The First Christian Sermon: Peter, Joel and Gifts
Acts: The Mission of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
What does it mean to preach the Word of God? What is preaching? What makes a sermon?
One of my and Pastor David’s favorite preachers is Steven Lawson.
I heard him talk about the first sermon he ever preached.
He was a college football player who was sent to a church to give a few words of thanks during the service for what the church had done for the FCA at the school.
When he got there, the pastor said, “I will introduce you and then you’ll give the sermon.”
This was news to teenage Lawson. He had never preached in his life. He told the preacher he couldn’t do that.
The preacher said—you'll disappoint everyone if you don’t do it. And then said, “Let’s start the service.”
Lawson got up, intending only to pray and not go through with the sermon, but the pastor introduced him and said, “Here is Steve Lawson and he will give the sermon now.”
Lawson got up and he remembered Hebrews 13:5
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So he turned there and he read it.
Then he said, “This verse means the Lord is always at our side.”
He explained it
Then he looked out there and saw that they were fathers and farmers and teachers and what not.
He said, “As you are raising your kids and plowing your fields, the Lord is with you.”
That’s appplication.
And though it was short and the work of a novice, Lawson had delivered an expository message. That is all expository preaching is—reading a passage, explaining a passage and applying it.
That is what we see Peter doing in Acts 2 this morning.
This is the first Spirit-empowered Christian sermon preached by someone who is not named Jesus.
Peter, fresh off of being indwelt with the Holy Ghost in the event of Pentecost, stands up to explain to the people what has occurred.
Peter and the other apostles began speaking in tongues that were not native to them and it was such a bewildering scene, that the people assume the apostles are actually drunk.
But that is not the case. Something historical and supernatural has occurred and Peter is going to explain it.
We are going to take three weeks with this.
This morning we simply look at Peter’s reading of Joel 2 and think about why Joel’s words are important for this passage.
And we are going to think about Joel’s words and what they mean and do not mean for today.
What sort of big picture application they have for us—believers and unbelievers alike
Next week, we will get into Peter’s Christ-centered exposition of Joel’s words.
And then we will wrap up in a few weeks by examining the call to repent and be baptized.
Let’s start today by reading Peter’s whole message. After that we will focus on verses 14-21.
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.’
LET THIS BE KNOWN
LET THIS BE KNOWN
Peter’s sermon begins in verse fourteen with him standing with the eleven and lifting up his voice.
This is as much a part of preaching as reading and explaining a text.
When men preach the Word of God, they should stand and lift their voice like a messenger of the king’s court would herald message from the king in the public square.
He addresses the crowd who have gathered to try and make sense of these men speaking of the wonders of God in the tongues of their homeland.
They have been accused of being drunk and Peter is going to dispel that.
If this is the first Christian sermon, we might say this is the first Christian apologetic.
There is an accusation being made against the apostles and Peter’s apologetic is that it is way too early in the morning to be drunk.
It was a pretty silly way to try and explain away the events anyhow. Who has seen a drunken person be able to suddenly speak intelligibly in a foreign tongue about God’s works?
I have been to enough NFL games to know that is not what severely intoxicated people do.
Peter says, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”
This is authoritative from Peter.
And considering the claims he is about to make, it is pretty audacious—unless of course, it is true.
He says that the apostles and their company are not drunk. It is too early for all that. Instead, what is taking place in Acts 2:13 is the fulfillment of a prophecy uttered by Joel 800 years beforehand.
And thus, the sermon intro for Peter is over and he is into his text.
This is a little Inception-ish. A sermon about a sermon.
But we should get used to this in Acts.
This is one of seven major speeches or sermons in Acts.
This is one of three from Peter
Stephen has a doozy
Then we have three from Paul
What we have Peter doing here is interpreting the times and the extraordinary events of not just Pentecost, but all of the happenings surrounding Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension and the sending of the Spirit.
