What Is Coming Out of Your Lips? Part 3 (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: Speak of the reality of both Jesus’ sovereignty and our responsibility; point to Jesus as the divine Messiah; call individuals to repentance, and let Him do the saving!
SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:22-41
This morning, we’re going to continuing looking at Acts 2. We’re still considering the events of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the early Church, and we’re looking at the implications these events have for how we should be living and, maybe more specifically, what we should be saying. Last Sunday morning, we had a super long gist statement and noted that God’s Word unites a broken world, and it’s meant to be heard by everyone, so we should live in such a way that people notice God in our lives, and use our lips to speak His Word! Then, last Sunday evening, we had a more condensed gist as we looked at the first part of Peter’s sermon here, the first Christian Sermon after Jesus’ ascension, and zeroed in on speaking with boldness because God’s Word is worthy, inerrant, urgent, and life-changing. This morning, we’re coming to the bulk of that sermon. However, since it is a fairly hefty passage, we’re going to divide up the reading a bit here and take the passages as we come to them. Let’s open, then, by looking at verses 22-24 and verse 36 to get a good feel for the point of this message.
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it… 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
There is a lot in this first Christian sermon, and we’re going to try to walk through as much as possible. However, there are at least three major truths that I want us to be able to take away this morning, and that’s our gist: Speak of the reality of both Jesus’ sovereignty and our responsibility; point to Jesus as the divine Messiah; call individuals to repentance, and let Him do the saving!
I. SPEAK OF THE REALITY OF BOTH JESUS’ SOVEREIGNTY & OUR RESPONSIBILITY (22-24)
Jesus is Real. This message starts by making this observation which was not being called into question at the time. Unlike today, no one doubted the reality of Jesus’ existence. Why? Because they had seen Him, and they had seen what He did. We need to remember this. These are eye-witness accounts! So Peter doesn’t have to spend much time here. What he does instead is move into how Jesus did these things, which points to this truth→
God is Sovereign. Look at the first parts of verses 22-24 again: “22...Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God…24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (emphases added). God worked through Jesus during His life here on earth to point clearly to who He was and why He came. Even His enemies could not deny His miracles. However, it was not only His life, but also His death and resurrection that were part of God’s plan. Jesus came to die. His purpose was to defeat sin in this way. He didn’t come to earth and work with what He was given. He knew exactly what He was doing. That’s why verse 24 says, ‘God raise Him up because anything else was not possible’. Though He did not have to die for us, He chose to and would fulfill that purpose!
So, this points to the wonderful sovereignty of God. He is in 100% control! Oh, praise the Lord! Within this same passage, as is often the case in Scripture, we also see→
We Are Responsible For Our Sins. These two truths are not at odds, or at least, that’s not how the Bible presents them! Is God sovereign; is He in control of all things? YES! Our we still responsible for our sinful actions? YES! Look at the whole of verse 23 again, “23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Here’s the deal: though He uses our sins to further His plans, we are no less responsible for those sins. This might seem like a paradox, but just because we struggle to wrap our minds around it doesn’t make it untrue. This is God’s design, and we must be faithful in proclaiming both sides! God is sovereign. Nothing is outside of His control! You are responsible for your sins, but God is completely capable of forgiving you of them because in His sovereignty, Jesus took your place.
