Peter's Sermon on Pentecost - Part 1 (Acts 2:14-36)

Welcome and Announcements

Outreach Ministry opportunity on October 29, 2022, from 12:30pm-3:30pm. We could use 4-5 volunteers; talk with Natalie for more details.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 64)

Our Call to Worship is Psalm 64, which is a psalm of David in which he speaks of enemies that come and attack him—in this instance the enemies are imminent, but God defends him. The psalm ends with a praise to the Lord. Please stand and read with me Psalm 64—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 64 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, 3 who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, 4 shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. 5 They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, “Who can see them?” 6 They search out injustice, saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.” For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep. 7 But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. 8 They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads. 9 Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. 10 Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!

Congregational Singing

His Mercy is More (Lead)

Mercies Anew (84)

Scripture Reading (Gen 1)

For our Scripture Reading this week, we’re going to start doing something a little different. In an effort to help us all read through Scripture regularly, we’re going to start reading in Genesis 1 and work our way throughout the Bible. Now, I will say that there will be occasions where we will skip over a section and the reasoning for that is quite simple—reading a genealogy for Scripture Reading might not be too helpful for us. And I will say that if something would be particularly useful to be read before the sermon, we’ll divert from our regular Scripture Reading through the Bible as well.

This morning’s Scripture Reading is Genesis 1, which places us at the beginning of all things as God creates the universe. Natalie can you read Genesis 1 for us?

Genesis 1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 2:14-36)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Acts 2:14-36.

As you turn there, let me just remind you of where we’re at in the text. We’ve been working through the Acts of the Apostles verse-by-verse and line-by-line. So far, we’ve seen Jesus’ ascension after His promise of the Holy Spirit, the apostles choosing Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot, and just before our text this morning, we read about the Holy Spirit coming upon the people. And just after the Holy Spirit indwelling the believers and them speaking in the languages of all the people around them, Peter stands and preaches a message.

This message is our text for this morning and we can really sum up the idea here by simply stating that Peter is proclaiming the Gospel to the Jews and the way that he does it is by calling them to remember the Scriptures themselves.

Keep this in mind as we read Acts 2:14-36 together.

Acts 2:14–36 ESV

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now, I do realize that it seems like a large chuck of Scripture, but notice that many of the verses are actually quotations from Old Testament poetry that Peter utilizes for proof-texts for his sermon, which simply means that we won’t have to spend a lot of time with the quotations because Peter explains the quotations.

As we work through this text, we’re going to break it into three parts: (1) The Meaning of Joel’s Prophecy (14-24), (2) The Meaning of David’s Prophecy (25-35), and (3) The Point of Peter’s Sermon (36). The first two sections will focus on the quotations utilized by Peter in his sermon and the meanings behind those quotations; the last section, which is really just the final verse, will sum up Peter’s sermon with his thesis statement. Peter’s sermon will do for us what it did for the people who were listening to him in the first century—it will show us how Jesus fulfills some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah and what that means for us. It ought to cause us to see the interconnectedness of the Old and New Testaments, it ought to cause repentance for those who don’t already believe, and for those that do believe, it should compel us to praise.

Prayer for Illumination

The Meaning of Joel’s Prophecy (14-21)

Our text starts by giving us the setting of the event in vv. 14-15

Remember, that just prior to this moment, the Holy Spirit had descended upon the believers and had given them the ability to speak in various languages for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember that either the noise of the Holy Spirit descending or the apostles speaking in tongues caused a large group of people to gather around.

It’s this providential moving of the Spirit and the gathering of the people together that sets the stage for Peter’s sermon.

And Peter takes advantage of the fact that all these people had been gathered together and that the apostles at that moment had the unique gift of speaking in various languages simultaneously.

We’re told that a proclamation was made to specific people. V. 14b “Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”

Note that Luke is very specific in the details here—the primary speaker that Luke records is Peter, but Peter isn’t alone.

Peter’s standing with the other eleven apostles, which gives the implication that they were probably proclaiming the Gospel as well, but Peter seems to be (probably) the loudest voice being heard, which fits his personality.

Note that when the text tells us who he’s addressing it’s specific, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem.” The audience at hand are Jewish people. The Gospel came to the Jews first, which Paul writes about in Romans 1:16 “16 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.”

This doesn’t mean that Jesus’ Gospel was never meant for the Greeks or the non-Jewish world, it just means that God made a promise to Abraham to bless all the peoples on the earth through his seed.

