Peter’s Pentecost Sermon, Part 1 (Acts Sermon 4)

Turn in your Bibles this morning to Acts chapter 2. Look this morning at verses 14 through 24. When Jesus stood on trial for his life before Pontius Pilate, He made this incredibly significant statement. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  It is not worldly in nature. It is not worldly by its means of propagation. He said, “If it were, my servants would fight for me.” That’s not the kind of kingdom that Jesus has and his servants do not advance his empire by fighting and by killing.

Think of the great secular empires of world history and how they advance. How did Alexander the Great advanced the Greek Empire but by warfare, by the skill and speed of his hoplites? How did the Roman Empire build its empire except by the iron discipline of the Roman legions? How about Genghis Khan and the Mongolian mounted warriors and their skill in riding and shooting arrows while riding? How about the Spanish Empire with its ruthless conquistadors on the back of its intrepid explorers? Or the British Empire built by the power, the relentless power of the British Navy?

That’s how the world’s empires advance. How has Christ advanced his empire, except by individual people, unsung heroes, people whose names we don’t know, being willing to fall into the ground like a kernel of wheat and die and bear eternal fruit by their self-sacrifice, as Jesus said in John 12, that’s how his kingdom advances.

It advances by means of the proclamation, the verbal proclamation of a message that seems foolishness, what Paul calls “the foolishness of preaching,” in 1 Corinthians or perhaps “the foolishness of what is preached.” Either way. The mode of preaching and the message that is preached are foolishness to the world, but that is how Christ has built his kingdom from this great day of Pentecost on.

Today we’re going to study, the first and to some degree arguably, the most significant Christian sermon that’s ever been preached. But it’s just preaching. It’s just Peter getting up in front of people and talking.

Isn’t it amazing that the foolishness of preaching has been the way that God has chosen to build a kingdom that will never end, that will not be left to another, but will reign forever and ever

Isn’t it amazing that the foolishness of preaching has been the way that God has chosen to build a kingdom that will never end, that will not be left to another, but will reign forever and ever, and we now get to take part in that. We get to be instructed and inspired by this so that we go out the rest of the week as the Spirit is poured out on God’s servants, old and young, male and female to get to go proclaim the gospel this week.  We get to be instructed and inspired. That’s what’s in front of us today as we begin to study Peter’s great Pentecost sermon. To some degree the most influential, maybe the most famous, sermon of all time and the beginning of the vast ingathering of a spiritual harvest of souls.

I. The Context for the Pentecost Sermon

Let’s begin by looking at context. We’re jumping right in the middle of a chapter, Acts chapter 2. The context is a Jewish feast called Pentecost, fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is the second of three annual feasts that the Jews had in which all Jewish males were ordered to assemble three times a year. It also has, as I mentioned last time, powerful symbolism because it was at the beginning of the harvest where they could give the first fruits and all that, and so it clicks over and connects with the harvest of souls that began with the preaching of this great sermon. That’s the context.

We also have as the context for this great sermon, something that we might underestimate and that is the fruit of Jesus’ ministry on earth. I mean to some degree, every great sermon, every Christian sermon is Jesus’ harvest, Jesus’ work through the Spirit. That is true. But there’s a uniqueness to Jesus’ physical incarnate ministry on earth, the actual miracles He did, and I believe that this incredible ingathering, I don’t know of any other sermon that I’ve studied in church history that has 3000 souls genuinely converted and baptized as a result of one sermon. Maybe there is one, but I don’t know of it. But I think these 3000 souls can be directly linked or at least many of them to the fruit of Jesus’ ministry.

As you read in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus goes from village to village and town to town and is persuading people and doing miracles and planting seeds and doing work. Many of them then assembling there in Jerusalem. And Peter himself in verse 22 directly links Jesus’ miracles to their having seen them. Look at verse 22, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”

The Jewish nation’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah was a form of spiritual insanity as all sin is. It was absolutely insane for them not to see in Jesus their promised Messiah. They had looked right into the radiance of his beautiful glory. They had seen it in his character, his demeanor, his kindness, his tenderness, his mannerisms, his facial expressions, the way He treated people, young and old, men and women, boys and girls. They saw it. They saw his miracles. They were themselves, many of them healed directly by him. And yet officially the nation hated him and rejected him.

Peter now is going to convict them of that very sin. He’s not going to let up, and he’s going to do the same thing later with the Sanhedrin. He’s going to lay guilt for Jesus’ death at the human level right at their feet, not out of vindictiveness or mean-spiritedness. Not at all. He wants to bring them to salvation. He wants them to be convicted of their sins. You cannot be saved if you’re not first convicted of wrongdoing, of lawlessness and breaking God’s commandments, and so he does that. That’s the context of Jesus’ ministry. It’s going to work. Look at verse 37, “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?'” It worked.

We also have as context, the growing or the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ. This will be the beginning of the church’s explosive growth. 3000, as I’ve mentioned, were baptized and they joined the church that day. They’re going to begin living the Christian life in the context of a healthy, flourishing growing local church, which we’ll talk about in due time.

We also have as context, the preacher, Peter. What a fascinating study Peter really is. How much information we have about him and how much encouragement we should take from his story. This is just fifty days after his terrible failure.  The night that Jesus was arrested, he was laid low, this great leader of the Apostles was laid low at the door of the high priest house by a slave girl who just asked in passing, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” “No, no, I’m not.” That began Peter’s threefold denial which culminated in him calling down curses on himself and swearing that he didn’t know anything about this man right before the rooster crowed for the second time.

The Lord rescued him that night having predicted in detail what would happen. The rooster’s crowing reminded him of the words that Jesus had spoken. It just so happened at that exact moment when the rooster had crowed for the second time, the Lord Jesus was being transferred from one phase of his trial to the next and had the opportunity physically to look at Peter in the eye. I think that must’ve been the single most painful moment of Peter’s life, and he went outside and wept bitterly knowing what he had done. But the Lord graciously was restoring him, drawing him back in, forgiving him, and reestablishing him as an apostle and a leader. 

