Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, since we're having a baptism, I thought it would be good for us to go back in the book of Acts and revisit the day of Pentecost when Peter, the apostle, preached the gospel and then told sinners to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I wanna read beginning in Acts chapter 2 at verse 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.
For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and on my maidservants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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 loose 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, 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.
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. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them all as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Amen. Let us pray.
Father, thank you again for the written Word of the living and true God. Thank you that you've given us this sure Word, and the entirety of it is truth. And we pray today that your Holy Spirit would guide us as we study, that you would open our minds and hearts to receive these things, that you would encourage the saints, the people of God, and that you would save those who are not the people of God. We know that you are powerful, and we know, as the Scripture says here, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So we pray that you would be glorified today, you would demonstrate your sovereignty, you would demonstrate your power to make men willing in the day of that power, and that you would be glorified through the preaching of the Word. We also ask again for the forgiveness of sin and anything that would darken our understanding, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, essentially what we have here in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 2, as I said, it is the day of Pentecost. It was a feast day so that all kinds of people came to Jerusalem on that particular day. And there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that resulted in tongue-speaking and prophesying. There was that sort of phenomena listed for us in verses 1 to 13.
Peter then explains that these men aren't drunk, they're not out of their minds, there's nothing wrong with them, but what is transpiring is taking place according to the prophet Joel. In Joel chapter 2, the prophet there, under the Spirit of God, said there would come a day when the Spirit would be poured out in a great and glorious way. So Peter says that is precisely what you are witnessing. And then beginning in verse 22, Peter preaches the gospel.
He preaches the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Lord. And then he highlights the particular sin of the people there in Jerusalem. And then he gives them specific instruction on what they need to do with their guilt, what they need to do with their sin. This was not unique to this group of sinners in the first century, but all of us know this.
All of us know what it is to be guilty before a holy God. God's told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He's told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We don't do either one of them.
We have failed miserably. We are wretched and justly deserving God's wrath and judgment and punishment, both in this life and that which is to come. So where do we take our guilty hearts? Where do we take our guilty souls?
Where do we take this conscience that is affected by the reality that we have transgressed God? Well, Peter gives that instruction, and again, I hope that it's an encouragement for us to see how he responds to these Jerusalem sinners. So
Peter Preaches the Gospel
in the first place, let's look at the instruction given by the Apostle Peter in verses 22 to 39. This will not be a detailed exposition, rather a summary of the section, but we'll focus on verses 37 to 40. And then secondly, if we have time, the response of the hearers to the Apostle Peter, specifically in verses 41 and 42. But in the first place, notice that Peter preaches the gospel.
Again, the gospel is not a feeling that we have. The gospel is a message. It is an objective, concrete message, and it focuses upon Jesus Christ. The gospel isn't my response to it.
The gospel isn't your response to it. The gospel, again, isn't that good feeling that we have as a result of it. But the good news of Jesus is simply that. It is the good news of Jesus.
What he did, how he did it, why he did it, and the purpose of God in the doing of it. And if we look at verses 22 to 36, in particular, you'll notice that
Life, Death, Resurrection, Exaltation
Peter highlights the life and ministry of Jesus in verse 22. It is essential that our Redeemer, it is essential that our Savior be one of us. And Jesus was, in fact, one of us. The Bible teaches us that the second person of the Trinity, the second person of the triune God, Jesus himself, came into this world and he took on our humanity with everything that makes us human except for sin.
And so Peter highlights that in verse 22. But he doesn't stop there. he indicates the death of Christ in verse 23. And this death of Christ wasn't simply to blame for the Jews, or it wasn't simply a problem of the Gentiles, but as Peter relates it here in verse 23, this was the plan and purpose of God. God knows that in order to save sinners, there must be the shedding of blood.
And the only one worthy of shedding is blood to sufficiently pay the debt that we owe is his son. That's why he assumes humanity. That's why he ultimately dies at the cross. But then Peter goes on to indicate the resurrection.
