Acts 2:37-41, Pt. 1.

Appetiser

Our dear brother Stuart Beadle mentions parts of our passage in his opening piece for this month’s Covid-Connect-Courier; if you have not read it yet, I recommend it warmly: it is good.

This week and the following two I want to focus on Acts 2:37-41. This chapter describes the birthday of the New Testament Church. And our passage deals with the very beginning of how one becomes a part of this glorious thing that God is doing on earth, before Christ comes back to wrap things up as they stand. This is a work God has been working on since eternity past, and will only conclude that day. So it’s pretty exciting, if you are a part of that!

So how does one become a part of that? How does one become a believer, and then a Christian? Doubtless you can ask many a Christian and you would get as many an answer! But the Bible teaches that there are common elements for all Christian experience. It is just like being born: yes, we were born in different places, different times, different circumstances; but there are common elements there: the pain of childbirth, the cry of the baby, the cutting of the umbilical cord. So what are these common elements in becoming a follower of Jesus Christ?

Main Course

The proclamation of Christ arrests you

Peter’s audience, Acts 2:5

They were “God-fearing Jews”: they were dedicated to God, and like Simeon, probably it’s also true of them that they were “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). They even now were in Jerusalem to worship God. At the same time, another group, “the believers” of Acts 1:15, Peter being one of them, were together, praying, and this happened to them: v4.

These “God-fearing Jews” were there “from every nation under heaven”: this is why the “other tongues” is significant. This is what arrested the “God-fearing Jews”. What were they hearing these “believers” say?

The events, Acts 2:6-12

“we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues”: this is what they were saying then, this is an explanation of v4 for us. They were proclaiming God’s God-acts, the things only God can do. They praised Him perhaps as the Creator. But they praised Him as the Saviour. So they seem to be worshippers, the “God-fearing Jews” probably wondered: but how can they all speak in our own languages? And actually: why?

v12 reveals that they were perplexed as to the meaning of all this.

The explanation, summarised in Acts 2:33

Jesus is the King appointed by God. Remember, these were “God-fearing Jews”. They knew the prophecies Peter was telling them about in v14-32. They were likely “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25): for God’s Messiah, their Saviour and King would come and set them free. And Peter said, in effect: “The King to Rule all nations under God is Jesus. We know, because God raised Him from the dead and took Him to Himself. You all know that His tomb is empty. You probably were told we stole His body. Rubbish. God raised Him. He is at His right hand. Those who are loyal to Him can rejoice. Those who are against Him are in big, big trouble.”

Psalm 2:8 says:

Psalm 2:8 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

Well, this refers to Jesus. He rules the world, and all knees must bow to Him.

He has received the Holy Spirit, and by pouring Him out on His people He speaks through them. As God’s exalted King, He received the right to pour out God’s Spirit on God’s people, as He said in John 16:7. So through these men the Spirit speaks, exalting Jesus before the eyes of the hearers: “God has made this Jesus … both Lord [to Whom everyone must bow] and Messiah [God’s Chosen King].”, v36.

And you have killed Him, Acts 2:36: “whom you crucified”

Even though in effect of course it was a few Roman soldiers who did the act of crucifixion, it was the Jews who handed Him over to be crucified Him. They rejected their Messiah. And now they are His enemies: and that’s not good! cf. v34-35!

“When the people heard this”

They got the message. They were arrested by Peter’s sermon. They knew about the event he was describing. Many, if not most of them would’ve been shouting “Crucify him!” in the crowd that day. It was no big deal then: everybody as doing it. But now, by a strange working in their hearts, they are arrested by what Peter is saying.

If He is indeed God’s King, rejecting Him is tantamount to rejecting God. That is serious. And the Bible’s teaching is that we have all rejected God. This is where we must begin: let this message arrest you. Maybe you’ve heard this many times, and you’ve dismissed it. Maybe you felt you had nothing to do with this. But now something is different. Now, you are listening. That’s good.