We could easily see that he would’ve been disqualified from ministry, from public ministry at that point. Most of us would’ve thought that would’ve been appropriate. We’re talking about the central job description of an apostle. “Do you know Jesus?” “Know him? Oh, I know him. Let me tell you all about him.” No, he had said, “I never heard of him.” And yet the Lord in his grace and in his mercy and kindness restored him in a very short time and enabled him to see direct evidence of his bodily resurrection. He appeared to Peter, we’re told in 1 Corinthians, personally and directly.  And then to be given a chance in John 21, three times to reaffirm his love. “Do you love me, Peter? Feed my sheep.” This is him feeding the sheep. We see the grace in Peter’s life. 

And then also as context, we see the outpouring of the Spirit, which we talked about last week. Like I said, we’re jumping right in the middle of this account. We’ve already looked last week at Acts 2, 1-13, the great day of Pentecost. In verses 2-4 we had these words, “Suddenly the sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.”  This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God on the church, each one of them receiving the gift of the Spirit evidently and clearly. 

We also have as context the crowd’s mixed reaction. In verse 12, “Amazed and perplexed they ask one another, ‘What does this mean?’” They’re stunned, they’re amazed, they’re blown away by the miraculous sound and then the speaking in tongues. They’re able to hear the apostles speaking and teaching the wonders of God each in their mother tongues, their native languages. It’s a miracle.  But we also have the mocking in verse 13. Some of them said they’ve had too much wine. Drunken, that’s what they’re saying. That’s the context.

II. An Overview of the Pentecost Sermon and Its Results

What I want to do now is an overview where the chapter is going and tell you what we’re going to try to achieve today with a very long sermon.  First of all, in verses 14-21, we’re going to see Peter defending the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and describing it. Secondly, we’re going to see him defending the life and death of Jesus Christ in verses 22-23. Third, he’s going to proclaim the fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, verse 24. Those three of the things we’re going to do today.

God willing next week we’re going to see him prove from scripture, the resurrection from the dead, from Psalm 16. We’re going to see him also prove it from eyewitnesses, the resurrection of Christ from eyewitnesses in verse 32. He’s going to connect the outpouring of the Spirit of God to Christ’s exaltation to the right hand of God in verses 33 through 35. He’s going to sum up all of that evidence to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah expected by the Jewish nation in verse 36.

And we’ve already mentioned we’re going to see the people’s reaction cut to the heart and convicted asking, “What shall we do?”, and then Peter’s timeless application, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”, verse 38. Then the promise that everyone who does this will receive the same gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then the warning of the judgment of God on any that reject this message in verse 40. Then as we’ve said, the incredible response, the harvest brought in, the first fruits, verses 14-24— 3000 genuine converts baptized that day. A very busy day for the church, but a great day, a great day.

Then the evidence that transformed life, as I mentioned, lived in the healthy context of a church, the context of a healthy church, different functions and forms of that. We’ll get to that, all of that in due time. So that’s where we’re heading.

III. Defending the Outpouring of the Spirit

Let’s begin with the defending the outpouring of the Spirit in verses 14-21. First of all, Peter asked to address the mockery. “They’re drunk, they’ve had too much wine,” so he begins there.  “Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd. ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning.'”

He’s addressing this blasphemous mockery here by saying there just hasn’t been enough time to get drunk. I think there’s got to be a little bit of humor here. They just haven’t had enough time. I mean, the alcohol level’s a little bit low. You got to be at it for hours. It’s only been three hours since sunrise. So no, that’s not what’s going on. 

And besides all humor aside, let’s look at the people. Look at how they’re behaving. There’s no evidence that they’re drunk. They’re sober minded in all of the respects. They’re filled with joy. They’re reasoning and talking and communicating the truth of the gospel. No, there must be another explanation. And what is it? Well, this is that. This that you’re seeing now is that which was spoken of before.

We live in the era of fulfillment, of promises made, ancient promises made by prophets centuries before they were fulfilled. Look at verses 16-21,“This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I’ll pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I’ll pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”

This is that which was spoken. This is the miraculous nature of Christianity. It is an amazing combination of miraculous predictions of the future. All of them are miraculous because it defies physics and logic that we can know the future. We cannot. But God knows the future because He’s eternal. And He predicts the future in the prophets, ancient prophets. And then the combination of that with actual history, with things that actually have occurred in space and time. That’s the proof of Christianity.

The New Testament church is built on the foundation of many fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament, including this one. God spoke of old through the prophets, words they themselves could not possibly have fully understood. Peter tells us that it was revealed to them that they weren’t serving themselves, but a later generation that would come when the fulfillment would come, so write the words and seal it up and it’ll come in the future, prophecy.

Joel, or scholars tell us, wrote this prophecy around the year 835 BC, nine centuries before fulfillment, nine centuries. Only God can do that. So let’s unpack the prophecy spoken by Joel in Joel chapter 2. Fundamentally, we have come now from the day of Pentecost on into the new era of the Spirit, from the time of Christ’s death, the shedding of his blood on in the era of the new covenant.

Joel, if you read Joel’s prophecy in Joel chapter 2, it just says, “And it’ll come to pass afterward” or after these things. That’s all it says in the Hebrew. Peter juices it up a little bit under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, “in the last days.” Not merely afterward or after these things, but in the last days.  We are in the last days. I love that. People know that I love eschatology. I like talking about eschatology. They say, “Pastor, what do you think? Do you think we’re in the last days?” Oh, yes, I do. I really do. It’s been going on for 2000 years now.

Now are you asking me, “Are we the last generation?” I don’t know. Maybe. When you see the signs, Jesus said like the leaves coming out on the fig tree, you know that summer is near. That’s how you’ll know. But yes, we’re in the last days. Now that Jesus has come and died and risen again, arisen, we are in the last days. Joel didn’t see that. He couldn’t have understood it, but we understand.

And what is the prediction? He says, “In the last days, God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people,'” literally all flesh, all people. “Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on my male and female servants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.”

Only the servants of the Lord receive this gift. It’s not on every human being, it’s on his servants that He does it, those who are in a relationship with him. But the issue here is the universal outpouring of the Spirit of God on all of his servants, not just on special individuals as in the Old Testament frequently.

