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Acts 2, I'll begin reading in 
verse 22. 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, 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? And 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for the written Word. We thank You for 
this Book of Acts and the way that the Lord Jesus Christ is 
the focus of chapter 2. We thank You for the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit and for the fulfillment of the prophets concerning 
not only that outpouring, but concerning the Lord Jesus. Psalm 
16 and its application to Christ's resurrection. Psalm 110 and its 
application to the ascension and exaltation of Jesus. How 
we thank you that what was promised long ago has been fulfilled in 
the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us 
to understand this call to repentance. Help us by the Holy Spirit to 
receive with thankful hearts your written word. And do forgive 
us now for our sins and our transgressions and our lack of conformity unto 
your holy law. We know that Your Son, the Lord 
Christ, died to save us from our sins, and in this we greatly 
rejoice. As the Apostle said, He was delivered 
up because of our offenses and was raised for our justification. God, may these things truly strengthen 
us, and may You give us fresh resolve to bring glory and honor 
and praise to our great and our glorious triune God, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. Bless our time now, we pray, 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, we have seen that 
Peter's response here is consistent with what was written in the 
Old Testament scriptures. Remember, the outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit happens in chapter one, I'm sorry, chapter two, 
verses one to four. And then the persons of Jerusalem 
are trying to interpret or understand. And in verse 13, some mocked. 
Some said that the disciples were filled with new or sweet 
wine. And so Peter stands up on that 
day of Pentecost and he says, no, these are not drunk as you 
suppose. It's only the third hour of the 
day. He said, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. In 
other words, Joel too specified an outpoured Holy Spirit on this 
particular day. And that is precisely what Peter 
says happened. And then Peter, in chapter 2, 
verses 22 to 36, preaches Jesus Christ. He preaches Christ according 
to his true humanity, in verse 22. He preaches Christ according 
to the predetermined death, in verse 23. He preaches Christ 
according to the resurrection, in verses 24 to 32, and then 
with reference to the ascension and exaltation of Christ, in 
verses 33 to 36. And now as we come to this particular 
section in verses 37 to 40, we see the crowd's response. We 
see their reaction to Peter's sermon. And so I want to look 
first at the conviction of sin in verse 37, and then secondly, 
the call to repentance in verses 38 to 40. In many respects, this 
is not only a model sermon, but it's also a model response These 
persons understood what Peter had said, and as a result, they 
cry out, men and brethren, what must we do? So let's look first 
of all at verse 37 concerning the conviction of sin. Notice 
it says, now when they heard this, That refers back, of course, 
to verses 22 to 36. They heard this concerning Jesus 
and His life, His death, and His resurrection. But specifically, 
it probably refers, as we see from what happens, to verses 
23 and 36. Peter doesn't let the people 
forget that they had crucified Jesus. In other words, Peter's 
not simply about informing the mind and showing how Psalm 16 
and Psalm 110 are fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus. 
He wants to do that, he wants to specify that, he wants to 
demonstrate that Jesus is who the prophet said he would be, 
but he also wants to bring that conviction of sin. He doesn't 
deal in vagueness, he doesn't deal in ambiguity, he doesn't 
deal in generalities, but rather he says, whom you crucified. In fact, the specific order of 
the words in the Greek, in verse 36, ends on whom you crucified. And so when they heard this, 
What happens, happens. When they heard this, they were 
caught to the heart. Literally, they were pierced 
through. The idea is conviction. In other words, they had come 
face to face, not only with the reality that Jesus is who Peter 
said He is, but with the reality that they crucified Him. In other 
words, if Christ is the one described in verses 22 to 36, if Christ 
is the one described in Psalm 16 and Psalm 110, they murdered 
Him. There was no reason for it. It 
wasn't judicial. Christ was not a criminal. Christ 
was not an insurrectionist. Christ was not a terrorist. So 
they've come to that grim reality. We have crucified the Lord of 
glory. you could see why they would 
be pierced to the heart. Alexander said Peter's argument 
must have convinced them that the man whom they had crucified 
was the Messiah. And that if so, they had been 
guilty, not only of judicial murder, but of blasphemy and 
treason to their rightful sovereign. You see why they would be pierced 
to the heart. You see why they would be cut 
to the heart. You see why there would be conviction. 
And this is absolutely crucial. Remember that Jesus didn't come 
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I would suggest 
if you're ever convicted about sin, if you ever get that piercing 
of the heart, if it ever comes up in your own conscience that 
you have violated a holy God, you have transgressed His law, 
you have lacked conformity unto it, don't dismiss that. Don't anesthetize it. Don't seek 
to find some sort of alleviation apart from the gospel of our 
Lord and Savior. In other words, what happens 
to these people Good! If we want, by the grace of God, 
to come to the Savior God has provided, this will typically 
precede it. Well, usually, always, there 
will be this conviction of sin. Now, how long is the conviction? 
It doesn't say it was two years. It doesn't say it was three years. 
It doesn't say it was 20 months. It says they were cut to the 
heart and they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? And 
Peter directs them to the cross. You see, there is no stipulation 
for how long this conviction must last. Bruce said, Peter's 
preaching proved effective, not only in persuading his hearer's 
minds, but convincing their conscience. And that ought to be the goal 
of Christian preaching. That ought to be the goal of 
Christian hearing. That ought to be the goal of 
unbelieving hearing. God, deal with me. I am not a 
perfect man. I think we'd all admit that, 
right? I don't mean you of me. I'm sure you'd admit that. But 
I mean all of us of all of us. But there's one thing. You say, 
well, you know, I'm not perfect. But when you look at yourself 
in light of God's law, you see how really imperfect you are. 