And this is how this happens—the Jewish people hear the Gospel first and then the Gentile people hear the Gospel next—it is a fulfillment of a promise.

This is also why Jesus, during His life, points out that He was sent to the Jews—it doesn’t mean that Jewish people were better than Gentile people or vice-versa—it’s simply God acting His covenant to Abraham out in the way that it ought to be acted out.

Peter and the other Jewish apostles are preaching to the Jewish people first.

He calls them all to “give ear to [his] words” or in other words, “listen up.”

And the first thing that he tells them is in v. 15, “These people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour os the day.”

In Jewish culture, the day started at 6am; thus, the third hour of the day for them is 9am

And Peter is making the point, that these people aren’t drunk like the listeners had accused them of and laughed at them for—it’s still the beginning of the day.

Rather, what’s happening can be explained by looking at Scripture and understanding Old Testament Scripture properly. He says in v. 16, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, 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 male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.” Now, I know that’s a lot, so let’s try and break it down a bit:

Peter refers to a prophecy given by Joel. This prophecy is found in Joel 2:28-32 and if you read the quotation carefully, you’ll note that there’s actually two different prophecies quoted by Peter.

The first prophecy is in vv. 17-18 and the second prophecy is in vv. 19-20:

Vv. 17-18 is a prophecy of God pouring out His Spirit on those that believe, which is clearly what happened in Acts 2:1-13.

Vv. 19-2 is a prophecy concerning something that hasn’t happened yet.

Or in other words, the first prophecy concerning the pouring out of the Spirit has been fulfilled in Acts 2 and those that the Spirit have been poured out onto are now prophesying—and don’t misunderstand the word prophesy, we think prophesying just relates to foretelling of the future, but most of the time it refers to the proclamation of truth.

The first prophecy is that the Spirit will come and those that genuinely believe at that time will proclaim truth, see visions, and dream dreams.

And this event happens to anyone who believes regardless of socio-economic background, gender, or age—male and female, young and old, and even those considered servants will do these things.

The second prophecy concerns the completion of what Joel calls the “last days”.

That in the last days, there will be wonders in the skies, signs on the earth, blood, fire, vapor of smoke, the sun will turn to darkness, the moon will turn to blood and these things will happen before the day of the Lord comes.

Note two truths that we see from this, (1) the last days have already started—according to v. 17, the Holy Spirit was poured out in the last days. And (2) the culmination of the last days is the Lord’s return to earth and that day is described as great and magnificent.

You’ll notice that the day of the Lord is described with terminology and ideas that ought to be awe-striking and quite honestly, fear-inducing.

But notice, v. 21, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The Day of the Lord is only fear-inducing if you don’t believe in God through Jesus Christ. All who call upon the name of Jesus Christ will be saved.

The word Lord in v. 21 sets up a transition in which Peter then speaks of Jesus specifically for three verses and though it might seem a little random, remember, that Peter is trying to show the Israelites that Jesus is the Messiah that was prophesied just like the Holy Spirit being poured out on God’s people was prophesied. Peter continues in vv. 22-24 with, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

When speaking of God’s fulfillment of the promise to send the Holy Spirit, there’s almost a natural segue into discussing Jesus Himself.

And in this instance, Peter really doesn’t really mince words, he doesn’t beat around the bush—he’s abundantly clear, “Men of Israel: . . . Jesus of Nazareth” the one who proved to be sent by God because of all the miraculous things that He did and that they know He did:

That very same person, was delivered up and Peter calls out the very people in front of him, “you crucified and killed [him] by the hands of lawless men.”

But note, that the same Jesus who they crucified was delivered (according to v. 23) “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”

Some have tried to utilize the concept of the Jews delivering up Jesus to be crucified as a reason to treat Jewish people poorly, but what does v. 23 teach?

That the very crucifixion of Jesus was planned and it was known by God far before it ever happened—it wasn’t a mistake, it wasn’t a surprise to God, it was intentional.

And then God raised Jesus up, which was an affront to death itself because Jesus cannot and could not be bound by death when He, Himself is the God of all life.

And you know, the whole truth of Jesus’ resurrection was also planned and it was known to God ahead of time; and Peter proves it by pointing at two more prophecies, this time written by David. We see in the next eleven verses two quotations that sandwich another statement concerning Jesus. Read with me vv. 25-35:

The Meaning of David’s Prophecy (25-35)

Acts 2:25–35 ESV

25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

Peter points at another prophecy and he quotes Psalm 16:8-11, “I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.”

