and even a little bit about his return someday.
But as we wrapped up Thursday evening, I got thinking,
not that I had the energy for it, but that it would have been nice to have a day six
and just talk a little bit about what happened after Jesus' ascension.
And so my message this morning is going to be focused a little bit on that.
There's something wonderful and amazing that God did after Jesus ascended into heaven.
So I went back and read that story this week.
And I didn't have time to make up slides for the scriptures,
so there are Bibles in front of you if you didn't bring yours.
We're going to be in Acts 2 this morning.
Acts 2.
So Jesus has died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
God has raised him back to life from the dead.
He's been appearing to many of his followers over a period of about 40 days.
And then, before their very eyes, Jesus was taken up into heaven.
And not long after that, maybe a week or so, comes the day of Pentecost.
It was a Jewish festival that happened every year.
And it was something that they were commanded to celebrate in the Old Testament.
And so Jesus has been taken up to heaven.
The disciples, they go back from the Mount of Olives after watching that into the city of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, and then comes Pentecost.
So you can just imagine the city of Jerusalem is filled with people.
All these people are coming from all over the world to celebrate this feast.
Let's read a little bit of the story in Acts 2.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Wow.
Can you imagine what that would have been like?
There they are sitting in this house all together.
And then all of a sudden, they hear the sound of a rushing wind inside the house.
So next time we get one of those super windy days here in Davidson,
which somehow it seems like we haven't had as many as last year, this year,
you can open all your windows and your doors and let that sound fill the house.
And maybe it was something like that.
Though it doesn't say that they were actually getting blown around.
It was just the sound of wind.
And as they're hearing this, they're looking around, and all of a sudden, they see something really strange.
Luke's description is kind of interesting.
The dividing of fiery tongues coming to rest or settle on each of them.
Now we're going to have to use your imagination a little bit here.
It wasn't actual fire.
No one was burned.
And it wasn't tongues like this kind of tongue.
Sometimes we even describe flames of fire as kind of licking up things as they move.
It's just kind of the way they move.
So use your imagination.
Something like fire licking out towards each of them and coming, Luke says,
to rest or settle on each one of them.
What a strange sight that must have been.
And all this is they're hearing the sound of rushing wind.
And Luke tells us what this is.
He says in verse 4,
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
That's what this is.
God's Holy Spirit is coming down upon them and entering into them right here in this room.
We might think back to Jesus' baptism and how the Spirit came down from heaven upon him like a dove.
Well, it's similar here, but not a dove.
Like fiery tongues.
What an amazing thing it must have been to see that and even more to experience that.
And Luke tells us that there was a sign that went with this.
He says,
So this would have felt quite strange.
Just like with the prophets in the Old Testament,
when God poured out His Spirit on them,
many times they would just start speaking.
They were saying the things that God's Spirit was giving them to say.
Well, here, the apostles and the believers who are all gathered together in this room begin to do that all at the same time.
But interestingly, in this case, it's in a whole variety of languages.
All at the same time.
I tried to think of what this would sound like.
I'm imagining myself maybe in like a busy international airport with people just chattering away in all different languages.
And interestingly, this all seems to cause quite a stir in the neighborhood.
Luke tells us in verse 5,
Now there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment,
because each one heard their own language being spoken.
And utterly amazed, they asked,
Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?
Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus in Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene,
visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism,
Cretans and Arabs.
We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.
Amazed and perplexed,
they asked one another,
What does this mean?
Some, however,
made fun of them and said,
Ah, they've had too much wine.
So all of this causes quite the stir in the neighborhood.
Luke reminds us again that there are people from all over the world who have come to this festival.
At some point, the apostles and the believers seem to move outside,
and this whole crowd starts to gather.
They're hearing the apostles and the believers speaking in other languages.
And I love Luke's description.
He uses a few different words,
but bewildered,
utterly amazed.
Like, what's going on here?
Perplexed.
I mean, think about it.
Here's a group of at least,
probably,
well, we know for sure 11,
but probably some believers as well.
And from the midst of this group,
15 languages are being spoken at the same time.
At least 15,
if we count up all the people groups that are described here.
All speaking for God,
as God's Spirit gives them words to say.
I mean, can you imagine for a moment if you had a megaphone,
and you talked into it,
and out the other side came what you said,
in 15 different languages at the same time.
That's maybe a little bit of an analogy of what's happening here.
