[0:00] But here we have Peter, the Apostle Peter. Now, if you remember Peter from the Gospels, you'll remember that at the end of the Gospels, he betrays Christ and denies Him three times.
[0:16] But here we have Peter taking his stand with the eleven. And we have Peter raising his voice and declaring.
[0:27] Right. Now, previously in the Gospels, the only thing that Peter could raise his voice about was to raise a curse against those who asked him if he knew Christ.
[0:41] And the only thing that he could declare before was that he did not know Christ. But here we have Peter raising his voice and declaring the Gospel of the Christ that he had previously rejected.
[0:59] How could Peter do this? What changed in Peter's life? How did Peter have the power to speak about Christ?
[1:11] The Holy Spirit came into the life of Peter. And that made all the difference. It was neither men nor miracles that built the church.
[1:27] But it was the Spirit of Christ dwelling in men to allow them to proclaim the Gospel and to go to the nations.
[1:39] And that is what built the church. And Peter, in verse 15, he says that these men are not drunk as you suppose.
[1:57] During Pentecost, there was a gathering of Jews who were harassing the apostles and telling them, you people are drunk. You are intoxicated.
[2:09] There is nothing holy happening here. But Peter says, we are not drunk. It is early in the morning.
[2:22] It is the third hour. The Spirit of God is moving among us. Now in verse 16, Peter is going to continue.
[2:39] And he is going to speak about the prophet Joel. And he is going to recite what Joel spoke about. Now this prophecy begins, and it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind.
[3:03] And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And your young men shall see visions. And your old men shall dream dreams.
[3:17] Even on my male slaves and female slaves, I will in those days pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
[3:28] Now we are not going to spend too much time in this prophecy. But the point of the prophecy that you need to understand is not the prophecies and the visions and the dreams.
[3:48] Those things are not the miracles of Pentecost. And so many people today believe that those are the miracles. And they miss the person of the Holy Spirit. And they miss the miracle, the true miracle of Pentecost.
[4:03] Which was the Holy Spirit coming down and dwelling in men. Not merely upon men, but dwelling in them.
[4:14] Not merely tabernacling in men, but templing in them. And in these first two verses of this prophecy, it says, in the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind.
[4:34] And look who is mentioned in that prophecy. Sons, daughters, young and old men, and male and female slaves.
[4:46] In the last days, which began with the coming of Christ and His life and His ministry and His death and His resurrection and then His ascension.
[5:00] In those last days, the Holy Spirit would be poured out. Now, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was sprinkled upon a few individuals, prophets, priests, and kings.
[5:16] But now, with the coming of Christ, and now with the Holy Spirit, we have a broadening of the ministry and work of the Spirit.
[5:29] And we have a strengthening of the power of the Spirit. The great miracle is not the prophecies and the visions and the dreams.
[5:42] The great miracle is that the Holy Spirit has come down. He has been given and He is not just in man, or He is not just on man, but He is in man.
[5:55] And so that makes a man like Peter, a man who is timid and tame, this makes a man like Peter preach boldly and bravely.
[6:10] This allows Christ and Him crucified to be exalted by Peter. So what are the conditions of the Holy Spirit?
[6:23] What are the conditions for a man to have the Holy Spirit poured out upon his life? Does one have to be a prophet or a priest or a king?
[6:35] No. God says that He has poured out His Spirit, the Spirit of His great salvation, and that one does not have to be an Israelite.
[6:47] One does not have to be ethnically Jewish. One does not have to be one of the great leaders of Israel. Because His grace is not bound up by a tribe.
[6:59] It is not bound by tongue, or by sex, or by age. It is poured out liberally in fullness without measure upon whomever calls upon the name of the Lord as we shall see in verse 21.
[7:15] And we continue. And as we continue into verses 19 to 21, we will see that this prophecy becomes all the more strange.
[7:29] Verse 19. I will put wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
[7:41] The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. In verse 21.
[7:55] And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And this is the second miracle. The miracle of whoever calls.
[8:11] Now, what are we supposed to make of this prophecy? Well, like the first part of Joel's prophecy, we must not major on minors, but we must keep the main thing the main thing.
[8:28] So we are to know this out of the second part of the prophecy. That just as Christ went up to heaven, He will come down from heaven again.
[8:42] So when the prophecy talks about these signs on the earth, the blood and the fire and the vapor of smoke, it's talking about the prophecies and revelation of Christ's second coming.
[8:54] And we're not going to dwell in that or get into that too deeply. That is in Revelation chapters 8 and 9, if you'd like to look there later. That we are to prepare for the coming of Christ again.
[9:15] And we are to prepare for His kingship and His kingdom that He will come and establish on the earth. that the most important thing is that in these last days, and we have been in these last days for 2,000 years, that in these last days, us are in the first coming of Christ.
[9:42] And now Peter is going to tell the people before him of the grace and truth which took on flesh and the person of Christ.
