Here in the United States, a typical sermon might take 30 minutes (more or less), and lessons are sometimes compressed into a half-hour so that they will fit into a radio program’s time slot. However, when the Holy Spirit is directing someone to speak (and guiding people to listen), the right amount of time for the sermon to last is until it is done, not until the church up the road dismisses and their members get ahead of us in line at the restaurant!
In fact, Paul spoke until daylight one time (see Acts 20:7-12), although the lesson was apparently interrupted for a meal and raising a man from the dead (after he nodded off and fell out of a third-story window!).
In Acts 2, there was more to Peter’s message (see Acts 2:14-40), but Luke didn’t record the text of all of it.
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 2:40-41 NIV
It’s OK that we don’t have all of Peter’s words, though. After all, John 21:25 suggests that there was more to tell about Jesus than there were books to fill, so we don’t expect to get all of the details here on this earth.
While we don’t have the entire message here, we have enough to understand it, and – especially in context of the rest of the Bible – more than enough to cause us to believe in the truth of it. What is left to us is to choose whether or not to accept it.
I like that the NASB says that “he solemnly testified” in verse 40. Peter wasn’t just repeating an account that another disciple had told him, nor was he making something up. No, Peter was giving testimony about things that he knew to be true, because he had walked with Jesus, and had seen confirmation that the things about which he was speaking were accurate.
Now, if you’ve also studied the Old Testament, you know that there were other “corrupt” [NIV] (or “perverse” [NASB]) generations in history (besides the environment to whom Peter was speaking in this passage), and our current era is not an exception. We live in a fallen world, where sinful generations come and go.
In fact, even those who don’t understand how far they are from God can probably look around and see that things aren’t as good as they should be. While there are various opinions about how to fix this, I think that we can all agree that something is broken. Perhaps this should be the message from followers of Jesus to a world that is hurting and looking for hope: “Be saved from this perverse generation!” [NASB].
However, something had fundamentally changed for the generation who was listening to Peter’s first-century sermon: a Savior – promised by God since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – had lived a perfect life, showed us what God is like, given His perfect life up for us, and was then confirmed as the Messiah when He was raised from the dead.
Now, I believe that those who trusted God in the centuries between Adam and Jesus could still be saved through Jesus’ sacrifice that came later. At this Pentecost, though, God’s plan was no longer only prophesied, planned, and prepared: it had come to fruition, and it was now known to humankind.
While some remained as part of a righteous remnant during previous generations of sin (and, regrettably, there were multiple generations like that described in the Bible), ultimate salvation was now available.
What were the results of this news to those in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day? For one thing, some people accepted Peter’s message. I don’t see any evidence that everyone who heard his message accepted it, and that reality can be tough for us to accept: Not everyone who we tell about Jesus will accept the message. I really, really wish that they would, though: that merely telling someone how to accept Jesus, and how important it is to do so, would be enough. However, God still allows individuals to make their own choice in this matter, and I don’t think that we should be telling Him that He is wrong about that decision.
In fact, a lot of people – about 3000 people – were baptized that day.
So, while the leaders of the congregation where I serve have challenged us to pray for and reach out to our “one” (i.e., a single person who God has placed on our hearts, for us to introduce and lead them to Jesus), I hope that each of you is also praying for thousands of lost people – thousands at a time, even – to follow Jesus.
Whether you call this a revival, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, or just people accepting the truth, let us regularly ask an awesome God to do awesome things. Don’t stop praying for individuals that you care about, though. Praying for God to bring thousands – or millions – to Himself doesn’t have to exclude reaching out to individuals one – or a few – at a time. When it comes to both small-scale and large-scale evangelism, let’s be a church of “both/and”, rather than “either/or”.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for September 24, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, October 1, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts, by Gareth L. Reese. © 1976, College Press Publishing Company.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Acts, by Dennis Gaertner. © 1993 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 