Acts 2_14-21 Ahhhhh His First Words

Ahhhhh His First Words

Acts 2:14-21

Secular:

Biblical:

Acts 2:14 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.

15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!

16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 "'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.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Personal:

Bridge:

Churches engage all kinds of programs and approaches to reach people

Small Groups
Drama… contemporary music
Advertising services or programs
Sponsoring seminars…
They are not necessarily harmful
But we need to remember the priority of communicating the Word!

The first event in the church following the, coming of the Spirit of God was Peter’s Sermon

It led… through the Spirit to the 3,000 people coming to faith…
It is a theme which continues throughout the book of Acts
Apostolic Preaching!!
And communicating the message PREACHING (the Word) needs to stay at the centre of what we do as a church

In the weeks ahead we will see the ‘establishments’ reaction to sharing God’s truth

Acts4:2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

Undaunted - NIV Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
They Continued even in persecution- NIV Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Philip preached - NIV Acts 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there…12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Peter and John - NIV Acts 8:25 When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Philip to the Eunuch - NIV Acts 8:35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Philip continued - NIV Acts 8:40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Paul after his conversion - NIV Acts 9:20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
The men of Cyprus and Cyrene - NIV Acts 11:20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. - Not just the ‘Pastor’ or apostle but many in their ministry!!

Church continued to preach the gospel… Acts 14:17, 10:42, 13:5, 13:32, 14:15, 14:21, 15:35, 16:10, 17:3, 17:13, 20:25, 28:31

Jesus ministry - NIV Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

NIV Mark 1:14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

NIV Luke 4:43 But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."

Matt 11:1, Mark 1:38-39, Luke 8:1, Luke 20:1

Jesus view of his ministry… references to communicating the Word (Scroll, Scripture, written word, prophet Isaiah, preach, proclaim) NIV Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus instruction to his disciples…

NIV Matthew 10:7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'
NIV Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Best summed up in Paul’s words…NIV 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-- not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

The whole of the Reformation was to bring the Truth and Power of God’s Word back into its role of centrality in the Church. Strip away the baggage Rome had attached to the message… (programs, people, penance…). Our Understanding of God, the role of the Father, the need of a Saviour, the comfort of the Spirit, the absolute divinity that inspires us to worship, to praise, to pray, the command to love our neighbours…. Are all rooted in God revelation… and we need to make the communication of the message a central function of the church…. Whether you are sharing the God’s News with our neighbour or I’m preparing to share God’s Word with you… this is how we know who we are in Christ… how we know who we were and who we know are before God… this gives us every reason to live life in the Spirit and come and worship…. To surrender all to God. Ahhh Glorious day when Peter Spoke his first message… to the New Church… a legacy of preaching the in church… messages of hope and light, understanding and truth, of a Saviour and salvation…. Preach it Peter… preach it…

We are going to look at the first part of his first sermon today…

It looks to refute the nay Sayers… those who challenged the Something Supernatural that happened in the first part of Chapter 2 (speaking in Foreign languages, rushing wind and tongues of fire).

Body:

The Response:

Acts 2:14 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. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!

Peter was the acknowledged leader of the group at this point…

Matt 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13 all list Peter first… (not without meaning in the Greek/Jewish setting)
The eleven including Matthias stood with him… witness to the resurrection… standing on conviction…
Raised his voice… no timidity…
Semitic Expression “let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say” Words of a teacher, Rabbi… confidence and boldness
let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say
[Be this known ...] Peter did not intimate that this was a doubtful matter, or one that could not be explained. His address was respectful, yet firm. He proceeded calmly to show them their error. When the enemies of religion deride us or the gospel, we should answer them kindly and respectfully, yet firmly. We should reason with them coolly, and convince them of their error, Prov 15:1. In this case Peter acted on the principle which he afterward enjoined on all, 1 Peter 3:15, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
Obviously the Spirit-filled Peter was avery different man than the one who cringed at the questioning of a servant girl when he denied Christ three times…

The Explanation: