Turn in your Bibles to the Book of Acts. Acts chapter 2. No, I won't be continuing Pastor Butler's preaching through the Book of Acts. He is able and fit for doing that.
We're going to backtrack though and consider a passage that he's already preached on from a bit of a different vantage point this morning, which I'll explain after we read it, but just a note of Backdrop here remember that Christ in his earthly ministry prior to his crucifixion resurrection and ascension had promised that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. When we come to the book of Acts, the ascended, now ascended Christ Jesus, is empowering and invigorating his church and his messengers to go about the task of the Christ-blessed process of building that church. It is Christ who builds it through the ministrations of his earthly ambassadors and his earthly heralds. And so the backdrop that we have here is that promise of Christ.
We have the promise of the sending of the Spirit. You'll remember as well in Christ's earthly ministry, he promised that he would send his Spirit so that the disciples, so that the apostles would have the means and the spiritual wherewithal to go about proclaiming the good tidings of Jesus Christ. And as well, he then sends those ministers themselves. He promised, behold, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes.
He sends, after empowering his ministers and promising to build his church, he sends them out into the world to go about proclaiming the riches and the excellencies of Christ. And here in Acts chapter 2, the portion of the text we're going to be concerned with is verses 22 to 43. And just a brief introduction here, we have in verses 22 to 24 a sermonic prologue. That simply means something of an introduction to the sermon at large.
The Apostle Peter, beginning here, men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, and then encapsulating the death and resurrection message that is at the core of Christianity. In verses 25 to 35, then, we have the sermonic expansion and explanation. It's an opening up of verses 22 to 24, what follows in 25 to 35, an expansion and an explanation of this crucified one, of this resurrected one, what that means and what is the scriptural undergirding for the completion and the perfection of that promise. In verse 36 we have the cutting application, the apostle Peter bringing to bear the sins of the people upon the message of this Christ.
We have the audience response in verse 37. We have the summons and the promise in verses 38 to 39. the summary of divine building in 40 to 43. And when we get to that particular point, we'll notice here that isn't it a wonderful thing that the building of the church doesn't occur by the sweat of men. Mind you, the sweat of men is engaged in the building of the church, but it is a divine building.
Christ had promised that he would build his church, and when we come to the narrative account in the book of Acts of the building of that church, we find that it is God who adds to the church daily those who are being saved. We can rest upon the divine promise that he will build his church.
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:22–43
Well, let's begin reading then in verse 22. We'll read to verse 43, and then we'll have a look at a number of things. Acts 2, beginning in verse 22. Once again, the Word of God. him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
For David says concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of joy in your presence. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Amen.
Opening Prayer
Well, let us pray. God, we thank you for this time now in the preaching of your word. We do pray that you would help us in this act of worship, be with the preacher. We pray that you would help me, Lord God, to preach accurately and to preach with precision your word.
We do pray for those who hear that you would instruct them, that you would equip them, We pray, Lord, by your spirit your saints would leave this place equipped and strengthened for a week to live for your glory's sake. And we pray, Lord God, that by preaching and by spirit you would bring forth dead sinners to life this morning, knowing that with you all things are possible. We pray that you would bring dead sinners to life in Christ Jesus the Lord, that many more tongues might confess that Jesus is Christ, to the glory of God the Father. And we do pray that in this act and in the rest of this worship this morning, you would help us to worship you in spirit and in truth, that you would once again receive all honor and praise.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well,
Introduction
I mentioned that we'd take a little bit of a different angle with regards to this passage. What I want to do is look at the benefactions of the ascended Christ. We confess a number of things regarding Christ. We confess him as very God.
We confess him as very man. We confess him as one Christ. We confess him as the only mediator between God and man. We confess him as the one who has alone effected salvation for all his elect.
There are a number of things regarding his person and regarding his work that we do confess, but we also want to not forget to confess his benefactions. That simply means the gifts that he gives to us. You've perhaps heard the language before, benefactor, beneficiary. A benefactor, kids, if I was to give you candy, if I had a bunch of candy, that I was willing to give.
