After a long introduction and description of the principles of salvation, Peter showed his hearers at last the relationship between Christ who was sent by God, and was crucified, and raised from the dead, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. His coming, death, and resurrection were necessary for the coming of the new age, for without the cross and the resurrection the Holy Spirit does not come.
Jesus ascended to right hand of the Father in full harmony with him, and God poured out on him who was disqualified and rejected by the Jews much honor and glory. He gave to him all authority in heaven and on earth, and committed into his hands the carrying out of the Promise of the Father that is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon his faithful, praying, followers. The Holy Spirit comes because Christ reconciled us to God on the cross, and he intercedes for us as the holy High Priest with the Father. Christ’s intercessory service is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
As a matter of fact, no one is near to God and steadfast in the throne of grace except Jesus of Nazareth. All the prophets, kings, and founders of religions are either dead in tombs, or at the rest of heaven like Abraham, Moses, and Elijah. Yet Christ alone is so brought near to God that he is united with him, for he is the Lord himself. He abides in his Father and his Father in him forever. Once again in the revelation of the Holy Spirit, the prophet David saw this unity between the Father and the Son. He listened to the conversation between God and his Christ, and heard what the Father said to his Son when he came to him after his ascension to heaven surrounded with the songs of praise from all the angels. He called out to him: “Please sit down and rest, for you have finished your service in your suffering human body. You have completed the salvation. From now on I am working with the power of my Spirit who carries out salvation to all upright seekers, and judgment to the unjust and obstinate.
Judgment began on men since the descent of the Holy Spirit. Peter, guided by the Holy Spirit, said to the Jews in their faces that God would make them Christ’s footstool if they did not repent, did not believe in him who was crucified, and did not receive the Son of God with tears. This fearful statement also refers to all men in all continents with all their parties and religions. He who does not receive the Son will be bound and placed under his feet forever.
In this manner Peter showed his people that the Holy Spirit could dwell since the Pentecost in every part of our world without prevention, for Christ had removed the partition between God and us. The storm of God’s love is going on, and salvation is being realized in those who believe.
Unfortunately, the Spirit of the truth could not dwell in most of the Jews, for there was one sin that was not confessed by the members of the Old Testament that is killing Christ and refusing him even after death. The Holy Spirit prompted the speaker to stab them at their wound. He said: “Jesus the young man of Nazareth is a hundred percent the Lord himself who was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. He is true God from the true God. It is the anointed Christ himself that you have crucified. By these words the most forward among the apostles told the Jews that they had missed the end of their history, and done wrong to the meaning of their covenant with God. In God’s name he hurt all the children of the nation and not only individuals, and condemned them not in the human way, but as the eternal Judge condemns and hits the consciences deeply.
In the beginning of Peter’s speech, some of the Jews mocked at the disciples and accused them of intoxication, for the joy of the Holy Spirit had filled them. So Peter clarified to them the evident truth not by rhetorical means, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. He explained who the Holy Spirit that dwelt in them was, where he came from, and the reason for his presence, until he finally and with most severity made apparent that killing Christ was the guilt of his nation. From this guidance we see that the Holy Spirit never agrees to a compromise, nor does he allow us to mix truth with untruth. He condemns your disobedience, and crushes your haughtiness. Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.