Now it is important to note that this prophecy in its original context was something that David wrote about himself. David in Psalm 16 faced a dire situation in his life in which he felt as if his life was about to be taken from him.

This is what David is saying about his own experience, but Peter makes it clear that what David said about himself speaks of what Jesus experienced as well—particularly as Jesus was being crucified.

The same statements made by David are statements that are completely applicable to Jesus—that Jesus “saw the [Father] always before him . . . that [He] may not be shaken;” and because of this, “[His] heart was glad, and [His] tongue rejoiced; [His] flesh also will dwell in hope.”

It also means, that the concept given in Psalm 16:10-11 “10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 11 You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” applies to Jesus.

That Jesus, after His crucifixion and death, wouldn’t be abandoned in Sheol or Hades. That Jesus’s resurrection accomplished something in particular that was prophesied throughout the Old Testament.

Patrick Schreiner, “Peter clarifies what the resurrection achieves, saying it ‘ends the pains of death’ . . . The point is ‘death was not able to encircle Jesus and hold him in its painful grip.’ Death and life are key themes throughout the address . . . The cause or ground for death not having the power to hold him is that God has authority over life and the wages of sin is death.” (Patrick Schreiner, Acts, In “Christian Standard Commentary,” 130)

Peter emphasizes this meaning as he continues in his sermon through vv. 29-35, He starts by pointing out that despite David initially writing these statements in Psalm 16, it’s clear that David wasn’t the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 16—Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 16.

He starts by pointing out how David didn’t fulfill Psalm 16, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”

Even though David wrote Psalm 16 about himself, we know that in his situation, he did eventually die. In its direct context, David was writing about how God would protect him in a situation in which his earthly life might have ended—and we know that God did. However, ultimately, David still died an earthly death and was buried.

The phrase, “being therefore a prophet,” refers to David being a prophet. It is through God revealing to him that one of his own descendants would be on the throne that makes David a prophet and as a prophet, he through Psalm 16 “spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.”

That Jesus fulfilled psalm 16 by “not [being] abandoned to Hades” and by his flesh not seeing corruption. Jesus accomplished what David wrote about in Psalm 16 and was then, according to vv. 32-35, raised up by God, “and of that we all are witnesses being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’”

Or in other words, what Peter is emphasizing through this section of his sermon is that David prophesied of a moment in history that Jesus later fulfilled through His resurrection.

Jesus is the one who fulfilled this prophecy that the Jewish people knew was about the Messiah, also known as the Anointed One.

Do you see the line of thinking that’s driving Peter’s sermon? What exactly is Peter trying to say by gathering everyone’s attention and pointing out passages of Scripture to the people?

In the first section, he’s pointing out a passage of Scripture from Joel to point out that what’s happening with the speaking in tongues was something that only occured because the Holy Spirit was poured out on God’s people, which was prophesied.

In the second section, he’s pointing out two passages of Scripture from the Psalms to point out that what happened to Jesus—His death, burial, and resurrection was something that only occured because God planned for it to happen, which was also prophesied.

Or in other words, the line of thinking that Peter is following is actually quite simple—if the prophecy concerning the Holy Spirit being poured out on God’s people is true, which they can clearly see is based on what’s happening around him. Then the prophecies from the psalms concerning the Messiah must also be true. And while he has hinted around at this idea throughout the sermon, he finally hits them with his assertion in our very last bit of Scripture, v. 36.

The Point of Peter’s Sermon (36)

Acts 2:36 ESV

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

What is the point the point that Peter is making? It’s actually quite simple—the point is that all that was prophesied concerning the Messiah’s initial advent was fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ.

Which means that for the Jewish people in the first century, who had been looking and waiting for their Messiah to come—He came.

The Messiah was on earth and it just so happened to be the very same person whom the Jewish people crucified on a cross.

Now, the way Peter says this is a bit unnerving and a little shocking, but for people who so desperately longed for a Messiah and then completely missed the Messiah when He showed up—this shocking statement would be absolutely warranted.

What better way to get the people to understand who Jesus was than to point out that the same Jesus that they crucified fulfilled the prophecies that were prophesied about their Messiah?

What better way to capture their attention and get them to realize the truth?

And this is the whole point of Peter’s sermon—that Jesus, who they crucified, fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah in the psalms by His resurrection; just like the Holy Spirit, who had just descended upon God’s people, was prophesied about in the book of Joel.

That’s the whole point of Peter’s sermon, but it isn’t the goal of Peter’s sermon. The goal of his sermon is in the section of the passage that we’ll work through next week, but let me give you a little bit of a spoiler:

The first goal of Peter’s sermon is for them to be convicted.