When you look at yourself in light of God's demands that you 
shall have no other gods before him, and you reflect upon it 
for just a moment and realize, I've been my own God. I have 
rejected Yahweh of Israel. I have rejected the Lord of glory. 
I have pursued those things pertaining to me. If you think about God's 
law in terms of blasphemy, we're not supposed to take the name 
of the Lord our God in vain, but we're also supposed to not 
act in lawless and godless ways. The Sabbath, if you reflect upon 
that for just a moment, you'll see how far short you fall. You 
think about the command to not be insubordinate to parents or 
governing authorities, the fifth word. You think about the sixth 
word. You might even say, well, I've never actually stopped somebody's 
heart from beating, but you probably hated somebody in your heart. 
You've probably said fool or raka. You've probably had resentment 
or bitterness. From whence do those flow? They're 
violations of the sixth word. We violate the seventh word, 
the commandment not to engage in adultery, sexual immorality. Well, again, we may not have 
actually engaged in it externally, but is our thought life altogether 
pure? We're prohibited from stealing, we're prohibited from lying, 
we're prohibited from covetousness. Brethren, embrace that, or friend, 
embrace that. Because if you want to be healed, 
you have to first identify the malady. In other words, I don't 
go to the hospital to get my arm fixed if I don't know that 
my arm's broken. I don't know to go to an oncologist 
unless the MRI reveals that I've got cancer. And see, this idea 
of conviction of sin, it is the hope and it is the prayer of 
persons that pray with reference to this church, that you would 
feel bad, that there would be some upset. If all preaching 
only ever soothes you, then I would be curious in terms of that preaching 
or in terms of how you're hearing it. It's not bad to be convicted 
of sin. I would argue it's bad to not 
be convicted of sin in light of the fact that our God is holy, 
holy, holy, and we are diametrically opposed to that. That we would 
not be more convicted of sin on a more regular basis is truly 
perplexing in my mind. But these men are convicted. These men had come face to face 
with this crucial reality. If this Jesus is in fact the 
Messiah, as Peter has described, we put him to death! Our lawless 
hands were responsible. We cried, away with him, away 
with him, crucify him. When Pilate said, do you want 
Barabbas or do you want Jesus? They said, give us Barabbas. 
You can see why they are convicted at this particular level, at 
this particular point. Thomas Manton said, loose discourses 
about sin in general do not affect the heart so much as the sound 
discovery of sin. And when that one sin is discovered, 
it bringeth others into the view of conscience. In other words, 
we need to expose sin. We need our sins exposed. We need to understand that we're 
not only not perfect, we are light years away from any degree 
of perfection whatsoever. And I submit to you that if you 
use the law of God in that regard, use it as a child tutor to lead 
you to the cross, that's a blessed use of that law. Now notice, 
they ask, men and brethren, what shall we do? Gil comments that 
the typical response of man in sin is the covenant of works. 
What shall we do? Good teacher, what shall I do 
to inherit eternal life? You know, the question as it 
stands is good. What shall we do? We crucified him. We murdered 
the one that was altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. We murdered 
the one of whom the prophets spoke. We murdered one who didn't 
do anything wrong. Even Pilate himself said three 
times, I find no guilt in him. Three times Pilate confesses 
that. And Pilate's no friend of biblical 
orthodoxy. Pilate was no worshiper of the 
Messiah. So you see, these men have come 
to grips with the reality that they've crucified the Lord of 
Glory, and they ask the very appropriate question, what shall 
we do? Have you been there? Have you asked this question? 
Have you said, in light of your own sinfulness and in light of 
your own depravity, your own waywardness and transgression 
against God, what shall I do? Well, I hope that you have asked 
that question. I hope, by the grace of God, 
you have believed the gospel. But if you haven't asked the 
question, let me encourage you to ask it. And let me encourage 
you to listen now to what Peter says in terms of an answer. Note this call to repentance. 
He gives two exhortations and then a promise. In the first 
place, he commands them to repent. Now, repentance was the message 
of John the Baptist. Remember, that's how he started 
his ministry in Matthew 3, 2. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand. This was the message of Jesus Christ our Lord in Matthew 
4, 17. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The fundamental 
idea with reference to repentance is to have a change of mind. 
is to have a change of mind. We look at the fruits of repentance 
as repentance, but somebody who stops smoking hasn't necessarily 
evidenced repentance. You need to be very careful. 
Not everybody out there or in here that stops a bad habit is 
necessarily repenting. The change of mind occurs with 
reference to God. The change of mind occurs with 
reference to who He is in His holiness, in His majesty, in 
His righteousness, and in His glory. Instead of using God's 
name as a blasphemous word, we use God's name to praise. Repentance, 
as well, has the idea of to feel remorse, to repent and be converted. Again, Alexander says, regret 
or sorrow is only one of its ingredients. Evangelical repentance, 
in its widest sense, is an entire revolution of the principles 
and practice of the heart and life. I like the way F. F. Bruce describes it. He calls 
it a spiritual about-face. a spiritual about faith. You're 
heading one direction, now you're moving the opposite direction. 
