SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/19/2017
12:55 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Acts 2:14-21
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 2:14-21
Message of the
verses: “14 But Peter, standing with
the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who
dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For
these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the
day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “‘And in the
last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male
servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they
shall prophesy. 19 And I will show
wonders in the heavens above and signs
on the earth below, blood, and fire, and
vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be
turned to darkness and the moon to
blood, before the day of the Lord comes,
the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who
calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
We have been talking about Biblical preaching as seen in
the verses above. John MacArthur writes: “The content of biblical preaching can be
summed up in two Greek words: kerugma and didache. Kerugma derives
from the verb kerusso, which means ‘to
proclaim,’ or ‘ to announce a proclamation.’
At least five elements make up the New Testament kerugma. First, it presented
Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. Second, it described Him as God in human
flesh. Third, it focused on His life and
work, especially His death and resurrection.
Fourth, it spoke of His second coming.
Finally it declared that salvation was only through faith in Him, and
that those who rejected Him as Lord and Savior would be eternally damned.
“In addition to kerugma,
or proclamation, true biblical preaching must also contain didache, or teaching. Didache, from which the English word ‘didactic’
derives, refers to the doctrinal content within the preaching of the kerugma.
The epistles are largely composed of this theology of salvation that
provides the depth and breadth and height of preaching. True preaching is proclaiming the great
truths and undergirding them with the richness of the supernatural profound
wisdom revealed throughout Scripture, particularly the New Testament. There is no such thing as genuine biblical
preaching that is devoid of doctrinal content.”
Now as we go through the book of Acts we will see that
frequently it will record that men were persuaded to believe and then be
redeemed by the preaching that the Apostles did. This of course began with Peter’s sermon in
Acts chapter two, and then there are many other examples of this going on
throughout the book of Acts. In the last
half of Acts we see this comes from Paul’s preaching and even while he was in
prison in Rome Paul kept up his ministry of preaching and also persuading men:
23 When they had set a day
for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was
explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying
to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets,
from morning until evening. 24 Some were being persuaded by the things spoken,
but others would not believe (Acts 28:23-24).”
John MacArthur writes “The use of the term ‘persuaded’
suggest the apostolic preaching had both a logical flow and doctorial
content. And Paul affirmed that saving
faith comes by hearing a message about Christ (Rom. 10:17).
“Before launching into the main body of his sermon, Peter
discusses what is immediately on the people’s minds—the phenomena of
Pentecost. He begins by giving a
refutation of the scurrilous charge of drunkenness. Then he offers and explanation of Pentecost
based on Old Testament prophecy.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jesus” (Mark 10:18).
Today’s Bible
question: “Of what country was
Shalmanneser king?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/19/2017 1:21 PM
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