The Proclamation Of Pentecost Series

Acts 2 - The Proclamation of Pentecost - 1/22/17 PM

We looked today in Acts 2, and saw the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  Tonight we want to look some more at the message Peter delivers to the crowd.  Remember there are Jews present from all these nations scattered throughout the middle east.  They hear the sound of wind, it gets their attention.  They see the tongues of fire, and know God is at work.  They hear in their own languages the disciples proclaiming the wonders of God.  And then Peter stands up and delivers his message.  And that is were we are going to pick up tonight.  Read Acts 2:14-41 - Pray

What are you normally doing at 9 AM?  Some people have been up for hours - some are still in bed!  But remember this is before the day of electric lights - so they went to bed a lot earlier, and probably woke up before sunrise.  So this all takes place at 9 in the morning (vs 15).

Look at what Peter does in verse 14 - Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: How is Peter able to address all these different nationalities at once?  Peter didn’t preach in tongues; he probably addressed his audience in the everyday Aramaic that they understood. They are all Jews, and they all probably spoke the common Jewish language Aramaic.  The message was given by a Jew, to Jews, on a Jewish holiday, about the resurrection of the Jewish Messiah. The Gentiles who were there were proselytes, converted  to following Judaism. So where do the Gentiles come in?  We’ll get to them in Acts 10 when Peter opens the door of faith to the Gentiles when he visited Cornelius.  

The second option - if he didn’t address them in the common tongue of the Jews - is that he could have addressed them in Greek.  The koine dialect of Greek was the common trade language that was spoken all throughout the Roman empire.  Everyone would have spoken it.  That’s why the gospel could be sent out so quickly: the Roman roads and the Greek language.

So what is Peter’s message?

“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  These men are not drunk, as you suppose.  It’s only nine in the morning!  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.  So first Peter gives an EXPLANATION.  He explains:

• What has happened?  The Holy Spirit has come!  Peter points to the prophecy of Joel 2.  He says that what they are experiencing here on Pentecost is what Joel talked about.  The Holy Spirit has come to them.  It is not a complete fulfillment of that prophecy, because the signs and wonders predicted had not occurred. There is no mention here of blood, fire, or smoke.  When you read Joel’s prophecy in context, you see that it deals with the nation of Israel in the end times, in connection with “the Day of the Lord.”   And there is a complete fulfillment of that prophecy coming for us one day.  

A similar example of this is when Jesus is in the temple and takes the scrolls from Isaiah 61: He reads the prophecy and says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus stopped short in reciting Isaiah’s prophecy and didn’t read the phrase and the day of vengeance of our God.  That day is still future.  

So here we see Peter was led by the Spirit to see in the prophecy an application to the church. He said, “This is that same Holy Spirit that Joel wrote about. He is here!” Such an announcement would seem incredible to the Jews, because they thought God’s Spirit was given only to a few select people (Num. 11:28–29). But here were 120 of their fellow Jews, men and women, enjoying the blessing of the same Holy Spirit that had empowered Moses, David, and the prophets.  It was indeed the dawning of a new age, the “last days” in which God would bring to completion His plan of salvation for mankind.  

So the whole prophecy of Joel has not been fulfilled.  What has been fulfilled is that the Spirit has come, and salvation has been brought to those who call on God.