Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
March 2025
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. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘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. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: 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. 23 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 the cross.
24 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. 25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 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. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:14-36 NIV)
Today, we want to talk about preaching. Every pastor remembers his first sermon. This was Peter’s first sermon. He preaches it after a stupendous public miracle.
Twelve apostles were there, even though Judas was dead. That means Mathias was there with the other apostles but the one who started preaching was Peter. He was the spokesman for the apostles and he was a loud preacher.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd (Acts 2:14 NIV). He has to be loud to talk to so many people without a microphone.
Peter has five sermons or speeches in the Book of Acts.[1] This was the first one he ever preached. It was the first sermon anybody preached. This was the first Christian sermon.
It is one of the greatest sermons in the whole Bible. Many sermons today put people to sleep. They are boring. They are dry. They have no substance.
This one sermon that brought 3000 people to Christ. That’s a pastor’s dream. Preachers today would be happy if just one person got converted through their preaching.
The greatest miracle that happened on Pentecost wasn’t speaking in tongues or the tongues of fire. It wasn’t all of the languages spoken supernaturally. It was the conversion of 3000 people from one sermon.
A Restored Preacher
It is a miracle that Peter even preached at all. He had a lot of flaws. He always had his foot in his mouth. He ruined his Christian testimony just a month earlier. He embarrassed the name of Christ. Have you ever done that?
Peter had completely disgraced the name of Jesus. He denied Jesus, he denied Him repeatedly. He denied him three times.
He denied Him publicly. He even did it under oath when a servant girl told Peter he was with Jesus of Galilee (Matthew 26:72).
Even though he was one of Jesus’ official representatives, even though he was one of the leaders of His movement, he said he didn’t know who Jesus was. That was a lie.
Even though he spent three years with Jesus hearing His teaching and watching him perform incredible miracles, he said, “I don’t know the man. I don’t know who you are talking about.”
If you or I did that, we would probably never get over it. We would never get back into ministry again. I would be afraid that I would just blow it again.
I would also be worried that people would use everything I say against me. If Peter lived in our day, with social media and the news media, that would have happened.
Peter did not let what he did in the past stop him from serving. He did not let what other people thought of him stop him from preaching.
He stood up and boldly preached the name of Jesus without apology in the power of the Holy Spirit and he did it in the very city that murdered Jesus. He did it in a city that hated Jesus, hated Christians.
Peter did not attend seminary. He had not taken any homiletics classes that teach you how to preach. He was not a trained orator or great public speaker. He had not even been to college. He was not even educated.
He was a simple fisherman, but this fisherman preached with incredible results, and he did it without any sermon preparation. This sermon was not planned. He just started speaking.
It was completely spontaneous. He could not do this on his own. It required supernatural power. Peter was filled with the Spirit. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit was well (Ephesians 5:18). It is not just for apostles. It is for us.
Now, not everyone who stands up in a pulpit and screams at you is necessarily filled with the Spirit. Some pastors are filled with the Spirit. Some are not. You can tell the difference.
How to Preach the Gospel
Today, we are going to look at how to preach the gospel from Peter’s sermon in Acts 2. There are four things that Peter did that we can do when we share faith with unbelievers.
1. Use apologetics
That was the first thing Peter did. he answered objections. Some claimed these people on Pentecost were drunk. They had too much wine.
Peter uses a little humor. He says they can’t be drunk. It is too early to be drunk. It is only nine in the morning (Acts 2:15 NIV). The bars aren’t even open yet.
Apologetics answers people’s objections and gives reasons for faith. Peter does both of these in this sermon. We should do some apologetics when we talk to unbelievers.
The Apostle Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (I Peter 3:15 NIV)
Peter did that on Pentecost. He was prepared to give an answer. Are we? He answered objections that people had. He answered the skeptics. There were skeptics in Peter’s day and there are skeptics in our own day,
There are always skeptics of the Bible. There are always skeptics of God. There are always skeptics of the supernatural. Sometimes, we find them in the church.
Then Peter gives four reasons why Christianity is true. These reasons are still valid today. What are they?
First, Fulfilled Scripture
The fulfillment of Scripture is a powerful proof to the truth of Christianity. What happened to Jesus was all predicted in the OT. The OT predicted Jesus’ death. It predicts Jesus’ resurrection. It predicts Jesus’ ascension
What happened at Pentecost was all predicted in the OT. It was Scripture being fulfilled. He says, “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16 NIV)
Second, Changed Lives
That is a powerful proof to Christianity. There is no argument against a changed life. Fifty days earlier, Peter did not have the courage to speak to a servant girl. He denied the Lord three times.
Now he preaches in a hostile city to over 3000 people without fear. The 120 had a changed life when the Spirit came. They began speaking languages they never learned before and were praising God.
Third, Real Miracles
Peter mentions to miracles in this sermon. There was the language miracle. All these fishermen instantly became renown linguistics without any training or education.
He also mentions the miracles of Jesus, which many of them had seen with their own eyes. They witnessed them.
