big thoughts about the gospel. I think Acts chapter 2 is plunging us into the depths of some of the biggest truths in the Bible. At times, these things feel beyond our comprehension, and yet they are beckoning us to come and to see and to believe. You've got to put your thinking cap on. You've got to love the Lord your God with all your mind. So why should we do that? Why should we think big thoughts? I think it's sometimes we think about theology, doctrine, some of these more complex things, and that sounds to you like eating broccoli. You know, you need to do it because it's good for you. Now, no knock on broccoli. I actually like broccoli, but you know what I mean. That's not how you should think about the deep things of God. It is not like eating your vegetables because it's good for you. It is like sitting down to a feast. Yes, is overwhelming, but is also delicious. That's what I hope you think about theology, or at least I want to try to persuade you to think that way. So why should you think big thoughts about God? I'll give you a few reasons. One is that God has revealed himself to us. Should be the big reason. Acts chapter 2 is not just history. It is the very Word of God given to us to read, to understand, to enjoy, and to apply. So thinking is both obedience and worship. As I said, you should love the Lord your God with all your mind. Further, you will live by what you think is true. whether you're wrong or you're right. You should want to be right. So when you think big thoughts about God, you are seeking life as God intended it to be. Isn't that what you want? Like to know with certainty what is good and true and beautiful, and then to order your life around that? I think that's what we all want. Also, truth gives comfort. So when you're faced with various challenges, You need truths bigger than this present moment to get you through it. So you can think of truth like a friend that says to you, I'm with you no matter what. And finally, truth gives courage. I think truth is the same thing that carries soldiers into battle and helps all of us get out of bed in the morning. So why should you think big thoughts about God? For certainty, for comfort, for courage as Christians. I'm using big thoughts about God as sort of shorthand for theology. For thinking deeply about doctrine and truth. We do this for certainty, for comfort, for courage. So today I'm really focusing mainly on verses 22 through 36. What Peter says about Jesus. That of course is not the main point of Peter's sermon. The main point of Peter's sermon is an explanation of the event of Pentecost. So I covered this last week, just a review. The Spirit fills the disciples who tell the mighty works of God in other languages. Everybody's surprised, and the crowd asks, what does this mean? Peter answers, God is pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. And so the logical question is, well, what does that mean? Why would God pour out His Spirit on all flesh? And the claim is, it's because Jesus has been exalted as King. And his kingdom is here. And therefore, the kingdom is advancing to all peoples. That's why there's a variety of languages happening here. And this also means that all of Jesus's enemies are falling, which is why Peter's appeal is, don't be an enemy of God. Repent, be baptized, save yourself from this wicked generation. There's your like logical flow of Peter's sermon. So again, we recorded that sermon if you want to go listen to it again. So we're not focusing on the main point. We're actually getting back to some of the details that support Peter's argument. So here's a few big truths, just a couple big truths that we'll look at. The first one is this, that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. We get that from verse 36. This is Peter's conclusion here. Let all of the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him, Jesus, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, Christ is a title that means anointed one. It comes from a Greek word that translates a Hebrew word that you might be familiar with, Messiah. So to say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. Specifically, what that means for Israel is a king. There's more to the Messiah concept, but here you'll notice Peter's argument is Jesus is the anointed, the chosen king. which Israel was waiting for. They were waiting for a great king in David's line, David being one of the greatest kings of Israel. And this king would conquer their enemies and bring peace and prosperity. And all of this was promised by God. You can go read about it in 2 Samuel 7. You can read Psalm 132. And as you read the Old Testament, especially after David, you'll see all these references to the son of David, the son of Jesse, who was David's dad. There's a coming king. That's what we're waiting for as a Messiah. So notice what Peter says about Jesus in verse 30 of Acts chapter 2. And he's talking about David. So David being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, to David, that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. So referring to that Psalm 16 that David, that he quotes, David's Psalm. David foresaw that there was one to sit on his throne, and it wasn't David. It was one who was rescued from death. did not see corruption, and he says in verse 32, this Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. So here's his big claim about Jesus. Because he was raised from the dead, he is the Messiah of Israel. He is the king of God's people. Now, Jesus's peace and prosperity that he brings is of a heavenly sort. That is, it's bigger and more eternal than anything we can have on earth. So Jesus makes peace not merely between human kingdoms, but between us and God. Jesus's prosperity is not fields filled with grain. It is the eternal inheritance that we have from God in the new heavens and the new earth. Jesus secures the new heavens and new earth as a