Take a moment to read Acts 2:14-41 before reading the devotional below.
When your first sermon ever involves zero schooling and a total lack of time to prepare and it wins over 3,000 people, you know the Holy Spirit is involved. Just three short years before, Peter was a smelly fisherman discouraged from a night of no fish. When Jesus overloaded Peter’s boats that day and invited him to become a “fisher of men,” he probably had this very moment in mind. (A few hundred fish practically sinking two boats doesn’t seem like such a giant miracle in comparison to 3,000 souls being saved by a single sermon.)
Peter’s sermon is so classically sermon-y: it starts with a joke, addresses the specific context of the Jewish audience, and goes on way too long. Remember that the crowd is murmuring rumors about drunkenness, which created a need for someone to step forward and make a claim about what was going on. Point #1: 9am is way too early for us to be this drunk. Point #2: The Old Testament (or the Jewish scriptures) directly prophesied about this exact moment. Point #3: We’re in the “last days” that we’ve been waiting for, so turn to God while you have time. (Side note: since time has continued on for 2,000 years since this sermon, we can safely say that we are still in the “last days” and these prophecies about the Holy Spirit remain true for us now.)
Peter had enough knowledge of the Old Testament and training from Jesus to speak with discernment, but his sudden boldness in leadership and his ability to publicly address a crowd in a compelling manner were provided on the spot. All Peter did was step forward in a moment that needed clarification. The Holy Spirit did the work to cause the crowd to believe.