The Sermon of Peter – part 1
Acts 2:14-42 (14-23)
February 26, 2012
Thus far in our study of the book of Acts
We have seen Luke be very specific in the events he has shown us.
Chapter 1 told us two very important things.
1) The Church’s Power
2) The Church’s Guide
Now it is time to see the means through which the Spirit of God works.
We know that the church is a unique mystery.
• It is us at work.
• It is God at work.
And yet somehow both are true.
This balance is seen a couple of places in Scripture.
1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
And so it is clear that you cannot separate
That God is responsible for church work and so are we.
Tonight we begin to see the means through which God works in us.
And that answer is rather clear.
God has always had a preferred means
Through which He uses us to grow His church.
And that means is preaching.
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
And this is not a new concept.
• When John the Baptist came on the scene he was a preacher or repentance.
• When Jesus began His ministry He preached to the masses.
• Paul was certainly a preacher.
Colossians 1:28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
And even when Paul wrote to other men he told them to do the same.
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
It is clear in Scripture that the means by which God
Would confront sinful humanity with the truth
Is through the preaching of the gospel.
Certainly sermons are a part of that,
But ultimately it is the simple proclamation of the gospel.
God intended for His truth to spoken to the lost in the world.
• We can write books…
• We can devise dramas…
• We can sing songs…
• We can do random acts of kindness…
And no one is denying the usefulness of such endeavors,
But it does not change the fact that when God orchestrated the means
By which the lost would be ushered into His church
It was through preaching the gospel message.
Romans 1:14-16 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Preaching is the means.
And so it is by no surprise that a sermon
Is the first recorded act that any of the apostles does.
1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”
And that is precisely what Peter is doing here.
And of course you remember the setting of the event.
• It was Pentecost
• Jerusalem was packed
• 120 were in the upper room
And in a moment of power the Holy Spirit arrived,
He distributed Himself and filled every believer in the room
And they all began to speak with other tongues.
The noise of the wind was so loud that all of Jerusalem showed up
And they were all amazed to hear this gathering
Speaking of the mighty deeds of God in their own native languages.
Some were immediately interested wanting to know what this all means.
Others were expectantly skeptical accusing the 120 of just being drunk.
Either way it is time for a witness.
It is time for someone to stand and deliver.
The work of the Church is officially under way!
Tonight I want us to begin to look at Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.
There are 5 things that we see, although I doubt we will get all the way through.
#1 THE REALITY
Acts 2:14-21
It is certainly important that we don’t rush so quickly into the sermon
That we fail to see the miracle of verse 14.
(14) “But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.”
I know that may not at first appear very miraculous, but think about it.
We are talking about Peter here aren’t we?
Mr. “I don’t know the man”?
• Peter didn’t stand correctly in the garden…
• Peter didn’t stand faithfully at the trial…
• Peter didn’t even attempt to stand at the crucifixion…
Peter has been one blown opportunity after another.
But not this time.
“But Peter, taking his stand…”
This was Peter’s time.
This was Peter’s moment.
The difference?
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
This new found gumption, this courage, this conviction,
Wasn’t Peter, it was the Holy Spirit of God.
Peter himself was not a faithful witness,
But the Holy Spirit using Peter’s life was.
It is yet another indication of why it is necessary
That you and I be filled with the Spirit.
On our own we are weak and frail and cowardly and fickle.
But when we allow the Spirit of God to have control of our lives
We are bold and courageous and powerful and convicting.
The New Creation Peter…
The Spirit filled Peter…
Has stepped up to the plate.
And he made no bones about it.
“Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.”
He certainly wasn’t rude, but he wasn’t timid either.
Peter stood with boldness and confidence and conviction of truth.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
That is obvious here in Peter.
(15) “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;”
And so the first order of business from Peter
Was to address the mocking of the masses.
It is not that Peter minded being made fun of,
But he was not going to stand aside and allow the Holy Spirit
Be dismissed as strong drink.
Someone had to stand and give testimony to who He was
And that is precisely what Peter did here.
“these men are not drunk”
Of course not “it is only the third hour of the day” (9am)
No one is drunk by this time, especially on such a high day as Pentecost.
Their notion of being drunk was far-fetched.
It is obvious that even the crowd knew this to be a ridiculous explanation
And so Peter didn’t have to spend much time refuting it.