Jesus didn't stay in the tomb. Jesus bolted forth on that third day. He was raised by the power of God Most High, and then Peter ends the sermon by highlighting the triumphant exaltation of our Lord. So after he lives a life of perfect obedience to the Father, he dies as a sacrifice and a substitute at the cross, he's raised from the dead on the third day, and then he ascends on high.
He goes and sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father, and there he is still a gracious Savior. There he always lives to make intercession for his people, and there he receives sinners unto himself to cleanse them from their sin and to give them the righteousness that avails with his Father. That's one of the reasons why Jesus had to live as a man, because we need a righteousness. It's not enough for us just to be forgiven of our sins, but we need to be perfect.
And we're not perfect because we're perfect. All you got to do is look at me, for instance. But you need to understand that God demands perfection. And that's what Jesus yielded in his life of 33 years on the earth.
He always obeyed the Father. There was never a time when he didn't love the Lord as God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. There never was a time when he didn't love his neighbor as himself. He fulfills that righteousness such that when we, by grace, believe on him, we're not only forgiven of our sins washed in the precious blood, but we're given that righteousness.
We're given that wedding garment. We're given that entitlement to stand before God, holy and righteous. not because of our own, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that the Bible says is imputed to us and received by faith alone. Do you understand why this is gospel? Gospel is not me saying, you've got big problems, go and fix them.
You've got big problems, go and try to be better. Brethren, that's not gospel. That is a killing message. The gospel is in fact good news.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Look at what Peter says, quoting the prophet Joel in verse 21. It shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Not might be, not could possibly be, not will have the Lord help him save himself, but those who by grace call upon the Lord Jesus in faith shall be saved.
That can happen today by God's grace for everyone who believes. It really is good news. So Peter highlights the gospel. It focuses on the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and that for sinners.
It answers to everything we need. We need forgiveness. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, washes us or cleanses us from all sin. We need a righteousness.
Jesus fulfills that, and we receive it by faith. But then
The Law Exposes Sin
Peter goes on to highlight the law. In other words, the gospel or the good news isn't good news unless there's bad news first, right? If you look at the book of Romans, Paul doesn't start with the gospel. He starts with the bad news that men are guilty before God.
We have all gone astray like sheep. There is none righteous, no not one. There's no Jew, no Gentile, no one that can stand before God and say, well, I'm the exception. I'm the good one.
I'm the perfect one. No, all men everywhere are justly liable to God's wrath and fury and condemnation. But in Romans 3.21, Paul says, but now the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Well, Peter does the same thing, only he starts with the good news and then he underscores the bad news to show them their need for this Savior Jesus.
Look at what he says in verse 36. Again, after the details, life, death, resurrection, exaltation, he says in verse 36, Before we look at the rest of the verse, notice this. Let all the house of Israel know, assuredly, there's a lot of skepticism out there concerning the Bible. Is it really God's word?
And it's not really just out there amongst the pagans and the atheists, but it also infiltrates the church, such that we are suspicious of texts. We're suspicious of conduct. We're suspicious of various things in the Bible. And we wonder, could this really be true?
Look at what Peter says concerning the message of God's Word. In other words, you can bank your soul on this. You can bank your life on this. The message of the Scripture is God's Holy Word.
It is given by inspiration. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. It's not just another idea out there. It's not just another competing philosophy or religious system.
There is a knowledge that is assured when it comes to the living and true God, and the word that He has given us is in fact sure. So Peter says, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, note the next statement, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Oh, Peter, why do you have to be such a downer and remind them that they were the ones that actually murdered Jesus? Because if sinners don't see their sin, they will never see their need for the Savior.
Jesus says, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That's why any preacher worth his salt is going to preach God's law also. to highlight the reality that we're guilty of committing the sin of idolatry, and of blasphemy, and of Sabbath-breaking, and we're insubordinate to authority over us. We are murderers. We are adulterers.
We are thieves. We are liars. We are covetous people. We need to understand that knowledge or understand that reality such that we'll see the need for Jesus, and that's why Peter does what he does.
Whom you crucify. 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 brings others into the view of conscience. It's a miserable condition when people think they're really good.
Remember that rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and he says, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What does Jesus say? He says, you know the commandments, tell me. And so he rattles off the second table of the law and he says, all these I've kept from my youth.
