Whoever calls on the name of the Lord... (Acts 2:14-21)

[Stephan Choe]

January 9, 2023

Key verses

17:       “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young shall see visions, and your old shall have dreams.”

21:       "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. After that he sent us the Holy Spirit so that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ may receive the Holy Spirit. So Jesus abides with us through the Holy Spirit.

Now we want today because of Acts. 2:14-21 learn what receiving the Holy Spirit means to us. Those who perceive this fact correctly can enjoy a fulfilled life.

May God help us through this sermon to find a clear orientation for our lives.

1. Peter's explanation to the curious onlookers (14-16)

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit miraculously descended upon the assembled disciples of Jesus. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind, and the Holy Spirit filled the whole house where Jesus' disciples were gathered.

Then they saw that the Holy Spirit was divided like tongues of fire and then sat on each of the assembled disciples. And all the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak and preach in other languages that they had not really learned. What a miracle!

It was the day of Pentecost. The name "Pentecost" means "fifty" in Greek. Pentecost is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 50th day after Passover. The Jews celebrate Pentecost as the day of the end of the grain harvest, since Easter roughly corresponds to the beginning of the grain harvest.

Countless godly pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem for this Pentecost. When the unusual roar happened, a great crowd of pilgrims heard it and, out of curiosity, flocked to the meeting place of the disciples. They saw about 120 disciples speaking and preaching fluently in various world languages with great joy.

Judging by their appearance, these disciples must have been poor people from Galilee. But they spoke radiantly in different world tongues about the great deeds of God.

All spectators were perplexed as to how such a thing could happen.

Then Peter appeared with the eleven apostles and explained to the astonished onlookers what was happening to the disciples. He called out to viewers something like this:

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ye Jews and all who dwell in Jerusalem! Let me explain what happened here today. These people aren't drunk like some of you think. It's only nine o'clock in the morning" (14-15).

Peter pointed out to the people that it was only the 3rd hour, which is 9 a.m. today, for the Jews had divided the day and the night into 12 hours.

So Peter said, “It's nine o'clock in the morning. These disciples are not drunk with wine.”

What happened to the 120 disciples?

2. Peter's explanation of the coming of the Holy Spirit (16-17a)

Let's listen to Peter's explanation in verses 16 and 17!

Peter began to explain to the curious onlookers:"But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh'" (Joel 3:1-5).

Prophet Joel had proclaimed that the Holy Spirit would come upon all believers. In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit was only given to certain people such as Prophets, certain priests and kings like David. But Peter now declared that the prophecy of the prophet Joel had been fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit would be given to all believers.

Since this Pentecost, all who believe in Jesus Christ have received the Holy Spirit. This is good news. Jesus worked towards this day during his earthly ministry.

For example, in John 3:5 and John 4:14 he said:

"Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:15).

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a spring of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

So: If we confess our sins and believe in Jesus as God's son and in his sacrificial death and resurrection, God forgives us all our sins and gives us the Holy Spirit.

This means that God accepts us as his children and gives us eternal, blessed life.

The second chapter of Acts records that the Holy Spirit first descended on the first group of 120 disciples of Jesus. This group had already been disciples of Jesus. But they had to wait for that day to receive the Holy Spirit.

As these 120 disciples received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, a large crowd of curious onlookers came to their gathering and listened to Peter preach. 3000 of them repented, believed in Jesus Christ, received baptism and received the Holy Spirit. So they were accepted into the Christian Church. This is how this second group received the Holy Spirit.

So: All believers in Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit and became God's children.

The miracle of Pentecost was very wonderful. Both 120 disciples and the numerous pilgrims could see and hear the Holy Spirit coming: The Holy Spirit came down on them from heaven like a roar of a mighty wind and like tongues of fire. He came down from heaven, was divided like tongues of fire, and sat on each of the disciples.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, they could speak in tongues and preach in various foreign languages that they had never learned.

This is a sign that God wants to save all nations and make them one in the Holy Spirit. The first humans originally spoke only one language. But because people rebelled against God, God wanted to limit the damage caused by human sinfulness by confusing languages (Genesis 11:9).

But on Pentecost, God gave a sign of his goal: the apostles preached in different foreign languages on that day and all the listeners could understand their sermons well.

Later, when we get to the kingdom of heaven, we only need one heavenly language, and we can fully communicate with each other.

