Episode 128: Peter’s Pulpit and the Primacy of Preaching at Pentecost and Permanantly in the Church. (Acts 2:14)

Rural Church Podcast 2.0

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Welcome to the Ruled Church Podcast. This is my beloved son, with whom

00:05

I am well pleased. He is honored, and I get the glory. And by the way, it's even better, because you see that building in Perryville, Arkansas?

00:13

You see that one in Pechote, Mexico? Do you see that one in Tuxla, Guterres, down there in Chiapas? That building has my son's name on it.

00:21

The church is not a democracy. It's a monarchy. Christ is king. You can't be

00:26

Christian without a local church. You can't do anything better than to bend your knee and bow your heart, turn from your sin and repentance, believe on the

00:37

Lord Jesus Christ, and join up with a good Bible -believing church, and spend your life serving

00:44

Jesus in a local, visible congregation. Welcome to the

00:49

Ruled Church Podcast. I'm Alan Nelson. I am your host. I'm one of the elders at Providence Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas.

00:58

Little community, 25 miles west of Conway, 35 minutes or so northwest of Little Rock, central

01:05

Arkansas, just under 1 ,500 people. We're a Reformed Baptist congregation. You can find out more about us at ProvidenceBaptistAR .com.

01:15

In today's episode, we are going to listen to a sermon preached at Providence Baptist Church on June 29th, 2025.

01:26

And this message is about the importance of preaching, and we hope that it's one of those episodes that is an encouragement to pastors and maybe to churches as well and church members of how important preaching is and how it is the

01:41

God -ordained means to convert sinners and also to edify and strengthen and grow the church.

01:49

And so we pray that you would walk away from this episode loving the preaching of the Bible all the more and specifically the preaching of Christ.

01:58

We hope it's helpful in all these ways. And so I've trimmed some from the sermon, just a few minutes.

02:05

You can find it on our YouTube, which is also Providence Baptist AR. But anyway, or probably on our website as well.

02:14

All right, let's get into the sermon. ...up his voice and address him. Let me just stop there for a second because I'm going to give you three observations from that right there that I believe should signal to us that this isn't just a little talk.

02:29

It's not just a little, you know, speech or discussion, but this is preaching. This is a sermon.

02:36

This is the fisherman's fire. So the first is this from the text.

02:42

It's not in the outline yet. Don't worry about the notes, the fill in the blanks. The first is this.

02:48

It says that Peter standing with the 11. So there's all 12 apostles now.

02:55

That includes, by the way, Matthias. So that would be like for people who say, well,

03:01

I don't know if he was really, I don't know if he really should have been an apostle or whatever. Well, I think this kind of answers it. Luke is showing that he should have been an apostle.

03:08

And so Peter is standing here with the 11. And as a reminder, just read Ephesians 2 .20 that says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

03:20

Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. So Luke is showing us here that Peter is taking a stand, not only as a

03:27

Christian, but also with apostolic authority. He is standing with the apostles.

03:34

The office of apostle, you know, we've said it, we'll say it again, I'm sure, but it's a special office. It's in the life of the first century church.

03:41

It dies out when the apostles died. But the point I'm making here is that Luke is showing us that Peter is about to preach.

03:48

He's about to say something authoritative, not just a little speech or dialogue. He's going to preach.

03:54

That's the first observation. If I could just make an application point, it would be this, that we need more pastors in America today and more churches in America today that are willing to stand, to stand up for the truth, even in the face of mockery or hostility, especially in the face of mockery and hostility.

04:16

And if I could give a second application point from this observation, it would be this, you shouldn't preach from a stool.

04:24

We don't need little fireside chats. We don't need little talks. We need men who will stand up and have something to say and preach.

04:36

The second observation that this is preaching are in those phrases there after that, but Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them.

04:47

So Peter takes command of the chaos here. Remember this scene and think about it. The people are perplexed.

04:53

And you have these people over here saying, what in the world is going on? And all these people are speaking in different languages.

04:59

And then you have this other group of people who are mocking and saying, look, they're drunk, they're drunk. And so there's a little bit of chaotic scene happening here.

05:07

And Peter stands up with authority. He lifts up, the text says in Acts 2 verse 14, that he lifted up, notice this, his voice, a solo voice that needs to be heard.

05:28

Not all the apostles at once, but one man to stand and to deliver the sermon, a monologue to rise up above the noise.

05:39

Then it says in the ESV, it translates, he addresses them. So he lifted up his voice and addressed them.

05:45

And the word has the connotation, I'll just quote to you, to speak loudly and clearly, to speak with emphasis.

05:52

And so this word, Luke, I'd actually already used in verse four, they were all filled with the

05:57

Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. That's the word there.

06:03

And so in verse 14, the idea is that this is a Spirit -empowered proclamation that Peter is giving.

06:11

He's not, by the way, he's not preaching in a foreign language. Okay, the gift of tongues is not the gift of hearing, but speaking.

06:17

So he's gonna speak, and most commentators agree, in Aramaic, which all the

06:23

Jews would have understood. By the way, I make this note, you can do with it what you want, but note that this is an outdoor church service, and Peter is preaching in the open air.

06:37

So whatever anyone wants to say about open air preaching, you just need to know that it has quite a long history in the church.

06:47

Now, a third observation, that this is a sermon and not just a speech or discussion, is in the phrases there, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

07:00

Of your immortal soul is at stake, and these are weighty matters. Peter is saying, you must listen.

07:06

In fact, these are commands. Let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. Those are imperatives.

07:12

He is taking authority over the assembly, and remember this morning, church, that preaching is authoritative.

