“THE ESSENTIALS OF NEW TESTAMENT PREACHING”
ACTS 2:14-41
OPEN
A Bible college student was asked to fill the pulpit of a congregation located not too far away from the school while their minister was on vacation. He’d not had the chance to preach yet but he worked very hard on a sermon for that Sunday and really thought he had done an admirable job..
When he stepped into the pulpit that morning, he was surprised to see his preaching professor sitting in the congregation. Even though he was a little nervous, he went ahead and delivered what he considered to be a good message.
After the service was over, the proud young man asked his professor to critique his sermon. The professor said, “Young man, I have three things to say about that sermon. Number one: You read your sermon. Number two: You didn’t read it very well. And number three: It wasn’t worth reading.”
The passage we’re going to look at this morning tells us about Peter’s first sermon. He did a lot better than the Bible college student.
As you study the church of the New Testament, you begin to see that preaching had a pre-eminent place. As we studied last week, the church started with dynamic preaching on the day of Pentecost. -God poured out His Spirit so that His Word might be declared
Preaching is indispensable to Christianity. Rom. 10:13-15 – for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who”bring good news!”
2 Tim. 4:2-4 – Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Preaching is essential to God’s purposes because it performs two important functions. Number one, it tells those who are lost in sin how to be saved. It helps those who are stumbling around in darkness and confusion how much God loves them and cares for them and that He wants a relationship with them. And number two, it tells those who are saved how to grow in their relationship with Jesus. It helps those who are already supposed to have a relationship with Him to grow in mercy, grace, and service.
Let’s look at God’s Word from this passage in Acts and see what elements comprise New Testament preaching.
Acts 2:14-41 – Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The 1st Element of New Testament Preaching:
RECOGNITION OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
What does it mean when we say that God is sovereign? Here is the dictionary definition of “sovereign” – “above all others; the greatest; supreme in power, rank, and authority; independent of all others”
The dictionary definition captures the essence of the biblical definition. Dt. 4:39 – Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.
Acts 17:24-28a – “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth
and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed
anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’”
Now, whether we choose to accept it or not, God is in control. Peter’s sermon lets us see that clearly. He tells the crowd that what they are witnessing is an act of God. He tells them also that God had promised that this very thing would happen. He also tells them that what happened to Jesus was not just something done by foolish people but that God had established this plan long ago. Even though they have responsibility in what happened, God was moving the events of history in that direction
A man rushed into a train station one morning and breathlessly asked the ticket agent, “What time does the 8:01 train leave the station?” The agent replied, “At 8:01.”
The man said, “It’s 7:59 by my watch, 7:57 by the town clock, and 8:04 by the station clock. Which
one should I go by?”
The agent answered, “You can go by any time piece you wish but you can’t go anywhere by the 8:01
train because it’s already left the station.”
There are a lot of people who believe they can live their lives by any schedule they choose. The simple fact of the matter is that God’s timetable is moving forward. And He has warned us that there is a day coming very soon when it will be too late to voluntarily conform to His schedule. Where will you be and what will you be doing when it’s too late?
The Second Element of New Testament Preaching:
BASED ON SCRIPTURE
Peter builds this proclamation on the foundation of God’s Word. He quotes from several Old Testament passages. In vss. 17-21, he quotes from Joel 2:28-32. In vss. 25-28, he quotes from Ps. 16:8-11. In vss. 34-35, he quotes from Ps. 110:1
Any sermon which purports to proclaim God’s message must be built around His Word. 2 Tim. 4:2 – “Preach the Word…” If a preacher cannot support each thought and statement in his sermon with scripture, he has nothing important to say. Scripture is the best commentary on itself and it is vital to the work of Christ in our lives.
2 Tim. 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Rom. 15:4 – For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Not only is the preacher not supposed to deliver any message that is biblically based, all Christians should live their lives guided by the Word of God. It’s truths are timeless, it’s prefects are perfect, and it’s commands are commendable.
The Third Element of New Testament Preaching:
RELEVANCY
There are a lot of people in our post-modern society that do not care if biblical Christianity is true. And even if we could prove to them that it is true, they wouldn’t embrace it. What they want to know is: How can a 2,000 year old belief system be relevant to a world in which space travel is a common occurrence? How can it apply in a world where organ transplants, laser surgery, genetic research, and quintuplet births are no longer a big deal?
