The Anatomy Of The Message - part 3

What a day to gather together.

What a day to rejoice with the saints.

He was crucified.

He was buried.

And He is risen!

It is a privilege each and every time that we can gather in this place.

We do not come together to get our warm fuzzy feels.

We do not gather out of a blind religious devotion to ourselves or some relic.

We gather because there is a God in heaven who has created each one of us, and loves each one of us despite our faults.

We are sinners.

We have done, and continue to do, wrong things that dishonor God.

We act in ways that God never intended for us to act.

We have lied. We have stolen from others. We have used our mouths to curse people. We have lusted after people in our minds. Over and over, we have offended and dishonored the One in whose image we are made.

Yet, there is a God in heaven who, though we have offended Him and disgraced His image and dishonored His name, loves us to the point of sending His only Son to take the punishment we deserve for our wrongdoing.

We gather because He loves us, and we love Him back.

For the past couple of weeks that we have been together, we have looked at the first sermon preached in church history.

It happened on the day known as Pentecost on the Jewish calendar, roughly 50 days after Passover.

It was delivered by a, likely, uneducated Jewish fisherman from Galilee who, at the time that Jesus was arrested and being physically abused, adamantly denied that he knew who Jesus was… on three separate occasions.

That man’s name is Peter.

And he was chosen by God for this tremendous assignment.

Read Acts 2:14-36.

The Prophecy Fulfilled

verses 14-21

What took place on the day of Pentecost was an amazing event.

And one thing that made it truly special was that it was part of the fulfillment of prophecy.

It was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2, as the events on Pentecost initiate the the last days through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on man.

The Holy Spirit’s arrival introduced new revelation to God’s people through visions and dreams, which would become the written New Testament.

The Holy Spirit’s arrival also enabled the disciples to boldly proclaim the gospel in light of Old Testament prophecies which pointed to Christ, as shown through Peter’s clear handling of the Old Testament text in his preaching about Jesus.

The sheer number of prophecies that are made, and fulfilled, concerning Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection point to Jesus as being a particularly special individual in history.

This lays the groundwork on which Jesus is:

The Person Proclaimed

verses 22-36

Jesus is the one who:

Performed Mighty Works (miracles)

There are many verses that can be looked at throughout the gospel accounts that show the mighty works that Jesus did, which attested to Him being the Messiah.

Was Crucified

This Jesus, who God attested to being someone special was delivered up to be crucified by lawless men.

It is possible that some of the people listening to Peter were part of the crowd that watched Jesus die.

Was Raised to Life

Over 500 people saw the risen Jesus with their own two eyes.

And at least 24% of them were present while Peter preached.

And this Jesus, who performed mighty works, was crucified by lawless men, and raised to life by God…

Is Lord and Christ

The emphasis in the passage is that despite appearances, God’s view of the matter was very different.

To the crowd, Jesus was a criminal who received what was deserved.

But God made Him both Lord and Christ, just as the angels had announced in Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

There is no more important fact about Jesus to know than that He is Lord and Christ.

As Christ, He is the one resurrected by God and who offers salvation to all who call on Him.

As Lord, He is the sovereign ruler over all matters

The Plea For Redemption

Read verses 36-41

This sermon preached by Peter had its intended effect.

We are told that the people were cut to the heart. That means they were emotionally distressed… “greatly troubled.”

Basically, when the people realized how stubborn and foolish they had been, they were convicted and remorseful.

The fact that this group of people, many of which had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus almost two months prior to this sermon, were feeling convicted and remorseful is a testimony to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples, in John 16:8-11, that a work of the Holy Spirit was to bring conviction to the people.

John 16:8–11 (ESV)

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

The question of what shall we do? brings to light the desperation they were feeling.

If the Jews had crucified their Messiah, what was left for them to do?

Repent and Be Baptized

verse 38

Peter has been straightforward with the people up to this point.

He told them bluntly that they were the ones who witnessed the mighty works that Jesus had done, and they were the ones who called for Him to be put to death.

Now, he tells them pointedly that they must repent and be baptized.

Let’s examine this two part command a little closer.

First, Peter tells the crowd who was listening that they must repent.

The word in Greek has a literal meaning of “change of mindset.”

That is, reverse the direction of your life.

Repentance is a change of mind and actions where we cease our approval of wickedness and justification of bad behavior. It is the reorienting of our lives from focusing on ourselves to directing our focus toward the Lord.

In the case of the audience that Peter was speaking to, they needed to change their mind about Jesus just being a run of the mill criminal deserving of death, and believe that He is indeed Lord and Christ.

