Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. (Acts 2:24)

When Peter preached his fantastic sermon on Pentecost, Peter boldly confronted his hearers with their sin. Peter did not flinch at telling them, “you crucified this Man who was sent by God” (the idea of Acts 2:23). Peter could do this because his first concern was not to please his audience, but to tell them the truth. But Peter couldn’t stop there, as if his only point was to make them feel bad about their sin. Peter had to show them that there was a fact that was even greater than man’s guilt in executing the Son of God.

The greater fact was the power of God and the greatness of Jesus, both demonstrated by the resurrection. It was not possible for Jesus to remain bound by the power of death, as explained by Peter’s following quotation from Psalm 16. It was not possible for Jesus to remain a victim of the sin and hatred of man. Jesus simply had to come out ahead, glorious in triumph over sin, death, and hatred. To demonstrate this, notice that Peter used the phrase pains of death. The word pains is actually the word for “birth pains.” The idea is that the tomb was like a womb for Jesus! As one commentator wrote, “It was not possible that the chosen one of God should remain in the grip of death; the abyss can no more hold the Redeemer than a pregnant woman can hold the child in her body.”

Just as a baby must come out of the womb, the resurrection of Jesus simply had to happen. There was no way the Holy One – the sinless Son of God – could remain bound by the chains of death.

When Jesus died on the cross, He bore the full wrath of God as if He were a guilty sinner, guilty of all our sin, even being made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet even that was an act of holy, giving love for us. Therefore, Jesus Himself did not become a sinner, even though He bore the full guilt of our sin. This is the good news – that Jesus took our punishment for sin on the cross and remained a perfect Savior through the whole ordeal – all proved by His resurrection.

For this reason, He remained the Holy One, even in His death; and it was not possible that God’s Holy One could remain bound by death – the resurrection was absolutely inevitable. We don’t see many things in life that simply must happen. In almost all things we can think of another way things could turn out. But it was not this way with the resurrection of Jesus – it had to happen. It was not possible for it to be any other way. And it proves that God’s love and power are greater than the worst of man’s sin and rebellion.

Click here for David’s commentary on Acts 2

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.” (Acts 2:14)

Acts 2 describes a series of remarkable events. As the 120 disciples of Jesus gathered in an upper room, first there was an unusual sound. Then there were one-of-a-kind little flames of fire that strangely appeared above the heads of everyone in the upper room. Then, they spontaneously began to praise God and declare His marvelous works in languages they had never spoken before. This is called the gift of tongues, and it is spoken about in several other Bible passages.

On a day of strange things, the best thing was yet to happen. We come to that starting at verse 14: Peter, standing up with the eleven. What a sight! Peter standing together with the other apostles, ready to speak to the amazed multitude.

When Peter raised his voice, it was the start of an amazing sermon. Standing with the eleven, Peter stood and preached to the crowd as a representative of the whole group of apostles.

We should notice that the speaking in tongues stopped when Peter began to preach. The Holy Spirit now worked through Peter’s preaching and would not work against Himself through the speaking of tongues at the same time.

When Peter raised his voice, it was also evidence of a remarkable change in Peter. Now he displayed a courage and boldness that was a complete contrast to the way that he denied even knowing Jesus when his Savior was arrested. All that was before being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, Peter was a different man.

On the Day of Pentecost Peter didn’t teach as the rabbis in his day usually did, who gathered disciples around them, sat down, and instructed them and any others who might listen. Instead, Peter proclaimed the truth like a herald.

This remarkable sermon had no preparation behind it – it was spontaneously given. Peter didn’t wake up that morning knowing he would preach to thousands, and that thousands would embrace Jesus in response. At the same time, we could say that this was a well-prepared sermon; it was prepared by Peter’s prior life with God and relationship with Jesus. It flowed spontaneously out of that life, and out of a mind that thought and believed deeply.

It is good to remember that what we have in Acts 2 is a small portion of what Peter actually said. Acts 2:40 tells us this: and with many other words he testified and exhorted them. Like almost all the sermons recorded in the Bible, what we have is a Holy Spirit inspired summary of a longer message.

