Acts 2:12-36 - The Sermon

Introduction

[READING - Acts 2:14-36]

Acts 2:14–36 NASB95

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. 15 “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘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; 18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy. 19 ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. 21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 22 “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— 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. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. 25 “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. 26 ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; Moreover my flesh also will live in hope; 27 Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 28 ‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’ 29 “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. 30 “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, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. 32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 “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. 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, 35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

[PRAYER]

It would have been easier for those who heard if they had been truly drunk.

Not easier in any good sense of the word, but easier in the way its easier for a thief to keep stealing rather than stop, get a job, and repay what he’s stolen.

It would have surely been more comfortable for those who heard if the Apostles had been drunk.

Not truly comfortable but comfortable in the way a drunkard is comfortable with staggering around in his own stupor.

If the Apostles had been drunk instead of being filled with the Holy Spirit, it would have been easier for the sinners that heard them at Pentecost to remain intoxicated with sin.

But the Spirit had come and He gave the Apostles the ability to preach Jesus in languages they had never learned.

Those who heard heard in their own languages.

In the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit, some thought they Apostles were drunk and some others asked, “What does this mean?”

Peter explained what all this meant with his sermon in Acts 2:14-36.

[TS] There are two major points to Peter’s sermon…

Major Ideas

#1: The Christ has come! (Acts 2:14-21)

[EXP] Peter began his sermon by not only denying the charge of drunkenness, but also by pointing to Joel 2, a prophecy concerning the days of the Christ and what they would be like. Joel referred to them as the last days and here is how he describes those days:

The Spirit of God will be poured forth on the people of God.

The people of God will prophesy.

The people of God will see visions and dream dreams.

These descriptions are all seen at Pentecost and in the early days of the church as recorded in Acts.

All of this we could refer to as the early days of the last days.

But the second part of Joel’s prophecy describes the final days of the last days, the days when Christ returns. Those days are described as follows:

There will be wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below.

There will be blood, fire, and vapor of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.

These descriptions will all be seen on the Great Day of the Lord, the return of Christ, when He comes to slay His enemies, redeem His people, and make His kingdom manifest upon the earth.

So in this beginning part of his sermon, Peter says that the events of Pentecost have announced the beginning of the last days, the days of Christ, which will culminate in Christ’s return.

Pentecost, with the Spirit poured out on the followers of Christ, was a foretaste of the Great Day of the Lord in which the Spirit will be poured out on the followers of Christ even more fully.

When Christ returns, He will be a great blessing to His people!

But when Christ returns, He will be a great terror to His enemies!

But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

[ILLUS] Some attorneys advertise with the promise, “One call, that’s all!”

They promise that if you have a case, all you have to do is call and it will all be handled from that one call.

[APP] I think you know, of course, that the promise of a human attorney is no guarantee, but the promise of Almighty God is a guarantee surer than any other!

He said through His prophet Joel and through the Apostle Peter as recorded here in Acts that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

With Him, it is truly one call, that’s all when call on Him in faith!

Some attorneys also promise, “No fees unless you win!”

But with the Lord, we pay no fees because He has won!

He has defeated sin!

He has risen from the dead!

He has ascended to heaven!

He has sent His Spirit to His people!

He is coming again!

We are living in the last days, the days between Christ’s ascension and return. Pentecost was the signal that those days have begun, and the promise of God is that those days will end with the return of Christ.

Are you ready for the return of Christ?

How do you get ready for the return of Christ?

You call on the name of the Lord for salvation!

If you call on Him you will be saved!

[TS] But, to borrow language from Romans 10:14, how will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?

Perhaps questions like these were rolling around in different minds as Peter preached.

He has said that the miraculous events of Pentecost heralded the days of the Christ, but to this point in Peter’s sermon Christ is just a title without a name.

If Pentecost announced the days of Christ, well then who is He?

Peter answered that question beginning in v. 22.

#2: The Christ is Jesus of Nazareth! (Acts 2:22-36)

[EXP] In this second part of Peter’s sermon, he presented and defended Jesus the Nazarene as the Christ. Notice how Jesus is described by Peter:

Jesus is called the Nazarene because He was from Nazareth. This was not only a humble description of the Christ, it also identified Him specifically.

He was a man attested by God with miracles and wonders and signs.

These things were done by God through Jesus.