The gulf between the 1st century and the 21st century almost seems to be insurmountable. John R. W. Stott said that preaching must build a bridge between antiquity and the modern world.
Preaching must fit what is happening now. True New Testament preaching ties ancient truth to current situations. It has to answer the question, “How does this apply to my life?” Someone said, “To be always relevant, you have to say things that are eternal.”
Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost did just that. He speaks to what the audience is experiencing at the moment – the amazement and confusion about what the Holy Spirit was doing. Years after his first sermon, Peter would reinforce this principle in 1 Pt. 3:15 – Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
The Fourth Element of New Testament Preaching:
LOGICAL
The pattern of preaching in the book of Acts shows that it follows a reasonable pattern of thinking. It goes in a definite direction. There is a logical progression to the process. It picks a starting point and then leads the listeners from the starting point to a conclusion. Let’s look at Peter’s sermon on Pentecost.
The starting point: the events that the crowd was currently experiencing – what Peter calls “this move of the Holy Spirit.” It then follows with the prophesied plan of God in the events. It then moves to the reason that the events happened: so that they could testify concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter then moves on to tell his listeners that this same Jesus is God’s Promised One – the Messiah and was God Himself.
Peter reaches his goal through this logical procession. The listeners are lead to a place where they must make a decision about what they would do about the things they had heard.
Luke clearly reports that the people listening responded. We hear the people listening ask the question: “What shall we do?” And Peter shares simply about what their response should be
They have expressed their faith in Jesus by asking the question. Peter tells them that their faith should express itself through repentance and baptism. When they had done that, they would receive the indwelling presence of the same Spirit they saw at work in the lives of the apostles that day. And the same promise holds true today.
The Fifth Element of New Testament Preaching:
CHRIST-CENTERED
Jesus the Christ is the centerpiece of the Bible. One person called Jesus the “scarlet thread” that runs throughout the whole Bible. He is at the center of creation. He is at the center of redemption. He is at the center of the consummation of all things
Peter focuses on who Jesus is. In v. 22, he tells about Jesus’ credentials. I vs. 23, he tells about Jesus’ crucifixion. In v. 24, he talks about Jesus’ resurrection. In vss. 25-35, he focuses on how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. In v. 33, he testifies about Jesus’ ascension back into heaven and points out that Jesus is still working in current events. In v. 36, he reports that this same Jesus is both Lord and Christ – God and Messiah.
Garrison, Keillor commented several years back: “I’ve heard a lot of sermons in the past ten years or so that made me want to get up and walk out. They’re secular, psychological, self-help sermons. Friendly, but of no use. They didn’t make you straighten up. They didn’t give you anything hard…At some point and in some way, a sermon has to direct people toward the death of Christ and the campaign that God has waged over the
centuries to get our attention.”
Peter did get their attention. Francis DeSales said,“The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not ‘What a lovely sermon!’ but ‘I will do something!’” How will you respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ?
CLOSE
Preaching is literally communication. Communication is the process of effectively transmitting an important message
God is a God of communication. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He has communicated with people through dreams, angels, written communication, and spoken communication. But His greatest communication was through His Son – Jesus the Christ.
Jn. 1:1 & 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Heb. 1:1-2a – In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
What God says through His Son is this: “I love you. I want to help you. I care about what happens to you. I want to be a part of your life. I want a relationship with you because you’re important to me.”
In his book Mortal Lessons, physician Richard Selzer describes a scene in a hospital room
after he had performed surgery on a young woman’s face:
I stand by the bed where the young woman lies…her face, postoperative…her mouth twisted in palsy…clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, one of the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be that way from now on. I had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh, I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had cut this little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He
stands on the opposite side of the bed, and together they seem to be in a world all their own in the evening lamplight…isolated from me…private.
Who are they? I ask myself…he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously.
The young woman speaks. “Will my mouth always be like this?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, “it will. It is because the nerve was cut.”
She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. “I like it,” he says. “It’s kind of cute.”
All at once I know who he is. I understand, and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with the divine. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers…to show her that their kiss still works.”
God accommodated Himself to us by coming down from heaven as a little baby. He came to us, and then allowed His body to be twisted on the cross to show us that the love of God still works. And regardless of the scars that you bear from the ravages of sin, you are loved by God.