What one thing do I lack? Jesus knew all those things he hadn't kept from his youth. Jesus knew that his particular sin was covetousness, and that's why Jesus says, go sell all your possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow me. Jesus is not teaching work salvation then.
Jesus is teaching this man that he's a sinner and that he needs Jesus and that blood of atonement and that righteousness that is given freely by God and received by faith. You see, if you don't understand your sin, you will never understand the mission of the Savior. Matthew's gospel starts off in the naming of Jesus. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins.
It's amazing how many people mess up on the mission of Jesus. I mean, he was this guru that started a new religion. He was a revolutionary. He was a quasi-hippie that sort of pranced around the Palestinian mountains.
That's not what it's about. The reality is that God is in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, and Matthew's gospel tells us how it is that he will save his people from their sins. So Peter does the exact same thing, highlights their sinfulness.
Response of the Hearers
Now let's look at their response in verses 37 to 40.
Conviction of Sin
In the first place, they're convicted. This is good. This is one of the aims of preaching. I think at times people just come to a sermon and they tune out.
Okay, we got about an hour. Hopefully it won't even be an hour today. But we got an hour. I'm going to think about everything under the sun.
I'm going to go from Dan to Beersheba in my life and thoughts so I don't have to pay attention to what is happening around me. It is good to be convicted of sin. You don't go to your doctor if you're really sick and want him to lie to you. You go to your doctor if you're really sick so that he can diagnose the problem and prescribe the remedy.
And yet when it comes to getting right with God, we're so easily offended that anybody would ever suggest that we're sinful. Well, I'm sorry if you're going to be easily offended this morning, but the Bible declares you're sinful. The Bible declares I'm sinful. The Bible declares that all men everywhere have transgressed God's holy law.
So trying to pretend that that doesn't apply is not the best course to proceed on. What we have here is they are convicted. They feel the pain. They understand.
The Spirit has been at work. They know now that they stand before a just and holy God, and they are not right with Him. So look at what they do in verse 37. They cry out to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Now I would suggest most preachers don't have situations like this. Most preachers don't have an audience that is collectively convicted and cry out in unison, men and brethren, what shall we do? Now Peter has the wherewithal to give the biblical response and it is most excellent and it is most glorious. First, notice what he doesn't say.
Don't murder people anymore and everything will be alright. That's not what he says. Go clean up your act with reference to the rest of the commandments, and then everything will be alright." No, Peter understands that. Peter knows that his hearers can't fix themselves.
God knows that the people that He has made, that have gone astray from Him, can't fix themselves. That's why God has undertaken to fix the situation in the sending of His Son and the sending of the Spirit in order to affect those things. So they are convicted and they ask the question, what shall we do? Now notice Peter's response.
The Call to Repent and Be Baptized
In the first place, he tells them to repent. Now, if you've read Scripture, you understand the Bible, you'll know that very often in Scripture we see repentance and faith or repentance and belief used interchangeably. In fact, the people who are called upon to repent here are the ones that are called believers in verse 44. The scripture uses those two terms, especially in the book of Acts, synonymously.
Basically, repentance is a change of mind. I think we often define repentance as stop doing certain things. But if a crack addict stops smoking crack, that's not necessarily repentance. He has modified his behavior, he has taken a better course, and that should be commended, but it's not repentance.
He hasn't had a change of mind with reference to who God is. Repentance is first and foremost that change of mind, along with faith, laying hold of Jesus, and then there are fruits of repentance that issue forth from that. such that when we do repent, if we've been in the habit of smoking crack, we won't anymore. If we've been in the habit of fornicating or engaging in what other things are condemned in Scripture, we, by God's grace, will repent. We'll stop doing that.
So Peter gives this great admonition to 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. So when he tells them to be baptized, this isn't unto salvation. This is a sign or a symbol that they had, in fact, been saved. There are some people who take this passage and say, well, you need to believe and be baptized in order to be saved.
And they look at Mark 16 where Jesus says, go and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But they fail to read the rest of what Mark says. He who does not believe will not be saved.
