The Sermon of Peter – part 2
Acts 2:14-42 (24-36)
March 4, 2012
When last we met we began to study this great sermon of Peter
That he delivered on the day of Pentecost.
• The believers were gathered together in prayer
• The sound of a mighty rushing wind entered the room
• Tongues as of fire distributed themselves on all the believers
• They all began to speak in tongues
• All in Jerusalem gathered to see what this was
• They were amazed at these people speaking of the mighty deeds of God in their own native languages
• And yet some were skeptical accusing them of simply being drunk
And it was then that Peter took his stand.
The new Spirit-filled Peter did not shy away but rose to the occasion.
He stood to bear witness to the truth.
First was to give THE REALITY of the situation.
(1:16) “But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:”
Joel revealed that God would “pour forth of My Spirit”
And Peter said that is what you are seeing here.
This is not the effect of someone who has had too much wine,
This is the effect of God’s Spirit having been poured out.
That is the reality.
But as we said then, all that really did
Is answer the question as to what this was.
There is more the people need to know than just that this is God’s Spirit.
And from there Peter began to preach the sermon.
The second thing he revealed was THE REASON for God’s Spirit having been poured out.
And this is what we started talking about last Sunday night.
It was not enough that the people know God’s Spirit was here,
Peter wanted them to know why He was here.
And for that Peter gives three reasons.
We saw the first last Sunday night and that was this:
JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED (22-23)
Many today think the most effective way to present the gospel
Is to do so in a non-confrontational, non-threatening way.
Apparently Peter didn’t get the memo, because he nailed them to the wall.
• He reminded them that Jesus was from Nazareth
• He reminded them that God had clearly endorsed Him with “miracles and wonders and signs”
And He reminded that in spite of such evidence they killed Him anyway.
“this Man…you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.”
Peter was direct in assigning blame for the death of Jesus
Squarely upon their heads.
They killed God’s Messiah.
This is important because this indicates a total and
Complete rejection of the truth of God on the part of Israel.
They weren’t just being stubborn…
They weren’t just slow to listen…
By putting Jesus to death
Israel put an exclamation mark upon their denial of God.
It was the most extreme form of denial, rejection, and defiance
That could have possibly been given.
Israel rejected God when they killed God’s Messiah.
And you will see in a minute that is significant to why the Spirit came
And especially to why they all spoke in tongues.
But the first reason leading up to Peter’s explanation of why the Spirit has come is that Jesus was crucified
2) JESUS WAS JUSTIFIED (24-32)
Here Peter reveals that not only was Jesus condemned by Israel,
But He was vindicated by God.
Israel may have found Him guilty, but God found Him innocent.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
God raised Him from the dead.
• It was the ultimate reversal of decision.
• It was the ultimate appeal.
• It is the high court overturning the ruling of Pilate’s court.
• Jesus had been wrongly convicted…
• Jesus had been wrongly punished…
• Jesus had been wrongly executed…
God proved that by reversing the decision.
And that is what Peter wants them to see.
(24) “But God raised Him up again”
You put Him to death, but God raised Him up.
You were wrong in your decision.
“putting an end to the agony of death”
In other words, God was not about to let Him suffer unjustly any longer.
Your verdict was wrong, He was innocent
And there was no reason why God should allow Him to continue suffering.
“since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
• He was innocent.
• There were no grounds to keep Him and no evidence to hold Him
Death could argue all day long,
But they had no leverage by which to keep Jesus dead.
They could kill Him…
They could bury Him…
They could seal the tomb…
They could post guards…
But they had no grounds by which to keep Him dead
So God raised Him up.
The point?
You killed Him, but you were wrong, so God raised Him up.
And this by the way was no surprise to God either.
(just as the crucifixion was according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, God knew this too.)
God knew you would kill Him,
So God had already planned to raise Him up.
And to prove that Peter now takes them to Psalms 16:8-11
(25-28) “For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’”
So Peter reads that passage in order to indicate that
God had already purposed to raise His Messiah from the dead.
And then Peter explains the passage.
(29-32) “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID HIS flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
And there is a tremendous argument from Peter.
We know David wrote that Psalm,
But Peter says we also know David wasn’t talking about himself.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
We still have David’s tomb, and we still have David’s bones.