And then comes the reality of the situation.
(16) “but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:”
So you aren’t witnessing drunks here
You are witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy.
This is not a shameful event, this is a glorious one.
And here it is.
Peter quotes from Joel 2:28-32
(17-21) “’AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ GOD SAYS, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT and they shall prophesy. ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”
Now let me help you understand Peter’s point here.
If you take this passage and assume that Peter is saying
That this entire passage was fulfilled on this day
Then you are going to very quickly run in to some problems.
1) There were no wonders in the sky
2) There were no signs on the earth
3) There was no blood or fire or smoke
4) The sun was not turned to darkness
5) The moon was not turned to blood
6) Everyone didn’t prophesy, they all spoke in tongues (different)
And so obviously Peter was not indicating
A perfect fulfillment of all that Joel prophesied.
You may remember that when we deal with Old Testament prophets
That they routinely saw all that God was doing,
But that they also had difficulty seeing a separation in it.
For example:
We are familiar with Isaiah’s prophecy of the Christ.
Isaiah 9:2-7 “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
Now we read that passage at Christmas because there are statements
That certainly speak of the initial coming of Christ.
• The people walking in darkness seeing a light – Matthew 4
• A child being born to us – Matthew 1
But most of that passage looks not to the first advent, but the second.
• Burning of all war items
• No end to peace
• Jesus sitting on the throne of David
Isaiah saw both the first and second coming,
But had difficulty distinguishing the two.
Now was that prophecy fulfilled at Jesus coming? – yes.
Matthew said it was.
But obviously there is more yet to fulfill.
It is the same here with Joel.
Joel saw the “last days”
Now, we are in the “last days” right now.
1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”
1 Peter 1:20 “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”
The last days began with the crucifixion of the Christ.
But obviously it has now lasted nearly 2,000 years.
The point is that some of what Joel saw was fulfilled immediately,
Some is yet to be fulfilled.
• The global pouring of God’s Spirit on all mankind…
• The prophesying of all people…
• The great wonders…
Those things accompany the return of Christ and the millennial kingdom.
(We actually see many of those signs in the book of the Revelation)
So don’t get disturbed
Simply because everything Peter mentioned isn’t occurring.
Rather Peter is making this point.
God has promised to pour out His Spirit
And you are witnessing the initial fulfillment of that prophesy.
What you have witnessed is not the work of drunks…
What you are seeing is not some coincidence…
What you are seeing is the first fruits
Of the fulfillment of God’s promise to pour out His Spirit.
At Pentecost God DID pour out His Spirit.
On all mankind? – No, only on believers.
Did they all prophesy? – No, only Peter the others spoke in tongues
And certainly the signs and wonders did not occur.
Pentecost was a first fruit of what God will do
Through the return of Christ and His millennial reign.
But it doesn’t change the explanation.
The events that were witnessed by those in Jerusalem
Were the reality of God’s Spirit being poured out.
And that is Peter’s point.
This is not the result of wine, this is the result of God’s Spirit.
And Peter indicates the opportunity that is now available.
(21) “AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
Not only is God’s Spirit now here with us,
But the opportunity for salvation has also come.
The Spirit of God is here to convict men to salvation.
And that is the reality.
You are not witnessing a strange event,
You are witnessing an event promised by God years ago through Joel
That God would pour out His Spirit and men could be saved
Simply by calling on the Lord.
So first, The Reality
#2 THE REASON
Acts 2:22-35
After answering their question as to “What is this?”
Now Peter moves into the part of the sermon they need to hear.
And that is “Why is this?”
Why is God’s Spirit now being poured out?
Does it mean the kingdom is here?
For if you read what Joel said it sounds as though God’s Spirit
Will be poured out immediately PRECEDING the coming of the Messiah.
(20) “THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.”
If Peter said God is now pouring out His Spirit
Then the logical reasoning of the Jews is that Christ was about to appear.
And Peter is ready for that misconception.
So now Peter sets them straight.
In short, the Spirit is not being poured out
Because the Messiah is about to REIGN.
The Spirit is being poured out
Because the Messiah has just been REJECTED.
So Peter is giving the reason for this pouring out of God’s Spirit.
And Peter actually breaks this reason up into three points.
There are three reasons that explain why the Spirit is now being poured out.
1) JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED (22-23)
(22-23) “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.”