[9:55] You see, the Jews missed the incarnation of Christ. They had the truth walking among them and they were blind to it and they preferred lies.
[10:14] As we move on to our text, in verse 23, men of Israel, in verse 22 rather, men of Israel, listen to these words, Jesus, the Nazarene.
[10:32] They only recognized Jesus as the Nazarene. They did not recognize Him for who He truly was.
[10:44] The Jews said, we know His mother Mary and His father Joseph. We know His brothers and His sisters. We have known Him our entire life.
[10:57] And we assure you that this is just plain, ordinary Jesus of Nazareth. The Jews said, He is not our Messiah.
[11:12] He has not come to restore the throne of David. He is not the one that we expected. Nor is He the one we are looking for. He is not a king, let alone our king.
[11:26] He is Jesus. Plain, ordinary Jesus. But Peter rebukes them. And he says, no, no, no.
[11:40] This Jesus, this Jesus who you call Jesus of Nazareth is a man attested to you by God.
[11:51] Attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst. Just as you yourselves know.
[12:03] You know who the Christ is. Jesus. You know this Jesus is not just Jesus, but He is the Messiah.
[12:17] He is your Messiah. This man delivered over by the predetermined and foreknowledge of God. You nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and you put Him to death.
[12:40] But God, but God raised Him up again putting an end to the agony of death since it is impossible for Him to be held in its power.
[12:59] The Jews expected the end of Jesus when they crucified Him. They expected along with Rome, along with Herod, and along with everyone else to be done with Jesus.
[13:21] They did not expect Him to rise from the dead. But Peter says God raised Him up again.
[13:31] Peter is saying Jesus is the Nazarene, but Jesus is Christ.
[13:43] Jesus is Lord of Lord. Jesus is King of Kings. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the God Man. He is Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament.
[13:57] He is the God of your fathers, O Israel. He is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and your most beloved King David.
[14:10] He is their God. This Jesus, this very Jesus whose blood you have spilt is not dead.
[14:24] He is not rotting in a tomb. You have not defeated Him. He is alive. He is alive.
[14:35] Praise God. Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Then, Peter takes to his defense King David, that most beloved king of Israel.
[14:50] Look at verse 25. For David says of him, I saw the Lord continually before me, because he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
[15:04] Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will live in hope, because you will not forsake my soul to Hades, nor give your holy one to see corruption.
[15:21] You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness in your presence. Why was David's heart glad?
[15:37] Why did David's tongue give overwhelming praise? Why could David's flesh live in hope? Because David knew that the one who was to come after him, the one who was the Christ would not remain in the grave.
[15:58] The holy one would not even be in the tomb long enough for his body to rot. His body would not be corrupted by death, but it would be raised up again on the third day.
[16:12] So David, in the psalm that he is referencing, psalm 16, he could not be speaking of himself.
[16:25] David could not be calling himself the holy one. David knew that he would die. David was a sinner. David committed adultery and murder.
[16:38] David knew that he would die. David knew that he deserved to die. So he isn't speaking about himself, that he is prophesying of the Christ to come, the Messiah that would be born from the fruit of his loins would come.
[16:56] And that is where David's hope is in. David's hope is not in David. David's hope is in the Lord of David. Verse 29.
[17:12] Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.
[17:34] And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on his throne he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ that he was neither forsaken to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption this Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses who raised Jesus from the dead God who delivered Jesus into the hands of those that would kill him God who gave Jesus authority to speak and act in the name of the father God who planned the redemption of his people through the death of his son
[18:41] God God planned all of this and God raised up Christ at the end of verse 32 he says to which we are all witnesses this all witnesses he's speaking about is not just the apostles but he's speaking of those who are before him you also have seen Christ ascended into heaven and you know that he is God so we see Peter using Joel and David and even these people's own experience of Christ to prove that Christ was and is God and now and now
[19:43] Peter is going to go even further because he's going to tell them not only is Christ alive not only has Christ been raised from the dead not only has Christ ascended into heaven but he has also been exalted verse 33 therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God how do we know he was exalted how do you know he is at the right hand of God Peter goes on to say because having received from the father the promise of the holy spirit Jesus received the promise of the holy spirit directly from the father and the father fulfilled that promise that he has poured out and this is what you have seen and heard you have experienced this for yourself he is telling the men of
[21:05] Israel before him this is not something that is foreign to them this is not something that they have only heard about but they have both seen and heard the living Christ so the spirits moving at Pentecost was not a secret this was in fact a very public event and these men of Israel noticed it these men of Israel noticed it and lied about it in the wickedness of their heart trying to suppress it trying to blame it on drunkenness and the work of demons and the devil these men were left with that excuse because Peter says in verse 34 quoting again David from the
[22:05] Psalms for David did not ascend into the heavens that he himself says the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool at your feet David's Lord once again was not David David's Lord wasn't a man but he was the God man God himself the Messiah David didn't have authority to be at the right hand of God but David's Lord had authority to be at the right hand David didn't have the ability to put all his enemies under a footstool David was always pleading to God as in