07:21

So that's my defense there for why this speech should be interpreted as a sermon. I might also mention this, another little note

07:30

I actually thought about this morning, down in verse 21, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

07:36

And Paul makes this argument in Romans 10, that they're not gonna call upon the name of the

07:42

Lord unless they believe, and they're not gonna believe unless they hear, and they're not gonna hear unless someone is preaching.

07:51

So just another side note, this is a sermon. Now you say, if that's a sermon, preacher, well, why do you preach so long?

08:00

He preached that pretty quick, didn't he? Well, let me give a defense real quick in verse 40. Go down to verse 40 for just a second, and this is gonna help you as we go through Acts.

08:10

So just note this in verse 40. And with many other words, he bore witness, thank you,

08:18

Luke, and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation.

08:24

So the idea is that when we read the sermons in Luke, we should understand them as highlights at times, summaries.

08:33

So it's not every single word that Peter preached, but we have the general idea, and Luke records this under the inspiration of the

08:41

Holy Spirit. Let me just make this comment. We're gonna get to the outline, but I need you to remember this is happening.

08:47

This happened on the Lord's day. It's happening on a Sunday, Pentecost. It's important. We remember that the prophets foresaw that the glory of the

08:54

Lord would leave the temple, and it certainly did, and now it dwells in the new temple.

08:59

The temple's the type of the church, and so it dwells now in the church, and this whole event in Acts 2.

09:06

Remember the, zoom out for a second. The whole event in Acts 2 is meant to show us that the promises that God made in the

09:13

Old Testament are coming to fruition, and the new era has arrived. In fact, the last era, if you look down at verse 17 for a second,

09:22

Peter says, and in the last days, Peter quoting Joel, but he adds his own interpretation there, in the last days.

09:33

All right, so what we're gonna do now, though, is consider some aspects of preaching that we learned from this sermon.

09:39

So I hope you're ready, and I hope you appreciate preaching, and I hope this is important to you, because it matters to me, and I believe it matters to God.

09:49

Number one, the priority. Number one, the priority.

09:55

So we see that what happens is, verse 14, Peter stands with the 11, he lifts up his voice, and he addresses them, men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

10:10

Now it's interesting to me that a lot of people will look at Acts 2, and they'll put a lot of emphasis on the speaking in tongues.

10:17

But if you just would read Acts 2 with an honest assessment, you would understand that clearly, it is the sermon that has the priority of the text.

10:27

That is, the gift of tongues gets us to the preaching. And it is in the preaching that we have the explanation and right interpretation of what the event is about.

10:39

If not for the preaching, then we don't get the soul saved at the end of Acts 2.

10:45

Preaching, I'm saying, is a priority of the text, and it must be a priority in churches today.

10:52

Here is the public birth, if you will, of the new covenant community, the visible affirmation of Christianity, and what stands at the center?

11:01

Preaching. Sam Waldron says this, preaching is central to Christianity. And I would add, by implication, it is central to the life and health of the church.

11:13

Now understand me, Providence, there are a lot of good things that churches can do and must do, but that must never take the place of preaching.

11:24

I'll give you an example in our church. I love our singing at this church.

11:29

I loved singing those songs with you today. I love how loud we sing. We have a few families out today for various reasons, and yet we still, it's like, okay, we gotta sing louder today.

11:40

Wow. I love the loud, doctrinal, rich singing that we have.

11:46

But just note something in Acts 2. It doesn't break out in song because there is a priority and necessity of preaching.

11:56

And I use singing because some churches today, all over America, there will be churches that might sing for 45 minutes to an hour, and then at the end, someone will get up for 10, 12, 15 minutes and say a few words that some people would call a sermon.

12:12

Now, we're not trying to downplay preaching, or sorry, we're not trying to downplay singing at all.

12:19

In fact, a lot of singing stinks in places. It needs to be better, and we never wanna minimize singing at Providence Baptist Church.

12:29

We're not knocking singing, but I'm just saying singing often moves the emotions.

12:35

Emotions are God -given. They should not be despised. But if our emotions are moved without being calibrated by the truth, which is what preaching does, one thing preaching does, then we can run into all sorts of error, and you see that all the time.

12:51

So I'm just trying to show us here that there is a primacy of preaching at the very birthday of the

12:57

New Testament church. Peter lifts up his voice and addresses them. Frankly, I can tell you a lot about a church.

13:08

In fact, I can tell you a lot about a church if I just mute the whole service, look at it online, and look at the place of the pulpit.

13:15

I'm not trying to be silly, but if it's a little bitty pulpit, and it's kind of obscure, you barely notice it, it's more about the drums, and the guitars, and the screens, and usually, more often than not, that church is not a healthy church because it doesn't have a high view of preaching.

13:34

Where a church is healthy, you will see preaching as a primary place in the gathering of God's people.

13:43

All right, we're gonna move on. Number two, the purpose, the purpose. Let me give you a rudimentary outline of Peter's sermon.

13:53

I didn't alliterate this. So number one, I would say, this is what's happening.

13:58

So in verse 15 through 21, Peter's gonna explain this is what's happening. It's great in the

14:03

King James in verse 16 because it says, this is that, right? This is that, this is that, which

14:10

Joel talked about. So point number one, this is what's happening, verse 15 through 21.

14:16

Secondly, this is how we got here. So that's verse 22 through 36. This is a fulfillment of what

14:23

Christ has done. And then thirdly, this is what you must do, verse 38 and following.

14:28

So that's a rudimentary outline of Peter's sermon. Let me give you three purposes now of Peter's sermon.

14:37

Number one, exposition. So this is a sermon that exposits

14:44

Joel chapter two, verse 28 through 32. But Peter also is gonna bring in Psalm 16.