Baptism accompanies. Baptism is the external sign. Baptism is the emblem or the symbol. And again, we get to rejoice in these four people showing or demonstrating that sign to us today, but it's not baptism that saves.
We have the obvious example of the thief on the cross. That man did not get baptized, but he entered into paradise at the end of the day with the Lord Jesus Christ. So while baptism is commanded, while baptism is incredibly important, while baptism shouldn't be done away with, we ought to realize we're saved by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that not of ourselves, but it rather is a gift of God, lest we boast, lest we parade ourselves, or lest we try and congratulate ourselves for having been saved. No, that is not what we do at all.
We give glory to God. So he says, repent, have this change of mind, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Having believed, having repented, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Now again, notice, for the remission of sins.
Now, the people in our church that come every Sunday probably are tired of hearing me say this, but there's enough new faces here that I'll go ahead and say it anyway. We have a hymn in our book, and one of the stanzas says, My sin, O 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! Now, outside of Scripture, that is a glorious and a wonderful statement. My sin, not in part, not just a little bit, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. That is a glorious and a wonderful thing, owing to the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are baptized as a sign, as a symbol, as an external statement as to what God has done inwardly. He has washed our filthy hearts with that precious blood of His Son. He has given that righteousness which His Son accomplished, which His Son won, which His Son merited. He imputes that to us.
We receive it by faith alone. so that we can stand in the presence of a holy God when we take our last breath. We will hear those blessed words of the Savior, well done, good and faithful servant. How can that be but by owing to our union with that faithful servant, with that glorious Lord, that mediator of the new covenant? Brethren, the stakes are high with reference to this passage of Scripture, with reference to all passages of Scripture.
You may have a miserable life in this world. You may not have a lot of happiness. You may not have a lot of things going your way. But each and every day you get some goodness from God on high.
You get sunshine, at least sometimes. You get rain, if you're so inclined to rejoice in that. You get snow. You get wind.
You get sky. You get food. You get water. See, when the judgment comes and we are cast out of the presence of God Almighty, there is no more of the goodness of God.
There is only justice. There is only wrath. There is only fury. There is only condemnation.
And the way of escape, again, is to repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And then notice what Peter goes on to say in verse 39. I realize that some of you come from a background where you practice infant baptism. And I realize that verse 39 is a big sort of proof text in that development in the history of the church in terms of baptizing infants.
I'm going to argue this morning, not against infant baptism, but I'm going to argue that this text is not teaching infant baptism. The text is underscoring. The text is highlighting. The text is calling attention to the grace of God Almighty in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That's Peter's point. In other words, if you feel yourself as a murderer of Jesus, to be beyond hope, you need to understand that the gospel provides hope. If you happen to be the child of one of those who took place in the murder of Jesus, and you feel that as a result of your attachment to your parents, you're beyond hope, know the gospel affords hope. If you happen to be a Gentile and not a Jew, and you happen to be in the city of Jerusalem, and you somehow conclude that these promises are only for the Jews, you need to get that out of your head.
Because the gospel pertains not simply to lawless Jews, but it pertains to lawless Gentiles. Peter's point in verse 39 is to show us how great God's grace is. There have been times, probably in your experience as a believer, when you've witnessed or you've talked to people about the gospel, and you'll hear people say, oh, I'm so sinful, God will never have me. The glory of the gospel is that we're so sinful, God would never have us if he had not sent his son to die for us, to live for us, to rise for us.
Of course, God would have no truck with us because we would be vile in his sight. But the glory of the gospel is that Christ cleanses us, Christ clothes us, Christ gives us everything we need to stand in the presence of His Father. So let's look at verse 39. He says, for the promise.
The promise in context, specifically, is the giving of the Holy Spirit. If you look at verse 33, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He, Jesus, poured out this, which you now see in here. And with reference to the promise of the Holy Spirit, it's probably not the gifts of the Holy Spirit, wherein we can talk in tongues or prophesy, but the gift that is the Holy Spirit. the reality that as those who believe on Jesus receive the Spirit, He is the seal and the guarantee for our final redemption. He is the one by which Christ dwells in our hearts through faith.
