Acts 2 - The First Sermon Ever Preached!
Verses for Today
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “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 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Commentary
Acts 2 is one of the most important chapters is the bible? Why? Because the disciples received gift of the Holy Spirit Jesus had promised them. When they received the Spirit, they spoke in "tongues". In this case the gift of "speaking in tongues" resultedi in the apostles speaking the gospel in different languages. They were the languages were of those who had gathered for the feast of Pentecost. It was the perfect time for the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit and communicate the gospel to all those who had gathered for this annual feast all Jews were required to attend.
We also learn about Peter's first sermon. Peter quotes Joel, the prophet, who prophesied about the Holy Spirit being poured out on all people. The Holy Spirit did not discriminate by age or gender. Joel prophesied that the Spirit would be poured out on all people. Some people think the Holy Spirit is just for "super spiritual" types, "holy rollers", or only those who "speak in tongues". These stereotypes are all false.
Every person is given the Holy Spirit when they come to faith in Jesus. In fact it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sin, our need for Jesus, and gives us the gift of faith. The Holy Spirit works faith in us, thus we cannot claim the credit for our salvation. To put it plainly, we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit of any consequence in our Christian lives. The lack of teaching on and providing experiences of the Holy Spirit has been a great weakness in the church and has limited its effectiveness in carrying out the mission Jesus gave us.
As Peter preaches, he also quotes King David, who wrote most of the Psalms. And we see that there was plenty of prophesy in the Psalms that Jesus fulfilled as the Messiah. The change is Peter is astounding. Peter was the guy who had just denied Jesus three times and cowered in fear instead of standing up for his Lord and friend. At the end of John, we see that Jesus did not hold this against him but commissioned Peter to "Feed His sheep". Despite His failures, Jesus appointed Peter as the chief apostle of the 1st church.
Peter did not hold back in his first sermon. He boldly proclaimed to the Jewish audience gatherted from all over the world, that they crucified Jesus who God had made both the Lord and the Messiah. After the disciples spoke in tongues, some of the people were curious and wanted to here more. Some made fun of the apostles, joking they had drank too much wine!
But as Peter preaches to them, many others were "cut to heart". The Holy Spirit took Peter's sermon, convicted them of their sins, and led them to ask what they should do next? Peter's response is simple,
"Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".
We often don't talk about repentance as much today for fear of turning people off. But obviously it is an essential aspect of our preaching of the gospel. It is not repentance for repeantance sake, but turning from our sin to trust in Jesus. We leave our olld life behind to follow Jesus.
And then we see the role of baptism. Baptism was the outward sign and public proclamation of what had happened in their hearts. It was the outward sign of an inward reality. It was a symbol of washing, cleansing, and being filled with the Holy Spirit! Mark 16:16 reiterates this when he says, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved!" Though baptism in itself does not save us, it is a sign of the faith we have in Jesus and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit!
How well did Peter's first sermon go? The Lord added to their number 3,000 who were saved!
Application
1. Do you think we preach the gospel in the church today with the same type of boldness Peter did in his first sermon? When you share Jesus with others do you talk about the important role of repentance in coming to Christ?
2. What do you think Peter meant when he said, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off?" Do we share the promise of salvation with our kids at home and in our churches?
3. What is your personal experience of the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is a person, do you ask the the Holy Spirit to continue to fill you and work in your life? You can do this in your morning prayers. One of the most frequent prayers of early church was, "Come Holy Spirit"
The bible says, "We have not because we ask not!" James 4:2
Prayer
Jesus thank you for leading us to repentance and faith in you. Thank you for the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit, which helps us to be bold in preaching the same message Peter did. We pray many will come to faith and be baptized as they did at the first Pentecost. Amen.
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