I would be a benefactor, one who is giving good things. You would be the beneficiaries. I don't have any candy, by the way, so if anybody is coming up to me afterwards, I'm sorry, I don't have any candy. You receiving the candy, you're the beneficiary of these good things.
And these good things, we can call them benefactions. It's not a very common word, but that's simply the word I use, the benefactions of the ascended Christ. Gifts that he gives to his people now having been crucified, having been resurrected, having now been ascended. What does he pour out upon?
What does he give to his church? What good things of the bounty of the exalted Redeemer do come forth? to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to notice three things, and I'll explain these terms as we move along. But the three things we're going to look at are these.
First, his charismatic benefactions. Secondly, his soteriological benefactions. And thirdly, his ecclesiastical benefactions. A lot of syllables there, but we'll define them as we move along.
Charismatic Benefactions
First off, then, his charismatic benefactions. This simply means kids, and this simply means adults. His gifts relating to the preaching of the gospel. If you ever hear the word kerygma, sometimes you might read it if you're reading a commentary, you're reading a book on theology or something, you might read the term kerygma.
That simply means a pattern of apostolic preaching. Here in the book of Acts, the kerygma, or the pattern of apostolic preaching, is that the preachers bring to bear that the promised Christ of the Old Testament is this Jesus Christ whom you crucified. And they hinge to that message certain applications and certain things. And so his charismatic benefactions, that simply means the gifts of the ascended Christ that pertain to preaching.
We would introduce this section by these words, the Lord Jesus, very God and very man, yet one Christ, once crucified, now resurrected and ascended, gives to his creation and church the gift of the proclamation of the gospel. That is the benefaction, one of the benefactions that Christ gives to His creation and church, the proclamation of His gospel.
The Gift of Preachers
First off, under this head, the gift of preachers. This isn't to be a self-serving sub-point. You know, this isn't the point where the preacher puffs out his chest and says, aren't we a gift to creation in the church? But in a sense, a preacher is a gift to creation in the church by Christ.
Not in some sort of puffed up or stuffy sort of way, but in the manner by which God was pleased to ordain the proclamation of his message concerning his dear son. The preacher is the means, the tool, the instrument given by God for such proclamation. On this day, a preacher stood up to preach and he is prototypical for all who follow. Peter stands up on this day and he begins to preach in verse 22.
In fact, he is began to preach prior in his explanation with regards to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. But the sermon, the pointed sermon in a sense begins now in verse 22, men of Israel hear these words. Preacher stood up on this day and he's prototypical for all who follow boldness by grace here in the Apostle Peter. We see that Peter stands up as a preacher to a multitude here and he is empowered by God to proclaim the message that God would have for these people on this day.
And remember, this has been, we have had cause to recognize this and reflect on this before, but isn't it an amazing thing here that we have Peter standing up and preaching and speaking these words. Men of Israel hear these words. Recall what Peter was or who Peter was 50 days ago. From the vantage point of this day of preaching, 50 days ago, Peter was thrice denying his Lord before the patio interrogations of wicked persons.
Before one patio interrogation of a servant girl, he was denying his Lord. But we see here, 50 days later, what's going on. Peter is standing up with vigor, and he's standing up with courage, proclaiming the Christ of glorious truth. It's an amazing thing.
Do you remember why, how it is that Peter is standing up on this day? With what strength he is now standing before this multitude and preaching? Remember that before his denial, Christ had said, Satan has sought to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
It's another glorious thing. We have a Christ that prays for us. Brothers and sisters, we have a Christ that intercedes for us and prays for us. You have perhaps stumbled in your walk with Christ.
You've perhaps stumbled in your walk as a Christian. And the guilt pours in. The guilt starts to pour in because you've sinned. You've had a good season where things were going well, but sin has come and you've stumbled.
Know that there is a Christ who prays for you. There is a Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father on high, and he prays for you. He said to Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. When you've returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
And the preacher stands up on this day, and he does strengthen his brethren. What an amazing turn it is from, I do not know this Jesus of Nazareth, to men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, and he goes on to proclaim his glorious Christ. It's an amazing thing that the Peter, who cowered before the patio interrogations of a servant girl, can stand up and say, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Whenever we read this passage in Acts, we ought to marvel at the amazing grace of God.