It's a call by Peter to these people to repent. Now you say, 
Pastor Butler, you guys often emphasize justification is by 
faith alone, it's not by repentance alone. It's an intriguing thing. 
In a study of the book of Acts, you'll see that faith and repentance 
are oftentimes used synonymously. There are times when the gospel 
goes forth in the book of Acts where Peter, for instance, will 
say, repent, and where Peter will say, for instance, believe. And essentially what we see when 
we look at all of the relevant data, and I'll give you just 
a few samples in a moment, is that faith and repentance, according 
to the New Testament usage, are two sides of the same coin. In 
other words, wherever faith is, repentance is presupposed. Wherever 
repentance is, faith is presupposed. In other words, you don't have 
one without the other. Faith is the looking unto Christ, 
and repentance is a turning away from the things that you once 
held dear and near. Notice in this very passage, 
in Acts 2, verse 38, Peter's charge to them is repent. Notice 
in verse 41, on the heels of this sermon, on the heels of 
this call to repentance, verse 41, it says, then those who gladly 
received his word were baptized. Now notice in verse 44, now all 
who believed were together. All who believe were together. 
What does that say? It says that where repentance 
is, faith is there. Where faith is, repentance is 
there. Such that both terms can be used 
in combination as sinners repressed with the demands of God. But 
as well, they can just be used singularly. And that's what Peter 
does here. Repent. Now you ask the question, 
why would he do that? Why wouldn't he say, believe 
on the Lord Jesus? Because he's following up that conviction 
for sin. They know they've crucified the Lord of glory. They know 
now they've hung Messiah on the cross. You need to repent. You 
need to have a change of mind. You need to feel the remorse. 
You need to show that regret. You need to look unto the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Faith and repentance go hand 
in hand in the book of Acts. In fact, turn to Acts chapter 
9. Acts chapter 9. There are several texts we could 
look at. I'm just giving you a few samples just to show you 
how faith and repentance go hand in hand with reference to our 
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in 9.35. So all who dwelt 
at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. That's the 
Hebrew sense of this word, repent. It means to turn to the Lord. 
And then notice specifically in verse 42, verse 42, and it 
became known throughout all Joppa and many believed on the Lord. 
So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner. And then again, notice in 1043, 
Peter's specific instructions to the men of Cornelius and his 
household. 43 says, to him, all the prophets 
witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will 
receive remission of sins. You see, whoever believes in 
him will receive remission of sins. Now in the very next section, 
Peter is explaining his experience with reference to the household 
of Cornelius. And notice in 1118, When they 
heard these things, they became silent and they glorified God, 
saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to 
life. The terminology is used synonymously 
and interchangeably. We see it in our very passage. 
You see it through the book of Acts. So this idea of repent, 
repent. It's a good concept. It's a good 
thing. And notice that Peter here commands 
it. You say, but Pastor Butler, in 
Acts 5.31, we learn that God grants repentance. He absolutely 
does. We learn the same thing in 2 
Timothy 2. God grants repentance. We confess that with the Westminster 
Shorter in our confession of faith with reference to repentance 
being a saving grace. In other words, repentance is 
a gift given to us by God, as is faith, but that never stops 
the apostles from commanding their hearers to believe and 
repent. The apostles were not hyper-Calvinists. They understood 
the absolute sovereignty of God. They understood the grace nature, 
the gift character of these particular things, faith and repentance. 
But here, when he says repent, he's not suggesting it. He's 
not encouraging it. He is commanding them to repent 
from their sins. There's no inconsistency with 
a belief in the sovereignty of God and commanding sinners to 
repent and believe. None whatsoever. The apostles 
set forth that particular practice. Now, notice he commands baptism. He commands baptism, repent and 
let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. Again, it's not a suggestion 
that they be baptized. It's not a recommendation. It's 
not a, well, you know, if you so feel led, then you can join 
with us today and participate in the waters of baptism. No, 
it's a command. You say, what's the relationship 
here? Repent and be baptized. Is baptism salvific? In other 
words, is that part of the plan of acceptance with God? Do I 
have to repent, turn from my particular sin of crucifying 
Messiah, and then submit to water baptism, and then I'll be saved? 
