Peter’s Pentecost Sermon
Acts 2: 14-35-36
2:14 But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You Jewish men and all you who live in Jerusalem let this be known to you and listen carefully to what I say. 2:15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 2:16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: 2:17 ‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 2:18 Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 2:19 And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 2:20 The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 2:21 And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 2:22 “Israelite men, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed through him among you, just as you yourselves know- 2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 2:24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. 2:25 For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken. 2:26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope, 2:27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay. 2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of joy with your presence.’ 2:29 “Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 2:30 So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, 2:31 David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay. 2:32 This Jesus God raised up and we are all witnesses of it. 2:33 So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand 2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”‘ 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.
The Response to Peter’s Address:
:37 Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 2:39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 2:40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” 2:41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, along with his message in 3:11-26, contains a pattern for the proclamation of the gospel :
1) Jesus is both Lord and Christ –crucified, resurrected, and exalted (vv.22 -36; 3: 13-15)
2) Being now at the right hand of His Father, Jesus Christ has received the authority to pour forth the Holy Spirit upon all believers ( vv. 16-18, 32-33; 2:19).
3) Everyone must place his or her faith in Jesus as Lord and repent of sin.
4) Believers must expect the promised gift or baptism in the Holy Spirit after faith and repentance.(vv.38-39)
5) Those who hear in faith must separate themselves from the world and be saved from this perverse generation (v.40; 3:26)
Peter was endued with the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore, he was able to expound the Scriptures. The message he gave was authoritative and correct. Some of the main points found in his message were:
The Lord Jesus Christ was exalted:
Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and all Spirit-filled preaching exalts Christ. The substance of Peter’s sermon concerned “Him”(Acts 2:23). The Scriptures which He used pointed to Jesus of Nazareth, who was both Lord and Christ. Peter and the rest of the disciples had been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, Christ the Lord. Now Peter had to convince those listening to him of the same thing. .“When our Lord promised to send the Spirit, He said, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He shall glorify Me” (John 16:13, 14). The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to bring Christ into full view of the Christian and the sinner. The Holy Spirit works within us and all revelation of divine truth should be given to glorify the Lord so that men should see the Godhead, , “For in Him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Being filled with the Spirit, Peter therefore exalted the Savior in the Pentecostal sermon.
There were great results from the message that Peter preached:
Peter had knew the word of God and was able to present it with authority and correctness. The sermon that Peter preached set forth the truth regarding our Lord and it was done in an orderly fashion His message was scriptural and Christ-centered. Peter preached with courage and conviction. What was Peter’s secret in presenting such a dynamic sermon? I believe it was the unseen Power of the Holy Spirit in his life. Praise the Lord! Peter preached with conviction He believed what he preached and as a result great conviction fell on those that heard his sermon. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts” (vs. 37).The sermon was ““preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven”( 1 Peter 1:21). The Apostle Paul gave witness to the same glorious truth when he said, “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Corinthians 2:4).
The preaching that produces conviction is always the result of Spirit-filled lives both in the pew and the pulpit. It is useless to speak sentimentally about a sin-cursed and perishing world as long as we ourselves attempt to hide our own sins and refuse to turn from the world. When we live lives of defeat instead of victory we cannot expect that the Holy Spirit will do His work of conviction. The Pentecostal sermon brought conviction because “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4). When will we learn that God is waiting to demonstrate through the lives of His children how awful sin is and how wonderful is His Son our Saviour? Let us cease wasting our effort in the attempt to produce conviction by preaching Christ in our own strength. The Spirit is dependent upon the pure lives of God’s children
There was conversion:
As a result of Peter’s Pentecost sermon three thousand souls were saved that day. !”
2:41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added. When Peter preached, the converts were not his but God’s. They were not received into the Cathedral of St. Peter, but we are told that the Lord added to the Church such as were being saved (vs. 47). If we are to witness a soul-saving ministry in our churches, both preacher and people will have to get right with God and allow the Holy Spirit to have His way. This is so important in the work of the Lord We must be willing to be a servant and only then can God use us as He did Peter on that great day. The record has it that “they continued steadfastly” (Acts 2:42). The three thousand, more or less, did not constitute the tabulated results after the sermon was preached. These are they who continued steadfastly. When men are soundly saved through the power of the Spirit, the results are continuous.
There were four aspects of the New Life these converts gave attention to :
1) teaching
2) fellowship
3) communion
4) prayer
Let each one of us make sure we are in the place that God would have us to be if we are going to minister to a sin sick world Let us be led by the Holy Spirit and let us be willing to be His servants giving Him all the glory and Praise for everything He does.
Follw the plan of salvation given in Acts 2:38,39
38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
