THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 15, 2022 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: June 15, 2022 from Acts 2:22-41

Theme: The first gospel sermon ever preached declares to us that Jesus was raised, the Scriptures have been fulfilled, and that all should now repent and believe.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this Bible Study.

This morning—in our study of Acts 2—we will be studying a sermon. Not just listening to one—but studying it. But it’s not just any sermon. This sermon is an extremely important and worthwhile sermon for us to study together. It happens to be the first gospel sermon ever preached in all of church history. And it resulted in 3,000 people being saved in just one day.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now; as we can see from our study of Acts 2 so far, the circumstances of this particular sermon were very unique. There will never again be a set of circumstances quite like the one in which this first sermon was preached.

First of all, it was preached on a very unique occasion. It was preached immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Just before He ascended to the Father, the resurrected Lord Jesus had commanded His apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they had been “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). In Acts 2:1-4, we’re told about how that happened. The Lord Jesus had ascended to the right hand of the Father; and He sent the Holy Spirit—just as He promised. And as verses 14-21 show us, that event was declared to be the very thing that had been promised in the Old Testament Book of Joel. So, the circumstances of this sermon were very unique.

Second, it was preached to a very unique audience. We’re told that devout Jewish men from all around the world had gathered at that time in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. Those men had heard the stories about Jesus and were well-familiar with the fact that He was a righteous Man attested to by God through signs and wonders. They knew that the Jewish leaders had handed Him over to be crucified. The fact of His crucifixion some fifty days prior—and even the rumors of His resurrection—were fresh in their minds. And as we’re told in verses 5-13, they heard Peter and the other apostles suddenly speaking in the languages of their homelands—declaring the wonderful works of God. So, the audience of this sermon was also unique.

And third, it was preached by a unique preacher. Peter stood as the representative of those apostles who had been personally commissioned by the Lord Jesus to be His Holy-Spirit empowered witnesses. They had lived with Jesus for three-and-a-half years. They had eaten with Him, and slept next to Him, and followed Him, and saw all of His miraculous works. They were near Him when He was betrayed, arrested, tried, crucified, and buried. And they also personally saw Him alive from the dead. They spoke to Him, handled Him, and ate with Him after His resurrection. They even stood by—looking up into the heavens—as He ascended bodily to the Father in His ascension. And now, filled with the Holy Spirit, these same apostles declared the truth of the things to which they were eyewitnesses—with Peter in the lead as their spokesman. So, the preacher of this remarkable sermon was also unique.

But the same Holy Spirit who worked in the preaching of this unique sermon, on that unique occasion, to that unique crowd, through that unique preacher, is the same Holy Spirit who now works in you and me to preach this same gospel, in our time. And from this sermon, we learn much about the gospel we are to proclaim.

From this very first gospel sermon ever preached, we learn three basic things that never change, and that are to always be the content of our message to the world: (1) Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, (2) the Scriptures have been fulfilled, and (3) all people everywhere should now repent, believe and be baptized in His name.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Let’s first consider, then, the content of the gospel. As this first sermon shows us …

1. ITS THEME IS THE RESURRECTED LORD JESUS CHRIST (vv. 22-25).

Now; imagine that you were among that unique crowd on that unique day. You had heard the sound of the rushing mighty wind; and you ran to see what had happened. Then, you were amazed to hear a group of the followers of Jesus—simple, uneducated Galileans—suddenly proclaiming joyously the wonderful works of God fluently in your language. And as you marveled and wondered at how such a thing could be, you heard one of them—Peter—stand up and boldly exclaim that this was a miraculous work of God. It was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of Joel concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last times. Talk about a sermon with a gripping introduction! You would have been intensely interested in every word that was about to be proclaimed!

And what is it that you were then told about? You were told about a wonderful Person. Peter began by saying;

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—“ (v. 22).

And yes—you would have indeed known about the Person that Peter was proclaiming. Peter was right when he said that “you yourselves also know” about this Jesus of Nazareth. Everyone had talked about Him. No one could dispute that God had performed miracles, wonders, and signs through Him (see John 3:2). And what may have particularly caught your attention was how Peter had said that Jesus was “a Man attested by God”. What was it that God was testifying about Him? Could it be that He was the long-awaited Messiah? The Christ? He certainly fulfilled the promises that the Scriptures had declared about the Messiah. He was, after all, the offspring of King David. He had opened the eyes of the blind, and made the lame to walk, and cleansed the lepers, and made the deaf to hear, and raised the dead, and preached the good news to the poor—just as the Scriptures promised the Messiah would do (see Matthew 11:5 along with Isaiah 29:18 and 35:4-6). He even rode into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt—just as was promised (see Zechariah 9:9).

But then, what a shock it must have been that came over you—and perhaps also a sickening and dreadful feeling—when you heard Peter go on to say this about Jesus in verse 24;

“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” (v. 24).

And then, it would have come to your full realization that you and your people had committed the greatest and most outrageous crime of all time! You committed the horrible sin of taking the Man who was attested by God as the Messiah—and killed Him! There was no denying it. You were hearing this from a preacher who had been an eyewitness to it all. You would have realized that you are guilty of a horrible, unspeakable sin before a holy God!

But you would have also picked up on the fact that Peter said that this happened “by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God”. This was something that—somehow—was in the sovereign plan and purpose of God. Your people were guilty of crucifying the Messiah … and yet, God had permitted it and determined it beforehand. What a merciful thing it was that Peter mentioned this in his sermon!

And then, you would have heard Peter say this about Jesus in verse 24 …

“whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (v. 24).

