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Acts 2:14-36 THE SERMON WHICH SIMON PETER PREACHED ON PENTECOST

Introduction:

In our previous text the Holy Spirit came upon the church as the Lord had

promised. The church was immersed in the invisible Holy Spirit of God, cloven

tongues like fire sat upon each of them, they were all filled with the Holy

Spirit and they were all miraculously enabled to speak in other languages. When

the multitude of people who were in Jerusalem for Pentecost, came to see what

was going on, they were all amazed because they all heard the Galilean

Christians speak in their own language wherein they were born.

In our text today the apostle Peter takes advantage of this huge gathering

and preached to them about Jesus Christ.

I. Simon Peter addressing the multitude

V. 14, ?But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and

said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this

known unto you, and hearken to my words:? Simon Peter arose to get the

attention of the great crowd of people in an effort to speak to them. The

eleven other apostles must have raised their hands to attract the people?s

attention and to quieten them down so that Peter could speak to them.

The other apostles stood with him assisting him in getting the attention

of the crowd. Once they had the people?s attention, it was Simon Peter who

spoke to them. V. 15, ?For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is

[but] the third hour of the day.? Some of the people accounted for the miracle

by saying that the Christians Peter?s first objective was to convince the people

that he and the other Christians were not drunk. You will remember that some of

the people had sought to explain away the miracle of the event by saying that

the Christians were drunk.

In order to convince the people that they were not drunk he called

attention to the time of day. He said that it was only the third hour of the

day. This was about 9:00 o?clock in the morning our time. They counted the

first hour of the day at dawn which began about 6:00 o?clock in the morning our

time and ended about 7:00 o?clock. It was at this time of the day that

everybody in the city, including the disciples had gathered at the temple for

prayer and for singing of hymns and for the placing of the regular burn offering

on the brazen altar. They surely were not drinking during this service. During

the second hour of the day, which began about 7:00 o?clock our time, and ended

about 8:00 o?clock. They were engaged in getting their own sacrifices presented

at the altar. It was about the time of the third hour of the day --- that is

about 9:00 o?clock our time --- when they were back at their meeting place that

the Holy Spirit had come upon them and had endued them with power form on high.

There was really no opportunity for the Christians to drink and get drunk by

this early hour. So they were not drunk.

II. Peter?s explanation of the miraculous tongues

Peter also called to the attention of the people the words of the prophet

Joel. V. 16-17, ?But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; , ?And

it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit

upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young

men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:? To put it simply,

Peter said that the miraculous gift of speaking in other languages was a

fulfillment of the prophecy which Joel had made many years earlier. Through the

prophet Joel God had said, ?I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.? In this

event God poured out His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, upon the church at Jerusalem

and indirectly upon all the nations of the world. It was indirectly upon all

the nations of the world because the church was because the church was

commissioned to carry the gospel to all the world by the help of the Holy

Spirit.

The prophecy spoke also about Christians of all ranks being given the gift

of prophecy. Nothing is said in this account about anyone prophesying on this

occasion, but there is record of some doing so at a later time. V. 18, ?And on

my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy:?. This was as a result of the spiritual gifts which

were given when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church.

The prophecy of Joel, which the Apostle Peter quoted, contained also some

things which were not fulfilled on that Pentecost. The will not be fulfilled

unto the end-time events just before the second coming of the Lord. V. 19-20,

?And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood,

and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the

moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:? That did

not happen on that Pentecost. If you were privileged to hear Bro. Tom McElmurry

speak to us about end-time events you may recall his explanation of these

events. He said that in the end-time the volcanic eruptions will put a huge

amount of volcanic ash into the upper ionosphere and stratosphere which will

produce these changes in the appearance of the sun and the moon. This will take

place in The Great Tribulation.

But in verse 21 the apostle Peter gets down to the matter of the salvation

of the soul. This was what he was so anxious to talk to them about. V. 21, ?

And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord

shall be saved.? This, too, was a prophecy from Joel. It is interesting to

note that what the prophet Joel preached about getting saved is the same thing

that the Apostle Peter preached nearly 2000 years ago. It is also and the same

thing that any true gospel preacher of our day would preach.

The big problem that Peter?s audience had was that they were totally

unaware that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord that Joel was talking about. They

were also unaware that Joel was talking about the salvation of the soul. They

thought that the prophet was speaking about one who would save their nation from

being ruled by Gentile powers.

It was at this point that the Apostle Peter set about to make them aware

that Jesus is the Lord and Savior that Joel was talking about Jesus saving the

guilty sinner from his sin.

III. Peter?s explanation of the miracles of Jesus

V. 22, ?Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man

approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by

him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:? Peter called the people?s

attention back to the miracles that Jesus had performed during His lifetime. He

was not talking about the miraculous speaking in other tongues by the

Christians. He called attention to the many miracles which Jesus had done while

He was here on earth. These were miracles that the people already knew about.

Many of them had personally witnessed one or more of the miracles that Jesus had

done. Those who had not actually witnessed one of His miracles had heard so

much about them from those who had seen that they knew for certain that Jesus

had performed numerous great miracles. Peter was talking to them about things

that they already knew.