In the old Covenant era, the outpouring of the Spirit was occasional and focused on leaders. The Spirit would be poured out on leaders to enable them to fulfill their function. So mighty warriors would receive the outpouring of the Spirit like Samson and he’d be able to rise up and win a battle against the Philistines. Or the Spirit would be poured out on Saul and he’d became a changed man and was able to be or enabled to be king of Israel at that point. Or the Spirit would come on a prophet and he would speak the words of the Lord. So there would be different offices, but not on everybody.

Now, as I said last week, we should not imagine the Holy Spirit of God was not active in the time of the old Covenant. He was very active. But there is something unique from the point of Pentecost on, something different. A change has happened. Therefore, when it comes to Pentecost and the activity of the Spirit, you want to be careful to not say too much or too little about the Spirit’s activity. To say too much would be to say that the Spirit began its activity on the human race on the day of Pentecost. That would be saying too much about Pentecost. But to say too little, it’s like it was just another day. It wasn’t. It was a very unique and special and powerful day, the day of Pentecost.

So what is different here as you read Joel. What is different is the universality of the gift of the Holy Spirit on all the servants of the Lord. That’s the unique thing. As Peter will say, this is a promise given to everybody who believes in Jesus. Verse 37-39, “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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. Everyone who believes the gospel will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

He also mentions eschatological signs. Look at verses 19 and 20, “I’ll show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.”

These are signs that in other places are tied directly to the end of the world, the events that will come at the end of the world and the second coming of Christ. These things I believe have not happened yet, but are specifically predicted in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 6: 12-14, with the opening of the seventh or the sixth seal, sorry, the sun turns black and the moon turns blood-red and the stars fall from the sky as figs from a fig tree, and the sky is rolled up like a scroll and all the mountains are removed from their place. It’s the end of the world. But it’s the same kind of language here.  Then we’ve got billowing smoke in Revelation 9:2 when the abyss is opened and a demonic horde of previously incarcerated demons comes billowing out of the abyss to bring torment on the people of the earth. Revelation 9: 2, but it’s this billowing smoke that comes up, the same language in Joel.

This is before the great and glorious day of the Lord, the second coming and judgment day that is most certainly coming on the earth. We have the beautiful gospel promise. Look at verse 21, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” What an incredible statement that is. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul quotes this exact statement in Romans chapter 10, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

What does that mean to call on the name of the Lord? …to call on the name of the Lord is to call on the one who did the things that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the signs and wonders and miracles

What does that mean to call on the name of the Lord? The name is like reputation, like to make a name for yourself. The Lord is clearly the Lord Jesus Christ,  so to call on the name of the Lord is to call on the one who did the things that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the signs and wonders and miracles, the one who did those things and even more significantly, the one who died on the cross, a bloody substitutionary death on the cross and who even more significantly was raised from the dead on the third day consummating his death and showing that it was accepted by God.

The acts and the events of Jesus’ life are part of his name, but even more significantly, the name of Lord. As we heard in one of the testimonies, so beautiful, the “Lord” means “God.” The Lord your God is one, that Jesus is God.  To call on the name of the Lord is to call on Jesus as God, the one who did all these great things. To call on him is to call on him for something, to call on him for what? Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, son of David have mercy on me.” He called and they told him to be quiet. They tried to hush him. But he cried all the louder. “Son of David have mercy on me.” Jesus stopped and ordered that Bartimaeus be brought to him and He said this key question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

That’s the question that must be in your mind as you’re calling on the name of the Lord. He’s asking you, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Save me from hell, Lord, save me from hell. I’ve violated your laws. I’ve broken your commandments. I deserve to go to hell. I don’t have any way to save myself. I have no good works. I can’t do any good works. Save me from hell. Let your death be my death. Let your life be my life. Be my savior.” That’s what it means to call on the name of the Lord.

In the middle of this exposition, in the middle of this sermon, I’m just going to stop and ask, have you done that? There’s nothing more important. What would it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? And you will lose your soul if you don’t call on the name of the Lord. That’s what it means. It means to call on Jesus to save you from your sins. Have you done that?  It could be that God brought you to this sermon for this moment because before you walked in here, you had never called on the name of the Lord Jesus. Call on the name of the Lord. That’s what it means.

IV. Defending the Life and Death of Christ

So we’ve defended the outpouring of the spirit. Now we’re going to defend the life and death of Jesus Christ. Look at verses 22-23, “Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God. God set purpose and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”

Peter begins this portion of his sermon with these words, “Men of Israel, listen to this. Pay attention to what I’m saying as though your eternal soul depends on it, because it does. Listen to me.” Then he says, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Stop there. This is really interesting.  Peter does not shrink back from this denigrating very human term for Jesus. He’s just Jesus of Nazareth. I found that secular scholarship doesn’t call Jesus Christ because that’s his title as Messiah. That’s an act of faith. You either believe that or you don’t. I agree that’s true, but they deny it to him. They’re saying, “We don’t know. We don’t know who Jesus is, but we’re going to call him Jesus of Nazareth.” Peter doesn’t have any problem with that. He’s also going to call him Jesus Christ, but he says Jesus of Nazareth.

Nazareth doesn’t mean much to us, but I’m tell you right now, it’s not a great place to be from. You remember Philip in John chapter 1 when he says, “We’ve seen someone. I think he’s the one. He’s the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.” “‘Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’  Nathanael  said. And Philip said, ‘Come and see.’” I love that answer. “Come and see if anything good can come out of Nazareth.” Something very good came out of Nazareth. It’s a very humbling term.

We see his humility, but we also see his humanity in that. He’s a man accredited by God. This is the Greek word for male, “aner”, he’s just a man. He’s not just a man, but he’s definitely is a man. He’s truly human. We have his humility of Nazareth and his humanity, a man. He’s a man, it says, accredited by God. The word “accredited” in my translation here means to prove by argumentation or evidence as in a court of law. He has been proven by God.

A series of proofs were rolled out by Almighty God concerning this man, Jesus of Nazareth.  In John chapter 5: 35-40, Jesus gives four categories of the proof. I’m not going to walk through it carefully, don’t turn there, but just listen, four categories of the proofs that God rolled out concerning Jesus, how he was accredited by God.