14:51

He's also gonna bring in Psalm 110 to prove his case. And then you can kind of notice more allusions to the

14:58

Old Testament sprinkled out throughout the sermon. But I need to just make a few comments on that, okay?

15:05

First, the early church did not have a New Testament, but it doesn't mean that they didn't have a

15:10

Bible, right? It's so silly. You hear people say, the first church didn't have a

15:15

Bible or Rome gave the church a Bible or things like that. That's baloney, it's hogwash. They did have a

15:21

Bible. They preached the Old Testament. We see it here. They preached the scriptures. They had the 39 books of the

15:27

Old Testament. And so they preached these books. And in Acts, several places, we have examples of the apostles showing us the proper interpretation of these books.

15:37

But I'll move on here by just saying that the purpose of preaching is to give the sense and meaning of the scriptures.

15:45

I don't care what the preacher's opinions are. I want to know what the Bible says and what it means and how it applies.

15:53

This is how we must preach today as well, exposition. Secondly, under the purpose of preaching.

15:59

So we have exposition. Number two, we have exaltation. Exaltation, I'm gonna spend a minute here, so be ready.

16:06

The sermon masterfully works through the person and work of Christ.

16:13

And you remember for a second, you're just like, but he doesn't say everything that I want him to say. Okay, Luke is summarizing this for us.

16:20

And then we have the epistles in the New Testament that solidify our doctrine and our

16:28

Christology. And so Peter doesn't have to say absolutely everything he could possibly say about Christ.

16:33

But he masterfully works through the person and work of Christ. We'll consider that in the coming weeks. But let me just show you.

16:39

Look at verse 22. There's a couple of places we'll look at. Verse 22, he says, Many of Israel hear these words,

16:46

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst.

16:56

As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

17:06

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

17:15

Here you have, friends, a summation of the gospel. I'll elaborate.

17:22

All mankind has a sin problem. It has affected everything about us.

17:27

Little boys, little girls. You don't have to teach them to sin. It's true with adults too.

17:33

The way that we think. The way that we feel. We can't trust these things. They're tainted by sin.

17:38

The way that we speak. The things that we do. Our attitude and actions and affections. Our motivations and emotions and desires.

17:47

This is totally impacted by sin. In total, our mind and heart and soul have been affected by sin.

17:56

The Bible says things like this. God is angry with the wicked all the day. And you say, well, I'm not wicked. Are you a sinner?

18:03

Right? Outside of Christ? Sin is simply doing what God says not to do.

18:09

And not doing what God says to do. We scoff at his holy law. Mankind's problem is sin.

18:15

And we sin because, by nature, we are sinners. And the reality is that God, in his righteousness, could sentence us all to eternal hellfire.

18:25

And let it be known to you this day that some, he absolutely will. But it won't be that way for all.

18:32

And it does not have to be that way for you. Oh, I'm just talking this morning, preaching.

18:38

But just please consider your soul. God has done something about our sin problem

18:46

Peter is preaching here in Christ. Jesus has fulfilled the law by his perfect life.

18:53

And God has punished Jesus in our stead as our substitute. He's died under the wrath of God.

19:01

And then here's something that a lot of people forget in the gospel, but Peter won't be quiet about it. That is, this

19:07

Jesus got up out of the grave. Jesus resurrected.

19:13

He rose again from the dead. And something else Peter won't stop talking about is that not only was he resurrected from the grave, but God seated him on David's throne as fulfillment of the promises.

19:29

Peter is preaching the gospel. He is exalting Christ. That this

19:35

Jesus is the Son of God and he is Lord of all. And it's very fitting that in the very first Christian sermon, if you will,

19:42

Christ is magnified. Because he ought to be magnified in every sermon. The sum and substance of Christian preaching is

19:52

Christ. We preach the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.

19:58

And we show how the Scriptures point to Christ. So hear me this morning.

20:04

The point of preaching is not just exposition in the sense of, I'm going to tell you

20:09

Greek words and verbs and participles, and I'm going to talk about the historical context, and I'm going to talk about the ancient

20:16

Near East, and I'm going to talk about archaeological findings, and I'm just going to give you all these bare facts.

20:21

No, friends. All of this must serve the overarching purpose of exalting King Jesus.

20:28

We don't just exposit, we exalt. Peter does not preach himself.

20:35

If you allow me this jab, he certainly has no one kiss his papal ring.

20:42

That's a satanic lie from Rome. Rather, what does Peter do? He preaches Christ.

20:48

Look at verse 31. Talking of David, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the

20:54

Christ. That he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

21:00

So too, this is true of all the churches' preaching. You want to know what true preaching is?

21:07

True preaching is God -ordained, Spirit -empowered, and Christ -exalting. One theologian put it this way, in expositing

21:14

Scripture for the congregation, the preacher must show that there is a way to the center, even from the farthest point on the periphery, for a sermon without Christ is no sermon.

21:26

Or maybe you know this about Spurgeon. He says, a sermon without Christ? You might as well talk of a loaf of bread without any flour in it.

21:36

How can it feed the soul? It is a sort of sermon that will make the devils in hell laugh, but make the angels of God weep.

21:44

Brothers and sisters, if a church is not preaching Christ, she has nothing worth saying.

21:53

But consider this morning the great Christ exalted in Peter's sermon.

21:59

Press on a couple verses. Look at verse 32. This Jesus, Peter preaches, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the

22:11

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this, that you yourselves are hearing.

