What Does This Mean?

Acts chapter 2, today we'll begin reading at verse 14 and read through verse 41.! Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.

! Fellow Jews and all of you who are in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say.

These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

I will show wonders in the heaven 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.

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.

And as you yourselves know, 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.

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

David said about him, I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will live in hope because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.

But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.

Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses to the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do?

Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are afar off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.

With many other words, he warned them and pleaded with them, Save yourselves from this corrupt generations. Those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day.

What does this mean? That was the burning question on our lips as we Jews from all nations under the world gathered together at the Feast of Pentecost.

For while we were there early in the morning on the first day of the week, something strange, obviously supernatural, quite amazing, happened. There was this group of around 120 followers of Jesus of Nazareth, the very one that we had crucified seven weeks earlier in this same city.

And each one of these 120 followers of Jesus was declaring the mighty works of God, what God had accomplished. But here's the amazing thing.

They were not speaking in their own Aramaic language, which we would have understood just fine being Jews ourselves, but rather they spoke in all the native languages of the places we'd come from having been scattered over all the earth.

Parthians, Medes, Elamites from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans, and Arabs.

We all heard them declaring the wonders of God in our own languages, even our own dialects. These simple, common Galileans, all speaking the languages of the world.

You talk about growing and drawing a crowd. It grew into the thousands as they crowded around to observe this phenomenon that was happening.

And the one thing that we kept asking each other was this, what does this mean? We didn't have a clue. We'd never experienced anything like this before.

Some mockers said, well, they're just drunk, but we knew better for we had understood that what they were saying was not the slurred speech of drunkards, but our own languages clearly, distinctly spoken.

Well, that brings us up to where we left off last week as we're studying our way through the book of Acts, chapter 2, and we begin at verse 14.

Well, the 120 knew what this meant, because the Lord Jesus had prepared the apostles and them for it. The Lord Jesus had told his apostles that they would be clothed with power from on high.

He had told them that he was going to baptize them with the Holy Spirit in just a few days. And that's what happened. The enthroned Christ poured out his Holy Spirit upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, with what appeared to be tongues of fire that rested on the heads of each one of them.

And then this supernatural ability to suddenly be able to speak the mighty works of God in languages that they were not familiar with. And it was this last sign that the crowd witnessed and that begged for an explanation.

So now Peter stands up along with the other 11 apostles. And he calls on the masses gathered to listen carefully as he explains what this means.

It's noteworthy that supernatural signs are not always self-explanatory. They need explaining. How kind of God to give the explanation to those who ask, to those who want it.

Even the mighty acts of God recorded in the Gospels are further explained in the epistles. Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53, do you understand what you're reading?

And he says, how can I unless someone explains it to me? That is the high priority of preaching, to explain the meaning of the word of God.

And that's why God gives us preachers and preaching. That's why he sends us into the world. He wants the world to understand his word. He wants hearers to get it.

So listen carefully. Well, if Peter first dismisses the charge that they're drunk by saying it's only nine in the morning and everyone knows that those who are drunk are drunk in the night, that's a nighttime activity.

No, what you're witnessing is not explained by too much wine, but it's only explained by what the Old Testament prophet Joel had said would happen.

And he quotes from Joel's prophecy, chapter 2. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people and they will prophesy. That's what's going on here, Jews, today.

Joel's prophecy is being fulfilled. Speaking in different languages and tongues is not the effect of being drunk with wine.

It is the effect of being filled with the spirit. And it is exactly what God said would happen 450 years earlier through his prophet Joel. Notice Peter goes to the written word of God to explain the miraculous sign.

He points his fellow Jews to their own scriptures to see that this too was prophesied of by your prophets long ago. well Peter and the other apostles have been slow to believe themselves haven't they?

They themselves have been slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken. But then the risen Lord Jesus had opened their minds so that they could understand the scriptures and could understand many of those Old Testament passages that were speaking about himself, about the Christ.

And this is one of the features of the book of Acts that the apostles explain the life of Christ, the things that he's done, the mighty works of God in Christ, but they explain it from the Old Testament scriptures.

We saw it in chapter one when explaining that one of the disciples would need to be replaced for defecting. It's to the Psalms that he goes. And here in chapter two we see him quoting from Joel and Psalms and we'll see that all the way through the book of Acts.

