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00:00 mean the crowd asked in amazement and that's the same question we want to ask
00:06 today related to this biblical text what does
00:11 it mean not only what did it mean back then but also what does this text mean
00:17 to us today is Pentecost Sunday so from a Christian
00:22 perspective when we hear the word Pentecost we think of the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early
00:30 believers. Several Old Testament prophets had foretold that this would happen, that
00:36 God would pour out his spirit on all of his people. For example, Ezekiel had
00:42 said, speaking for God, I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within
00:49 you. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
00:56 The prophets also had said that when God pours out his spirit that he would write
01:01 his law on the hearts of his people. So the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had
01:08 been prophesied many years earlier by several of the Old Testament prophets.
01:14 Another way we can think of Pentecost is that this is really the last major
01:19 historical act in the ministry of Jesus until he comes again at the end of time.
01:26 We celebrate at Christmas the birth of Jesus as he was incarnated.
01:32 He's God. He came to earth to live among men. We look at his life, his teaching,
01:37 preaching the miracles, showing the power of God, showing God's love and concern for people.
01:45 The crucifixion that we remembered not long ago on Good Friday when Jesus died,
01:51 paying the penalty, paying the sacrifice as the penalty for our sin. Easter
01:57 Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead in victory just seven weeks ago. Then the
02:03 ascension 40 days after Easter when Jesus ascended to the right hand of God,
02:10 glory and power. And now today we're looking at the time when Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit on
02:18 all believers. And that's what we celebrate today. And that's really the last major event, historical event in
02:25 the ministry of Christ until Jesus returns sometime in the future when there will be judgment. We will answer
02:32 for how we've lived and we will answer for whether or not we have responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. So
02:40 from a Christian perspective, Pentecost is the time when the promise that the
02:45 prophets had made was fulfilled that God's spirit was poured out. This
02:51 last major work of Jesus recorded in scripture before he comes again.
02:58 But there is more to Pentecost. To help us understand Pentecost, let's look some
03:03 of the other meaning. Pentecost comes from a Greek word
03:09 penta from a Greek word that means 50. So we're looking at 50 days after the
03:16 Passover. Pentecost was the time that the Greek that the Jewish people celebrated the
03:23 feast of the harvest. Some Christians see significance in this
03:29 because on the feast of the harvest that we see recorded in Acts chapter 2 on that Pentecost there was a great harvest
03:36 of souls as people came into God's kingdom. This was also called the feast
03:42 of weeks. Seven weeks after the Passover was Pentecost.
03:48 Now, originally the feast of harvest had nothing to do with the giving of the law
03:53 through Moses at Si. But over the centuries, the tradition
03:59 had developed that the Jewish people began to associate the feast of the
04:04 harvest with the giving of the law at Si. You remember at the Passover what we
04:11 celebrate around Good Friday and Easter. But the Passover was when God had freed
04:16 his people from slavery in Egypt. They had gone through the desert and come to
04:21 Mount Si. And there at Mount Si, God descended to
04:27 the people with lightning and thunder as if there were a huge storm. There was
04:34 fire and smoke and the earth shook. God spoke where all could hear saying,
04:41 "I am the Lord your God who brought you from slavery in Egypt." And then he gave
04:47 the ten commandments. So again, many Christians would see significance here
04:53 because once again with mighty dramatic effects with a sound like a storm, the wind with
05:01 the fire and the voices where people could hear the message of God. Now God
05:06 has come to write his law on the hearts of people.
05:12 But to understand the significance and the meaning of Pentecost and the pouring out of the spirit, we also want to look
05:20 back at the events that had happened in the prior 7 to 8 weeks before this day.
05:27 Now Jesus had told his disciples that he was going to go away and that when he
05:32 left he would send them the comforter, the helper, the Holy Spirit. As a matter
05:37 of fact, the evening before the day when Jesus was crucified, the evening after they had celebrated
05:45 the Passover and Jesus had given them the new covenant,
05:50 what we would call now the Lord's supper is what we celebrate the new covenant.
05:55 After the Lord's supper, before he went to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples in detail about
06:04 the coming of the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit would do once he came. So, we want to look at some of the
06:11 prophecies or the promises that Jesus made just the day before he was crucified dealing with the Holy Spirit.