This morning we are really just focusing on how the sending of the Spirit fulfilled this Old Testament text from Joel.
But over the next couple of weeks, you will see Peter explain the true meaning of all the events of Jesus death and resurrection and Pentecost.
Peter is not saying, “Maybe this is an option... Consider this as a possibility...”
No—Peter is preaching with an emphatic conviction that there is only one explanation for all of this—the holy, wise plan of God to save His people through His Son.
So let’s spend some time just looking at the text from Joel and understanding Pentecost with the Old Covenant this morning.
We are staying pretty focused on the Spirit and what the coming means for the church.
LAST DAYS (v. 17, 19-20)
LAST DAYS (v. 17, 19-20)
In verses 17-21, we have Peter quoting Joel 2:28-32...
Earlier in Joel, the prophet talks about a locust plague that has come upon Israel as a result of their disobedience.
What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
If the people will repent, God will respond with His blessing and with abundance.
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
And the culmination of God’s blessing will be the outpouring of His Spirit:
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
This time, in which the Spirit is poured out on all of God’s people and all of these miraculous things are about to happen, well it is here.
But notice that there is a difference between Peter’s quotation and Joel’s prophecy.
Peter changes the first words to say, “In the last days...”
Meaning, “That time Joel was talking about is here. The Spirit has come and His arrival is a signal that the final era has begun.”
A lot of people associate the “last days,” with the end of the world.
Often people will ask me, “Pastor, are we living in the end times?”
Well according the Apostle Peter, we are indeed.
And the earth has been in the last days for 2,000 years.
Ever since the Spirit of the living God took up residence in His church in Jerusalem at Pentecost.
That isn’t to say we shouldn’t associate the “last days” with the end.
Even in Joel’s prophecy we have the end being talked about.
If Pentecost marks the beginning of the Last Days, verse 19-20 point to the end of the last days.
The Day of the Lord.
The Lord spoke through Joel and said:
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below
blood and fire and vapor and smoke
The sun shall be turned to darkness
The moon to blood
Before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day
There is similar language back in Joel at the beginning of chapter 2—just before the text that Peter quotes.
A trumpet is sounded like a holy alarm
This imagery might sound familiar to our Midweek crowd studying Revelation
It is a day of darkness and gloom
There is fire and earthquakes and the sun and moon darken
This is also the way that Jesus spoke about the cosmic chaos at His return:
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
So then what we have are bookends.
Verses 17-18 are about the Pentecost and the beginning of the church—the apostolic era.
Verses 19-20 are about the end of the church age—the end of the age of witness. Then judgment will come.
Verses 17-18 are showing us how the last days begins and verse 20 shows us what the final days will be like.
SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH (v. 17)
SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH (v. 17)
So let’s keep moving and look at this idea of the Spirit being poured out on all flesh.
This first declaration from God is crucial and Peter is recognizing that by connecting this text to Pentecost.
The Spirit has come on all flesh.
Now this is one of those time that “all” does not mean “all.” We have times like that in the Bible.
Here, “All” refers to all types of people—not all the people on the earth.
Otherwise, there would be no need to be witnesses to the end of the earth.
God declared through Joel, and then through Peter, that sons and daughters, young men and old men, male and female will all have the Spirit poured out on them.
More than that, social status will not determine on whom the Spirit does or does not fall.
Instead, we see that servants who believe will receive the Spirit as well.
To understand just how significant all of this is, we need to look at a few Old Testament texts and see how this is always what God promised.
I actually want to take us back to the days of Moses in Deuteronomy 10.
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
God has set His love on them, but there is a problem. While their flesh my be circumcised, their hearts are stubborn.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
But ultimately, the people can’t do this. God must do it for them and He promises that He will.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Then, when Israel show once again how stubborn they are and they are exiles in Babylon, God makes this promise through Ezekiel
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Now we are finding out more about this circumcision of the heart.
It will include the Lord putting His Spirit in His children.