We could go dig David up today and see that
He most certainly died and he most certainly decayed.
And the initial application is that either David was a liar and a false prophet, or David wasn’t talking about himself.
David was obviously talking about one of his descendants.
You see David knew that God had promised “to seat one of his descendants on his throne.”
So David wrote Psalms 16, not talking about himself,
But talking about his descendant.
Peter said, “he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ”
• That God would not leave the Christ dead.
• That God would not abandon the Christ to Hades.
• That God would not allow the body of the Christ to suffer decay.
And that has to be true, otherwise David would still be with us.
And then Peter makes the undeniable statement.
(32) “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
And so it is now getting pretty clear.
• God sent the Christ and testified that He was the Christ through many signs and wonders.
• But you didn’t like Him because He came from Nazareth and so you falsely accused Him, falsely convicted Him, and ultimately killed Him on a Roman cross.
• But you were wrong and God proved it by reversing your decision. You killed God’s man, and God proved it by raising Him from the dead.
• And we testify along with David that it is so.
So Peter is explaining the reason for the pouring out of the Spirit,
And he has given two key steps as to why it has happened.
Jesus was Crucified Jesus was Justified
3) JESUS WAS GLORIFIED (33-35)
Here is where it all comes together.
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were precursors to His glorification.
The Spirit couldn’t come until Jesus was glorified
John 7:39 “But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
But since Jesus was crucified and then resurrected
And ascended to heaven, now the Spirit could come.
(33-35)”Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘
Not only did God reverse your decision, and raise Jesus from the dead,
But God also glorified Jesus by bringing Him to His own right hand.
He was “exalted to the right hand of God”
God not only vindicated Him, God exalted Him.
And then God gave Him something.
“having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit”
Once God exalted Him God gave Him the Holy Spirit.
And here comes the explanation:
“He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”
• That which you heard (the loud noise)
• That which you see (all of us speaking in tongues)
That is the Holy Spirit.
He is what Joel spoke of and He has now come
Because the Jesus you killed has been raised glorified
And He is the One who poured Him out.
John the Baptist said:
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
It is Christ who would send the Spirit and that is what He did.
So if you want an explanation as to why the Spirit came now.
It is not because Messiah is coming, it is because He just left.
“He was here, you rejected Him,
And now having gone back to the Father
He has poured out His Spirit
And enabled us all to speak in tongues.”
Now, let’s get back to that tongues issue for a moment.
We read it a couple of weeks ago.
1 Corinthians 14:20-22 “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.”
When Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the use & purpose of tongues
He appealed to their Scriptural origin to explain them.
• Tongues was not a means to a deeper prayer life…
• Tongues was not a means to differentiate the super spiritual…
• Tongues wasn’t even primarily an evangelistic tool…
Tongues was a surefire indication of God’s judgment.
And to prove that Paul quoted from Isaiah 28.
Let’s read it:
(The first 8 verses of this chapter are filled with Isaiah convicting Israel of sin. He calls them drunkards in the sense that their prophets words
Are like a drunk’s vomit)
Obviously they didn’t like the message so they mock Isaiah.
Isaiah 28:9-13 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'” Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”
There they mocked Isaiah’s preaching.
Isaiah said since you won’t listen to straightforward preaching from God,
God will speak to you in a language you cannot understand.
And He will do so that you may “be broken”
Now, come back to the day of Pentecost and it makes perfect sense
As to why when the Holy Spirit came they all spoke in tongues.
It was an indicator of exactly what Isaiah said.
• You rejected God by means of killing His Messiah.
• God raised and exalted the Messiah.
• The Messiah poured out the Holy Spirit
• The result was exactly what Isaiah said would happen.
God has pushed you into judgment.
You killed His man and you will pay for it.
Which is what Peter goes on to say in his sermon
(34) “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: “The Lord said to my Lord, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”
It is clear from the Old Testament that the Messiah would suffer,
Rise, be exalted to God’s right hand, and sit there
Until God puts all His enemies under His feet.
AND THIS IS WHY YOU SEE THE SPIRIT OF GOD POURED OUT.
So you see the first points to Peter’s sermon.
