Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts – 5

Acts 2:14-36

Introduction

Have you ever received some bad news and asked, “What do I do now?

I’m not sure what to do with this information.”

People felt this way when Covid hit and we started lockdowns.

How do I respond to this?

What about my job?

Should I be afraid?

Two years later, it seems we are still asking a lot of those questions.

Most of us had had a moment or two like this in life…now what?

- You had a diagnosis from a doctor, and it wasn’t good news

- You had a spouse confess something dark, or tell you they don’t love you anymore

- You were handed a pink slip and shown out of the office

In moments where we receive bad or troubling news, this is the question we ask: what do I do now?

We want to respond correctly.

We want to respond wisely.

That was certainly the case for the crowd in Acts 2. They have all gathered around because of the miracles occurring among Jesus’ disciples.

They don’t quite know what to make of it.

The Apostle Peter stands up on behalf of the rest of the apostles and preaches an incredible sermon.

It is biblically saturated.

It is Christ-exalting.

He explains what is happening, that God is pouring out His Spirit onto His people.

After making powerful declarations about Jesus…Jesus Saves, Call on Him / Jesus Lives, Hope in Him / Jesus Reigns, Surrender to Him…he delivers the final blow of the sermon.

Acts 2:36 - 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Put yourself in their shoes for a minute: you have grown up Jewish in every sense of the word.

Your entire life has been spent worshiping God as best you know how.

You celebrate all the Jewish feasts each year.

You even travel to Jerusalem for some of these feasts, like the Feast of Pentecost.

All your life you have heard about the Messiah, the one promised repeatedly in the OT.

He will come and rescue God’s covenant people.

He will bring God’s own presence to the world.

Not only will He rule over His people, but He will also rule over the universe.

You long for Him to arrive.

Your hope is fully in Him.

For the last few years, you have heard all sort of opinions on this Jesus guy.

He had a unique heritage, coming from the lineage of your greatest King…David.

Rumor was that His birth had some miraculous things happening around it, like His own mother being a virgin and angels announcing it all.

You have heard of how He healed the sick, calmed the storm, even raised people from the dead.

But your leaders assured you that this Jesus was a false prophet, an imposter Messiah.

He wasn’t who He claimed to be.

He’s a blasphemer.

He’s a liar.

So when the opportunity arises at the Feast of Passover, just 50 days ago, you heartily shouted “Crucify Him!” with the rest of the crowd.

And then you went home, feeling righteous about getting rid of this imposter.

You rejected this Jesus.

But now…here Peter stands preaching this sermon.

He proves from the OT you know so well that Jesus really is who He claimed to be.

While you shouted to ensure His death, God raised Him to life.

God, the God you worship, the God you claim ultimate allegiance to…God has declared this Jesus to be the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.

God has declared this Jesus to be Lord.

And He has been exalted above the Heavens, ruling and reigning over all things.

And you…well, you rejected Him and killed Him.

Uh oh.

TS – now what?

How do you respond to such news?

What do I do now?

Turns out, that is precisely the question they ask Peter.

And he gives to them the right response.

Acts 2:37-41 - 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 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.”

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

TS – when you hear the good news of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done…there is a clear, right response.

For those who aren’t yet Christians, you need to know what steps to take to follow Jesus.

For those who already are Christians, you need to ensure you have met all the criteria God has set.

Plus, you always need to know how to guide another person to begin following Jesus.

Peter presents 3 clear steps in answer to this question – what do I do now:

1. RECEIVE (V.

37,41)

This is where it all begins.

Nothing can happen, no change can occur, until you receive the message.

This is what this crowd did.

V. 37 - 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

They ask the ‘how to respond’ question because they were ‘cut to the heart.’

It literally reads, ‘stabbed’ in the heart.

This is the power of God’s Word.

Hebrews 4:12 - 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…

It wasn’t Peter’s preaching skill that did this.

It wasn’t his persuasive nature.

It wasn’t by heaping loads of guilt on them.

It wasn’t pressure.

He simply presented God’s Word to them.

This is what the Bible says.

Look at what God has done.

And the knife-like nature of Scripture pierced their hard hearts.

To be ‘cut to the heart’ means they were convicted.

Meaning this…they believed that what Peter said was true.

You aren’t convicted by something you know to be false.

But if you believe it’s true, that is exactly what will happen.

And when their sin of rejecting Christ was exposed, they knew it was true.

This is confirmed later in v. 41 that “those who receivedhis word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

They received his word.

They believed it was true.

This is where the response to Jesus begins, but it is NOT where the response to Jesus ends.

Too many people stop at mere belief.

We are saved by grace through faith…not belief.

They are different things.

To have faith means that you believe.

To believe does not mean that you have faith.

Let me explain.