This Jesus

Lest there be any confusion, all that we are, all that happens, all that we do, all the energy and time we put into life is to be about Jesus. At the centre of this church, our marriages, our families, our friendships, and our individual lives is Jesus.

I realize that while that is the aspiration, many do not live that way at all, and even those who love and follow Jesus struggle to make it true day by day. It’s a battle to keep Jesus at the centre.

But a day is coming when, “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Every single tongue will confess that. Eventually. For many, it will be too late; an acknowledgement that is compelled by standing before him in his glory at the doorstep of eternity.

The better way, of course, is to acknowledge him now, on this side of eternity, and to engage in that daily struggle to keep him at the centre of all things.

In Acts 2:22-36, the Apostle Peter moves into the second part of his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Having addressed the matter of the miraculous signs that had taken place, he turns his listeners' attention to the central message and the central figure, Jesus Christ and his gospel. The focus in this section is on the person of Jesus as the one and only Lord and Saviour of the world as Peter points repeatedly to, “This Jesus.”

As we look at this passage, we too will be pressed to see how, “This Jesus” must occupy the very centre of our lives as we surrender completely to who he is and what he has done for us.

Sermon Notes

The Book of Acts | Chapters 1–7
This Jesus
Pastor Todd Dugard
Acts 2:22-36

October 6, 2019

This Jesus is…

• Human – Identify with him (v. 22a)

• Powerful – Have faith in him (v. 22b)

• Crucified – Die with him (v. 23)

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Unknown

• Raised – Find new life in him (v. 24, 31–32)

• Divine – Worship him (v. 25, 33)

• Hope – Rest in him (v. 26–28)

• Lord – Submit to him (v. 29–30, 34–36)

There are professing Christians who need Christ. They’ve heard, but they haven’t heard. It is possible to be a respectable, well-taught, moral sinner.
R. Kent Hughes