You know that the people had to love the fact
That Peter is brining Jesus back up.
Certainly the religious elite were glad to finally get rid of Him,
And now on this day Jesus is once again thrust back into the limelight.
And Peter is very specific as to who He was.
“Jesus the Nazarene”
As we talked about back in the 2nd chapter of Matthew’s gospel,
The term “Nazarene” was not a glorious title.
It was a term of derision.
• Nathanael wanted to know “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
• It was the Pharisees who told Nicodemus in John 7, “Search, and see that
no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
Certainly that was the sentiment of the day.
That was a worthless area with worthless people.
This was part of the reason for Jesus’ rejection.
But His humble beginnings should have been quickly forgotten
For God bore witness of Jesus.
“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”
And so it is clear that Peter is not letting them off the hook.
He reminds them of the Jesus that they cannot deny.
He may have been from Nazareth,
But it is undeniable that God was at work through Him.
No one could deny His ability to heal,
They could only condemn Him for doing it on the Sabbath.
No one could deny His power over spirits,
They could only accuse Him of getting His power from Satan.
No one could deny His good works,
They could only raise up false witnesses to attack Him.
At this point Peter puts Jesus back on trial before the people
And puts forth evidence to again prove that Jesus was in fact from God.
No one could deny that.
But there is something else they couldn’t deny,
And that is that despite the fact that He was clearly from God,
They killed Him anyway.
(23) “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.”
Now that is a great statement from Peter that deserves a little closer look.
Do you remember when Jesus was being tempted by the devil?
Satan would put thoughts into His head and tempt Him to act on them.
One of those thoughts was this:
Matthew 4:5-6 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”
It was believed that whenever the Messiah came
That no one would be able to kill Him.
He was seen as untouchable.
God wouldn’t even allow a stone to stump His toe.
And if you will remember this was also one of the
Main points of stumbling for the Jews in regard to Jesus.
How can He be the Messiah when He suffers so much?
According to Isaiah 53 this event caused no one to believe His report.
And even here in Peter’s sermon he realizes that
By talking about the death of Jesus
He has already brought up the chief argument of the Jews against Him.
“If Jesus really was God’s Messiah,
Then God would not have allowed Him to die.”
That is why Peter begins by saying, “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”
• The cross of Jesus did not ruin God’s plan it fulfilled it.
• The death of the Messiah was not contrary to God’s plan it was part of it.
• The suffering of the Savior was not a surprise, God knew it all along.
And this is important to understand.
Peter is about to reveal that these men killed God’s Messiah.
But he is careful to make sure that somehow their theology
Doesn’t get shifted into thinking that somehow they thwarted God’s plan.
They did not.
What they did was wrong, but it wasn’t a surprise.
But even though it was part of God’s plan,
That does not excuse their wicked action.
You took God’s man and “you nailed [Him] to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
No, you didn’t actually drive the nails,
But don’t try to absolve yourself from guilt, it was still you who killed Him.
Do we all forget?
Matthew 27:24-26 “When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”
It was a Roman who drove the nails,
But it was Israel who pushed them to do it.
And Peter is not about to let them escape that fact.
Don’t assume that you are innocent in the matter.
You killed the Man God had undeniably revealed to you.
Yes God knew it would happen, but that doesn’t make what you did ok.
And so Peter points out that the first reason for the Spirit coming
Is that God’s Messiah had been killed by the Jews.
Now we have a lot more of this sermon to cover, and we’ll continue on next time, but let’s stop here and bring some important application.
Peter is here performing God’s desired means
For bringing about salvation to the lost.
He is preaching the gospel.
And I want you to see, even from this limited portion
We have covered how Peter has gone about doing that.
1) He has taken advantage of how God has gotten their attention.
God’s Spirit came with a loud noise
And began to speak through this group about the mighty deeds of God.
In short, God had set Peter up with the platform of a lifetime.
The people were curious.
We are dependant upon opportunities provided to us by God as well.
Now obviously they don’t always come as big as a mighty rushing wind
AnD instant speaking of foreign languages,
But God grants opportunities none the less.
And Peter seized his by explaining the truth of God
In regard to the situation.
BUT – and this is very important – PETER DIDN’T STOP THERE
2) He then applied the situation and used it to confront the people’s sin and rejection of Christ.
