What Should We Do?

Introduction

Illustration

Motivation

Explanation

Acts 2:22–40 CSB

“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence. “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”

Summary of 3 Points

The Need for Response

Illustration: Basically to oversimply things, there are two kinds of information. First there’s trivia, information that’s interesting but doesn’t ask anything of us. For instance did you know that C.S. Lewis was close friends with J.R.R. Tolkien? It’s an interesting piece of information, but you don’t feel the need to do something about it. On the other hand there’s information that calls for a response. Something like “your house is on fire” or “the pipes in your walls are leaking.” Information you need to do something about, possibly urgently.

So what about the things we’ve talked about so far this weekend? Are these sermons information that’s just interesting? Or are they information that calls for action? Consider what we talked about last night. We talked about who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us.

This is exactly the information that the people who heard Peter preach in the book of acts heard in our passage this morning. What was there response? Let’s take a look at verse 37.

Acts 2:37 CSB

When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

The people in attendence when Peter preached were affected deeply by what they heard. They had a very real sense that they were deeply wrong and in need of salvation. So they asked the question that makes the most sense in this situation. What should we do? Peter has told them that Jesus died, and that He rose again and that He is both Lord and Christ. So why is He telling them this? How can they atone for all the wrong that they have done?

This is the correct response. You see salvation is not an automatic result of what Jesus did on the cross. It is not universally applied to everyone on earth. God is asking for a response from us, and we can’t ignore that call. Consider the verses which promise salvation, they come with a condition.

John 3:16 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Notice it doesn’t say “so that everyone will have eternal life,” but instead says ‘so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. In fact one of the key verses from last night says this, John 1:12

John 1:12 CSB

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,

Again, it doesn’t say he gave the right to everyone, but to everyone who receives Him. There is a need for a response. This is not to say that Jesus excludes anyone. The call to salvation IS universal, but acceptance of it is not. We are like people drowning at sea and God is throwing us a line to pull us back into ship. He offers all of us the rope, but we all are given the freedom to accept or reject this offer.

That leaves us in the same spot as the crowd that heard Peter’s sermon. We now are keenly aware that we need a response. God has made a way for us to be saved, but we need to accept this salvation. So the question is, how do we do that? How do we inherit eternal life?

The Need for Faith

Illustration: My mother really doesn’t like driving in the snow. It makes her really nervous. Do you know what else she doesn’t like? Letting someone else drive for her. That also makes her really nervous. For those two reasons I took it as a really big compliment when a few years back she asked me to drive her to the Christmas gathering at my sister’s house in the middle of a snow storm. It really showed that she trusted me.

She demonstrated what I like to call “active trust.” It’s one thing to say that you trust someone, another thing to take action because you trust someone. To live differently because you’re relying on someone else to come through just like they said they would.

I think that sometimes we get a little mixed up when it comes to our definition of the word “faith.” Sometimes we think of faith as just blind belief. Even informed belief doesn’t quite get to the Biblical portrayal of what faith truly is. This is why I like to use the phrase active trust. This is what Peter was asking from the crowds in our passage. Let’s take a look at how he responds to the crowds in verses 38-39:

Acts 2:38–39 CSB

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Now the observant among you may have noticed that nowhere in there does Peter ask the people to put their faith in Jesus. He doesn’t even ask them to believe. What gives? Well first of all, their question sort of implies that they already believe what he is saying. Otherwise why would they be cut to the heart and why would they ask what they need to do.

Instead Peter asks them to do two things, the first of which is to “Repent.” What does the word repent mean? It’s a big theological word that is often understood as saying sorry for all the wrong that you’ve done. That’s really only one part of repentence. Repentence is about turning around and going a different way. Admitting that your old way of life wasn’t working, asking for God’s forgiveness, and choosing to go God’s way.

Notice that repentence is not just about claiming that you believe, but also includes actual life change. To live life differently because of your faith in, or trust in, Jesus. Repentance is faith changing the direction of your life. To say that you believe Him enough to give up your old life to follow Him.

James makes this same point in James 2:18-19

James 2:18–19 CSB

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.

So faith then is putting our trust in God in a meaningful way, a way that calls us to action and to change. Or in other words, to trust in God is to repent. To turn away from our old lives and live the way that He has called us to.

So then if we hear the message of what Jesus has done for us and we want to follow after Him, we need to do the same thing that Peter called this crowd to do. We need to stop walking down the path we’ve been walking and start walking down God’s path. We need to repent.

Yet repentence is not the only thing that Peter asks of the people gathered to hear his sermon. So what was the second half of his answer to their question?

The Need for Action

Illustration: I love my wife. When I decided that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her, I didn’t just tell her so and then start calling her my wife, did I? Instead I got together family and friends and we got married. We had a minister come to lead us through exchanging vows and we even gave each other rings as symbols of the promise that we had made to one another.

Marriage is a significant and life changing event, and involves making serious and unending promises. It’s no wonder we would want to have the support and presence of our friends and relatives when we undertake it. And it’s also something exciting and joyfilled that we want to celebrate publicly.

So what about when we decide to pledge the rest of our lives to follow Jesus? Is it enough to just say to Jesus “I will follow you” and then get to it? Or is there something we should do to signify the beginning of our new relationship with God? Is there a ceremony where we can officially pledge our lifelong commitment to Him?

Explanation

Acts 2:38 CSB

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Application

Conclusion

Recap

Application

Sending