Peter and the apostles now have been made to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of these Old Testament passages. Well notice the things that Joel had prophesied about concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

First of all the timing of this event. In the last days, in the last days. Now that's a phrase that the prophets used to speak about the days of Messiah.

Messiah is coming. When is he coming? In the last days. After human history has come to this period of Messiah's coming. And that whole period from his first coming to his second coming is called the last days.

Somewhere during that period God will pour out his spirit. That's the prophecy. The timing of it. In the last days. The days of Messiah. Second, notice the objects of this event.

Upon whom would the Holy Spirit be poured out? Who would receive this gift of the spirit in order to prophesy? Well he says I will pour out my spirit on all people.

Now think about those that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon in the Old Testament in order to prophesy. There's Moses and there's David and Samuel and Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, the prophets.

But they were a select few within Israel and usually men, weren't they? But here's something different. Here's something that stands out.

one of the distinctive features of this outpouring of the spirit in the last days will be that it's not limited to a privileged few. It is an indiscriminate pouring out of the spirit upon all the Lord's people, your sons and daughters, your young men and old men, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy.

F.F. Bruce comments that these words of Joel may have heart back to Moses' wish when he said in Numbers 11 29, would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them.

Well, that's precisely what happened on the day of Pentecost. It says of this gathered group of God's people, the 120. And remember, the women were part of them, chapter 1 and verse 14.

And tongues and fire came to rest on each of them and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and all of them began to speak the wonders of God in different languages.

All, all, each, without discrimination. That's why I pointed out last week for you that in verse 7 and verse 15. It's very unhelpful for the NIV to insert the word men.

It's not there in the original. It is a masculine word, but it can refer to a group without referring to men only. Because the very point that is being made by quoting this passage is that it wasn't just men who prophesied in tongues in different languages.

It was men and women, sons and daughters, young and old. that was to be an important identification marker of this event, of God pouring out his spirit in the last days upon whom, upon all people, all his people, male, female, young, old, all would receive the spirit and prophesy.

That's the third thing you need to see about this outpouring of the spirit. What was the effect of it? So the spirit was poured out on these people. What was the effect, the result? Well, they prophesied.

They prophesied. Twice it tells us that. I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy. Verses 17 and 18.

It goes on to speak of seeing visions and dreaming dreams and those were just the ways that God revealed his word to his prophets who then prophesied.

God said in Numbers 12 and verse 6, when a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions and I speak to him in dreams.

So the prophecy that their young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams, it's just another way of saying that God is going to reveal his words to them and they will prophesy.

And that's what they did on the day of Pentecost. The word prophecy, as you know, when we studied the prophet, our Lord Jesus Christ, means in the first place just to speak forth the word of God.

A prophet listens and receives God's word and then he speaks it. It doesn't always have to do with the future. Many, most of the words of the prophets had nothing to do with the future, had everything to do with the present circumstances and sins that they were calling God's people to repent of.

That's what prophecy is. It's to speak the word of God. Sometimes it has to do with foretelling. Most often it has to do with forth telling. And that's what they were doing on the day of Pentecost.

They were telling forth the wonders of God in words that God's spirit enabled them to speak even supernaturally in other languages.

You see revelation is always prophecy is always a supernatural revelation. and that's what they were doing that day at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was poured out on all 120 and they all began to speak forth the wonders of God in languages that the spirit of God supernaturally revealed to them.

So Peter identifies the events of Pentecost as fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. This has happened, you see. in the last days I will pour out my spirit on all people and they will prophesy.

Now, it had been 400 years of silence after the cannon closed. We have Malachi as our last prophet there.

And then there was 400 years of silence. No prophecy. No word from God. And then the silence was broken by a voice in the wilderness preparing the way for the Lord.

And then the prophet himself, Jesus, came and he declared the word of God. But the Jewish nation had rejected both. The religious leaders of the Jews had rejected John the Baptist and rejected Jesus of Nazareth.

And now suddenly, 50 days after Jesus' death and resurrection, here's a group around 120 of his followers his followers and they are prophesying.

They are declaring the wonders of God's word supernaturally. No wonder a crowd was gathering.