homeland for his people. And Jesus defeats every enemy. Supremely, as we read here in verse 35, he's quoting Psalm 110, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. He will defeat every enemy, including sin, death, and the devil. And of that, you can be certain. That's what it means for Jesus to be the Christ. You can be certain that this is true because Jesus rose from the dead. He is the living example of somebody who beats death and the devil and sin. The other evidence is that He's poured out His Spirit on all who have faith. And so we can say confidently then as Christians, He is our Christ. He is our Messiah. And so though this world be full of devils and difficulties, our great hope, Christians, is beyond this world. So this is my comfort in my afflictions, the psalmist says, that your promise gives me life. So all of my hope and all of my joy and all of my comfort is not wrapped up in everything getting better by tomorrow. It is wrapped up in Jesus who has already won a victory over sin and death and promises me a better eternity. Even if tomorrow doesn't seem better than today. So Jesus is the Christ. That's what it means. And Jesus is the Lord. Again, back to verse 36, God has made him both Lord and Christ. Now, I just told you that to be the Christ is to be a king. So isn't saying Lord sort of redundant? A lord is a king or an authority or a ruler. But actually, two things are happening here. To say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that he's a king in David's line. To say that Jesus is Lord is to call him God. I could understand someone might say, well, hang on a second, wasn't Jesus a man? It's absolutely true. And you might even argue, well, can't God give men miraculous powers? Absolutely. And can't God raise people, men, just mere men from the dead? Well, yes, we see that in the Bible as well. And can't God even give men great authority as kings? Well, absolutely, he can. But I'll tell you there's one thing a man cannot do. A man cannot command God. God will not share his authority with anyone else. He will not share his glory with anyone else. But look what Jesus does. Look at Acts chapter 2 verse 33. Speaking of Jesus, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, verse 33, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. So Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit who is God. Man cannot pour out God. Only God can. And this is the point that Peter's making, is that the presence of the Holy Spirit is the confirmation that Jesus is the God-man. Fully God and fully man. Because Jesus is the one who sends the Holy Spirit. And no man can command Jesus. He is Lord. Another connection that Peter is making is that Jesus as Lord is the source of salvation. And only God can provide eternal salvation. Look at verse 21 when he's quoting Joel chapter 2. It says, And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you see what Peter's doing then when he gets to verse 36? He's saying anyone who calls on the name of Jesus shall be saved. Which is why then he mentions that when they get baptized, they get baptized in the name of Jesus the Christ. See the connection that Peter's making is Jesus is both the Messiah of Israel, but he is not only a man who is a king. He is God the Savior. The other proof that Peter gives for Jesus being Lord, being God, is his resurrection. See, Jesus' resurrection is not merely God reaching into death and pulling a person out. God does that in the Bible many times. Look again at Acts 2, verse 24. It says, Acts 2, 24, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him, for Jesus, to be held by it. Why was it impossible for death to hold Jesus? Because Jesus had done nothing deserving death. He was and is the Holy One. He is God. That's why death can't hold him. He rules over death. So when we Christians confess that Jesus is Lord and Jesus is Christ, we are saying He is both King and God. And one of the things we Christians do over and over and over again is rehearse these truths. We keep telling ourselves this over and over and over every week in the songs we sing, in the prayers we pray, in the scripture we read, that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is God, that Jesus is the Christ. Why do we do that? I think the reason we do that is the more that we say it and the more that we think about it, the more real it becomes. Now, someone could say, well, isn't that kind of like how people convince themselves of lies? And that is true. It is. That's not what we're doing. We're not trying to convince ourselves of something that we know to be untrue. Rather, we are pressing something true into our hearts and minds so that we treasure it and don't forget it. Let me give you an example of this. So how many of you guys have a friend that lives a long distance away? I do. A lot of you guys probably have friends that live a long distance away. Okay, the problem with distance is it makes things seem less real. Now that friendship might be totally real, a good friendship, A friend is still a good friend even if you don't experience the benefits of that friendship like somebody you would see all the time. Right? So in order to make sure that your friendship seems real and is still a close friendship, you've got to find some ways to stay in touch. So think of it like this. The Lord Jesus, being both Lord and Christ, that is no less true if you hold Jesus at a distance or if you rarely think on him. But, the more you rehearse the great truths about Jesus, and read them, and speak of them, and listen to them, and sing of them, the nearer you are drawn to the Lord and Christ. Like, the more real He becomes to you, you have a greater experience of His benefits. You want to trust Jesus, and hope in Jesus, and be guided by Jesus, and find joy in Jesus, well then you need to think about Him over and over and rehearse these great truths about Jesus. Jesus