He wants them to be convicted because of their sins.

Which, let’s be abundantly clear, unless there is conviction of sin, people don’t repent.

And of course, repentance is the second goal of his sermon.

He wants the people listening to his sermon to be convicted by the Holy Spirit for their sins and he wants them to repent.

This is why (and we’ll go into much more detail about this next week), when the people ask him what they should do in light of his sermon, his response is simple and clear: Acts 2:38, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

But we’ll talk more about that next week. As we wrap everything up this morning, I do want us to spend some time discussing how we can apply the sermon itself to our lives. Now, of course, the goal of Peter’s sermon is repentance, but have you ever considered the fact that Luke recording the sermon itself might have another purpose as well? If all Luke wanted to do was to get us to repent and be baptized, he could’ve very easily have just written it himself; but instead, he records what Peter says and I think part of the reasoning for him recording Peter’s sermon is for us to get an idea of what it actually means to go and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What Luke has done is that he’s essentially recorded for us the very first proclamation of the Gospel post-resurrection and there’s a lot that we can learn from it to better equip us to proclaim the Gospel today. This is where our application comes in:

Application

In Acts 2:14-36, we see Luke’s record of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost and while it’s clear that Peter’s sermon was given with the goal of the Jewish people repenting and believing in Jesus, the point of Luke’s record of Peter’s sermon is that it gives us an example of what it means to proclaim the Gospel. Thus, our application for this morning is based around the concept of proclaiming the Gospel. There are three applications that are evident in this portion of the text: you need to learn what the Gospel is, learn how to proclaim the Gospel, and then go and proclaim the Gospel. Let’s break that down:

Learn what the Gospel is (22-24, 36, 38)—in the middle of this text, we see Peter plainly spelling out the Gospel to the listeners. In vv. 22-24 and v. 36 and really what we’ll see in v. 38 as well (to repent) is Peter plainly telling those that are listening what the Gospel is.

Now compare that to your most recent evangelistic efforts:

There are all sorts of methods and suggestions when it comes to evangelism:

Some people utilize the Ten Commandments to help people see their sinfulness, other people utilize evangelism cubes and other cute devices to try and talk with others about Jesus Christ.

Others utilize their own testimony or point towards creation or any number of other ways.

And any of these methods can be good, if the Gospel is actually proclaimed through them, but just think of how many of these conversations end before the Gospel is actually proclaimed.

You start with the Ten Commandments and before you get into the Gospel you get side-tracked on ethics.

You utilize a cube or device to talk with others about Jesus but before you get to the Gospel you get distracted with whether you’re utilizing the device properly or not.

You start telling your testimony and finish up telling your testimony and realize that you spent ten minutes talking about yourself, but you never bothered telling them of what led you to repent of your sins and what led you to believe in Jesus Christ.

Or you look at creation and you point out all these different beautiful aspects of creation, but then you get into a conversation concerning creation vs. evolution and you never proclaim the Gospel.

The truth is any of these methods can be good, but you need to be sure that in your evangelistic efforts, you’re actually proclaiming the Gospel, and the only way that you can be sure is by knowing the Gospel. Peter tells us what the Gospel is, plain and simple:

In vv. 22-24, he calls the Israelites to listen to him and once he gets their attention, he makes a proclamation:

That Jesus of Nazareth, who proved His divinity through signs and wonders, was delivered up, crucified, and killed by lawless men, but then was raised by God from the dead in His resurrection.

And then in vv. 36 and 38 he makes it abundantly clear that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection makes it possible for them to repent and believe—so he calls them all to repent and believe.

This is the Gospel.

We know that this is the Gospel because elsewhere in Scripture, the same idea is repeated:

Consider Romans 8:3-4 “3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

1 Cor 15:3-6 “3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;”

Romans 1:16-17 “16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.””

And I can go on and on: Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16-19, 1 Peter 1:3-4.

What is the Gospel?

It is the truth that prior to Jesus’ sacrificial atonement on the cross for our sins, we were absolutely and utterly spiritually dead.

That Jesus’ atonement for us and the call to repentance issued by the Father through the Law is efficacious for all to be convicted of sins and to repent and believe.

The Gospel is the message of the Bible and we see it clearly the more we read it and understand it—the Gospel is the fabric of the Scriptures.

Our first application is that you need to know the Gospel so that you can proclaim the Gospel.