06:19 Jesus said in John 14, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all
06:27 things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." So, the Holy
06:33 Spirit will teach and it will also bring to remembrance what Jesus has taught them. We're going
06:40 to see this promise fulfilled when we continue in a moment with our story from Acts chapter 2. Another promise of what
06:48 the Holy Spirit would do. When Jesus came, Jesus said, "But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the
06:55 Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness
07:00 about me, and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the
07:07 beginning." So the Holy Spirit when he comes is going to point people to Jesus as he
07:13 bears witness about Jesus. And not only will the Holy Spirit somehow be pointing
07:18 people to Jesus, but because the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within believers, then we too as believers will
07:25 be bearing witness of Jesus. So a major sign of the presence and the power and
07:32 the working of the Holy Spirit is the witness pointing to Jesus.
07:38 We're also going to see that take place in our story in Acts chapter 2. Another
07:44 thing that Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, "And when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world concerning sin
07:51 and righteousness and judgment." Concerning sin because they do not
07:56 believe in me. When the Holy Spirit comes and works in
08:01 the hearts of people, there's going to be a deep conviction of sin.
08:08 And there's going to be the accompanying desire to turn from that sin and turn to
08:14 Jesus. And we'll be convicted of our unbelief, our lack of faith, convicted
08:21 of our need to believe in Jesus. We're also going to see that happen on
08:27 this Pentecost Sunday in Acts two. Jesus continued speaking about the Holy Spirit
08:32 and he said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth
08:37 for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak." The Holy Spirit is the
08:45 spirit of truth. He's going to guide us into truth. I think he means that he
08:51 will be guiding the disciples into truth as they share with others the truth of the gospel. But I also think he means
08:58 that he's going to guide other people to the truth. That when we hear that when people who are not believers hear the
09:04 gospel, then the Holy Spirit is the one that guides them to realize that yes,
09:09 this is true. This is truth from God. And we're going to see that happen in
09:15 Acts chapter 2. It's interesting that Jesus also said
09:20 the Holy Spirit would not be speaking on his own authority. The Holy Spirit is not an independent
09:27 entity, not another God. Some people when they speak about the
09:32 Holy Spirit, it's as if he has a mind of his own, as if he's a separate independent deity. But that's not the
09:39 case. Father, Son, Spirit, the Godhead, the Trinity, they act in unity. So we should
09:48 never treat the Holy Spirit as any kind of an autonomous being. But rather, he is going to point people to Jesus. He
09:56 will not be acting independently, not seeking glory for himself, but will be glorifying Jesus.
10:04 The next verse, Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will glorify me, for he will take
10:09 what is mine and declare it to you." All that the father has is mine.
10:14 Therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. So Jesus
10:21 said, "The Holy Spirit will glorify me." That's one of the major roles of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus. And
10:29 he's going to declare the things of Jesus. And that again is going to be
10:34 fulfilled when we look at Acts chapter 2. So let's review some of the teachings
10:40 that Jesus made right after the Lord's supper before he was arrested and tried
10:46 and then crucified. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will teach you all things and bring
10:52 to your remembrance all that Jesus has said. He will bear witness about Jesus.
10:59 You will also bear witness. The Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning
11:04 sin. He will guide you into all the truth because he is the spirit of truth. And
11:11 he will glorify Jesus. And after the crucifixion, 40 days after
11:17 the resurrection, just moments before Jesus ascended to be back with God,
11:23 Jesus gave another prophecy or promise of what would happen when the Holy Spirit came.
11:29 Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you
11:34 heard from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the
11:39 Holy Spirit not many days from now. And you will receive power when the Holy
11:46 Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
11:51 Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
11:57 When the Holy Spirit is poured out, when you're baptized in the spirit, then you
12:02 are going to receive power to be witnesses for Jesus to all peoples to
12:07 the ends of the earth. And we see that beginning to be fulfilled on Pentecost
12:14 Sunday. But there were other factors at work that we want to take notice of to help
12:21 us understand what happens on Pentecost. When the events of Acts chapter 2 took
12:27 place, it was a very dangerous time to be a follower of Jesus.
12:33 It was a dangerous time and place to declare that Jesus was the promised Messiah
12:40 and even more dangerous to proclaim that he was divine, that he was God. You
12:45 remember just seven weeks earlier, government authorities had shown their
12:51 hostility to Jesus as Roman soldiers had crucified him.