22:19

Peter is exalting Christ. Remember, this whole event at Pentecost is magnifying the

22:27

Gospel. If you hear any preaching about Pentecost that takes away from the Gospel, you're not hearing preaching about the biblical

22:34

Pentecost. It's magnifying Christ, and we must preach

22:40

Christ. Another quote, Charles Hodge. He says, to make the end of preaching, that is, if you make the goal of preaching, the inculcation of virtue, that is the highest end of preaching, if you make it, men to be virtuous,

22:56

I'll keep reading, this is from Hodge, to render men honest, sober, benevolent, and faithful, is part and parcel of that wisdom of the world that is foolishness with God.

23:09

It is attempting to raise fruit without trees. You hear what

23:14

Hodge is saying? What Hodge is saying is, if the end of your preaching is to make men better, more moral, to have a more just society, if that's the end of your preaching, that's worldly wisdom and it's foolishness to God.

23:29

The end of our preaching is not a virtuous nation. The end of our preaching is the exaltation of King Jesus Christ.

23:37

Him we preach. You have sermons today, how to be a better husband, how to be a better wife, how to have financial success, how to be a good citizen, how to have a

23:48

Christian nation, or whatever. But men are preaching these sermons, separating them from the work of Christ.

23:56

And there's no gospel there. Okay, but what are you, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you saying we don't preach tangible, or we don't preach about husbands and wives and children?

24:04

Of course we preach these things. Amen, yes, we do. But remember, any dues in a sermon are flowing out of the done of Jesus Christ.

24:18

I live today because Christ died for me and rose again. I work only because God first worked in me by the grace secured in the gospel, and he continues to work in me by the power of the

24:32

Holy Spirit. So any action on our part must be a reaction to the action of Christ.

24:39

It's the gospel. Peter did not preach, here's how you do better, here's how you be better, here's how you achieve fame, here's how you achieve material blessings, here's how you have a healthy life.

24:53

He preached Christ, because Christ is our all. He's the only name by which we must be saved.

25:01

He is the righteous one. He is the sacrificial lamb. He is our substitute. He's the resurrection and the life.

25:09

He is Lord, He is God, He is King. We need Christ. No Christ?

25:15

No Christ? Then you have no right to the kingdom. You're not getting in. No pardon, no peace, no forgiveness, no justification, no adoption, no sanctification, no feasting, no hope.

25:29

Only the fearful reality of the judgment of eternal fire. We must preach

25:36

Christ. Exposition, exaltation. Thirdly, I'm still on point two.

25:42

The purpose. There's exposition, there's exaltation. Thirdly, under this heading, there is exhortation.

25:50

So go down to verse 40 for a minute. I stole, borrowed, used the word from this text.

25:58

And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation.

26:08

All right. First thing I'm going to do, let me lay a contextual foundation, and then I'm going to get to my point.

26:16

But a contextual foundation is this. You need to be reminded there from verse 40 that Peter is being the witness that Jesus promised the church would be in Acts 1 -8.

26:25

So just remember, it's helpful. Know what Acts 1 -8 means, okay? Acts 1 -8, but you will receive power when the

26:31

Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all

26:37

Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And then verse 40 says, and with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them.

26:46

Okay, remember also back in verse 14, this is not unconnected either, but Peter standing with the eleven lifted up his voice and addressed them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem.

26:57

Why? Because that's the first place. That's where they're at, they're in Jerusalem, and it's the first place Jesus said, you're going to be my witnesses.

27:03

You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea. Peter understands that. And so this is the promise of Christ, that his apostles would be the witnesses and that his church would continue the witness to the ends of the earth.

27:19

Now, I'm making a contextual point. Just hear me for a second. Ask yourself this question.

27:27

You listening? How does the church bear witness? How does the church bear witness for Christ?

27:36

Now, there are a lot of things that we could say that I would accept and say, well, that's right, that's okay.

27:45

You know, you have places that go out in the community and do hymn singing and things like that.

27:53

Okay, and then there's other things that we could talk about. They're not bad things. A lot of things I could say. But here's one non -negotiable thing that we must say.

28:04

How are churches today bearing witness for Christ?

28:10

Okay, a lot of things you may say. Here's one non -negotiable thing that we must say that's at the top of the list, and that is by proclaiming

28:20

Christ. The church bears witness to Christ and for Christ by preaching

28:28

Christ. So, I don't want you to miss this. The church is not a silent witness.

28:34

Go back, take your beady little eyes, look at verse 14, and just consider something in that verse.

28:41

Peter lifted up his what? Actions? What did he lift up? Look, look in the text.

28:48

Can't look at the text if you're looking at me. Look at the text. The text says he lifted up his voice, right?

28:56

He lifted up his voice. He raised his voice because witnessing for Christ requires words.

29:06

Words. Witnesses of Christ must raise their voices above the noise and distractions of this world today, and they must use their lips to preach

29:18

Christ. I know we try to do things to serve a community. I'm not opposed to that.

29:25

It's not that I'm opposed to that, right? These are good things, some things that we've done and participated in.

29:31

Passing out food, passing out candy, passing out coats, passing out water bottles, giving children

29:39

Christmas presents. Okay, it's not that I'm opposed to those things, but just know that if you do those things apart from preaching for Christ, you're not witnessing for Christ.

29:50

You're not witnessing for Christ. In some ways, in some ways,

29:55

I want to be kind here, you might actually be witnessing against him because there are non -Christian places that will do those things.

30:04

And so now you do those things just like those other non -Christian and godless places, and the church is just lumped in with that.

30:11

The church is just a welfare situation. It's like the church is not a witness, but a welfare organization.

30:19

No, I'm not opposed to those things, but just understand that we witness by preaching.

30:26

The church is obligated to use her voice. Am I saying just be unholy and go around?

30:32

No, of course, we need to back that up with holy living, godly homes, godly marriages. All of these things are true, but we can't be a silent witness.

