The air was electric with anticipation as Peter stood to preach on the day of Pentecost. His sermon was addressed to “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem.” His targeted audience were those of his own nationality, the Jews. There is logical order in Peter’s sermon. In his introduction, he explained that the Holy Spirit had come and that the disciples were not filled with wine as they had been accused but rather were filled with the power of the Spirit. To show how this spiritual phenomenon was a fulfillment of prophecy, Peter quoted from Joel 2:28-32. Although Joel’s prophecy deals also with the end times, Peter saw it as representative of “the day of the Lord” when the gathered believers had been imbued with the power of Almighty God. Peter’s next point was that Jesus Who was crucified was alive. He presented Jesus as a real person, one who had performed miracles and signs, met an untimely death and was raised up in glory and power. To substantiate this, Peter quoted from the writings of King David (which we note from Psalm 16:8-11 and Psalm 110:1). No doubt, Peter wanted to allay the rumors that were circulating that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus from the grave to make people believe He had risen from the dead. He says (and I can imagine with great power, conviction and emphasis): “Tjos Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:32-33). The believers were a living witness to the resurrection. The Holy Spirit poured out on them was living proof that Jesus was alive, because the Spirit could not come upon them until the Lord had returned to the Father in heaven (as promised in John 16:7). The message Peter proclaimed fell with convicting power on the gathered crowd. They were under great angst, and their cry was “Brothers, what shall we do?” They were in a position to rid themselves of the guilt they must have felt when Peter so pointedly reviewed from their own Holy Writ and from an interpretation of events of the immediate past weeks why Jesus had come and what His purpose was.
With the powerful sermon delivered, and the question asked by the hearers, Peter was ready to press the invitation: “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” (v38). Much scholarly debate has been issued over Peter’s words “repent and be baptized,” with the argument “is baptism necessary to salvation?” A slight inflection of meaning for the Greek word eis translated “for” can also mean “on account of” and implies that repentance, belief and faith precede baptism—that baptism is the rite that shows a follower has already repented and believed. For example, look at the roll call of the faithful as given in Hebrews 11. Not any of these had been baptized. Their faith was the basis of their salvation. The results of the Holy Spirit’s work on the day of Pentecost was phenomenal. Three thousand people repented and believed. “Were added” means to the initial 120 believers, bringing the number to 3,120 believers! Peter stood in the gap and spoke convincingly, God’s instrument for opening the understanding of the people. Peter preached: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). The Holy Spirit permeated the sharing of His Word and results came! The “everyone who calls” still holds true! Let us pray for power as at Pentecost!
No comments:
Post a Comment