ACTS 2 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
JOEL 2:28-32a 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:
PSALM 16:8-11
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” PSALM 110:1
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON
Ten days after ascending, The Lord Jesus empowered His followers on a special day called Pentecost, 50 days after Passover and His resurrection. Known as Shavuot, this was (and is) a Jewish festival commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments; as well as celebrating early harvest.
In ACTS 2, Jerusalem was filled with Hebrews - from around the Roman Empire - celebrating this ferstival. While there, a large crowd of them witnessed Jesus’ disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit; which included strong wind sounds, flames on disciples’ heads and hearing them speak in unknown languages; as the Spirit enabled.
There were 15 different nationalities of observers present who heard “Galileeans” speaking about “…the wonderful works of God” in languages that were from the countries where these observers were from. This phenomenon caused some serious questions.
Now freshly empowered to be a witness – as Jesus promised in ACTS 1:8 – Peter began declaring what he knew concerning the outpouring of God’s Spirit as being the fulfillment of prophecy; JOEL 2:28-32a. The apostle then continued with preaching the good news of Jesus’ resurrection; which also fulfilled prophecy.
Since this day was also the anniversary of King David’s death, who died before seeing the fulfillment of several messianic prophecies given to him, Peter used this opportunity to preach Christ as being the fulfillment of those promises, quoting PSALM 16:8-11; 110:1.
Hearing about these prophetic fulfillments and Jesus’ wonderful resurrection, as well as their own part in His death, the convicted crowd asked, “…what shall we do?”
Peter told them all to repent “and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children,…” and all afar off, as many as our God will call. He continued testifying and exhorting them to be saved, “…from this perverse generation.”
Before day’s end, around 3,000 were added to the Church by receiving Peter’s words and being baptized as instructed. Baptizing that many in Jesus’ name was not hard for them to do; since there were plenty of mikvehs – immersion pools - in Jerusalem.
By Acts 4:4, the Church had grown to around 5,000 men and 4:31 says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness.
QUESTIONS:
1. If you have heard and believed the good news of Jesus’ death and burial, and His resurrection and ascension, as preached in ACTS 2:22-36, have you obeyed Peter’s instructions in verses 38-40 ?
2. If so, have you been filled with the Holy Spirit and are you a bold witness for Jesus Christ, as He promised His followers in ACTS 1:8 ?
PRAYER:
Father,
Thank you for the gospel: Your good news of death, burial, resurrection and ascension.
Thank you Lord for conquering sin and death; as our sacrifice for sin and all its penalties.
Please show me any area of my life where I need to be obedient to Your will without fear.
Fill me to overflowing with Your strong Holy Spirit, so that I can be a bold witness for You.
In Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen!