The Holy Spirit is the promise, and Peter says that this promise is for you. Now remember, Jerusalem sinners. I'm not saying that these are the worst and most contemptible people on the face of the earth. I would suggest we're all the worst and most contemptible people on the face of the earth.
But in context, in terms of their particular sin, it was the city of Jerusalem, it was the murderous Jews that cried out with reference to Jesus, away with him, away with him, crucify him. They gave the order. The Gentiles, Pilate, simply wanted to appease them. But it was them crying out, away with him, away with him, crucify him.
So Peter says, the promise is to you, Jerusalem sinners. So you can't this morning say, well, I'm so bad, Jesus would never have me. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you don't. You cannot run and evade the glory of Christ's gospel in that manner.
In fact, Paul the Apostle in 1 Timothy 1.15 says this is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. And then he says, of whom I am chief. So you are not the chief of sinner. If you think or you have deluded yourself into thinking that you are somehow beyond the scope of God's grace, may I hopefully, helpfully tell you, you're not.
God is in the business of saving sinners. Just ask any of us. You've had that thought before where, you know, when we get to heaven, we're going to see people that are going to surprise us. Wow, you're here?
I've often thought they're going to be surprised when they see some of us. Wow, you're here? You made it? Well, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
And this gospel, this good news of Jesus and Him crucified goes to you. But then notice, and to your children, it's important that we understand the context. Turn back to Matthew's gospel for just a moment. Matthew chapter 27.
Again, the idea here with the children isn't paedo-baptism. If you're going to make the case for paedo-baptism, do it in a more responsible way, because what Peter is doing in verse 39 is underscoring the graciousness of our God to receive sinners who come to Him through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in Matthew 27, we'll pick up reading about verse 22. Pilate said to them, what then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?
They all said to him, let him be crucified. Then the governor said, why? What evil has he done? But they cried out all the more, saying, let him be crucified.
See, it's not new where no answer is ever given. It's not new in our political climate where people are bound and determined to do whatever they're going to do, irrespective of those pesky things called facts. If you weren't guilty, we wouldn't have brought him to you. They beg the question.
They assume they're right. And instead of answering Pilate's question, they simply assert again with more vehemence, let him be crucified. Notice in verse 24, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, you see to it. And all the people answered and said, look at what they said, his blood be on us and on our children.
So what's Peter doing in verse 39? The promise is to you, Jerusalem's sinners. The promise even extends to your children, who you are all too willing to throw under the bus, as it were, before Pontius Pilate. May his blood be on us. and our children, and Peter says, no, the gospel avails.
The gospel is powerful. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why? Because in that gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
It's testified by the prophets as the just shall live by faith, Habakkuk 2.4. So Peter is showing how gracious God is in this appeal to Jerusalem sinners. But again, he doesn't stop there. The promise is to you and to your children.
And then he says, and to all who are afar off. Gentiles, non-Jews, the nations of the earth, those Gentiles that may have been in Jerusalem, those Gentiles that were intrigued with Israel's God, those Gentiles who are later called God-fearers, they were interested in Yahweh of Israel, But as to this point, they hadn't come to the Savior. And so what is Peter saying? You're not second-class citizens.
You're not on a lower tier. You're not less significant than the Jews. Because the promise is to Jerusalem sinners, it's to their children who they threw under the bus, and it's to all who are far off. In other words, God's grace is grace.
It's glorious, it's wonderful, it is amazing. We're going to sing that when we change our clothes in just a few moments. It really is amazing grace that comes to sinners, not just like these categories, but to an apostle Peter. Does Peter know of whence he speaks?
Yeah! He denied Jesus to a servant girl. Does the apostle Paul know something about the grace of God? He took it upon himself to destroy the church of God, if he could.
Does the grace of God apply to what we would deem as really bad people today? It is for really bad people. And if you understand one bit of the Bible, you won't think of really bad people as them out there. You will see them every day when you look in the mirror.
And you will praise God that there is forgiveness with Him that He may in fact be feared. That if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. King David was another man. We read Psalm 32 at the beginning.
That wasn't accidental. David understood forgiveness. What was David forgiven of? Well, he committed adultery and then murder in order to cover up that adultery.