That's an application that's easy for the preacher, but it's an application that so often comes across in the pages of Holy Scripture, having turned Peter from that denier to a great and vigorous proclaimer of the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ. But notice that the risen Christ, the risen and exalted Christ, has gifted his creation in church, in this case, with preachers. You can turn with me to keep our minds active and to keep our fingers moving to the book of Ephesians for a moment, just to see that this ascension or the gift of good things, the gift of preachers seen connected to the ascension of Jesus Christ. Christ has been crucified.
Christ has been resurrected. He's now being ascended. So what does he do? Notice in Ephesians chapter four, beginning in verse seven, This marks, by the way, the transition from the theological to the practical in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
He has preached rich theology, and now he gets to the implications of it. But in the midst of this, he remarks concerning Christ, his ascension, and the giving of gifts. Notice in verse 7 of Ephesians 4, but to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift, his benefactions. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
Now skip past the parenthetical for a moment to notice verse 11. And he gave himself some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so we have here this gifting, this giving, these benefactions linked to the ascension of Jesus Christ. Isn't it a wonderful thing?
Christ Jesus, upon the heels of his ascension, does not just stop in his mediatorial work and say, OK, I've done my thing now. Now I leave you. I leave the church to do your own thing without my beneficence and without my ongoing activity as the one stationed at the right hand of God. No.
He continues to work, he continues to do, he continues to engage in his mediatorial activity for the good of his church. And here we see that preachers are given as gifts to men. There are many applications that come from this, but one of the things that we ought to see in this is do you pray for your preacher? On the morning before Jim Butler comes into the pulpit to preach, at some point, maybe the night before, certainly in the morning leading up to it, do you pray for the preacher?
Because preachers don't come into this pulpit, and good preachers, preachers of Christ, true preachers of the gospel, don't enter into a pulpit with a chest puffed and with an arrogance. There are always knees knocking and nerves rambling in a preacher of the gospel. It's a very difficult thing. I think I've used this illustration before.
If I was just coming up here, if a preacher was just coming up here and just, or excuse me, not a preacher, but if I just came up here and this was a different context and perhaps we all worked for Skittles. And I was giving a lecture on why they changed the green Skittle to a different flavor. I still don't know why they did that. But if I was just giving you a lecture on Skittles, the subject matter wouldn't be all that important.
It wouldn't be of an eternal significance. It would simply be a lecture on why I switched flavors from whatever it was to whatever it is now. It's not as nice as it is now, but you get the point. If I was just a marketing representative for Skittles giving you a lecture on the new green flavor, it probably wouldn't be all that engaging.
You as employees of Skittles might need to know these things, but there wouldn't be a whole weight upon the shoulders of the person speaking about a green Skittle. It wouldn't be a laborious thing. It wouldn't be a heavy thing. But when it comes, as we now land back upon sacred things, when it comes to sacred things, When it comes to the stuff of the Bible, when it comes to eternal things, the things of the written word concerning God and His redemption for men, it's a heavy topic, it's a heavy task.
You have the devil, the assailing devil, seeking to steal away confidence. You have the world and its allurements seeking to distract. You have the flesh that remains, the flesh that lusts after the spirit, seeking to battle you away from preaching the word of God. Do you pray for your preachers?
Preachers go into the pulpit and they rest upon God. They rest upon the triune God who gives mightily for the act of preaching. But they also rely upon a praying congregation. That is the providential means where you enter in with the ordainment of God in the instrumentation of preachers given by Christ as a gift to proclaim the riches and the excellencies of Christ.
And so do you pray for your preachers.
The Gift of Preaching
Secondly, under his charismatic benefactions, which simply means, again, the gifts relating to the preaching of the gospel, we have the gift of preaching. You might say, okay, well, what's different there? Well, there is a difference. God has given us preachers for the proclamation of his gospel, but he's also given us the act of preaching, wherein the preacher engages in that heavy task of proclamation.
And here, Peter, on this day, it was preaching that was needful. And this is the enduring pattern for the history of Christianity. On this day, Peter stands up and he preaches. He preaches a message concerning Christ, His riches and His excellencies for the growth of the church and for the good of the church.