We live in a day where this is becoming
Increasingly absent from the gospel message.
The concept of confrontation of sin is seen as unloving and outdated.
We are told you can’t go around telling people they are sinners.
You can’t throw their failures up in their face.
Peter did.
He took the biggest blunder ever committed
And through it right back in their face.
“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.”
It doesn’t get any more confrontational than that.
• It’s like Jesus telling the woman at the well to go call her husband…
• Or Paul confronting the Athenias for their many altars…
YOU CANNOT LEAVE THEIR SIN ALONE
And the reason is because in order to be saved
These people were going to have to repent of that sin.
They needed to know not just that they had offended God,
But how they had offended God.
It did them no good to talk about sin in generalities.
They had specific sin and they needed specific repentance.
Peter confronted them specifically.
At this point people say, “Hold on, I can’t do that.”
Let me reiterated one more time why you need the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Such boldness and power only comes from Him.
We can preach all day long, but until we are filled with God’s Spirit
We will never preach with power.
Peter did and thanks to the Spirit of God,
Peter literally has these people on the ropes.
Next time we meet we’ll continue this great sermon.
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
This is important because this indicates a total and complete rejection of the truth of God on the part of Israel.
They weren’t just being stubborn…
They weren’t just slow to listen…
By putting Jesus to death Israel put an exclamation mark upon their denial of God.
It was the most extreme form of denial, rejection, and defiance that could have possibly been given.
Israel rejected God when they killed God’s Messiah.
And you will see in a minute that is significant to why the Spirit came and especially to why they all spoke in tongues.
But the first reason leading up to Peter’s explanation is that Jesus was crucified
2) JESUS WAS JUSTIFIED (24-32)
Here Peter reveals that not only was Jesus condemned by Israel, but He was vindicated by God.
Israel may have found Him guilty, but God found Him innocent.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
God raised Him from the dead.
It was the ultimate reversal of decision.
It was the ultimate appeal.
It is the high court overturning the ruling of Pilate’s court.
Jesus had been wrongly convicted…
Jesus had been wrongly punished…
Jesus had been wrongly executed…
God proved that by reversing the decision.
And that is what Peter wants them to see.
(24) “But God raised Him up again”
You put Him to death, but God raised Him up.
You were wrong in your decision.
“putting an end to the agony of death”
In other words, God was not about to let Him suffer unjustly any longer.
Your verdict was wrong, He was innocent and there was no reason why God should allow Him to continue suffering.
“since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
He was innocent.
There were no grounds to keep Him.
There was no evidence to hold Him.
Death could argue all day long, but they had no leverage by which to keep Jesus dead.
They could kill Him…
They could bury Him…
They could seal the tomb…
They could post guards…
But they had no grounds by which to keep Him dead and so God raised Him up.
The point?
You killed Him, but you were wrong.
So God raised Him up.
And this by the way was no surprise to God either.
God knew you would kill Him, and so God had already planned to raise Him up.
And to prove that Peter now takes them to Psalms 16:8-11
(25-28) “For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’”
So Peter reads that passage in order to indicate that God had already purposed to raise His Messiah from the dead.
And then Peter explains the passage.
(29-32) “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID HIS flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
And there is a tremendous argument from Peter.
We know David wrote that Psalm, but Peter says we also know David wasn’t talking about himself.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
We still have David’s tomb, and we still have David’s bones.
We could go dig David up today and see that he most certainly died and he most certainly decayed.
David could not have been talking about himself.
David was obviously talking about one of his descendants.
You see David knew that God had promised “to seat one of his descendants on his throne.”
David knew that he was not the last king, but one of his descendants would be.
And so David wrote Psalms 16, not talking about himself, but talking about his descendant.
Peter said, “he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ”
That God would not leave the Christ dead.
That God would not abandon the Christ to Hades.
That God would not allow the body of the Christ to suffer decay.
And that has to be true, otherwise David would still be with us.
And then Peter makes the undeniable statement.
(32) “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
And so it is now getting pretty clear.
God sent the Christ and testified that He was the Christ through many signs and wonders.
But you didn’t like Him because He came from Nazareth and so you falsely accused Him, falsely convicted Him, and ultimately killed Him on a Roman cross.
But you were wrong and God proved it by reversing your decision.
You killed God’s man, and God proved it by raising Him from the dead.
And we testify along with David that it is so.