The Reality – This is the Spirit of God causing this
The Reason – God’s Messiah has been exalted and Has poured Him out
#3 THE RESULT
Acts 2:36
Here is what this means for you.
And this is one of the most convicting
And horrifying statements in Scripture.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Talk about a bombshell.
• You killed God’s Christ.
• You killed God’s Chosen One.
• You rejected the Sent One of God.
You took God’s precious gift and
Wrongly accused Him, wrongly convicted Him and then
Subjected Him to the most horrific and torturous death
That has ever been conceived.
You handed Him over to godless men
To be stripped, flogged, mocked, and humiliated.
• You handed Him over to for them to drive nails into His hands and feet.
• You let them raise Him up on a cross.
• You watched as they gave Him vinegar to drink.
• You hurled insults to the suffering Messiah as He hanged upon the cross fighting for every last breath.
This man was precious in the sight of God the sent Savior for you
And you did the worst possible thing you could to Him.
Congratulations Israel you just denied God.
Can you imagine the weight of a statement like that?
At this point let me bring a little
Present day application to this scene.
Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
The writer of Hebrews spoke of people who had seen the truth of God.
Just as Israel heard Jesus preach and witnessed His signs,
So people of all generations get similar proof from God.
• God allows them to understand the truth.
• He allows them to taste what salvation feels like.
• He allows them to temporarily partake of His Spirit.
• He allows them to taste the good word of God.
• He allows them to witness the power of a changed life.
If they then turn away from the truth and tell God they don’t want it.
“they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
People today say, “I didn’t crucify Jesus”
Well guess what the Jews could have said that too.
“We didn’t crucify Him, we didn’t drive the nails…”
No, not with your hands, but you did with your hearts.
You let godless men do it.
And people still do that today.
No, they don’t physically go back and drive a nail,
But by turning their back on the truth God has revealed
They crucify Him to themselves.
They relive the act over and over and over again.
And the result of that is that those people are like ground
Who won’t accept the rain and so they are
“worthless and close to being cursed and end up being burned.”
The point is that it is NOT driving the nails that makes a person guilty of crucifying Jesus, if that were the case guilt would fall to only one man.
It is denying the Lord His rightful place in your life
That makes you guilty of crucifying Him.
When you know the truth as Israel did and reject Him anyway
It is the equivalent of handing Him over to Pilate
To be done with whatever they want.
That is what Israel did.
They rejected God’s Son.
Let me give you another place this type of sentiment occurs.
1 Corinthians 11:26-28 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
That is a blatant warning against hypocrisy.
For those Corinthians who partook of the table
Without adjusting their hearts Paul said they were guilty
Of the body and the blood and God was actually killing some of them.
You don’t come into God’s church and go through the motions
While denying God in your heart.
That made them guilty of the crucifixion
Even though they were not actually there to drive the nails.
You don’t want to set yourself up in disobedience to God,
And you certainly don’t want to be the cause of the crucifixion.
The writer of Hebrews comments on the severity of that decision
Again later in the sermon:
Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Can we agree?
You don’t want to be guilty of killing the Lord.
I mean, consider Judas who betrayed the Lord:
Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
That’s pretty straightforward.
Point being you don’t want to be guilty of killing the Lord.
And Peter here has just placed the blame
Squarely upon the shoulders of Israel.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”
He is God’s Son and you killed Him.
That is the result.
• The Reality is that God’s Spirit is Here.
• The Reason is God’s Son has been Exalted and Poured Him out.
• The Result is that you are guilty of killing God’s Son
SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU REFUSED TO SUBMIT TO HIM
And I hope at this point we are beginning to get a grasp
Of what it means to preach the gospel.
I hope we are being enlightened a bit as to what the apostles thought
It meant to call people to faith in Jesus.
Peter took the truth of God to sinners.
There was no way to dismiss the fact that these people
Were guilty of denying God and resisting His leadership in their lives.
• They chose their sin over God…
• They chose their religion over God…
• They chose their comfort over God…
And it was impossible to deliver the gospel to them
Without revealing just how they had wronged God.
So many of the gospel presentations today
Say nothing to the offense that sinful man has committed against God.
• God created man in His image. (Genesis 1:27)
• God created man to seek Him.
Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
And man did exactly the opposite.