That is the kind of sinner that Christ's blood atones for. And in that, people are very thankful and very happy and very encouraged. In fact, the Lord God Most High has shown us with all the kinds of people that we think are beyond the pale of redemption. David is one of them.
Again, Peter denying the Lord. David says in Psalm 130, he says, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" Right? Think about that statement. If you, Lord, a righteous, holy, pure God, whose eye is too pure to look approvingly upon any evil, David says, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, if you should keep them written down in a book, not that God doesn't know everything, not that God doesn't, you know, forgets things, or God keeps lists, or He has His smartphone to keep, you know, my sins under under jammer." That's not what he's saying.
He's saying, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Why does he say, who could stand? Because we're all filled with iniquities. We've all transgressed the law.
We've all violated his holy word. And then he goes on to say, but, it's one of those glorious things in scripture, but he says, there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. In other words, God, you wash your people in precious blood. In other words, God, you give them that righteousness that avails with you, so that they will now, instead of disregarding you, they will now, instead of turning their back on you, they will now, instead of using your name as a curse word, Now they will fear you.
They will rightly relate to you. And fear in that sense isn't running and hiding underneath the piano. Fear in that sense is understanding who God is. It is understanding that He is holy, holy, holy.
It is understanding that He is perfect. It is understanding that He is love. It is understanding that He is glorious and seeing ourselves rightly before Him. That ought to promote reverence.
That ought to promote awe. That ought to promote the fear of God before his eyes. And that's what forgiveness does. We're not forgiven because we fear.
We're not forgiven because we act. We're not forgiven because we do. We're those forgiven, washed in precious blood, so that now we will fear Him aright, so that now we will serve Him aright, and that we will now glorify Him. But there is a crucial modifier in this verse that we cannot pass over.
The Sovereign Scope of God's Grace
Notice what he says in terms of God's scope or the scope of God's grace. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off. Now notice, as many as the Lord our God will call.
Divine Election and the Gospel Call
Peter preached a sovereign God. Peter understood that sinners cannot make themselves alive. Sinners cannot make themselves believers. They must be God's people or God's elect.
God must do that work, giving them the graces of faith and repentance. But knowing that does not strip from him the ability to tell them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. But this is the crucial modifier. It's not the case that Jerusalem sinners and their kids will be saved simply because their kids are the Jerusalem sinners' parents.
No, it's not by race. It's not by family. It's not by ethnicity. It's by God's grace.
It's not saying that every Gentile out there is going to be saved. It's as many as the Lord our God will call. So what's the emphasis in the text? When somebody manifests or demonstrates through faith and repentance that they're one whom the Lord our God has called, They're the ones that should be baptized.
They're the ones that should publicly identify in the waters of baptism with the triune God who saved them. Again, I don't want to get all polemic against paedo-baptism, but this passage doesn't teach it. If there is other passages, we can deal with those at another time, but this passage is simply telling them, and it's telling us. God's grace is real.
God's grace is great. God's grace is amazing. God's grace abounds even to Jerusalem sinners, even to their children whom they threw under the bus, and to the Gentiles, as many as the Lord our God shall call. That's why we preach, that's why we pray, that's why we tell sinners, believe the gospel, repent from your sin, because we know and are convinced that God in his purpose has purpose to save a great multitude that no man shall number from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
This is what we find in the book of Revelation, a great multitude that no man can number. Have you ever heard that idea that there's going to be like this handful of people in heaven? That's contrary to scripture. That is contrary to the eternal state.
That is contrary to the book of Revelation that no man can number. Remember the promise given to Abraham? Abraham, look up at the stars. Now, he didn't have city lights that would make it difficult to see the stars.
He saw the stars in their blazing glory. And God says, your descendants are going to outnumber the stars. And Abraham, if you didn't learn that lesson, I want you to look at the sand at the seashore, because your descendants are going to outnumber the sand that's at the seashore. Why is that?
