Peter Preached at Pentecost (part 3 of 3)

Peter Preached at Pentecost (part 3 of 3)

by | Dec 13, 2016 | Biblical Worship, Ecclesiology, Practical Theology, Worship

Ten Characteristics of True Preaching (6-10)

Preaching Is Scriptural!

It is clear from Peter’s proclamation and preaching that preaching necessarily centrally involves the exposition of Scripture.  This is clear from several aspects of Peter’s sermon.

  • It is clear from the way in which he opens his message by referring to Joel’s prophecy and expounding its relevance to what was happening on that Pentecost. Acts 2:16-21.
  • It is clear from the way in which he comments at length on the meaning of Psalm 16 in Acts 2:25-32.
  • It is clear from the recitation of the Apostolic witness to the words and deeds of Jesus the Christ in verses 22-24 and verses 33-36. What Peter says was not yet inscripturated, but it was tantamount to Scripture and would become Scripture.

Now, of course, all of this makes perfect sense—if you understand what I said in my first point.  Preaching is royal!  If preaching is a herald of the Divine King communicating His royal decree to His people, then, of course, the content of that preaching must be pervasively scriptural—It must be the Word of that King!

True preaching must be expository.  It may be consecutive expository preaching.  It may be topical expository preaching.  It must, however, be the exposition of the Word of God—or it is not preaching!  Clearly, if this is true, much of what is called preaching today, simply is not, because it is not the faithful exposition of God’s Word.

Preaching Is Practical!

What I mean is that preaching is not intended merely to inform people’s minds.  Now it is intended to do that, of course!  But preaching is intended by informing people’s mind to lead them to do something.  This becomes eminently clear in Peter’s preaching.

  • It is clear in his very practical denial of the wicked mockery of those who said the phenomena of the Pentecost were to be attributed to the drunken-ness of the Apostles. This stupid mockery stood in the way of what Peter wanted people to do as a result of his preaching and had to be refuted and put in its place.
  • It is clear from the response that Peter’s preaching actually had. The implications of Peter’s message were only too clear.  It made many in the multitude cry out, Brothers, what shall we do!  Yes, they had understood Peter’s preaching.  It was exactly intended to make them ask this very practical question.
  • It is also clear from the way Peter’s dialogue with them after his preaching was concluded is described. Look at verse 40.  “And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’”  He calls on them to save themselves from their accursed generation!
  • It is finally clear from the practical response to Peter’s preaching. They repented, were baptized, joined the church, and continued with the church in its worship.  Acts 2:41-42.  “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

The question in your mind as you hear preaching should be practical.  It is not merely, What can I learn from the preaching?  It is rather, What must I do because of this preaching!  But this leads directly to my next point.

Preaching Is Consequential!

What I mean to convey by saying that preaching is consequential is that preaching has to do with very serious matters.  Also I mean that your response to preaching will have the most serious consequences!

  • This is conveyed by Peter at the outset of his message when he lifts up his voice and when he urges his hearers to give heed to what he is saying.
  • This is also made plain when in the dialogue at the end of his preaching he says plainly to his hearers that they must save themselves from the perverse generation in which they lived.

Preaching always has to do with your salvation.  Your response to preaching will save you or it will further your damnation.  Oh, dear friend, how do you hear preaching?  Do you realize how serious the consequences are of your response to the preaching of the Word of God?

Let us determine that we will rightly hear the preaching of God’s Word!  This means a number of very practical things.

  • We will train our children not to be a distraction in worship. Our children need to know that there is something important going on during the preaching, and that it is more important than their selfish desires.
  • We will strive to minimize anything that may distract us. We will use the restroom before the preaching.  We will make sure our children have all such needs attended to before the preaching of God’s Word.  We will not needlessly walk in and out during the preaching of God’s Word.  We will do all we can to cut down on such distractions during the preaching of God’s Word.  We will turn off our phones unless there is some emergency to which we may need to attend.
  • If we have to leave during the worship for some emergency, we will not linger and waste time. We will do our necessary business and get back to the worship of God.
  • We will focus our hearts and minds on what God is saying to us in the preaching! We will lock in our attention on the preaching of God’s Word.
  • We will come with properly rested hearts and minds to the worship of God by getting to bed early enough on Saturday evening. The right hearing of the preaching of God’s Word begins with getting to bed at a proper time the night before.
  • We will remind ourselves and our families of what preaching really is! It is God speaking to us through His appointed messenger.  We will set them an example of how to hear the Word of God!