God, or rather Christ, in His ascended reality has benefacted preaching to the church for her good. It's been said before by Jim more than myself that there were many other media available to the church. There were many other media. I think that's the proper word.
There were multiple mediums available for the church to engage in for the communication of a message. But it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. You see here, Peter standing up, he doesn't engage in a juggling act. He doesn't engage in song.
He doesn't engage in theater. He doesn't engage in anything save for the preaching of the word. And this is a gift given by the ascended Christ here. And it's not simply preaching merely, but it is the reality of it and the content of it.
See, it's not just speaking words. It's not just Peter standing up and speaking words to this gathered assembly, but rather there is a content to his preaching. And isn't the content rich? Men of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up." You see, it's not just the speaking of words that is the gift of preaching. It is the reality of preaching to be sure, but it's the content as well. And here Peter stands up and he preaches He proclaims the glories and the riches of Jesus Christ. On this day, it was preaching that was needful.
And this is the enduring pattern in the history of Christianity. Today, it is preaching that is needful. Today it is preaching that is needful for the salvation of sinners. I think it is the case in many corners of the professing church that if preaching isn't working, then we need to try something else, a pragmatic approach to Christianity.
If preaching isn't working, then we need to try some other medium. We need to introduce, perhaps we shrink the preaching down to 10 minutes. and we introduce other things because the church just isn't growing. It has been preaching that God has always been pleased to use for the growth of the church. The church may go through many seasons of ebbing and flowing throughout the years, but it has always been and it will always be preaching that God uses for that enduring pattern to grow his church throughout the ages.
You can turn with me for a moment to Galatians. Chapter 3. To see something with respect to media, that is, mediums used for communication, and the preaching of the Word. It's an interesting passage here in Galatians 3.
We understand the situation in Galatia, where it is geographically, relative to where Christ ministered, and Consider the preaching of the word notice at the rate at the beginning of Galatians chapter 3 beginning in verse 1 Oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified And let me just read that one more time because Galatia is hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem. They never saw the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. You see, when the preaching of the word is delivered as it ought to be delivered, when a minister of the gospel stands up in a pulpit and proclaims the word of God, in this case, when a minister of the gospel stands up before a congregation and preaches Jesus Christ, it is as if Christ is clearly portrayed before our eyes as crucified.
See, we don't need visual media, we don't need theater. Through the preaching of the word, the gospel of Jesus Christ is as if it is unfolding before our own eyes. Calvin preached these words on this particular notion and he's talking about the vanity of symbols and emblems and pictures in a church. He says, Paul declares, speaking of Galatians 3.1, Paul declares that by the true preaching of the gospel, Christ is portrayed and in a manner crucified before our eyes.
Of what use then were the erection in churches of so many crosses of wood and stone, silver and gold, if this doctrine were faithfully and honestly preached? Christ died that he might bear our curse upon the tree, that he might expiate our sins by the sacrifice of his body, wash them in his blood, and in short, reconcile us to God the Father. From this one doctrine, the people would learn more from a thousand crosses of wood and stone. As for crosses of gold and silver, it may be true that the avaricious give their eyes and minds to them more eagerly than to any heavenly instructor." What he's saying there is that, you know, The eyes of the avaricious, the eyes of those eager for visual things, give their eyes and their minds more to crosses, to pictures, to crosses of gold and silver, wood and stone, than to heavenly instructors, than to preachers.
And the preaching of the word, from this one doctrine, the preaching of the gospel, the people would learn more than from a thousand crosses of wood and stone. And so, the gift of preachers and the gift of preaching. One of the things we ought to consider here, one of the things we ought to bring into mind is, do you give for the preaching? And I don't mean of your own good things.
I mean your time and your focus and your attention. As we said before, it's not an easy task. It is a task that the preacher ought to be able to engage in. Any dumb preacher ought to be able to get up into a pulpit and stand up and proclaim the word of God to a particular measure of precision and accuracy so that the people get something out of it.