The miracle of Pentecost is thus a preview of the kingdom of heaven. This is a great miracle.

Until recently, the disciples had asked Jesus if he will destroy all the evil rulers of this world immediately and establish God's kingdom. The disciples were fed up with suffering under the unjust rulers of this world. They didn't want to suffer anymore. They wanted to leave the evil rule of the world as soon as possible and come to the Messianic Kingdom where they would have no trouble.

But Jesus wanted the disciples to stay in this world for a while and preach the gospel to the people to bring as many people as possible to faith and salvation.

The Holy Spirit helped them understand the will of Jesus and follow him. He helped them think not only of their own desires, but of Jesus' will. It is Jesus' desire that as many people as possible be saved from sin. He had a shepherd heart for all people. He therefore commanded his disciples to carry out his world mission command as he wished, despite the difficulties in the world.

But he knew the weakness of the disciples. He does not want his disciples to try to save people with their own strength. He gave them the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). His disciples are to work through the power of the Holy Spirit to save as many people as possible.

3. All can be saved (17b-21)

Who can receive the Holy Spirit and become a child of God?

Peter could have said, "Only we, 120 disciples, can receive the Holy Spirit. You can only watch.”

No. Peter said to the assembled onlookers that they also receive the Holy Spirit.

He reminded all those who were listening of the prophecy of the prophet Joel:

"I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh."

Peter used the expression‎ "all flesh" to mean all people who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ. There is no barrier.

It is the good news that all people who repent and believe in Jesus Christ can receive the promised Holy Spirit and be saved. Therefore, this is the Good News for everyone. That is indeed a great offer of grace! It's a sensational message.

With his sermon, Peter made it clear that from this day of Pentecost people do not have to wait for the Holy Spirit. Rather, all with their repentance and faith can immediately receive the Holy Spirit.

So that day 3000 people received the Holy Spirit immediately. What a great day!

Let's get to know the account of Pentecost even more closely. Let's take a closer look at Peter's sermon. Let's look at verses 17 and 18. Peter explained the events of that day of Pentecost to the curious people: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall have dreams; and upon my servants and upon my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy."

Peter said that the prophecy of the prophet Joel had now been fulfilled. Joel was a prophet in Old Testament times. He prophesied that God would pour out his Spirit on all people.

In Old Testament times, few prophets received the Holy Spirit.

But Joel prophesied the dawn of a new epoch of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is given to all without distinction between old and young, male and female, free and slave.

When receiving the Holy Spirit, supernatural phenomena sometimes happen, such as prophesy, heavenly visions or dreams.

Nevertheless, the main work of the Holy Spirit is that by receiving the Holy Spirit we become children of God and share the gospel with others. Look at verses 19 and 20: “And I will do wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great day of the revelation of the Lord comes.” This prophecy has not yet come to pass at Pentecost, for the Lord has not yet come again. But first he wants the gospel to be proclaimed to all the world. When the time grows full, the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, and will perish. After that, the Lord Jesus Christ will come in glory.

Look at verse 21, "And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

This is Peter's main message."Calling on the name of the Lord" means that people believe in the name of Jesus Christ and therefore call on his name with confidence.

That is why people should believe in Jesus Christ and call on him. So they can have eternal life and enter the kingdom of heaven.

Unfortunately, the unbelievers who remain stubbornly unbelieving despite the proclaimed good news will be lost.

Now is the time of grace and the hour of salvation.

For all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ will receive the Holy Spirit freely. Those who have received the Holy Spirit are saved.

This is one of the greatest miracles of God.

The Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke. He was a doctor by profession, treating people's physical ailments. But he valued the sonship of God and eternal life more than physical healing.

So he wrote two big books to heal people from their death disease.

God wants to give people the Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:13). Receiving the Holy Spirit means becoming a child of God. If you are a child, after your death you will be resurrected and go to the kingdom of heaven. After the historic day of Pentecost, the path to receiving the Holy Spirit is open to all people: those who repent for their sins and believe in the gospel will receive the Holy Spirit and eternal life.

That is the main message of the Pentecost miracle.

This is the gospel of salvation in the two books of Luke.

That is the main message of the whole Bible.

Praise God for the Good News and for His love for all people.

May God bless us all and fill us with His Spirit.

Through us, may he lead many people who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ to repent and believe in Jesus Christ so that they may receive the Holy Spirit and become God's children.

You can receive eternal life and heavenly blessings abundantly.