By: Dale Weckbacher
Acts 2:41
So those who received
his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand
souls.
(ESV)
Imagine standing up in front of a
crowd of people consisting of people who just 50 days ago had the person you
followed for three and one-half years murdered for no reason and declaring your
leader was the promised Messiah. You
might think that you have gone crazy because these people do not want to hear
what you have to say and may even put you on the cross next. However, if you had also witnessed your Lord
alive after His death and just experienced something miraculous from God according
to prophecy and what your Lord taught during your time together, you may be
emboldened to speak. Such was the
situation of Peter as he spoke to the crowd, establishing the Church as a
powerful and transformative force.
1) God
has gotten the people’s attention (Acts
2:5-13) – The crowd gathered wants to know what has happened and rightly
so. They have gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate
the Jewish feast of Pentecost but witness something miraculous from God. God has gotten their attention, opening a
door for Peter to stand before the crowd and make an explanation
2) Peter,
now filled with the Holy Spirit, wastes no time in responding (Acts
2:14) – Peter, one of the 120 who received the Holy Spirit in the upper room
does not hesitate to speak up. This in
itself is a miracle for just a few days earlier at Passover, he had denied
Christ three times (Mark
14:66-72). Something
transformational has occurred in the life of Peter because,
b.
Peter has experienced forgiveness and received
his calling to feed Jesus’ followers with the truth in the Word of God (John
21:15-19).
c.
Peter was obedient to the Lord by remaining in
Jerusalem and waiting for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for ministry (Acts
1:4, 2:1-13).
d.
Forgiven and empowered, Peter wastes no time in
going out and declaring the Gospel to the curious crowd (Acts
2:14-41).
3) Peter
answers the curious crowd with Scripture (Acts
2:15-21; Joel 2:28-32) – Those gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost were
people with a strong devotion to God. As
such, any explanation of a miraculous event would require support from
Scripture. During Peter’s time with
Jesus, he may have heard Jesus expound on the teaching of Joel
2:28-32. After witnessing the events
in the upper room, Peter now understood this prophecy and used it to explain what
the crowd outside had just witnessed.
4) Peter
declares Jesus as Messiah supported by Scripture (Acts
2:22-36; Psalm 16:8-11) – Once again, Peter uses scripture from Psalms
16:8-11 to explain that Jesus is Messiah.
While David appears to be speaking about himself, Peter points out that David’s
tomb is in Jerusalem indicating that he had seen corruption and cannot be the
subject of the psalm. Instead, David knows
God has promised that one of his descendants will be eternally on the throne of
Israel (Psalm
89:4, 132:11). Peter now understood
that the descendant of David that did not see corruption was Jesus, the one they
had crucified who did not remain in the grave but has risen (Acts
2:32).
5) The
Holy Spirit convicts the crowd and 3000 are saved (Acts
2:37-41) – Peter is taking a risk by saying Jesus was the Messiah. Peter who was once timid is now courageous in
declaring the good news of the Gospel, even if it could mean his life. However, rather than anger at the words of Peter,
those hearing his words are cut to the heart and ask Peter what they need to do
to be saved. Peter's response is to
repent and be baptized, establishing the church as the mission of making
disciples by sharing the Gospel, making disciples, and baptizing them begins
with 3000 saved (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).
If you are reading this and have
never made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, I
encourage you to do so now by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
The good news for all that are
reading this is that the Church in the Book of Acts did not sit back on its laurels
at their instant success but continued taking the Gospel message to their world. So effective was the Church in the Book of
Acts that they were accused of turning their world upside down (Acts
17:6). The events of 2020 have
turned the world upside down with some telling us this is the new normal. Once again, the Church is needed, not to turn
the world upside down for the events of 2020 have already accomplished this. Instead the Church has an opportunity to
right a topsy-turvy world with the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. The challenge facing the Church
today is does the Church, meaning the people, not the building, have the
courage to stand up and declare the Gospel message like Peter in front of a
potentially hostile crowd. To meet this
challenge the Church must repent, establish a closer relationship with Jesus
Christ, be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and courageously go out into the world
as lights living out and declaring the Gospel message. The question is, are we as a Church up to the
challenge.
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