Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and for the blessing of gathering around his Word, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us.
Read
Scripture Passage
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ac 2:14-39
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Peter's Pentecost sermon declares that God has fulfilled his promises by pouring out the Holy Spirit and raising Jesus, the crucified Christ, from the dead. Bryan emphasizes that Jesus is the promised Son of David, Lord, Christ, and Savior, and that even the crucifixion unfolded within God's determined purpose.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Acts 2:23–24 or Acts 2:38–39
Bryan does not settle on one selection; he explicitly weighs verses 23–24, which proclaim God's purpose in Christ's death and resurrection, against verses 38–39, which call hearers to repent and receive God's promised gift.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of David and Savior of the world, and ask God to work faith in your heart.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
in a moment, but we are at Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, verses 13 through, or 14 through 39. Acts chapter 2, verses 14 through 39. Good evening. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it through from Acts to Philemon. Well, I've got about 15 minutes before Olivia gets home. I'm going to try to get this done in that time period. So let's go ahead and have some tea.
We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for the time now that you've given us to be in your word. Lord, I thank you for the blessing it is to get to do this each weekday, to spend time with people who love you and who desire to sit under your word. Lord, we pray that your spirit would teach us in Jesus's name. Amen.
All right, so the kids, like I said, the kids have been put to bed. Who knows if they'll stay in bed, though? And then Olivia is coming home from a mom's meeting. So we're going to try to work through Peter's sermon. There is more here to unpack than we have time for, but we'll get to the heart of it. Acts chapter 2, verses 14 through 39.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath. blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, and it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up from the dead, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand and I will not be shaken.
Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the way of life. You will make me full of joy in your presence.
Men and Brothers Let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, Having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brothers what should we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will. Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So, A, what is this about?
This is Peter's sermon on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has come down upon them. They have the tongues of fire. They're now speaking in a language that everybody else has been able to understand, and yet there's disbelievers and skeptics who think, oh, they're just drunk. And Peter starts off and he says, whoa, whoa, whoa, boys, it's only nine o'clock in the morning. We're not drunk, but God is fulfilling his promises.
This is what he prophesied in the book of Joel. This is what he prophesied in the Psalms. This is what David prophesied about, and God has done it. What is this about? This is Peter saying God has brought his Christ. God has fulfilled Psalm 110. God has fulfilled Psalm 2. It is God who has raised up his Christ, and his name is Jesus. The very one you put to death, And yet God knew and had a purpose and a plan. God ordained all these things that come about. It's almost like what happened with Joseph. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
What's the best verse in this? I really would say probably I would wrestle with maybe verse 23 through 24. Or maybe even verse 38 and 39, what are we called to do? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you believe that He is the Son of David, the Savior of the world?
Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for this day, and we thank You for the time that we get to spend in Your Word. We pray, God, that You might work in our hearts, that we might believe in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you with a great night's sleep. May you have hope in Jesus Christ, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.