Peter's First Sermon

As the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, some of the people in Jerusalem mocked them and said they were drunk. However, the Apostle Peter, through the Holy Spirit, preached a sermon that demonstrated that the speaking of tongues was a fulfillment of prophecy. It was display of the promise of the Holy Spirit which was sent by the resurrected-glorified Messiah. He showed that Jesus is the Messiah because (1) His works, and (2) His resurrection and ascension attest to that.

The Apostle Peter gave four proofs that the events at Pentecost are the works of God, linking them to the Lord’s resurrection and ascension:

1. Acts 2:25–31: The resurrection of Jesus was prophesied in Psalm 16:8–11. Since David died and his tomb was in Jerusalem, the Apostle Peter asserted that David as a prophet was prophesying of the resurrection of Jesus.
2. Acts 2:32: The Apostle Peter then asserts the witness of the Apostles themselves as proof. They saw, heard, and touched the resurrected Christ. In Acts Chapter 1, Luke says that the Lord Jesus " by many convincing proofs, appeared to them over a period of forty days."
3. Acts 2:33: This verse is key to the argument. These events were visible signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit who only the glorified Messiah is able to send and pour out on the Apostles. The Lord Jesus, our great High Priest who "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and sat down at the right hand of God (Heb 10:12), had the authority to send the Holy Spirit from the Father as He had promised. The supernatural events of Pentecost themselves demonstrate the power of God and the fulfillment of prophesy in the Lord Jesus as the Messiah.
4. Acts 2:34–35: The last proof is the ascension of the Lord. the Apostle Peter quotes Psalm 110:1 (The Lord said to My Lord...). The Lord Jesus stumped the Pharisees when He asked them if the Christ was the son of David, then "how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’" (Matthew 22:43). The Apostle Peter uses the same verse to show that the Lord Jesus is greater than David who called Him "Lord." The Lord Jesus ascended into heaven in fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 110:1.

This Sunday, we'll look at this powerful sermon that brought 3000 people to repentance and to faith in the Lord Jesus.

Wouldn't you love to have been there?
Still, we have the Word of God that recorded that sermon for us.