Acts 02_14-21 Preaching Christ (1)_The Introduction

Read Acts 2:12-21 – So, here’s Peter who profanely denied Jesus 7 weeks ago in fear of his life, standing to his feet in this same city surrounded by the same enemies and boldly preaching Jesus in one of the greatest sermons of all time apart from those of Jesus. Amazing turnaround! Why? Two reasons. He’s seen the resurrected Jesus, and he’s been filled with the HS. Those divine encounters have changed his life, just as they change all who come to Him.

So here’s the first sermon on the new era. First sermons can be intimidating. At Spurgeon’s Preacher’s College one test was giving students a text, having them to preach it then and there to Spurgeon and other staff. That’s pressure! One student got Zacchaeus. After due consideration he arose: “Zach was of little stature; so am I. Zach was up a tree; so am I. Zach came down; so will I.” And down he sat! Smart man. Probably had a great career.

But as a pattern for all sermons to come, Peter’s is incomparable. 1) It is Scripturally based. He quotes authoritatively from 3 OT passages (Joel 2, Psa 16 and 110). 2) It is Christ-centered. Not about what we can do, but what He already did. 3) It’s inviting -- compelling unbelievers to turn from sin to Christ. It shows the worst of all sins, killing Jesus, can be forgiven based on His sacrificial death. Wonderful preaching – putting Jesus front and center.

This morning we examine the introduction. Peter starts by explaining the sound of the HS’s arrival and the apostles’ speaking in various unknown languages. What is this all about? It’s never been seen before. So Peter preaches Christ. The HS always point to Christ, never to Himself. But Peter begins with where his audience is – questioning what they are seeing/hearing!

I. What Pentecost is Not

It’s not a drunken frenzy. Pagan religions often included drunken orgies where people, trying to connect with the spiritual, and under the influence of alcohol, might break out in unintelligible speech. Such exhibitions no doubt prompted Paul’s comparison when he wrote in Eph 5:18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” His point was not that one might have ecstatic experiences either way. His point was being under the influence of alcohol was a waste – having no redeeming value to man or God. But being under the influence of the HS would lead to the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, etc – flooding that life with godly meaning and power. The focus is on influence not ecstatic experience.

So, Peter denies the disciples are drunk: 15) “For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.” “It’s 9:00 in the morning. No one drinks wine before lunch and that’s three hours away.” He might have added, “When was the last time you saw drunk people suddenly speaking in dialects unknown to them?” It was a foolish accusation, but the best the mockers could raise on short notice. It wasn’t that they had intelligent reasons for making this accusation, but that they didn’t want to believe anything supernatural was going on, so any natural explanation would do.

Many claim to reject Jesus on intellectual grounds. Miracles and resurrections don’t exist! But even honest skeptics realize rejecting Christ is a decision of the heart, not of the head. Harvard biologist, Richard Lewontin admits: “We have a prior commitment – a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori commitment to material causes to create material explanations, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. Straight from the skeptic’s mouth! We reject God not because we are intellectually compelled to do so, but bc we choose to do so, something God knew: Psa 53:1: “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” Mockers will always find an excuse; that’s why it’s so important to listen closely before rejecting the Savior. Pentecost, and by extension the church today, is not explainable in natural terms.

II. What Pentecost Is

To explain Pentecost, Peter appeals not to personal opinion, but to Scripture. He quotes Joel: “And in the last days it shall be.” “Last days” was used 15 times in the OT to describe Messiah coming with His kingdom. Isa 2:2: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established . . . and all the nations shall flow to it.” This was the intrepid expectation of the Jews, and why the disciples were confused about the kingdom right up to the last moment. What they did not see, nor did any in Israel, was there would be not 1 but 2 comings of Messiah – that the last days would extend over an extended period of time.

In quoting Joel, Peter is in effect saying, “The last days we’ve been waiting for – well, guess what? They’re here.” Often, we today, think of the last days as yet future. But not true. They arrived with the 1st coming of Christ and extend to His 2nd. Heb 1:1-2: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” The last days were launched with the coming of Christ. I Pet 1:20: “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.” We don’t have to wait for the last days; we are living them. Been in them for 2,000 years. John says in I Jn 2:18: “Children, it is the last hour.” Heb 9:26b: “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” We’ve not seen the end of the last days; but we have seen their beginning. Jesus’ presence not only divided human history BC and AD. It also divides theological history. Everything before points forward to Him; everything after point back to Him. Peter gives 2 proofs the last days are here.

A. Last Days Evidenced by the Spirit of Life – Here’s what Pentecost is: 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.” What they’re seeing is the outpouring of the HS on all believers first promised by God through Joel 800 years before, a promise renewed by Jesus in His last days on earth, and now, on this very day, being fulfilled unmistakably in the lives of these first NT believers. Wow! What a start to a sermon! What you’re seeing and hearing -- 16) “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.” It’s here, Folks. This speaking in other languages shows the HS has arrived as promised – full time – to all God’s people.