will only seem distant to you if you pull away from him. This is why we think big thoughts, because we want to draw near. And one of the great benefits then of thinking about Jesus is that it proves God's ability to perfectly carry out his definite plan. You realize that God has a plan for all of eternity? I promise you, God is not up there just winging it. God does not change his mind. He has actually made a plan and purpose for beginning to end and nothing can stop him. That's a big thought to think. God's plan is to glorify himself in the rescue of people like you and me from the consequences of our sin. and rescue us from death and the devil, and God accomplishes his plan through Jesus. This is another point that Peter's making, another big truth, that God accomplishes his definite plan through Jesus. Look again at verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you've crucified. You catch that? Jesus did not simply become Lord and Christ. God made him both Lord and Christ. I think the best way to understand that is that God proved him or demonstrated or showed him to be both Lord and Christ. So God was accomplishing his plan through Jesus. The proof for this, we kind of have to work backwards, you shouldn't be surprised by this by now, is Jesus' resurrection. Look back at verse 34. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, and he's quoting Psalm 110 here, the Lord, God, said to my Lord, Jesus, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. This is the connection Peter's making. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus is God the Father saying to God the Son, sit here until we finish our plan. As if the resurrection of Jesus is exactly what God intended to happen. And everything that is happening after the resurrection of Jesus is according to the plan of God. The war against sin and death and the devil is over at the resurrection of Jesus. The place we live in now is the victory march of God extending around the world until all of his people are gathered. And then the end will come. All of this is according to God's plan. You can even go back and look at the beginning of Jesus's life and see that his life was planned and purposed by God. You'll see this in Acts chapter 2 verse 22. Peter says, Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourself know. We spent a whole year studying the Gospel of Luke, right? The life of Jesus. And there should be no doubt, after looking at the life of Jesus, that his life was purposed and empowered by God. His miracles, his teaching, his love, it's from God, no doubt. Now here's where all of this gets a little bit sticky, a little troubling, but really glorious. Jesus's life was the definite plan of God. Jesus's resurrection and ascension and victory were the definite plan of God. What about the crucifixion? Got to put that piece in the sequence here, right? Was Jesus's horrific suffering and his shame and his agony the definite plan of God? Or was it the vindictive act of Satan? Or was it the wicked schemes of man? Okay, let's read verse 23. Acts chapter 2, verse 23. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. You gotta stare at that a little bit. Was the death of Jesus the plan of God or the evil acts of men? The answer is yes. It's both. Yes. Now, it's really not hard for us to believe that the death of Jesus was the fault of lawless men. We've read the gospel story, the jealous Jewish leaders, the pragmatic Roman governor, The unrestrained soldiers, the mocking crowd, like, they did it. No doubt. That's not hard, I don't think, for us to believe. It's a lot harder to believe that that was the plan of God. Why would God plan the death of his son? We cannot get around this. Words definite plan and foreknowledge are very clear. Why did God plan the crucifixion of Jesus? Well, for God's justice to be satisfied, sin had to be punished. God is good and merciful and just, and those are never in contradiction to each other. And so in order for God to give you forgiveness of your sins and eternal life, he had to punish your sin. He needed a substitute. And that substitute had to be perfect. No lamb, no goat, no bull would do. And no other human being could die in your place because none of us are perfect. So you need a perfect man to pay a perfect price to satisfy the wrath of God. So God sends His Son to be a man. God plans the death of Jesus on the cross. We know it's His will because when Jesus faced the cross, He said, Not my will, Father, but yours be done. But there's more to this story, of course. In order for you to have eternal life, free from the bondage of sin, that perfect sacrifice had to be made alive. Had to be somebody that death could not hold. Had to be God. And so God gave of himself for our sake, and in doing so, he lost nothing. It was the definite plan and foreknowledge of God to crucify his son for our sake. I want to give you another passage so that you can think on this and have more clarity on this. This is from Isaiah 53 at 10. Isaiah 53 itself is, you know, the crown jewel of prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. It was written 700 years before Jesus' birth. Isaiah 53 is just full of glorious connections to Jesus, and you do well to read it and meditate on it. Let me just read to you from verse 10 what it says. Again, no doubt that this is about Jesus. Isaiah 53, 10. It says, "'Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.'" He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, the will of the Lord shall prosper his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." So, the will of God to crush the son, is also the will of God to prosper His hand. That's the point that Peter's making. Back to the sermon in Acts. In Acts 2.23, it's Jesus who is delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. And in Acts 2.24, it's God who raised Him up. Both are the perfect plan of God. God has been