So Peter is explaining the reason for the pouring out of the Spirit, and he has given two key steps as to why it has happened.
Jesus was Crucified
Jesus was Justified
3) JESUS WAS GLORIFIED (33-35)
The Spirit couldn’t come until Jesus was glorified (John 7:39)
(33-35)”Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘
Not only did God reverse your wrong decision, and raise Jesus from the dead, but God also glorified Jesus by bringing Him to His own right hand.
He was “exalted to the right hand of God”
God not only vindicated Him, God exalted Him.
And then God gave Him something.
“having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit”
Once God exalted Him God gave Him the Holy Spirit.
And here comes the explanation.
“He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”
Here is the explanation.
That which you heard (the loud noise)
That which you see (all of us speaking in tongues)
That is the Holy Spirit.
It is what Joel promised and it has now come because the Jesus you killed has been raised and exalted to God’s right hand and He is the One who poured Him out.
John the Baptist said:
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
It is Christ who would send the Spirit and that is what He did.
And so if you want an explanation as to why the Spirit came now.
It is not because Messiah is on His way, it is because Messiah has just left.
He was here, you rejected Him, and now having gone back to the Father He has poured out His Spirit and enabled us all to speak in tongues.
Now, let’s get back to that tongues issue for a moment.
We read it last week.
1 Corinthians 14:20-22 “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.”
When Paul was talking to the Corinthians about the use and purpose of tongues Paul appealed to their Scriptural origin to explain them.
Tongues was not a means to a deeper prayer life…
Tongues was not a means to differentiate the super spiritual…
Tongues wasn’t even primarily an evangelistic tool…
Tongues was a surefire indication of God’s judgment.
And to prove that Paul quoted from Isaiah 28.
Let’s read it:
(You must know that the first 8 verses of this chapter are filled with Isaiah convicting Israel of sin. He calls them drunkards in the sense that their prophets words are like a drunk’s vomit)
Obviously they didn’t like the message so they mock Isaiah.
Isaiah 28:9-13 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'” Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”
There they mocked Isaiah’s preaching.
And Isaiah said since you won’t listen to straightforward preaching from God, God will speak to you in a language you cannot understand.
And He will do so that you may “be broken”
Now, come back to the day of Pentecost and it makes perfect sense as to why when the Holy Spirit came they all spoke in tongues.
It was an indicator of exactly what Isaiah said.
You rejected God by means of killing His Messiah.
God raised and exalted the Messiah.
The Messiah poured out the Holy Spirit and the result was exactly what Isaiah said would happen.
God has pushed you into judgment.
You killed His man and you will pay for it.
Which is what Peter goes on to say in his sermon
(34) “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: “The Lord said to my Lord, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”
It is clear from the Old Testament that the Messiah would suffer, would rise, would be exalted God’s right hand and He would sit there until God puts all His enemies under His feet.
And this is why you see the Spirit of God poured out.
So you see the first points to Peter’s sermon.
The Reality – This is the Spirit of God causing this
The Reason – God’s Messiah has been exalted and Has poured Him out
#3 THE RESULT
Acts 2:36
Here is what this means for you.
And this is one of the most convicting and horrifying statements in Scripture.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Talk about a bombshell.
You killed God’s Christ.
You killed God’s Chosen One.
You rejected the Sent One of God.
You took God’s precious gift and wrong accused Him, wrongly convicted Him and then subjected Him to the most horrific and torturous death that has ever been conceived.
You handed Him over to godless men to be stripped, flogged, mocked, and humiliated.
You handed Him over to allow them to drive nails into His hands and feet.
You let them raise Him up on a cross.
You watched as they gave Him vinegar to drink.
You hurled insults to the suffering Messiah as He hanged upon the cross fighting for every last breath.
This man was precious in the sight of God the sent Savior for you and you did the worst possible thing you could to Him.
Congratulations Israel you just denied God.
Can you imagine the weight of a statement like that?
But friends at this point let me bring a little present day application to this scene.
Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
The writer of Hebrews spoke of people who had also seen the truth of God.
Just as Israel heard Jesus preach and witnessed His signs, so people of all generations get similar proof from God.
God allows them to understand the truth.
He allows them to taste what salvation feels like.
He allows them to temporarily partake of His Spirit.
He allows them to taste the good word of God.
He allows them to witness the power of a changed life.