[23:07] Psalm 59 deliver me from my enemies oh God David was always pleading David was always anxious over the actions of his enemies toward him he was running about in the wilderness with King Saul chasing after him Jesus doesn't run from his enemies David did David's Lord therefore will reign with all power because he is one mightier than David verse 36 therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you have crucified
[24:08] Peter is telling the Jews it may have been a Roman governor's verdict and it may have been a Roman scourge and it may have been a Roman cross and Roman nails that physically crucified Jesus but it was Jewish rejection and hatred of their Messiah that put the first nail in Christ's hand before any Roman ever did Pilate Pontius Pilate was willing to let him live Pilate said I can find no wrong in this man why would you have me put him to death but the Jews cried out crucify crucify crucify you Peter is telling them cried out for his blood more than anyone you wanted him dead more than anyone you are guilty you are the guilty ones oh
[25:23] Israel you have killed Jesus your Messiah you tried him you drug him before Pilate you would not allow him to live and you manipulated Roman law and even your own law just so that you could see him hang on a tree you have crucified the Lord of glory your savior for there was never a people there was never a people more deserving of the judgment of God than these people that were before Peter right now but praise be to God that if ever a sinner completely rejected as these people of Israel did these people who were Christ rejecting Christ mocking and
[26:24] Christ hating praise God that in his great mercy through the Holy Spirit Peter opened his mouth and spoke truth and life to them truth and life Peter was speaking life into dry dead bones and we are going to see next week the miraculous work of God in that but what a mercy for these people and just as the prophet Joel pleaded with the people pleading well like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth Peter likewise pleads with the Jews weep weep weep oh
[27:26] Israel for one who has no tears weep who cannot be consoled because in the weeping and in the wailing and in the suffering and in the sorrow and in the true broken hearted repentance there is forgiveness and there is mercy but only unless you are broken hearted Peter is not being hard with the Jews to be hard with them Peter does not have a heart full of hatred but love and compassion he's stretching out his hand and he's telling them pleading with them come to Christ come to Christ don't you see you've killed the Christ but there's forgiveness come to him acknowledge him as Messiah acknowledge him as Christ and Lord and you will be forgiven in
[28:33] Joel 2 verses 12 through 13 Joel writes yet even now declares Yahweh return to me with all your heart and with fasting and weeping and wailing and tear your heart and not your garments now return to Yahweh your God for he is gracious and compassionate slow to anger abounding in loving kindness and relenting concerning evil and yet the Jews then in Joel's day would not listen they did not expect judgment they said we are the chosen people of
[29:35] God let the nations be judged but oh Israel will be exalted and Joel says no and Peter says no you must come to faith in Christ you must turn from your sin when Jesus came he came to his own as John tells us and those who were his own did not receive him and yet in the kindness of God as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh not of the will of man but of
[30:36] God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth for for of his fullness we have received grace upon grace for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and that is the great hope of what Joel prophesied and that is the great hope of what David prophesied and that is the great hope of what Peter is speaking of now Peter says
[31:38] God may have right right and justly cut you off for what you've done but in his mercy he is not in his mercy he is not the one that you have crucified is the one that he has made Lord and Christ so if there is mercy for the Jew when there ought not to be mercy is there not mercy for you we all are guilty of the blood of Christ we all have crucified him and yet is there not mercy will
[32:42] Christ cast you out will he reject you not if you cry out to him but you cannot and I believe that this is the point that many people are missing today in this last verse he is called both Lord and Christ do do you have Jesus as Christ very good but if you do not have him as Lord as well you have him as neither Lord or Christ he must be both he died for you and he must reign over you that is what Peter is trying to get the people to understand who were before him
[33:45] Jesus is both Lord and Christ and there is mercy there is an abounding and an astounding measure of mercy if you would but call out to him it isn't difficult to call out to him just cry out to him in broken heartedness and in repentance turn from your sin acknowledge him as Christ yes but then acknowledge him as Lord over your life over that life that he bought for you with his blood be obedient to him what Peter is desiring is that Christ would be exalted and he has been and
[34:54] I pray that for the believer that there would be an ever growing measure of the Holy Spirit in your life and that you would not forget that the gospel that has saved you will save others so what are we to do if we are Christian we are to go out into the world to a world that does not want Christ that rejects him and we are to go to those who reject him and proclaim the gospel of his loving kindness and grace and truth we are to go out and we are to exalt him we are to let people know that they must be prepared for his second coming and we are to let people know that what Joel spoke about and what David spoke about has relevance for today this is not just for the
[35:59] Jew but this is for the unbeliever and for the believer therefore let Christ be exalted let him be exalted through the miracle of the Holy Spirit and through the miracle of salvation and through the miracle of his work as both Lord and Christ until he comes again let him be exalted by us and when he comes again let him be exalted even more in Christ's name Amen let us pray