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.”’
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” (NLT)
The Spirit gave Peter the power to speak with:
? Certainty
? Conviction
? Confidence
Let’s look at the first point. The Holy Spirit gave Peter the power to speak with:
1. Certainty
In v. 14 we see that with all seriousness Peter steps forward in the midst of the crowd and calls on everyone to listen carefully to his words. He said, “Know this” - which translated from the Greek means, “I have something to make known to you and what I have to say is of utmost importance and you don’t want to miss it.” With certainty in his voice, he logically and boldly refutes their charge against the disciples. He was saying, “Let’s be sensible - these people aren’t drunk, it’s too early in the morning. This is a time for prayer and morning sacrifice and anyway it’s against the Jewish law to drink before this hour. Peter spoke with certainty about these disciples who, naturally speaking, had no linguistic ability, yet said to the crowd, “they are speaking clearly and accurately about the wonders of God in your language and dialects and they are absolutely in their right mind.” Peter not only spoke with certainty through the power of the Holy Spirit, he spoke with:
2. Conviction
In vv. 17 - 21 Peter is telling the people, “What has happened today, what you have been witnessing was ordained by God and prophesied in the Scriptures” (Joel 2:28-32). God spoke through the prophet Joel about what would happen in the last days beginning with the outpouring of His Spirit and culminating with the great Day of the Lord.
The Jews understood that the Day of the Lord referred to God’s special intervention in world events. It will be the day He comes to judge His enemies, accomplish His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate who He is—the sovereign God of the universe. This day will be characterized by darkness and a terrible outpouring of divine wrath on the world (Zeph 1:14-15). It will also be characterized by light, an outpouring of divine blessing, and the administration of God’s rule over the earth.
Day can refer to a series of events on earth and wonders in heaven that will happen over time culminating with the 2nd coming of the Messiah. On that day when He comes again, He will deliver His children, defeat His enemies, judge the nations and set up God’s kingdom. The Jewish dictionary says about the Day of the Lord:
…there is a rather vague but stark and powerful concept: When God acts, He will act
suddenly, decisively, and directly.
When the end comes it will be quick and unexpected and most will not be prepared. But for now (v. 21) there is hope, there is time. Peter reiterates the Lord’s promises in Joel 2:32 that anyone who calls on His Name will be saved and be delivered from God’s wrath on that Day.
As Peter points out in this passage Jesus is the only person qualified and powerful enough to save us and deliver us. In v. 22 Peter spoke out:
People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.
With great conviction, Peter challenges them by telling them, “You saw Jesus of Nazareth perform incredible messianic miracles in your midst by the power of God. You knew without a shadow of a doubt that these supernatural miracles and signs proved that He was the Messiah that you had been expecting. But you ignored His words, you rejected the evidence. When He exposed the darkness, the hypocrite of religion, and evil motives of people’s hearts you had Him crucified. But know that Jesus didn’t die as a pathetic victim, He didn’t helplessly fall into the hands of His enemies. He willingly laid down his life in fulfillment of God's foreordained plan.” That Jesus died by crucifixion was not mere happenstance, it was God’s determined will so He could pay for our sins. But death could not keep Him in the grave and on the 3rd day God raised Him from the dead. Jesus is alive!
What are our convictions? Do we believe that Jesus is Lord and Messiah? Do we live like this? Do we live like the Day of the Lord it’s coming? Peter did and this was his present reality, it was imminent, and he was warning the people so they would be prepared for it. Even though we plan for the future, and we must, are we living as though that today could be the Day of the Lord? The reality is that we will have to give an account for what we have done with our lives and for the decisions we made because we belong to Him. And when God acts, He will act suddenly, decisively, and directly. Are we ready?
I ask this question because I think about my decisions and their consequences, and the decisions people make every day. Are we learning from our mistakes and the mistakes of others? I just read about a high school graduate from Florida who was on his senior trip in the Bahamas last week. He was dared by his friends to jump off the boat at night into shark infested waters and he did it. What do you think happened? They still haven’t found his body. They only know he was thrashing around and then he was gone. He was only 18 and had his whole life ahead of him and he did this on a dare.
I just read another article in Christianity Today this past week which talked about the porn epidemic and how it is destroying marriages, relationships, and families like never before. Do we think that God doesn’t know what we are thinking about and doing every moment of every day? Do we think that Christians, whether leaders or pastors are immune to these temptations? Do we engage in these things and think that we will be the only one that won’t suffer the consequences which secular studies have shown will change the way our brains work, affecting our emotions, our bodies, and will destroy our relationships? As the weather gets warmer, people start taking their clothes off. Are we considering those around us with how we dress during the summer months? Do we love each other and our neighbors enough not to cause them to stumble or fall into sins of the mind, to fall into temptation?
To call on His name does not mean to use Jesus to get what you need or just to get you out of trouble so you can continue to live the way you want, but to call on Him as the true object of your faith and as the only way of salvation. Salvation is an ongoing work. We are saved by faith and no one can pluck us out of God’s hands. But we want to call on the name of the Lord each day for deliverance from sin and bondage. He is the only one who can give us the power and strength to live the Christian life, to break addictions because He wants to free us. He wants us to come to Him with everything because He already knows everything that is in our hearts.
Peter, who was an eyewitness of Christ’s resurrection, and personally experienced His love and forgiveness and could speak with great:
3. Confidence
In vv. 25-29 Peter quotes David from Psalm 16 and tells them that they can be sure that David was not speaking about himself when he talked about the Holy One not being left to rot in the grave. God had promised David with an oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne to rule forever. How could a mortal human being have an immortal son to rule on his throne forever? David knew that the only way God could fulfill this covenant, would be to raise an offspring in his family line from the dead. There would be Someone from His family line who would die but be raised again to sit on his throne forever (Psalm 16:8-11).
Here again, Peter was speaking with certainty and great confidence about who Jesus is and using Old Testament prophecies, pointed to Jesus of Nazareth as the only One who would not undergo corruption but who conquered death on our behalf. He pointed out that David’s bones are still in the grave on Mt. Zion but Jesus’ tomb is empty. He is physically risen, we have seen Him and had been with Him for 40 days. He is alive! Peter confidently proclaimed, “Jesus is the Savior-King from David’s line, the Hope of Israel, who reigns forever over God’s people, offering forgiveness and peace with God. As the one appointed to be the Judge of the living and the dead, He offers salvation and eternal life to all who believe in Him, to every nation. By the power of the Holy Spirit Peter spoke with certainty, conviction, and with confidence about the risen Savior, about salvation, redemption, and the future hope of the resurrection. Peter said,
So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!
What did Peter’s words do to the people’s hearts? He probably realized they could have stoned him right there and then. But no one could refute the truth. Peter was under the power of the Holy Spirit who gave him the authority to speak with certainty, with conviction, and with confidence and the people were pierced to the heart. They knew He was right. He was not ashamed of the gospel because he was convinced that it was the power of God to save everyone who believed. We know it wasn’t in Peter’s nature to speak with such clarity and boldness about Jesus as just a few weeks earlier he was intimidated into denying Christ by a servant girl and a few temple guards and was hiding out behind locked doors before the Holy Spirit showed up.
It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit and power words of the gospel that we can speak the truth with certainty, conviction, and confidence. That is why we need to know the word. So that we can have certainty, conviction, and confidence when we speak the word of Truth. And we can trust that when we speak the words of Truth through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will bring people to repentance.