12:57 The religious leaders were opposed to Jesus. They did not want his teachings
13:02 to spread. They wanted all people to keep the same religion they already had.
13:09 And even some of the people in the crowd that was coming together to find out
13:14 what was happening. Some of those were some of the very same people who just seven weeks earlier had
13:21 been saying release Barabus but crucify Jesus. So it was a dangerous time. And anybody
13:29 who claimed that Jesus was God's chosen anointed king was in great danger.
13:36 The Jewish people had not accepted Jesus as their Messiah.
13:42 Jesus was not the Christ according to the majority of the Jewish people. And
13:49 you remember the Jewish leaders had convicted Jesus of being worthy of death. When they understood him to be
13:56 making claims that he was divine, when they understood him to be saying that he
14:02 was the son of God, that's when they said he is worthy of death.
14:07 Think what they would have done to Thomas if they had heard Thomas speaking to Jesus seven days after the
14:14 resurrection. Remember the first time Thomas saw Jesus, the resurrected Jesus,
14:20 Thomas said, "My Lord and my God."
14:25 The Jewish people would have considered that to be blasphemy worthy of death.
14:33 But also in addition to it being a dangerous time, remember that in the 40
14:38 days following the resurrection, Jesus had appeared to not only the apostles,
14:44 but we're told he also appeared to around 500 other people.
14:50 So undoubtedly, the people in Jerusalem that were gathering together to find out
14:55 what was happening, they had heard some rumors at least that Jesus had risen
15:01 from the dead. Possibly some in the crowd were even some that Jesus had appeared to. But as
15:08 Matthew reports, when they saw him, they still didn't believe. They doubted. So there might be some people that had
15:14 actually seen the risen Christ, but had not understood, had not believed. many others who had not believed but possibly
15:21 had heard rumors. But still some anger and hostility directed towards Jesus and
15:28 his followers because they were blasphemers claiming that Jesus was the
15:34 Messiah, claiming that he was divine. Well, the text that we just heard read,
15:40 we see that 10 days after the ascension, 50 days after Easter, the disciples,
15:47 about 120 of them were gathered together in one place. And then there's a sound like a mighty
15:54 storm, a rushing wind, something like what looks like tongues
15:60 of fire, divided tongues of fire coming and resting on each of the believers.
16:06 And then they begin speaking in languages they have never learned. And
16:11 they're speaking about the mighty acts of God in many different languages so
16:17 that people from 15 different countries can understand the disciples speaking in
16:24 their mother tongue. So remarkable signs here. A sound like
16:29 wind, but there is no storm. tongues that look like fire, but there really is
16:36 no fire. And then people speaking foreign languages intelligibly so that
16:42 people from other countries can hear in their un in their mother tongue. And the people that are doing the speaking, it's
16:48 obvious they've not learned the languages because they're uneducated Galileans. Galilee was known for its poor speech
16:55 and its poor pronunciation. So you can understand the crowd saying, "How can these Galileans be speaking all
17:02 of these languages that we can understand? What does it mean? This wind, this fire,
17:09 what we're hearing about the wonders of God." But others mocked. There's always people
17:17 like that in the crowd. They laughed and said, "Ah, these reason these guys are babbling over here is because they're
17:23 drunk." But Peter then stood up and he addressed the crowd with the other disciples and
17:30 he said, 'N no, these men are not drunk. It's only 9:00 in the morning. I mean, even most people
17:37 that drink and drink and drink, they're not going to be drunk at 9:00 in the morning. But he said, "No, this is a
17:44 fulfillment of the prophecy. This is the fulfillment of what the
17:49 prophet Joel foretold." Now, I want to read Peter's entire
17:54 message so that you can hear it in its entirety, but then we're going to go
17:60 back and look at several look at it again in smaller sections so we can
18:05 understand it better. But as I read this, try to put yourself in the place of that original audience.
18:13 Try not to hear it as a 21st century person, but hear it as a first century
18:19 Jew. You believe that the Messiah is coming, but he's not Jesus in your opinion. You
18:27 know the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and the Old Testament prophecies about the pouring out of the
18:34 spirit. Try to listen to this sermon the way they would have heard it.
18:41 Peter says, 'The prophet Joel speaking for God said, 'In the last days, I will
18:47 pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your
18:53 young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams, even on my servants,
18:59 both men and women. I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the
19:06 heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of
19:12 smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before
19:18 the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on
19:24 the name of the Lord will be saved. Men of Israel, listen to this.
