Fully Accepting Jesus

Context

Good morning Church!

If you have your Bible with you this morning, would you hold it up? Praise God! It does my heart good to see each of you with your own personal copies of the Word of God. Would you be finding in those Bibles, Acts 2 please?

We are going to begin by reading just one verse, Acts 2: 36, and then we will dig deeper as we get into the message.

Acts 2:36 CSB

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

You may be seated in the presence of the Lord!

Before we get too far in, we have to do a recap of last week. Otherwise, we will not get all we can from the text today.

Last week, we looked at how the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit of God. They were in the upper room there in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit came upon each of them. It was such an astonishing occurence. As it came down from high, there was the sound of rushing mighty winds, which was actually loud enough to catch the attention of all of those who were outside. Everyone gathered wondering what had just happened. Can you picture it? Everyone had some to Jerusalem for an annual feast, and they were all outside talking, catching up with one another. All of a sudden, there was this mighty roar of the wind, which sounded as if it were going to tear down the city, but yet nothing fell. I can imagine everyone standing outside when the wind started to blow, but it wasn’t just a normal breeze. There was something special about it. For some reason it seemed to gravitate all of those present into one place. They could not make sense it, for there were no clouds and no signs of stormy weather on the horizon. Something was special about it. I can imagine each of them getting cold chills as they witnessed this mighty work of God, not knowing what was going on. The conversations stopped. Everyone was looking around, trying to make sense of what was happening, but no one uttered a word because no one had an explanation. For some reason their attention was drawed to this little house where the disciples were. There was nothing special about the house itself, but it was obvious that whatever was happening seemed to be radiating from that specific spot. Everyone naturally gravitated to that place, waiting anxiously to see what was going to happen.

All of a sudden several men came out of the house, almost as if they were possessed by something. They were not flailing about and lunging onto the ground, but they were all speaking loudly. It wasn’t just natural speech though, it was different. They were all Galilean men, but somehow the words they spoke were understood by multiple nations represented there that day. They all could understand these men in their own native tongue. It was truly amazing. One man would speak one thing in his own language, but it was understood in multiple languages. It was as much of a gift of hearing as it was of speaking. They gazed in amazement as they witnessed this unexplainable event unfold, and after a few moments, they began to offer explanations. Some were amazed. Some were in disbelief. Some were in denial and simply accused them of being drunk. This is where we pick up in the Word today.

When Peter hears these absurd accusations against faithful men of God, he can not help but to stand and give a defense. He gives what we call in the theological realm, an apologetic, much like apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15 over the resurrection of Christ. Peter defends these men by offering sound explanation to what is going on.

Before we get to that, I have to ask a question. Why? Why is it that Peter is having to do this int he first place? They are in Jerusalem surrounded by Jews. These were supposed to be religious men. These were supposed to be Godly men. These were supposed to be men with the ability to recognize their own heavenly Father when He showed up. Can you imagine? God shows up and does a miracle and those who were tagged as the religious could not even make sense of it. I wonder if that same thing happens in our day as well.....

Our original verse offers some explanation to why this is I believe. Let’s read it again:

Acts 2:36 CSB

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Notice exactly what it is that Peter is saying here. Now this is the closing statement of Peter’s amazing apology, but he closes with a bang. Peter is making it adomantly clear that Jesus was not just a man. He was not an imposter. He was not a false prophet, or even just a prophet. He was indeed more than all of this. God made Him Lord and messiah.

See, their problem was not with the death of Jesus, it was with the deity of Jesus. They were willing to accept His sacrifice, but they were not willing to accept His sovereignty. I think it is safe to say that this message definitely applies to us today. I want to speak to you today on the this topic: Fully Embracing Jesus!!!

Content

The Revelation (vs. 14-36)

They bypassed logic and reason (vs. 15)

The Word of God (Vs. 17-21; 25-28; 31; 34-35)

vs. 17-21 is quoted from Joel 2:28-32 and shows that the Holy Spirit coming down upon these men is part of prophecy.

vs. 25-28 is quoted from Psa. 16:8-11 and speaks of the presence of God being with you and how He will care for you.

vs. 31 is quoted from Psalm 16:10 and shows how God cares for His own.

vs. 34-35 is quoted from Psalm 110:1 and shows that David called Jesus Lord.

Jesus’ miracles, wonders, and signs (vs. 22)

His resurrection (vs. 24)

The Response (vs. 37-40)

The Word of God pierced their hearts (vs. 37)

What should we do? (vs. 37)

Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (vs. 38)

This promise is for you (vs. 39)

Separate from this generation (vs. 40)

The Result (vs. 41-47)

They studied together, spent time together, ate together, and prayed together. (vs. 42)

People were moved because of what God was doing through them (vs. 43)

They were unified (vs. 44)

They loved one another (vs. 45)

Full of joy and sincerity (vs. 46)

Praised God (vs. 47)

Commitment

Accepting His death is easy. That is what He did for us. Accepting His deity not so much. That is what we must do for Him.

We must fully embrace Jesus Christ in our lives. Not just His sacrifice, but His sovereignty as well.