Preaching Is Christological!

Another attribute of the true preaching of God’s Word is that it has a specific message.  That message is Christological.  By that big word I simply intend to say that true preaching is Christ-centered!  It is indisputable that Peter’s first message after the Spirit was poured out and the gospel age dawned focused on the life, words, deeds, and saving power of Jesus Christ.  His preaching in this passage is Christ-centered.

Now, of course, this important fact should not be distorted or misapplied.  It does not mean that we can never preach anything but the doctrines of grace.  It does not mean that we can never preach anything but justification by faith alone.  It does not mean that we can only preach the priestly work of Christ.  Christ has three offices—not just one!  Christ is our sanctifier as well as our justifier!  Christ orders His church by His law and ordinances.  There is more in the Bible than the doctrines of grace.  We may preach, for example, messages about the primacy of Peter and the propriety of preaching.

But having said that, we must never forget that all the diverse, rich, multi-faceted themes of the Bible lead back to Christ.  The primacy of Peter among the plurality of Apostles leads us back to the great singularity of Christ as the center of both the universal and local church!  The propriety of preaching requires that we finally say that true preaching is centered and focused on Christ!

What a condemnation this is of Christ-less preaching!  What a condemnation this is of preaching that goes no farther than telling you how to be healthy, wealthy, and wise by the standards of this world!  What a condemnation this is of preaching that does nothing more than moralize on the basis of a scriptural pretext!  Preaching must lead back to Christ.  As all roads led to Rome in the Roman Empire, so also in true preaching all true preaching leads back finally to Christ!

Preaching Is Universal!

Let me point out another further trait of true preaching.  It is universal.  It is not addressed only to God’s elect.  It is not addressed only to Christians.  It is not addressed only to those who show signs of being converted.  True preaching is to be addressed universally to all men.  We saw that, when he stepped forward, Peter addressed “the men of Judea and all who dwelt in Jerusalem.”  All were to be addressed with the message.  All were to be sincerely, freely, and with a well-meant offer called to save themselves from that perverse generation.

Preaching Is Effectual!

We are surrounded by people who think they are experts in religion, and those people tell us that preaching doesn’t work.  Small groups work, they think.  Contemporary music works, they think.  Dialogue works, they will tell you.  But preaching?  Standing up and simply declaring God’s Word in a long monologue to people?  They will tell you firmly, and with great sympathy for your naïveté and how out of touch you are, that preaching does not work!

But preaching did work on the Day of Pentecost!  Of course, it was and is only a means, but it is a divinely appointed means of grace.  And when Peter was done preaching on the Day of Pentecost, verse 41 tells us there were three thousand more Christians than there were before!  Let us trust God’s methods and close our ears to those who say that God’s appointed means of preaching will not work!

Final Thoughts:  Let me leave you with just three closing thoughts:

  • It is a glorious calling to be called to preach God’s Word. Do not turn a deaf ear if the Spirit is calling you to be a servant and preacher of the Word of God!  Do not run from the sacrifice to which such a calling commits you.
  • It is a serious calling to undertake to preach God’s Word. There are preparations to be made both in your life and in your mind.  There are standards of godliness.  There are standards of gift.  Both are set by the Word of God!  You must not lightly skip over those standards or those preparations in your eagerness to preach.  Neither should the church!  The church should exercise great care in who is allowed to preach God’s Word as the formal representatives of God and especially in the house of God itself!
  • It is a solemn thing to refuse the preaching of God’s Word! We are only the heralds of that great King.  But when men sit there unmoved and disobedient to the preaching they are not rejecting that King’s humble heralds merely!  They are rejecting the King of Kings!

Sam Waldron

Peter Preached at Pentecost part 1

Peter Preached at Pentecost part 2

Peter Preached at Pentecost (part 2 of 3)

Peter Preached at Pentecost (part 2 of 3)

by | Dec 8, 2016 | Biblical Worship, Ecclesiology, Practical Theology, Worship

Ten Characteristics of True Preaching (1-4)

In the preaching of Peter we have at the outset of the Christian dispensation both a proof of the importance and an example of the character of Christian preaching.  Preaching—clearly—is central to Christianity.  After the pouring out of the Spirit on the Day of  Pentecost, the central and most prominent thing that happened is that Peter stood up—stepped forward—and preached.  But what was the character of this preaching which was so vital and central to the birth of the Christian church?  What is the character of this preaching that is so necessary to the ongoing development of the Christian church even to this day?  I will look at ten characteristics of true preaching as exemplified in Peter’s Pentecost sermon.  Here is the first …

Preaching Is Royal!

