Power Words

Acts 2:14-36

4 June 2023

Last week we spoke about the fulfillment of Pentecost and how God powerfully poured out His Spirit upon His disciples, who then proclaimed His marvelous works. The miracle was that people from every nation on earth heard the disciples witnessing in their own native languages and dialects. Just like God sent His Son to the world at the fullness of time, God chose this particular Pentecost celebration to send the promised Holy Spirit knowing at the time it would make the maximum impact on the known world. Thousands would hear the gospel on this particular day in their own languages and would take this message back to their native countries. A great number of those who had openly opposed Jesus in Jerusalem (priests, scribes, & Pharisees) would be transformed. Jonathan Edwards noted that because of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit, even Saul, one of the most violent of all the persecuting Pharisees, was converted and afterwards became the greatest promoter of the work of God.

The change in the lives of those who walked with Jesus was so dramatic, they were so full of the Spirit that their joy spilled into the streets, and they immediately launched into open evangelism. It was so strange, so perplexing to those who were watching and the transformations so unfathomable. If you can imagine it - Peter, who just weeks earlier denied that he even knew Jesus because of his fear of people, now filled and overflowing with the life of the Holy Spirit, stands up in front before a large gathering to boldly declare the truth.

Acts 2:14-36

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy. 19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below—blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives. 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him:

‘I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’

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.

32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,

‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’