Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series. Click to read part one.

Secondly then, what exactly do we preach?

Notice something very interesting in verse 22. The first part of Peter's sermon (maybe it wasn't really his sermon so much as an introduction), he had a problem that I know some other preachers have of too long introductions and not getting into their conclusion. However, be that as it may, when he really gets down to proclaiming his message, notice in verse 22 how he does it: "Men of Israel, listen to this." Now, that's introduction.

Now, what is the beginning of his message? "Men of Israel, listen to this, Jesus of Nazareth …"

What is the end of his message? Verse 36: "Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this, God has made this Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ." Now granted, we amplify that. Granted we apply it. But that is the fundamental message of the Christian church. Wherever we preach, whatever it is we're dealing with, we have to be focusing in on what God is doing, has done, will do through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the focal point of our preaching.

Now, let's look quickly at his sermon here. Notice a number of things that amplify this basic message that he was preaching: Jesus, Lord and Christ. First of all, in verse 22, he says, "Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know." He was preaching Jesus Christ's earthly life. He was reminding them of the fact that God in Christ had come into the world, and that God had accredited his Son. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And he had undergirded that endorsement by working through him with miracles and wonders and signs. We preach Jesus and his incarnation, his coming into the world and in so doing clearly demonstrating to us by what he achieved, that God was with him and that he was uniquely the Son of God.

Notice in verse 23 he goes on immediately to say, "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge, and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross."

The second thing we preach about Jesus is his crucifixion. Notice two aspects to this crucifixion. On the one hand, it was the result of human wickedness. On the other hand, it was the result of the divine plan and purpose. There is no sense denying the fact that human beings at that time were involved in the betrayal, in the false trial, in the bitter hatred, and the cruel execution of the cross. But if that was all it was, there'd be no particular significance to us 1,900 years later. But Peter is careful to point out—and the other apostles develop it at a greater length—this simple truth: when Jesus died on the cross, it was not just the result of wicked men, but it was God's eternal plan for all time being worked out. It was according to his set purpose and foreknowledge. So when we preach, we preach his incarnation, we preach his crucifixion. Then of course, immediately the other thing is that we preach verse 24: "But God raised him from the dead."

There was a famous preacher in Britain years ago called Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He preached at Westminster chapel, close to Buckingham Palace, in the center of London. He was known for praying for 20 minutes before he preached, and then preaching for 45 minutes. And he took, I think it was, 17 years to preach through the epistle to the Romans, with intervals for eating and sleeping, of course. He distinguished himself by getting totally bogged down in this expression "But God" and preached on it for week after week after week. Can you imagine that? I can.

The point is this: it is a statement concerning divine intervention in the affairs of men. The great divine intervention after the incarnation is the resurrection. On the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead, Christianity stands or falls. It is either true or false. If it is true, it is the most superlative truth known to man. If it is false, then the whole thing is a hoax. Let's put up the shutters, sell the building, and I'll go back to earning an honest living. However, the apostolic message presented down through the centuries through the power of the Spirit is an exciting message. It is that God has raised him from the dead. And he goes on to say, "And we are witnesses of this fact." This is not just something that was done in a corner. This is something that was clearly, historically verifiable, and Peter and the other people standing around were witnesses of that fact.

Notice that he then goes on to talk about something else that follows on quite naturally about the Lord Jesus. Verse 32: God has raised this Jesus to life, and we're all witnesses to the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God—that's the next thing we preach about Jesus: his incarnation, his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension and exaltation. Ascended to the right hand of God is another way of saying that he has been put in the place of final and ultimate authority. He has been put in the place of final ultimate authority.

Now here, you've got an incredible message developing. It is this: that God has come in the person of Jesus, that he has worked through Jesus to prove that he has come, that he has died willingly on the cross for our sins, that God has raised him from the dead, that he's been taken back into the heavens and has been given the place of ultimate, final authority.

Not only that, he has now poured out his Spirit. Verse 33: "He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." In other words, the risen Lord Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit is making it possible for him to come and live within the hearts of his disciples, to empower them and to transform them and to change them from the inside out. This is what we preach.

Now he comes to his conclusion. Verse 36: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." I can promise you that many people in his audience at that time did not appreciate what he said. For just a few days earlier, a few weeks earlier, they personally had been involved in having him killed. That's fearless, frank, free preaching—announcing the good news, proclaiming Christ.

Well, clearly there's much more that could be said about that. We've just raced through it. But let me ask you a final question here and ask this of yourself: what exactly is preaching supposed to achieve? That may surprise some of you. You didn't know that it was supposed to achieve anything. You just thought it was something we did for the second half of the worship service. No, it really has an objective. What is it intended to achieve?

The clues are found in the passage here. Verse 37: After he'd said Jesus was Lord and Christ: "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers what shall we do?"

Three things were achieved by Peter's preaching: Number one, they heard him. They really heard him. Comprehension. They understood what was being said.

Secondly, they were cut to the heart, literally pierced. It's the same word that is used when the soldier pierced the side of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Conviction. The preaching brought comprehension and in the power of the Spirit brought conviction of sin in those people's heart. What was the essence of their sin? That Jesus was Lord and Christ, and they had rejected him. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the essence of all sin: our independence in the face of the lordship of God and his Son.

I believe that one of the great needs of the preaching today, in this church and in any other church, is for the Holy Spirit to be able to take the anointed Word and wing it home to people's hard, calloused hearts in such a way that they're pierced and broken with conviction—comprehension and conviction.

The question then came: "Brothers, what shall we do?" And he told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Clarification: in verse 41, "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Conclusion: what is it that we hope to conclude in preaching? Preaching should result in comprehension, conviction, clarification, and conclusion. Salesmen say you've got to close a deal. Somehow or other we have to be expecting God to bring closure to bear in people's hearts. Some people think it's the preacher's job to do this. Some preachers have various techniques designed to help this. I'm not sure they do help. Closure happens in the inner recesses of a person's heart before God when they accept the message and respond to what they know.

In conclusion then, here are some points to ponder. If preaching is one of the chief means God uses to speak to me, what exactly is he saying? Am I listening? And what am I doing about it? Now those are the points that I want you to take away with you. If preaching is one of the chief means God uses to speak to me, what is he saying? Am I listening? And what am I doing?

Stuart Briscoe is minister-at-large of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and author of several books, including What Works When Life Doesn't (Howard Books).