WED. - Peter's Message at Pentecost

INTRODUCTION

Turn with me, tonight, in your Bibles to Acts 2.

We have been engaged, for a while, within this very long chapter -

Filled with many passages - that contain rich treasure to uncover!

THE IMPORTANCE LIES IN THE FACT - once discovered, such treasure should help you to see some of the WHY BEHIND THE WHAT IN MINISTRY!

In accordance with such treasures,

You will discover the WHY, HOW, & TO WHAT EXTENT -

A pastor will go into much study to help you understand, and prepare the pathway for the Holy Spirit of God to work in your hearts, to see God’s Truths that can change you, challenge you, and compel you further in your Christian walk and work for God!

The last time that we opened Acts 2 -

We focused in upon another passage point, with the very beginning phrase of Acts 2:14, let’s start there again.

If you have found Acts 2, and are physically able to stand -

PLEASE STAND WITH ME FOR THE READING OF THE WORD OF GOD!

Acts 2:14–21 “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: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 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: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Let’s Pray and we will continue in Acts 2.

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Last time, we STRESSED the POINT - Preaching Takes Boldness!

We could plainly see that from the last time we met, the TRUTH about preaching that sure proves that statement!

We saw that - There Has To Be Boldness to Stand for Something!

It was Dr. Bob Jones Sr. that used to say, “If you DON’T Stand for something, you WILL fall for anything.”

And HOW TRUE are those words!

That is WHY a lot of NEW preachers DO NOT make it long in the ministry!

They are NOT willing to count the cost, and to make a FIRM, BOLD Stand, as we will see in the Apostle Peter - tonight!

HEY! that is TRULY needed in the ministry!

You have heard me say before -

If God had intended ministry to be easy, then He would have called little girls to carry out His Work!

There WILL be the messages that you do NOT want to preach, because you know that it will NOT be received well!

There WILL be those, that will want to challenge you in the stand that you take!

There will be those, who pass off the message to someone else, and never assume personal responsibility for their own accountability in the ministry that God has blessed them with!

There will be those, who are scared to STAND, and PROCLAIM GOD’s MESSAGE just as God outlines and intends - due to the hardships posed by the people of God!

CONVERSELY IN ACTS 2:13 - We See GOD CALLED A MAN THAT WAS WILLING TO TAKE A BOLD STAND -

For Something & SOMEONE - Acts 2:13, 14 - “Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them”.

NOTICE TONIGHT! - GOD CALLED A MAN TO BOLDLY Speak FIRM, But RESPECTFUL Truth.

WHEN YOU STOP TO CONSIDER JUST WHO IS GIVING THE DEFENSIVE ORATORY - you should NOT BE SO surprised!

REMEMBER JUST WHO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT?

The disciple who bid the Lord Jesus Christ to allow him to walk on the water?

This was the same disciple who also betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ the night before Christ’s crucifixion?

This was the SAME man whom the angel at the empty tomb of OUR RISEN LORD, the angel told the Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, & Salome on Resurrection Sunday -

“To go your way, tell his disciples AND PETER that he goeth before you into Galilee”.

PLEASE! Do NOT forget to tell Peter - the one who feels washed up, discouraged & done away with - PLEASE TELL PETER!!!! - Jesus shall ye see!

Well why was this?

God KNEW well ahead of time - that this same man taken in brokenness, would be the same man who would preach the message of a lifetime where thousands got saved

AND PETER WOULD GO ON TO DO MORE FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

And so YES, ABSOLUTELY - I believe that God NEEDS those MEN who will answer the call -

Those - whom God CAN & DOES use to speak HIS TRUTH -

But preaching ALWAYS, has to be carried out in the right manner! - Colossians 4:6 - “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

We See Peter BOLD in His Defense of Those Scorned- Acts 2:14, 15 “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: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”

Here were these foreign Jews, from other lands, nestled into Jerusalem for the feasts and festivals -

They were made privy to the sights, sounds, and speech -

And commenced to making scornful and slipshod statements - that could have been very misleading, and a hindrance to others observing!

They were bring charges of alcoholic intoxication, based upon the visual display seen on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem!

And Peter simply corrected their scornful statements with the truth!

Peter showed their fallacy of drunkeness, BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THE THIRD HOUR!

It was only 9 o’clock in the morning!

This was the time for public worship!

Drunkenness generally would have occured in the evening time!

It was also a regular practice, Albert Barnes states, with the Jews not to eat or drink anything until after the third hour of the day

Especially on the Sabbath, an on all festival occasions

Possibly even as late as NOON!

WHEN FOUND IN THAT TYPE OF SITUATION - WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

HOW SHOULD THE MAN OF GOD RESPOND, IN A SPITEFUL SITUATION - LIKE THIS?

In short, as several commentators summarized Peter’s reply - he simply answered scorn with scorn!

There are plenty of people in our country and around the world, who sit and listen intently to those who stand behind a lectern or pulpit!

