Reverberations of the Resurrection

Reverberations of the Resurrection

Acts 10:34-43

    The Marines have always been an elite fighting force. For years there slogan has been “We are looking for a Few Good Men.”

A Pastor by the name of David Schaal said that his Marine Corps Boot camp lasted 18 weeks. He says that during that 18 week period the recruits were never, ever called Marines. David says that the very last week of Boot Camp was filled with excitement because they all knew they were getting ready to to graduate. Then their Drill Instructors gave all of them a patch to iron on our camouflaged uniform. The Patch simply said- U.S. Marine He says, “We were finally WORTHY of calling ourselves Marines. David Schall says to this day one of the proudest moments of his life, was right after graduation, when his Senior Drill Instructor, looked him in the eye and said, ‘Congratulations Marine”- The Marine Corps is a very proud, exclusive fighting organization, not everybody can become a Marine. 

This is called Exclusionism.  Now this may be a new word to you, but when I came to it, I realized that it fits most of life.  How many of you have applied for a job and were turned down?  How many of you went out for a team and didn’t make it?  How many of you applied for a loan and didn’t get it?  How many of you just wanted to be included in something and were left out for one reason or another?  I have felt this way many times in my life and when you are excluded, the pain is real!

The Bible has some examples of such exclusion.  Out of all of the nations on the earth, God chose Israel to carry His promise of redemption.  Then, out of all of Israel, God focused His plan onto one Man; that man being Jesus.

    Jesus’ death and resurrection brings us to our text for today, and the concept here is the exact opposite of Exclusionism.  Our text for today is all about Inclusion!  After centuries of God’s promises seemingly being exclusive to the Jewish nation, inclusion was a hard lesson learned.  Even the great Apostle Peter was having trouble with what the Resurrection meant.  Here he was, one of the most out spoken of all the disciples, the one who seemed to get it the quickest (Who do you say I am? Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”).  Now, after a vision from God and a trip to a Roman Soldiers house, Peter gets a new revelation: That God doesn’t pick favorites, He accepts people from every nation that fear Him!  Peter saw and understood something that is vital to all our lives!  God wants us all!  You see Peter understood Easter is a Party and Everyone is invited!

That is to say... The good news (gospel) of Easter is that God has opened up Forgiveness and Grace  for ALL who will believe in His Son Jesus Christ!

    Today we see how the effects of Jesus' resurrection continue on past the events of that glorious date.  The text for today comes from a brief sermon given by Peter.  Here he proclaims that ... 

God Accepts (Acts 10:34-35)

God Anoints (vv. 36-38),  and...    

God Appoints  (vv. 39-43)