He will cleanse us from our idols and our sin
He will give us a new heart
He will toss out the old dead heart and give us a new living heart
And the Spirit will cause us to do what our previously stubborn hearts failed to do—obey the Lord.
This is also what Jeremiah was talking about when he prophesied about the New Covenant and said:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
It is the circumcised heart that God promised in Deuteronomy 10—the heart that is engraved with the law, through the promised and poured out Spirit.
VISIONS, DREAMS AND PROPHECY (v. 17-18)
VISIONS, DREAMS AND PROPHECY (v. 17-18)
And this pouring out of the Spirit produces mighty and miraculous works. We see this in verses 17 and 18.
Sons and daughters prophesy as a result of the Spirit being poured out
Young men see visions
Old men dream dreams
Even the male and female servants prophesy
Now, these verses are hotly debated and very controversial. The reason for that is that some see these verses as referring to what will happen in the age of the apostles.
Others say it happened in the age of the apostles and it is happening now.
Cards on the table this morning, I mostly agree with the first camp.
I believe that some of the more outwardly miraculous gifts of the spirit, including apostleship, prophecy, tongues, healing and miracles served the purpose of validating the apostles’ message and the salvation of those who were believing it.
And yet there is as aspect of verses 17-18 that very much applies. The Spirit is still poured out on all of the flesh of the church.
Now, let’s work through this together. Because to understand this, we don’t start by talking about Joel, but by talking about the canon of Scripture.
SCRIPTURE
SCRIPTURE
The word “canon” just means the list of books that make up the Bible.
As Peter stands up to preach in Acts 2, the canon of Scripture is not closed.
God has not finished breathing out His Word. This would not happen until John finishes the book of Revelation in the final decade of the first century.
Now we have God’s final Word. It is definitive and it is closed. It is not to be added to.
No new books will ever been tacked on to the back of it.
No new revelation is going to come from heaven.
God has spoken and now continues to speak through His established Word.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says this:
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
The perfect that is being talked about is the 2nd Coming of Christ.
But nothing that Paul says indicates when all of these things will cease and pass away.
He is just making the point that our spiritual lives show us that things begin and end—including the ending of the age itself with Christ’s return, but that is not the case with love.
So Christ will return. Until then we have spiritual gifts for this age to help us witness for Him.
Some of those gifts carry on to the end of the age. Some of them have already ceased because they have fulfilled their purpose.
I don’t think we should be surprised that we don’t see instructions about the gifts passing away because the Lord spoke through Paul in a time period when all of the gifts were active.
We believe that canon of Scripture is closed—as I just said, but we don’t have instructions for how to close it.
Because again, Paul wrote in a time where it wasn’t closed, just like he wrote in a time when all spiritual gifts were active.
APOSTLESHIP AND PROPHECY
APOSTLESHIP AND PROPHECY
APOSTLES
APOSTLES
Now all of this has a direct impact upon the way we understand Acts 2.
If the canon was not closed, then there had to be someone to lay a foundation of truth for the church until it was, right?
Who would write the Scriptures?
Who would interpret the Old Testament Scriptures for the New Testament church?
The answer is the Apostles.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
The household of God—the church—is built on the foundation of the apostles
We get no mention of the office Apostle continuing in any of the New Testament because God intended for the church to be handed over to pastors.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Once apostleship has ceased, the church is now shepherded by pastors with the Word.
The apostles handed the faith down to us once for all.
Now they are gone and the the Lord’s under-shepherds, His elders, are leading the church.
PROPHETS
PROPHETS
But it is crucial that we do not miss who else was involved in laying the foundation of the church...
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Paul is not referring to Old Testament prophets here.
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
So here is what I believe. In Deuteronomy 18, we find out the mark of a true prophet.
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
I believe that as the New Testament church begins, we have prophets still operating in the church.
And when they spoke their prophecy, their words were not mixed with error.
If they were, it would have been false prophecy and they would have been false prophets.