God is speaking,
and this group of people is like that megaphone,
and it's coming out in every language that's represented in the crowd there.
Some have suggested that the apostles were just speaking one language,
and that the people were all hearing it in their own.
But as I read it,
this isn't mainly a miracle of hearing.
This is a miracle of speaking.
It says in verse 4,
they spoke in other languages.
So it probably sounded like quite a racket.
No wonder people were so bewildered and perplexed.
No wonder they were amazed.
How is it that this bunch of Galileans
are able to speak 15 different languages all of a sudden?
And these are not all neighboring dialects.
I mean, you've got as far west as Rome,
as far east as Persia and Mesopotamia,
as far south as Egypt,
represented here.
And what were these apostles and believers saying
in all these different languages?
Verse 11,
we hear them declaring the wonders of God
in our own languages.
They were talking about the wonders of God.
It doesn't say exactly what wonders,
but maybe something like we were doing at VBS,
trying to highlight some of the big things about God
and what He has done.
Probably, most recently, about Jesus.
So this wasn't just a bunch of jibber-jabber
coming out of their mouths.
This was intelligible speech.
This was about God and His wonders.
And they realized, some of them,
that this was a sign.
They said,
what does this mean?
This is significant.
What's going on?
But not everybody felt that way.
There were those few
who were making fun of them.
Probably they were listening in
on all the other languages
they were hearing
and thinking,
whoa,
like,
these guys,
they've had a few too many drinks here.
I don't know what they were thinking.
This guy's doing his impersonation of the Romans.
This guy's doing an impersonation of the Egyptians.
Anyways,
Peter then stands up
and addresses the crowd.
Verse 14.
Then Peter stood up with the eleven,
raised his voice,
and addressed the crowd.
Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem,
let me explain this to you.
Listen carefully to what I say.
These people are not drunk,
as you suppose.
It's only nine in the morning.
No.
This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
In the last days,
God says,
I will pour out my spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants,
both men and women,
I will pour out my spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above,
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
He quotes a fair bit of what Joel said,
the prophet,
long ago.
We're not going to get into all the details of that,
but let's focus for a minute on his main point.
Peter's main point here is,
listen guys,
what you're hearing and seeing in us today,
this is what God said would happen a long time ago.
It's the fulfillment of prophecy.
Long ago,
God promised that he would pour out his spirit on people.
And that's exactly what you're seeing happening right here,
right now,
with us.
It's by his spirit that we are speaking in these other languages
about the wonders of God.
And now that we've got that all cleared up,
let me tell you about Jesus.
I love the way Peter just rolls right into that.
Verse 22.
Fellow Israelites,
listen to this.
Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth
was a man accredited
by God
to you
by miracles,
wonders,
and signs
which God did among you
through him
as you yourselves know.
This man was handed over to you
by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge.
And you,
with the help of wicked men,
put him to death
by nailing him
to a cross.
But God
raised him from the dead,
freeing him from the agony of death
because it was impossible for death
to keep its hold
on him.
And he just keeps on going.
I love this.
By the spirit of God,
Peter
is
bald.
Just over a month ago,
he was cowering in fear.
He denied the Lord.
After
Jesus died,
he was
hiding behind locked doors
for fear of the religious leaders.
Now,
he is
proclaiming to the whole crowd,
probably the largest crowd
he's ever spoken to
with such boldness
and passion.
Let me tell you about Jesus.
The first thing he says
is that Jesus
was accredited
by God.
That man
from Nazareth
named Jesus,
he's
attested by God.
He's verified.
He's validated
by God.
To all of you.
In what way?
By miracles,
wonders,
and signs
which God
performed
through him.
As you know,
as you yourselves
know.
It's like he's saying,
you all know what I'm talking
about here.
You know
the things
that Jesus did.
Some of you
even witnessed
the things
that Jesus did.
Maybe some of you
even had a taste
of the bread
that he made
at the feeding
of the 5,000.
And Peter just
tells it like it is.
God himself
verified
and validated
this Jesus
of Nazareth
by the miracles
that God did
through him.
And what happened
with Jesus?
He says,
very pointedly,
you,
with the help
of wicked men,
put him to death
by nailing him
to a cross.
What a rebuke.
Peter's saying,
you put to death
the one
that God
attested to,
verified,
validated
as the Messiah.
But Peter
also says this
in verse 23.
He says,
this man
was handed
over to you
by God's
deliberate plan
and foreknowledge.