19:31 Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and
19:37 signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know. This man was
19:43 handed over to you by God's set purpose and fornowledge. And you with the help of wicked men put
19:51 him to death by nailing him on the cross. But God raised him from the dead,
19:56 freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about
20:05 him, "I saw the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I will
20:11 not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body
20:17 also will live in hope because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will
20:23 you let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life.
20:29 You fill me with joy in your presence. Brothers, I can tell you confidently
20:35 that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here with us
20:41 today. But David was a prophet and he knew that God had promised him on oath
20:47 that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, David spoke of
20:53 the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did
20:59 his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and
21:06 we are all witnesses of the fact. exalted to the right hand of God. He has
21:12 received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you
21:17 now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven. And yet he said, "The
21:23 Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a
21:29 foottool for your feet." Therefore, let all Israel be assured of
21:34 this. God has made this Jesus whom you
21:39 crucified both Lord and Christ.
21:48 A magnificent message, wonderfully constructed, wonderfully presented. And
21:55 it's obvious that Peter has indeed been filled with the Holy Spirit as he was
22:00 reminded of so many of the things that Jesus must have taught them. As he was
22:06 led into the truth, as he was given the power and courage to stand before a
22:13 hostile audience, some of the same people who had been responsible for Jesus death less than two months
22:19 earlier. And here the Holy Spirit was going to be pointing people through
22:26 Peter's sermon to Jesus. Well, at least for the early crowd, this was a wonderful, magnificent message
22:33 because they understood it. But yet, for us, I'm afraid it's probably a little
22:38 bit more difficult, little bit harder to follow. I mean, Peter starts off with Joel and then he
22:45 goes to Jesus. Then he starts rambling about a couple of psalms in the Old Testament that we're not very familiar
22:51 with. And I can remember the first few times I tried reading this passage of
22:56 scripture as a young person. I could hardly get through the sermon without falling asleep.
23:02 And the sermon is only about three minutes long when you read it out loud. I just could not follow it. I didn't
23:08 have a clue what he was talking about. But part of that was because I didn't
23:14 really know the Old Testament. I didn't understand the illusions Peter was making to the Old Testament.
23:21 I also was not trying to listen to it as a first century Jew would have listened
23:27 to it. I can remember a friend of mine who is a preacher who is really a gifted
23:32 communicator of God's word. One time after he read this sermon, he said to me, "I think that's a pretty weak
23:39 sermon, don't you?" And I said, "No, I think it's wonderful. I think it's one magnificent. It's
23:44 brilliant. One of the best messages ever given." But I didn't always think that. It's
23:51 only after I studied it some more. So let's look at it again in more detail, section by section, but try to
23:58 understand it through the ears of the original audience. Remember, they knew scripture, what is
24:06 now our Old Testament, and they were familiar with Joel's prophecy. They were also familiar with the messianic
24:13 prophecies of David from the Psalms. But the original believers also believed
24:19 that the Messiah was coming. They did not believe that he had yet come. So,
24:26 anytime that you see the word Christ in this passage, think Messiah. The Jewish
24:32 people are not thinking of Jesus. They're thinking of the anointed one, the anointed king, the one that is
24:39 coming. But they had not recognized Jesus. So they were not thinking of Jesus when Peter first said the word
24:46 Christ or Messiah because they were looking for a political a military
24:52 ruler. They had rejected Jesus as the Messiah because he had not met their
24:57 expectations of establishing an earthly kingdom. And also to the early to the people in
25:05 this day their view of Messiah was it yes he would be a great figure a great
25:11 person but he would be a person like King David
25:16 was a great person. They were not expecting the Messiah to be God
25:23 incarnate. They did not recognize that the Messiah would be God himself
25:30 who would come to live among them. Now, it's true that they would have also
25:36 been familiar with the Old Testament passages related to the Messiah being a suffering servant, but yet they somehow
25:44 had trouble putting those together, the conquering hero
25:50 and the suffering servant. And so if you can choose one of the two concepts or you go with the conquering political
25:57 military hero and kind of push the suffering part to the side.
26:03 So when the Holy Spirit is now poured out on Pentecost, there's the sound of the wind, the tongues of fire, many
26:11 languages being spoken to clearly communicate the great wonders of God.