Romans 1 says man rebelled against Him.
Romans 1:21-23 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 3 says:
• They didn’t seek Him (11)
• They didn’t do good (12)
• They didn’t keep their promises to Him (13-17)
• They didn’t fear Him (18)
And the point is that man owes God an apology.
Man has offended Him.
Man has wronged Him.
And man must humble approach Him for forgiveness.
This is of course why Peter is about to tell them to “repent”.
But the point is that the gospel cannot be void of this fact.
If someone comes tonight, breaks into your home, steals what is valuable, trashes the rest and kills one of your children in the process…
And then a few days or years later comes up and says, “I was wondering if you might be willing to bless me”, but never mentions any of their previous sins against you, what would your attitude be?
And yet that is the gospel we often preach.
We take sinful men who have offended God to the uttermost
By rejecting His will,
By trashing His creation,
By killing His Son,
And we tell them that God has a wonderful plan for your life
If you will just accept it.
No, No, No, No
They must know that God is angry about what they have done.
They must know that God is offended.
Listen, I know God is love, but Scripture also says:
Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”
That means that man must realize what they have done to Him
And apologize with every fiber of their being.
They must repent.
The blessing is that God is ready to forgive,
Having made payment for their sin through the death of His Son.
But that doesn’t change the fact that repentance is required.
So let’s learn a little from Peter here
As to what it means to preach the gospel
And not fall prey to the sentimental gospel that is so prevalent today.
That’s as far as we’re going to go tonight,
We’ll catch back with the conclusion of this thing next week.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
The Reality is that God’s Spirit is Here.
The Reason is that God’s Son has been Exalted and Poured Him out.
The Result is that you are guilty of killing God’s Son
#4 THE REQUIREMENT
Acts 2:37-40
I think verse 37 is an obvious response.
“Now when the people heard this they were pierced to the heart”
I’m sure you could add, “sick to their stomach”, “weak in their knees”, “light headed” and “filled with terror”
They hadn’t realized it, but while they were putting Jesus on trial, God was putting them on trial, and when they found Jesus guilty, they sealed their own fate as well.
They were condemned as the murderers of God’s Son.
“and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
I think that is a fair question.
Is there anything we can do to change our fortune?
Is there anything we can do to satisfy God?
These are people who have realized their guilt, owned their condemnation, but want to know is there any option for mercy.
And that opens the door for Peter to reveal the requirement.
(38) “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The simple answer?
“Repent”
It was the first thing John the Baptist preached…
It was the first thing Jesus preached…
(incidentally the Jews killed both of them for preaching it)
But regardless of how many messengers you kill, the requirement of God has not changed.
Man is sinful…
Man is depraved…
Man is condemned…
The requirement of God on behalf of man is that they repent of their sin.
“repent” translates METANOEO
It means “to have a change of purpose” it speaks of a turning from sin to God.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,”
It is not just acknowledging their sin
It is not just admitting their sin
It is not just confessing their sin
Peter said they had to turn from it.
These people had chosen to walk in sin instead of submit to God.
They had chosen to maintain their own way of life instead of God’s way.
And Peter said the answer for these people is to “repent”.
You didn’t listen to John
You didn’t listen to Jesus
But if you want to be forgiven you had better “repent.”
And from there Peter continues.
“repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;”
Here Peter reveals that it is not just repentance that is required, but also baptism.
WHY BAPTISM?
Because baptism was the sign of repentance.
That is why John the Baptist came baptizing.
It was an outward symbol of death to self and determination to walk in new life.
Now you know and I know that this verse has had an entire theology built around it.
Some have used this one alone to indicate that water baptism is necessary for salvation.
We really can’t spend a ton of time here, but it is worthwhile to explain it.
Peter calls for baptism because it is the public sign of repentance.
It puts fruit to their claim and thus verifies that their repentance is genuine.
The water does not wash away sin.
1 Peter 3:21-22 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”
It is not the water, it is the death to self and change of heart.
Furthermore water baptism is not a prerequisite to salvation.
Acts 10:44-48 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”
Obviously Cornelius was saved before he was ever baptized.
The thief on the cross was saved without ever having been baptized at all.