It was just what Joel told us would happen. And Peter goes on quoting from Joel's prophecy, not at all claiming that all of this had happened or had been fulfilled that day.

Some of it had, but as the Old Testament prophets often did, they squashed everything in the last days. And when in reality, what comes between some of the things mentioned and other things that are mentioned together in this passage of Joel, there's been at least 2,000 years between.

But they're pushed together from the Old Testament prophetic voice. and so he's quoting from Joel's prophecy about devastating wonders and signs in the heavens and on the earth that would also happen during this period of the last days between Christ's first coming and last and the second coming.

Blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun turned to darkness. The moon turned to blood. Before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

Now be careful. There's two time indicators here. First, there's the last days, the whole period between Christ's first coming and second coming. And now he's speaking about the last day, the last of the last days.

And he calls it the great and glorious day of the Lord. These are things that are to happen before then, during this period of the last days, before the great and glorious day when Jesus returns.

And indeed, the Lord talks about these same signs in Luke 21. Revelation 6 talks about these signs of the sun darkening, the moon turning to blood, as accompanying just before the return of our Lord Jesus.

And that when these signs happen, men will call on the rocks and the hills to fall upon them and to hide them from him who sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

God's judgments are to be poured out in devastating destruction upon this sinful world. And it's in the context of that destruction that is coming that we have this amazing promise, the last verse quoted by Joel.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. some will call for the rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, but it will be to all to no avail.

But for all who had called upon the name of the Lord, there will be salvation. There will be salvation. Matthew Henry says it's the praying remnant that shall be the saved remnant in that day.

Will be those who had called upon the Lord, because anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved. But if you wait till that day, it will be too late to call upon the Lord. Now is the day of grace. Matthew Henry goes on to say it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish that they might have been saved on such easy terms.

You don't have to earn your salvation. You don't have to obey the Ten Commandments or the golden rule in order to try to save yourself. You need to call on the name of the Lord. You need to say, I can't save myself.

Lord Jesus, you need to save me. Save me. And whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so that ends the prophecy of Joel and, but the big question is who is the Lord that he's talking about?

Who is this Lord that if you call on him, you will be saved? Well, now, most of the Jews would thought, well, that's the God of, that's God. But Peter is going to make that the point of the rest of his sermon.

Who is this Lord that you must call on in order to be saved? And he's going to go on to claim that it's none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the very one they had crucified seven weeks earlier.

He's the Lord that Joel talked about, that if you call on him, you will be saved. So you see what Peter is doing as he preaches?

He's explained that what happened the morning, this morning, what you've just seen and heard here, here, is the fulfillment of what Joel said would happen in the last days.

So that means if it has happened, we are in the last days, we are in the days of Messiah, he has come. But the Jews had said, no, we're still waiting for our Messiah.

He has not come, we're not yet in the last days. As a nation, they had rejected Jesus of Nazareth as a false Messiah, as no Messiah, and had crucified him, and Peter is saying, think again.

Reconsider this Jesus of Nazareth. Because if what happened here this morning is the fulfilling of Joel's prophecy, then we are in the last days, and that means Messiah has already come, and Messiah's name is Jesus of Nazareth.

amazing things to be saying in the very place where Jesus was crucified seven weeks earlier. He's out to convince them that Jesus is the Lord in Christ, and therefore salvation is found in no one else but him.

So Peter calls for their attention once again. Listen up, listen, listen, this is critical to your salvation. in light of the wrath of God that is coming, and he gives three convincing proofs to support his claim that Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and Christ, Lord and Messiah.

That's what the word Christ means. It's the Greek of the Hebrew Messiah, the anointed one. It's going to prove that Jesus is Lord and Christ. Evidence number one is Jesus' miracles, wonders, and signs.

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.

Oh, what those last words must have stirred up in them. They couldn't deny it. Some of them had themselves been sick and had been healed by Jesus. Nearly all of them knew somebody that had been healed by Jesus, perhaps, having come to the feast in Jerusalem, having lived there, they had seen and knew people who were saved by these miraculous signs that God did through Jesus.

They were signs. All of his miracles were signs. They were saying something. They were pointing to something. It was God's stamp of accreditation. This is the one I have sent from heaven.

This is my anointed one and my supernatural works prove it. Jesus has said the very work which the father has given me to finish, which I am doing testifies that the father has sent me.

So here's Jesus. He's been accredited by God going about doing all kinds of good things, working miracles, wonders, healings, casting out demons.

but you with the help of wicked men nailed him to a cross. But God raised him from the dead.

What you did, what God did. And that brings us to the second evidence that Jesus is Lord and Messiah. Jesus' resurrection from the dead. This too was just seven weeks earlier.

You voted that he was worthy of death as you cried, crucify him, and you nailed him to the cross. But God overturned your judgment. And he showed his favor for his Messiah by raising him from the dead.

You said he's no Messiah. God raised him from the dead and says he is. Because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Why impossible?

Well, how could God's chosen Messiah came stay dead when God had designed for him that he would reign forever and ever? No, it was impossible to keep God's Messiah in the grave.

And Peter again cites their own Old Testament scriptures as supporting evidence. This time it's in David's Psalm 16. A thousand years earlier.

Brethren, listen to what our father David said. A thousand years ago. We're in the face of death. The text says, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.

My body also will live in hope because you will not abandon me to the grave nor will you let your holy one see decay. You've made known to me the paths of life. You'll fill me with joy in your presence.

And Peter says it should be very obvious to all that David was not speaking about himself in those words because David died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

He could have taken them by the hand and gone to the south part of Jerusalem and showed him there is David's tomb. And if you dig down you will find David's body moldering in the grave.

So when he talked about you will not let your holy one see decay there's no way he was talking about himself. His body has seen decay. Well then if not about himself of whom was David speaking?

Well it was that messianic king from David's line for God had promised him on oath to place one of his descendants on his throne and being a prophet and seeing what was ahead he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.

That's what Psalm 16 was all about. That Messiah's body would not see decay. That God the father would not abandon his Messiah to the grave nor let his body see decay.

You see the resurrection too was part of God's set plan and purpose for Messiah even as his death was. And so Peter reveals just who this Messiah king is that was raised.

Verse 32 God has raised this Jesus. This Jesus. He keeps going back. This Jesus of Nazareth. The one you killed. God has raised him. And David talked about it a thousand years earlier.

It's all according to the scriptures. Your own scriptures. Psalm 16. God has raised this Jesus to life. And we we are all witnesses of the fact.

We've seen the risen Lord. Dear brothers and sisters your faith does not rest on a myth. It rests upon eyewitnesses.

Facts of history. Provable facts. That Jesus Christ did not suffer decay. His body did not suffer decay.

But he was raised from the dead. This Jesus is the Messiah. It's David's greater son. As proven by his resurrection from the dead. According to the scriptures.

So he was accredited by his miracles and signs and wonders. He was proven to be Lord in Christ by his resurrection. But that was 50 days ago. Where is he now?

Verse 33. Exalted to the right hand of God he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see in here. This is the third evidence.

Jesus exaltation and outpouring of his Holy Spirit upon his church. Peter's explaining the events. What happened? What just happened this morning?

Folks here at Pentecost in Jerusalem. What does this mean? Just this. That the Jesus whom you crucified is alive and well and that he is risen and God has ascended has brought him up and exalted him to his own right hand.

God has enthroned him as king of the universe as Lord the sovereign over all and he as Lord and king has now received the promised Holy Spirit from his father that was arranged in eternity past.

Son you go and die for them and I will give you the spirit to give to them and Jesus returns to heaven and he says father I have completed the work you've given me to do now give me the Holy Spirit as you promised and the father gives the Holy Spirit to Jesus the king and he pours him out upon his believing people the new Israel of God those who trust in the Lord Jesus and call on him as their savior.

This is what you saw and heard today Peter says as these 120 followers of Jesus are speaking in other languages it is the present activity of the enthroned king Jesus God has enthroned him as his messianic king in heaven and today's events prove it.

Now you Jews said we will not have this man to rule over us. He was made king however. God made him king. You said we have no king but Caesar but God said to him sit here at my right hand and reign until all of your enemies are made a footstool for your feet.

And it's this exaltation to God's right hand that too was spoken of in the scriptures of the Old Testament. You see Peter he's had his eyes open to the scriptures and so whereas before he could not see Christ in the Old Testament as clearly now it's like Christ is jumping off the pages of scripture and he said this is what David spoke about back in Psalm 110 and he quotes Psalm 110 10 and he says David could not be speaking about himself here just like he wasn't in Psalm 16.