26:16 But the main event that we see on Pentecost Sunday, the main thing that
26:21 fills up the vast majority of this chapter is not these preliminary signs
26:28 just to get people's attention, but rather the most important thing that happens here is the sermon that Peter
26:36 gives proclaiming Jesus and then the response to the people thereafter.
26:43 So let's look at this sermon in a little bit more detail. Peter begins by quoting from the prophet
26:50 Joel. So try to listen to what he says again as these first century Jews would have
26:56 done. And Peter says, "In the last days, God will pour out his spirit on all
27:03 flesh." No difference between men and women, no difference between young and old,
27:11 but God is going to be pouring out his spirit upon all flesh.
27:17 And he continues with talking of judgment as he talks about the wonders of heaven,
27:23 the signs in the earth below with fire and vapors of smoke.
27:29 talking about there is going to be a coming judgment day. The last days began 2,000 years ago on
27:37 Pentecost Sunday. The last days are continuing and one day Jesus will come back. There is going to be judgment.
27:45 But the good news is it shall come to pass that everyone who
27:52 calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So to begin Peter's message to the
27:60 people, he starts with a familiar prophecy to connect with the people. He starts by
28:09 answering the question, this is what was uttered by the prophet
28:14 Joel that in the last days I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. He's saying
28:21 this is what's happened. You're asking what can this mean? when you heard the sound and you've seen the tongues and
28:27 you've heard all of these different languages. This is what's happened. God has poured out his spirit upon all
28:33 flesh. And then he keeps quoting from this
28:38 prophecy until he gets to his main point that everyone who calls upon the name of
28:46 the Lord will be saved. Everybody who calls on the Lord will be
28:53 saved. And that's Peter's main point, his thesis for his sermon.
28:59 But how did the original listeners hear this? Who did they think of when they hear
29:06 this prophecy? Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, who is the Lord,
29:14 who is the Lord that they were to call on in the minds of the first century people?
29:22 Thought I heard somebody. Yeah. Who are they? Who did they think Peter was talking about when he said,
29:27 "Call on the name of the Lord."
29:34 Well, I won't call on anybody to answer, but when you look at Joel's prophecy, Joel
29:39 chapter 2:28, it just says, "I will pour out my spirit." And you look at the verse right before that, the Lord your
29:46 God, I, the Lord your God, will pour out my spirit.
29:51 The people were thinking when Peter said, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." They were thinking of God the Father, Jehovah God, Yahweh.
29:60 They were not thinking about Jesus. Remember, they had rejected him. They had crucified him. So, they hear Peter
30:06 saying here, "Whoever calls upon the name of Yahweh, God the Father, he will
30:14 be saved." We're going to find out that's not exactly what Peter had in mind. hear
30:20 this sermon the way these people would have thought. Okay, what Peter said so far is good. He's not said anything
30:26 heretical, quoting from our scripture. And yes, it's true. Whoever calls upon Yahweh, the Lord God, will be saved.
30:36 But then to the listeners, it seems like Peter changes his subject here. He goes
30:41 from talking about Yahweh and their opinion to then talking about Jesus.
30:48 And he says, "Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested
30:53 to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves
30:59 know." So he reminds them of the miracles that
31:04 Jesus did showing the power of God, the wonders that he did that would get their
31:10 attention so they would listen to a word from God. the signs whose purpose was to
31:16 signify spiritual truth and to signify who Jesus was. They had seen this. They
31:22 knew about it. They were eyewitnesses to all of this.
31:28 But then he says, even though you knew all this and you had seen God's power in him, this Jesus delivered up according
31:35 to the definite plan and fornowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the
31:42 hands of lawless men. So even though you knew that Jesus had God's power, you
31:48 rejected him and with the help of Roman soldiers, you killed him.
