Sermon26-19 Acts2 Guide

Acts 2:14,22-33 theme verse Acts 2:33

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this Easter Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life.  

Last week, on the Hosannah Sunday, through Lk 19, we looked at Jesus came this earth to serve as the King of humility by entering Jerusalem riding on a colt. Yet, on this Easter Sunday, we would like to learn few lessons after meditating on His resurrection together.

1)    The context of this Peter’s sermon in Acts Chapter 2 is that on the Day of Pentecost, as 120 disciples were gathered in prayer, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and then, filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak of the mighty works of God in various languages. Coincidentally, devout Jews from every nation who were staying in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost, were astonished to hear the disciples speaking in their own native tongues. Yet, some mocked saying, "They are filled with new wine."

Therefore, in response, Peter stood up and explained that since it was only the third hour of the day, by the modern time, just only 9:00 a.m., no one would be intoxicated at such an early hour. Rather, he declared that this was the fulfillment of God’s promise, which was foretold by the Old Testament book of Joel that in the end era, God would pour out His Spirit upon all the flesh. And also he preached about Jesus’ redemptive work, including His death, resurrection, and ascension and proclaimed "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

2)    Yet, in today’s text, Peter provided four proofs of the resurrection which Peter gave his audiences in his sermon. I mean,

his first proof was the person of Jesus Christ. (vv.22-24), that is, Jesus’ life, performance of signs and miracles, and sinlessness.

And his second proof was the prophecy of David (vv.25-31) in Ps 16:8-11.

And his third proof was the witness of the believers (v.33).

And Peter’s fourth proof of the resurrection of Christ was the descent of the Holy Spirit (vv.34-35) since if Jesus is dead, He could not send the Spirit as He promised (Jn 16:7).

3)    Therefore, I hope we could look at each proof more deeply one by one.

The first proof Peter provided was Jesus’ powerful life and innocence.

I mean, Jesus attested to the people that He was the Messiah and the Son of God that the Word became flesh through His signs and miracles by His power.

Yet, Jewish people accused Him in the Roman court. So, Pilate who presided over the trial, tried to find quilt, yet could not so that he tried to release Him saying “I find no sin from Him” three times. But due to the threats of the Jewish leaders and the crowds, he declared crucifixion.

Therefore, God raised Him who is sinless so over whom death could claim no hold. I mean, since death is the consequence of sin, Jesus could not be held by death because he possessed no sin of his own for death to claim. Since through the eternal Spirit, He offered Himself without blemish to God, remaining undefiled and without spot, despite being tested in all ways like believers, yet without sin so that He could bear away human sins.

And beyond His sinlessness, Christ possessed the inherent power within Himself to die and to live again, as he declared: “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (Jn 18:10)”. The dignity of His person, I mean, His humanity united with the Godhead, rendered it impossible that the cords of death could hold him, for a body in which dwelt the fullness of God could not be bound by death.

And also Divine promise constituted another reason, I mean, Jesus Himself, as God incarnate who cannot lie, promised He would rise from the dead on the third day as it was prophesied in the Old Testament already.

4)    Especially Peter in his sermon quoted from Psalm 16:10 which David prophesied that the soul of the Messiah will not be abandoned to Hades and His Holy body will not see the corruption, as this prophesy cannot be applied to David himself, who died and buried.

In addition to that, Job 19:25, 2 Samuel  7:16, Ps 110:1-3, and Isaiah 24:23 etc., proclaim already that He will sit in the righthand of God and as the King, He will reign in glory. All these verses proves that He rose again from the dead and is no longer in the tomb.

As such, as prophecy had long foretold this would occur, Scripture cannot be broken. Furthermore, God’s eternal purpose required his resurrection which he planned that his people be with him forever, necessitating that Jesus blaze the trail through death and out the other side, promising the Father he would raise all God’s people and lose none of them.

So Christ, having risen from the dead, will never die again, and death no longer has dominion over Him (Rom 6:9). Through His appearing, Christ abolished death and revealed life and immortality through the gospel (2 Tim 1:10).

5)     Furthermore, in the verse 32, Peter bears another witness to this truth, declaring that he and his companions are eyewitnesses who personally encountered the risen Jesus.

Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 15:4–8, the Apostle Paul testifies that the risen Christ appeared not only to the Twelve Apostles but also to more than five hundred brothers at one time, and that he, too, personally beheld the Lord.

As such, this encounter with the risen Jesus Christ completely transformed their lives. I mean,

The eleven disciples who had abandoned Jesus and fled when He was arrested after descending from His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, after meeting the risen Lord and were filled with the Holy Spirit, they went to the ends of the earth to bear witness to Him and suffered martyrdom.

And even Peter who had followed Jesus at the time of His arrest but then denied Him three times, even with cursing Him, after meeting the risen Lord and was filled with the Holy Spirit, then dedicated himself as a leader of the early church and finally suffered martyrdom in Rome.

Likewise, Paul who had once persecuted the early church, yet after encountering the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus while on his way to arrest believers and being filled with the Holy Spirit, he went on to serve as the Apostle to the Gentiles, spreading the Gospel throughout Greece, Rome, and Spain, before ultimately being beheaded during the reign of Nero.

As such, the Resurrection serves as the driving force that empowers believers to proclaim the risen Lord.

6)    Furthermore, Peter asserted that the "Holy Spirit” who descended on the Day of Pentecost to fill the believers and, through His gifts, enabled them to proclaim the mighty works of God in every language, also serves as a testimony to the resurrection of Jesus.

I mean, as Jesus said "It is to your advantage that I go away, for If I go, I will send the Holy Spirit to you”, true to His promise, after dying on the cross, rising again on the third day just as He had prophesied, and ascending into heaven, Jesus sent the promised Holy Spirit to His disciples on the Day of Pentecost.

So Peter declared that this very "descent of the Holy Spirit" stands as concrete evidence that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead.

By the way, this event constituted the fulfillment of a prophecy already foretold in the Old Testament, specifically in Ezekiel 36:27: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

7)    However, the "Resurrection of the Lord” which is far from being a subject for logical proof or scientific verification, is, in reality, Life itself triumphing over death so that it has to be embraced through faith.

Furthermore—just as the early church focused not on presenting evidence for the Resurrection, but rather on proclaiming the Risen Lord.

It stands as the core message of Christianity, I mean, the Kerygma that we are called to make known and proclaim to the entire world.

So, rather than merely describing the process of the Resurrection, as the Scriptures proclaim its life-giving power through the empty tomb, the testimony of over five hundred eyewitnesses, the experiences and confessions of the disciples, and the sacrificial lives, thus, transcending mere theological debate, we proclaim that resurrection signifies the very power and glory of Jesus Christ which continues to be conveyed through the Church to this very day.

8)    Therefore, as disciples of the Lord, we who believed in His resurrection through the inner testimony of the Word and the Holy Spirit and furthermore, have encountered the risen Lord, have to strive to manifest and proclaim the life-giving power of His resurrection. So I hope that throughout this year, we may all proclaim the risen Lord, empowered by the vitality of His resurrection in our faith, to reveal God’s Gospel and glorify our God.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through Peter’s sermon of today’s text, we became to know and believe that Jesus was risen. So after reflecting our faith and checking if we are believing and accepting His resurrection, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, we became to know that His disciples who met the risen Lord dedicated their life to the martyrdom to proclaim His resurrection to the world. So after reflecting our faith and reflecting if we met Him and started to live the life of witness, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.