And I believe this because in 1 Corinthians 14, when Paul gives instructions on how to tell if a prophet is speaking God’s truth, it should be weighed—just as it was in Deuteronomy 18...
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
Paul goes on to say the prophets should judge one another
I believe Paul’s instruction was for the first generation of the church. I don’t believe we have prophets running around the church today.
There are some who disagree and say, “No. New Testament prophecy continues as a spiritual gift and it is different from OT prophecy.
Now, after Pentecost, many believers are prophesying and sometimes their prophecy is mixed with error.
For me, I just cannot make a case from Scripture for the idea of prophecy that has error in it because of how it was received or given.
The church must discern what is true from what is false. We must judge those who claim to speak the truth by their words and their lives.
But if true prophets can give prophecy with error, it becomes nearly impossible to discern who is a false prophet from who is a true prophet.
It makes sense that the standard is the same in the Old Testament and in the early apostolic church.
People often point to the example of Agabus as an example of a prophet making a mistake in the New Testament.
In Acts 11, Agabus correctly predicts that there will be a famine
In Acts 21:11, he predicts Paul will be bound and handed over to the Romans.
And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”
Some say, “SEE…this is New Testament prophecy mixed with error! Agabus is a true prophet but he made a mistake in the receiving or the giving!”
And they say this because Paul is actually rescued from the Jews by the Romans, not handed over to the Romans.
However, this is a stretch.
Agabus, because he IS a prophet like the Old Testament prophets comes to Paul with a dramatic symbol.
He binds himself and says, “Paul this is how you will end up when you go to Jerusalem.”
And it is how Paul ended up.
And it was at the hands of the Jewish people in the sense that they got all worked up and their seething anger prompts the Romans to rescue Paul as a Roman citizen.
But he was still bound and when he told the story himself he uses Agabus’ words:
After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
There is another instance in Acts 21 where Paul’s friend tell him not to go to Jerusalem “through the Spirit.”
People say, “See—they were wrong, but they spoke through the Spirit.”
And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
In this instance Luke is not writing about the nature of the prophecy’s precision.
He assumes his readers will know there is no error in prophecy
He’s scrunching up all of the events that took place at Tyre into one verse and is saying, “The prophets spoke in the Spirit about Paul going to Jerusalem and they didn’t want him to go.”
They were write on the Jerusalem part but they were wrong in their emotions about not wanting him to go. That wasn’t from God.
But Luke doesn’t parse all that out in that verse because he isn’t concerned with it
And I don’t think that we should be if he wasn’t
CESSATIONISM
CESSATIONISM
So coming back around to Acts 2 and Joel’s prophecy, we would say that sons and daughters prophesying took place in early church before the close of the canon.
This does not carry on now.
It took place in that first generation, but now that we have the Scriptures, this is no longer necessary.
Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto His church;3 and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed.
1689 London Baptist Confession
Now, could I and other Baptists who agree with our 1689 fathers be wrong about this?
Yes. As could a host of Presbyterians and others throughout history and around the world.
But I don’t think I am and I believe this is an important issue.
I am not saying that God doesn’t do the miraculous.
I am not saying that God doesn’t heal.
I am not saying that God doesn’t do signs and wonders.
I am saying that God is not doing that through anyone the way He did through the apostles for the purpose of establishing the church and Christian witness.
I am not saying that God doesn’t speak.
I am not saying God won’t lay a word on your heart for a brother or sister.
I would just say that charismatics are using the wrong language.
ILLUSTRATION: If God lays on my heart to come to you and tell you that I see a lot of mercy in you and I think you would be great working the food pantry, that isn’t prophecy.
That is just an impression from the Lord on my heart.
And I can go to the Bible and point to existing revelation from God to support that impression.
But that isn’t new revelation. That is just God guiding me and then I check my feelings against the Bible.
Church, if someone come to you and says, ‘I have a word for you,” your response should be, “Great—does it line up with this book?”