Likewise, we should→
II. POINT TO JESUS AS THE DIVINE MESSIAH (25-36)
Scripture Fulfillment Points To Jesus as Divine Messiah! (25-31) Peter gives us a pattern for preaching here: just lay open God’s Word! He quotes from Psalm 16, a psalm we covered this summer actually, and then applies it to Jesus. “25 For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' 29 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”
We don’t have to break this down too much, because that is exactly what Peter does here. Basically, he’s making two major points:
1. David wasn’t talking about himself; he was pointing to the Messiah, the Christ. David died. In his death, he did experience this promise because he is now in Heaven. However, he was used by God to write these words pointing to something bigger than him. There would be someone from the line of David who would be the ultimate fulfillment of these verses: the Messiah. Remember, Peter is talking to a Jewish audience here. They were looking for this Messiah. They wanted Him to come. So Peter tells them→
2. Jesus is this Messiah! He not only died, but rose! He was crucified, but He didn’t stay in the grave. He came to defeat sin and make this promise of Heaven possible for all who believe... and He did. He is the Messiah you have been looking for, and→
Our Personal Witness Attests To The Same! (32-33) Look at these next two verses, “32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” Again, there are two points here:
1. We have seen both His resurrection and ascension! Remember, how they were called to be witnesses? That’s exactly what Peter is doing. He starts by saying, “Look, God’s Word told us this would happen.” Then, he says, “And we saw it with our own eyes!” Then, he proceeds to explain what everyone else had just seen happen in this awesome display of God’s power where people from all these difference languages were hearing God proclaimed at the same time. →
2. All of this you’re seeing now is His promise to pour out the Holy Spirit. This wasn’t something the disciples were doing in their own strength. This wasn’t magic. This wasn’t some crazy outworking of intoxication either (like some of them supposed)! This was the Holy Spirit working in their lives to proclaim Jesus!
And This Has A Universal Application! (34-36) Look at the next couple verses, “34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool."' 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” David, great king that he was, did not ascend to Heaven like this, but he said the Messiah would. JESUS IS THAT MESSIAH & HE IS LORD! He is God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
Remember, they had been looking for a Messiah, but they had wanted one that would re-establish the physical kingdom of Israel. Peter tells them that this Messiah is not just another David, but God Himself which points to something much bigger than a physical kingdom.
So, Peter uses Scripture to point to Jesus as God and Savior! We should be doing the same. And, in so doing, we should then→
III. CALL TO REPENTANCE & LET HIM DO THE SAVING! (37-41)
The first thing we see here is that→
The People Responded To The Gospel. (37) Look at verse 37, “37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?” They were cut to the heart. This is exactly what Hebrews tells us God’s Word will do! “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12-13). These people responded because they were convicted by His Word. This is a beautiful reminder. Jesus uses His Word to change hearts. Again, we should just be faithful in proclaiming that! It is HIS WORD that has the power to save, not ours.
So Peter Called Them To Be Saved. (38) As soon as they respond, Peter points them to their need. Look at the next verse here, “38 And Peter said to them, "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.” There are a few points to note in this call.
1. Turn to Jesus. Peter calls them first to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. This is the saving part. He...is the saving part! Turn from sin to Jesus. He’s Lord and Messiah. Give Him your life and be saved. Then→
2. Confess Publicly. Baptism is pointing to the reality of the circumstances; it isn’t part of the saving process. It is a chance to publicly proclaim the change Jesus has privately made!
3. Be Forgiven. This is the first result of salvation. Our relationship with God is restored through Jesus. Though dead in our sins and enemies of God by nature, we are made alive and adopted as children through His forgiving, His atonement.
4. Be Transformed By This Gift! This is also a result. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit changes you and impacts those around you!
This Truth Is For Everyone, So He Kept Proclaiming It! (39-40) Look at verses 39-40, “39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” This truth is for all who call on His name! We talked about that a some length the last two weeks, but lets just make this observation again. Salvation is not for the ones we deem worthy, but for all people in whom Jesus works. Which means, this message must be proclaimed to everyone!
This is the summary of all that Peter said, but we know he kept on explaining these truths, calling people to save themselves not by their own merits, but by being saved by Jesus! And...that is exactly what happened!
This Salvation Is Because Jesus Moved! (41) “41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” 3000 were saved and baptized that day! God used His Gospel to change lives!
TAKEAWAYS
1. Speak of the reality of Jesus’ sovereignty and our responsibility. It’s not healthy to down play either. We must trust in God’s complete sovereignty while also realizing our responsibility for our actions.
2. Point to Jesus as the divine Messiah. We’re still looking for a savior today! We still want someone to come in and rescue us. So, we still need to point to Scripture, share our personal witnesses, and tell others the universal truth that Jesus is this SAVIOR!
3. Call individuals to repentance. Don’t sugarcoat sin. It’s not helping anyone. We must be compassionately honest. Also, don’t be a “one-hit-wonder”! ☺️ Share the gospel...again, and again, and again!
4. And let Him do the saving! We can’t try to save the world in our own strength.