31:54 So Peter confronted the people very boldly with their sin,
31:59 but he's also letting them know this event of the crucifixion did not catch
32:04 God by surprise. As a matter of fact, God's plan from the very beginning of time was that he would
32:11 provide the sacrifice for sin. And that's what happened when
32:17 Jesus was crucified. Peter said, "You killed him, but God
32:23 raised him up, loosing the pains of death because it was impossible for
32:29 death to keep its whole on him." So here in just these few short verses,
32:35 we see what I would call the core of the gospel. The heart of the gospel. Any
32:41 presentation of the gospel needs to include the core, the heart of the gospel. We can think of the core by just
32:48 thinking of an acrostic. The C for the crucifixion. Peter said you crucified
32:53 and killed Jesus. The O this was ordained by God. This
32:59 happened according to the definite plan and fornowledge of God. The R for the
33:06 resurrection. God raised him up. And the E for the
33:11 eyewitnesses of the evidence. Peter here said as you yourselves know and a little
33:17 later in the sermon when he talks about the resurrection he will say and we were witnesses of this.
33:24 So this is the core of the gospel and Peter has just presented this to the
33:30 people that Christ had died. He was raised.
33:35 We were witnesses. We saw this. He appeared to many people and this was all ordained planned by God as his plan to
33:43 bring forgiveness of sin.
33:49 So after speaking about the crucifixion and the resurrection, Peter then just concludes that section by saying it was
33:56 impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus.
34:02 And then he goes to a familiar scripture quoting from one of the Psalms, quoting
34:08 from King David where David was prophesying about the Messiah,
34:13 prophesying about one who would rise from the dead, telling the people that David's hope was
34:22 in the coming anointed one. And so quoting from Psalm 16, Peter said,"I saw
34:30 the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.
34:35 Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon
34:43 my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption.
34:49 You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness
34:55 with your presence. So this is what David had written in the Psalms, a messianic psalm, a prophecy
35:04 looking forward to the coming of God's holy one, his anointed one. The Messiah
35:10 would not see corruption. In other words, his body was not going
35:16 to decay, but rather he would see life. So Peter is now going to show that this
35:23 prophecy from David applied to Jesus, the one whom the people had already
35:29 rejected and killed did not recognize as the Messiah. But Peter goes on to
35:34 comment on this psalm and show them that he was talking about the Messiah. Peter
35:40 says, "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence that the patriarch David, he's died. He's buried. His tomb's right
35:47 here with us today. So obviously David was not talking about
35:53 himself. But being a prophet, David knowing that God had sworn with an oath
35:58 to him that he God would set one of his David's descendants on the throne.
36:05 He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to
36:12 Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. So we see David was not talking about
36:19 himself. Not that his body would not see corruption. It's obvious that his body
36:25 is decayed. There's his tomb. But instead, he was talking about the one who would be his descendant,
36:33 the promised one that God said would sit on his throne. And everybody listening
36:38 knew that the descendant of David that would sit on the throne would be the Messiah. So they realize, oh yes, David
36:45 is talking about the Messiah. His body not seeing corruption.
36:51 Well, if his body is not going to see corruption, that would imply that his body has died,
36:59 but it's been raised. Therefore, it's not seeing corruption.
37:05 And so David very clearly here says when David was speaking in this psalm,
37:11 he was looking forward prophetically to the coming of the Messiah.
37:17 He hasn't said who the Messiah is yet. He just said David's prophecy here was about the coming Messiah that he would
37:24 not be abandoned to Hades. His flesh would not see corruption.
37:30 And then he says this Jesus God raised up and of that we are
37:38 witnesses. So now for the first time Peter is equating
37:44 Jesus with being the Messiah that they had been looking for.
37:51 The one who will be seated on David's throne as the anointed ruler sent by God. the promised savior.
38:00 This is Jesus. You have seen that his life was attested to by the power of God. You know that he
38:09 died, but he has been raised. His body did not see corruption. This prophecy
38:14 must be about Jesus. Jesus is the
38:19 Christ. Jesus is the promised Messiah.
38:25 But then Peter goes further than equating Jesus with the Messiah, much
38:30 much further in his next verse. And he really makes a strong claim about who
38:35 Jesus is. as he says, "Jesus therefore being exalted
38:42 at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of
38:47 the Holy Spirit, he Jesus has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and
38:55 hearing." The significance of this might pass over us. But when he says Jesus has been
39:02 exalted to the right hand of God, this is a position of supreme honor of
39:07 absolute power and Peter is saying Jesus is the one who
39:15 has poured out his holy spirit and they're witnesses of all this. So to
39:22 support what he is saying here, he goes once again to scripture and he quotes
39:27 again from David one of the psalms, Psalm 110. And he points out David's not the one that was exalted. David's not
39:34 the one that ascended into them to heaven. But yet David said, "The Lord
39:40 said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your
39:47 foottool." David is writing about his Lord showing
39:53 that the coming Messiah is Lord. Not just an ordinary man, but he is divine.