To push baptism to a prerequisite for salvation is to do with it what the Jews had done with circumcision by diminishing the work of Christ and promoting a work of the flesh.
Just as circumcision was a sign so is baptism.
Just as circumcision was a seal, so is baptism.
It is an outward picture of what has taken place in the heart, it is a work of obedience indicating that the heart is in a proper state.
A person gets baptized not to be saved, but as a testimony to their new life and as their first step of obedience thus proving their repentance and faith to be genuine.
Christ forgives sin…
Our garments are washed in His blood…
Water is external.
Peter told them to be baptized, not to earn their forgiveness, but rather to indicate the genuineness of their repentance.
But make no mistake repentance was required.
And if they would repent…
If they would quit forsaking Christ and start submitting to Him…
If they would quit clinging to sin and start renouncing it…
If they would quit playing religion and get obedient from the heart…
“you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
It is right back to what Joel had said.
Acts 2:21 “AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
God wanted the broken and contrite heart…
God wanted the genuine humility of repentance…
God wanted hatred of sin…
God wanted a hunger for righteousness…
And if Israel would give that, God would forgive them and grant His Spirit to them as well.
And for proof that God would:
(39) “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
What a statement of relief!
You killed God’s Son and you are guilty, but God is merciful!
If you will repent of your sin not only will He forgive you, but He will also give you His Spirit.
WHY?
Because you are who His Spirit is for.
You are the reason God ever promised His Spirit.
You are the intended recipients.
Remember back in the book of Jeremiah?
Remember the New Covenant?
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
This whole thing was for Israel.
They are the reason God intended to send His Spirit in the first place.
And Peter now says if you will only repent and accept God’s will for your life then God will give you the Holy Spirit too.
He is angry, but trust me He doesn’t want to kill you.
He doesn’t want to destroy you.
He wants to save you.
He wants to make you holy.
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”
God wants you to repent and be saved.
And not just you, but God has others He will save as well.
“all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
It isn’t just Jews God has determined to save, but He also has a flock of Gentiles that He plans to call as well.
We don’t know who they are, but God does and He wants them saved too.
It is not God’s desire to judge men, but that they should repent and be saved.
(40) “And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Peter even went into begging mode.
He told them over and over this world is going down.
God’s judgment is coming.
The ways of this world are wrong.
By following this world you killed the Son of God.
Repent and “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Stop going in the flow of this world, turn around, go upstream.
Be saved.
And by the way Peter never did change his message.
Acts 3:17-20 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,”
Even until the day of Peter’s impending death and the writing of his second epistle.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
Peter was passionate about the importance of repentance and the salvation of God.
And it rings true through today.
Man needs to repent.
Man is sinful.
Man has denied God.
Man has chosen his own path.
And man needs to turn and go the other direction.
Man needs to trust God.
Man needs to obey God.
Man needs to humble himself before God.
Man needs to quit following the pattern of this world and start following the directives of God.
This world is a sinking ship and man must be saved from it.
And the means is now and has always been repentance.
You can’t stay in your sin and be saved at the same time.
Talk about faith…
Talk about grace…
Talk about abundant life…
Talk about eternal life…
Talk about blessing…
But they are all null and void if you don’t first talk about repentance.
Man must leave his sin.
It was the message of John
It was the message of Jesus
It was the message of Peter
It is still the message today
So the Reality is God has poured out His Spirit
The Reason is because Christ has been exalted
The Result is that you have killed God’s Messiah
The Requirement is that you repent
#5 THE RESPONSE
Acts 2:41-42
We need to take a look at what happened.
And this is really beautiful.
“So then, those who had received his word were baptized;”
There were some who listened to Peter.
They did what he said.
And they obviously repented from sin, proving their repentance through their submission to be baptized.
And the church was underway.
“and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
So in one morning the church grew from 120 to over 3,000.
Jesus was building His church.
He did so by pouring out the Holy Spirit and equipping Peter to preach the gospel with boldness.
But let me show you something of vital importance.
The response is not the significant part, the change is what is significant.
You will remember Jesus’ words to those who received His words:
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus knew responses were important, but they were useless if not accompanied by a genuine life change.
In short you can walk the aisle if you want, you can even get baptized, but if it does not affect your life and change the way you life then it is all for not.
