An Acts 2 Church - Exalting Jesus

An Acts 2 Church  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  8:11
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To exalt Christ today we must both proclaim Him to the world and live lives that support that message that He is Lord and must be served by faith.

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An Acts 2 Church - Exalting Christ Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses." As believers, we have received power TO BE witnesses of Jesus. In Acts 2, the church first receives this power. They then immediately act as His witnesses and exalt Jesus as the Christ through proclamation. How are we to exalt Jesus? On Pentecost, Peter proclaimed Jesus and exalted Him as the Christ. After declaring that the events of the day fulfilled the prophecy of Joel, he turns the attention of the crowd to Jesus. "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles ... 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..." After quoting David on the resurrection and showing that Psalm 16 was fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus, Peter tells them that the events of Pentecost, including speaking in tongues, are confirming signs of His being raised. "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." Peter then concludes that the resurrection proves the exalted nature of Jesus. "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Let me pause to share three applications for today. Do not allow political correctness to keep you from speaking of Jesus. Recognize that each time a person receives the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues, we receive new proof that Jesus is risen. And tell others that Jesus is the risen Christ whom we must receive as Lord by faith. In the days after Pentecost, the church continued to proclaim no other name but Jesus. In Acts 3, Peter heals a lame man "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." A large crowd gathers. What will Peter do? He proclaims Jesus, of course. In the fourth chapter, the religious leaders are angry and arrest Peter and John. Peter boldly declares to their faces that Jesus is the only way of salvation. The leaders order them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, but Peter and John respond defiantly and return to the church to pray. "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all." In Acts 5, the apostles are again called before the religious leaders. Because they stood firm for Jesus, they were now flogged and ordered not to speak of Jesus. But "day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Likewise, we must never stop proclaiming Jesus. But is proclamation enough by itself? Will our words alone exalt Jesus? Our words will be confirmed or denied by our lives! We must speak of Jesus, but we must also live the life that honors Jesus as Lord. We have received power TO BE witnesses. Let us exalt Jesus by how we live! In Colossians 3:1-3, Paul wrote: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right of God. Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." We have died to the old and now have new life in Christ. So, we are to desire things of the Spirit and of heaven, not of this world. Paul went on to say, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature." Rid yourself of old patterns of behavior and response. You have put off the old and put on the new, so act like it. Clothe yourself with the character of Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, you can do so because the Holy Spirit lives in you to enable you. And you must do so because to exalt Jesus, you must live like Jesus. I will conclude after sharing three more statements of Paul later in that third chapter of Colossians, in verses 15-17. First, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." This includes both experiencing the peace with God within us and living at peace with others without us. Then, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." May the teachings of Jesus dwell in us and guide our behavior, and may the gospel of Jesus always be on our tongues. We must live His word, and we must also proclaim it. Finally, "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus." All includes our words, our actions, and our attitudes. All we are and all we do represent Jesus to the world who needs Him. And these three statements are brought together not only by being in consecutive verses. These verses go on: "And be thankful ... with gratitude in your hearts to God ... giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Thanksgiving should characterize the life and words of the follower and witness of Jesus Christ. So, ... Let us exalt Jesus and proclaim Him as the Christ. Let us continue to exalt Jesus as the only way of salvation no matter what others say or do to us. Let us honor Jesus with our words, with our actions, and with our attitudes. And let us be thankful. Let us be known as grateful people, not just at Thanksgiving but always.
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