40:01 He is God. The Lord God said to my Lord, the
40:07 Messiah, sit at my right hand, a position of full authority and power.
40:14 Your enemies are being defeated. there being placed under your feet
40:20 a position that could only be occupied by a divine
40:25 being by God himself. So then Peter moves to the climax of powerful
40:31 conclusion. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has
40:36 made Jesus to be both Lord and Christ. this Jesus who you crucified.
40:48 Peter's saying Jesus is the promised Messiah, the anointed one, the coming king,
40:56 but he's not just an ordinary man. He's not a political figure just like David.
41:02 He's greater than David. He is Lord. He is divine. He is God.
41:08 Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Lord
41:14 and you crucified him.
41:19 So you can understand the response of the crowd
41:25 as they were cut to the heart, convicted of their sin. And they cried
41:32 out to Peter and the apostles, "What shall we do? What shall we do?"
41:40 And Peter answered,"Repent, be baptized, every one of you, in the
41:45 name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the
41:51 Holy Spirit." To best understand Peter's answer, let's
41:57 go back and once again just briefly summarize what we have heard. Peter says, "The Holy Spirit's been
42:04 poured out. That's what's gotten your attention. That's why I'm up here speaking.
42:10 And everybody who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
42:16 But then he starts to introduce them to the Lord. He's talking about the Lord. They need to call upon Jesus. And he
42:24 talks about the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. The next verses
42:29 then he proves that Jesus is indeed the Christ. He is the promised Messiah that
42:35 had been prophesied that they had been looking for. Jesus is indeed according to the scripture and according to
42:41 witnesses, he is the Messiah. Jesus is Lord. He is divine. He is God.
42:48 And I want to look at his proofs here just once more time to make sure we got that. When he shows that Jesus is Lord,
42:56 he says he is exalted to the right hand of God. showing that Jesus has the full
43:03 authority of God. And it was a statement very similar to
43:10 this that got Jesus in trouble. If you'll remember, when Jesus was being
43:16 tried right before his crucifixion, when they decided to condemn him to death,
43:22 they were asking him about who he was. And Jesus replied, "From now on, you
43:28 will see the Son of Man. You'll see Jesus seated at the right hand of power, the right hand of God, and coming on the
43:36 clouds of heaven. And the high priest understood him to be
43:41 saying by that statement, I am divine. I am equal with God.
43:48 So then the high priest because he thought this was blasphemy, tore his robes, said, he has blasphemed. And he
43:54 asked the crowd, what should we do? to the other people in the Sanhedrin, what should we do? And they answered, he
44:01 deserves death. So by saying that Jesus is exalted to the right hand of God,
44:06 that's a very strong claim for the divinity of Christ. He's proving that Jesus is God by this. But he's also
44:14 proving he's God by saying, having received from the father the
44:19 promise of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit. That's what
44:24 you're seeing and hearing. But remember that's not what Joel had said.
44:30 Joel had said God, the Lord your God is going to pour out your spirit on pour
44:35 out my spirit. So if God is pouring out his spirit, but
44:41 yet Jesus is the one who's pouring out the spirit, we see Jesus is equal to
44:47 God. A statement that would have been considered blasphemy and that resulted in the death of Jesus.
44:54 So Peter after his thesis, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, presents Jesus proving from scripture
45:01 that Jesus is both the Messiah as well as Lord. He's divine. He is God. And
45:08 then this Jesus whom you crucified, he is Lord and he is God. And therefore
45:19 we understand the people's reaction. The Messiah who
45:25 they had been waiting for. They had not recognized. They had rejected him.
45:32 They had killed him. Is there any hope?
45:40 They're cut to the heart. What can we do? So Peter tells them, "You need to
45:46 repent." Repentance is a turning. It's a change that takes place within us as our
45:53 thinking changes and our heart changes. You have rejected Jesus. Your thinking
45:58 about Jesus needs to change. You need to realize that yes, he indeed is the
46:04 promised Messiah. Your thinking needs to change. This promised Messiah is not an ordinary man.