30:41

We must preach Christ. Okay, but that's not what I'm getting at in this point.

30:49

What I'm getting at here in exhortation is this. So the purpose of preaching in Peter's sermon, exposition, exaltation, but you can't miss this third, exhortation.

31:09

What am I saying? Just listen carefully. That for the preacher and the hearer, we're not just filling our minds with great truth of what

31:23

Jesus has accomplished. The goal of our preaching is to persuade, to move, and this is the

31:32

Spirit's work, but to move men and women and boys and girls to do something, to look to Christ.

31:42

Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, wider than snow you may be today, to repent of their sins, to trust

31:50

Christ by grace alone, through faith alone, to run to Jesus as our only suitable and all -sufficient

31:55

Savior. If I preach the most wonderful message, and all it does is fill your mind with warm, fuzzy thoughts, but you go out and you've never moved your soul to close with Christ, I've failed.

32:14

Christ. Closing with Christ. Exhortation. To live now, as a

32:21

Christian, all of your life under His supreme authority. I'm saying that sermons are not lectures.

32:30

They're not TED Talks. Lord Jones says, preaching is logic on fire, and it's designed,

32:37

I'm saying by God, to move the hearers. In fact,

32:43

I'll model that now. Friends, you've heard the Gospel, right? You need to understand this.

32:50

George Whitfield put it this way, an unapplied Christ is no

32:55

Christ at all. An unapplied Christ is no

33:00

Christ at all. What does he mean by that? What he means is that we're not merely filling our minds, but we must have

33:08

Christ applied to the soul. An unapplied Christ is no Christ at all.

33:15

So friends, do you only know an unapplied Christ? Are you here this morning, and you know about Jesus, and you hear the things about the singing, and you know we read the

33:24

Confession and Catechism, and you're like, well, I think that's a solid church, and you know a lot of things in your mind, but Christ hasn't been applied to your soul.

33:34

Give facts. Give songs. But you stand outside of union with Him.

33:41

He's not beloved in your heart as Lord and Savior and King. Save yourself from this crooked generation.

33:52

That's what Peter preaches, and that's what I preach to you, and you do so by running to Jesus. Verse 21, call upon Him, and you will be saved.

34:01

Repent of your sins and believe the Gospel. Why would you come to this church time and again and only know about Christ and leave with Him unapplied to your soul?

34:13

Christ will be your Savior. Christ will forgive you of your sins. Christ will justify you by His own righteousness.

34:20

Christ will have you adopted into His family, but not if you're satisfied by remaining in your sin and misery.

34:31

But if you'll call upon the name of the Lord, if you'll repent of your sins and you'll trust

34:37

Him, I don't care who you are and what you've done. I don't care what your past looks like.

34:45

I don't care the secret sin that no one knows about. I just know this.

34:51

God will forgive you in Christ if you go to Him and you trust

34:59

Him. Would there be any here who would go to our Savior? The priority of preaching, the purpose of preaching.

35:09

Exposition, exaltation, exhortation. Thirdly, the power of preaching.

35:15

Now, I have three points here as well. This is a powerful sermon. This is, in one sense, a sermon that changed the world.

35:23

3 ,000 souls saved. Why was Peter's sermon so powerful? Number one, it was powerful because it was biblical.

35:32

I just love this quote from J .C. Ryle, so listen to this. The divine comforter of the church, the

35:38

Holy Spirit, has always employed one great weapon to oppose Satan's plans.

35:44

That weapon is the Word of God. The Word expounded and unfolded.

35:53

The Word explained and opened up. The Word made clear to the head and applied to the heart.

35:59

The Word is the chosen weapon by which the devil must be confronted and confounded.

36:04

The Word is the sword that his ministers must use in the present day if they would successfully resist the devil.

36:11

The Bible, faithfully and freely expounded, is the safeguard of Christ's true church.

36:19

J .C. Ryle. Why was Peter's sermon powerful? Number one, it was powerful because it was biblical.

36:27

It was a sermon that he didn't just get up and say, Hey, what are your felt needs today?

36:32

What are you struggling with today? What's going on in the world today? No, he stood and he opened up the

36:39

Word of God and he preached. He preached. This is Joel. This is from Joel, he says.

36:46

And I'm saying that the power of our preaching is in the preaching of God's Word.

36:53

It's not the preacher who is powerful, it is the Word of God. We must be men like Spurgeon who said,

36:59

How do you defend a lion? You let it out of the cage. What do you do with the Bible?

37:04

You open up the book and you let it fly. Preach the Bible. Power in the

37:10

Word. Secondly, it was powerful because it was beautiful. Now, give me some liberty here.

37:16

I'm reaching back to last week's sermon where I talked about the Holy Spirit beautifying creation.

37:23

What I mean by beautiful is not that the outline is beautiful or whatever. What I mean is it's beautiful because the

37:28

Holy Spirit is operating. A powerful sermon has the Holy Spirit's operation.

37:37

It's why Owen, John Owen, it would be hard -pressed to find a smarter man who's lived than John Owen.

37:46

And yet John Owen talked about the preaching of John Bunyan, a little tinker, not formally educated, not in the presence of kings, and yet he was amazed by the tinker's preaching.

38:00

Why is that? It was Holy Spirit anointed. A sermon may not have alliterated points.

38:08

It may be in simple, even childlike language. It may never mention Greek or Hebrew words.

38:15

But if a biblical and Christ -exalting sermon is being preached, it's because the Holy Spirit is in it.

38:22

And it is beautiful. If you say, well, how do I know? Well, I say you've never heard preaching then.

38:31

There is a beauty in biblical and Christ -exalting preaching that captures us in an inexplicable way, compels us to adjust our lives, calls us to repent, rests us in Christ, opens our eyes to His glory.

