Acts 2:14-41 - Pentecost Preaching - Pt. 4

Introduction

Good morning! Welcome to CHCC. It is so good to be back with you all. I just want to give a big thank you to Greg and Jodi for leading Sanctity of Life Sunday two weeks ago. And thank you, Bill for leading the service last week. The past two weeks have served as a wonderful reminder to our family how truly blessed we are. Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support.

This morning, we will pick up where we left off in our study through the book of Acts, in the middle of chapter 2. The apostles have just been filled with the Holy Spirit as was promised by Jesus to them; this took place in the upper room during Pentecost. And after being filled with the Holy Spirit it tells us that they began to speak in the tongues of other languages.

What perfect timing by God for this moment. Pentecost brought Jews to Jerusalem from all over the world and this mixing of other cultures brought with it a plethora of different languages. Luke lists 17 different cultures and locations from verses 9-11, and all could hear the gospel message in their own language!

And this brought with it a couple of different responses. Verse 12 says “all were amazed and perplexed,” and for some it brought them to the question: “What does this mean?”

It brought them to the doorstep of truth. It was something unexplainable that was happening and it left them in wonder. But others sought to reason the whole ordeal away. They determined that these men and women were simply drunk with “new wine.”

And this then brings us to our section of Scripture this morning. After this whole ordeal, Peter takes center stage and delivers what many consider (outside of Jesus’ messages) to be the greatest sermon ever given. And because it is given that title, I was curious to determine what makes a sermon great? In fact, let me ask you: what makes a sermon great?

I know I’m not the greatest preacher, but I like to think that with this being my vocation and occupation that I have some insight into what makes a sermon great. And there are some key aspects of Peter’s sermon here at Pentecost that are foundational to any great sermon; what you find in His message here is found in pretty much all great sermons.

I graduated from a Free Will Baptist High School in Florida. And each year they would have a revival week where dozens of pastors from all over the south would come to preach and they would have the entire week filled with preaching from morning to night and during some of our classes we would head to the sanctuary and listen in on these sermons. And let me tell you, there were so many different sermons and deliveries. Some would—like me—simply stand at the pulpit and deliver a message. Some were meek and calm and thoughtful in their presentation. And others would be much more animated. I remember one in particular had a hankie in his hand to catch the beads of sweat running down his face, mic in the other, and would run from one side of the stage to the other and back again nearly yelling into the mic. At one point he was laying prostrate on the floor kicking his feet and pounding his fists on the floor. But ultimately, each of these men gave wonderful sermons.

Early on in preaching I used to study some great preachers—men like John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, John Piper, Alastair Begg, Mark Driscoll, Sinclair Ferguson, Ray Ortland—and I would try to emulate aspects of their delivery or sermon structure. But I quickly realized that I am none of those men!

I didn’t have the wisdom and confidence of MacArthur or Sproul. I didn’t have the energy of Piper or Driscoll. I certainly didn’t have the marvelous accent of Alastair Begg along with his poetic delivery.

And at first that frustrated me. But I came to recognize that God wasn’t asking me to be any of those men; He was simply asking me to be me for City on a Hill Community Church. And I think it is good to learn and study from great orators and learn how to insert great transitions or how to move from illustration to application. Like anybody in any occupation, it is good to hone and perfect your craft. But that is not the whole of it—especially when it comes to preaching.

And certainly not here with Peter’s sermon. Because this is his first sermon after receiving the Holy Spirit! And there was no preparation; it was in the moment and—in a sense—he shot from the hip. But this is exactly how God wanted it. And it was so impactful that thousands entered into the fold of the Early Church!

So enough talk, let’s get into the Word! If you have your bibles with you this morning, please open with me to Acts 2, beginning in verse 14.

PRAY

Acts 2:14–21 ESV

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Let’s pause there for a moment because we come to our first FOUNDATION of what makes a great sermon.

1. ALL GREAT SERMONS ARE SCRIPTURAL

First off, Peter puts the accusations of drunkenness to rest and then gives actual sound reasoning for the miracles these people are witnessing. But then he brings the people back to Scripture. And another part of what makes Peter’s sermon great is that it is simple! And I don’t say this as a slight at all. I think one of the most difficult balancing acts of sermon preparation is to bring forth God’s truth in such a way that seasoned believers and those who have never heard the gospel message can come away with something impactful. As R. Kent Hughes explains about presenting the gospel:

The preacher must not assume intelligibility and simplicity—he must fight for it.

While I can appreciate a deep dive into the history of ancient Hebrew or Greek text, I know that isn’t going to float everyone’s boat. Peter’s message was—in the best way possible—simple.

As we read through the entire sermon, Peter does three things in this order. First, the apostle answered their question (they aren’t drunk); second, he told them about Christ; third, he calls them to commitment.