Swallowing every hook, line, & sinker that is tossed out from the “so-called” preachers, as GOSPEL TRUTH!!!

AND WHILE ON THAT TOPIC - BY THE WAY - TODAY! PREACHERS ARE A DIME A DOZEN!

You can find a preacher that will tickle your ears, and suit your fancy, and give you just what you want to hear!

AND THAT IS THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH A OT OF CHURCHES TODAY - PEOPLE WANT PART-TIME PREACHERS, INSTEAD OF PASSIONATE, PROTECTIVE, & PERCEPTIVE PASTORS!

I have learned to start pushing back against those individuals who stand up in defense of these TV preachers -

When confronted, I tell them to just go ahead and call:

Steven Furtick

Joyce Meyers

Jimmy Swaggert

Joel O’Steen

Kenneth Copeland

And tell them your problem, IF YOU CAN EVEN REACH THEM -

And let me know just HOW LONG you speak with them!

HOW MUCH of the Word of God, IN RIGHT CONTEXT, do they give you - AND WOULD YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!

How much TIME spent WITH you personally, at: HOME, HOSPITAL, or wherever!

HENCE - the BOLD pastor, that God has called to deliver the Message of God, MAY have to debunk a lot of the nonsense spoken on television, computer screens, & publicly!

Ladies & Gentlemen - SOMETIMES, THAT IS NOT AN EASY TASK TO TAKE TO HAND!

Probably just like it was NOT easy for Elijah, to confront King Ahab in his own court - back in 1 Kings 18!

Probably just like it was NOT easy for John the Baptist meeting the group of Pharisees in Matthew 3:7 , 8 - “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”

BOLD Preaching HAS to Be Carried Out in the Right Manner!

Peter Stood in Defense of Those Scorned.

ii. Peter Stood in Defense of The Scriptures. - Acts 2:16 - “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;”

Peter Began to REASON the Scriptures With Them - as we can see from Acts 2:17–21 - “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: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Peter Declared the Prophecies of Joel - taken from Joel 2.

We will not go back to read that Old Testament Passage - for it is given here in Acts 2:17-21.

What Peter was trying to instill in them, WAS that the same Spirit that Joel prefaces in the LAST DAYS -

Was THAT SELFSAME SPIRIT, being noted there on the Day of Pentecost, that we spent much time looking at previously!

This sign was being given (AS WE STATED EARLIER) to gather the attention of the Jews at this particular time in history!

BUT - THIS WAS NOT THE COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF JOEL’S PROPHECY - JUST BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS - “AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS”.

Keep in mind, 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

The events contained in Joel 2 - that Peter brought to their remembrance did NOT EVIDENCE - “WONDERS IN THE SKY, OR BLOOD AND FIRE, VAPOURS OF SMOKE”! THESE ARE SIGNS OF WHAT TAKES PLACE DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD OF MATTHEW 24:29, 30.

Therefore, Measures (BOLD MEASURES) Have to Be Reasonably Taken From the Scripture to Confront Error - WITH THE TRUTH!

The Book of Jude reminds us of the necessity to practice Biblical responsibility - Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For three are certain men crept in unawares”.

What was Peter Doing By This Purposeful YET Bold Standing?

He Gave Instant Explanation to People, Who Lacked Spiritual Nature, And Spoke With TRUE Biblical Authority!

Never before had anything else, as they had just witnessed, taken place before their eyes!

There would be many more marvellous things take place - completely foreign to these onlookers!

There would be more additions to the Word of God - than what they originally had AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME!

A NEW dispensation was dawning - THE CHURCH AGE - an age of Grace!

And so, Peter showed NO hesitation to declare the wonderful grace of God - SPELLED OUT IN SALVATION. Acts 2:21 - “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

We know Jesus Christ to be the CENTER POINT of Salvation!

Matt. 1:21 reminds us, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

John 1:12 - “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

Acts 4:12 - “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

When Reasoned Properly & Methodically, the TRUTH CAN BE EXPOUNDED & ENLARGED Encompassing the ENTIRE TRUTH - as Acts 2:22-41 outlines out!

HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO CONVEY THE SIMPLY YET SOLIDIFYING TRUTH - SERVING GOD TAKES BOLDNESS!

BOLDNESS to be, where God wants you to be! How many opportunities have been missed from NOT being where YOU NEED TO BE!

BOLDNESS to take a stand, when NO ONE ELSE IS STANDING FOR TRUTH! BUT WHERE NO ONE STANDS ALONE! The Holy Spirit Empowered Peter’s Boldness!

BOLDNESS to say those things, THAT ONLY THUS SAITH THE LORD! John 14:26 - “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

BOLDNESS to share the Saviour. John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” AND LATER ON over 3,000 got saved!

HEY THANK GOD FOR BOLD PREACHING THAT IS DONE, AND EXERCISED IN THE RIGHT MANNER!