Then, learn how to proclaim the Gospel (14-36)—Peter shows us a method of proclaiming the Gospel through this text and in his method, he utilizes various passages of Scripture to prove that Jesus is indeed the Messiah that was prophesied about in order for the Jewish people around him to realize the truth, be convicted of sin, and repent and believe.

As mentioned in the previous application, there are many, many, many different ways that you can proclaim the Gospel—you can utilize the Ten Commandments (like Ray Comfort does) or you could utilize the Gospel cube or your own testimony or any number of other ways—the truth is that you don’t need to learn every single way that you can proclaim the Gospel.

Though it definitely helps to know more than one (and I highly recommend learning how to proclaim the Gospel in various different ways).

The truth is that every time you share the Gospel it should be geared towards the individual:

So, if the person needs visual aids, the Gospel cube can be helpful.

Or if the person can be reasoned with a little more, you might utilize the Ten Commandments.

If the person has a predilection for creation, you might be able to utilize creation to jump into talking about Jesus.

Those sorts of methods will change depending on the context and the individual.

However, there are some parts of sharing the Gospel that ought to stay the same:

For instance, how he speaks to these people is worth emulating—he’s caring, he’s compassionate, and he’s clear.

How he utilizes Scripture is worth repeating—when it comes down to it, the only way that you can convince someone of the Gospel is by convincing them that what Scripture teaches concerning the Gospel is true.

But probably what I want to emphasize the most is that as he speaks, he’s direct. He doesn’t beat around the bush—he helps them understand what Scripture says, he explains how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, and then he calls them to repent and believe—this is of utmost importance.

Our second application is that you need to learn how to proclaim the Gospel.

Lastly, and this goes back to Jesus’ final command to the disciples, which extends to us—Go and proclaim the Gospel.

We can come up with every excuse thinkable to not go and proclaim the Gospel:

We might fear what other people think of us, we might think that we aren’t smart enough or knowledgable enough. We might say that we wouldn’t even know where to begin.

But the issue is that proclaiming the Gospel isn’t optional—it is a command from Jesus to go and make disciples. You make disciples by first proclaiming the Gospel.

What do we call it when we don’t do what God has told us to do? Sin.

By not proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you aren’t just being fearful or being self-conscious or any number of other excuses that you could come up with.

By not proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you’re disobeying Jesus and you’re sinning.

If this describes you, then let me call you to repentance.

Our last application is that you need to go and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Put simply, what we learn from Acts 2:14-36 as Peter preaches his sermon, which we’ll look at again next week, is that (1) you need to know the Gospel, (2) you need to learn how to proclaim it, and (3) you need to go and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

My Jesus Fair (300)

The Lord’s Supper

At this time, we’re going to partake in the Lord’s Supper together. Let me just explain a few details before we pass out the elements:

This is the Lord’s Supper and at Grace & Peace we practice an open communion, which simply means that regardless of your membership status here—whether you are a church member or you aren’t, you are more than welcome to partake with us just as long as you have genuinely repented from your sins and have believed in Jesus Christ. Of course, parents, you are free to determine whether your children ought to partake, but let me encourage you to stray on the side of caution if you’re uncertain.

The Lord’s Supper is meant to be a somber reflection or memorial of the death of Jesus Christ to atone for your sins. As such, there is a warning that Paul gives to those who partake in the Lord’s Supper.

He states in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 that anyone who takes part in the Lord’s Supper needs to first consider their own hearts. He warns that if you are to partake in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, you’ll be guilty concerning the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He states that some who have taken the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner have gotten physically ill and some have even died.

We understand partaking in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner to mean that you either partake in the Lord’s Supper despite knowing that you’re in unrepentant sin or you take it flippantly.

So I would encourage you to seriously consider your heart—repent of any sin that you may be holding onto, and take the Lord’s Supper seriously.

We’ll have two people passing out the elements and I can assure you that neither one of them are watching to see if you partake—this is truly between you and God.

As we pass out the plates, you’ll notice that every cup is really two cups that are stacked on-top of one other. You will need to take both cups, as the bottom cup holds the bread and the top cup holds the juice.

When you receive the elements, please hold onto them and wait for everyone else to receive their elements so that we can partake in the Lord’s Supper together.

At this time, we’re going to take a about a minute to quietly pray, to reflect, and to repent if necessary—we’ll then pray corporately before the elements are passed out.

Deane, can you pray for the Lord’s Supper?

“On the night [that our Lord Jesus] was betrayed [He] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Congregational Singing

There is a Fountain (301)