Alongside this simplicity, the first FOUNDATION to what makes Peter’s sermon great is that it is Scriptural. It is filled with God’s Word! And He brings his hearers back into God’s Word to further solidify his reasoning to what is happening with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

He quotes from several passages in the Old Testament. The first and main one is from the prophet Joel. He even tells them this in verse 16. And then he quotes Joel 2:28-32. Reminding the people, “Hey, don’t forget! God promised this would happen! He promised us that He would pour out His Spirit! This is what has happened!”

Further down in verse 25 Peter then quotes king David from the Psalms.

Acts 2:25–28 ESV

For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Here he quotes Psalm 16 and 110. Great sermons—truly impactful sermons—while they may have personal stories (testimony), they aren’t going to be personal monologues with a little splash of Scripture, but the other way around. Peter brings them back into the fold of Old Testament prophecy and song to present the truth to them.

2. ALL GREAT SERMONS ARE CHRIST-CENTERED

Regardless of the passage of Scripture one chooses to preach on, the focus in a great sermon will ultimately be on God. We recently studied through the book of Esther, where God’s name is mentioned a total of 0 times! And even so, He is the central figure of it all. We see His providence, His sovereignty, His faithfulness, His love, His mercy, His power, His steadfastness. His fingerprints fill the pages even though His name is never mentioned. And that is how it should be! It is always ALL ABOUT THE LORD!

And Peter makes that very clear in his sermon. Take a look now at verse 22.

Acts 2:22–24 ESV

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

And then again in verse 36.

Acts 2:36 ESV

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

From Genesis to Revelation the entire Word speaks to this Jesus! He is the reason we are here today worshipping, studying, and fellowshipping together. He is the reason for the hope we have! Is the reason we are saved. It HAS TO BE ALL about Jesus!

3. ALL GREAT SERMONS ARE CONVICTING

This does not mean all great sermons will bring us low, but they will pierce the heart in some way, shape, or form and lead us to desire either change or nearness to Christ. And this is exactly what Peter’s message did. Look at the response of the people in verse 37.

Acts 2:37 ESV

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter’s words penetrated their hearts and their response reveals that they recognized that something needed to change; something needed to happen upon receiving this word. And this leads to the fourth foundation of a great sermon.

4. ALL GREAT SERMONS ARE PRACTICAL

Again, Peter’s sermon led them to ask “What shall we do?” What actions must we take now that we know the truth? Great sermons will have lessons of application. It will lead to change and growth.

But I believe, ultimately all of these FOUNDATIONAL aspects of Peter’s sermon and any great sermon are present because of the greatest piece of the preaching puzzle. Number 5:

5. ALL GREAT SERMONS ARE SPIRIT-FILLED

Any person gifted as a great orator can speak beautifully and powerfully. They can capture a room of people and to a level, they can even stir hearts. But what makes a sermon ultimately make a difference and certainly stand the test of time like we see here with Peter’s is that it is Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. It was less Peter speaking and more-so that Christ was speaking through Him and that is what made it so great and so powerful and impactful.

Remember, Peter was a simple man. He was a hard working, blue-collar fisherman. And I’m not saying Peter was unintelligent. He was just not trained in public speaking and sermon building.

Put it this way, could you imagine me trying to explain to you how the intricacies of an engine work compared to Jayce? Which reminds me; during our stay in Traverse City, I was on my way home to be with the kids when my vehicle makes this awful grinding sound when I hit the brakes. Then when I turn, the left front wheel locks up entirely and I have to wiggle my way over to the right lane and wait for a tow truck. They take it to a local mechanic who is working on fixing it. They tell me the caliper was leaking brake fluid and the brake pad is gone. I text that to Jayce and in seconds he says, “It probably got hot and blew the piston seal to the caliper.”

I have no idea what that means, but I trust him. Then an hour later the mechanic brings me the caliper to show me what happened, I send it to Jayce and he says, “Yep, failed piston.” I mean I just texted him some sounds my car was making and a couple of issues and he immediately identified the problem before the mechanics who had the vehicle did!

Or me compared to Brad or Shane trying to explain what makes this gun or that gun so much better? It would be embarrassing. And not because I’m unintelligent but because I am unlearned in those things.

Peter was not a trained orator. He was not even educated (although He did have the greatest teacher to ever walk the earth in Jesus)! We will see later in Acts that the Sanhedrin are blown away by the apostles eloquence and conviction which serve as further testament to the Spirit’s indwelling and power.

Those who will give a great sermon, they will not rest solely upon their own gifts or abilities, but will surrender and submit to the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

While some people will naturally be gifted speakers, I am not. Public speaking is not something I am naturally gifted with. And while I’ve taken great efforts to improve and be more confident, I’ve also learned to embrace this reality because it REQUIRES me to lean heavily on the Holy Spirit. “God, if this message is going anywhere today, You are going to have to take the reigns.”

This is the foundation of what made Peter’s sermon so impactful for millennia. So let us look through it again and see what lessons are there for us today.