First, John the Baptist as a prophetic forerunner pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. I have seen and I testify that this man is the son of God.” It’s accreditation.

Secondly, the miracles Jesus did, which is what Peter’s going to camp on here, “The works,” Jesus said, “that I do, they testify that the Father sent me, the miracles do.” The miracles are valid reasons that I’m going to talk about for faith.

Thirdly, the Father himself testified about Jesus. He spoke from heaven at the baptism, Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. “A voice from heaven,” Matthew 3:17, “came and said, ‘This is my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.'” So the Father himself testified Jesus said that.

Then fourth, the scriptures testified about him. Jesus said, “Moses wrote about me.” Realize what an incredible statement that would make in a Jewish context. Moses wrote about me. But he did.

Those are the four categories of testimony. Peter declares plainly that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was proven by Almighty God accredited by proof, but he zeroes in specifically on miracles, wonders, and signs.

Miracles. What are miracles? They are events in space and time that go beyond the laws of physics. They’re not explainable by physical laws. They transcend. I wouldn’t say they break physical laws. They transcend them. Picture Jesus walking on the water. He’s not breaking the law of buoyancy or gravity. He’s just transcending it. He’s above it. So that’s a miracle, right?

Also wonders. That more focuses on the psychological reaction or emotional reaction of the crowd. They’re in awe. They’re filled with amazement at this. So a wonder, a sign of wonder is something, a miracle, is something that causes amazement in people. They don’t have any explanation for it. Wonders.

Then signs. I like that. I think of it like a road sign that tells you 196 miles to New York City or something like that. It tells you there’s a reality to which you’re going, but you’re not there yet. Jesus’ miracles are pointing ahead to the reality of resurrection from the dead when there’ll be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. That’s what is Jesus’ miracles. He’s going to give all of us a comprehensive and permanent healing from death, mourning, crying and pain. The miracles were signs of that future reality.

So those are the three words, miracles, wonders and signs. A river of miracles, an astonishing river of miracles that Jesus did. No one has ever done that number of miracles as Jesus did. Matthew 4:24, “News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him those all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, the epileptics and the paralytics and he healed them.” He healed them, all of them.

The feeding of the 5,000, 5,000 men plus women and children gives a sense of what a day in the life was like for Jesus. Huge crowds around him every day, and He’s just healing and healing and healing and healing people. Those miracles, as I’ve said, are valid grounds for our faith that Jesus is God. As a matter of fact, I think ultimately it’s the only ground.  Jesus said in John 14:11, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father’s in me, or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” He openly says, that’s a basis for your faith and even clearer you get in the purpose statement in John’s Gospel in John 20:30-31, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and believing may have life in his name.”

Miracles lead to faith, which leads to your salvation. It’s written down for that purpose, the miracles. The written record of Jesus’ miracles, including the most important miracle of them all, his bodily resurrection from the dead are necessary, sufficient and essential to your saving faith. The very ground under the feet of our faith, as it were.

All of it is God’s accrediting work in Jesus’ life. “God did those miracles,” Peter says. God did them through him. This is amazing. Jesus said the same thing about his miracles. “I don’t do anything on my own. The Father is working his work through me.” He gives full credit to God, always to God. Like when he healed the man on Sabbath in John 5:17. They were after him because he was working on the Sabbath. He says, “Well, my Father is always at his work to this very day. And I too am working.” That my friends is what’s called putting out a fire with kerosene. “Oh, you shouldn’t have a problem. My Father is doing this work through me.” Amazing.

But God, the Father, did all of Jesus’ works through him. But we also learn later in the book of Acts, in Acts 10:38, when Peter went to Cornelius’ house, Jesus did all of his miracles by the Spirit as well. He didn’t do anything apart from the Spirit. That’s a mind blower. Ask yourself this deep theological question. Could Jesus have done a miracle on his own without the Spirit? Don’t ask that question. Let’s move on.

The point is not whether he could or couldn’t, He didn’t. It says in Acts 10:38, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who are under the power of the devil because God was with him.” What does that mean? Every miracle that’s written in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were displays of the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit at work, saving sinners. “As you yourselves know,” Peter said to that crowd. “You know it. You were there at the time,” he’s saying. “You saw it.”

So this is what I’m saying, this was a unique audience, not like us. We didn’t see his miracles. We heard about them, we read about them, but we weren’t there. We didn’t receive them. He says, “You yourselves know.” He’s driving his sermon home. Jesus had said, “I didn’t do anything in secret. I spoke openly before the world. You all saw it,” He says in John 18:20.

These people, these Jews living there in Jerusalem and in that region, were guilty for not rising up and stopping the crucifixion of Jesus. He’s laying that guilt at their feet, and he’s going to do the same thing with the Sanhedrin in chapter 4. He’s going to load them with guilt for killing Jesus.

The same Jesus, Peter driving at home, all of this evidence, this incredible holy life, the only perfect man that ever lived, accredited by God as his beloved son, doing a river of miracles, alleviating suffering in the most selfless way, tenderly loving lepers and outcasts, encouraging repentant prostitutes and tax collectors, boldly exposing spiritual hypocrites, stilling storms, feeding thousands, never failing to heal any sickness He ever faced, instantly driving out demons, even thousands of them with a single word. This same man was the one they rejected and who was brutally and shamefully treated and crucified. That’s what he’s doing here.

He says, “This same Jesus was handed over to you.” Peter’s going to lay the sin at the feet of both the Jewish people and their leaders. He has amazing boldness here. He’s utterly fearless. But now we get to the depth of theological mystery, divine sovereignty and human responsibility. “This Jesus was handed over to you. And you with the help of wicked men put him to death,” [v. 23] fulfilling God’s eternal sovereign plan that He determined from before the foundation of the world.

So first of all, the delivering over of Jesus. Who delivered Jesus over to death? Satan delivered Jesus over to death. Judas Iscariot delivered Jesus over to death. Annas, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin delivered Jesus over to death. Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus over to death. But ultimately it was God who delivered Jesus over to death. As Romans 8:32 says, “He who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also along with him freely give us all things?”  It was done by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge. These words are infinitely heavy with theological weight. They show that despite the wickedness and the cleverness and the cunning of the Jewish nation and of Judas, Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, even Satan himself, everything was done directly according to the set purpose and foreknowledge of Almighty God.