Why couldn't he be speaking about himself? Well verse 34 because David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

If that was not spoken to David to sit and rule in heaven because David had not ascended but he's still in the grave then to whom was that spoken?

Well it was spoken to David's Lord. David's Lord Jesus Christ the greater son of David who was both his son and his Lord.

And that's the third evidence that Jesus is God's Messiah King. God has exalted him as King given him the spirit which he has just now poured out on his people.

So all the evidence is in and there's only one conclusion and it's clear Peter says in verse 36 therefore the basis of all the evidence that you've seen let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

The scriptures Jesus miracles Jesus resurrection from the dead Jesus exaltation to the right hand of God and outpouring of the Holy Spirit it all proves with absolute certainty you can be assured of this this is true that God has made this Jesus yes this very same one you crucified both Lord and Messiah Christ God's God's doing it cannot be vetoed Jesus is the reigning Lord he is God's anointed Christ so Peter has just proven that Jesus of Nazareth is this exalted Lord and whores of whores we have crucified him they had asked what does this mean and Peter had answered it means you're in serious trouble this king you crucified has been raised seated at God's right hand he's coming in wrath and judgment and so we come to the results of

Peter's preaching we've heard a sermon it stands as a model for what we'll see throughout the book of Acts many of the same points will be made over and over as he preaches and others preach the Holy Spirit has come to convince the world of guilt for not believing on Jesus John 16 says and so as Peter preaches clothed with power from on high his words hit their mark like a sword that's penetrating flesh they were pierced in the heart the very center of their being the very center of their thoughts and affections and their wills they saw it his message could not be denied it came with authority of heaven itself oh no we're in trouble and when the Holy Spirit works in saving power the question changes from what does this mean to what shall we do you see that when the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to

Peter and the other apostles brothers what shall we do what does this mean that's something of an intellectual question oh but now that they see what it means the question is changed to what shall we do we are desperate we are in despair what shall we do about this terrible problem we've been waiting for hundreds of years as a people for God to send his Messiah his savior to save us from Satan's power and our sin and eternal damnation and we killed him men and brothers what shall we do and that's what happens whenever God comes and saves a soul things that before oh okay I've heard that doesn't doesn't it's like water off a duck's back but when the spirit comes and jabs the heart everything is back burner behind this one issue I must be right with God what shall we do and blessed be

God there's an answer Peter doesn't just turn around say that's it let's go home no he says there's a command and there's a promise and it belongs to every one of you hear it hear it what's commanded two things one inward one outward number one repent repent that means you're going this way stop and turn around realize the way you're going is all wrong you've been rejecting Jesus as a false messiah you've been clinging to your own self righteousness in your way you don't want him to be your king you're going the wrong way stop it's destruction it's the wrath of the land turn turn around renounce that way altogether I don't know you anymore that way is history it is no more and have a change of heart and mind toward this Jesus oh I said he's not worthy of my trust there is no one else to trust in

I said he's not worthy of my life there is no one else that deserves to have me serve him you change your mind about Jesus about yourself about your life about your sin you repent you turn to him whereas you had been running from him some of you have been just as guilty we will not have this man to rule over us I will go my way not his way I know he says thou shalt not I'm going this way I know he says you shall but I'm going this way you need to repent stop renounce that way renounce those thoughts of Christ and come to him turn there's another command repent and be baptized there's the second part of the command be baptized in the name of Jesus in the name of

Jesus is not some baptismal formula it means in the name of Jesus in the authority of Jesus as a disciple of Jesus and this too is not an option but it's stated as a command do you know that the new testament knows nothing of believers that are not baptized absolutely nothing it's repent and be baptized because baptism is the outward sign whereby you show that inwardly God has granted me the gift of repentance and I have turned from my way in my way to Jesus Christ so I'm going to be!