Because the promise was about Christ. The promise was about Jesus. The promise was about the one who said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. and teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Our blessed Christ gave the church her marching orders, and it was to go, not to tell just a handful of people that if they look to Jesus they'll be safe, but to go and publish this to the nations, to tell everybody far and wide, again in the language of Mark 16, go preach the gospel, to every creature, not just some, not just a few, not just the three that you think might be prepared.
No, you preach this gospel indiscriminately to all men everywhere, telling them, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Such was Peter's emphasis on that day of Pentecost, and that needs to be the church's emphasis today. The gospel because of the broken law and the remedy in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him and you will be saved.
And as we move through the passage, we'll do this very quickly.
The Hearers Receive the Word
Notice what happens in terms of the response of the hearers to the Apostle Peter.
Three Thousand Souls Added
Notice salvation. Verse 40, Peter says, or with many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, be safe from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. You see, they didn't conclude, well, we killed Jesus.
He already reminded us that we're the murderers of Christ. His blood is on our hands. No, they heard the gospel of God's free grace. They heard the benevolence of God.
They heard the graciousness and the kindness of God. So what do they do? They gladly receive the word. See, brethren, that can't be a bad thing.
It can never be a bad thing to gladly receive God's word. It's always a good thing. In other words, if you hear the gospel, You hear the truth of the facts about Jesus. And some preacher tells you, or an evangelist tells you, believe on Him, repent from your sin.
It's never condemned by God if you believe and repent. That is good, to gladly receive the Word. And now
The Practice of the Early Church
notice what happens in verse 42, the practice of the church. In other words, what do they do now that they're saved? Verse 42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. The particular word that is utilized here means to persist in something, to hold fast to, to continue in, to persevere in something.
So they gladly, or rather, they continued steadfastly in four things. The first thing is apostles' doctrine. Think about that for a moment. They had seen verses 1 to 13.
They had seen the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and they had seen people speak in tongues, and they had heard people prophesy. But what do they continue steadfastly in? The search for those gifts? Not at all.
They continue steadfastly in the doctrine. They want the word of God. They're not concerned about experience. They're not concerned about ecstasy.
They're not concerned about entertainment. They want the truth of God's holy word. That is the reflex of those who are saved by grace. We now want that truth. which we previously despise.
They continued steadfastly in fellowship. That doesn't just mean they had coffee and talked about the Canuts. It means that they encouraged one another. They exhorted one another daily while it is called today.
They were speaking of Jesus. They were speaking truth. They were helping one another financially. As well, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread.
I don't think that Peter or Luke would have had to acknowledge this if it simply meant eating. We always have to continue steadfastly in food, don't we? You might make it for 40 days. From what I gather, you can live quite a while without food, not so long without water.
So if you're going to get lost somewhere in the woods, make sure you have water at least. But brethren, they continued in the breaking of bread, the ordinances that Christ gave to the church, the Lord's Supper. They've already seen baptism. They will engage in the Lord's Supper as well.
And then they continue steadfastly in prayer. Again, it's a very simple view of what the church was like in this first phase or in this early stage of Christian development. It was a simple group of people doing simple things, not focusing upon the extraordinary, but engaged in the use of the ordinary means that God had given to the church. Well, I just have a couple of thoughts and then we'll close.
Application to the Baptism Candidates
First, those who are being baptized. What a blessed day. I'm trying to find everybody here. Where's, okay, got it.
I see all four of them there. The blessing of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. I have met with these brothers and sisters. They have given a testimony concerning their conversion.
It's legit, and we can praise God for that. They're not going into this water in order to be saved. They're going into that water because they've been saved by God's grace through the precious blood of the Lamb. And again, this is an outward signification of what God has done by His sovereign grace in the inward man.
With reference to the response of those saved by grace, Our confession, which I'll read in just a few moments, says this concerning baptism. It's a sign. It signifies several things. And then it says, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life.
His giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. In other words, you're supposed to be faithful. You're supposed to live in light of that gospel. Your conduct, as for all of us, must be worthy of that gospel.
We're not saved because of that conduct, but rather we engage in that conduct because by God's grace we have been saved. I always like to read this quote from C. H. Spurgeon.
