Life in the Resurrection: A Sermon Based on Acts 2:22-36

I'll bet that you came this morning expecting me to preach a sermon that I myself had written. You know, That IS what I usually do most weeks. I include bits and pieces of the work of others, because as the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote "there is nothing new under the sun." So, I am not reinventing the wheel in my preaching, I am proclaiming truths that have been repeated throughout time.

And today, I am not preaching anything that most of you have not heard before.

But the fact is, today, I will be preaching from someone else's sermon, a sermon given a while back . Don't worry, it's very biblical, I assure you; and it was preached by a very good preacher. But unlike those of us today, in which the material will be very familiar, maybe too familiar. This was the very first time his congregation had ever heard its message. To them, it was something completely new. Do you remember when you first heard the Good News? Have we, even today, truly accepted life in the resurrection?

The impact this sermon had on those who first heard it was phenomenal, and it clearly demonstrated the work of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand people came to believe on Jesus in just one day because of it and those who heard it were never the same, again.

The sermon that forms the core of the message today was preached by a man with the name of Peter, some people had known him as Simon - not long after our Savior had risen from the dead; and it's found in the second chapter of the book of Acts. Today we read from that sermon starting at verse 22.

[From the NLT - New Living Translation]

22 "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him:

'I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.'

29 "Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn't referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David's own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah's resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

32 "God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,

'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet."'*

36 "So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!"

Wow! What a bold and powerful sermon.

Acts chapter 2 begins by telling us about Jesus' disciples. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place"

The disciples were going to be Christ's witnesses, and were going to preach about Him. But they could not do so until power had been given them.

And in verses 1-21, we read of the coming of Holy Spirit, in that time and place, and the pouring out of the Spirit upon the people.

Later on in the Book of Acts, we read that the leaders and authorities tried to silence Peter and John from preaching about Jesus; but the leaders couldn't handle their boldness. They saw that the disciples were uneducated and untrained men; and yet they marveled. "And they realized that they had been with Jesus"

Question?

Can the people who see us tell - just by looking at our lives - that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that we have been with Him? Is our verbal witness of the living Savior validated by a life that defies explanation?

Do we live life in the Resurrection?

In today's reading, Peter rises up and is now boldly standing and preaching this message to his fellow Jews. Peter, the very one who, earlier had been fearful, and who had denied His Lord was now a different man. He was given the power to preach by the Holy Spirit. He spoke as a man; but not in the mere power and authority of a man. He preached in such a way that they heard God's voice and God's authority rather than his own.

Peter spoke the words, but what he said was given power and authority by the Holy Spirit.

The content of what he said in his sermon was what God wanted said.

So often today, if we who are the Lord's witnesses are told to be quiet about Jesus, we stop so not to offend anyone. But that's not what this early preacher did! He held nothing back. He told the whole story, and trusted the Holy Spirit to drive it home to his listeners.

We cannot hold back. It is that important.

Here how Paul tells it to the Romans in Chapter 10:

9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"

How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!

And what was the Good News that the messengers bring?

That God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. That He died that we might live, because He loves us. It is this message that get the attention of all who are listening. Many will turn to Jesus. Some will hesitate. Others will turn away.

And they will ask ... Who is this Lord? How can we know he can save?

Peter clearly and explicitly directs the crowd's attention to Jesus of Nazareth. He characterizes Jesus' earthly ministry as the arena of publicly witnessed divine power. Through him God did miracles, wonders, and signs.

But then He was handed over into the hands of lawless men and they did away with him through crucifixion.

But there's more. Human beings may have killed Jesus, but God brought him back to life. It was not a resuscitation but a resurrection.

Historians are very clear about two things about Jesus - He existed, and He was crucified. There are no serious thinkers who doubt those two facts. Indeed, the whole of history comes tumbling down if you claim that they are not true for there are no two events in history that are better attested to than those.

If we cannot be sure Jesus lived and died, then we cannot be sure of any event in history.

But the fact that there was a man who lived 2000 years ago, then died, was not unusual.

The fact that He was a great teacher is not a major news story.

The fact that He was reported to work miracles is not even as unique as you might think.

The fact that people thought he was the Messiah was not a new thing. There were dozens of people that were thought to possibly be the Messiah running around. Some thought John the Baptist was the Messiah.

From Luke 3 15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am-so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

And it persisted to Luke 9:

7 When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. 8 Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. 9 "I beheaded John," Herod said, "so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?"

And also surprising to some is the fact that he hung on a cross and was crucified through no fault of His own is not even unique to Jesus - thousands of people were crucified, many of whom were innocent of any crime.

There is, however, one fact about Jesus that makes Him unique. There is only one thing that marks Him out as totally different from every great figure in history. That is the fact ofthe empty tomb!

And because of that, something dramatic happened to transform a timid group of Jewish men into a bold set of preachers who would turn the world upside down and do so with a message that said "this man who you crucified God raised him from the dead, and we are now to worship him."

No religion ever grew more quickly, and no religion today is as widespread. And the one thing that all denominations of the Christian Church agrees on is this - Jesus rose from the dead.

And Paul says this very clearly - If Christ did not rise from the dead, every believer who has ever lived is to be pitied more than anyone; if Jesus' bones are still buried somewhere in Israel.

If Jesus is still dead - Christianity is cruel and sadistic. Here we are singing to a dead man, praying to a dead man, preaching about a dead man, worshiping a dead man, trusting in a dead man!

If Jesus is dead, everything is changed.

If it wasn't for the resurrection, we would still be in our sins. How could Jesus work in us to forgive us and make us like Him if He is still dead? How could he be living in us and through us if He is still dead? How can we be waiting for His triumphant return in glory if He is still dead.

Some believe Christ was but another good teacher, and he is dead.

"BUT," as Paul simply says "IN FACT, CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED!"

Jesus is NOT dead - He is alive.

The whole of scripture is not very hopeful about us without Jesus, if he were just another dead person in a grace - it says we would be "without hope and without God in this world."

But hear this in First Peter Chapter 1: 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance-an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead.

Do you believe this? If not, I urge you lay your burden down and meet the living Jesus. Be born again in the resurrection.

Because In The Resurrection:

Sin does not win - Jesus does!

Death does not win - Jesus does!

He really did die for our sin and rise for our salvation, and we can sing to Him today, and can confess our sins to Him because He is alive.

He said -I have come to take away the sins of the world. I will die, but I'll be back, in three days, and he was.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?"

27 "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God."

Question?

Can the people who see us tell - just by looking at our lives - that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that we have been with Him? Is our verbal witness of the living Savior validated by a life that defies explanation?

Do we live life in the Resurrection?

I end with these powerful words from Charles Spurgeon:

Beloved, the dying Christ has purchased for us our justification, but the risen Christ will see that we get it. The risen Christ has come to bring it to us, and herein we rest. Oh, that you would all rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, which is set forth to you in all its brightness by his rising again from the dead! Lord Jesus, as such we trust thee, as such we trust thee now, and we are saved!

Amen

©2009 Timothy Henry