The Day Revival Came: Acts 2:1-41
I have said a number of times, during this series, that I would love to see Acts 2 happen in the church today. When I say that, I don’t mean the actual events because the actual events of Pentecost will never be repeated.
The Holy Spirit has already come, the wind blew and the fire fell, however, I believe the models and values found here will teach us how we should live as believers, in the world today. But at the same time, we must not separate any part of what happened from the others in order to justify our personal teaching.
Some ignore and deny verse 4 and some base their entire belief system exclusively on what happened in verse 4 while ignoring the wind and flames.
As a boy, I was taught that the only thing that mattered was the ability to speak in tongues we believed it to the point of believing that unless you spoke in tongues you were not saved.
In Acts 2, the disciples were both baptized and filled…but after Ch. 2, we see them experiencing many more fillings, yet no more Holy Spirit baptisms…(water baptism is different)
Now let me get down off my soapbox and focus on the real miracle of Pentecost:
The real miracle was -NOT the wind, -NOT the fire, AND NOT the tongues.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, the real miracle was that, on this very day 3 thousand people were saved!
According to verse 6, the incredible events in the first 4 verses began to draw a crowd. We see in verses 7&12: a multitude gathered and was amazed at what they heard, yet if you look at verse 13 you will see that some doubted and even questioned it to the point of making fun of the disciples. This still happens today…
Peter’s sermon was the answer to all of their questions. His sermon had 3 points, so that might make Peter a Baptist, since most of us think we’re not preaching if we don’t have 3 points and a poem.
Peter told the crowd three things that day and I would like to examine each of them.
*In verses 14-21 he told them what had happened.
*In verses 22-35 he told them how it happened.
*In verses 36-40 he told them why it happened.
So let’s look, first at…
1. What happened: read vs. 14-21
What time is it “third hour” means that it is 9 am. That’s EARLY for some of you. While you’re catching that extra time in bed, there is a revival happening outside!
In his message, Peter quotes the OT prophet Joel.
I shared this prophecy with you a few weeks ago but I want to make something a little more clear to you.
If you look closely at what he is saying, Peter is not saying that the day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of that prophesy. The prophecy of Joel will be fulfilled in the last days, during the tribulation and Joel’s prophecy deals with the nation of Israel.
Look at verses 19-20 carefully. We know that none of these things happened on the day of Pentecost so Peter was simply saying, “what you are seeing on this day; the day of Pentecost was LIKE the last days to come written by the prophet Joel.”
Let’s see if I can make sense of all this.
Strange things were happening, and they couldn’t make sense of it…Peter showed them that God was working in His mysterious and miraculous ways. Peter was saying; “Look at what Joel said, a long time ago, was going to happen!
What you are seeing is the beginning of what Joel spoke of.”
Too many times, Christians will deny something simply because we cannot explain it. If God heals someone, we say it won’t last… it will be back.
But I want to know something… somebody answer this question. Has God lost His power!? Has God become weak in His old age?
Let me tell you a secret. God’s ways are higher than ours and we shouldn’t deny something just because we don’t understand it or we can’t explain it.
[Isa 55:8-9 NIV] “8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We should be thankful we have a God we cannot understand…
Wouldn’t you hate to have a God so small that you could figure Him out?!
So, Peter explains to them WHAT had happened… Next he tells them:
2. How it happened read vs. 22-35
Peter explains in these verses that all of this is because of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ…he shares the gospel and gives them 4 reasons why they ought to put their faith in Jesus Christ:
Peter is not asking them to accept any of this based on blind faith… Peter says, “Accept it because there is good reason to believe!” Then he shares several excellent reasons for surrendering to Jesus.
A. The very life of Jesus:
Jesus’ life was filled with miraculous works of God and in verse 22 Peter says “you saw it with your own eyes.”
There was no way for them to deny it since many of them saw Jesus open the eyes of Bartimaeus. They watched and listened when He called Lazarus from the grave. They saw Him touch the untouchables as He cleansed the lepers!
B. The fulfilled prophecy of Jesus
Peter is preaching to Jews, who were familiar, for the most part, with, what we now call, the Old Testament. Peter reveals to them how the OT prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection.
Verses 23-28 are a direct quote of psalm 16.
He reminds them that Jesus resurrected as predicted AND in verses 29-31 He points to David’s grave and says “look, David is still in there, he didn’t write about himself, but about the Messiah who was to come!”
He’s giving them good reasons to believe:
His miraculous life… the fulfilled prophecies… and then he gives them another reason to believe.
C. The eyewitness testimonials of Jesus’ resurrection: v. 32:
Do you understand that over 500 people witnessed the resurrected Jesus?
The Bible says it and history confirms.
Let me ask you…If you were an attorney, would you take the case of a man who had 500 eyewitnesses ready and willing to testify?
Peter is saying: Can you see it!? Are you putting the pieces together?
You witnessed it with your own eyes, His miracles, His resurrection… This Jesus, whom YOU crucified is the Messiah the prophets spoke of!
Peter says, you need to get saved… you need to believe on Jesus.
D. Then Peter explains the presence of the Spirit of Jesus: v.33:
Why are you seeing and hearing all this?
He says, the things you’ve seen today [vv. 1-4] are because of the presence of the Holy Spirit…there’s no denying it…Jesus promised it, and this is the fulfillment of that promise!
How much more evidence do you need before you will believe?
So Peter tells them what happened, he tells them how it happened… and finally
3. Why it happened 36-41
verses 36-37 say their hearts were pricked. In other words, they were convicted! ‘Tell us what to do!!”
In verses 38-41 we see the big miracle of Pentecost!
The rushing, mighty wind was secondary…the fire…speaking in tongues…all simply led up to the real miracle of Pentecost! 3K people GOT SAVED! They didn’t get baptized to be saved but they were baptized BECAUSE they were saved!
The biggest miracle that has ever happened in history: is the salvation of souls, and it has happened many times, right at this altar, and in homes, restaurants, out in the parking lot or on the phone!
Here’s my question to you today. Has that miracle happened to you?
Have you been saved the Bible way?
Nowhere does the Bible say whosoever shall be baptized or join the church or even live morally shall be saved, but according to verse 21…those who are saved are the ones who call upon the name of the Lord!
If you have never truly asked Jesus to forgive you then your salvation is nothing more than head knowledge. I want you to know for certain that you are saved.
If you desire true salvation, would you pray this prayer with me? …
Jerry Shirley