Why could death not hold Him? Why was it “not possible”? It was because the wages of sin is death; but there had been no sin in Him. Even those who were hostile to Him could find no sin to charge against Him. Even the man crucified next to Him admitted that He had done nothing worthy of death. Even the centurion who stood watch over His crucifixion declared that He was a righteous man.

So; let’s learn an important lesson from this important ‘first gospel sermon’ about the content of the gospel. It’s not about a philosophy of life. It’s not about doing good deeds. It’s about a Person named Jesus Christ—a wonderful Person who was attested by God as righteous, who was proven by miraculous signs and wonders to be the promised Messiah, who was crucified by the hands of sinful men; and who was raised by God from the dead. What an impression all of this would have made on you as you stood among that crowd on that remarkable day!

And the next thing we learn from this sermon concerns the authority of this gospel. Peter goes on to show that …

2. ITS AUTHORITY IS THE PROPHECIES OF SCRIPTURE (vv. 26-36).

Because you were a devout Jew, you would have known the Scriptures well. But with a new awareness of what God had done through this Person named Jesus, those familiar Scriptures had begun to take on a much deeper significance. You’d realize that this message you were hearing was not something new. It had been in the sacred text all along.

Peter first quoted from Psalm 16—a psalm from King David about the Messiah. Peter declared that this psalm was actually about Jesus; and he said in verses 25-28;

For David says concerning Him:

‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence’” (vv. 25-18; also Psalm 16:8-11).

Suddenly, you realize that those words—that God ‘would not allow His Holy One to see corruption’—were not about King David himself. David was speaking prophetically the words of the Messiah—words of what had been literally fulfilled in this Man named Jesus who was David’s royal descendant. Peter went on to confirm it in his sermon. In verses 29-31, he said;

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption” (vv. 29-31).

David had died. You could have gone to visit his tomb. (And I’ll even jump in as a modern man and say that you can still go see it today. The place is known; and David’s body is still in it.) But God had made that glorious promise to King David long ago—that a Son who would come from his body would have an everlasting throne. Whoever it is that would have an everlasting throne could not see corruption of His body through death. And that is none other than Jesus. God had raised Him from the dead; and He had ascended to the right hand of the Father; and as proof of it, He had sent the Holy Spirit—just as He promised He would. Peter goes on to give eyewitness confirmation to this in verses 32-33;

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (vv. 32-33).

And then, as if to give further scriptural confirmation to it all, Peter goes on to quote another passage from another Psalm of David with which you were familiar. In verses 34-35, he quoted from Psalm 110:1—another psalm of David about the Messiah …

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’” (vv. 34-35; also Psalm 110:1).

This was—without question—a scriptural reference about Jesus. The Lord Jesus once cited this very passage when He was being challenged by the religious leaders in Jerusalem (see Luke 10:41-44)—making it very clear that this was a reference to Himself. David didn’t ascend to sit at the Father’s right hand; but Jesus did.

So; as you were listening to this man Peter open the Scriptures to you, you would have begun to realize that the very Scriptures that you’d known all your life as a devout Jew—the very Scriptures that you hold sacred and dear—were the authority upon which this gospel you were hearing was based. Peter closed it all by saying in verse 36;

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (v. 36).

How could you NOT now know it? The fact that the Holy Spirit had been miraculously sent was the manifest confirmation of it all. But what you now know convicts you thoroughly. You realize that you and your people have crucified the Messiah! He has been raised, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, and has sent the Holy Spirit in accordance with the promise of the Scriptures. But what happens now? Is there any hope for you? Verse 37 tells us;

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (v. 37).

And that’s when we discover one more thing about the gospel from this great sermon …

3. ITS GOAL IS THE SALVATION OF THOSE WHO HEAR IT (vv. 37-41).

This is when you find out that this message that Peter is preaching is truly ‘good’ news. In verses 38-40, you hear Peter declare;

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”(vv. 38-40).

This man Peter was a good preacher. He is telling you what you need to do.

There are three things that you hear from him. The first is a call to repent. Since you have now been convinced of the truth of it all—that Jesus lived without sin, that He was crucified, that He was buried, that He was raised, that He ascended to the Father, and that He has now sent the Holy Spirit—then the proper response is to ‘repent’. To repent means to ‘change your mind’ and ‘change your attitude’ from unbelief to belief. Now that you heard, you must set aside all unbelief, and now repent and believe the gospel.

The second thing to do is to be baptized. This preacher says, “. . . And let every one of you (that is, every one of you who truly believes on Jesus) be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (that is, the forgiveness) of sins …” He isn’t saying that, if you will be baptized, then all your sins will be forgiven. Rather, he’s saying that you are saved because you have repented and now believe in what Jesus has done; and that you are to now rise up and be baptized as a public testimony of your faith that your sins ARE forgiven by faith in Jesus.

And third, you are to trust that you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and yield yourself to the Spirit’s work in your life. You would now realize that the promise of the Holy Spirit was made to you—and to all the Jewish people—through the prophet Joel. But it’s a promise that includes all people who believe on Jesus—Jew and Gentile. As this preacher has said, “the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (v. 39).

* * * * * * * * * *

What a sermon this was! And what a gospel this is! As a result, we’re told in verse 41;

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them (v. 41).

This gospel still transforms lives. That’s because it is empowered by the same Holy Spirit. Through it, we learn that Jesus was raised, the Scriptures have been fulfilled, and that all should now repent and believe.

Let’s make sure that—by the enabling of the Spirit—we preach it too!

AE