Peter opens up by quoting the prophet Joel. He does this to explain to the people what has happened and why they are experiencing this super-natural moment of the apostles speaking in all these different languages.

Joel prophecies of what we call the “Age of Grace” or the “Age of the Spirit” which we now live in.

Joel 2:28–29 ESV

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Pentecost only marks the very beginning of the Age of Grace. But we shall see all of these promises come to fruition within the early church in the book of Acts. Peter himself would prophesy and have dreams and visions. Peter explanation was built upon the bedrock of Scripture thus making it wholly valid.

We mustn’t forget Jesus’ promises to His apostolic band in the book of John.

John 14:16–17 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 16:7 ESV

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

And as Peter concludes Joel’s prophecy, He concludes it with the perfect quotation.

Acts 2:19–21 ESV

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

There is the call to action right off the bat. A reminder of the promise given to Joel that is present now! He’s saying to the people, “You want this? You want salvation? Then just call on the name of the Lord!”

Furthermore, while Peter may not have been highly educated; He knew God’s Word. He obeyed the commands of Scripture and had hidden God’s Word in his heart and the Spirit brought forth those words for Him.

For any who desire to preach God’s Word, it is imperative to know God’s Word. And I’m not simply speaking to hermeneutics or having a deep understanding of ancient Greek and Hebrew. Although those things are certainly valuable, this is not what I mean when I say to “know God’s Word.”

What I mean is that we must be saturated with God’s Word. I recently bought a coffee mug with a great Charles Spurgeon quote. As someone who loves to read, it serves as a wonderful reminder. He said, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”

If we are to know God’s Word it must be where we make our home. If we are to enjoy the riches of God’s Word we must be in His presence.

As R. Kent Hughes so simply puts it:

If we are truly feeding on the Scriptures, the Spirit will be pleased to use us to communicate his truth.

And there is a close connection to being filled with God’s Word and filled with His Spirit.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

As we, day by day, fill ourselves with the Word of God we open ourselves up to being filled with His Spirit.

PETER BRINGS IT BACK TO JESUS

After explaining what happened in the Upper Room, Peter then brings it back to Jesus. In three short verses, Peter mentions the incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. Talk about simplicity!

Acts 2:22–24 ESV

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man (incarnation) attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified (crucifixion) and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up (resurrection), loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Peter then supports the reality of the resurrection by once again using Scripture. This time the Psalms as we mentioned earlier.

Acts 2:25–28 ESV

For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Then, Peter, with great wisdom and conviction explains how these Psalms cannot speak to David but rather to the Messiah, King Jesus.

Acts 2:29–33 ESV

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

In other words, Peter explains that the grave did and still does hold David. But it could not hold Jesus! He is pointing directly to the words of David in the Psalms and explaining, “These are words about Jesus! We are witnesses to his resurrection!”

Then in verses 34-35, Peter explains the other Psalm.

Acts 2:34–35 ESV

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

Peter’s argument was that this cannot be applied to David because he did not ascend to Heaven; therefore, it must apply to the resurrected Messiah. This is yet another reason what Peter’s sermon is so great! It was full of Christ—from His incarnation, to His death, to His resurrection and ascension! It covers it all!

And then in verse 36, Peter places God upon the throne of our hearts with a beautiful statement.

Acts 2:36 ESV

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him (Jesus) both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Peter and his sermon were filled with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And because of this, we see the response of Peter’s sermon—the evidence that makes this sermon great.

Acts 2:37–41 ESV

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Just fifty days prior to Pentecost, Peter hit rock bottom. It was the darkest moment of his life; he denied his Christ not just once but on three separate occasions. The anguish he felt bleeds through the words in Scripture as it tells us he ran off and wept bitterly.

But just a few days later, after Jesus’ resurrection, His Savior restored him on the shores of Galilee when He asked Peter three separate times to declare His love for Him.

I would contend it was that rock bottom that prepared Peter’s heart for this Pentecost preaching. Peter told the people of their spiritual bankruptcy because he had experienced it himself!

And in a sense we can say “only” three thousand truly heard Peter’s message that day. But that is what made this sermon great because of what it stirred in them and brought them to the heart of Jesus Christ.

The reality is that there are no doubt professing Christians today who are in need of Christ. Perhaps they’ve spent a lifetime hearing God’s Word preached but have not really heard it. I once read that “it is possible to be a respectable, well-taught, moral sinner.”

It is possible to have everyone else fooled and yet not truly hear and thus not truly know the truth of God’s Word. If you have never emptied yourself, then you cannot truly experience the fullness of God’s Spirit.

Do we truly hear Peter’s sermon? Does it move us to the same response of the three thousand who ask, “What shall we do?” I pray that it does!

Because, as Peter says, “The promise is for you! And for your children and for ALL WHO ARE FAR OFF, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

You may be far off, but you don’t have to be. If God is calling you, I encourage you to respond and come before His throne and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. You will not regret it.

PRAY