One Year Bible Saturday, June 4th "David's Last Words" "The Day of Pentecost and Peter's First Sermon Reaches 3,000!"
David’s Song of Praise
As David nears the end of his life, we see this amazing song of praise. It is similar to many of the psalms he wrote. You can see what a great writer he was and the depth of his relationship with the Lord. Most of all David speaks of God's faithfulness to him no matter what the situation was. No matter how dangerous it was for David and the fact that his life was in peril many times, God gave him exactly what he needed. He uses several metaphors for God. He was his rock. He was his lamp. He was his shield. His refuge. He is a strong fortress. The Lord was everything to David.
Also we see that God rewarded David because of his faithfulness and his desire to live according to God's Word. David says these important words,
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
27 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
David ends with these words,
For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
51 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.”
David’s Last Words
David has similar praises for God for his last words. David remembers the everlasting covenant the Lord made with him, which will be fulfilled in Jesus. He remembers his anointing as the king of Israel, and how his words came through the Spirit of the Lord. Indirectly we see the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Ultimately God kept his promises. God watched over David all of his life because he was his chosen, anointed One. And God has called you to be His Son or Daughter, as you have faith in His Son, Jesus. He has ordained all of the days of your life.
David’s Mightiest Warriors
We see a list of David's greatest warriors.
David was nothing without his mighty men, and they were nothing without him. He was their leader, but a leader is nothing without followers – and David had the mighty men to follow him. These men didn’t necessarily start as mighty men; many were some of the distressed, indebted, and discontent people who followed David at Adullam Cave (1 Samuel 22:1-2).
“These men came to David when his fortunes were at the lowest ebb, and he himself was regarded as a rebel and an outlaw, and they remained faithful to him throughout their lives. Happy are they who can follow a good cause in its worst estate, for theirs is true glory.” (Spurgeon)
The Holy Spirit Comes
This is one of the most important chapters in the bible. The Holy Spirit was promised in the Old Testament and Jesus' last words promised the Holy Spirit would come upon them shortly after He ascended back to His Father in heaven.
Interestingly enough, tommorow is the day of Pentecost in the church, where many congregations read this lesson in many different languages. The Day of Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover in the Jewish faith. It was also called the Festival of Weeks, where the Spring harvest was brought in.
All the believers were gathered in a house not just the 12 apostles. A sound from heaven like a mighty windstorm came down and tongues of fire rested on the people gathered there. The word Spirit also means "wind", and fire was often a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Fire was a symbol of cleansing and judgment. The Holy Spirit enabled the believers to speaking in different languages, which was important because their were Jews gathered from all over the world for the Pentecost feast.
You can see here that these nations represented almost every part of the known world at that time.
"Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other."
Then Peter gives a sermon filled with the Holy Spirit. He explains that the coming of the Holy Spirit was prophesied from Joel 2.
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.’
We see again the fulfilled prophecy of the Old Testament confirming the authencity and accurary of the bible.
He recounts how Jesus fulfilled so much from what was prophesied about him in the Old Testament, which would have been critical to all those with a Jesus background. He quotes from Psalm 16 and confirms that David was the writer. As a side not I asked God to give me a psalm to memorize when I was a very young Christian and he gave me Psalm 16.
When Peter preached these words, the people were pierced to the heart. The gospel had convicted them of their sin and need for a Savior. There only question was, "Brothers what must we do/"
Then Peter gives us such key and important words for what it means to preach the gospel today,
Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away[h]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
Notice four steps in conversion to Christ.
1. Repent or turn from one's sins.
2. Turn to God.
3. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
4. Receiving the free gift of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, notice the words that the promise is for both them and their children.
God's desire is not only for us to come to faith but our children and grandchildren as well. This is why Children and Youth ministry is so important!
So what were the results of Peter's first sermon?
3,000 came to faith in Jesus! I'd say that was a pretty good sermon and you see why from reasons 1-4 above. This reminds us that preaching of the Good News involves these 4 aspects.
Chapter 2 closes with what the new community in Christ looks like. This is what we call the church today. And the question is do our churches look like the first church?
Here were the hallmark for the 1st church in Acts:
1. Devotion to the Apostle's Teaching (as opposed to preaching. preaching was for unbelievers, teaching was learning how to apply Jesus' teaching to real life)
2. Fellowship - the closing relational bonds of those who are in Christ together. This fellowship is fueled by the Holy Spirit, who now lives in each believer. The Holy Spirit in me connects with the Holy Spirit in you and produces a bond much greater than relationships in the world.
3. Sharing of meals including the Lord's Supper - Note Holy Communion as ordained by Jesus started right away in the early church. The words of instition we use today in Holy Communion are the ones Jesus used during His last supper. Communion is important and we experience Jesus' presence in a different way than any other aspect of the community we share together.
4. Prayer - Someone has said, "Prayer is the boiler room of the church!"
What were the results of such community:
1. A deep sense of awe came over them and many miraculous signs happened.
2. They shared all their possessions and everyone had enough.
3. They enjoyed the good will of the people.
4. Every day the Lord added to their community all those who were being saved!
Wow what a chapter! Does our church look like this today? Why or why not? I believe as we seek to be this kind of church that the Lord will add to our number daily those who are being saved!
A psalm when the people went up to the temple of Jerusalem. They prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, which we need to pray today.
Those who are teachable will prosper.
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