These things were done in the midst of the Jewish people as exhibitions of Jesus as the Christ.

Notice the emphasis Peter places on this point with the phrases “attested to you,” “in your midst,” and “as you yourselves know.”

These people could not deny the miracles and wonders and signs of Jesus.

On some level they had been witness to these things themselves.

Then Peter said Jesus—the Christ as proven by His miracles, wonders, and signs—was nailed to a cross.

The Jewish people had done this by the hands of godless men, i.e., the Romans, but it everything happened according to the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.”

Every sin from Judas’ betrayal to Pilate’s order was a choice freely made, but every free choice was according to God’s sovereign will.

It was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; His life an offering for sin (Isa. 53:10).

But Peter went on to say that God raised Jesus up again; He resurrected Jesus from the dead, ending the agony of death since death could not hold Him in its power.

Having paid for the sins of sinners, death no longer had any claim on Jesus because He had no sins of His own.

God raised Him from the dead.

Then Peter said that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was prophesied by David in Psalm 16.

In that psalm David is taking comfort in God’s deliverance. God is always with him. He will not abandon him. God will make him full of gladness in His presence.

But Peter’s point is that some of Psalm 16 cannot be applied to David so it must be applied to another. This was a prophecy through David about the Christ.

The Christ is the one who’s soul was not abandoned to Hades, Sheol in Hebrew, the place of the dead.

The Christ is the Holy One who did not undergo decay in the tomb.

The Christ is the one who knew the ways of life and rose from the dead.

This is the point that David made beginning in v. 29.

David died and was buried and everyone in Peter’s day knew where his tomb was, but because David knew the promise God made him—that one of his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever (2 Sam. 7:12ff)—David prophesied that descendent would be the Christ resurrected from the dead in fulfillment of Psalm 16:10.

This Christ descended from David and raised from the dead is Jesus who God raised up, which all the Apostles witnessed.

They witnessed Him crucified.

They witnessed Him resurrected.

He is exalted to the right hand of God, the place of all power and honor.

And He sent the Holy Spirit to fill His Apostles, which is why they were testifying and why Peter was preaching.

This was not David because He did not ascend into the heavens, but, as David himself said in Psalm 110:1, it was David’s Lord who did ascend into the heavens, and it was David’s Lord who was welcomed to God’s right hand.

Then Peter comes to the climax of his sermon in Acts 2:36…

Acts 2:36 NASB95

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

The Spirit has come and the Apostles are testifying and Peter is preaching so that all Israel will know that Jesus the Nazarene is Lord and Christ—and know that they have crucified Him.

What a shock this was for Peter’s listeners. They were looking for the Christ, looking to celebrate Him at His coming, but instead they crucified Him.

Why? Because it was the predetermined plan of God that He be crucified.

Why? Because they chose to crucify Him.

Why? Because He laid down His life for all who trust in Him.

[ILLUS] We read back in v. 14 that it was Peter that took his stand with the eleven other Apostles. This message Peter preached was the message all the Apostles preached, but it was fitting that Peter should be the one to give voice to this message on this occasion.

I say it was fitting because those who heard were Jews who had denied their Christ leading to His crucifixion.

Perhaps they wondered how they could be forgiven for so great a sin.

But remember that Peter essentially did the same thing. As Jesus went to the cross, Peter denied His Christ three times.

Peter no doubt wondered how he could be forgiven for so great a sin. Perhaps he was even convinced that he couldn’t be forgiven.

But Jesus extended forgiveness to Peter and welcomed him once again as an Apostle.

Now Jesus extends forgiveness through Peter to these people gathered at Pentecost, and if they repent of their sin and call on the name of Jesus for salvation, they will be welcomed once again as the people of God.

[APP] Perhaps we’ve felt like Peter after he denied Christ or these Jews after hearing that they crucified their Christ.

Perhaps we’ve felt like that when we’ve realized that it was our sins that nailed Him there, but our sinfulness will not outdo His graciousness.

Today Jesus extends to us forgiveness if we will repent and believe.

[TS] …

Conclusion

Do you understand that we are living in the last days, the days of the Christ?

Are you ready for the return of Christ?

Do you know that Jesus the Nazarene is the Christ?

Have you called on His Name?

Have you been saved?

Have you experienced His forgiveness?

No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, Jesus extends His forgiveness to you.

Will you receive it?