But do you give to the preaching? That is your time and your focus and your attention. I'm not sure what the saying exactly is, but the preacher is to preach, but the people are reciprocally supposed to hear. In other words, you can get a preacher that's eager to come into the pulpit and to preach, but if you don't have people eager to come into the pews to hear the Word of God preached, then the preaching exercise can be a vanity.
Oh sure, if there are zero eager people out there and the preacher is preaching, he's done his job. He's been empowered by God to proclaim in that ordained means of proclamation. But if no one is out there eager to receive the Word of God preached, then it can be, in a sense, vanity. And as we come in each and every Lord's Day, as we do come in each and every Lord's Day, we ought to be eager to hear, we ought to be ready to hear, and we ought to give ear as the preaching is carried out by the preacher.
There is the gift of preachers, there is the gift of preaching, and we ought to recognize in this there ought to be a particular recognition. I've already said that the preacher doesn't enter the pulpit puffed up. He certainly ought not to do so. But there is a certain recognition with respect to preaching that we ought to recognize and that it ought to help us as we prepare ourselves to come in to hear preaching on the Lord's day.
Some things that we ought to consider are the stuff of 2 Corinthians 4. You don't need to turn there, but if you have quick fingers, you can do so. Notice in 2 Corinthians 4, beginning at verse 4. Excuse me, beginning at verse 5.
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He doesn't stop there, though. But just for a moment, notice the power that is behind your salvation, the power that is behind salvation, generally speaking.
You catch that in verse 6, where it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You get the connection there that the same power, the very power that called creation into existence, the very power that commanded light to shine out of the darkness and to shine into the darkness, the very power that created the heavens and the earth and all things that are in them in the space of six days and all very good is the same power that calls dead sinners to life in Jesus Christ. It's an amazing power that pictures man's need, his desperate need, his deadness in trespasses and sins. And it pictures the glorious God of heaven and earth, who with creative power makes a sinner his own by immense and glorious almighty power.
But notice as we move on or as we read on with respect to preachers, verse seven, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So, to inform your prayer and to inform your preparation for preaching, and to qualify the fact that preachers are a gift to creation and to the church, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Pray for your preachers and pray for the preaching.
The Gift of the Spirit for Preaching
And thirdly, under his charismatic benefactions, again, the gifts relating to the preaching of the gospel, we simply have the fact of the gift of the Spirit for preaching. This is something that also ought to populate your prayers. Even in the midst, if you're called to in the middle of preaching, the preacher relies upon the Spirit of God for the proclamation of the Word. I've mentioned before, it is a heavy task coming into a pulpit to try to preach the Word of God.
And the preacher relies upon the Spirit of God for power and for much assurance. And even as the preacher is going about the act of preaching, as the preacher is up here, hopefully not rambling, but bringing to bear the Word of God upon your souls, You pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Lord, give him the spirit that he may continue in the act of preaching. The gift of the Spirit for preaching.
Finding our way back to Acts 2. On this day, the preacher and the preaching relied upon the Spirit of Christ. And today, preachers with the same preaching stand in the same reliance. I want you to notice something back in Acts chapter 2, the passage that we're considering as something of a point of departure for looking at his benefactions, though they all come from this particular passage.
But notice, on this day, at verse 33, therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here. the gift of the Spirit for preaching. We ought not to presume upon the Spirit as something that Steve prayed at the closing of our prayer meeting. We don't presume upon the Spirit. We pray for the Spirit, that the Spirit might come with power and much assurance, helping the preacher and helping along the task of preaching.
And here we read that He, that is Christ, the giver of benefactions, He poured out this which you now see and hear. I want to I want us to appreciate this scene for a moment. Remember that only 50 days ago, this Christ was crucified upon Calvary's cross. 50 days ago, this same audience called out, let him be crucified. Crucify this Christ, crucify him, give us Barabbas.
They cried out for blood. They called out for blood. They saw this Christ, that Peter is now preaching, crucified upon Calvary's cross. 50 days later, Peter is saying that that Christ whom you crucified is now pouring out this which you now see in here. What an amazing thing and what a victorious Christ.
