The Spirit-Led Life: Part Two

The Spirit-Led Life
Part two – Apostolic Preaching
A Sermon Series based on the book Acts 29 by Terry Teykle

Rev. Dr Eddie Bromley Grace Church 14 June 2009
Acts 2:1-41
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First Reading

1 On the day of Pentecost[a] all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,[b] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.
13 But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
Second Reading
Peter Preaches to the Crowd
14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. 19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[c]
Third Reading
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene[d] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead[e] or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’[f]
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’[g]
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles[h]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

Introduction:

The Apostles were those men and women who were authorized to interpret and take the message of Christ into the world. In fact that is what apostle means. It means messenger sent in the authority of someone else; this is what the original apostles were, messengers sent in the authority of Christ. The Church has always expected every following generation to follow in their footsteps, preaching the message handed on to them and by the apostolic witnesses and preaching in the same mode as the original authorized preachers of the gospel. This is what is meant by apostolic preaching. It means preaching the same message the original followers of Jesus preached and preaching it in the same authority and in basically the same manner in which they preached it.

The church always rises or falls on the basis of how strong its preaching is. Now, more than ever, the Church needs apostolic preaching. But what does apostolic preaching look like?

Apostolic preaching is preaching where…

…Jesus is preached as being the fulfillment of the Old Testament

Notice that Peter believed that Jesus is what the Old Testament was ultimately aiming toward and anticipating – Peter quotes Joel saying that Jesus has brought ushered in the last days and now God is pouring out his Spirit upon all people. He quotes Psalm 16 saying that in Jesus God is subduing the world and becoming King over his creation.

An apostolic preacher, following in the steps of the earliest followers of Jesus, including Peter, believe that Jesus is the central theme and character of the whole Bible. He is the center holding the various 66 books of the Bible together. He is the one to whom all of the Scriptures are ultimately pointing. No matter where it starts, if a sermon does not eventually end by pointing to Jesus, it is not a Christian sermon.

…Jesus is preached as the only hope for the world.

Though this comes through loud and clear in another message, Peter is even more explicit in chapter four, as he proclaims Jesus to hostile authorities.

10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,[b] the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’[c]
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Apostolic preachers still believe that Jesus is the only true hope the world has. This is not to be simplistic. We know the value social work and education, of psychology, good public policy, and medical treatment. But as good as these means are they cannot ultimately bring about what the world needs most. That only Jesus can do and he is what the world desperately needs.



…Jesus is preached as a risen savior

23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

For apostolic preachers, Jesus is more than an interesting historical figure or an example of something God once did. He is a living Lord, present with us and at work with the Father and Holy Spirit fulfilling the work of God’s kingdom throughout creation. Apostolic preachers believe not only that you can know about Jesus, but that you can also personally know him here today.

…Jesus is preached as final authority

36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

Apostolic preaching teaches that Jesus is not only the way God has chosen to bring about salvation but is also the one in whom God has place all authority. In apostolic preaching there is no word more authoritative than Jesus’. He is where the buck stops.

…Jesus is preached as the standard for all of Christian living

38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Apostolic preaching teaches that we only experience the abundance and quality of what human life was meant to be as our lives begin to reflect the nature and character of Jesus. Jesus is standard for what life is supposed to be like. He teaches us how human life is meant to be lived. All questions about life must ultimately come back to Jesus to find their true answers.

…Jesus is preached as the one who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit

38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles[h]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

If we are meant to live holy and righteous lives like Jesus, it is Jesus himself who enable this to happen, by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Sprit so that our lives might be shaped back into God’s image.

...that God himself has given signs so that we might have evidence on which to believe

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene[d] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.

Apostolic preaching teaches that God has given evidence for anyone who wants to really know whether or not to follow Jesus. Now, some will object by saying that this evidence is obviously not apparent to all. To which I would respond by saying, you are right. Because if you are here today but an unbeliever I need to tell you that the condition of your heart will determine whether or not the signs and evidence will be available to you. If you would like to know about the signs and evidence, you need to ask yourself two questions, which only you can answer: first, do you really want to know if there is a God? In other words, is this more than an academic challenge for you? If you are not really interested in finding God, most likely you will never find him. I know there is some circular reasoning in this argument, but, the Bible says that God is willing to be found by all who really want to find him. Second, If you did discover that there was a God, would you readjust your life according to what you discovered about him? If not, there is really no sense in searching for him. You would only be all the more miserable for finding him.

Apostolic preaching proclaims that God can be found by all who seek him in Jesus’ name. The message of Jesus is this you do not have to go looking for God. In Jesus, God has come looking for you.

…that Jesus is the cornerstone and foundation of the Church

11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’[c]
Apostolic preaching tells the Church that everything it does must be built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Anything that is not built on the foundation of Jesus will not endure for eternity.


…that the message of Jesus is good news for all people

17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.
39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles[h]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

Apostolic preaching invites all who will to respond to the life giving message of Christ. Apostolic preaching proclaims that it is God’s intention for all to hear and believe the good news.


…Jesus adds to his people all who accept the message of the gospel

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

The apostolic preacher realizes that church growth is really a supernatural phenomenon. Now, this does not mean that we the Church have nothing to do. We have some very important roles to play in bringing about the completion of the great commission. But, it is Jesus who adds to his church all who comes to know and believe the truth of he gospel. Unless the gospel is what is causing the church to grow, all the growth will be temporary and otherwise pretty pointless. It is Jesus who ultimately brings growth to his church.

Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.” Apostolic preaches have the task of lifting up the name of Jesus, so that he might draw people to himself.

Pray that God will raise up a generation of men and women who fear only God and hate only sin, who will preach with a passion for souls, Bible-soaked, Spirit anointed sermons.