Power Of The Gospel

Repentance And Forgiveness

V 47

our mandate from Jesus to evangelize

To proclaim the good news of the gospel

to tell others that Jesus died for sin

that He rose again the third day to be able to save

that if we come to Him by faith

V 48

here is this call for us to be this witness

but our witness will be ineffective if the Holy Spirit is not involved

if all we do is generate an emotional response from somebody then we have given someone a false hope of being saved

without the Holy Spirit convicting and regenerating someone then this person is not saved

V 49

here Jesus is telling these people are to be witnesses but wait

because their witness will be ineffective

these people need to to be clothed with power

V 45

opened their mind to understand the scriptures

only God can open the mind to understand the Gospel

so every time we evangelize we need to be in prayer

The Promised Holy Spirit

Acts 2

Acts is an continuation of the book of Luke

in the beginning of acts we have a little overlap

Luke 1:1 LSB

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

Luke 1:2 LSB

just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us,

Luke 1:3 LSB

it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus,

then in the beginning of acts we have the part 2

acts 1 1-4

so after 50 days from the resurrection of Jesus

the disciples are waitine in the upper room

V 1-4

at the Feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon these men

so the whole town heard this noise and come a runnin

V 5-6

the men came out of the building speaking in other languages that the people who were there from other areas were hearing in their own language what these were saying

V 7 -14

some of the troublemakers were saying that these men were drunk

so Peter is going to have an impromptu sermon

the first that he has ever had

something that he could not do 1 month ago

this sermon is going to be the result of His mind being opened to the prophesies that are in the Old Testament

also it will be because of the power of the Holy Spirit who has given him the power to evangelize

Peters Sermon

He begins with a prophecy

V 16-21

almost an exact quote

he is explaining the commotion that they are witnessing

V 22

speaking of Jesus

V 23

it was predetermined by the Father that Jesus would be crucified by these people

and unless they are saved then they will be held accountable for killing Jesus

V 24

But hear the resurrection of the dead of Jesus God raised him up to be the first born of all who will be saved

V 25-28

Paul then gives a prophecy concerning Jesus and his resurrection and then starting in verse 29. He’s going to talk about that.

V 29-33

Here here is the prophecy in Psalm 110 that Jesus is the Messiah from God, the father

V 36

As you can see in this sermon, Peter had Old Testament scriptures memorized he knew them, and when his heart was open to understand them, he was able to use them in this sermon

The Holy Spirit guided his thought process, and the Holy Spirit gave the power for the people to be saved

Did you notice in the sermon that Peter never once mentioned heaven or the kingdom?

He spoke of prophecies, he spoke of their sin, he spoke of Jesus being the Messiah Jesus being the savior

Today we want to convince people to go to heaven

We want to convince people of trying Jesus

We want to convince people that they need to ask for forgiveness

We want to convince people that someone needs to pray a prayer asking Jesus to come into their life

But none of these things was anything that Peter did here

He preached about how wrong they were to hang Jesus on the cross

He preached about how Jesus was the Messiah

And he allowed the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of people

The Holy Spirits Work

John 16:7–8 LSB

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

Our job is not to convince people our job is to tell

It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict to convince to change a person’s heart to regenerate

To grant someone repentance, to give the gift of faith faith

We are not to be salesman to convince someone to be saved, and to say a prayer we rely on the Holy Spirit to call those whom God has chosen

Let’s go back to Acts 2 verse 37

These people were pierced to the heart. These people were convicted. The Holy Spirit changed their hearts. I’m sure that there were some people there who walked away unchanged.

V 47

The Lord was adding to their number

Jesus is the one who adds to the church. Our job is to evangelize.

And not to worry about the results