They thought they silenced him. They thought that they brought him to a point of darkness and silence by crucifying him and putting him to death. We don't need to hear any longer this Jesus Christ preaching to us. But little did they know that according to the promise of the Holy Scriptures, he would be raised the third day, he would ascend to the right hand of the majesty on high, and he would send forth, he would pour out the spirit for the proclamation of the gospel, a gospel that concerns him, a gospel that would go forth victorious to the uttermost parts of the earth.
It's an amazing scene. This preacher is saying that the one we crucified has poured out this power, and by this power, the proclamation of this message is going forth? Absolutely. The one you crucified has been ascended.
God raised him up, set him at his right hand, And he now proclaims the riches and the excellencies of so glorious a message. The gift of the Spirit for the preaching.
Soteriological Benefactions
Well, secondly then, and moving along a little bit quicker now, let's look at his soteriological benefactions. Again, many syllables there, but what that simply means, kids, is his gift of salvation. Soteriology simply means the study of salvation, and we already know what benefactions are, those are gifts. His saving gifts, his gifts of salvation, the Lord Jesus, very God and very man, yet one Christ, once crucified, now resurrected and ascended, gives to his people those redemptive benefits, one, by his obedience unto cross-death vocation.
He gives his people salvation. We see that here in this passage. Notice what we find, first of all.
Salvation in Effectual Calling
Well, first, under this point, the gift of salvation comprehended in effectual calling. Notice what we have in verse 37. Now, when they heard this, that is, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Make no mistake that that is an evidence of one of two cuttings to the heart that occur in Holy Scripture. This is evidence of the motion and the moving of God in effectual calling. where God by His Spirit brings forth His people from the deadness and darkness of sin to life and light in Christ Jesus the Lord. This is an instance of that. Just for a comparison, turn with me for a moment to Acts 7.
There are two ways in which a message cuts to the heart in the Holy Scriptures. One of the ways we find in Acts chapter 7 Notice notice here in the in the preaching of Stephen at Acts 7 verse 51 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did so to you which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute and they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one of whom you have now have become the betrayers and murderers and who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." Now notice, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. Stop for a moment. So we have in both instances this cutting to the heart.
A message is preached, the message of Jesus Christ is preached, and there is this cutting to the heart. But notice here as we read on, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. That is a cutting to the heart, which in the unregenerate heart leads to the gnashing of teeth. They were angry, they were mad, they were venomous, they were about to bring murderous anger upon Stephen.
Now, coming back to Acts chapter 2, notice again at verse 37, now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, But in this case, it's not a gnashing of teeth. In this case, it's not a murderous and an angry response, but much rather, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Here we have an evidence of that soteriological benefaction, simply the gift of salvation that the ascended Christ gives to his people. These were cut to the heart and they cry out, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Notice as we move down to verse 41, then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3000 souls were added to them. The gift of salvation comprehended in effectual calling on this day, souls were brought from darkness to light, from deadness to life through the gift of preaching and by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this continues in our own day. You see, we may be cessationists when it comes to the revelatory gifts of the Spirit, but we confess with great vigor the fact that God continually, by His power, by His amazing grace, brings forth dead sinners to life in Jesus Christ.
In that, we are continuationists. We confess the mighty power of God, that mighty power which is the same as his creative power in calling forth all things that exist, that power that brings forth a dead sinner to life. Brethren, I think we ought to look back upon our own Christianity, our own salvation, as often as we can. You reflect upon the the fact that there was a time where you were dead in your trespasses and sins That's what the scripture says of us.
We were dead in our trespasses and in our sins It is a good thing to reflect back on the fact that you were once dead in your trespasses and sins in fact turn with me to Ephesians for a moment because this gives us a good picture of what we once were it calls upon a sinner to reflect, calls upon the Christian to reflect upon that previous state of affairs. Notice in Ephesians 2 at verse 1, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." You see the weight of the state, the severity and the gravity of the state of affairs outside of Christ? There's a threefold reality here that we find. We find the devil, the world, and the flesh all referenced to here.
The prince of the power of the air, the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. And we all once conducted ourselves fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath just as the others. There's a trifold opposition, a trifold reality rather with regards to the sinner that is dead and trespasses and sins.
There might be a threefold enemy that we rail against now, but we have the power and the grace of God on our side. Prior to that, there was a threefold friend. It was a threefold friend. We were of our father, the devil, the desires of the father we wanted to do.