1. Body
1. God Accepts (vv. 34-35)
1. the message of the Cross is THE message of acceptance
1. God is no respecter of persons
1. We look upon the outward states and conditions of men
2. God looks inward, to the heart
2. As Romans 2:11 claims, God shows no partiality.  This is an extremely important point.  It sweeps away in one breath centuries of racial and religious prejudice.  Anyone, from whatever nation, who meets the requirements of Micah 6:8, that is, anyone who acts justly, loves mercifully, and walks humbly with the Lord, is acceptable to him. This teaching, implicit in the early prophets, now becomes a central tenet of the new faith.  Just as the prophets of old insisted that God’s choice of Israel was an act of grace, not of partiality, which called for a response of obedient service, not of careless complacency, so now this revelation calls for a change of heart leading to forgiveness.  Salvation is open to all.
3. The key to acceptance
1. fear -- Godly, faithful reverence
2. does what is right -- he who, from fear and faith does righteousness.
4. In the eyes of God, all of us equally receive the invitation to "fear" and receive God (Acts 10:35).  Fear is not often stressed in our churches as way to relate to God, especially in a culture wherein fear leads us to isolate and protect ourselves. The fear of God differs from other fears that can so easily immobilize us. 
5. In Luke and Acts, fear is often associated with the appearances of angels (Luke 1:12-13; 1:30; 2:9-10; 5:10; etc.); the natural human reaction is to quiver before such appearances, but rather consistently these messengers of God instruct those to whom they appear not to fear.  That is, the fear of God is not terror or panic, but a profound acknowledgement that God's holiness, power, and love are simply beyond our comprehension.  It is such fear linked with doing "what is right" which marks off the people of God (Acts 10:35).
   God Anoints (vv. 36-38)
1. Christ was chosen by God
6. Jesus Christ
1. The Word of Peace
1. Eph. 2:17 -- He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
2. The Lord of All
3. proclaimed throughout
4. obedient to baptism
7. Peter assumes that his audience already knows some things about Jesus, verse 36. Word has gotten out.  But is it enough? People may know about Jesus, but do they realize Who He is, and why He came to this world?  Believing in the resurrection is important, “it’s a good start”— but even more important is understanding why Jesus died, that we may receive forgiveness for our sins. A popular author was being interviewed on TV and somehow the topic of religion came up.  She admitted, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have no one to forgive me.” We all need forgiveness, and Easter makes that possible.
8. Anointed by God
1. in Spirit and power
2. to do good and to heal
1. John 3:2 -- This man, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”God Appoints (vv. 39-43)
3. witnesses of Jesus are chosen to spread His news
9. God chooses the witnesses of Jesus
1. of His death
2. of His resurrection
3. of His life
4. Illustration -- 
1. Jesus died and rose again. His followers testified to the event.
2. Paul puts it like this, when talking of the Christian message:   (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
1. For what I received / I passed on to you as of first importance: 
2. that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve. 
3. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
4. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles and last of all he appeared to me also... 
3. Now, it seems to me that at least 514 men had seen Him after the Resurrection, and that does not take into account the women! 
4. No wonder Lord Darling said the Resurrection was the best attested fact in history.
5. But the Resurrection is not just a historical fact, it is more.
10. For preaching of
1. judgment
2. forgiveness
3. Isaiah 53: 3-6 --  He is despised and rejected by men,
         A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
         And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
         He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
           Surely He has borne our griefs
         And carried our sorrows;
         Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
         Smitten by God, and afflicted.
           But He was wounded for our transgressions,
         He was bruised for our iniquities;
         The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
         And by His stripes we are healed.
           All we like sheep have gone astray;
         We have turned, every one, to his own way;
         And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  
4. Joel 2:28 -- And it shall come to pass afterward   That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh
2. Conclusion 
1. Why do you think this one man - Jesus -  has had such an effect on our society?    Well I would like to suggest that the answer to this question lies in the events that we celebrate at Easter.
2. Jesus died and rose again on the third day and there are people here today who can testify that they know him.
3. Illustration -- He's still working today
1. Jesus Christ is still working in lives today...delivering all who believe from the oppression and guilt of sin.
2. The proof is seen in the lives and witness of genuine believers.
3. “I tell you Jesus Christ is a myth,” shouted an atheistic lecturer as he concluded his talk in which he ridiculed the Bible and denied the existence of God.
4. A hard-working man, who had come to the meeting in his grimy clothes, stood up and said, “I’m only a working man. I don’t know what you mean by the word ‘myth.’   But can you explain it to me?
5. Three years ago I had a miserable home.  I neglected my wife and children.  I cursed and swore.  I drank up all my wages.
6. Then someone came along and told me about the love of God, and of deliverance from the shackles of sin by turning to Christ.
7. Now all is different!!!
8. We now have a happy home. I feel better every day.  A new power has taken possession of me since Christ came into my life!
9. Sir, can you explain to me what you mean by a ‘myth?”
   
   
   
   
4. In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis made this statement,
1. "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. 
2. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 
3. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."
5. Perhaps you haven’t given it much thought recently, but I would invite to reflect on who you think Jesus is and whether he really did rise from the dead.  
6. As you ponder these things, think about the words of this next song, from the choir, “One Day.”  This song proclaims that, because of the Cross, one day - one glorious day, all who are in Christ will rise again.  All of our questions will be answered, and then, “One Day,” we will see Jesus face-to-face!