38:51

How is this happening? How is this happening? How am I being drawn now to Christ?

38:57

Why is my heart breaking? Why am I in awe of Christ? Why do I feel in love more now with the church?

39:04

Why do I see the glory of God? Is it because the voice of the preacher is so mesmerizing, so wonderful?

39:10

No, it's because the Holy Spirit is working through the preaching. Why is

39:17

Peter's preaching powerful? Because the Holy Spirit has determined to use this as a means to save His people and to sanctify

39:25

His people and to conform His people to Christ. I don't know about you, but have you never just sat and heard a sermon and you thought to yourself, how was the preacher a fly on the wall this week?

39:41

How did he know that I was going through that? How could he possibly know

39:47

I needed that? I needed that conviction. I needed that encouragement. I needed that challenge.

39:53

I needed that grace. How could he possibly know that? Well, I'll give you a little preaching secret.

39:59

He didn't know, but the Holy Spirit knew. And the

40:04

Holy Spirit brought to your heart the voice of the shepherd, the voice not of your pastor, but the voice of the chief shepherd, the voice of Christ through the preaching and application of the

40:17

Bible. He applied it to your soul in a way that only He can. In fact, I'll give you an example from the sermon.

40:23

Look at verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. How were they cut to the heart?

40:32

Isn't that interesting? You take a false religion like Islam, and they try to chop people's heads off in order to gain conversions.

40:41

You know what the Holy Spirit does? The church doesn't chop people's heads off. The Holy Spirit cuts men's hearts.

40:50

He takes the preaching of the Word of God, and He takes it and He shoots it like an arrow into the hearts of little girls and little boys and to old men and to old women and to young men and to young women and all the ones in between.

41:05

And as the preaching of the Word of God goes forth, the Holy Spirit is in it and anointing it, and He is using it to draw sinners to Himself, to raise spiritually dead to spiritual life, to sanctify us, to move us from this way, to move us from slothfulness, to move us towards godliness, to increase our love for one another, to increase our love for Christ, and on and on and on and on.

41:35

Peter's sermon was powerful because it was biblical because it was beautiful. Thirdly, because it was bold.

41:46

I've been waiting all sermon to remind you of this point. Do you remember our sermon's title?

41:54

Not the long one. I don't even remember it. The short one. The Fisherman's Fire.

42:01

Let me remind you of something. This is Acts chapter 2. This is the day of Pentecost.

42:07

This is 50 days from the resurrection. And do you remember the night of Jesus' betrayal?

42:16

Less than two months ago from our time in Acts 2. Less than two months prior.

42:24

Where are you at, Pete? Are you a bold man?

42:30

Are you standing up to the Pharisees? Are you standing up to Pontius Pilate?

42:36

Are you just bold for Christ? No, he's a coward. He denies

42:43

Christ. He cowers. I love how the Bible makes it so plain.

42:49

It's a little servant girl. Aren't you one of those guys? And he begins to call a curse upon himself.

42:55

He's scared of a servant girl. But something happened.

43:06

Two months prior, he wouldn't even have been caught listening to Jesus' music in his car. Let alone stand up and preach a sermon.

43:13

But something happened! What happened? Grace! God forgave him.

43:19

God empowered him. Christ commissioned him. The Spirit of God works within him. And now here he is, 50 days later, and he says things like this.

43:29

Look at verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both

43:35

Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you should try out one day.

43:42

No! This Jesus who you should ask into your heart. No! This Jesus whom you crucified.

43:53

That's bold. By the way, he's in Jerusalem. What did they just do 50 days before?

44:00

They killed Jesus! They killed him! And now Peter's standing up and he's looking, and some of their faces, maybe we should consider that very truly, some of those were actually standing in the crowd.

44:14

Right? We know some were from out of town. But some of those men actually were condemning Christ. And Peter looks at them, and he maybe points his finger at them, and he says, we know this for sure, because this is in the

44:24

Word, you crucified him without regard to his life.

44:31

He doesn't stand before the people and say, hey, let's try Jesus. He doesn't look around at the apostles and say, oh man, look, we've got this big crowd, all these people here, what are we going to do to captivate them?

44:41

I know, let's build a stage. I'll come in on a motorcycle. I'll do a few flips with the motorcycle, and I'll tell a few jokes, and then next week even more people will come.

44:51

We'll jump on a trampoline. We'll juggle chainsaws. We'll jump off a high dive. Something to captivate this crowd.

44:57

No, friends, pragmatism is powerless. No, what he does is he boldly preaches

45:05

Christ. He's not nuancing his points. He's not worried about winsomeness.

45:11

There's no authority in any of those things. But the righteous, Proverbs says, are as bold as a lion.

45:20

Do you know where there is power? Do you know where there is power? Not in all the gimmicks.

45:27

There's power when a man will stand in the pulpit, open the Word of God, and boldly say, this is what you have done.

45:33

This is what God says about it. Judgment is coming. This is how we must adjust our lives. This is what you're guilty of.

45:39

But hear me now. There is grace today if you'll repent of your lawless deeds and run to Jesus.

45:46

Here's the Bible. Here's what God says. This is what you must do. There is no compromise.

45:52

There is no skirting their issue. There is no retreat. There is no backing up. This is what we must do.

45:59

Preach. Boldly. Christ is King. A healthy church will prize that kind of preaching.

46:15

And frankly, it's hard to explain. Oh, I have that kind of preaching over here.

46:23

It's like, no you don't. Well, how is this preaching different? It's just hard to explain, isn't it?

46:29

Unless you sit under it and you hear it and you absorb it and you believe it. This is not brashness.