We enjoyed engaging in the lusts of our flesh, and we enjoyed the allurements of the world. This was the threefold reality prior to being brought forth by amazing grace. I think if we reflect as often as we can in a wholesome exercise upon the whole of the pit from which we were digged, to use the language of Spurgeon, and the rock whence we were hewn, we will all the more appreciate the amazing and victorious grace of Almighty God. On that day, moving back to Acts 2, on that day, a multitude of sinners, were brought from darkness to light, from deadness to life, through the gift of preaching and by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this continues to our day.
We ought to pray for that. We ought to pray daily for it, but certainly on the Lord's Day, this is something we ought to pray for, that that continuing activity of Almighty God might be witnessed to during the course of the worship service. is there are some who enter in these two doors outside of Christ in unbelief, in the darkness of sin, dead in their trespasses and in their sins. And we ought to pray that the God of powerful creation, who is also the God of powerful redemption, would bring forth dead sinners to life in Christ. Is that your prayer on a Lord's Day morning?
Is that your prayer on the eve prior to the Lord's day? But is that your prayer that God would save? It ought to be our prayer. These are the things that ought to populate our prayers, that God, by His amazing grace, would bring forth dead sinners to life.
On this day, we see it by this preacher and by this preaching and by the Spirit, sinners brought forth, asking men and brethren, what shall we do? And then the Lord adding them to the church. 3,000 souls were added to them.
Salvation in Forgiveness of Sins
Secondly, we also see the gift of salvation seen in the forgiveness of sins. Peter preaches in verse 38, then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of salvation comprehended in the forgiveness of sins. This is always a statement that a preacher uses guardedly, but is there anything greater than the forgiveness of sins? to reflect upon that glorious truth.
Brethren, this is something that's repeated often from the pulpit. This isn't revolutionary stuff. If you are in Christ, you have the forgiveness of sins. What a glorious thing.
If you peruse the diary of your memory, to again use the language of Spurgeon, you peruse the diary of your memory, there you will see the witnesses of your guilt faithfully recording their names. but we have the reality that Christ has dealt the death blow to that guilt. Christ has dealt the death blow to that weight upon us, and we no longer have that handwriting which is against us, but rather Christ has nailed it to the cross. In fact, that's the glorious language of the forgiveness of sins in the book of Colossians. In Colossians chapter 2, we have that wonderful language that was the reality of this day when Peter was proclaiming richly the things of Christ.
Notice in Colossians 2 at verse 13 and you being dead. Here's that language again and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." You reflect upon the cross often. Hopefully it's not a Sunday only thing where our minds are drawn to a reflection upon the cross That every day you reflect upon this reality that we have the forgiveness of sins by virtue of so glorious across death We have the handwriting of requirements that was against us cast away from us because it's been nailed to the cross Christ having dealt the death blow to the condemnation, to the guilt, and to the power of sin. What a glorious reality this is.
You know, rightly, Pastor Butler remarks that hymn very frequently from the pulpit. Have you ever noticed how that hymn, My Sin, O the Bliss of this Glorious Thought, have you ever thought about how the hymnist interrupts himself in that hymn? I've always had this idea that he's writing the lyrics to this hymn And he was going to write something, I don't know if this happened, but he was going to write something else, but he stops to consider the weight and the glory of the forgiveness of sins. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought.
He interrupts himself. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. He calls upon his own soul to praise the Lord. That's what we ought to do each and every day.
Call upon our souls to praise the Lord for so great a thought that my sins have been nailed to the cross. What a glorious thing. And here on this day, a multitude of sinners were forgiven by virtue of the perfect work of the Savior Jesus Christ. And this same forgiveness is available today.
Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? If you're here this morning and you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, praise God. You can sing along with the hymn writer, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. If you're here today and you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to know that you are dead in your trespasses and in your sins.
There's a terrifying statement that we'll briefly look at tonight in the sermon tonight in John 8, 24, where Christ says, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. You need to understand the weight of that statement. If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins. That doesn't simply mean that you'll die in the act of sinning, but you'll die with the condemnation, the weighty and the horrible condemnation of sin resting upon you.