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: 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 (Acts 2:22 NIV)
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. (Matthew 4:23-25 NIV)
Jesus performed miracles. He had a reputation not only for being a great teacher but for performing all kinds of miracles (healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, even controlling the forces of nature and Peter says God did these miracles. He also said that they knew He did them. These miracles were undeniable.
Four, the Resurrection
The most powerful argument for Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus. Peter pointed out that Jesus was killed by wicked men.
Two human courts condemned Him to death, but God raised him from the dead. Peter said, it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him (Acts 2:24).
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 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. (Acts 2:32-33 NIV)
Peter says the resurrection did not just happen. There are many witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 2:32). It was verifiable. Peter says David is dead. He did not fulfill the prediction of Acts 16. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive and we are witnesses of it.
2. Use Scripture
Peter doesn’t do expository preaching. He does not take one passage and expound it. He does topic preaching, but he uses Scripture. There is Scripture all through this sermon.
Peter quotes four OT passages. He quotes Joel 2, Psalm 16, 110 and Psalm 132. He quotes a passage from Joel and three passages from the Psalms. He does it extemporaneously.
Most of us could not quote any passages from Joel from memory. Joel is an obscure OT book, but Peter could quote it. He knew his Bible.
Why did he spend so much time quoting the Bible, instead of just giving his own opinions? There is power in the Word of God.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)
Peter did not just quote the Bible; he applied it to their situation. He applied biblical prophecy to their own day. He did applicational Bible study.
People accused the disciples of being drunk, so Peter quoted Joel. Joel predicted what was going on. Pentecost was just the beginning of what Joel predicted would happen.
Joel is a book that deals with end-times. It deals with last days but Peter applied it to Pentecost. He applied to their own day.
Joel did not say anything about speaking in tongues. He did predict a time when the Holy Spirit would be poured out on people and supernatural things would start happening.
Miracles will take place. People will have supernatural visions. They will have prophetic dreams. They will receive prophetic words.
What Joel said is the exact opposite of what many preachers say today. Some say that there is no more prophecy today. We have the Bible but there is prophecy today.
It is a spiritual gift and there will be prophecy before Jesus returns. There are prophets mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Tribulation period. None of these prophets are writing any books of Scripture. The canon is closed.
Joel predicted all kinds of miracles in the last days before the return of Christ. These miracles will not just take place in the days of the apostles. They took place on Pentecost. They are taking place now and they will take place just before Jesus returns. We live in the last days.
Joel says that not only will supernatural things happen to people, but they will happen to all kinds of people. God will not just speak to apostles and prophets. He will speak to young people and old people. He will speak to women as well as men.
Preaching and prophecy are not exactly the same, although John MacArthur gets them confused. Joel was not describing women preachers. Speaking for God is not the same as preaching, but God can speak to women as much as He can speak to men.
3. Preach Jesus
When we share our faith with unbelievers, we need to preach Jesus. That is what Paul did. Paul said, “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (II Corinthians 4:5).
That is what Peter did. This sermon is all about Jesus. Peter talked about Jesus’ ministry, His death, His resurrection, His ascension.
Peter tells them that what they saw on the day of Pentecost was because of what Jesus did. He was the one who sent the Spirit like He promised to do (Acts 2:33).
He mentioned the miracles, wonders and signs He performed during those three years (Acts 2:22).
He talked about Jesus’s death and how He was nailed to a cross (Acts 2:23). He says this was part of the plan of God. God is in control of history. God orchestrated these events.
He talked about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:24-32). This was the first public announcement to the nation that Jesus had risen from the dead in Peter’s sermon.
He talked about the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33-35). Peter said that God raised Him, and God exalted Him.
Peter does not just talk about WHAT Jesus did but WHO He is. Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (Acts 2:36 NIV).
Jesus is not only their Messiah but their Lord. The one they crucified would one day be their Judge. He also said anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
4. Preach against sin
When we preach the gospel, we have to preach against sin. Many preachers today say very little about sin. That is unpopular. It is not a positive message. No one wants to hear that.
We want to be affirmed. The truth is that you can’t preach the gospel without saying something about sin. Preaching against sin is biblical.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1 NIV).
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:1-2 NIV)
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (II Timothy 4:2 NIV)
Part of preaching the Word is correction. It is rebuke. It is preaching against sin. Some churches never preach against sin. People can live together. They can live alternative lifestyles. They can live in rebellion to the Word of God, and you will not hear a word about it.
When Peter preached this sermon, he preached against sin. He didn’t preach against fornication or homosexuality. He didn’t preach against abortion. He preached against murder. Peter was talking to a group a Jews. They knew their Bible.
They believed in a coming Messiah. They have been waiting for him to come. They have been praying for Him to come. He finally comes and they kill him. They crucify Him. That was he sin he preached against. Stephen did the same thing in Acts 7.
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him (Acts 7:51-52 NIV)
Next week, we will see the reaction of the crowd to this sermon. We saw Peter’s sermon. What was the reaction to the sermon?
[1] https://biblicalmissiology.org/blog/2015/04/22/peters-speeches-in-the-book-of-acts-lessons-for-evangelists-today/; https://loveintruth.com/amf-docs/gpia-peter.htm