baptized in Jesus name as a follower of Jesus and let the world know that he's my savior and I'm his disciple and so you take the outward sign of the inward work of repentance upon yourself and the command is accompanied by an amazing promise it too is a two fold promise repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins how's that for a promise all your sins forgiven and when a debt was forgiven in those days it was blotted out so there was the bill of sale and you owed so much and if the debt is paid it's blotted out it's gone paid in full no more debt every one of you had a debt to God you defended him the debt was eternal damnation the penalty and that's where you were headed but if you will repent the debt will be blotted out you got a delete button on your computer so does

God he will delete your sin forever he will cast it behind his back he will never again remember it against you he will bury it in the depths of the deepest sea though your sins!

be as scarlet they shall be as white as no that's the promise forgiveness for all your sins think who he was talking to people with the blood of Jesus on their hands they murdered him and he says but if you repent you'll be forgiven of murdering the son of God you see the graciousness of our Lord Jesus in this promise of forgiveness and as if that weren't enough there's more to the promise and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit again the result of repenting this gift of the Holy Spirit himself given to live in you what a gift you you you're going to have God living in you for the rest of your life and this promise of the Spirit is not just for us it's not just for us 12 and us 120 don't don't think that just because we have been filled with the Spirit we've received the Spirit today on the day of

Pentecost don't think that this is something limited to us no it's not just for us it's for you and your children and it's not just for us Jews here in Jerusalem it's for those who are far off you mean like all the way over there in Bremen Indiana yeah Gentiles far off far from God this promise is for them as well that if they will repent they too will have their sins forgiven and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit indeed it's for all whom the Lord our God shall call all those that he savingly brings to Jesus Christ their sins are forgiven they receive the Holy Spirit well these verses of Peter's sermon are just a summary he tells us in verse 40

Luke tells us that with many other words Peter warned them you see their danger was real you can say that Jesus is no Messiah you can say I don't want to have this king ruling!

over me but the reality is he's king and one day you're going to have to deal with that reality you can push it out of your mind you can ignore it you can neglect it all your life but one day you're going to have to face the reality the fact is he's king and you're in trouble without him so he warned!

them he warned! them and then he pleaded with them he pleaded with them that they save themselves from this corrupt generation was said of Robert Murray McShane that he was dying to have you converted that was Peter that's the Peter who had learned that from his Lord Jesus who did die to have you converted and he said save yourself brethren this whole generation is corrupt the nation as a whole has rejected Jesus they are the enemies of Christ they're under God's wrath now save yourself from this generation distance yourself from them how do we do that we repent we trust in this savior we embrace him we say he is messiah he is lord and he's my lord and savior so save yourself from this wicked generation by repenting do you know 3000 of them did that very thing we never read of

Jesus having 3000 saved as he preached but he had told his apostles that when I go back to heaven and sit on my throne you're going to see things and do things greater than what I have done and here's the first of them Peter preaches and 3000 blinded bigoted Christ hating Jews come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and are baptized as a sign of their repentance and added to the church it's the Lord who added them to the church what a triumph of the exalted Lord Jesus to conquer 3000 of his enemies isn't he glorious how he uses his power he could just crush us all damn us all but he uses his power to cleanse from sin we sang about the blood of Jesus never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more here's 3000 of them the power of the blood of Jesus forgiven of their sins given the

Holy Spirit that Jesus that blood bought gift of the Lord Jesus what a triumph to make his enemies his friends friends forever to be saved by his blood and indwelt by his spirit have you repented trusted in Jesus to save you this is that Lord that you must call on in order to be saved have you been baptized identifying yourself as a follower of this Jesus you see it's not enough to know what to do the question is what shall we do and the answer is repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of sins and you too will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit let's pray thank you Lord for this sermon preached on the day of

Pentecost thank you for your attestation to its truthfulness and verifying it by those miracles from heaven thank you that Peter lifted up Jesus and proved him to be who he claimed to be the Messiah the Lord the King the only Savior and thank you Holy Spirit for taking that truth and shoving it past the ear gate right into the heart where it penetrated and we ask you to do the same for hearers of the gospel all around the world today those who are far off those who are near wherever they are give them to see their need and give them to see how only Jesus can meet their need for a Savior and that nothing would be able to push it out of their minds as for what is important we worship you Lord Jesus we thank you for the gift of your spirit we thank you for forgiving all of our sins and we do rejoice to see that you are reigning and you are building your church one sinner at a time we give you praise in Jesus name amen

Thank you.