R. H. Boll Lord's Day Lesson 3: Peter's Sermon at Pentecost (1916)

 

WORD   AND   WORK
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO DECLARE THE
WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD.
Entered at Louisville, Ky., Post Office as Second Class Matter.
R. H. BOLL, Editor-in-chief.
Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seventy-five Cents a Year
In Clubs of Four or More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fifty Cents Each
Single Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ten Cents
VOL. IX. JANUARY, 1916. No. 1.

THE LORD'S DAY LESSON.
Lesson III. January 16, 1916.
PETER'S SERMON AT PENTECOST.
      Golden Text:--"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21.
      Lesson Text.*--Acts 2:14-47. Memorize verses 36 to 39.

      22.   Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know; 23   him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay: 24   whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25   For David saith concerning him, I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26   Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; Moreover my flesh also shall dwell in hope: 27   Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption. 28   Thou madest known unto me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of gladness with thy countenance. 29.   Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. 30.   Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne; 31   he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32   This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33   Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. 34.   For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35   till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. 36.   Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. 37   Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? 38.   And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39.   For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. 40.   And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. 41.   They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls. 42.   And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

* Amer. Stand. Rev. Version; Copyright, Nelson & Sons.

 

      22. Here begins the main part of the Sermon. What is its subject? How had God shown His approval of Jesus? Were these things "done in a corner?"

      23. Did Jesus' death merely happen? Did He simply fall victim to the malice and wickedness of His persecutors? (John 10:17, 18; Matt. 26:53, 54).

      24. Who raised Jesus from the dead? (But see also John 2:19-22; 10:18). Was Jesus' resurrection a great act of power on God's part? (Eph. 1:19-22).

      29. How does this verse prove that David's language (as quoted in vs. 25-28) could not have had reference to David himself?

      30-32. Of whom spake David this? How was Jesus of David's line Rom. 1:3. In what two respects then does he answer to the Old Testament description of God's Christ? (1st, His descent; 2nd, His Resurrection).

      33. What direct explanation does Peter give of the marvelous manifestations these onlookers had witnessed? Did the Jews know that the Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit? Matt. 3:11.

      34-35. What other proof that the language of the psalms regarding the Christ could not apply to David himself? Is this Son of David greater than David himself? (Matt 22:41-46). How long will the Lord occupy this exalted position? (1 Cor. 15:24-28).

      36. What two titles therefore belong to Jesus? What had the Jews done to him whom God made Lord and Christ?

      37. Did the audience believe Peter's speech? What produced their anguish? Had they had an intimation that they might be saved? (v. 21) What did they now ask?

      38. Did Peter answer plainly? What two things must they do? What two things would God do? Was this "good news?" Has it ever been changed? (Gal. 1:8, 9). What ought we to tell convicted sinners today?

      39. Why could the word "children" in verse 39 not mean "infants?" Who are they that are "afar off?" [41] (Compare Eph. 2:13), vs. 40-42. How alone could they "save themselves?" (Eph. 2:8). From what were to save themselves? What did those who received the word do? What will such do today? To what were they added? How did they maintain their spiritual life?

NOTES ON LESSON 3.

      The lesson includes more than the printed portion. It begins with verse 14, at which Peter rises to speak. He was the man to whom the Lord had committed "the keys of the kingdom;" and whose directions to sinners the Lord had specially pledged to endorse and ratify. (Matt. 16:19).

      Peter first removes the foolish conclusion of some (v. 13); then shows that the outpouring of the Spirit (the effect of which the multitude had witnessed with amazement) was in fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. (Joel 2). The prophecy he quotes includes a prediction of the great day of the Lord, which is the Day of Vengeance. (Zech. 1:14-18) and intimates plainly that between the Spirit's outpouring and that awful Day there should be an interval during which "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Rom. 10:13, 14).

      The quotation from the 16th Psalm (Acts 2:25-28) is very beautiful. It shows incidentally the secret of Christ's deep joy and peace in the midst of all storms and conflicts. He knew God would neither leave his soul in Hades, nor suffer hit body to see corruption. Therefore, said he (literally) "my flesh shalt pitch its tent in hope." For the flesh of God's Holy One was not to see corruption. After tabernacling a brief while in the tomb it was to come forth, instinct with the life of God, glorified, incorruptible, immortal. Although David was the writer of this psalm and used the pronoun "I," it could not, as Peter shows (v. 29) have been David's own experience.

      The hearers interrupted Peter when he had reached his climax. (v. 37). Their anxious cry was, What shall we do?" It was the right time to ask that question, for the Spirit had come to give the infallible answer. Peter was the right man to be asked it. And his answer was direct and very plain. With many other words (which in God's judgment needed not to be preserved) Peter testified and exhorted them. The sum of his exhortation was, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." People can save themselves only by accepting the free gift of God's salvation by humble, submissive faith. (v. 38). Compare the similarity of the thought in Numbers 16:25-35. There is a terrible fate hanging over the world. Let us save ourselves from the world's destiny by coming out of the world and into Christ.

      If only the sinner's question had always been answered as directly and plainly--how much confusion, how much fruitless and despair would have been avoided! But to this day the religious world is very generally unwilling to give anxious, inquiring sinners this simple answer which the Holy Spirit gave them on Pentecost through Peter.

      The sustenance of the spiritual life is set forth in verse 42. When that crowd gathered that day (v. 6), they were condemned men, "dead in trespasses passes and in sins;" guilty of the blood of the Lord. When that day closed three thousand of them had passed out of death into life. How did this change come? (vs. 37, 38, 41). Now their new-found life must be sustained just as all other life must be kept up. Verse 42 shows how those Christians sustained their spiritual life.

      I have heard people say they wished that they had lived in the days of the apostles, and had heard Peter preach. That was a privilege. But we are not excluded from it. Get some out to read this sermon of Peter's over to you and you have "heard Peter preach." That is the very purpose for which God has had it recorded. And if you, in answer to his plain command will do as did those people on Pentecost, you will certainly be saved and added to the Lord as they were. That is "the way that is right and can't be wrong." [42]

 

["Lord's Day Lesson 3: Peter's Sermon at Pentecost." Word and Work 9 (January 1916): 41-42.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      The electronic version of R. H. Boll's "Lord's Day Lesson 3: Peter's Sermon at Pentecost" has been produced from microfilm of Word and Work for 1916.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 42:     (Acts 2:25-28 [ (Acts 2:25-28)

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 22 January 2002.
Updated 22 June 2003.

R. H. Boll Lord's Day Lesson 3: Peter's Sermon at Pentecost (1916)
Back to R. H. Boll Page
Back to Restoration Movement Texts Page