No, that's not the connection at all. Notice specifically what 
Peter says, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. I think the 
connection is thus, the external sign of baptism pictures what 
men have done internally. In other words, repent, repent, 
encompassing faith, come to Jesus Christ, and then be baptized. It's not baptism in order for 
salvation. It's baptism as a demonstration 
of one's having been saved. It's an external picture of what 
Christ has done internally. And so Peter preaching on the 
day of Pentecost sets forth the person and work of our Lord Jesus 
and then tells his heirs to repent and be baptized. Baptism, according 
to our confession, signifies fellowship with Christ in his 
death, his burial, resurrection, union with Christ, remission 
of sins, and a giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live 
and walk in newness of life. You see, it's simply not the 
case that verse 38 should be wrenched out of its context, 
wrenched out of the Bible and taught that if you're baptized, 
then you're saved. No, you're saved by grace through 
faith in Jesus Christ. By God's grace, you believe the 
gospel, you repent of your sins, and then you get baptized as 
an external sign of what God has done to you internally. Notice as well this baptism in 
the name of Jesus Christ. Now, There's a group called the 
Oneness Pentecostals, and they are basically the arch heresy 
of modalism. And essentially what they teach 
is Jesus' name only for baptism. Now remember, they see that God 
was at one time the Father, God then became the Son, and then 
God now is the Holy Spirit. That's modalism. He comes to 
us in various modes based on whatever's happening in terms 
of redemptive history. And so this is a great text for them, 
or so they think, in Jesus' name. Baptism must be in Jesus' name. If it's not in Jesus' name, if 
it's in the name of the Trinity, that just shows you're a heretic, 
according to them, because they deny the Trinity. They deny the 
reality of the one glorious God, substance, essence, and the three 
persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. They deny that. Is that what 
Peter's teaching? Is he telling us here that oneness 
Pentecostals are going to be right? Is he teaching us that 
modalism is right? No, we've already seen appeal 
to the triune God in verse 33. The Father stationed the Son 
at his right hand, and the Son sends the Spirit, which you now 
see and hear. We have all three persons of 
the Trinity, not only in verse 33, but as we'll move through 
this passage, we see all three persons of the Trinity involved 
in the saving of wretched sinners. This idea of calling on or being 
baptized in the name of Jesus, remember verse 21. Go back to 
chapter 2, verse 21. And it shall come to pass that 
whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, 
of course, it makes sense to then say, let every one of you 
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, that one upon whom you 
called. It's not a denial of Trinitarian 
baptism. It is an affirmation that those 
who, by grace, have called on the name of Jesus Christ, as 
Peter has described Him, are to be baptized in His name, to 
own Him. to confess Him, to delight in 
Him, to rejoice in Him, to identify with Him in those waters of baptism. And then notice Peter connects 
the forgiveness of sins here. He says, repent, let every one 
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission 
of sins. Again, the idea is not we go 
through the water of baptism and therefore we are forgiven. 
You've got to appreciate how that would be a work. That would 
be something we did, and then God gave us something in result. That's not the way it is. The 
remission of sins is the fruit of, or the benefit to, those 
who call on the name of the Lord. Those who, by the grace of God, 
have repented, those who, by the grace of God, are baptized 
in the name of the one whom they called on, they have remission. They have forgiveness. They have 
that blessed state. Bruce again says, it would be 
a mistake to link the words for the forgiveness of sins with 
the command, be baptized, to the exclusion of the prior command 
to repent. It is against the whole genius 
of biblical religion to suppose that the outward right could 
have any value except insofar as it was accompanied by the 
work of grace within. In other words, there have always 
been those people in the life and the context of the professing 
people of God. that have put too much on baptism. They have said that baptism saves. They have said that you must 
be baptized in order to go to heaven. That baptism is the means 
by which we are forgiven of sin. And I'm not just talking about 
Roman Catholicism. There's a sacramental approach 
to the waters of baptism that are not biblical. And we cannot 
load baptism down in that particular manner. But suffice it to say, 
it is important. There's always, you know, we 
always have to find the balance in things, don't we? I don't 
want to sound too new-agey, but there's got to be balance in 
life. It's got to be balance in our doctrine. We're always 
fighting on two fronts, I find, especially as Reformed Christians. 
It's anti-sacramentarian. We don't see that baptism is 
the means by which God conveys to us the forgiveness of sins. 
But on the other hand, baptism's important. If you are a believer 
in Jesus Christ, you should be baptized. You should identify 
with our beloved Lord. You should own Him and confess 
Him in that ordinance. You should sing with conviction 
all the way, my Savior leads me. You should reflect upon Revelation 
14 in terms of the followers of the Lamb. They follow Him 
wherever He goes. If He says to be baptized, then 
be baptized. If he says to identify with him 
publicly in the waters of baptism and be baptized in the name of 
the triune God, then what are you waiting for? It's very intriguing 
in the book of Acts. You'll notice the absence of 
altar calls. There's not those sort of evangelistic 
settings where the music is played and the heat might be turned 
up and there's an anxious bench in the front and sinners are 
told that they ought to close their eyes and bow their heads 
and everybody who wants to get right with Jesus, shoot your 
hand up into the air. Never understood that process. 
I don't get it. Why do my eyes have to be closed 
and my head bowed and me have to raise my hand in order to 
be forgiven of my sin? It just seems so illegitimate. 