In other words,
God knew
that you would
do that
even before
you did it.
More than that,
it was part
of his
deliberate plan
Do you hear that?
He planned
that it would
go that way
before any
of it happened.
We might be
tempted sometimes
to look at
what happened
to Jesus
in that last
week before
he died
and think of
it as just
everything spinning
out of control
here.
And God's
plan to install
Jesus as the
king has been
foiled,
it's ruined.
No,
says Peter,
it's not.
This plan
was planned
all along.
God's
deliberate plan.
God is able
to bring about
his good
and perfect
purposes and
plans
even as
wicked men
do what
wicked men
do.
Verse 23
and 24
again.
You put him
to death
by nailing him
to the cross,
but God
raised him
from the dead.
God
said,
I love the
way that
Peter just
declares it.
He proclaims
it.
He doesn't
say,
I want to
suggest something
for your
consideration.
Jesus is
alive.
No,
he declares
it as fact,
but God
raised him
from the
dead.
You have
to know,
too,
that the
religious
leaders over
these past
50 days have
been working
very hard to
silence and
squelch anything
to do with
Jesus rising
from the
dead.
Well,
here Peter
just announces
it to the
whole crowd,
not only the
locals in
Jerusalem,
but everybody
who's come
from all over
the place
and gathered
for the
feast.
You can
almost see
the look
on the
religious
leaders'
faces.
Oh,
stop talking
about that
Jesus.
God
raised Jesus
of Nazareth
from the
dead,
says Peter.
And then
he goes
on and he
reminds them
of what David
said by the
spirit,
which foretold
that this
would happen.
We're not
going to go
into all the
details of
that in
the next
verses here
this morning.
But after
quoting from
that David's
psalm,
Peter comes
to say this
in verse 31.
He says,
Seeing what
was to come,
David spoke
of the
resurrection
of the
Messiah,
that he
was not
abandoned
to the
realm of
the dead,
nor did
his body
see decay.
God
has raised
this Jesus
to life,
and we
are all
witnesses
of it.
exalted
to the
right hand
of God,
he has
received
from the
Father
the
promised
Holy
Spirit,
and has
poured
out
what you
now see
and hear.
Yes.
I love
that.
He just
boldly
tells the
whole crowd
what he
has witnessed
in the past
50 days.
Jesus is
alive,
not just
me,
but all
of us
here are
witnesses
to it.
we saw
the empty
tomb,
we saw
and heard
the angels
there,
and we
saw Jesus
himself
alive
in the
flesh
over these
past
40 days.
We're
witnesses
to the
fact.
Not only
that,
he says,
but we
saw Jesus
exalted
to the
right hand
of God.
That word
exalted
means to
lift up,
that's
exactly
what the
apostles
and the
believers
who were
gathered
just a
few days
ago
saw.
They saw
Jesus
being lifted
up into
the sky
to heaven
by God.
And it
wasn't just a
change in
location.
Peter says
it was a
moment of
exaltation.
It was a
moment in
which God
installed him
as king
to the
highest
position
of
authority,
the right
hand of
God.
Verse 36,
he goes
on, he
says,
therefore,
let all
Israel be
assured of
this.
God has
made this
Jesus whom
you crucified,
both Lord
and Messiah,
or Lord
and Christ.
Christ.
It's
sometimes easy
to lose the
significance of
that word,
Christ.
But Christ
and Messiah,
they both
essentially mean
the same thing.
They mean
king.
As in
God's
specially
chosen and
anointed
king.
So what is
Peter saying
here?
He's telling
them that
God has
made this
Jesus of
Nazareth,
the same
one that
you put
to death.
He has
made him
to be
your new
king,
the king
of Israel.
Well,
how does
the crowd
respond to
this?
Verse 37,
when the
people heard
this,
they were
cut to
the heart
and said
to Peter
and the
other
apostles,
brothers,
what shall
we do?
Peter
responds,
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
promises for
you and
your children
and for
all who
are far
off,
for all
whom the
Lord our
God
will call.
What a
response.
Luke tells
us that the
people there
that day
were cut
to the
heart.
Peter's
words really
sunk in
deep.
Oh,
you mean
he is the
one.
We killed
him.
What have
we done?
What do we
do now?
The guilt
was setting
in.
Peter gives
him two
things to
do.
First,
he says
repent.
And here
it means
acknowledge
what you
have done.
Tell that
to God.
Confess it.
And ask
for his
forgiveness.