That message came through a man changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it’s not too much to say that what began with Peter’s sermon changed the world. Let the life-changing power of the Spirit have free reign in your life today.

Click here for David’s commentary on Acts 2

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:3-4a)

After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples met to pray and seek God, waiting for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. God kept His promise, and these words from Acts 2 tell how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit came with some strange things: a strange sound and a strange sight.

Notice the strange sound: suddenly there came a sound from heaven. The association of the sound of a rushing mighty wind, filling the whole house, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit probably has connection with the fact that in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word for spirit is the same word for breath or wind. Here, the sound from heaven was the sound of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the disciples.

The sound of this fast, mighty wind would make any of these disciples who knew the Hebrew Scriptures think of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

– In Genesis 1:1-2, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, blowing over the waters of the newly created earth.
– In Genesis 2:7, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, blowing life into newly created man.
– In Ezekiel 37:9-10, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, moving over the dry bones of Israel bringing them life and strength.

This single line tells us much about how the Holy Spirit moves.

– Suddenly: Sometimes God moves suddenly.
– Sound: It was real, though it could not be touched; it was something real that came through their ears.
– From heaven: It wasn’t of earth; it was not created, manipulated, or fashioned here.
– Mighty: It was full of force, coming with great power.

Notice that this happened nowhere else in Acts when the Spirit was poured out. Several other times the Holy Spirit powerfully filled the people of God (Acts 4:8, 4:31, 13:9, 13:52, 19:6). Those were wonderful and valid works of the Spirit, yet on none of those other occasions did they hear a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. The strange sound was for that particular day, but not of lasting importance.

Sometimes, God does “one-offs” – a special something for a single occasion. Can you imagine if, on a later occasion the disciples said, “Today we weren’t really filled with the Spirit because we never heard that sound”? Or, if they said, “Next time we must hear the same sound – and hear it even louder!”

That kind of thinking is a trap. Give God the credit to know when a special experience is necessary, and when it is not.

Click here for David’s commentary on Acts 2

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying.… These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:12-14)

Are you good at making important decisions? In Acts 1, the disciples had a big decision to make. They understood from the Scriptures that it was proper to replace Judas, the disgraced one who betrayed Jesus and then killed himself. But exactly who should replace Judas and fulfill his office? The steps they took in Acts 1:12-14 give us an example to follow before we make important decisions.

First, notice their obedience: Then they returned to Jerusalem. Just before He was carried up to heaven, Jesus told them to return to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly what they did. Sometimes we hear God speak to us in through His word, but we quickly forget it. Many a good sermon has been lost on the walk from the church to the parking lot! But here the disciples did what Jesus told them to do, even though He was no longer physically present with them. If we want to make the right decisions, it begins with being obedient right now with what we know to be God’s will.

Second, notice their unity: These all continued with one accord. When we saw the disciples in the gospels, it seemed they were always fighting and bickering. What changed? Peter still had his history of denying Jesus, Matthew was still a former tax collector, and Simon was still a zealot. Their differences were still there, but the resurrected Jesus in their hearts was greater than any of their differences. When we seek God about a big decision, a lack of unity with our brothers and sisters in Jesus can really get in the way. Being out of fellowship – either through our absence or through bad relationship – puts us in a bad place for decision making.

Finally, notice their prayer:  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. They all prayed, and they continued in prayer and supplication. The idea of the word supplication is a sense of desperation and earnestness in prayer. Prayer showed that they depended on God and the depth of their prayer showed the depth of their dependence. God honors it when we deeply depend on Him; it is another way

There is obviously more than these three parts to making good, godly decisions; but these three things give us an essential foundation: obedience, unity, and prayer. Now is the time to give attention to these three areas, before you might find yourself needing to make a big decision. If you are in a decision time right now, then don’t wait – give attention to obedience, unity, and prayer.

Click here for David’s commentary on Acts 1