Or you get that whole invitation system where the sinners are 
told to come up, as if somehow the coming up evidences the truth 
of God's saving grace in the heart. Let me just encourage 
you that right here, right now, in your seat, whether eyes are 
closed or open, whether hand is in the air or not, whether 
head is bowed or not, you can believe on Jesus. You can know 
the bliss of the forgiveness of sins. You can sing with joy 
and confidence, 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. You see, what we find in the 
book of Acts were not altar calls, but baptism. In other words, 
you don't find six-month new member classes. Persons have 
to read Birkhoff before they can be baptized. People have 
to commit the confession of faith to their hearts and minds before 
they... No, you get baptized. You believe 
and are baptized. So on the one hand, we don't 
want to load too much on baptism in the sense that it must be 
had in order to be saved. But on the other hand, we don't 
want to denigrate it either. If our Lord ordained something 
for his glory and for the good of his people, then by all means, 
we should obey him. Peter highlights that blessed 
forgiveness of sins. Notice, they were caught to the 
heart. Peter then says, repent, let 
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. What was one of their sins? They 
murdered Jesus. Now, it's somewhat commonplace 
for persons to say, well, I'm so bad, I don't think God could 
ever forgive me. I'm so wicked. I mean, maybe 
that's not as commonplace today in the 21st century. We're pretty 
full of ourselves. We're pretty narcissistic. We're 
the selfie generation after all. But at least at some point in 
history, some might have thought, I'm too wicked to be saved. My 
sin is too great to be forgiven. The enormity of my wretchedness 
is such that the Lord will never ever bring me to salvation. These men were responsible for 
murdering Jesus. And Peter says, repent and be 
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the one you murdered 
for the remission of sins. Do you want to talk about how 
gracious God is? Do you want to talk about how 
merciful God is, how good God is, how bountiful God's grace 
is? If you are here this morning, 
you are not beyond hope. If you are here this morning, 
you are not beyond reach. In fact, the apostle Paul in 
1 Timothy 1 takes to himself the title of chief sinner. Now 
remember, Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
so he was right. He was right. You're not the 
chief sinner, but the chief sinner was saved. You're not a Jerusalem 
sinner, but Jerusalem sinners were saved. You are filthy, you 
are vile, you are wicked, and conviction of sin ought to be 
a daily occurrence, but there is remission, there is forgiveness, 
there is mercy to be had. That blood of Jesus Christ cleanses 
us from all sin. To love the prophet Zechariah 
in that day, there will be a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. 
Isn't that specifically what we need? Isn't that precisely 
what we have desire for? We need that fountain, don't 
we? And we never need to stray from that fountain. We need to 
be plunged beneath that flood each and every day. There is 
hope and forgiveness and mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus. If you are convicted of sin, 
even if it hasn't been a two year sort of process, this morning 
you've come here and you've thought about violating the 10 commandments. 
Well, repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. Now, I know that you've all heard 
me say this. One of the things I fear as I'm 
getting older, I'm getting more repetitive. And I think it's 
just that your brain doesn't have the capacity, well, that 
you think it once had. You're just becoming keenly aware 
that it really probably never had it. But I'm very repetitious. And I think about that. I don't 
want to affect or offend the people of God. I can imagine 
you're munching your burrito today saying, boy, we've heard 
that for, like, You know, the 18th time this year, and it's 
only June, but let me just say it again. What's one of the chief 
boons of our salvation? It's forgiveness. Isn't it? That's a doctrine I hope none 
of us ever get weary of. It's a truth I hope we never 
get tired of, and it's a truth I hope that we will always go 
back, back, and back to the throne of grace to fetch. If we confess 
our sins, 1 John 1, 9, He is faithful and just to forgive 
us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I think all 
Christians ought to have several texts of Scripture committed 
to their minds and hearts. I think 1 John 1, 9 is one of 
them. I think Psalm 25, 11 is one of 
them. I think Psalm 130, 3 and 4 is 
one of them. I think the prophetic words of 
Isaiah when he speaks concerning Yahweh, as the one who blots 
out transgression. Or Micah, the prophet, when he 
reflects upon his own name, which means, who is a God like you? 
When he asks that question in Micah chapter seven, one of the 
things that blows his mind, if I could just sort of read between 
the lines, why is he asking, who is a God like you? Pardoning 
our iniquities, Micah says. You take our sins and you cast 
them into the depths of the sea. Brethren, never tire of the forgiveness 
of sins. And if you're not a brother, 
you're a friend to me this morning, you're a sinner. The way of salvation 
is by faith and repentance in our Lord Jesus Christ. And the 
blessed provision of God is forgiveness, not for some sins, not for most 
sins, but for all sins. If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. That's what the psalmist 
hung his hat on. Psalm 32, Pastor Kim, right at 
the outset of worship. What's David doing? He's not 
celebrating his goodness. He's not celebrating his perfection. He is celebrating how blessed 
is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. That's the 
blessed man. See, we got it all wrong today. 
The blessed man is the accomplished man. The blessed man is the successful 
man. According to David, the blessed 
man is the forgiven man. That's what we have, brethren. 
That's what's ours. And then notice, he goes on. It's not only forgiveness that 
you get, but you get the Holy Spirit. You shall receive the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. And probably here, it's not the 
gifts of the Holy Spirit. You'll get to speak in tongues, 
but it's the gift, it's Him. It's not the tongues that are 
conspicuous at this point, it's Jesus that's conspicuous at this 
point. And those who come by grace to 
Jesus, believing, calling upon his name, which means faith and 
repentance, they are forgiven of their sins and they receive 
the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3, verse 14 highlights 
this. This is what Ephesians 1, 13 
and 14 highlights. After having believed the truth 
of the gospel, what do we receive? We receive the Holy Spirit, who 
is the seal and the guarantee of our final inheritance. You see, believers have not only 
the forgiveness of sins, but believers have the Holy Spirit. 
He indwells us. He is with us. He sanctifies. He preserves. He blesses. He 
strengthens. He encourages. He guides us. 