Before the foundation of the world, God made a plan for the salvation of his chosen people, his elect chosen in Christ before the world began. A plan that was worked out in all its details by the sovereign will of God. His set purpose or determinate will related to the word for predestination. God set up boundary lines and limits. The will, the counsel of God, because he’s the king of the ages and of the universe.  By God’s set purpose or decreed purpose and foreknowledge. Many people go astray on this. They say it’s like God’s ability to predict the future. He’s very good at predicting. Like, let’s say you’re sitting there and somebody rolls a ball, a baseball across the table and it’s got sufficient velocity, momentum and all that, and it’s like, “Hey, that ball’s about to fall off that table.” Cha-ching. I’m amazing. I predicted it. I saw it happening. I knew it was going to happen. That’s on me. You have anything else you’d like me to predict? It’s like, “No, it’s not that.” I’m not saying God can’t do that. God is an incredible observer of people.He knows you top to bottom. He knows us better than we can possibly know ourselves. He’d be able to make predictions based on our nature and our tendencies and all that. But that’s not what foreknowledge means. That’s not the theology of foreknowledge. The reason I say that is the logic and the language of foreknowledge is always the ground or reason for things to happen, is because of the foreknowledge of God that things occur. The other is just a prediction. It’s like I can tell you, it’s not because I predicted the baseball would roll off the table that it rolled off the table, it’s because someone rolled it. That’s why. But my prediction doesn’t change it. God’s foreknowledge is the reason why these things happen.

It is by the foreknowledge of God that Christ died, by the foreknowledge of God that we are predestined for heaven. It’s not mere passive observation and valuation based on attributes. It is a settled determination on the part of the king of the universe that Christ would die for the sins of his people and save them from hell. This is an awesome concept.

It is by the foreknowledge of God that Christ died, by the foreknowledge of God that we are predestined for heaven.

Jesus is no victim trapped in circumstances beyond his control. Given the level of his power, his miracles, his signs and wonders, that makes no sense. You don’t think Jesus like Samson couldn’t have shaken himself free? Easily, He could have. No, he laid his life down for us by the determined foreknowledge and purpose of God. “And you,” he says, “with the help of wicked men,” put him to death. 

Now we get the human responsibility side. Every human actor in this drama is accountable for what they did. They’re accountable before God for what they did. He blames the populace of Jerusalem for Jesus’ death at the human level. Perhaps some of them listening to that sermon did in fact yell out, “Crucify. Crucify.” We don’t know. Maybe some were there but didn’t say anything or didn’t consent, but weren’t able to stop it. The wicked men, Annas, Caiaphas, Sanhedrin, cowardly self-serving Pilate who again and again said, “I find no fault in him. I find no fault in,” and yet he crucified him. What a wicked, weak judge he was, accountable for what he did. All of them accountable.

Clearest to this is Judas Iscariot. Jesus said very plainly in Matthew 26:24, “The son of man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to the man who betrays the son of man. It would be better for him if he had never been born.” But God willed that he be born and he’s accountable for what he did.

Later in Acts 4, Peter, and the leaders praying in Acts 4:27- 28, says, “Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had determined beforehand should happen.” Very plain. “And you put him to death,” He said, “nailing him to the cross.”  He doesn’t shrink back from the horrors of crucifixion. Why? Because that is how he died, but also is in direct fulfillment of prophecy. Psalm 22, “They have nailed my hands and my feet.” Isaiah 53, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” They pierced. “He was pierced for our transgressions.” And then Deuteronomy 21:23, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Christ became a curse for us.” Peter doesn’t develop these themes, but he lays out the facts for their later development.

V. Proclaiming the Fact of the Resurrection of Christ

So having defended the life and death of Jesus Christ, he now proclaims the fact of the resurrection. Verse 24, “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the greatest event in history.  We notice and we will see this again and again as we move through the Book of Acts, there’s no significant preaching in the Gospel without mentioning the resurrection. I want to challenge all of you as you go out this week, mention the resurrection to somebody. This is how you can draw them in. You’re all fishers of men, right? Lure them in. Say, “So what did you do this weekend,” hoping they’ll ask you what you did this weekend. “Oh, I did this, I did that.” And out of politeness, many of them say, “What about you?” They’ll probably do that just once after they hear your answer. But this is your one chance, “Oh, I was in church yesterday and we talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” “Okay, great. Well, thanks. Have a great rest of your week.” But if they’ll keep listening, it could benefit them for all eternity.

They always mention the resurrection in the Book of Acts. They can’t stop thinking about it. We’re going to develop this more next week. But let me say a word about the phrase here. God raised him from the dead. He was accredited by God here as well.  God, the Father raised Jesus from the dead and validated his claims to be the son of God. As Romans 1:4 says, “Who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is God’s final and perfect proof that Jesus is his son, son of God. He’s not a fraud. He’s not a deceiver of the people. He’s not a worker of Beelzebub. He’s the holy one of God. He freed him from the agony of death, set him free from the agony of death. What is that? The ultimate agony of death? He cried it, “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?” To be forsaken by God is the agony of death. He paid that penalty in our place that we would not be forsaken by God.

Death is also a picture of total powerlessness. The human being stripped of all glory and power, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fight, unable to think, unable to plan, complete powerlessness. Worse than being in a paralyzed state bound in a straight jacket. That’s death. But look at this statement, “because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Now that is mind-blowing.  Usually when you link the word impossible to death, it’s the opposite. It’s impossible for us to rise. It’s impossible for us to defeat it. It’s a foe we cannot defeat.  But turn it around. This verse says, it’s a foe that was impossible to hold Jesus. It was impossible for Jesus to lose to death because he is the Lord of life.

I just want you to meditate on that. It is impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Death has been swallowed up in victory. “Where oh, death is your victory? Where oh, death is your sting?” Earlier I mentioned Samson. Remember when they tied him up with some ropes and they called, “Samson, your enemies are upon you.” Remember what happened to those ropes? The ropes on his arms became like charred flax and its bindings dropped from his hands.That was Samson. Jesus is infinitely greater than Samson. Amen.

