““Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
The Good News about Jesus was the wonderful work of God they were preaching! And though it was Peter who came forward to explain what happened, which led him to preach the Gospel to the crowd, the text says that they were all speaking the Good News in the language of the people! Now consider the various truths contained in Peter’s Good News message and let me know if they sound familiar to you: In verse 17, Last Day Events; verse 18, The Holy Spirit; and again in verse 18, The Gift of Prophesy; verse 21, Salvation by grace through faith; verses 24-32, Resurrection; verses 29-32, The State of the Dead; verse 33, The Trinity or Godhead; and verses 33-34, Heaven. You see, the Bible-wide story and message of the Gospel contains many truths, yet they all function to bring clarity to the one message of the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom! And when we get serious about intentionally uniting in prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit…
OUR MESSAGE WILL BE THE ALL ENCOMPASSING GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS.
It’s like having pieces of a puzzle that, when you put them all together, create a clear picture of something. This is what happens when you put the various truths of the Bible together and arrange them within the framework of the Bible-wide story of the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom. A clear and beautiful picture of the love of God emerges, which draws hearts.
Listen, the only message the Holy Spirit is interested in making go viral throughout the world is the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom! This is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, when He said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 NASB. It’s this same message that John further expounds on, in its end-time context of Revelation 14:6-12. It’s the everlasting Gospel or what we call the three angels messages. Therefore, if any truth, teaching, doctrine or belief isn’t functioning like a piece of a puzzle that fits together to reveal the beautifully compelling, Bible-wide story of Jesus and His Kingdom, then don’t hold your breath, because the Holy Spirit isn’t interested in empowering the spread of it!
We have one message to share; and it’s the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom! And any other truth you share must only serve the purpose of expounding on this Bible-wide message and story! It’s only when we get serious about sharing the all encompassing message of the Good News about Jesus, that the Holy Spirit will fall on us with great power to flood the earth with this message. It is then that the end will come.
Now, when the people heard this message they were cut to the heart and believed it. But then what? What do we do once the people believe? Let’s find out beginning in Acts 2:41…