He leads us. I don't want to sound too trite 
or too, you know, silly, but it's sort of like your GPS. I'm 
not saying the Holy Spirit is your GPS. I could hear one of 
these weird preachers on Twitter doing that. You know, there is 
that sense where He is with us. He guides us. He directs us. Greater is He that is in you 
than he that is in the world. We need the Spirit, and God provides 
to us the Spirit. And He keeps us. He preserves 
us. And again, see the Trinitarian 
salvation. God affectionately calls. Jesus 
is the name upon whom we believe. And it's the Spirit who is given 
to us. Brethren, we receive this gift. Now notice, those are the exhortations, 
command to repent, command to be baptized. Now note the promise 
in verse 39. For the promise is to you and 
to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord 
our God will call. Now, I would suggest the promise 
here of verse 39 is the promised Holy Spirit. Makes the most sense 
in the context because in Acts 1, Jesus said, wait in Jerusalem 
until you are endued with power from on high. He was speaking 
of the Spirit. Acts 2.33, he poured out this, which you now 
see in here. Having received the promise from 
the Father, the Lord Jesus pours out this Spirit. The idea, in 
verse 39, the promise specifically is the promise of the Spirit. 
And all that that entails, if you've received the Spirit, it's 
because you've been forgiven of your sins, conditioned upon 
the fact that you have repented, you have come to Jesus, you have 
been baptized, you've been identified with Him. In other words, this 
promise is for sinners. This promise of the Spirit, this 
promise of salvation, this promise of grace, is made in a very comprehensive 
way. And that's what Peter does indicate 
now in verse 39. He says, for the promise is to 
you. Again, let me just remind you, 
it's Jerusalem sinners. Jerusalem sinners crucified the 
Lord of glory. I'm not being anti-Semitic. Don't 
report me to the ADL and say Butler's got an ax to grind against 
the Jews. No, the New Testament tells us 
who sent Jesus to his death. Peter has no compunction, I think 
that's correct, no resistance, no hesitation with reminding 
them that you crucified the Lord of Glory. These are notorious 
sinners. They said, away with him, away 
with him, crucify him. They said, give us Barabbas. 
They rejected him during his earthly ministry. They rejected 
him to the point of death in terms of his own crucifixion. 
And Peter says, the promise is to you. He goes on to show, and 
again, verse 39 ought not to be interpreted as automatic inclusion 
in the covenant of grace for any of the three parties stipulated. He is showing the comprehensive, 
glorious scope of God's grace. In other words, the offer of 
God's mercy, the promise of salvation, the blessings of the forgiveness 
of sins and the provision of the Holy Spirit. It's for Jerusalem 
sinners and it's for your children as well. I realize that some 
of our brethren take this text and they go, you know, hog wild 
and they say, well, this does mean automatic inclusion, or 
it does mean, you know, a right to baptism. No, he's pointing 
out the scope of God's grace. There's an intriguing portion 
in Matthew 27, where Pilate shows that he is not responsible for 
Jesus' death. I mean, he washes his hands and 
he says as much. His blood is not upon my hands. Do you know what these Jerusalem 
sinners say in Matthew 27, 25? They say His blood, speaking 
about Messiah, be on us and our children. So what's Peter saying 
on the day of Pentecost? He is saying that this imprecation 
that you Jerusalem sinners offered to God, not only for yourselves, 
but for your children, There's still salvation available. There's 
still grace and mercy. You haven't committed the unpardonable 
sin. The promise is to you, to your 
children, and then to all who are afar off. It's a glorious 
statement, isn't it? Now, some say, well, Peter couldn't 
amend Gentiles because he wasn't too savvy with Gentile inclusion 
until Acts chapter 10. Peter was savvy with Gentile 
inclusion. Peter knew the promise made to 
Abraham that in Christ all the nations of the earth would be 
blessed. Peter was savvy with the Psalter, 
all the nations shall be blessed. Peter was savvy with the theology, 
though here specifically he indicates, and to all who are afar off, 
In other words, the gospel, the scope, the arena of God's gracious 
provision is for Jerusalem sinners, to their children, and to all 
who are afar off. And again, the emphasis is not 
on automatic inclusion in the covenant of grace. And we see 
that by that crucial modifier in verse 39. He says, "...as 
many as the Lord our God shall call." See, we never forget that. The scope of God's grace is such 
that it goes to Jerusalem sinners, it goes to the children of Jerusalem 
sinners, but it also goes to the Gentiles. But the crux, the 
foundation, the bottom line, is as many as the Lord our God 
shall call. And here I believe that Peter 
goes back to the prophet Joel. In verses 17 to 21, Peter quotes 
Joel 2, 28 to 32a. Joel 2.32b says, For in Mount 
Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has 
said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls. In other words, 
we command to repent and be baptized. Other situations, in fact, in 
verse 40, Peter's going to command that they be saved. Commands 
that they be saved from this perverse generation. So we command 
that. I'll command you right now. If 
you have not believed the gospel and have not repented, I command 
you, in the name of God, to believe the gospel and repent. But I 
don't think there's power efficacy in my giving the command. I certainly 
know there's not power efficacy in your receiving or hearing 
the command. The power and efficacy is in 
the God who calls. You see, that's how it works 
together. as many as the Lord our God shall 
call. That is a crucial modifier to 
verse 39. We don't indiscriminately baptize 
Gentiles, but rather we baptize Gentiles who have been called 
and give evidence of that by having repented and believed 
and been baptized. Same with children. Why would 
we indiscriminately baptize every infant born of believing parents? It's as many as the Lord our 
God shall call. I don't want to be nasty and 
I don't want to get polemic, but this is unfortunately something 
we have to deal with in this passage. Because it's bandied 
about as the proof text for paedo-baptism. And while I love paedo-baptists, 
I think that's a misuse of Acts 2.39. Now let's finish on verse 
40. It says, "...with many other 
words he testified and exhorted them, saying..." Now, if you 
understand what Luke is doing here, he's giving summaries. 