If they then turn away from the truth and tell God they don’t want it.
“they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
People today say, “I didn’t crucify Jesus”
Well guess what the Jews could have said that too.
“We didn’t crucify Him, we didn’t drive the nails…”
No, not with your hands, but you did with your hearts.
You let godless men do it.
And people still do that today.
No, they don’t physically go back and drive a nail, but by turning their back on the truth God has revealed they crucify Him to themselves.
They relive the act over and over and over again.
And the result of that is that those people are like ground who won’t accept the rain and so they are worthless and close to being cursed and end up being burned.
The point is that it is not driving the nails that makes a person guilty of crucifying Jesus, if that were the case guilt would fall to only one man.
It is denying the Lord His rightful place in your life that makes you guilty of crucifying Him.
When you know the truth as Israel did and reject Him anyway it is the equivalent of handing Him over to Pilate to be done with whatever they want.
That is what Israel did.
They rejected God’s Son.
Let me give you another place this type of sentiment occurs.
1 Corinthians 11:26-28 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
That is a blatant warning against hypocrisy.
For those Corinthians who partook of the table without adjusting their hearts Paul said they were guilty of the body and the blood and God was actually killing some of them.
You don’t come into God’s church and go through the motions while denying God in your heart.
That made them guilty of the crucifixion even though they were not actually there to drive the nails.
You don’t want to set yourself up in disobedience to God, and you certainly don’t want to be the cause of the crucifixion.
The writer of Hebrews comments on the severity of that decision again later in the sermon:
Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Can we agree?
You don’t want to be guilty of killing the Lord.
I mean, consider Judas who betrayed the Lord:
Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
That’s pretty straightforward.
Point being you don’t want to be guilty of killing the Lord.
And Peter here has just placed the blame squarely upon the shoulders of Israel.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”
He is God’s Son and you killed Him.
That is the result.
The Reality is that God’s Spirit is Here.
The Reason is that God’s Son has been Exalted and Poured Him out.
The Result is that you are guilty of killing God’s Son
#4 THE REQUIREMENT
Acts 2:37-40
I think verse 37 is an obvious response.
“Now when the people heard this they were pierced to the heart”
I’m sure you could add, “sick to their stomach”, “weak in their knees”, “light headed” and “filled with terror”
They hadn’t realized it, but while they were putting Jesus on trial, God was putting them on trial, and when they found Jesus guilty, they sealed their own fate as well.
They were condemned as the murderers of God’s Son.
“and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
I think that is a fair question.
Is there anything we can do to change our fortune?
Is there anything we can do to satisfy God?
These are people who have realized their guilt, owned their condemnation, but want to know is there any option for mercy.
And that opens the door for Peter to reveal the requirement.
(38) “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The simple answer?
“Repent”
It was the first thing John the Baptist preached…
It was the first thing Jesus preached…
(incidentally the Jews killed both of them for preaching it)
But regardless of how many messengers you kill, the requirement of God has not changed.
Man is sinful…
Man is depraved…
Man is condemned…
The requirement of God on behalf of man is that they repent of their sin.
“repent” translates METANOEO
It means “to have a change of purpose” it speaks of a turning from sin to God.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,”
It is not just acknowledging their sin
It is not just admitting their sin
It is not just confessing their sin
Peter said they had to turn from it.
These people had chosen to walk in sin instead of submit to God.
They had chosen to maintain their own way of life instead of God’s way.
And Peter said the answer for these people is to “repent”.
You didn’t listen to John
You didn’t listen to Jesus
But if you want to be forgiven you had better “repent.”
And from there Peter continues.
“repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;”
Here Peter reveals that it is not just repentance that is required, but also baptism.
WHY BAPTISM?
Because baptism was the sign of repentance.
That is why John the Baptist came baptizing.
It was an outward symbol of death to self and determination to walk in new life.
Now you know and I know that this verse has had an entire theology built around it.
Some have used this one alone to indicate that water baptism is necessary for salvation.
We really can’t spend a ton of time here, but it is worthwhile to explain it.
Peter calls for baptism because it is the public sign of repentance.
It puts fruit to their claim and thus verifies that their repentance is genuine.
The water does not wash away sin.
1 Peter 3:21-22 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”
It is not the water, it is the death to self and change of heart.
Furthermore water baptism is not a prerequisite to salvation.
