What Is Coming Out Of Your Lips? Part 2 (PM Lesson Outline)
GIST: Speak with boldness because God’s Word is worthy, inerrant, urgent, and life-changing!
SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:14-21
Tonight, we’re going to take a quick look at the beginning of what is often referred to as the “first Christian sermon.”
“14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I want to look at this under four points tonight. I know, last week we got spoiled with two two-pointers ☺️, but don’t worry, we’ll move through these relatively quickly. In what could be taken as the introduction to this first-sermon, we see that Peter spoke, as should we, with boldness because God’s Word is worthy, inerrant, urgent, and life-changing! (←And that’s the gist for tonight☺️).
I. Worthy (14)
God’s Word Is Worth Listening To. We need to remember this. The apostles didn’t go out proclaiming themselves and promoting their thoughts. They spoke with boldness because their message was not their own, but God’s! I know we can fall into a sense of timidity because we don’t want to be seen a “shoving our message down people’s throats”. However, we need to keep this in mind. Though we should go out in compassion with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15), we should nonetheless always proclaim the truth because we’re not just carrying “causally important information”. Think of it like this. If you were given information from the President about impending doom and were task with carrying this information to the world, would you be timid about sharing it? This is God’s Word, which is→
II. Inerrant (15-16)
This Isn’t Nonsensical, But The Fulfillment of Scripture. The skeptics thought they were drunk, Peter says, “No, this isn’t silliness; this is Scripture!” He immediately takes them to God’s Word. Why? Because it is trustworthy! Here, we’re told that what they just witnessed is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. And that prophecy points to this message being→
III. Urgent (17-20)
These Are The Last Days. When people ask if we’re living in the last days, we need to respond with, “yes!” The time between the ascension of Jesus and His return is the “last days”. This passage points to that. Let’s break down some of the imagery here→
Pouring out of the Spirit. This refers to “new movement on earth”, not “new to the earth”. The Holy Spirit has always been because He is God. There is not and will not be a time when He ceases to be omnipresent. What this pouring out of the Spirit marks is a change in how the Spirit is working on earth. His presence and equipping are now poured out on all who believe and not limited to a priestly line in the earthly sense. And that is what we see expressed in the next few words, as well.
Prophecies. These are more about proclaiming than predicting most of the time, and that is what is being talked about here. In this context, the 120 were prophesying about the wonderful works of God. They were proclaiming Jesus! The key here is→ it’s everybody! Men, women, young, old, slave, and free. The reference to dreams and visions expresses the same general idea: everyone can commune with God!
Signs. Then there are some parts that are a little less clear. Specifically, verses 19-20. There have always been many signs of God’s majesty. Pentecost itself was a sign. However, some of this sounds very reminiscent of the language of Revelation and seems to be pointing to the “already, not yet” paradigm. That is, God’s kingdom has already come on earth, but it is not yet fully realized as it will be when Jesus returns.
So, this is pointing to the whole message as an urgent one. Jesus has established His kingdom and the The Day of the Lord is coming! Be ready! Which is what the last point is about. This message is→
IV. Life-Changing! (21)
Everyone Who Calls On The Name Of The Lord WILL Be Saved! This is the Gospel! We are sinners deserving Hell, but Jesus willing came and took our punishment, if we call on Him giving Him our lives, we WILL be saved!
TAKEAWAY
1. Speak with boldness because God’s Word is worthy, inerrant, urgent, and life-changing!
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