This isn't the entirety of Peter's sermon, verses 22 to 36. I mean, 
it takes, what, a minute, two minutes to read it? Took us several 
weeks to go through it, because we looked at, you know, the jots 
and diddles. We looked at the major heads. 
We looked at the true humanity, the death, the resurrection, 
the exaltation. So we kind of slowed down. But 
just to read that sermon in this particular context, or to say 
these things in this particular context, wouldn't have taken 
very long. It wouldn't have taken two years 
for necessary conviction to set in, but it certainly wouldn't 
have taken very long. And so what Luke is saying is 
he's summarizing. He's giving the gist. He's giving 
the heads. He's giving the outline. He's 
giving the main points. He is telling us with many other 
words he testified and exhorted them. And that describes Peter's 
manner, doesn't it? He testified and exhorted them. 
That's precisely what we see in verses 22 to 36. He testifies 
concerning who Jesus is, he confirms the biblical witness concerning 
who Jesus is, and then he exhorts them to repent and be baptized 
in the name of Jesus Christ. You see, that was apostolic preaching. 
It wasn't just testifying, just informing the minds, but there's 
this exhortation. There's this call to repent. 
There's this call to believe. The apostles weren't only interested 
in setting forth the truth of Jesus Christ. They were interested 
in you believing that truth. See, what moved them was the 
reality that God's a holy God. Men are sinful, wretched, vile, 
deserving of wrath and curse, both in this life and that which 
is to come. Paul indicates in 2 Corinthians, 
knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. 
They not only testified concerning who Jesus was in terms of his 
identity, but they exhorted the hearers to believe that message, 
to repent from that sin, to flee to the Savior, to come to the 
one in whom there is refuge, and the one in whom there is 
forgiveness. And then notice specifically what Peter says, 
be saved from this perverse generation. Be saved from this perverse generation. I think this underscores what 
he's already spoken of in terms of citing Joel's prophecy in 
verses 19 and 20. And there I applied that specifically 
to the event of AD 70. Peter sees that on the horizon. 
Peter says, be safe from this crooked and perverse generation. 
Generation there doesn't mean every Jew. Generation there doesn't 
mean the race of Jews. Generation means the contemporaries 
that crucified the Lord of glory, the ones who under God brought 
down His wrath upon them in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 
70. But he said, be safe from this perverse generation. In 
other words, don't go on idly by. Don't live your life as if 
you didn't just hear what you heard. Don't just go home and 
celebrate Father's Day without regard to the Heavenly Father. 
Don't eat your turkey or your chicken or whatever it is you 
plan on eating today without having dealings with God. You 
see with many other words he testified and he exhorted them 
saying, be safe from this perverse generation. In other words, act 
upon what you have heard. I sound like an Arminian now, 
Pastor Butler. No, no Arminian. If Peter can 
command to repent and be baptized, then certainly it's the duty 
of ministers today to command the same things. Knowing, of 
course, as many as the Lord our God shall call, knowing certainly 
it's under the sovereignty and the power of God Almighty, the 
effectual call comes from Him, not from preachers, but we present 
the material and call you to think through it. So I think 
verse 40 implies that. It's not okay to be unchanged. 
It's not okay to hear the sermon or hear gospel preaching and 
say, yeah, man, it's not for me. Doesn't want to think about 
it. I'm just going to go do whatever it is I want to do today. I'm 
not going to give it any thought whatsoever. Don't, you know, be aware of 
that. Often said as well, repetition number 18, you know, that after 
a sermon, it shouldn't be chaos. I mean, it's good to see brethren. 
It's good to talk with one another. It's a good time to reflect. 
It's a good time to think through the implications of the text 
that was preached. It's a good time to think, where 
am I at before a holy God? If there is that conviction of 
sin, I'm not gonna tell you, you gotta come forward. I'm not 
gonna tell you to bow your head and raise your hand. But I'm 
gonna tell you, if that conviction of sin comes, do what Peter says, 
believe the gospel. Repent of your sin. Call me and 
make an appointment to be baptized. That's what Peter's concerned 
about. Yes, we testify. Yes, we try 
and demonstrate. Yes, we try to show and prove 
that Jesus Christ is who the Bible says he is. But it's with 
a view to the glory of God and the salvation of your soul and 
body. If you were here the last hour, 
you would have gotten the significance of that. But that is the end 
game. It's not just to show that Christianity 
is right among the world religions, it is. Not just to show that 
Christianity is right among the world philosophies, it is. Not 
only the aim to show that the Bible is consistent and that 
that testimony is true, which it is, but it's so that you may 
flee the coming of God's wrath. You see, the stakes are very 
high when it comes to your place before a holy God. You're either 
in Christ or you're not. And the way to be in Christ, 
if I can use that sort of a construction, is to believe on Him, to look 
unto Him. Again, faith includes or faith 
assumes the place of repentance. Repent from your wickedness, 
believe on the Savior, and you will receive not only the forgiveness 
of sins, but the Holy Spirit as well. And it's almost like 
Peter's verse 39. It's not to justify automatic 
inclusion in the covenant of grace. I think verse 39 is Peter 
saying, I'm going to tell you something here that still just 
amazes me. The promise is to you, to your 
children and to all who are far off. You know, we can't, you 
know, divorce ourselves from the human element involved in 
preaching. Peter was a sinner saved by grace. Peter had lately denied his Lord. Remember, we're not talking about 
40 years after the fact. It's been about 40 plus days 
after the fact, and it was in that last few days wherein Peter 
denied his master. I would suggest that when Peter 
rehearsed the forgiveness of sins, there was a special warmth 
in his heart as he rehearsed it. I would suggest that as he 
spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, there was a special encouragement 
to this man who tried as he might to deny Jesus. Jesus wouldn't 
leave him. Jesus wouldn't let him go. Jesus 
kept him by that power. Well, brethren, I suggest that 
this text is most excellent in terms of what should happen after 
persons hear the gospel concerning Jesus and His life, His death, 
and His resurrection. It should include as well that 
provision or rather that statement by the preacher, it's not a part 
of the gospel, but it shows the necessity of the gospel, this 
emphasis on two occasions, whom you crucified. Because sinners, 
if they don't know what their malady is, will never seek the 
remedy. And if you are convicted of your 
sins this morning, I would say, praise God Almighty, do not run 
from it, do not hide from it, do not try to chase it away, 
but come to Jesus. Isn't that where we take our 
burden, you know, guilty souls? It's to Jesus. Remember that 
bit in the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter three, five 
times, God says, yet return to me, says Yahweh. Now, if we had 
the time, we'd develop why that's so powerful and significant. 