Acts 10:44-48 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”
Obviously Cornelius was saved before he was ever baptized.
The thief on the cross was saved without ever having been baptized at all.
To push baptism to a prerequisite for salvation is to do with it what the Jews had done with circumcision by diminishing the work of Christ and promoting a work of the flesh.
Just as circumcision was a sign so is baptism.
Just as circumcision was a seal, so is baptism.
It is an outward picture of what has taken place in the heart, it is a work of obedience indicating that the heart is in a proper state.
A person gets baptized not to be saved, but as a testimony to their new life and as their first step of obedience thus proving their repentance and faith to be genuine.
Christ forgives sin…
Our garments are washed in His blood…
Water is external.
Peter told them to be baptized, not to earn their forgiveness, but rather to indicate the genuineness of their repentance.
But make no mistake repentance was required.
And if they would repent…
If they would quit forsaking Christ and start submitting to Him…
If they would quit clinging to sin and start renouncing it…
If they would quit playing religion and get obedient from the heart…
“you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
It is right back to what Joel had said.
Acts 2:21 “AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
God wanted the broken and contrite heart…
God wanted the genuine humility of repentance…
God wanted hatred of sin…
God wanted a hunger for righteousness…
And if Israel would give that, God would forgive them and grant His Spirit to them as well.
And for proof that God would:
(39) “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
What a statement of relief!
You killed God’s Son and you are guilty, but God is merciful!
If you will repent of your sin not only will He forgive you, but He will also give you His Spirit.
WHY?
Because you are who His Spirit is for.
You are the reason God ever promised His Spirit.
You are the intended recipients.
Remember back in the book of Jeremiah?
Remember the New Covenant?
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
This whole thing was for Israel.
They are the reason God intended to send His Spirit in the first place.
And Peter now says if you will only repent and accept God’s will for your life then God will give you the Holy Spirit too.
He is angry, but trust me He doesn’t want to kill you.
He doesn’t want to destroy you.
He wants to save you.
He wants to make you holy.
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”
God wants you to repent and be saved.
And not just you, but God has others He will save as well.
“all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
It isn’t just Jews God has determined to save, but He also has a flock of Gentiles that He plans to call as well.
We don’t know who they are, but God does and He wants them saved too.
It is not God’s desire to judge men, but that they should repent and be saved.
(40) “And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Peter even went into begging mode.
He told them over and over this world is going down.
God’s judgment is coming.
The ways of this world are wrong.
By following this world you killed the Son of God.
Repent and “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Stop going in the flow of this world, turn around, go upstream.
Be saved.
And by the way Peter never did change his message.
Acts 3:17-20 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,”
Even until the day of Peter’s impending death and the writing of his second epistle.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
Peter was passionate about the importance of repentance and the salvation of God.
And it rings true through today.
Man needs to repent.
Man is sinful.
Man has denied God.
Man has chosen his own path.
And man needs to turn and go the other direction.
Man needs to trust God.
Man needs to obey God.
Man needs to humble himself before God.
Man needs to quit following the pattern of this world and start following the directives of God.
This world is a sinking ship and man must be saved from it.
And the means is now and has always been repentance.
You can’t stay in your sin and be saved at the same time.
Talk about faith…
Talk about grace…
Talk about abundant life…
Talk about eternal life…
Talk about blessing…
But they are all null and void if you don’t first talk about repentance.
Man must leave his sin.
It was the message of John
It was the message of Jesus
It was the message of Peter
It is still the message today
So the Reality is God has poured out His Spirit
The Reason is because Christ has been exalted
The Result is that you have killed God’s Messiah
The Requirement is that you repent
#5 THE RESPONSE
Acts 2:41-42
We need to take a look at what happened.
And this is really beautiful.
“So then, those who had received his word were baptized;”
There were some who listened to Peter.
They did what he said.
And they obviously repented from sin, proving their repentance through their submission to be baptized.
And the church was underway.
“and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
So in one morning the church grew from 120 to over 3,000.
Jesus was building His church.
He did so by pouring out the Holy Spirit and equipping Peter to preach the gospel with boldness.
But let me show you something of vital importance.
The response is not the significant part, the change is what is significant.
You will remember Jesus’ words to those who received His words:
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus knew responses were important, but they were useless if not accompanied by a genuine life change.