It's the day he was baptized. And this is just a great sort of an underscoring of that reality in terms of living. Giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. He says May 3rd in the afternoon I was privileged to follow my Lord and to be buried with him in baptism blessed pool Sweet emblem of my death to all the world may I henceforward live alone for Jesus?
Accept my body and soul as a poor sacrifice tis me unto thee in thy strength I now devote myself to thy service forever never may I shrink from owning thy name Witness he men and angels now if I forsake the Lord I vow to glory alone in Jesus and His cross and to spend my life in the extension of His cause in whatsoever way He pleases. I desire to be sincere in this solemn profession, having but one object in view, and that to glorify God. Blessing upon Thy name that Thou hast supported me through the day. It is Thy strength alone that could do this.
Thou hast, Thou wilt, Thou hast enabled me to profess Thee. Help me now to honor Thee. and carry out my profession and live the life of Christ on earth. Not just these four, but all of us need this reminder, don't we? Whenever we witness this blessed doctrine or ordinance or sacrament of baptism, hopefully it rekindles in us afresh the reality that God has saved us by His grace, and He has called us to walk in newness of life.
It's a great reminder for the people of God as we witness the baptism. Notice as well, with reference to the passage, I've mentioned this a couple of times, and I think you'll understand why now. Jerusalem sinners are in view here. In Luke 24, 47, Jesus commissions the church.
He says, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. John Bunyan had a sermon entitled, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, Good News for the Vilest of Men or a Help for Despairing Souls. In other words, he took as his text that reality that the gospel comes first to the worst men on the face of the earth at that time. The very worst.
See, it wasn't like, okay, just let's get the gospel out there to the really upright and the polished. I think we have that mindset. You hear it from the opponents of Christianity at times. Oh, Christianity is for white people.
No, it's for sinful people. It's not confined to an ethnicity. It's not confined to a people group. If you've got sin, you need the Savior.
That's the bottom line with reference to Christianity. But with reference to his particular sermon, the doctrine of his sermon was that Jesus Christ would have mercy offered to the biggest sinners. The biggest sinners. Let's say you were, you know, really strong and you had the ability to bench press and you wanted to show off to somebody.
You wouldn't put 135 on that bar and do reps. You'd put whatever your max is to demonstrate your power, to demonstrate just how great you are. Well, God sends the Son of His love, and according to the prophet Isaiah, it's not just for the lost tribes of Jacob, but He'll give you as a light unto the Gentiles. In other words, we're going to demonstrate your power, your efficacy, and your glory to every sinner in this world.
Not saying that every sinner will be saved, but every sinner should see the glory of God in the salvation of sinners. So Bunyan gives eight points in that sermon. Thankfully, I'm not going to recite those. I'll just give you three.
First, he says, the biggest sinners have most need. That makes sense, right? If you're the hungriest one in this room, then that sandwich should be yours first. The biggest sinners have greatest need.
Another reason that he says is when they receive it, sinners receiving the grace of God, it redounds most to the fame of his name. In other words, when Paul is conquered on the road to Damascus, initially the church in Jerusalem is afraid of him. They don't want him in their midst. It took Barnabas to say, oh no, he's been saved, he's one of us now.
So it redounds to the praise and the glory of God's great name. And then one other reason that Bunyan gives, others hearing of it will be encouraged the more to come to him for life. Others hearing of it will be encouraged the more to come to Him for life." Now, you don't have direct access to Jerusalem sinners, but you got a lot of access to some Chilliwack and Abbotsfordian sinners, so go ahead and ask some of us, what were you like before you were saved? And you will see that God's grace is amazing.
You will see that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, does cleanse us from all sin. That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity of Peter's presentation in Acts 2. And God, we thank you for the response evidenced by these people. Certainly they had tasted the grace of God.
They knew the that the joy of the Lord, they knew what it was to be forgiven, to receive that righteousness, and to be able to enter into heaven on the day of their death. God, we have that certainty as well, and we love you, and we praise you, and we thank you for it, and we desire and we long to see many, many more people know it and understand it for themselves. Send forth this glorious gospel, send it throughout this world, conquering end to conquer, running swiftly and being glorified, so that you may receive all honor and praise and glory from those saved by your grace. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.