Sermon Tone Analysis

[Subtitle - The First Christian Sermon, Part One]

PRAY

INTRO: Remember that there had come a deafening silence of the Holy Spirit prophesying in Israel for some 400 years.

(after the time of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi)

But of course, this is no longer the case with the coming of Jesus Christ, who was indeed a prophet sent by God, but more than a prophet, the very Son of God.

And so now the New Covenant followers of Jesus have received the Holy Spirit in power, which brings about the situation for a text today.

And not only that, but Peter and the other Apostles, by the power of the Spirit, are set up to interpret the Scriptures (the Law and the Psalms and the Prophets) in light of what has happened and in Christ and is happening even now before the eyes of those in Jerusalem.

Remember… the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and all the disciples… Acts 2:4

So to our text for today…

What is the backdrop for this sermon?

(vv.

14-16)

Peter Preaches the First Christian Sermon

To the Jews (remember we had just heard how many were gathered)

Listen Carefully to what I have to say

Because what you are hearing (these Galileans speaking, declaring the mighty works of God, in the various native tongues where you are from) cannot be explained away by some lame reasoning that we are all drunk at 9am (in Jewish fashion, which begins with 0 at sunrise, or 6am-ish).

He begins, v. 16, quoting the prophet Joel to give a better reason for what they are seeing and hearing [v.

33]

How does Peter use the Joel text?

And what are the two ‘movements’ in the quotation?

(vv.

17-21)

Let’s look first at how Peter quotes/interprets Joel 2:28-32 under the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The reason I say interprets as well is because that is the likely reason for minor variations in the quotation.

Yes, he was quoting from memory and not reading, but we believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible.

(That means every part of it, in the original languages of the original writings, is breathed out by the Holy Spirit and is God’s truth.

- As Jesus says of prophecy and the law in particular, not even a jot or tittle, not an iota or dot, will pass away before all is accomplished.

Mt 5:17-18) So if there is any minor variation, we must see this is the Holy Spirit’s guidance upon Peter to interpret that text.

The only truly noteworthy example of this is in the very first words of his quotation, but it is significant to our understanding.

“And it shall come to pass afterward” (Joel 2:28a, emphasis mine) Peter quotes and interprets as this “afterward” being the beginning of “the last days.”

When we talk about the last days, we almost always think of eschatology, of things yet future in the very final years of this earth before Christ returns.

But here and elsewhere in the NT, the “last days” have already begun.

We are living in the last days.

While that doesn’t mean that there are no more prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled (which we even see as Peter continues to quote Joel), the point is that Jesus has inaugurated the beginning of “the last days.”

Here are other NT passages with the same concept:

Even the Lord’s brother James speaks of the present as “the last days.”

(Jam 5:3) But see this last one from the author of the letter to the Hebrews:

To the Jew, “these last days” does not mean, you know in recent days past.

No, just as the context of Joel 2 shows, it is in the fulfillment of eschatological promises.

The last days have begun, and we are living in them.

Now, the Apostles had no way of knowing just how long the last days would last.

In response to the question from the disciples of when he would culminate the kingdom, Jesus told them in Acts 1:7 “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

But you might still ask, How can 2,000 years passing be the last days?

Well, Peter himself answers that question later in his life:

?[Could turn there for context?

Before: 3,4,&7... & After: 9,10 (notice day of the Lord and coming like a thief),11]

So in the last days, “I will pour out my Spirit [God is speaking] on all flesh.”

By “all flesh/all people” Peter clearly doesn’t mean every single person.

The text means all different kinds of people, as the continued explanation shows.

Keep reading again vv.

17&18 = Joel 2:28b-29.

Based on all that we hear in the Apostolic era of the NT, this is in fact fulfilled in the early days of the church.

The daughters Philip prophesied (Acts 21:8-9).

In Acts we’ll see that Stephen, in the midst of his martyrdom, has a vision of Christ in heaven (Acts 7:56).

Saul’s conversion occurs with a vision of, or an encounter with, the risen Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4-5; 22:6-7; 26:14-15).

Ananias then has a vision from God that he go to Saul (Acts 9:12).

Peter has a dreamlike vision in Acts 10:9-16 that he must not call unclean what the Lord has made clean, which turns out to mean that God is saving people for himself from among the Gentiles as well (namely, the centurion Cornelius and his household) We could seek more examples, but you get the point.

The force of the quotation is that the Holy Spirit will come upon all who are in Christ, and neither social status, nor gender, nor even ethnicity prevents God from doing so (as Peter will later learn, even as we just mentioned).

Now although the last days have begun, the quotation in Joel transitions to the end of the last days.

We know this because the end of verse 20 shows that this part is before the day of the Lord comes.

And it sounds exactly like Rev 6:12’s description of some of the future calamities...

These things occur yet future, apparently more closely associated with the time shortly before “the great and magnificent day”… the Day of the Lord.

What is the Day of the Lord?

The Day of the Lord as it is used like this refers to God’s intervention in the future to bring to conclusion a severe judgment for sin on the earth.

It is undoubtedly, in the NT’s interpretation, a day (or a time period) when Christ comes again to judge in a final sense.

We can feel confident that Peter is using it this way, as a warning to his hearers that such a day may be very near, because of the way it is used in Joel, the prophet whom he quotes.

Again, Peter includes the full prophecy as a warning.

The last days have already begun, and while not all has yet been fulfilled, the day of the Lord’s judgment cannot be far behind.

Now certainly we’ve already begun to see how Peter uses Joel in this message.

But let’s be as clear as we can…

Why does Peter use the Joel text in the context of his sermon?

(vv.

22ff as they lead to v. 33)

Fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy has begun… the outpouring of the Spirit (the last days) signalled the nearness of the day of the Lord (when judgment would come).

What at first seems crazy to us is that Peter doesn’t immediately explain why he quotes this passage from Joel.

He doesn’t do that until v. 33 in your Bibles.

But the reason for that should be abundantly clear.

Peter wants there to be no mistake that the coming of the Spirit like this is in fact from the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God made it possible by what Jesus accomplished.

Read vv.

22-25a.

Acts 2:22-24

We’ll study this text again next week, so see for the main point of the quote is v. 27.

Acts 2:27

And now vv.

29-33.

Acts 2:29-33

So what you see and hear is a result of the Spirit, which is a result of the Lord sending him (“he has poured out”), which is a result of God accomplishing his will by his own grace and mercy through Jesus.

Peter has also said in there that God’s plan and grace does not negate your guilt.

“you crucified and killed” v. 23… and Acts 2:36

God in his sovereignty still holds us accountable for our sin and for our response to his offer of mercy and grace in Jesus.

Before we can leave the text in Joel 2, Peter alludes again to a final part of that text, a part he did not quote, when explaining how God can save them through Jesus if they repent for forgiveness, being baptized in the Holy Spirit: Acts 2:39

This verse leads me to our concluding applications for today.

Concluding Application: Warning & Promise

There is a negative warning in our passage, but in the context of a positive promise.

The warning: If the day of the Lord was near for them, how much nearer must it be today?

Do not delay in responding to Jesus.

The good news for those who accept is also the bad news for those who reject.

Do not remain under God’s wrath.

Do not reject.

Do not delay.

Instead, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.

To those who reject Jesus, a sermon like this is further condemnation.

But to those who are being saved, you need not wonder if God can save a wretch like you… or me.

God is calling you to himself and the power of the cross and resurrection of Christ is effective to save you.