We are looking for people to make decisions, we are looking for people to become genuine disciples.
And so while all the baptisms of verse 41 are great, it is verse 42 that really causes us to rejoice.
(42) “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
That is beautiful!
And let me point out something else to you.
THIS WAS CHURCH AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
Is it simple? Yes
But at the same time it is so powerful.
They didn’t have any programs…
They didn’t have any orchestras…
They didn’t have screens or projectors…
They didn’t have drama teams…
They didn’t have cool slogans…
They didn’t have T-shirts…
They didn’t even have a building…
But they had church and it was effective.
In fact look down at the conclusion of this chapter and see how effective.
Acts 2:43-47 “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
They were awestruck, they were self-sacrificing, they were genuine in their love for one another, they were unified, they genuinely like each other…
“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
The point is that this church had no manual, had no church growth book, attended no seminar and yet they did church in a mega-affective way!
From that then we learn the basics of what church is supposed to be.
It is what these people did.
Not only was it genuine fruit of repentance, but it was also basic necessity for how to do church.
Can you believe that everything you need to know about how to do church is found in verse 42!
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Four things that constituted church.
1) DEVOTION TO THE TRUTH
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
These people could not get enough of the spoken word of God.
Certainly there is a slight difference between the apostles teaching and the preaching today.
The apostles’ teaching was all they had.
They did not have the New Testament yet, so they were more dependent upon what the apostles said.
But the point is that these people had had such a change of heart that now they could not get enough of the word of God.
How can a person claim to have been saved when they have no desire to either read God’s word or hear it preached?
The early church couldn’t get enough of it.
“continually devoting”
Those are strong words and it spoke of their desire to hear God.
They were devoted to truth.
2) DESIRE FOR FELLOWSHIP
They were also continually devoting themselves “to fellowship”
All you have to do is read 1 John to understand the necessity of brotherly love.
These people had it.
They loved to be around God’s people.
They loved the unity of purpose.
They loved the testimony of the Spirit.
They loved to spend time with one another.
Even to the point where later we find them selling property to be able to keep people around.
3) DEVOTION TO COMMUNION
“to the breaking of bread”
This doesn’t mean pot-luck, they were gathering around the table of the Lord.
It was the single most unifying factor.
They were a body because Jesus Christ had given His life for them.
Communion was a reminder to them of the sacrifice on their behalf and why they were now a church and they were devoted to it.
They never left the cross very far behind.
4) DEVOTION TO PRAYER
“and to prayer”
Nothing indicates a dependence upon God more than prayer.
Nothing indicates a self-sufficient mindset more than the lack of prayer.
This church was dependent upon God.
They met to pray and seek God’s guidance.
They met to pray and ask for God’s help.
And those are the four basics of the early church.
The word of God, Fellowship, Communion, and Prayer
Nothing fancy, yet God used that to shape the world.
Furthermore that was the proof that their repentance was not a sham.
Show me someone who claims to have repented, but who doesn’t love God’s word, doesn’t desire to fellowship with God’s people, doesn’t desire to commune around the table of the Lord, and doesn’t feel the need for prayer and we have a problem.
Their conversion was sincere and real and it was proven in their fruit.
But there you have Peter’s sermon.
Men were amazed at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, some even thought they were drunk.
The Reality is that God had sent His Spirit.
The Reason is because Christ had been exalted and poured Him out.
The Result is that the Jews had killed God’s Messiah
The Requirement was that they repent and prove that repentance.
The Response was 3,000 souls whose lives changed radically.
The point is that God is growing His church.
We have a man who 50 days earlier was flat out denying the Lord and now, thanks to the Holy Spirit is boldly proclaiming Him to those who killed Him.
God’s Spirit is at work and God is growing His church.
For us, we learn again the importance of being filled with the Spirit.
(We could not do what Peter did without Him)
We also learn the power of the gospel.
(These were saved at Peter’s preaching)
And we learn what the church really is.
It is not smoke and lights and hymnals and screens and committees and budgets.
The church are redeemed people who love God’s word, love God’s people, love God’s sacrifice, and who love to pray.
Those are the characteristics of the true church, and it is exploding onto the scene.
May we be encouraged to learn from what we see.
Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