But death with all of its cords wrapped around him could not hold him. He broke them. It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. And not only that, but this is the best part for you guys as followers of Christ. It’ll be impossible for death to keep its hold on you either. Why is that? Because He has promised to save you.  In John 6:39-40 Jesus said, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day, for my father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him will be saved and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The greatest sermons I’ve ever listened to, John Murray in John chapter 6, put it in this way: It is a moral and spiritual Impossibility for Jesus to lose any of his children. He’s going to raise them up. It is a moral and spiritual Impossibility for you to stay in your grave. Jesus is going to raise you up.

VI. Lessons and Applications

Lessons and applications. I’ve already given you the best. Call on the name of the Lord. But here’s the beautiful thing. If you’ve already done that, I would urge you to keep doing it. You’re not done calling on the name of the Lord. Call on the name of the Lord to finish your salvation. Call on the name of the Lord to grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ. Call on the name of the Lord whenever you need anything. That was just the first time you did it when you were justified. But just keep calling on the name of the Lord. “Lord, finish this salvation journey in me.” Call on the name of the Lord, not just for yourself, but for your brothers and sisters in Christ, for me, for the elders of this church, for the people in your home fellowship. Call in the name of the Lord on their behalf.

Secondly, spread his name by the power of the Holy Spirit in gospel ministry. We get to do this now. We are part of the great army of those who have received the poured out Holy Spirit. This is our time now. This generation is our field. It’s our time to work. “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[Acts 1:8]

Thirdly, meditate deeply on the infinite mystery of God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, the fact that all of these things have been determined by his will before the foundation of the world. Find your humility and security in that.

Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the things we’ve learned in this very rich and deep section of scripture. Help us, oh Lord, to take these lessons to heart, to drink them in by the Spirit and to act on them according to your will. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

As we continue to trace out the explosive spread of the gospel by the power of the Spirit, from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth, we will see that preaching is central to the plans of God…

Preaching. The “foolishness of preaching”… by that weak and derided activity, flawed humans standing in front of skeptical audiences, speaking words… by that Christ has built his eternal kingdom!

The emperors of the earth have built their kingdoms by the power of the sword. King Jesus, the king of the ages, has built it by preaching.

Peter’s Pentecost Sermon: The single most influential sermon in the history of the church.

Firestarter for the worldwide movement of Christ… the outpouring of the Spirit, the empowering of the Apostles, the beginning of the ingathering of a vast spiritual harvest… I know of no other single sermon that has been so blessed with immediate and obvious fruit. Three thousand souls added to the eternal rolls in one single day.

I. The Context for the Pentecost Sermon

A. The Jewish Feast: Pentecost

1. One of the three times a year the Jewish males were commanded to assemble

2. It guaranteed a huge crowd in Jerusalem, people from all over the Roman world… from nation after nation

3. Also, it had a powerful symbolism, for it was to be done at the BEGINNING of the Jewish harvest

B. Jesus’ Ministry

1. I also ascribe the fruit of Peter’s sermon not so much to Peter’s rhetoric and powerful delivery… it was not the greatest sermon in church history for those reasons

2. The massive fruit that came really directly belonged to Jesus’ ministry

3. Among those 3000 were many (if not all) who had personally seen Jesus Christ and benefitted from his miracles, signs and wonders

4. Peter directly links them to Jesus and his ministry

Acts 2:22  “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

5. Their rejection of Jesus was a form of spiritual insanity… they had looked right into the radiance of his glory… they had seen his character, his demeanor, his kindness and tenderness and facial expressions, and manner of life… and yet they HATED him and REJECTED him

6. Now, Peter is going to throw that back in their face and seek to crush them with their guilt… not out of vindictiveness but a desire to convict them and save them

7. And it will work:

Acts 2:37  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?”

C. The Church

1. This sermon will be the beginning of the church’s explosive growth

2. As we’ve said, three thousand will be baptized and join the church in Jerusalem

3. They will begin to live the Christian life in the context of the church

D. Peter

1. This is the same one who just fifty days before, the night Jesus was arrested, three times denied Jesus

2. He was laid low at the door to the high priest’s house by a slave girl who asked him a simple question, “You’re not one of this man’s followers, are you?” “I am not!” He answered. By the end of the evening, he was swearing and calling down curses on himself, saying “I DON’T KNOW THE MAN!!”

3. He could have been immediately disqualified from Apostolic service at that moment… not from heaven, for we all sin; but from public ministry as an Apostle, the essence of which is standing up boldly in the name of Jesus Christ

4. But the Lord rescued him that very night by a single glance, and then personally appeared to him in his resurrection glory, and then restored him to Apostolic office, giving his three chances to reaffirm his love for Jesus, and three times to hear Jesus command him to “FEED MY SHEEP”

E. The Outpouring of the Spirit

1. The day was begun with this awesome moment

Acts 2:2-4  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

F. The Crowd’s Mixed Reaction

1. First reaction: astonishment and confusion

Acts 2:12  Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

2. But some mocked:

Acts 2:13  Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

II. An Overview of the Pentecost Sermon and Its Result

A. Defending the Outpouring of the Spirit (2:14-21)

B. Defending the Life and Death of Christ (2:22-23)

C. Proclaiming the Fact of the Resurrection of Christ (2:24)

D. Proving from Scripture the Resurrection of Christ (2:25-31)

E. Proving from Eyewitnesses the Resurrection of Christ (2:32)

F. Connecting the Outpouring of the Spirit to Christ’s Exaltation (2:33-35)

G. Summing Up All Evidence to Prove that Jesus is the Christ (2:36)

H. The People’s Reaction: Cut to the Heart (2:37)

I. Application: Repent and Be Baptized in the Name of Christ (2:38)

J. Promise: Everyone Who Does Will Receive the Holy Spirit (2:38-39)

K. Warning: The Judgment of God (2:40)

L. Response: Three Thousand Genuine Converts (2:41-42)

M. Evidence: A Transformed Life in Christ’s Church (2:43-47)

III. Defending the Outpouring of the Spirit (2:14-21)

A. Peter Dismisses the Mockery

Acts 2:14-15  Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 

1. Peter begins by addressing the joke that they were drunk

2. It’s impossible… it’s way too early in the morning for that

3. The wine they usually drank took a long time to take effect

4. Besides… these people are sober in all other respects… behaving decently, carrying themselves in good order

5. No, there is another explanation

B. “This is That…”: Joel’s Prophecy Fulfilled

Acts 2:16-21 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:  ¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  ¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  ¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  ²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  ²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

