The Essentials Of New Testament Preaching

“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.