46:37

This is not saying catchy, quotable, outlandish statements so you get more followers on Instagram.

46:45

This is humble men who will be unafraid to say what needs to be said in any given situation.

46:52

Try tying it clearly and unapologetically to the authority of God's Word. This is the fisherman's fire.

47:02

And it serves not only as a momentous event in history, the sermon that changed the world, but it stands as a model for us today.

47:17

Let me give you some application and we'll close. God has ordained preaching as a means of grace to bring about the conversion of the nations and to sanctify and edify

47:41

His church. We must... I'm not saying for me.

47:48

I'm not saying, Noah, this is just Quatro's preference. I'm saying we must, in response to God, highly value the kind of preaching that we see in Acts 2.

48:06

This is not an application point, but just as an aside. You say, well, I don't know about those guys going out in the community and open -air preaching.

48:13

Okay, let me just say this. You don't have to go with us. I'd love for you if you want to go with us. I hope you pray for us.

48:19

But would you just know that the crazy guys that are doing that are doing that not to get a name for themselves.

48:25

I mean, y 'all really think that? You think that's my goal? I wake up in the morning like, how can

48:30

I have Perryville think I'm weirder than I am? It's not my goal.

48:38

But we do have this goal, that we believe in the power of preaching. And then inside the church, we believe in the power of preaching.

48:48

So here's how you can support this kind of preaching. Here's how you can value this kind of preaching.

48:56

Number one, discern it. And here's what I mean. Think about the sermons that you hear.

49:04

Be discerning. Be a Berean. Do they follow the model that you've heard today from Acts?

49:11

I don't want us to be a church of nitpickers. But I do want us to understand that there is a high bar for preaching.

49:21

And much of what passes for preaching in many places is not biblical.

49:26

It's not Christ -exalting and it's not Spirit -empowered. Now, let me just tell you something, church.

49:34

This should not make you prideful. Yeah, but look what we got at Providence. No, it should make you weep.

49:40

Because Christ is worthy of biblical pulpits. Be discerning.

49:48

Number two, appreciate it. Give God glory for faithful preaching.

49:59

When is the last time you said, God, I want to give you glory for faithful preaching? It's the wisdom of God to work this way.

50:11

And don't take biblical preaching for granted. And we've got to hold the rope here.

50:17

And we've got to encourage it. And we've got to support it. There's passages in the Scripture where God says, there'll be a famine in the land.

50:23

A famine of my word. You think about how many places in America today, and maybe even in Arkansas today, how many places don't value preaching?

50:34

I'll be honest with you. I need to be more grateful how much this church,

50:41

I believe, does love preaching. Now, some of you, you may need to repent. And if the Holy Spirit's working hard, do so.

50:46

But as a whole, I see value in preaching here because so many of you,

50:52

I apologize for going too long. And some of you are like, go longer, right? Some of you may like go shorter.

51:00

Appreciate it. Thirdly, hunger for it. Okay, I'm going to say some things that are very applicational.

51:07

And I just need you to listen, please. Give me grace, but listen to me.

51:13

Prepare for preaching on Saturday night. Saturday night,

51:19

I understand things come up sometimes, but it's not a great night to just stay out all night. Remember your pastors before you go to bed.

51:29

Pray for them. Now, when you come into the service, I'm just going to meddle a little bit.

51:35

When you come into the service, work the best you can to avoid distraction. So what would this mean?

51:42

Put up your phone. Okay, for some of you, you're like, well, I read the Bible on my phone. I'm not going to hammer that.

51:48

You read the Bible on your phone, it's the same Bible. But if it becomes a distraction, let's go old school and bring the paper back, right?

51:56

Because it's very easy to click on a different app while the preaching's happening. So don't be distracted.

52:05

You can be outwardly look like you're paying attention, but you can be distracted in your brain.

52:11

You're daydreaming. What would it be like if I had $5 million, right? It's just the weirdest thing just come into your mind and then you latch on to those and you just stay there and you're just doing this with your head, but you ain't here, right?

52:24

I could say, you know, Popeye's chicken or something. And you're like, because you're not here.

52:33

You've got to value preaching, you've got to hunger for it. Okay, let me say this.

52:42

Children and parents, let me just encourage you. We must teach our children if we're going to hunger for the value of preaching, we must teach our children that this is a time that we highly value.

52:59

Okay, so for example, adults stop whispering to each other. It's funny. Sometimes I'm like, I can see you, right?

53:05

And there may be something come up, you know, like, what are we going to do?

53:11

Well, if my hair's on fire, I don't whisper, shout. But listen, when you whisper to one another, you're a distraction and you're also teaching your children.

53:21

Mom and dad, it doesn't matter, right? This is a fun time to make jokes and comments.

53:27

Now, listen, this is age appropriate. So don't, you know, I'll talk more about this and I'm not saying like my children are perfect.

53:32

They're not perfect. They're certainly not perfect. And there's been years that it's been very difficult. But just as a general observation, we teach our children at the best we can, age appropriate, that this isn't the time for fidgeting.

53:44

If you have to use the restroom, the ideal time to use the restroom is before the service begins. But if you have to use the restroom, maybe when we're about to sing the last hymn, it's one final call.

53:53

Anybody need to use the restroom, right? That way we go out now and we're not going out during the preaching. So we're not depriving ourselves and we're not distracting others.

54:02

These are just things. Teaching our children according to their age appropriateness, the value of preaching.

54:08

Now, don't for one second think that I'm talking about get your babies out of here. We want babies. I want to hear them all crying.

54:14

I preached in this church when there were no babies and it was miserable. I want babies.

54:21

Not more babies, Stephanie. I mean, I want babies in our church.