In the case of anyone here today, or listening online, it is the need for you to change your mind about Jesus just being another religious figure that Christians gather to worship, and believe that He is indeed Lord and Christ and is the expression of God’s love toward you.

Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Romans 10:13, “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I must ask the most important question of your soul, today: Are you saved?

As Jesus told Nicodemus must happen, in John 3, are you “born again”?

Do you have new life through a genuine repentance and belief in Jesus as Lord and Christ?

Have you called on Jesus to save you?

If not, I appeal to you right now, do not ignore the plea from Holy Scripture to repent and call on Jesus for salvation. We are told that the day of judgment will come for every man and every woman to stand before God and give an account of their life. And anyone’s name not recorded in the Book of Life will spend their eternity in the Lake of Fire, atoning for their own sin.

But if you have repented and called on Jesus Christ to save you, praise the Lord. That is the first step of the rest of your life. Because repentance is not a one time event. Rather, it is a series of events that will continue to take place until you are called to your heavenly home.

The next step in a life of obedience to Jesus is to be baptized.

Unfortunately, for many years, there has been a misunderstanding about these commands given by Peter (and found in other portions of the Bible).

Many groups use these verses to teach that baptism is essential to salvation. That without it, you can’t be saved. But in reality, they are two separate matters.

The Apostle Paul made a distinction between salvation and baptism, indicating that the gospel is what saves. The gospel being the good news about Jesus being Lord and Christ, the one who died for your sins and the one in whom you must believe to be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:17–18 (ESV)

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Though repentance and baptism go together in Acts, baptism is an indication of belonging to Christ, not a condition for it.

When Peter told the Jews to be baptized, it was an act of public proclamation that an individual believed that Jesus is the Christ and boldly proclaimed that they are following Him.

If you have been saved, have you been baptized?

If not, what is preventing you from making that proclamation of faith public knowledge?

Don’t put it off.

If you have any questions or interest in being baptized, please get ahold of me after service today.

Heed the Call

verse 39

Please take note of who Peter says this promise of salvation is for.

Acts 2:39, “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off [Gentiles], everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.””

The offer of salvation is not limited to a select group of people. The offer is for all who hear the message.

The promise of the Christ came to and through the Jewish people, but it is not limited only to the Jewish people. It is offered to all.

But the offering of salvation to all does not mean that all people are saved. There is a requirement, remember?

You must repent!

Only those who repent and call on Jesus for salvation will benefit from the offer.

Only those who, through faith, believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and call on Him for salvation, will be saved.

Only those who recognize that they are a sinner who has offended their holy Creator, but believes that their sin is forgiven through the punishment that Jesus endured on the cross, and that He rose again on the third day, will be saved.

Do not allow this call to go in one ear and out the other.

Be saved, today!

The words of the Apostle Paul, from 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, are the only appropriate words that I can think of at this time.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2.

Heed the call of God to repentance.

Psalm 95:7-8 “For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Join with Fellow Believers

verse 41

The Gospel call is a call for life change. It is not merely an intellectual acknowledgement of Jesus as the Christ.

Peter strongly appeals to the people to save yourselves from this crooked generation (v. 39).

This statement is not contradicting his previous words of needing to repent in the name of Jesus. Rather, this statement is a call for the people to come out from among the crooked generation who lives according to their sin and in direct opposition to Jesus.

Those who want to be saved from the judgment of God need to distance themselves from their generation and identify with Jesus and His cause.

Paul writes in Galatians 1:3-4 that, “Jesus Christ… gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

Over and over again throughout the New Testament, there are directives for Christians to put off their old sinful ways and to put on the righteousness that is found in Christ.

In Acts 2:41, we see that about 3,000 people were baptized and were added to those who believed in and were followers of Jesus.

Considering that there were about 200,000 people living in Jerusalem at the time, and with it being a holy day (Pentecost), probably many more were there, this is a fairly small percentage of the people (1.5% or less).

Nonetheless, these people, as we will see next week, met together regularly for the purpose of building one another up.

They were taught about Jesus in light of the Scriptures that they had, and they were encouraging one another in their commitment to Christ.

It is so important that we are taking time to join ourselves with other believers. We live in a wicked, Godless, society and need all the encouragement we can get.

Closing Prayer

Gracious Father,

Thank you for the time this morning to gather together. The time to encourage one another and to express our love and commitment to you.

Thank you for Jesus, crucified and risen again to pay the penalty for our sins.

I pray that anyone here today, or listening at home, that has not repented of their sin and called on you for salvation, would do so today.

I pray that they will not ignore your calling them to repentance for salvation.

For your glory we are here today and we live in this world.

Help our weakness, Lord.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.