working out His perfect plan from all eternity, and no one can stop Him. This has always been the plan of God. He has never had to adapt. There has never been a plan B. From the creation of the world to the death and resurrection of Jesus and the final victory that he has started, God has planned it and God is accomplishing it. Now Christians, that should be to us great comfort. that God has had an eternal plan that he is absolutely accomplishing. And that plan can include both death and resurrection. I will admit though, it's hard for us to trust him at times. It can be really hard for us to trust that God actually has a plan for everything in this world. Because so often, all we see is what's right in front of us. The trouble, the trial, the difficulty, the trap of sin. And so our natural thinking is like, hey, there's no way that this is gonna end well. We're like the disciples who, after Jesus died, said, this is like in Luke 24, we really thought he was the one to deliver Israel. It's like as if they're not so sure. And of course, when they say that, they actually say that to the resurrected Jesus. This is where we live. We're like people that have a hard time putting together how death can be part of God's plan. We want the resurrection to be part of God's plan. But we have a hard time seeing how death fits in. And yet, when we look at Acts chapter 2, we can see that God's glorious plan includes both the death of Christ and his resurrection. And here's the point, is when we look at our lives and the difficulties that we face, it's hard for us to believe that that can be part of God's plan for my good. And how do we learn to trust that even difficulty can be part of God's plan for our good? Well, we pull back and we look at Jesus. And remember that death was part of God's plan for our good that ended in resurrection. And then we can say, I can trust God right now. I can trust God right now. You need to think about the definite plan of God in all eternity accomplished through Jesus to assure yourself that God will not fail to deliver on his promises to you in Jesus. So you could just maybe spend some time thinking about what is it right now that causes your doubt and your anxiety and your uncertainty and your fear and your weariness and your grief? What is it that makes it hard to trust God? And then Think on the promises of God that are yours in Jesus. Eternal life from the grave. I mean, I would love to spend so much more time in Psalm 16, but even just look at Acts chapter two, verses 25 through 28. Listen to some of these promises, and there's more in Psalm 16. Go, meditate on it, it's a wonderful passage. Listen to these promises that are yours. It says, I saw the Lord always before me. He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced and my flesh will dwell in hope. Don't you want all that? To not be shaken? To feel confidence that God is with you? To have a glad heart and a rejoicing tongue? Don't you want to dwell in hope? Don't you want to not be abandoned to Hades like Jesus was not abandoned to Hades? Don't you want to know the paths of life? Verse 28. Don't you want to be full of gladness in the presence of Jesus? Those are all promises that are yours in Jesus. Right? Specifically yours in the resurrection. And so what you have to do is when all you see is the difficulty and death right in front of you, is pull back and remember all the life that God has promised you also in Jesus. And then you can trust that your difficulty is part of God's good plan for you. that you might be more satisfied in Him. I say often that if you can trust Jesus to save you from your sins, you can trust Him with anything. This is why we need to think big thoughts about Jesus because those big thoughts draw us close to Him so that we can see all that God has accomplished in Jesus and trust Him and follow Him. I think this is one of the great benefits of worship. One of the reasons that we gather together every week and rehearse the gospel is it's that intentional choice to pull away from the things that cause us difficulty and trial and trouble and anxiety and stress and grief and pain. We pull away for an hour and we just remember Jesus and all he has done in his death and his resurrection so that we can trust God through our own difficulty that he will keep his promises. And the amazing thing about God is he will prove unstoppable. When we behold all that God has done in Christ, we will believe more that he is with us today and then there's certainty, comfort, then we can face this broken and fallen world. That's courage. So here would be my plea to all of us as a result of these wonderful big truths about Jesus. And it's Peter's plea in Acts chapter two, verse 40. Save yourself from this crooked generation. To me, I have to make some connections. How do we get from Lord in Christ, God's definite plan to save yourself from this crooked generation? I'll help you get there. Peter says that, of course, to people who were part of the generation that crucified Jesus. That's part of their conviction. I think that's why it says in verse 37, they were cut to the heart. They felt complicit in the death of Jesus. They were part of a generation characterized by rejection and opposition to Jesus. Now when Peter says, save yourselves from this crooked generation, he's not saying, get for yourself eternal salvation. Salvation does not come from those who save themselves from the crooked generation. Salvation comes from those who call upon the name of the Lord. Look back at verse 21, that's exactly what it says. Jesus is the Savior. And he saves perfectly. We don't need to do that for ourselves. He does it for us, applied by grace, through faith, not works. So when Peter says, save yourselves from this crooked generation, he has something else in mind. He's calling people, in light of who Jesus is and what he has done, to live a new life. He's calling us to