The sermons recorded in the New
Testament bear little resemblance to those given in modern congregations. This
may be a case of Luke, as editor, picking out the high points. It is worth the
reading, however, to see how it was done by the Apostles:
(Acts 2:14-41 NIV)
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. {15} These men are not drunk, as you
suppose. It's only nine in the morning! {16} No, this is what was spoken by the
prophet Joel: {17} "'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. {18} Even on my servants, both men and women, I
will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. {19} I will show
wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and
billows of smoke. {20} The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. {21} And everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' {22} "Men of Israel,
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. {23} This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and
foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by
nailing him to the cross. {24} 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. {25} David said about him: "'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. {26} Therefore my heart
is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, {27} because
you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
{28} You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in
your presence.' {29} "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the
patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. {30} 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. {31} Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of
the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did
his body see decay. {32} God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all
witnesses of the fact. {33} 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. {34} For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "'The
Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand {35} until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet."' {36} "Therefore let all Israel be
assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ." {37} When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and
said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
{38} 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. {39} The promise is for you and your children and for all
who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." {40} With many
other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves
from this corrupt generation." {41} Those who accepted his message were
baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The early sermons of the church
seem to have three consistent themes: prophecy, the Crucifixion and the
Resurrection. We need to examine each of these in turn.
Prophecy
Perhaps to us today we view
prophecy as something that Peter's Jewish audience would have an interest in -
but we certainly don't. (Except, of course, for Revelation). But even
prophecy fulfilled has its uses, for it teaches us about the character of God:
God's patience
Peter, in passing, tells us that
we are living "in the last days." Therefore, the prophecies he uses
are from former days - and indeed they go back almost two thousand years. The
earliest comes from the days of the Garden of Eden.
The prophecy from Joel referenced here is one of the last. From that time
until the time of Christ over 400 years had passed - years of silence from the
prophets, waiting the coming of the Messiah.
The point is simple: God is
patient. As the Scripture often points out, he is "slow to anger."
What, after all, is time to the creator of time? He is patient - but we must
not confuse patience with inaction. God is not mocked.
God's eternal purpose
In verse 23 Peter assures us that
all that Christ did was according to God's "set purpose and
foreknowledge." The Resurrection is not an accident, or a cover up by God
of a prophet's life gone wrong. He planned it that way from the beginning. As
Isaiah tells us,
(Isaiah 46:8-10 NIV)
"Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. {9} Remember
the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am
God, and there is none like me. {10} I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I
will do all that I please.
This is completely opposite our
current idea that - since God has not yet had Christ return - God will never
act. The volcano never erupts until it erupts - but it is a volcano still.
The unity of God
Note that in this passage all
three persons of the Trinity are mentioned - but Peter speaks confidently to
the Jews about Jesus, knowing that they (and he) know that God is one. We see
here a passing reference to the doctrine of the trinity: Jesus is described as
"Lord" (equal to God) and "Christ" (the chosen Messiah, a
man). But also the three separate persons are distinguished. We see here how
comfortable Peter was in using all three persons of the one God.
The Crucifixion
It is a startling fact to many
people that the symbol of Christianity is a cross - the cross of the
Crucifixion. Crucifixion is a painful and humiliating way to die, yet millions
of Christians proudly display it as the sign of their innermost belief. Why
this symbol? It is for the death of Christ that we wear it. That death means
everything to us. Why is the cross so important?
Atonement
Under the influence of the "gentle Jesus" metaphor, many have
concluded that there is something extraneous about the cross. It is not so;
the cross is necessary. God is righteous and just; it is one of his
attributes and he cannot be untrue to himself. Righteousness demands atonement
for sin, a lesson planted firmly in the Jews. But if all righteousness - pure
righteousness - is to be fulfilled, then the sacrifice of atonement must be
pure also. Only the sinless man could be the atonement we need for
righteousness.
Think of it this way: suppose
you are deeply in debt, several millions of dollars. We could take up a
collection - but at ten bucks apiece, you're still in debt. You need a
friendly billionaire. The debt is for all of us, so only the perfect one of us
could pay it.
Reconciliation
God is righteous, but God is also
love. His objective is not just to atone for us (and then let us be) but
rather reconcile us to himself. He is not interested in burying the hatchet -
he wants to eliminate the hatchet entirely. So atonement is necessary - but
not sufficient. Reconciliation is required. Atonement requires that the price
be paid; reconciliation that it be paid willingly.
There is no greater love than
this: that a man die for his friends. Note please that in this case the dying
was not spontaneous, an impulse of the moment. It was planned. Christ had all
of eternity to think about it. Crucifixion is not only a painful death (so
much so that breaking the victims legs to hasten death was considered a
merciful thing to do) but a shameful one. It marked you (and those with you)
as outside the law. Worse yet, this crucifixion is accompanied by abandonment
and betrayal. That is the measure of God's love for us - a love which
stretches beyond atonement to reconciliation.
Example
Christ frequently tells us to
"take up your cross and follow me." If nothing else, the cross is
our great example. If he was willing to do that; if we claim to be his
disciples; then what is there that we should not be willing to do?
Resurrection
The third element of the sermon
is the Resurrection. It is another constant of the sermons of the Bible. I
once heard a radio talk show discussing the musical, Jesus Christ,
Superstar. The panelists were a Unitarian, a Quaker and a Baptist
minister. For some 15 minutes the Baptist minister's microphone was turned off
while the other two pontificated. When they finally let the Baptist talk, he
came right to the point: "There is no resurrection. They missed the
entire point of Christ's life." The host immediately turned the Baptist's
microphone back off; the world does not want to hear about the Resurrection.
"Most miserable"
If there is no resurrection, then
we are idiots for going to church and acting like there is. But see the
confidence of the men on the spot! These men had seen him die (and acted like
it); they had to be convinced of such a great miracle. But once they were,
they turned the world upside down. The resurrection is the central event of
human history. That resurrection shook the world.
First Fruits
The innocent Christ cannot stay
buried long. The same justice that required the atonement cannot let the
innocent one stay in the grave. It is entirely in keeping with the
righteousness of God that Christ is risen.
But if Christ is risen, we are
faced with the physical proof of resurrection. And if he tells us that we,
like him, will rise from the grave, what could possibly cause us to think
otherwise? There is no other expert on the subject!
Why shall we rise? Consider that
we are being clothed in Christ's righteousness - as we do his will we become
his body - and therefore the just God who raised him from the dead will do
likewise for us. In his good time - do recall that he is patient, and his
purposes are eternal.
The power of God
The power of God is greatly
displayed in the Resurrection. But we must not imagine that the power of God
is beyond our reach. Indeed, it is not; for Peter here tells us that we
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit - God dwelling in us; our bodies the temple
of the Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is the power of God in our lives. Now
then: does the power of God diminish with time? Can time dim the eternal
flame? Then why do you look so glum? Do you not know who you are, oh
ambassador of reconciliation?
Reaction
The message hit home - and the
crowd asks, "what shall we do?" Peter gives them two steps:
Repent
It means simply to turn around -
to go the other way. It is the inward change that counts.
Be baptized
This is the outward symbol of
inward change. It is a fitting one: it is cleansing (as befits repentance);
it is symbolic of death, burial and resurrection (we often say "you are
buried with Christ") and it is public.
If you do these things, then, you
become a part of the church, heirs of salvation. This recapitulates Peter's
sermon here: You fulfill the prophecies which said that the Gospel would
spread over all the earth; you are crucified with Christ (and thus reconciled
to God); and you will rise at the last day, just as Jesus did in God's own
good time.
That is not the end; it is the
beginning of a new life. What kind of life that is, we shall see next lesson.