1. The KJV: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel

2. One book has that as the title: “This is that”

3. The New Testament church is built on the foundation of fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament

4. God spoke of old through the prophets, words they could not fully understand themselves. Now, the time of that fulfillment has come

5. Joel wrote around 835 BC, nine centuries before this Pentecost… only God can do that!

C. Unpacking the Prophecy: The New Era of the Spirit

1. Joel begins only with the words, “And it will come to pass AFTERWARD” or “after these things”

2. Peter says “In the last days”… this is a new twist

3. Now that Jesus has come, we are in the last days

4. So, while Joel doesn’t see that, Christ has so interpreted it that way

5. The prediction: God says “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (literally “all flesh”)

6. Then he unfolds what he means by “all flesh”

a. Your sons and daughters will prophecy; Your old men will dream dreams; Your young men shall see visions

b. Even on my male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit

7. Only on the servants of the Lord… those who truly worship him and serve him

8. BUT the issue is a universal outpouring of the Spirit on ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

9. In the Old Covenant era, the outpouring of the Spirit was occasional and tended to be focused on leaders of the Jewish nation… mighty warriors who became Judges; prophets (certainly), kings… not everybody

10. BUT we should never imagine the Spirit was not active in the Old Testament era

11. What’s different is the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit in ALL true converts of Jesus Christ

12. As Peter will say

Acts 2:37-39  “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.”

D. Eschatological Signs

Acts 2:19-20  I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  ²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

1. Joel speaks of signs in the heavens tied to the end of the world

2. These have not happened yet, but are specifically predicted in the Book of Revelation

[Sun turning black; moon turning blood red] Revelation 6:12-14  I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,  ¹³ and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  ¹⁴ The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

[Smoke billowing up] Revelation 9:2  When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

3. The Great and Glorious DAY OF THE LORD… Judgment Day and the Second Coming of Christ

E. The Gospel Promise

Acts 2:21  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

Paul will quote this exact same statement in Romans 10

To “call on the name of the Lord” = 1) to know the facts of Jesus’ amazing life, including his miracles, his atoning death, his resurrection… as Peter is about to mention; 2) to believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, that is GOD; 3) to call on him for salvation, to call in faith… “Lord, have mercy on me!”

Save me from sin! Save me from eternal death in hell! Save me now!

IV. Defending the Life and Death of Christ (2:22-23)

Acts 2:22-23  “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

A. Jesus of Nazareth

1. Peter does not shrink back from using this despised name

2. Remember this attitude

John 1:46 Nathanael said to ]Philip], “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Modern secular scholarship prefers the name “Jesus of Nazareth” (historical name) rather than “Jesus Christ” (exalted title as Jewish Messiah)

3. By calling him Jesus of Nazareth, Peter thereby celebrates Jesus’ humble humanity

B. A Man

1. Next, Peter continues by affirming Jesus as a man… “aner”

2. Truly human… but unlike any normal human being that ever lived

C. Accredited by God

1. The word “accredited” means to prove by argumentation or evidence as in a court of law

2. A series of proofs rolled out by Almighty God concerning Jesus, proofs that he was truly the Son of God

3. In John 5:35-40, Jesus gives the categories

First, John the Baptist as the forerunner… clearly testified to Jesus as the Son of God testified to Jesus

Second, the works Jesus did testified that God sent him… the miracles; more on that in a moment

Third, the Father himself testified to Jesus as his Son

Matthew 3:17  a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Fourth, the Scriptures testified to him… Moses wrote about him

John 5:46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

4. Peter declares plainly that this “man, Jesus of Nazareth” was proven by Almighty God, accredited by proofs

D. By Miracles, Wonders, and Signs

1. Peter specifically zeroes in on the miracles

2. Miracles: events that go outside the norm of physical laws

3. Wonders: focuses on the reactions of the crowd… these events produced a sense of awe and amazement on the part of thousands of people

4. Signs: point to Christ as the Son of God and to a future world free from all the curses of sin

5. An astonishing RIVER of miracles… day after day, for years!

Matthew 4:24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

“All” of them? Amazing! The feeding of the 5000 gives a sense of how many this would be

Luke 8:42  As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.

6. These miracles are valid grounds for faith in Christ

John 14:11  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

And most important of all:

John 20:30-31  Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name

Therefore, the written record of Jesus’ miracles, including the most important of them all, his resurrection from the dead, are necessary, sufficient, and essential to our saving faith. Jesus’ miracles are the very ground under the feet of our faith in Christ.

All of it based on God’s accrediting Jesus as his Son

E. God Did Through Him

1. Peter says that God was the ultimate author of the miracles

2. Jesus said the same thing

John 5:17  Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”

3. God did them through Jesus by the power of the Spirit

Acts 10:38  God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

4. Therefore, all of Jesus’ miracles were displays of the Trinity according to the Bible

F. You Yourselves Know

1. Peter drives this sermon home… he is about to convict them of guilt in the death of Jesus, holding them personally responsible

2. Jesus did these things very openly in front of many of these same people, as I’ve already mentioned

John 18:20  “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.

