Obediently Preaching Christ

Obediently Preaching Christ

Acts 2:14-24

Psalm 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. NKJV

When we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we become new creations in Him, however, we still have distinct personalities.

Stephanie Adams said, “We each have a God-given personality.

Do you wonder how the LORD could use someone like you? I have struggled almost my entire life with my personality.

I’m nothing like those legendary Southern church ladies—you know, sugary sweet, soft-spoken, always humming a hymn, and consistently positive no matter how dire the circumstance.

It wasn’t until I began to understand what God says about me that I could learn to release my anxieties about measuring up to some unrealistic standard”

Please open your Bibles to Acts 2 as we continue in that study.

Last week, we learned how the Holy Spirit came upon the Disciples on the Day of Pentecost.

This Day of Pentecost was the birthday of the Church.

The Disciples had received the remission of sin by the Cross, and now they received the filling power of the Holy Spirit!

This Day of Pentecost was a partial fulfillment of Joel!

On the Day of Pentecost in the Old Testament, Israel received the Law. On the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament, the Church received Grace with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. NKJV

Once filled with the Spirit, these men preached the Gospel, and people coherently heard the Gospel, in their own language!

The Disciples spoke and people from all different language groups understood the Gospel in a clear and powerful way.

But we also learned that some mock when the LORD moves. In Acts 2, some mocked and asked if these Disciples were drunk.

When you walk according to the flesh, there is bondage! The question is are you open to hearing His voice today?

Today’s passage follows immediately after the scene from last week and we will learn how Peter preached his first sermon.

I. But Peter.

Read Acts 2:14-15

Some may ask why Peter was used to deliver this sermon.

Even though Peter had denied the LORD Jesus Christ three times and failed in other ways, Peter’s personality was bold and forward as he had become an outspoken defender of the faith.

Remember this sermon by Peter was an answer defending the Disciples, to some who mocked the move of the Holy Spirit when they asked in Acts 2:13 if these Disciples were drunk.

A few weeks ago, we discussed how they chose Matthias as the twelfth Apostle, well here Matthias is present with the others.

Acts 2:14 Peter, standing up with the eleven. Judas was gone at this point and Paul had not yet been converted.

Notice Peter “Raised his voice”. Do you think that the people there heard the Gospel in their own native language?

We already learned that when the Disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they preached the Gospel, and people in Jerusalem coherently heard the Gospel in their own language.

But here Peter stands up and boldly preaches. Remember after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane…

Matthew 26:69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."

Matthew 26:70 But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."

Matthew 26:71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."

Matthew 26:72 But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"

Matthew 26:73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you."

Matthew 26:74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" Immediately a rooster crowed.

Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So, he went out and wept bitterly. NKJV

The denying, crying Peter, had the same personality he had before, but once filled with the Holy Spirit, there was a remarkable change in his actions.

Peter received courage and boldness once he was filled with, or controlled by, the Holy Spirit.

This is evidence of what we spoke of a couple of weeks ago…

The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:16, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” NKJV

I love how Peter started his sermon by correcting the lies that came from the mockers before he presented the Gospel to them.