Acts 2:14-41

Acts 2:14–41 KJV 1900

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon 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 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

Know your audience

One of the fundamental truths of effective preaching, is to know your audience.

Who am I preaching to?

If I am preaching at a youth conference, it probably won’t be effective connect point for my opening illustration to talk about retirement. Likewise, if am preaching to a senior citizens group at the nursing home, my opening illustration probable won’t be talking about posting selfies on Instagram.

Likewise, if I know that my audience is comprised of a group that are not yet saved, probably a sermon on the office of a bishop may not be the best direction to go.

Knowing the audience that you are preaching to enables for effective direction and effective delivery!

The scripture details for us the audience of Simon Peters message on the Day of Pentecost:

Vs. 5 Their culture - Jews that lived in Jerusalem. Devout. Had come from diverse nations

Vs. 11 their condition - They were all amazed and were in doubt…To say that they were in doubt does not mean they doubted what was happening was real, or that it sincere. Rather they were perplexed…they didn’t know what it was all about.

While vs. 13 tells us that some that were their mocked.

Author Andrew Smith stated “we fear what we don’t understand”. All were amazed…and all were perplexed and some of those mocked...

and this is the audience that Simon Peter is about to preach to.

The question that he is preaching to is “What meaneth this?”

Knowing what question we are preaching to address allows us to be effective in preaching. Usually, if we don’t know what question we are working to address, we leave with more questions than when we started.

The fact that they were amazed meant that he had a captive audience.

The fact that they were all Jews from Jerusalem, mean that this message was going to be convicting. (These guys were part of the crowd that had demanded the crucifixion of Jesus)

the fact that they were all perplexed mean that his sermon had to be convincing.

Introduction

Just as every Sunday, when I, or another minister stands to preach, we begin with a scriptural text as the foundation as to what message will be preached…Simon Peter begins with the same approach.

Before Peter preaches the heart of his message, he takes them to the scripture.

Again…the question that Peter is preaching to address is “what meaneth this?” What is the meaning of all of these Galileans speaking in other tongues?

First he takes them to the book of Joel:

Peter would have said “Turn to Joel chapter 2 vs. 28 through 32

Acts 2:17–21 KJV 1900

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon 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 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Point # 1. This is That

What you are witnessing is the pouring out of God’s spirit upon all flesh.

This was not the complete fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy…but was a partial fulfilment.

As is stated in the Apostolic Study Bible:

Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes Notes

While the entire content of Joel’s prophecy was not fulfilled that day (e.g., “the blood and fire and vapor of smoke,” v. 19), Peter acknowledged that those present were observing the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. He specifically included men and women, sons and daughters, and male and female servants. The inclusion of all flesh (other nations) was soon realized as Samaritans (Acts 8) and Gentiles (Acts 10) received the Holy Spirit. The universal promise of the Holy Spirit was declared as a fulfillment of prophecy here and continued to be realized throughout the Book of Acts.

Point #2. Peter Emphatically proved that THIS was evidence that Jesus was alive.

He used five convincing arguments to prove that Jesus was alive:

1. The testimony of who Jesus was demanded that He be raised from the dead.

Acts 2:22–24 NASB95

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.

- A man that had raised others from the dead, could not remain dead himself!

John 10:17–18 NASB95

17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

2. Psalms 16:8-11 predicted the resurrection

Acts 2:25–28 NASB95

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.’

He goes on in vs. 29 through 31 to explain exactly what David was talking about

Acts 2:29–31 NASB95

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.

Acts 2:29–31 NLT

29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

3. The Apostles themselves were witnesses and had seen the risen Christ

Acts 2:32 NASB95

32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

4. The coming of the Holy Ghost is proof that Jesus is alive:

Acts 2:33 NKJV

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.

5. Psalms 110:1 promised his resurrection

Acts 2:33–35 NASB95

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.” ’

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament Chapter 2

Keep in mind that Peter was not preaching the Gospel of the cross as we preach it today. He was accusing Israel of a great crime (vv. 23) and warning them that they had rejected and crucified their own Messiah (v. 36). Peter was giving Israel one more opportunity to receive Christ. They had slain John the Baptist and Jesus, but God was now giving them another chance. The resurrection of Christ was the promised “sign of Jonah” that proved He was the Messiah (Matt. 12:38–40

Application:

(1) At the beginning, Peter knew his audience. He knew that the men that he was preaching to were the ones that were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

And so he had to preach conviction.

(2) He knew that these men had rejected Jesus as their messiah once before, but now, as Jesus was resurrected, they had another opportunity to receive Him as messiah...

And so his message had to be convincing

Vs. 37 tells us that Peters message delivered the payload and met its intended purpose

Acts 2:37 KJV 1900

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

To which Peter replied the response of every sinner that is convicted of their sin (for it was not just the crowd that cried crucify at calvary....but it was our sins that he was crucified to cover.

Colossians 2:13–14 KJV 1900

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Our response today is the same that it was for those devout Jews on the Day of Pentecost:

Repentence

Baptism in Jesus Name

Infilling of the Holy Ghost!

We see this application of Peter’s sermon demonstrated time and time throughout the book of Acts!

Peter’s effective preaching that had convinced them that what they had witnessed was the outpouring of God’s spirit, and that it was evidence that Jesus was risen.

After he effectively used the Word to convict and convince them, the result was that they were pricked in their hearts!

Other translations say that “they were cut to the heart”.

Conviction hurts. It causes us to come face to face with our sins. It doesn’t feel good.

This is why the altar is so important.

It grants us an opportunity to respond!!

After Peter shared with them the plan of Salvation, the bible says they GLADLY RECEIVED THE WORD!!

do you see that transformation that is brought about by submitting to God’s plan and applying his word in our lives?

From cut to the heart to Gladly...