Well if it does, that isn’t new revelation. That isn’t prophecy. That is just God impressing His existing Word on His people and applying truth to their hearts.
If it doesn’t line up with the Word, then you won’t want it in your life anyways as a believer because you see the Scriptures as your life and your authority.
So in short, I believe this matters because Sola Scriptura could be threatened by a wrong view of this.
Sola Scriptura is that great doctrine that was recovered during the Protestant Reformation.
It means that Scripture alone has everything we need to know for salvation.
Scripture alone has the authority to bind our conscience and lay before us everything that God requires.
No man can dictate that to me. The Lord does it in His Word.
I think view of prophecy where you believe it is a spiritual gifting and it can be practiced with error, is a threat to this doctrine.
To come and say that you have a Word from the Lord that might be wrong doesn’t just threaten the close of the canon.
It questions whether the canon of Scripture is all we need or whether or not we need new words.
We do not need new words from God. We have His Word. And His Word alone is sufficient.
WHAT ABOUT VISIONS AND DREAMS?
WHAT ABOUT VISIONS AND DREAMS?
So then what of this business with visions and dreams?
Well, I’ve been praying for God to open the eyes of Muslims through dreams during Ramadan.
Does that mean I believe in revelation outside of Scripture?
Of course not.
I do believe God can and does stir hearts through visions and dreams.
I believe that God might even use the gift of tongues in a mission situation where it is needed.
But I reject that any of that is revelation.
God isn’t revealing anything in a dream or a vision or through a foreign tongue that hasn’t already been established in His Word.
And anything He impresses on us through those means are not prophecy in the way Agabus and others are prophesying in Acts.
THE WAY OF SALVATION (v. 21)
THE WAY OF SALVATION (v. 21)
Let’s close out our time together by considering verse 21 because it really brings the entire Joel quotation together.
If verses 17-18 are referring to what is happening at the beginning of the church age and verses 19-20 are showing us what will happen at the end of the church age when Christ returns, then we can say that verse 21 is clip on the bag of chips that holds it all in.
In verses 17-18, we’ve got Peter saying, “The last days are here. We know that because the Spirit has been poured out on the church and God is establishing His New Covenant community.”
He will do it through the prophecy of Spirit-empowered church and the Word that comes from those with that gift
He will do it through dreams and visions
In verses 19-20, Joel’s quotation leads us to think of when Christ returns and the cosmic upheaval that will come along with it.
So in verse 21, Joel’s text is reminding everyone that the last days have started and there is an end date.
The way of salvation has been opened up and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Peter’s application of Joel’s text will be a command for all who hear to respond with repentance.
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.
The way of salvation has been opened.
The sign of this is the supernatural work of the Spirit in the apostolic church.
Therefore, REPENT, before it is too late.
The great and magnificent day is coming. Repent, repent, repent.
ASK BAND TO COME
The message is not different for anyone listening today.
Christ has come and lived a perfect life of obedience, providing humanity with a new representative who has kept the Law. A new Adam to follow.
Christ has died for the sins of His people, absorbing the wrath they deserved.
Christ has resurrected to defeat sin and death.
Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father and Christ has circumcised our hearts and poured out His Spirit upon us.
And what that means is that we have been living in the last days for 2000 years and we are living in the last days this morning.
And the time is ticking.
You must repent.
You must believe the same message that was spoken of in foreign tongues in Acts 2.
You must believe the same Gospel being prophesied about by Spirit-filled believers in the early church.
And you must believe the Gospel that is now taught and spoken by every Spirit-filled son and daughter of Jesus Christ.
Young and old.
Slave and free.
And no matter what you believe about spiritual gifts and the church today—that is the Gospel you must teach and believe.
Whether it is teenage Lawson
Jewish believers in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks
Or you sitting here today.
Believe the Gospel and tell everyone.
The way of salvation has come and the magnificent day draws near.