54:28

You understand? So that's why I say age appropriateness. But understand.

54:35

Understand that this is a serious time. Fourthly, I'll say this.

54:41

Support it. How we value preaching in the church today. Support it. And I have three ways you can support it.

54:46

One, pray for it. I've already mentioned. Just know, I usually prepare my sermons to heavy meat on Tuesdays.

54:52

Would you pray for me on Tuesday? Would you write it on your calendar? Put it on your phone? It's like, oh yeah,

54:58

I'm going to pray. I hope you would. Would you pray for Pastor Jacob? Secondly, encourage it.

55:03

I don't mean give compliments. I just mean encourage the primacy of preaching in this place.

55:09

So help us as a church body to stand against whatever may try to take the place of preaching. And challenge your pastors.

55:17

If we fall below the standard of preaching that we've seen modeled in our text, we want you to say something to us.

55:26

Thirdly, respond to it. Pray for it. Encourage it. Respond to it. I'm going to tell you, church, the sermon isn't just to make you laugh, encourage you, whatever.

55:35

Not just for your mind. Sermons are to move your heart. And not merely stay in your heart, but to move from your heart to your will.

55:44

So think about it this way. The tongue of the preacher, the goal is that it would move the feet of the people. And I don't mean an altar call.

55:52

Maybe I should just mention this. Did Peter give an altar call in our text? No. He's like,

55:57

Peter, give an altar call. What is that? He has no idea. There's an altar already. Christ laid himself upon it.

56:04

No. Altar calls are not a New Testament thing. They're not even a church history thing until 200 years ago.

56:10

So what I mean is this. Think about what you've heard. I know we kind of went on some tangents there in the application, but think about all you've heard this morning in the sermon and go to the

56:19

Lord and seek to repent in any area you need to repent. Am I prizing the church like I ought to?

56:25

Am I prizing preaching like I ought to? Am I doing these things? Seek His mercy and grace and ask

56:31

Him to change you in accordance with what was preached according to His Word. And maybe that's a drawn -out process.

56:40

Maybe that's a weak thing. You're wrestling with the Lord. You're on your face. You have tears in your carpet.

56:46

Maybe that's true. Sometimes it's that, but sometimes it's just right now. Right now.

56:52

Like right where you are. How does the Lord want you to respond to this message?

56:58

Don't say you value preaching if you're not responding to it in faith. How does

57:03

He want you to respond? For some of you, I'll tell you, you need to be saved. You need to be saved.

57:10

You've heard about Christ. Maybe you've heard about Christ your whole life, but you never clothed with Christ.

57:16

Today, I plead with you. Call upon the name of the Lord. Save yourself from this crooked and twisted generation.

57:22

May the Holy Spirit of God, even now, open your heart and receive all that God has for you in Christ.

57:28

Believe. Be saved. Repent. Do not delay.

57:34

Others are in this room, and you have lingering sin issues. The Spirit does this sometimes. You might have a sin issue that I haven't even addressed this morning, but right now you're convicted of it.

57:44

Why? Because the Word of God has been preached, and the Spirit is bringing it to your heart and says, let that go.

57:51

Repent. Give it to Christ. Turn away from it. Confess your sins.

57:58

Others, you just need to have a healthier view of the church. You've heard about preaching today, and you're like, that's right.

58:04

I want this. I need to love the church better. I need to value preaching better. Okay, whatever the case may be, respond in faith.

58:11

Speak to the Lord, even now in your heart. Ask Him for mercy to change. Look to Christ our

58:17

King. Let me give you a sobering word from Sam Waldron. He says this.

58:22

Your response to preaching, are you listening to me? Your response to preaching will save you, or it will further your damnation.

58:35

What? You heard the gospel today, and you go out on Highway 9 and 10 and a log truck runs you over.

58:47

It's a terrible thought, but it's not beyond the realm of possibilities. And you stand before God of judgment, and He brings up this sermon.

58:55

Not because it's the best sermon ever preached, but I can tell you this. The gospel was preached, and you sat there, like a knot on a log.

59:04

Can't wait until lunchtime, only to know there'll never be another bite of food in your mouth before you meet your

59:11

Maker. I'm saying, the response, Waldron says, to preaching will save you, or it will further your damnation.

59:19

Here it is. Go to Christ. I'm just going to tell you church and then close.

59:25

If grace can take an uneducated, scared, foot in his mouth, fisherman, and transform him into the

59:34

Peter at Pentecost, you've got no excuses. That's what grace does.

59:43

Sovereign grace isn't merely a theological doctrine. It's quite practical.

59:50

It is experiential. It is transforming. Dive in.

59:58

Or, it will further your damnation. What?

01:00:07

You heard the gospel today, and you go out on Highway 9 and 10, and a log truck runs you over.

01:00:16

It's a terrible thought, but it's not beyond the realm of possibilities. And you stand before God of judgment, and He brings up this sermon.

01:00:24

Not because it's the best sermon ever preached, but I can tell you this. The gospel was preached, and you sat there like a gnat on a log, can't wait until lunchtime, only to know there'll never be another bite of food in your mouth before you meet your

01:00:39

Maker. I'm saying, the response, Waldron says, to preaching will save you, or it will further your damnation.

01:00:48

Here it is. Go to Christ. I'm just going to tell you, church, and then close.

01:00:53

If grace can take an uneducated, scared, foot -in -his -mouth fisherman, and transform him into the

01:01:03

Peter at Pentecost, you've got no excuses. That's what grace does.

01:01:25

If you really believe the church is the building, the church is the house, the church is what

01:01:31

God's doing. This is His work. If we really believe what Ephesians says, we are the poimos, the masterpiece of God.