Resurrection Power

The Benefits of the Resurrection

 

Text: Acts 2:14-41

The NT presents compelling reasons to believe that Jesus lived a sinless life, died on a Roman Cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose again on the third day.  Those reasons are especially convincing when compiled and presented to someone familiar with the Biblical story.  But what evidence would be compelling enough to convince a seeker who isn’t familiar with the story or is skeptical that Jesus truly rose from the dead and is the living Lord of His Church and Savior of His people?

Perhaps the greatest and most powerful evidence for the truth of what we celebrate today is the radical transformation it should produce in our lives!  We cannot easily dismiss or discount something that so fundamentally altered the thinking and lives of those earlier disciples, who went from fleeing for their lives to joyfully dying for their faith in the resurrected Christ!  And that is precisely what we see in our text from Acts 2, where we meet a group of early Christians who were radically transformed by what they witnessed and experienced related to the resurrection of Jesus some 50 days earlier.

This event and its powerful effect are recorded, explained, and applied in Acts 2:1-41, where Luke records the first sermon ever preached by someone other than Jesus.  As we listen to Peter, I want us to enter into the message as though we were standing there and the Spirit of God was speaking to us, like He spoke to more than 3000 of them who responded decisively and personally to what they heard that morning! 

I. The Powerful ______________ (2:1-13)

 

  • The events described in this chapter took place in Jerusalem on the Day of the Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost was one of the three major feasts in the Jewish calendar, during which every Jewish male had to present himself and his family at the Temple in Jerusalem. 
  • This feast took place 50 days after Passover and commemorated two essential aspects of Jewish life:  1) It was the appointed time for Israel to give back to God the first portion of the grain harvest for the year in thankfulness for God’s provision; and 2) it was associated with the day Moses ascended Mount Sinai and received the Law, which he dispensed to the people God had delivered from Egypt.  
  • While Jerusalem was remembering these two events, a small band of Jesus’ followers gathered in a large room to worship and pray. 
  • In many ways, they represented the “first fruits” of a massive spiritual harvest that God was about to reap for His glory!
  • As they gathered, God’s presence descended upon them powerfully and visibly, just as He had come down on Mount Sinai in Moses’ day many centuries earlier. 

A. It was ______________ (2:1-3)

  • A Mighty Wind 
  • A Miraculous Flame
  • A Multilingual Speech 

 

B. It was ______________ (2:4)

  • Luke’s explanation for all these dramatic divine manifestations is stunning: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit!

 

C. It was ______________ (2:5-11)

  • The people gathered at the Temple who heard about the “mighty works of God” in their own languages came from fifteen different countries scattered throughout the Roman Empire!

D. It was ______________ (2:12-13)

 

  • Some were astounded, deeply impacted, amazed, and marveling.
  • Some were confounded, perplexed, and bewildered.
  • Some were scoffing – “These people are drunk with new wine!”
  • But all were asking “What do all of these things mean?”

 

 

II. The Authoritative ______________ (2:14-36)

 

A. An Ancient ______________ has been fulfilled (2:14-21)

 

B. An Awesome ______________ has been Kept

  • Moses longed for this! 
  • Ezekiel prophesied this!  
  • Jesus promised this

 

C. An Astonishing ______________ has been Validated and Vindicated (2:22-36)

  1. God validated Jesus by the mighty works, wonders, and signs He did through Jesus in their midst (2:22)
  2. God vindicated Jesus by raising him up from the dead after he had been crucified.  The death of Jesus on the cross was:
  3. God glorified and exalted Jesus by enthroning Him at the right hand of God in Heaven (2:33-35)

 

III. The Spiritual ______________ (2:36)
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 

  • A new age has dawned, and a new kingdom has been inaugurated.
  • A new community has been formed, whose members enjoy a new status with God and a new power from His Spirit. 
  • And the person responsible for all of this is Jesus of Nazareth, who has been appointed, anointed, and now exalted and enthroned as the Messiah and the Lord of all!

 

IV. The Personal ______________ (2:37-41)

 

A. Spirit-driven ______________ (2:37)

B. Spirit-generated ______________ (2:39)

C. Spirit-Enabled ______________ (2:40-41)

Conclusion

 

  • What will I do with the resurrection of Jesus?

  • Will I reject it as a hoax?

  • Will I embrace it as just another resurrection God did?

  • Or will I see what God has affirmed and validated about His Son, Jesus Christ and will I turn from my sin to follow Him in all of my ways and for all of my days?

 

 

 

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