3. The people were guilty for not rising up against Jesus’ enemies

G. This Same Jesus…

1. Peter again driving it home

2. All this evidence, this incredible life, the only perfect man that ever lived, accredited by God as his beloved Son, doing a river of miracles, alleviating suffering in the most selfless way, tenderly loving lepers and outcasts, encouraging repentant prostitutes, boldly exposing spiritual hypocrites, stilling storms and feeding thousands, never failing to heal any sickness he ever faced, instantly driving out demons with a word… this same man was the one so brutally and shamefully treated

H. Handed Over to You

1. Peter will continue to lay this sin at the feet of both the Jewish people and their leaders

2. He has astonishing boldness; utterly fearless

3. Furthermore, this action leads us into the depth of theological insight… divine sovereignty and human responsibility

4. “Delivered over”

a. Satan delivered Jesus over to death

b. Judas delivered Jesus over to death

c. Annas, Caiphas, and the Sanhedrin delivered Jesus over to death

d. Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus over to death

e. But ultimately it was GOD who delivered Jesus over to death

[KJV] Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

I. God’s Set Purpose and Foreknowledge

1. These words are infinitely heavy with theological weight

2. They show that, despite the wickedness of the Jewish nation, of Judas, the Sanhedrin, and Pontius Pilate… everything was done directly according to the set purpose and foreknowledge of Almighty God

3. Before the foundation of the world, God made a plan for the salvation of his chosen people, chosen in Christ before time began; a plan that was worked out in all its details by the sovereign will of God

4. “Set purpose” = determinate will… related to the word for predestination… boundaries set up, lines, limits; and the will or counsel of God, as he is the King of the Ages and of the Universe

5. “Foreknowledge”: many go astray on this point, thinking this is mere prediction… like seeing a ball rolling with sufficient velocity toward the edge of a table, predicting what’s going to happen based on the laws of physics. This is not how the New Testament means “foreknowledge” when it comes to God’s sovereignty; certainly God is able to study his creatures and knows their tendencies better than we can possibly imagine, and could make excellent predictions based on that superior and comprehensive knowledge; BUT God’s foreknowledge is always given (as here) as the CAUSE of events… it is BY The foreknowledge of God that Christ died, and BY the foreknowledge of God that we are predestined for heaven… it’s not a mere passive observation and evaluation based on attributes… it is a settled determination on the part of the King of the Universe that Christ would die for our sins

6. This is an AWESOME concept!

7. Jesus was no victim, trapped in circumstances beyond his control

8. Given the level of power his miracles, signs and wonders showed, that makes no sense.

9. He laid down his life freely in order to fulfill God’s sovereign plan for the salvation of his people in every nation and in every era of human history

J. You and Wicked Men Put Him to Death

1. YET God’s sovereign plan does not in any way exonerate sinners from their heinous sins

2. Each human actor in this drama stands accountable for what they did

3. Peter directly blames the population of Jerusalem for the crucifixion of Jesus

4. Some of them undoubtedly DID cry “Crucify! Crucify!”

5. Others were weak and silent, not stopping the terrible injustice from occurring

6. The “wicked men” included Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, and cowardly and self-serving Pontius Pilate, who declared again and again that he found no fault in Jesus, yet condemned him to the worst possible death known to man

7. God’s sovereignty and human responsibility

[Jesus, speaking of Judas’s betrayal] Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

And Peter and the leaders praying later in Acts:

Acts 4:27-28  Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.  ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

K. Nailing Him to the Cross

1. Peter reminds Jerusalem how awful was Jesus’ death

2. Again, he doesn’t shrink back from the horrors and practicalities and shame of a death like this

3. Why? Because it fulfilled prophecy… Psalm 22 (“They have pierced my hands and my feet”) and Isaiah 53 (“He was pierced for our transgressions”)

4. And “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:23)… Christ became a curse for us, freeing us from the curse of the Law

5. Peter doesn’t develop these things, but he lays out the facts for later development

V. Proclaiming the Fact of the Resurrection of Christ

Acts 2:24  But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

A. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Greatest Event in History

B. The Book of Acts: No Significant Preaching of the Gospel without a Strong Mention of Christ’s Resurrection

C. We Will Develop this more NEXT WEEK

D. Let Me Say a Word About Peter’s Phrase Here

1. God raised him from the dead

a. Jesus of Nazareth was a man “accredited by God” by signs

b. NOW finally and perfectly and eternally ACCREDITED BY GOD by his resurrection from the dead

Romans 1:4  who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is God’s final and perfect proof that Jesus was indeed the Son of God…

Not a fraud, not a deceiver of the people, not a worker of Beelzebub, but truly the holy one of God, the Son of God

It vindicated all his claims and all his doctrines

2. “Freeing him from the agony of death”

a. The agony of death is especially being forsaken by God

Mark 15:34  at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”– which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

b. Death is the penalty the holy God established for sin at the Garden of Eden

c. Christ paid the penalty, willing descending into death’s dark agonies of total rejection by a holy God

d. Death is also a picture of total powerlessness… the human being stripped of all glory and power… unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fight, unable to think, unable to plan… complete powerlessness, as though in a paralyzed state bound up in a straightjacket

3. BUT it was IMPOSSIBLE for death to keep its HOLD on Jesus

a. What an incredible statement by Peter!

b. As powerful as death is over us sinners, death was that weak in the face of the power of Jesus and of God

1 Corinthians 15:54-55  “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

It was utterly impossible for death to hold onto Jesus

He broke its bounds and severed its chains more easily than Samson broke the ropes that bound his wrists…

Judges 15:14  The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.

Jesus did that to death’s chains!! It was IMPOSSIBLE for death to hold onto Christ

And it will also be IMPOSSIBLE for death to hold onto any of Christ’s followers!!!

John 6:39-40  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

John Murray: “It is a moral and spiritual impossibility” for any of Christ’s followers to remain in their graves on that final day!

VI. Lessons and Applications

A. Call on the Name of the Lord!

Acts 2:21  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

To “call on the name of the Lord” = 1) to know the facts of Jesus’ amazing life, including his miracles, his atoning death, his resurrection… as Peter proclaimed; 2) to believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, that is GOD; 3) to call on him for salvation, to call in faith… “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Save me from sin! Save me from eternal death in hell! Save me now!

B. Spread this same gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit

1. Imitate Peter’s approach

2. Focus on the facts of Jesus’ life

3. How he was accredited by God my miracles, signs and wonders

4. Memorize miracle stories… like the walking on water or healing the paralyzed man or feeding the 5000

5. Talk about God’s eternal plan in delivering Jesus up to death for our sins

6. Never fail to focus on the resurrection… the greatest event in human history!

C. Meditate deeply on the mystery of God’s determinate plan and foreknowledge… How God predestined the death of Jesus before the foundation of the world

D. Seek the Power of the Spirit more and more as a witness