For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
“Close your eyes and think of me; And soon I will be there; To brighten up even your darkest night” Those lyrics by Carole King are written to assure a friend that they are not alone, that there is the promise of a friend’s arrival to help them. Peter had just received the Holy Spirit and an influx of great wisdom, a full knowledge of Scripture, and a clear view of the hope of the gospel. He would later apply this wisdom to his two letters he wrote at the end of his life. At this point, Jesus had ascended to heaven a week earlier, having just commissioned Peter to feed his sheep. This is the first course, the first sermon from the first preacher in the church. Rather than comfort them, Peter’s words cut them to the heart.
These are promises, not only to the Jews at Pentecost, but to the whole world in the first century and the 21st century. They are for us, our children, and for all Jesus has changed with his grace and mercy. Peter’s basic message was that Jesus is Lord, he is Messiah, and you killed him. He was right about them as well as us. Our sin caused Jesus to die for the sins of the world. Such is the love of Jesus that he would have died for you had you been the only person on earth. Today, close your eyes and think of him because…
Soon he will be there.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church