“Peter's Spirit-Filled Sermon"
Acts 2:14-47
“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…’” [Acts 2:14-16]
Peter then exposited Joel 2:28-32, an important latter “Day of the Lord” passage. This is Peter’s first Spirit-filled sermon, and what a radical one it is.
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand.” [Joel 2:1]
Joel foretold the coming [the Second Coming] of the Lord. Now in Peter’s Spirit-filled sermon, he quoted the end of Joel 2 and preached “this is what you see!” The outpouring of the Spirit [in these latter days] will be “on all flesh,” both Jew and Gentile, which is the record of Acts.
The interesting thing is that the book of Acts continues even to our day. The Spirit continues to write Acts and will do so until the church is raptured to heaven. The final chapter of Acts continues to be written.
This means that we are in the latter days. They began at Pentecost in Acts 2. From Joel’s prophecy [and Peter’s interpretation], the latter days began when the Holy Spirit came upon the church. It marked a great difference in Peter’s life, and it certainly affected his preaching. Peter after Pentecost was a different man. As one commentator put it, “Peter had the Spirit in Acts 1, but the Spirit had Peter in Acts 2.”
Jesus foretold this when He commanded “to wait for the Promise of the Father” [Acts 1:4]. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [Acts 1:8]
After the Spirit-upon came, Peter responded with a radical [and insightful] Spirit-filled message and 3,000 were added to the church.
The book of Acts records the outreach from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria and all the way to Rome. And the outreach continues today as the Gospel is taken to the ends of the earth.
What is the key? The key is the work of the Spirit; it is being Spirit led, and Spirit filled. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” [Zech 4:6]