46:10 He is God in the flesh. Genuine sorrow for your sin is included
46:18 in repentance because not only is our thinking changed, but our heart is changed. So, we're turning from sin and
46:25 self disbelief, turning in faith to Jesus, acknowledging him to be Messiah,
46:33 acknowledging him to be Lord. We confess our sin to him. We bow our
46:40 knee before him in faith and acknowledge him as Lord. Peter said, "Repent
46:47 and then proving that you have truly repented, turn to Jesus and have called
46:53 on his name in faith for salvation to prove that you've actually had this interchange. Be baptized in the name of
47:01 Jesus. Be baptized in the name of the person that you rejected.
47:07 the one who you said was a blasphemer and an impostor, you need to humble yourself, bow before him, and be
47:15 baptized in his name, showing you no longer are rejecting Jesus.
47:21 But rather, this will show that you have truly accepted him as the Messiah, that you have truly acknowledged him as Lord,
47:28 that you have called on the name of the Lord Jesus in faith to save you. And he
47:34 said, ' And if you do this, you will receive forgiveness and you'll receive the Holy Spirit. Two wonderful gifts
47:41 from God. If you repent, place your faith in Jesus,
47:47 you'll be given the gift of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is forgiveness. The gift
47:54 of God is eternal life. And you will also be given the wonderful
47:60 gift of the Holy Spirit. Like all believers, when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, he comes to live within
48:07 you. Our text continues, Peter concludes, "The promise is for you. The promise of
48:14 the Holy Spirit, the promise of forgiveness, promise is for you and for your children, for all who are fall off,
48:20 for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words,
48:25 he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
48:33 What happened as a result of the Holy Spirit being poured out? We see that in the next verse. So those who received
48:41 his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Those
48:49 who received the message that Peter preached, those who believed, those who repented, those who called on the name
48:57 of the Lord Jesus in faith, those who acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah,
49:03 to be Lord, Master, ruler, God, they were baptized, 3,000 of them.
49:13 And then Peter continues to say, "And after they responded in faith to God,
49:18 after they were baptized, then they became actively involved with the other early Christians in the local church
49:25 there in Jerusalem." So that's what happened in Acts chapter
49:30 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out on people.
49:36 And that's what can happen today. That's what God wants to happen today because
49:42 the Holy Spirit still works the same way today that he did then. The Holy Spirit
49:48 today is working in our hearts and in our minds.
49:54 The Holy Spirit is convicting people of sin
49:60 right now in your life. God could well be showing sin in your life that you
50:05 need to turn from, repent of, confess to him,
50:11 possibly the sin of unbelief. Well, God's spirit is also convincing of
50:18 the truth about Jesus. Some of you may have heard about Jesus, but haven't really been convinced. Well,
50:25 God's spirit is working within your heart to convince you that the gospel message, yes, indeed, is true.
50:32 God is working in the lives of his followers to empower us to be a witness
50:39 for him through our words as well as through our deeds because the Holy
50:46 Spirit is bringing glory to Jesus. And he does that as people respond in faith
50:52 to him and as his people live a life in
50:57 obedience to the lordship of Christ. This morning, I believe God is working
51:06 here in our hearts through his Holy Spirit. There might be some of you who have
51:11 never responded in faith, calling on the name of the Lord to be saved.
51:16 The good news is that everybody who calls on the Lord will be saved. You can
51:22 do that this morning. And after our closing prayer, we would invite you if you have not received Christ as the
51:29 Lord, the Messiah, you can come forward. Counselors from the church will be here. We'll be glad
51:34 to talk with you and pray with you. Others of you might need to confess
51:40 something to God and you want prayer for that. We also invite you to come down. There'll be people here who can pray
51:46 with you as you let God deal with your life, removing things that are not pleasing to him.
51:52 And God might also at this time be putting in your mind the name or the face of somebody
51:58 who needs to call on the Lord and he wants you to share with them.
52:04 Let's pray together. Father, we do thank you that you have not left us alone in this world, but
52:10 that you indwell us through your spirit. Thank you that you do work in our minds
52:15 and in our hearts and give us the power, the strength we need for life.
52:21 Father, I pray there's somebody here this morning who does not know you personally in faith that they would come
52:27 to you this morning repenting and accepting you. And for those of us who do know you, we pray that we would let
52:34 your spirit not just be a theory in our life, but that we would yield daily to the power and leading as you work in our
52:42 lives. In Jesus name we pray.