In short you can walk the aisle if you want, you can even get baptized, but if it does not affect your life and change the way you life then it is all for not.
We are looking for people to make decisions, we are looking for people to become genuine disciples.
And so while all the baptisms of verse 41 are great, it is verse 42 that really causes us to rejoice.
(42) “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
That is beautiful!
And let me point out something else to you.
THIS WAS CHURCH AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
Is it simple? Yes
But at the same time it is so powerful.
They didn’t have any programs…
They didn’t have any orchestras…
They didn’t have screens or projectors…
They didn’t have drama teams…
They didn’t have cool slogans…
They didn’t have T-shirts…
They didn’t even have a building…
But they had church and it was effective.
In fact look down at the conclusion of this chapter and see how effective.
Acts 2:43-47 “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
They were awestruck, they were self-sacrificing, they were genuine in their love for one another, they were unified, they genuinely like each other…
“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
The point is that this church had no manual, had no church growth book, attended no seminar and yet they did church in a mega-affective way!
From that then we learn the basics of what church is supposed to be.
It is what these people did.
Not only was it genuine fruit of repentance, but it was also basic necessity for how to do church.
Can you believe that everything you need to know about how to do church is found in verse 42!
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Four things that constituted church.
1) DEVOTION TO THE TRUTH
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
These people could not get enough of the spoken word of God.
Certainly there is a slight difference between the apostles teaching and the preaching today.
The apostles’ teaching was all they had.
They did not have the New Testament yet, so they were more dependent upon what the apostles said.
But the point is that these people had had such a change of heart that now they could not get enough of the word of God.
How can a person claim to have been saved when they have no desire to either read God’s word or hear it preached?
The early church couldn’t get enough of it.
“continually devoting”
Those are strong words and it spoke of their desire to hear God.
They were devoted to truth.
2) DESIRE FOR FELLOWSHIP
They were also continually devoting themselves “to fellowship”
All you have to do is read 1 John to understand the necessity of brotherly love.
These people had it.
They loved to be around God’s people.
They loved the unity of purpose.
They loved the testimony of the Spirit.
They loved to spend time with one another.
Even to the point where later we find them selling property to be able to keep people around.
3) DEVOTION TO COMMUNION
“to the breaking of bread”
This doesn’t mean pot-luck, they were gathering around the table of the Lord.
It was the single most unifying factor.
They were a body because Jesus Christ had given His life for them.
Communion was a reminder to them of the sacrifice on their behalf and why they were now a church and they were devoted to it.
They never left the cross very far behind.
4) DEVOTION TO PRAYER
“and to prayer”
Nothing indicates a dependence upon God more than prayer.
Nothing indicates a self-sufficient mindset more than the lack of prayer.
This church was dependent upon God.
They met to pray and seek God’s guidance.
They met to pray and ask for God’s help.
And those are the four basics of the early church.
The word of God, Fellowship, Communion, and Prayer
Nothing fancy, yet God used that to shape the world.
Furthermore that was the proof that their repentance was not a sham.
Show me someone who claims to have repented, but who doesn’t love God’s word, doesn’t desire to fellowship with God’s people, doesn’t desire to commune around the table of the Lord, and doesn’t feel the need for prayer and we have a problem.
Their conversion was sincere and real and it was proven in their fruit.
But there you have Peter’s sermon.
Men were amazed at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, some even thought they were drunk.
The Reality is that God had sent His Spirit.
The Reason is because Christ had been exalted and poured Him out.
The Result is that the Jews had killed God’s Messiah
The Requirement was that they repent and prove that repentance.
The Response was 3,000 souls whose lives changed radically.
The point is that God is growing His church.
We have a man who 50 days earlier was flat out denying the Lord and now, thanks to the Holy Spirit is boldly proclaiming Him to those who killed Him.
God’s Spirit is at work and God is growing His church.
For us, we learn again the importance of being filled with the Spirit.
(We could not do what Peter did without Him)
We also learn the power of the gospel.
(These were saved at Peter’s preaching)
And we learn what the church really is.
It is not smoke and lights and hymnals and screens and committees and budgets.
The church are redeemed people who love God’s word, love God’s people, love God’s sacrifice, and who love to pray.
Those are the characteristics of the true church, and it is exploding onto the scene.
May we be encouraged to learn from what we see.
Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
