“How Revival Comes” (Acts 2:14–41)

 

What Does This Mean?

The Book of Acts is filled with powerful preaching and significant speeches. In fact, there are 19 recorded sermons or speeches: 8 by Peter, 9 by Paul, and one each by Stephen and James. Preaching takes up about 25% of the entire book!

Today’s passage is one of those apostolic sermons—it is Peter’s Spirit-filled response to the crowd’s question: “What does this mean?”

In the Last Days

First, Peter tells us what this moment is not: “These people are not drunk, as you suppose.”

Then, he tells us what it is: “This is the fulfillment of the prophecy from Joel that all devout Jews have longed to see.”

“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… And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This is the dawn of a new era—the age of the Spirit, the beginning of the Church.

The Good News (The Heart of Preaching)

Who is this Lord we are called to believe in and call upon? Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. And Peter boldly proclaims:

Jesus is the Lord upon whom we must call to be saved!

The Good News is not a philosophy, a program, or a lifestyle. The Gospel is the person of Jesus Christ:

• His life and ministry (v.22):

“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through Him, as you well know.”
(Just think of the Gospel of John—seven signs pointing to who Jesus is.)

• His death (v.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.”

• His resurrection (vv.24–32):

“But God raised Him from the dead…”
Peter connects this to David’s prophecy in Psalm 16—the resurrection of the Messiah was foretold!

• His exaltation (vv.33–36):

“Now He is exalted to the right hand of God, and He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, which He has poured out—this is what you now see and hear.”

·       Conclusion (v.36):

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”

·       Response (v.41):

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day.”

Peter’s Story (The Preacher)

That day, revival began. But how did it start?

Yes, it started when people heard the Gospel—but also, because there was a preacher. Revival first started with Peter himself—his transformation.

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

E.M. Bounds once said: “Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life… It takes 20 years to make a sermon, because it takes 20 years to make the person.”

“A prepared heart/preacher is much better than a prepared sermon.”

Here, Peter was not simply preaching the Gospel—he was preaching his Gospel: the message he fully trusted, personally experienced, and lived out.

• It’s like childbirth—each week a pastor labors through the pain and joy of giving birth to a message of life.
• Consider Pope Francis. Early in life, he was capable and rising fast in Argentina. But in his 50s, he was sent to a rural area to serve the sick. He later said it was a dark valley. Yet through that time, he learned how to be a shepherd. It was a painful but transformative time. That experience shaped his pastoral motto: “The shepherd should smell like the sheep.”

The Holy Spirit

We’ve seen the preaching, and the preacher. But there is one more—most important—component: the Holy Spirit.

Revival is not merely human effort. It is the sovereign work of the Spirit of God.

John Wesley once preached a powerful sermon at Oxford titled Scriptural Christianity. He emphasized that even the disciples, who had seen Jesus face to face, only became effective witnesses after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Wesley argued that intellectual belief alone was not enough. He said something like this:

“We’ve not physically seen Jesus or walked with Him as the disciples did. Yet, like them, we are called to be His witnesses. How can we do that? Only by being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

There is a difference between the indwelling and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

• When we receive Jesus, the Spirit begins to dwell in us.
• But when we earnestly seek to be filled, guided, and empowered, we begin to live out our faith with authenticity, power, and joy.

Let me share a story I recently heard:

During the Korean military dictatorship, a Christian professor was imprisoned. While in jail, he saw a pastor being regularly beaten and interrogated. His face was gloomy and hopeless. The professor had a smuggled New Testament, which he secretly split in two—giving the Gospels to the pastor, and keeping the Epistles for himself.

From that moment, everything changed. Though the torture did not stop, the professor began hearing that pastor sing and pray through the night. His countenance changed. His joy returned. Though the circumstances were unchanged, his heart was strengthened and transformed—by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Revival

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need revival. Some of us are grieving or struggling. Some are feeling lost, wandering. As a church, we are in transition. We face many challenges: children’s ministries, leadership needs, and spiritual unity. There are no easy answers.

So how does revival come?

1. Preaching – We must hear the full Gospel of Jesus Christ and believe it.
2. Preacher – We must be shaped by the Gospel and live it.
3. Holy Spirit – We must seek the Spirit and be filled.

Let us cry out to God together: “Come, Holy Spirit. Fill our hearts anew.”

As He promised through the prophet Joel—and confirmed through Peter—God will pour out His Spirit on all people. Our sons and daughters will prophesy. Our seniors will dream dreams. Our youth and Sunday School children will see visions. And all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Amen.