Sermon for Sunday Evening, June 27th, 2021 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Scripture reading:
[Act 2:14-47 ESV] 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know– 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”‘ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
He who has ears to hear the word of God, let him hear it. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
We come to Peter’s great sermon at Pentecost. He speaks in response to those who said that they must be drunk for speaking in these foreign languages.
This miracle, he explains, is not to be accounted for by drunkenness, but by the plan of God who foretold of this occurrence in His Word. Peter will quote the Old Testament three times as he lays out his case that Jesus is the Christ.
We could analyze this sermon to show how a preacher should preach. But more important than the form is the content. It is the meaning that Peter wants to convey, not primarily the style. So there may be some element of his preaching which we want to notice, even more so we’ll want to make sure we understand his message.
Peter stands up, and he is not alone. He “stands with the eleven.” All the apostles are there, but he gives this speech. Peter is often the spokesperson, even the leader, of the Apostles. But, even so, there is no idea of him or his successor being the Pope. In fact, we’ll even see later in the book of Acts that Paul corrects Peter; he is not infallible.
But here Peter quotes from Him who is infallible; he quotes from God’s word in the Old Testament. He gives three quotes from the Old Testament. This doesn’t mean that every sermon should quote the Old Testament three times, but it does mean it is good for a sermon to quote Scripture; to be Scriptural and not to be based on some other books or movies or teachings in culture.
I. Three Old Testament Quotes Proving Jesus is the Messiah
A. Joel
The first quote he gives is from the prophet Joel. It is from Joel 2:28-32.
The words of Joel, Peter says, have now been fulfilled. At Pentecost the Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh, on people of all nations.
But Joel’s prophecy has more to it than the speaking in foreign tongues at Pentecost. It also speaks of great miracles, of signs that will occur.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Peter’s main point then in quoting from Joel is not about what has occurred at Pentecost, but about the great reality that Jesus is the messiah.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know– 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
The people Peter is speaking to know that Jesus is the Christ because they saw the mighty works and wonder and signs.
Yet these same people are part of those who are responsible for Jesus’s very death.
His death, however, was not a failure. It was exactly what God knew would happen and which He had in His “definite plan.” The crucifixion was not a backup plan. It was Plan A.
And as Peter then moves on to, the crucifixion was not the end of the story. For “24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
Proving that this was prophesied beforehand, Peter quotes from Psalm 16
B. Psalm 16:8-11
I made mention of this passage in the Psalms in one of my Easter sermons. This is where we see connection to the empty tomb and to the resurrection. Specifically,
7 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
The body of Christ is not turning back into dust like all bodies do. His body does not see corruption, for Jesus—body and soul—or perhaps we should say Jesus—soul and resurrected body—is in heaven.
David himself, who wrote this Psalm, his body was buried. And Pete said “his tomb is with us to this day.” So David was speaking of the Christ.
30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Peter had before said “you are witnesses to the mighty works and signs of God.” Now he includes the biggest of those miracles, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
No wonder so many come to the faith. They have seen the resurrected Lord.
But before we get to the results of Peter’s preaching, lets look at his third Old Testament quote.
C. Psalm 110:1
He quotes from Psalm 110:1 saying:
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”‘ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Here again the main them is that Jesus is he messiah. But we also see emphasis on the power of God and of the power of Chris. God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. And all of Christ enemies will be made his footstool.
So be not an enemy of Christ!
What then should we do? This was their question and it should be ours as well.
II. The Result of Peter’s Preaching
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Repent and be baptized! That is the command! That is what should be done. Why? Because in the name of Jesus Christ there is forgiveness of sins and for all who believe in Him there is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now we’ve seen at Pentecost the great expansion of the kingdom to people of all tongues and tribes and nations. The kingdom is expanded, even by 3000 people here in one fell swoop. And because the kingdom is expanding, not contracting, there continues that same Old Testament covenant promise to the children as well. The children and not thrown out of the covenant until sometime that they are old enough to confess faith, but rather the promise is for “you and your children and all who are far off” – right now! It is not only a future promise, but a present one.
So one major result of Peter’s preaching was that “there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
Added to what?
Well, added to the church of course. The church kept track of who were there own. There were no semi-members or inside-outsiders, but rather the people of God were “added” to the roles of the church. And then they participated in the church.
And a number of ways are noted.
1. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
2. And the fellowship (to eachother!) DEVOTED! It was not a “maybe I’ll go to church.”
3. They joined in the breaking of bread.
4. And prayers. Don’t overlook prayer!
5. And they helped one another financially and with generosity.
And then what happened?
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
This was the beginning of the great evangelistic growth of the church that the Book of Acts chronicles. Starting here in Jerusalem and going out to the ends of the earth.
CONCLUSION
How did they grow in number? Through the preaching of the Gospel.
How we will grow today? By the very same means.
That same good news of Jesus Christ — the messiah — crucified, died and buried, and RESURRECTED and the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit. That same message Peter preached is what I preach to you today.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ and its power is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.
Praise be to God. Amen.