Other signs will follow – prophesies, visions, dreams. They flow throughout Acts. Apostles and prophets reveal NT truth to people without Bibles. A vision sends Ananias to Paul after his conversion (Acts 9:10) to prophesy about his future ministry. A vision sends Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:3). A vision sends Paul to Europe instead of Asia (Acts 16:9), forever changing the history of the world, and probably the only reason you and I are here today. Paul and John both visited heaven by vision.

So, should we expect these same kind of visions, dreams and prophecies? Let me answer this way. We must never put God in a box. He can do anything He wants to, anytime He wants to. The question is how does He generally work in this church era. And that is through the supernatural gift of His Word during our time – something the early believers did not yet have.

Thus, Eph 2:20: the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” The apostles and early prophets were foundational, but the foundation does not extend to the whole building, right? When our new church was built, they put in the foundation first, but then moved on to the walls and the roof. The foundation is done!

So what is the foundation of the apostles and prophets? NT truth! It undergirds everything. So Paul says in Rom 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” We don’t have apostles today nor prophets because we have their foundational truth in Scripture. And it is sufficient for every need of the believer. II Tim 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training righteousness, 17) that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” We have all we need. But we’re lazy, looking for spiritual shortcuts. We’d rather an ecstatic experience than digging in the Word. But that is God’s plan for us. He wants to know we really want Him.

That doesn’t mean God never uses visions. Credible stories come from Muslim countries and other places where there’s no Bible, but people are genuinely seeking. Often a vision points them to Jesus. I’m convinced it happens. But unquestionably, God’s prime tool is His Word. I Cor 2:12) “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13) And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” It is the Word that is the Spirit’s primary tool to bring us closer to God. With the Word in hand the Spirit within, we lack nothing to live worthy lives before God.

B. Last Days Evidenced by Signs of Death – At v. 19, Joel’s prophecy moves in a different direction – signs preceding the “day of the Lord” which is an OT designation for final judgment: 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.” The sign of the languages was a sign of the gift of the life-giving Spirit of God to believers. But what of unbelievers? They will have signs as well.

If you view Joel’s prophecy as covering the whole church age, which I think it does, then at the birth of that age, the HS comes in this new and special way – taking up residence in all believers. But even the signs of judgment were there in incipient form. Where? At the cross! Mt 27:45: “Now from the 6th hour there was darkness over all the land until the 9th hour.” Unexplainable, impenetrable darkness from noon to 3:00 in the afternoon – brightest part of the day. What was this? This is the judgment of God – placing the guilt for our sin on Him. Jesus predicted this at His arrest. Lu 22:53b: “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” During those 3 hours in human time, the God’s judgment against sin was poured out on His own Son as He cried out: Mt 27:46b: “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” That’s Jesus taking the judgment of God described by Joel so we wouldn’t have to. That’s the gospel being paid for. That darkness is physical sign of sin being judged. So, those who believe have forgiveness, cleansing, and the gift of the HS.

But those who don’t – well, what Joel defines are the signs that lead to up to Jesus’ 2nd coming and the final day of reckoning. This is common OT verbiage. Isa 13:9-11: 9) “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10) For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11) I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.”

In the seven years preceding Jesus’ coming, John describes judgment events in throughout Revelation that include all these signs – smoke, fire, blood and darkness. Jesus described His 2nd coming in similar terms: Mt 24:29-30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30) Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” The preview at the cross shows it’s all going to happen. It’s a magnificent day, for all sin will be answered for – the curse of Eden reversed.

Peter didn’t know the last days would stretch 2,000 years and beyond. But the point is the same. The outpouring of the HS was the direct result of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. That’s a life-giving event for all who will believe. But other signs, beginning with the darkness at Jesus’ crucifixion and extending to other signs yet to occur, portend the judgment that must ultimately fall as God brings the universe back into complete conformity to His blessed will. What power – and what a glorious day that will be.

III. What Pentecost Requires

But this faces us all with a decision, doesn’t it? 21) And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” To have the gift of life, we must upon the name of the Lord – to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. The alternative is to continue under the sentence of death that God must impose if He is to remain God. Jesus took that judgment so we wouldn’t have to. But if we refuse, there is no hiding place, no second chance, no way out. It is either face the judgment of God in our own person, or trust in Christ who accepted it in our place. That’s the choice this passage lays before us.

Conc – A writer named Will Campbell tells of being baptized in the East Fork River in MS. His younger brother, Joe, was skeptical. After watching the preacher baptize 2 or 3 people, Joe got more and more concerned for Will’s safety. So when it was Will’s turn, Joe slid down the muddy bank, grabbed Will and said, “Will, dear God, don’t let them do this to you. A fella could get killed doing this.” Will said later, “It took me 30 years to recognize that was precisely the point.” And that is exactly the point. We all choose – either by faith to die with Christ in His death and gain new resurrected life in Him – or face the righteous judgment of God on our own. Jesus faced God’s judgment so we wouldn’t have to. What a tragedy to turn down that amazing gift of grace. “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Have you called on Him? If not, now is the time. Let’s pray.

Related Media

Related Sermons