Jesus Preached
Christmas 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Two weeks ago, we began our Christmas Series. The first week we suggested that the entire Bible points to the Messiah, who we know is Jesus.
We said that each of the major sections of the Bible points to Jesus in a different way.
We began with the Old Testament, where we said, Jesus is predicted.
Last week we looked at how Jesus is revealed in the Gospels.
This week we are going to look at how Jesus was preached in the book of Acts.
We also said that Jesus is explained in the Epistles.
And Jesus return is expected in the book of Revelation.
There are many passages that we could turn to in the book of Acts to see Jesus proclaimed. But this morning I only want to look at two passages.
In the first passage Jesus is preached as the Messiah of the Jews.
While in the second passage Jesus is preached as the unknown God of the Gentiles.
Jesus, Messiah of the Jews
Jesus, Messiah of the Jews
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost—was a Jewish celebration that took place 50 days after the celebration of Passover. It was often called the Festival of Weeks but in Christian circles it has come to mean the day when God poured out the Holy Spirit on all believers.
The disciples—and other followers of Jesus—were all gathered in one place.
Without warning there was the sound—it sounded like the blowing of a violent wind.
It came from heaven.
And it filled the entire house where the apostles were sitting.
There was a visual—it looked like tongues of fire. They separated and rested on each person.
And at that moment, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
And each of them began to speak in different languages—verse 6 and 8 use the word dialekto—from which we get the world “dialect” or language.
This language skill was enabled by the Spirit of God!
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
Many Jews would stay in Jerusalem for the 50 days after the Passover celebration so they could celebrate Pentecost—so there were God-fearing Jews from all over the known world there in Jerusalem.
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
They hear this sound—and the come to see what is going on.
And they are bewildered because each of them hear these men speaking in their own language—dialekto.
Totally amazed, they begin to ask, “How are these Galileans speaking to us in our own languages?”
Then in verses 9, 10, and 11 we are given all the places these people were from. Literally they were from all over the know world!
Acts 2:11 (NIV)
(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
They were hearing the wonders of God declared in their own heart language!
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
This was so amazing that they began to ask each other what it meant.
But some made fun of them, saying that they were just drunk—they had too much wine!
Peter’s Message
Peter’s Message
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.
Peter’s first sermon!
He addresses both those visiting Jerusalem and those who live there.
He calls on them to listen carefully to him.
These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “ ‘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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32.
In the last days, God will pour out His Spirit on the people (v. 17a)
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy! (v. 17b)
Young men will see visions (v. 17c).
Old men will dream dreams (v. 17d).
Even your servants will prophesy (v. 18)
God will show wonders in the heavens (v. 19a).
God will show signs on the earth below (v. 19b).
—Blood, fire, and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness (v. 20a).
The moon will turn to blood (v. 20b).
All this will happen before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lod (v. 20c).
And EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! (v. 21).
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
He calls them to listen to his message.
It is about Jesus of Nazareth.
A man that was proven by:
—The miracles,
—The wonders,
—And the signs
—That God did among them, and through Him.
And they know all about these things.
This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
“This man” (Jesus) was given into their hands by God.
For a set purpose and with the foreknowledge of God.
And Peter’s audience—along with wicked men—put Him (Jesus) to death by nailing him to the cross.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
BUT GOD raised Him from the dead.
BUT GOD freed Him from the agony of death.
All because death could not hold Him!
David said about him: “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
Peter now quotes from Psalm 16:8-11.
David said about Him (Jesus):
I saw the Lord who was always with him (v. 25b).
The Lord is at His right hand (v. 25b).
Because of this there is no fear (v. 25c).
His heart is glad and His tongue rejoices (v. 26a).
And Jesus has hope (v. 26b).
Hope because God did not abandon Him in the grave (v. 27a).
Because God will not allow God’s Holy One decay in the grave (v. 27b).
God knew the paths of Jesus’ life (v. 28a).
And because of this, Jesus is filled with joy in the Father’s presence (28b).
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
Peter tells us that these verses did NOT apply to David.
We know this because David died, was buried, and the people knew where David’s tomb was!
But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.
Instead, David was a prophet.
He knew what God had promised him with an oath.
That promise was that God would place one of David’s descendents on David’s throne.
Acts 2:31 (NIV)
Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
David saw what was going to happen in the future.
And he spoke about the resurrection of the “Messiah” of Jesus.
That the Messiah would not be abandoned in death, nor would His body ever decay in the grave.
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Instead, God raised Jesus from the dead and back to life.
And we—Peter and the others—are witnesses of it!
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.
Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of God.
God the Father has given Jesus the promised Holy Spirit.
And now Jesus has poured out the Spirit and that is what you are now seeing!