He then used those things which they already knew to be true to convince

them of one important thing that at that time they did not know was true. He

sought to convince them that it was God the heavenly Father who had authorized

Jesus to do those miracles. Further, Peter sought to convince them that God the

Father had sent Jesus to the world and that He approved of the ministry of

Jesus. If God the Father did not send Jesus and did not approve of His

ministry, how could they account for the numerous great miracles which He had

done. On this very day they were in great amazement that they could all hear

the disciples speak were heard in their native tongues. Yet much greater

miracles had been done by Jesus. If they were convinced that the miracle of

Pentecost was of God they most certainly ought to be convinced that the miracles

of Jesus were of God.

IV. Peter?s explanation of the crucifixion of Jesus

V. 23, ?Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge

of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:? Peter now

speaks about the crucifixion of Jesus. The crucifixion of Jesus had taken place

just fifty days prior to this day. The great majority of those people who stood

before Peter had been in that great crowd on the Passover and joined with the

Jewish leaders in demanding that Jesus be crucified. After Pilate finally gave

in and gave orders for Jesus to be crucified, the vast majority who now stood

before Peter had marched before Jesus and had mocked Him and beat Him with their

fists and did spit in His face.

Peter said that this was in the plan of God the Father. God the Father

deliberately planned the death of Jesus and had deliberately allowed them to

crucify Jesus. God the Father knew what they would do if He would allow it and

God the Father stepped back and let them do it. His death was necessary as a

sacrifice for lost sinners that they might be saved.

Never-the-less, Peter said that those people to whom he spoke were guilty

of a grievous sin. Peter said that it was by wicked hands that they brought

about His crucifixion. In effect, Peter said that they were guilty of murder!

You may ask, ?Yes, but was it not the Roman governor who authorized the

crucifixion?? The answer is, ?Yes, but it was the people to whom Peter was

preaching that helped to persuade the Roman governor to order the crucifixion.

They were guilty.

V. Peter?s affirmation of the resurrection of Jesus

But to point out further just how horrible their guilt was, Peter said

that the man whom God the Father had sent, the man whom God the Father had

empowered to commit so many mighty miracles, and whom they by wicked hands had

crucified, God the Father has raised from the dead. V. 24, ?Whom God hath

raised up, having loosed the pains of death...? Peter said, ?You have killed

Him, but God the Father raised Him from the dead. You are in big trouble with

God the Father.

Peter then said, ?...because it was not possible that he should be holden

of it.? Peter said in effect, ?It was not possible for the grave to hold Him.?

It was possible for Him to be crucified because God the Father had allowed it.

But it was not possible for the grave to hold Him because God the Father had

already spoken through King David of old and said that He would come forth from

the grave.? V. 25-27, ?For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord

always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh

shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt

thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.?

This was a passage that the people before the Apostle Peter were very

familiar with. They knew what David had said, but they had taken that to mean

that David would come out of the grave. Peter pointed out to them that David

was not talking about himself. David was talking about Jesus. V. 28-29, ?Thou

hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy

countenance. Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch

David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this

day.? Peter said that David could not have been talking about himself, because

David was still in his grave. David was in the grave at the time Peter was

preaching to that crowd and he still is today. Peter said that David was

talking about Jesus, whom God the Father had raised from the dead.

Peter said that David knew when he wrote that Scripture that he was

talking about Jesus being raised from the dead. David, being a prophet of God,

knew that he was writing about the Christ. V. 30-36, ?Therefore being a

prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit

of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his

throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his

soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. his Jesus hath

God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand

of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,

he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended

into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on

my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house

of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have

crucified, both Lord and Christ.? Peter said, ?All of us Christians are

witnesses that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that Jesus is the Christ

whom David wrote about.?

VI. The gospel for today?s world

Today I preach to you the same truths that the Apostle Peter preached on

the Day of Pentecost. I confess that the circumstances are not the same. We

have not all been given a special gift of tongues whereby we can miraculously

speak in foreign languages. Neither do I have several thousand people to

speak to as did the Apostle Peter. Neither do I say to you that you have slain

Jesus by wicked hands.

But the message concerning Jesus Christ is the same. I preach to you

about the Christ of God whom not only the prophet Joel and the prophet David

wrote about, but all of the prophets of old wrote about His coming. They

foretold that God the Father would send Him to the world and that He would be

put to death in order to provide a way of salvation for lost sinners.

I preach to you about His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary in

fulfillment of those prophecies. I preach to you about His resurrection from

the grave. I preach to you that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for the

lost sinners who trust in Him. I preach to you the same message that Joel the

prophet preached that whosoever shall call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the

salvation of his soul shall be saved. This is not only the same message that

Joel preached but the same message that the Apostle Peter preached and the same

message that every God-called preacher has ever preached.

The gospel that I preach to you is the same power of God unto salvation

that it was in the days of the apostles. The gospel has not lost its power.

The power of the gospel is the power of God and God has never lost His power.

I preach to you with the same concern for your soul that the Apostle Peter

had for the people in his day. Peter wanted every lost soul in his audience to

repent of his sin and trust in Jesus and be saved. That is the same desire that

I have here today. I desire that every lost soul in this audience would call

upon Jesus for salvation and be saved right here in this service today. In fact

it would please me well if every lost soul in all of this whole community would

get saved today. It would please me if every lost soul in all of the world

would get saved today.

But let me make a special appeal to you those of you who are here. Please

do not wait too late to call on Jesus for salvation. I appeal to you to call on

Jesus Christ right here right now in this service and get saved.