Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
As we continue looking into the book of Acts, we now move to what I call the greatest sermon ever preached.
As a preacher, this is the model that we should follow.
The other day, Josh asked me what model I use to preach, well, Once we discover today’s text, I can confidently say, If we preach for results, follow this model it has a key component
As I will explain later, there is one key element in this model.
Why, Let’s read the text and I will let you know.
I’m Going to ask that the slides be advanced by ______ as I read through my Bible.
I encourage you to follow along with your Bible as well.
Let’s read
Josh, or anyone who is preaching, if you are looking for results, this is a model.
Around 3 thousand souls were added.
There is a statement roaming out in the world that a good sermon has 3 points.
Well, this sermon has three sections.
An explanation, A proclamation, and a call.
As I began preparing for this message, reading over the text, reading over commentaries about this text, I began to see a pattern similar to some of the training I had from my father many years earlier.
You see my father was a man of many things.
His main employment was a Transit City driver but his heart was that of a salesman.
One of my father’s passion in life was to sell things to people.
I say things quite loosely.
It wasn’t just material objects, but concepts, learning tricks and near the end of his life the passion for the Gospel.
Dad always had three parts of the sales technique that he taught his children.
Introduce yourself, and to be aware of the listener’s needs.
Introduce the product or item.
Show it’s merits and why the person listening would need this.
You must know the product in order to sell it.
Close the sale.
A fact not often taught to people.
Dad would often say, “People are wanting you to ask them to sign up.
If you don’t ask, they won’t offer.”
So what does selling have to do with today’s passage?
Quite honestly, there are similarities to what my father taught me and this approach Peter took as he addressed the people.
The Explanation
Peter’s Sermon began because of a question on the mind’s of the people watching the first appearance of God’s Spirit at Pentecost.
As I mentioned last week, Peter stood up and led the group in a decision of choosing the replacement.
This was a different Peter,
Now filled with the Spirit, standing with the others, scripture tells us
Acts 2:14 (ESV)
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.
Peter’s first sermon was not addressed to the followers of Christ, rather his first sermon was to the onlookers of the gathering of the followers.
“Men of Judah and those dwelling in Jerusalem.”
He was speaking in the local language that would have been Greek to those listening as this was the common language.
He also began by addressing the confusing event, using the negative approach.
They are not drunk.
Sarcastically, it’s only 9:00 am in the morning.
Peter then moves on to tell them what is really happening.
To the Jews, who knew the scripture, he pulled them back to the prophecy.
To the onlookers, he explained that this was foretold many years before
The way Peter uses Joel 2:28–32 is of great significance as you study this passage.
First, it gives us an understanding and appreciation of early Christian exegetical practices and doctrinal commitments
Secondly, we can use this as a pattern for our own treatment of the OT.
Peter is quoting Joel’s words that were actually God’s spoken words for the people.
When they were first spoken to the people there was some confusion and lack of clarity, but now Peter brings some understanding.
fulfillment.
You see Peter’s proclamation can be understood this way
Peter has witnessed the Messiah’s resurrection and dwelling with them.
He takes the Joel Passage and does the following
One:
that “this” that he and the infant church were experiencing in the outpouring of God’s Spirit “is that” prophesied by Joel,
Two:
that these are “the last days” of God’s redemptive program, and
three:
The “Last Days” are the final stages of prophecies of the true salvation and the complete establishment of the Kingdom of God.
The apostles will be proclaiming (The New Testament) and fulfill the understanding of God’s message and the need for a true repentance
Some Content taken from:
Longenecker, R. N. (1981).
The Acts of the Apostles.
In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.),
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts (Vol.
9, pp.
275–276).
Zondervan Publishing House.
This morning I do not want to deal specifically on the implication of Joel’s passage and how we are to understand specifically what that passage means to us.
That is a complete sermon or Bible Study.
To be honest it is these types of texts that give way to a resurgent of the former ways of Adult Sunday Classes.
But what we can take away from this text is that Peter is realizing that the time is coming where calling on the Name of the Lord is coming into a clearer understanding of end times.
It should draw us to a greater urgency to proclaim the Good News to those around us.
You see as one person puts it,
God has inaugurated, Peter proclaims, the long-awaited “last days” here and now, and we know this because of the reinstitution of prophecy.
Other signs, to be sure, were part of Joel’s vision, but Peter does not stress them.
His emphasis is entirely on prophecy as the sign of the inauguration of the last days.
Even though he might have had his own personal expectations, Peter leaves all else for God to work out in the Messianic Age that had been inaugurated.
We could paraphrase Peter by saying the Time has come
The Gift has been given.
Peter’s is proclaiming in his explanation the need for the coming Proclamation.
Peter’s first sermon, a compelling sermon, started with the deliverance of the Gift.
This is the key component of the sermon model.
A sermon without the Spirit working in the lives of people is a talk with empty words.
One person wrote,
Once Peter started, he was caught up by the Spirit’s power.
A further miracle of Pentecost resulted: the miracle of preaching.
You may wonder why I call preaching a miracle; we’ve all heard plenty of it that didn’t seem very miraculous to us!
But preaching of a biblical text with the power of the Spirit, to people whom He has prepared, seldom lacks for miraculous result: conviction, faith, and changed lives.
Authentic preaching is really prophecy—not foretelling, but forthtelling.
It is done with boldness, courage, and urgency.
And it’s not only done in hand-carved pulpits with colored hangings for the right season of the Christian year.
Preaching is certainly a special calling, but its main purpose is to proclaim the gospel in an impelling way so that every member can be prophetic in sharing the faith.
The Proclamation
After explaining the reason for the sermon, Peter then dives right into the proclamation.
As we work our way through Acts, this is the first of many sermons and they all seem to have the same types of themes in his sermons.
1. “The age of fulfillment has dawned.”
2. “This has taken place through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, of which a brief account is given, with proof from the Scriptures.”
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