What I mean is that preaching comes with the authority and imprimatur of the King of Kings.  The Bible’s major words for preaching are all derived from the Greek verb ???????.  He who preaches is a herald for the king.  He speaks with the authority of the king for the king.  This is made perfectly clear in the first occurrence of this verb in the Greek Old Testament known as the LXX (Gen. 41:41-43):

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. 43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed (preached) before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt.” 

This is the idea of preaching.  It is to proclaim before God’s chariot, Bow the knee!  Preaching is not a dialogue.  Preaching is not leading a discussion.  Preaching is a unilateral or one-sided proclamation of the King’s decrees to His people.  He speaks with the authority of the Divine King and proclaims the message of the Divine King.

This idea of preaching is also clear in the New Testament uses of ??????? and its relatives.  Perhaps the best example of its force is 2 Timothy 4:1-2. This text epitomizes the idea of preaching as it says very plainly:  “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”  You see the idea of the solemnity and authority of preaching, as done in the presence of the God who has sent the preacher, and as done with the authority of the God who has sent him.

It is preaching understood in this way, this act of preaching and this duty to preach, which is at the heart of the Christian Ministry.  This idea is what is behind the preaching of Peter on the Day of Pentecost.  Preaching is royal!  The one who preaches represents the King and speaks for the King, and this conception of preaching must control all that is done in preaching.

Preaching Is Verbal.

“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” This is, perhaps, the best known and most commonly quoted statement of St. Francis of Assisi.  It is also very misleading.  Preaching necessarily uses words.  It is verbal.  That is clear from the statement of verse 14 that Peter “raised his voice and declared.”  This is clear from the words of Peter “let this be known to you and give heed to my words.”  This is clear from the entire succeeding context and its description of what Peter said.  Preaching necessarily involves words—verbal communication!  Of course, good preaching should be supported by holy living, but holy living is not by itself or in itself preaching.  Preaching is verbal!  At its heart it is the communication of a royal decree in words.  It is a verbal communication of the very Words of God.

Preaching Is Monological!

Monological sounds like a big word.  It is derived, however, from a word you know.  You know what a monologue is.  It is when one person only or alone speaks.  Mono = one.  Logue = speak!  You know that it is often used of what a comedian does in his entertaining.  He delivers his monologue full of jokes and funny stories.  That is not at all, of course, what a preacher should do.  His goal is not to entertain or to make people laugh.  It is to deliver faithfully the message of the king.  But there is one similarity.  Both the preacher and the comedian are the only ones speaking.  They speak, and the audience listens.  There is a monologue.  This is the idea of preaching, and this is what Peter did on the Day of Pentecost.  A dialogue is when two people talk back and forth, but preaching is clearly not a dialogue.  It is a herald speaking for a king!  Preaching is not a discussion.  It is a proclamation.  And this is what Peter did.  He did not begin by saying that he had something to discuss with them.  He acted on the premise that he had something to proclaim to them.  Preaching is not a dialogue.  It is a monologue.  It is a proclamation!

Preaching Is Central!

Now having said that preaching is not a dialogue or discussion or a question and answer session, I must hasten to say something else.  It is clear that in the whole process of the communication of the gospel that there is a place for dialogue.  At the end of Peter’s preaching—after he has finished his message—, he is confronted with a great and serious question by those to whom he has just delivered the royal message from the king.  Peter then engages in dialogue with those persons who asked the question.  Look at verses 37-41.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will    receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

I am not, therefore, saying that dialogue is wrong.  Quite the contrary!  Preaching aims at creating the dialogue involved in and required by a distressed sinner saying, “Brethren, what shall we do?”    There is a place—an important place—to answer questions.  There is a place to give specific advice to people.  There is a place to sit down with someone and to hear their story and to point them to the way of righteousness.  But here is what must not be missed.  All of this dialogue is secondary to and dependent upon the communication that is central.  That is the communication of preaching!

Dr. Sam Waldron

Peter Preached at Pentecost (part 1)

Part 3 coming 12/13/2016

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