Some people
have wondered
why Peter
doesn't just
simply tell
him repent
and believe.
Well,
believing is
already in
the mix
here.
It's
included
here.
You can't
really come
to repent
sincerely in
your heart
and acknowledge
that you've
sinned against
God if you
don't believe.
Believing is
what happened
in that moment
when they were
cut to the
heart.
They believed
what Peter
was saying,
that they
had really
crucified the
king God
had chosen
for them,
that he
really rose
from the
dead,
that he
really had
been exalted
to the right
hand of God.
they already
believed.
Now Peter's
telling them
what else
they need
to do.
Now you
need to
repent.
You need
to acknowledge
what you
did to
God and
ask for
his
forgiveness.
You need
to be
baptized
in the
water,
in the
name of
the Lord,
Jesus.
And I
can tell
you,
in verse
38,
he says,
for the
forgiveness
of your
sins.
That's
sweet,
isn't it?
Peter's
saying,
if you
repent of
your sins
in Jesus'
name,
God will
forgive you.
Through
Christ,
God will
forgive you.
Can you
imagine how
that must
have felt
maybe to
someone in
the crowd
that day
who was
there shouting,
crucify him.
and then
now has
that
realization.
What have
we done?
God will
forgive you.
Isn't
God a
merciful and
gracious God?
But it
gets even
better than
this.
Forgiveness
is wonderful
and precious,
but God
has more
to give.
Verse
38,
repent and
be baptized
for the
forgiveness
of your
sins and
you will
receive the
gift of
the Holy
Spirit.
The
promise is
for you
and your
children and
for all who
are far
off, for
all whom
the Lord
our God
will call.
Do you
hear that?
God has a
very special
gift to
give to
those who
repent and
believe and
have their
sins forgiven.
the gift
is his
Holy Spirit.
What is
that?
Well, it
means that
God will
pour out
his Spirit
on you.
It means
that God
will give
of himself
to you.
That he
himself will
come to
be in
you and
live with
you.
So,
is this just
for the
Jewish people
of that
day?
No.
It's for
all whom
the Lord
will call,
says Peter.
Or we
look back
to verse
21.
Everyone who
calls on the
name of the
Lord will
be saved.
This gift
is for
everyone,
the gift
of God's
Spirit.
Most of
us here
this morning
have done
what Peter
said,
have repented,
have believed
in the
Lord Jesus.
Do you
know,
if you
have,
that you
have God's
Spirit,
God himself
living in
you?
Isn't
that amazing?
we may
not always
see or
feel his
presence,
but he
is there.
And he
is the
one who
is responsible
for so
much of
the good
that we
enjoy as
Christians.
The Bible
tells us
that he
produces all
kinds of
good things
in us.
The fruit
of the
Spirit,
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
gentleness,
faithfulness,
self-control.
He guides
us.
He helps
us understand
what's true.
The Spirit
does so
much for
us, and
sometimes I
wonder if
we just
don't take
it for
granted.
He kind
of works
behind the
scenes in
us,
invisibly.
But maybe
you're here
and you
haven't done
that.
You haven't
felt cut
to the
heart about
your sins.
Maybe you've
never asked
God to
forgive you
of your
sins and
come to
that moment
and been
baptized.
Do you
know that
the gift of
the Holy
Spirit is
for you
too?
It's for
all who
the Lord
will call.
Do you
hear the
Lord calling
you this
morning?
Peter encourages
us to
call on
the Lord
and it's
an amazing
gift we
get.
Not only
forgiveness
of sins,
but God
himself to
come and
live in
us and
with us
forever.
And if
that's how
it is,
for those
who believe,
this changes
everything.
It doesn't
matter what
we're going
through.
If God
is with
us and
in us,
it doesn't
matter what
we're going
through.
It makes
all the
difference.
It tips the
balance of
the scales in
our favor for
everything.
it's a
wonderful gift
and thanks be
to God
for giving
of himself,
of his
spirit.
Let's
pray.
Father in
heaven, we
thank you for
this last
wonder of
wonders, gift
of gifts,
yourself.
Thank you
that we're not
left on our
own, that we
don't just get
forgiveness and
then we're on
our own, but
that you come
and live in
us.
I pray that we
would know
that reality
as a church.
I pray that we
would live in
that reality,
that we would
find strength
from you by
your spirit,
and that you
would lead us
in the days
ahead in this
world that we
live in.
I ask this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.