Well, I'll just tell you, it's chapter two. Chapter two of the 
prophet Jeremiah, God upbraids the people for their sin. He 
says such things like, has a nation changed its gods? And yet my 
people exchange me for others. In other words, the Hittites, 
the Hivites, the Amorites, the Ammonites, they were consistent 
in their idolatry, not the Israelites, or in their worship, not the 
Israelites. They changed Yahweh for another 
god. Other gods. So in Jeremiah 3, when he says, 
yet return to me, says the Lord, that's an amazing reality. There's 
one instance of that, yet return to me, says the Lord, sort of 
anthem or refrain that really, I think, bears our consideration. He says, return to me, ye backsliding 
sinners, and I will heal your backsliding. Think about that 
for a moment. That is so contrary to the natural 
man and even the gospel conquered man. We got to fix this stuff 
before we go back. We got to get things in order 
before we go back. We got to prepare before we go 
back. God says, come back, I'll fix the mess. Isn't that the 
sum and substance of the Christian gospel? Isn't that what we're 
told? You've messed up your life such that my son came to live, 
to die, and to be raised the third day, so that all who come 
to him will have everlasting life. Not all those who fix up 
their lives and then go back to Jesus. This isn't a date. You know, I'm going to, you know, 
fix my hair and put on my whatever outfit. I'm going to meet with 
you. It's not that. It's not a bartering system. 
It's not a transaction. We don't bring to the table and 
sit with Jesus and write little notes and pass them across. It's 
either he saves us or there's no salvation. There's no cleansing 
first, there's no preparation first, there's no fixing first, 
there's no combing the spiritual hair first. Bring your wretched 
self to Jesus, by God's grace, and guess what he'll do? He'll 
receive you, he'll forgive you, and he'll give you the Holy Spirit. 
That's what Peter says in this wonderful passage of Scripture. 
John Bunyan has a sermon on Luke 24, 47, and that text says, and 
that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in 
his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. He's got a sermon 
entitled, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, Good News for the Violest 
of Men, or It's always a semicolon or in a Puritan sermon, or help 
for despairing souls. The doctrine of that sermon is 
that Jesus Christ would have mercy offered to, I love this, 
the biggest sinners. I don't think he meant the big 
boys. I think he meant the biggest sinners. And he has several reasons 
for this, as you might imagine a Puritan sermon would, but I'll 
just give you three of them. He says, first, the biggest sinners 
have most need. It makes sense, right? That's profound. No, it's obvious. The Jerusalem sinner saved. The argument is that Jesus Christ 
would have mercy offered to the biggest sinners. Why? Because 
the biggest sinners have the most need. These Jerusalem sinners 
had done the unspeakable. They had crucified the Lord of 
glory. They had big need. He says, secondly, when they 
receive it, that mercy or grace of God, it redounds most to the 
fame of His name. In other words, when God conquers 
these big sinners, who gets the glory? It ain't the big sinner. 
It's not the preacher to the big sinner. It's God who gets 
the glory for conquering big sinners. And then as well, others 
hearing of it will be encouraged the more to come to Him for life. that there were 3,000 baptized 
on that day indicates the scope of God's grace. The promise is 
to you, Jerusalem sinners, to your children, and to all who 
are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. If Jerusalem 
sinners found forgiveness in and through the person they crucified, 
there is forgiveness to be had for you today. If by his grace 
you look, and you live. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word, and we thank you so very much that 
this gospel has come to us, not in word only, but in power by 
the Holy Spirit. And how we thank you for that, 
and how we pray that would go forth even now, that you would 
be pleased to bring conviction for sin and set forth that remedy, 
which is Jesus Christ the Lord. May you work in hearts and minds 
today here and other churches in Chilliwack and throughout 
the earth, Lord God, we pray that your gospel would run swiftly 
and be glorified. And we pray this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, why don't we stand 
and sing the doxology in praise to our triune God who demonstrates 
his glory and saving in the very