Repentance and Faith
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Explain series—title and passages
Peter replied, “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.
This sermon is preacher’s worst nightmare:
Baptism, not repentance
Do we have to be baptised?
What counts as baptism?
But it gets worse!
Peter replied, “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.
Now we’re fighting about the Holy Spirit!
Do you have to get baptized to have HS?
Do you automatically get it?
How do you know you got it?
But Frank set us up well to understand this better.
We get focused on the tolerances of salvation—what is the least I can do to get it?
We should be focused on what salvation does—it makes us whole, and it makes us holy—set aside for God’s purpose.
And what is God’s purpose for us?
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
So let’s go back to the passage and look at it again.
Acts 2:37-39 (P. 884)
Acts 2:37-39 (P. 884)
Retell the story.
What is the crowd concerned about?
They care about the Holy Spirit! But why?
“WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THIS?”
DIFFERENT METAPHOR: sick.
The HS is not just the sign, it is the means:
The fortress will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted...
till the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
This is exactly what the NT says has happened:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
This helps us understand the situation better:
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
The Jews know they need a heart transplant, but they can’t afford it.
The Christians seem to have gotten one.
Peter announces: there is a new king, and he has declared universal heart care. And enrollment is open!
What must we do to enroll in Jesuscare?
Repent and be baptized, and you will receive the Heart transplant.
To understand the way this all fits together, we have to rethink our view of the Spirit.
What is the purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit?
What is the purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit?
We think it’s about power, gifts, abilities, etc.
Gift inventories, etc.
1 Corinthians 13
The point of the Holy Spirit is transformation of people—into people who reconcile with each other.
By this they will know you are my disciples...
What is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit?
What is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit?
How do I know I have it?
Warm feeling?
Speaking in tongues?
Nothing at all?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The evidence of the Spirit is transformation of person.
But what if I don’t have the fruit? Do I not have the Holy Spirit?
IF I CAN’T RUN AFTER SURGERY, DID IT NOT HAPPEN?
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
We have to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. YOU HAVE TO DO THE PT!
Therefore, my dear friends… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
How do I know I have the Holy Spirit?
How do I know I have the Holy Spirit?
Peter replied, “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.
When you wake up from surgery, how do you know you got the new heart?
You trust the surgeon.
But you don’t just blandly trust the surgeon to do it sometime when you are asleep.
He told you to go to the hospital at some ungodly hour, go to a certain room, climb up on the gurney, and let some anesthetist put you under. And he promised that he would meet you there and give you a new heart.
Does this mean getting on the gurney earned (or paid for) your surgery? NO!
Does this mean that the surgeon couldn’t have helped you if you passed out on the way to the surgery and couldn’t get on the gurney? NO.
It means that this is the place the surgeon said he would meet you, so that when you woke up from this particular nap, you would know, no matter how terrible you feel coming out of it, that you have received the new heart.
And you would know that it’s time to start the PT.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Salvation is about being may whole and holy. It’s about being healed of your brokenness and set aside for God’s ministry of reconciliation.
God doesn’t want you to focus on how much you have to do to get the surgery. Focus on how much the surgery will do for you!
If you are hear and you need the transplant, know that enrollment is open. Give yourself to Jesus, because he’s handing out heart transplants like Oprah.
If you aren’t sure that you have the Holy Spirit (aren’t seeing the fruit), let me ask you, have you been immersed? If you have, then the Spirit is in you.
I bet, if you look, you will see evidence you’ve been missing.
Just do the PT, and know that God is doing it with you.
And this church is a support group for heart transplants.
If you haven’t been immersed, then know that God has promised: when you go under the water, he will meet you there and give you a new heart.
Look, here is water. What prevents you from being baptized?
