Preaching as Though We Had Enemies – Acts 2:14-41
Second Presbyterian Church
George Robertson
October 29, 2017
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are 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. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 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?” And Peter said to them, “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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Ronald Amundsen, the great Norwegian explorer, was the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and the first to discover the South Pole. Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him on one of his journeys to the North Pole. When he reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. One day, back home in Norway, Amundsen’s wife, looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. Imagine the way she felt. She must have exclaimed to herself, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”[1]
In the same way, the Christian may know that Pentecost means that the gift of the Spirit enables the Church to live in the confidence of the presence of Christ. The Spirit indwelling Christians, constantly shouts, “He’s alive! Now live in that power.”
At the end of Peter’s sermon, he gives a simple application, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (2:40). The generation about which he was speaking was religious, distrustful, fearful, and self-centered. Sounds like ours, doesn’t it? What is the remedy? By placing your trust in the resurrected Christ, you will receive the power of the Spirit who will drive out distrust, fear, and self-centeredness. How will he do it? By replacing those enemies with the presence of Christ.
Christ Remains Faithful to His Promises (14-21)
The answer to our distrust and disillusionment is that Christ remains faithful to his promises. This postmodern generation is one which is desperate to find someone or something that is trustworthy. One journalist writing about the emergence of weblogs says: “Pomos don’t trust experts, especially those who claim such a status based on some institutional authority. They trust those closest to them who’ve actually experienced the subject in question.”[2]
It is no less true of people who view themselves as religious, if not Christian. One minister to postmoderns says, “It seems that most postmoderns are not sure who they can listen to to get the right story. Most of the postmoderns I talk to are more concerned about building a relationship of trust than a system of theology. They are also very illiterate when it comes to the Bible. What they seem to need is someone they trust to help them work through the Bible and their lives.”[3]
The answer to the quest for trust is Jesus Christ who has personally experienced everything we do and has sent his Spirit to confirm to us personally the promises of Scripture.
Christ Reigns Over His People (22-24)
Christ through his Spirit not only provides trust, he also conquers man’s fears. This is an especially fearful age, but as R.R. Reno, professor of theology at Creighton University, says, “man’s greatest fear has always been redemption. That is, the devil has succeeded in convincing us that moral transformation will be self-destructive. We even fear giving up those loves, vices, and habits which are embarrassing to us because we cannot imagine life without them. Christ promises to save us in such a way that those enslaving vices will be defeated without harming us. In fact, he promises that if we lose our life to him, he will give it back to us more fulfilled.”[4]
The sovereign Christ working through his Spirit in our world promises refuge from all our enemies. Notice in these verses, the Godhead’s sovereignty over the most intimidating realms:
Nature (22)
God’s reign over nature is obvious from the attesting miracles Jesus performed. No one in Peter’s audience could deny that Jesus had performed wonders that no one could do without divine power (Jn. 3:2; 10:38). They knew him by name and from what town he came. Peter identifies him by his human name and town so that he could make clear that he was referring to the historical person not some spiritual personality invented in the disciples’ minds. Peter emphasizes that it was God who accredited Jesus; he did not commend himself. Everyone in the audience knew that Jesus had raised the dead, healed the blind, made the lame to walk, and forgave sin—things which only a God-man could do (Mt. 11:5; Lk. 7:22).
History (23)
God’s reign over history is obvious by the testimony that Jesus was crucified according to the plans God made before the history of the world (Acts 4:28; cf. Re. 13:8). That this was purposefully planned is emphasized by the addition of “foreknowledge.” Before the world was made, God chose his Son to be the Savior of his elect by means of a substitutionary atonement (1 Pt. 1:2, 20; 3:18).
Death and Sin (24)
God’s reign over death is proven by the resurrection. Peter uses a curious phrase to describe Jesus’ resurrection: “freed from the birth pangs of death.” It seems that Peter wants to emphasize that Jesus was freed from the curse of death which is due to sinners (cm. Ro. 8:22). Jesus became sin in our place and therefore died. He would not have died as a sinless man had he not become a sinner in our place. His life and death paid the penalty for the sins he took on himself. Therefore, death expelled him!
Christ Rose to be The Perfect Savior (25-41)
Finally, Christ by his Spirit sets us free from self-centeredness to give our lives away as his witnesses that others might possess the same Gospel we have.
New Reference Point for Life (25-31)
Peter shows that the secret to selflessness is having Christ as a new reference point. Psalm 16, quoted by Peter here and Paul later on (13:35), is the most obvious reference to the hope of future resurrection in the Psalms. Because David was able by faith to reach into the new covenant and pull its blessings to himself, he was able to live in the practical confidence that the resurrection of Christ brings a believer. The faithful Jew knew that this text could not possibly refer to David. To this day, you can visit the tomb of David, but no one has been able to produce the body of a dead Jesus. The faithful Jew knew that God’s ultimate promise was to a descendant of David he called his “Lord” (Ps. 110:1; cf. 132:11,12). Our comfort, like David’s, is not in a dead patriarch, but in a living Christ.
New Resources for Service (32-36)
Christ’s resurrection and ascension secured for us all of the resources we need for lives of service. The message of the resurrection of Christ is central to the New Testament. It is the central message of the book of Acts. On average, reference to Christ’s resurrection occurs in every other chapter.[5] But the significance of the resurrection is not just that it proves Jesus is the Christ but rather in that it positions him as the Christ. Before the resurrection, Jesus did not refer to himself verbally as the Christ. Of course, he did not deny that he was when so questioned (Mk. 14:61,62), but he did not actively claim the title until his ascension. Now Peter announces that as a result of his resurrection and ascension he is positioned to execute his full role as the Messiah which includes most notably the sending of his Spirit.
New Reasons to Live Selflessly (37-41)
Pentecost marked the fiftieth day from Passover. Appropriately, it was the celebration of the Feast of Firstfruits (Ex. 23:16; Lv. 23:15-21). On this Pentecost, there was a vast ingathering of souls, the firstfruits of the Gospel. Now I want you to notice how powerful is this post-resurrection, Spirit-filled message of the Gospel. When these who crucified the Son of God asked out of their conviction what they must do, Peter answered very simply, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” The Gospel of grace is so magnanimous that even the murderers of Christ can receive forgiveness if they will but turn from their sin and receive Christ. And that is not all! They will receive the gift of the Spirit who brings all of the blessings noted above. And further, that grace will begin to work through the lines of their generations.
In this portion of scripture, God shows us that his son and his Spirit give us everything we need to live as Christians in this world. Jesus’ faithfulness to his promises frees us from distrust and disillusionment. His reign over all creation shows us that true freedom comes from living under his reign. And his salvation and Spirit equip us to live lives of service to others!
[1] Gordon Brownville, Symbols of the Holy Spirit.
[2] www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0407/heaton.html
[3] www.opensourcetheology.net/node/view/104 - 34k
[4] R.R. Reno, “Fear of Redemption,” First Things 144 (June/July 2004): 29-34.
[5] 2:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1,7; 9:31,35,42; 11:21,24; 14:1,21; 16:5; 17:12.