For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’
Another passage from Psalms is quoted. This time Psalm 110:1.
Again, it cannot refer to David, because David never ascended to heaven, but he still wrote:
The Lord said to my lord—in the Greek this is the same word, but in Hebrew there are two separate words uses: “Yahweh said to my adon” or “Yahweh said to my master. . .” (v. 34b).
The message:
—Sit here at my right hand (v. 34c)
—Until I make you your enemies a footstool for your feet (v. 35).
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Peter goes on to declare: Let all of Israel be sure of this one thing: God made Jesus, the one you crucified both Lord and Messiah!
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
When all the people heard Peter’s message:
—They were cut to the heart!
—And they asked Peter and the apostles, What shall we do?
Peter’s response comes in verses 38-39.
Peter replied, “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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Repent—change their direction.
Be Baptized—identify with Jesus the Messiah
Receive His forgiveness of sins.
And receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Realize that this promise is for :
You
And your children
For everyone who is far off—far from God.
And for everyone the Lord God will call!
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Peter warned them.
Peter pleaded with them.
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
And many responded!
About 3,000 were added to their number on that day!
Jesus the Savior for the Gentiles
Jesus the Savior for the Gentiles
Let me set the scene for you. Paul and his companions were in Thessalonica, preaching and teaching. But the Jews became jealous and a mob formed to try to overtake Paul and Silas. So the brothers and sisters in Thessalonica sent them away, and they left at night and went to Berea. Once there they began preaching in the Jewish Synagogue.
That’s when Jews from Thessalonica found out Paul was in Berea, and came and began to stir things up in Berea.
So Paul left Silas and Timothy in Berea, while he went on to Athens to wait for Silas and Timothy to meet him there.
Now let’s pick up the reading of the text in Acts 17:16.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
Paul was greatly distressed when he saw all the idols, and temples in the city!
So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
So Paul did what Paul did best—He reasoned with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue.
And he reasoned in the marketplace with whoever happened to be there.
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Soon Paul was in a debate with two groups of philosophers:
—Epicurean—followers of Epicurus who taught the chief end of man was pleasure.
—Stoic—followers of Zeno who taught that the chief aim of man was to line up with the “Purpose” that the gods laid out.
Some thought he was a “babbler” who was taking nonsensically.
While others thought he was promoting some other foreign gods.
This was all because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and about His resurrection.
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
They took him to the Areopagus—lit. Hill of Ares—where the Council of the Areopagus met. This was the supreme legislative body and judicial body in Athens.
They said they wanted to know about the new teaching that he was presenting.
After all they thought Paul’s teachings sounded strange and they didn’t understand them.
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
They would gather there (in the Areopagus) and spend their time talking and listening the the latest ideas.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
So Paul stands up and begins to address the meeting of the Areopagus.
Paul says he perceives that they are very religious.
He’s walked around the city and see all of their objects of worship.
And he even found an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.
Then he tells them that he is going to show them the God that they worship but of which they are ignorant.
Now Paul is going to take them on a travel through time and history.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.
There is a God—the Lord of heaven and earth.
He is the God who made the world and everything in it.
He does not live in temples made by human hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
And this God is not served by human hands.
Because this God does not need anything.
Rather this God gives everyone life, He gives breath, and everything else!
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
From one man this God made all the nations, and made them inhabit the whole earth.
And this God directs all of human history.
And it was this God that marked out the various boundaries of where different people groups would live.
God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
God did all of this so that humans would seek Him and when they seek Him they might find Him.
Because God is not far from anyone.
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
Paul tells them that in this unknown to them God we all live, move, and have our existence.
Even the Athenian poets would say, “We are his offspring.”
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.
Since we are God’s offspring
We should not think that the divine god is made of gold, silver, or stone.
Nor should we think that the divine god is made by human design or skill.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance!
But now God commands all people everywhere to repent (change direction).
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
For God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice.
And God will judge the world by the man (Jesus) who God chose.
God proved that He would use this man by raising Him (Jesus) from the dead.
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”
When they heard about the resurrection:
—Some sneered.
—While others said they wanted to hear more.
At that, Paul left the Council.
Paul left the council.
To some it may have seemed like a waste of time. After all, there is no record of a Paul beginning a church in Athens, and shortly after his sermon in the Areopagus, Paul left for Corinth. Some would say it was a waste of time, but look at verse 34.
Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Some people believed and became followers of Paul.
One such person was Dionysius—while we don’t know a lot about him, he is recorded here. So apparently, the original readers would know who he was.
Another person mentioned is a woman by the name of Damaris—again we don’t know much about her, but apparently the original readers would have known who she was.
And there were a number of others who became believers.
So What
So What