The Holy Spirit convicts you of your participation in Christ’s death

“they were cut to the heart”

Notice the passive: this happened to them. The apostle’s message was applied to the hearts of the hearers like a dagger.

Suddenly, they believed that v36 is true. It is evident from what they say next.

They were convicted of being guilty of the charge of v36. They did not protest: “But I was told by the Pharisees to say, ‘Crucify Him!’ They misled me: what could I have done?!” “I was just doing what all around me were doing!” “Me?! I wasn’t the one driving the nails into Jesus’s hands!” They were slain by the truth of God’s Word. As Lenski writes:

The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles The Effect of Peter’s Sermon

The question they asked is a full admission of their guilt.

This was a deadly blow. This was the end of all their arguments to justify themselves, if they had any. This was the end of all their unbelief. This was the end of all their reasoning. Again, Lenski writes:

The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles The Effect of Peter’s Sermon

These men felt utterly crushed. They were not only hurt but hurt so that they could not rally against the hurt. Their conscience was smitten so that they could not fend off the blow.

Who did the cutting of the heart? It was the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit Himself, Who filled the believers and caused them to speak. It was the Spirit of Christ Who moved Peter to preach this sermon. As Jesus promised:

John 16:7–8 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

Crucial lesson: becoming a believer is NOT your choice. It is not the end result of you deciding Jesus is your best bet. It is not the result of the end of your deliberation. Whatever of these may play a part, it is utterly and ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit in you. And the first thing He does, after arresting you to consider the message about Jesus, is that He convinces you that you are guilty of rejecting Him. That’s what sin is.

There’s a song that asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Well, I was. Not physically, but spiritually: because I, too, had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. For He said: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30) Can you not say the same is true of you, Friend?

You come to the end of yourself

“and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” This is their response to what has happened to them, as reported by v37a. This is all they could say in the face of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

A confession of utter helplessness. Notice the desperation in their voice! Have you ever felt helpless in the face of an insurmountable challenge? Or the ball forming in your stomach as you were under of pressure of something big and inevitable coming towards you? Here they were, under the judgment of God, the day of judgment coming nearer, and they’ve killed the One God sent to save! To quote F. F. Bruce: “If they had refused him in whom all their hope of salvation rested, what hope of salvation was left to them now?” What can one do to justify himself before God? Nothing.

They submitted themselves to whatever Peter and the apostles would respond. They humbled themselves. Whatever the apostles would say, they would do. That’s the position of a humbled man. They recognised that the apostles knew something they did not, and if they had any chance of getting out of this mess they were in, it would be through what they say. They took up the position of the tax collector in the temple: “He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”” (Luke 18:13)

The great challenge for us today is that we can do so much for ourselves. Look at the bridges and skyscrapers we can build. Look at this tiny gadget in my hand: it can connect me to my family thousands of miles away, and I can even see them! Look how much longer we live—and even in this current situation, look how quickly vaccines were developed to help our fight against COVID-19. Praise the Lord for all these things—but all this can also be very dangerous. We find it very difficult to come to the end of ourselves. But when we see God face to face, we become undone. All we can say is, “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’” (Isaiah 6:5)

What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? “‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’” (John 3:3) Well, beloved, before you are born again by the Spirit of God, you must die. You must come to the end of yourself. That is the work of the same Spirit of God Who gives eternal life.

Pudding

Perhaps you are there now; perhaps you, for the first time, see yourself as a sinner in the hands of a rightfully angry God, you see that every moment you’ve lived without Him has been a moment of rebellion, of rejection of Him and His Son. That your efforts to get right with Him will be seen as efforts to bribe the Judge of this world. I say to you what Peter did: v38-39. We will consider these words in greater detail in the following two weeks.

But for now, let me once more ask: do you know any of this experience? Have you cried out to God, as did the tax collector: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Have you looked to the cross, and see Jesus dying because of you—but can you see that He is dying for you? For your sins to be taken away? “As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’” (Hebrews 3:15) Receive Jesus, be forgiven, and live! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)