The wrath, the holiness, the righteousness, the justice of God in condemning sinners will rest upon you if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so forgiveness, the forgiveness that these enjoyed is available today. Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Know that the weight is so great that nothing, not yourself, not anyone else, not any doing, not your own dying can take it away, the weight of the guilt and condemnation and power of sin.
But there is only one who can take that away. And it is this Christ whom Peter proclaimed. It is this Jesus Christ who Peter proclaimed.
Application
Just in closing, we can't make it to his ecclesiastical benefactions because the preacher would break the unwritten covenant made with his people, but a couple things in closing. Do you thank God for your salvation? On this day, Christ poured out soteriological benefactions. Christ poured out saving gifts upon people on this day of Pentecost.
Peter preached. Peter was the preacher. He preached the message by the power of the Spirit, and the Lord God Almighty, the risen Christ even, gave the gift of salvation. You By virtue, though you're removed however many hundreds of years from that glorious day of proclamation, you have been likewise the blessed undeserved beneficiaries of salvation by so glorious a Christ, and do you thank God for your salvation.
Is that something that as well populates your prayers? Do you go to God in prayer? Thank you, Lord God Almighty, for bringing me forth from the deadness of sin to life in Christ. I was lost, but now I'm found.
I was blind, but now I see. Is that your prayer? You go about your days not thanking God for your salvation. What a glorious place that we're in, to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, that righteousness which comes from God through faith in Christ.
Do you thank God for so glorious a gift and do you pray for the dispensation of this gift? We've already noted that a wholesome use of the word dispensation here. Do you pray for the giving of the gift? Do you pray that God would pour out that benefaction upon his people?
Do you pray for your young ones, for the old in our midst, for every man and woman, boy and girl, who comes within the context of this church, who is outside of Christ? Do you pray, Lord, bring them forth from the darkness of sin to life in Christ? That is another thing, that is, yes, to populate our prayers, that God, in His gloriously appointed and accepted time, would bring forth dead sinners to life in Christ. Might that always be our prayer?
And brethren, Hopefully one thing that we confess, in addition to all those glorious things about Christ himself, are the benefactions that he pours out upon his people. Those things that he pours out upon his church would have been the creed for the church, the building of the church, the unity of the church, the interest the church has in her Savior and the gathering of the church, the sacraments of the church. Christ gives us so many benefactions, so many gifts. We are to avail of them.
We are to enjoy them. We are to pray them in. We are to pray that God, that the ascended Christ even, would give to his church strength and vigor as she goes forth in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And we ought to pray daily that for our young, for our old, for our middle-aged, that the ascended Christ would pour forth the blessing and benefaction of the Spirit to raise dead sinners to life, that we would populate these pews with more lips that would raise up to God, singing, Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Might that always be our prayer, and might that be our prayer now as we close.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we do pray for your word. We pray for your word to go forth. We pray, Lord God, that the ascended Christ would pour forth his benefactions upon this creation in his church. We would ask, Lord God, that you would do that mighty act of salvation even in our place this morning.
By the proclamation of the word and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you would bring forth dead sinners to life. We long to hear of this throughout the world, Lord God, that many more sinners are brought forth as redeemed ones, who confess with newly redeemed lips the glories of Jesus Christ. Might you do that mighty act of salvation on those who are caught up, dead in their trespasses and sins. Might you do that mighty act of salvation, bringing them forth to much praise by the Spirit, by the power of the Spirit, with much assurance.
Might you go with us now as we go about doing our various things. We pray that you would help us to live in light of so glorious a gospel. We pray that you would help us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. We would ask God that you would help us as we go into this upcoming week as well.
Might we do those things that are wholesome in your sight. Might we adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ in our workplaces and where in our homes and wherever you may find us. And we pray that we would bring honor and that we would bring glory to you. Go with us now, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen. Well, you can stand with me. We're going to sing the doxology. We'll stand and sing the doxology before we close with the benediction and go our way.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures, dearly known. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise God and Son and Holy Ghost.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Please be seated. We'll have a brief time of prayer.
When the piano's finished, you're dismissed.