a new way of thinking. He's calling us to a different sort of world than the one around us. Which is why Peter tells them to repent and be baptized. So from one angle, repentance and baptism are an expression of faith in Jesus. That's true. From another angle, repentance and baptism are detachments from this generation. Like, to believe in Jesus is to say, I'm leaving my old life behind. I'm leaving my former ways of thinking. I'm stopping my wicked ways of living. I'm aligning myself with Jesus. You know, traditionally, when people got baptized, they were given new clothes. We kind of just ask you to bring your own today, that's fine. But I mean, the whole point is, it's like, I've joined a new team. I've become a new person, a new sort of way of living. I belong to a new country. Repentance and baptism is joining a new people. So for Christians, we sort of have to regularly practice this saving ourselves from a crooked generation. It's a conscious, daily choice to live a life faithful to Jesus, and that choice is not easy. It's not easy to make daily choices to follow Christ, not at all. How are you going to do it? What you really need is a really big view of who Jesus is. If you're going to make a daily choice to not live the ways that the world around you is living and instead live for Jesus, you've got to make sure that you know who Jesus is and why you would follow him in the first place. And that's why we think big thoughts about God. You need a really big view of what God is doing, that his plan is being perfectly worked out. The more you increase in your certainty of who Jesus is and what he has done and what God is doing through him, the more you will grow in your comfort and your difficulty and your courage to be a different person than you were before. and to follow different ways than the world around you. Because you do live in a crooked generation, just like Jesus did, and just like everyone before you did, and everyone after you did, until God makes one perfect generation in the new heavens and the new earth. You've got to just make a conscious choice wherever you are to say, I know that God rules all things and does all things for his glory. I know that God is good. I know he is full of love. I know he has poured out his spirit on me. I know that God gives me help in his church. I know that God forgives me again and again and again. I know that God's promises are sure, and I will draw closer to him to have a greater satisfaction and a greater gladness than I can find anywhere else. We just sang it in Psalm 4. Right? You pour gladness in my heart more than they have when their grain and wine abound. That's what I want. I want a deeper satisfaction and gladness than anything this world can offer me, and God gives it to us in Jesus, who died and rose. Again, we can taste this in Psalm 16. Again, it's Acts 2, 25-28. Peter's quoting from Psalm 16. Let me just read to you Psalm 16. Because here's what I want you to get in view, is this is the sort of life that we have for us in Jesus. But you have to make the conscious choice to see him, to think on him, to behold him, to believe in him, to live like this. Let me read Psalm 16 for you. It says, preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. You got to say that to yourself every day. I have no good apart from you. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. Pause there. You want to love your church? You've got to see Jesus as beautiful and wonderful and his people as your delight. Verse four, the sorrows of those who run after another God shall multiply. Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names and their lips. That's the crooked generation I don't want to be a part of. Verse five, the Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. That's trusting the plan of God. What you have given me, God, what you have assigned to me, what you have entrusted to me, be that what everybody wants or what nobody wants, be it prosperity or poverty, be it sickness or health, you, God, it says, so the Lord has chosen my portion and my cup, and you hold my lot. And then you can pull back and see what God is doing in all things and say the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Maybe not today in the way I feel, but in eternity with what I have in Jesus. So, verse seven, I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. And in the night, also, my heart instructs me. Now we're to the spot that Peter quotes. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption. You make known to me the path of life, and in your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. That's what God has for us in Christ. Pleasures forevermore. Jesus died and rose and ascended and poured out his spirit and gave us his word so that we can know the paths to life. So that we can know joy in the presence of Jesus. So that we can have real comfort and hope in the pleasures that are ours forevermore. This is why we think big thoughts about God. This is why we think big thoughts about Jesus, because we have good news of all that God has promised us in Christ. We think these things to have certainty and comfort and courage, and I promise you, God will not let us down. He keeps his promises, he finishes his plan. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would expand our vision of Jesus Not that we would think things about Jesus we haven't thought before. We have in your word such clarity and such certainty. We don't need more information. God, what we need is deeper understanding, deeper love, deeper appreciation, deeper application of all who Christ is as our Lord, and all that you have done for us according to your definite plan. So God, I pray today that as we meditate on these truths, as we soak in on them, God, that you would fill our hearts with comfort and courage to face everything that's before us. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.