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We can turn in your Bibles to 
the book of Acts, specifically Acts chapter 2. While you are 
turning there, I do want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the church 
for the recent time off that I was given. It was a blessed 
time of refreshment and much relaxation, to which I thank 
our God and the goodness and the kindness of the church here, 
Free Grace Baptist Church. It's a blessing to be back. I 
had mentioned to my wife the other night that I don't know 
that I'll be able to preach. She said, well, it's like riding 
a bike. And then I mentioned it to someone on Friday night, 
and he said the same thing. And they hadn't talked to one 
another. So I really do hope it is like riding a bike. For 
those of you who are visiting with us, I've been out of the 
pulpit for the last six weeks on sabbatical. So as we look 
at Acts 2, our focus this morning is predominantly on Peter's preaching 
and the response of the hearers. We see that in verses 37 to 42. It's a big section, so we will 
try to focus our attention on those verses, but I do want to 
begin reading in chapter 2 at verse 22 to set that section 
in its larger context. And again, this is the day of 
Pentecost. The Spirit of God comes upon 
the church powerfully, mightily, and Peter then stands up and 
interprets the situation by an appeal to the prophet Joel in 
chapter 2, verses 14 to 21. He says, what is occurring here 
is what the prophet Joel had prophesied concerning the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit. And now Peter does engage in 
the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified. So I'll begin 
reading in verse 22. whom God raised up, having loosed 
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should 
be held by it. Where 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. 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 among 
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. Well, 
let us pray and ask God's blessing upon our time together. Most 
high God, we gather on this Sabbath day and we come to rejoice in 
you. We come to the Father through 
the mediation of our priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that 
by the Spirit. We pray that the triune God would 
be all in all in this place. We thank you for the happy occasion, 
not only of worship, but of baptism. We thank you that you, in your 
grace and in your mercy, affectionately call sinners out of darkness 
into marvelous light. We thank you that you grant the 
graces of faith and repentance and that baptism is a demonstration 
of what you have done inwardly. And our God, we pray that as 
we gather here, our hearts would be strengthened, that we would 
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, 
that we would appreciate afresh the gospel of our salvation. And for any and all who do not 
know you, we pray that today would be the day of salvation. 
We pray that Christ, Him risen, Him enthroned on high, Him having 
died, and those great truths associated with His life and 
ministry. We pray that sinners would hear these things and by 
the power of the Holy Spirit would receive the Word gladly. Do forgive us now for our sins 
and our transgressions and help us to glorify You. And we pray 
through Christ our Lord. Amen. As I said, this is a significant 
passage in the history of God's workings among man. It was prophesied 
of old and it comes to pass here in Acts chapter 2. If you look 
back for just a moment at Acts 1, it is important for us to 
see how this book as a whole functions. If you notice in verse 
1, it says, the former account I made, O Theophilus. Now Luke 
wrote Acts, so the former account refers to Luke, his gospel narrative. The former account I made, O 
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The connection is simple. The 
book of Luke and the other gospel narratives record all that Jesus 
began both to do and teach. The book of Acts tells us what 
he continues to do and teach. It really is the acts of the 
risen Lord Jesus. operating of course through the 
apostles, but he enthroned at the right hand of the Father 
is responsible for disciple making and church building and strengthening 
the people of God. And you see the specific emphasis 
on the day that he was taken up in Acts 1 verse 4, and then 
again in Acts 1.22. But then we turn to the book 
of Acts chapter 2 and notice the day of Pentecost. So this 
day was taken up as identified in 1.4.1.22, the day of ascension, 
and then 2.1 tells us the day of Pentecost. I think Luke wants 
us to think this way. The Christ who was taken up on 
that day is the Christ who is behind the glorious things transpiring 
on this day. Some take this chapter, specifically 
the tongue speaking, and they see that as the focus, the centrality, 
that the people of God need to be speaking in tongues. No, the 
emphasis in this chapter is on the supreme lordship and sovereignty 
of Jesus Christ. He is the star. He is the one 
that is demonstrating His power enthroned at the right hand of 
the majesty of God on high. So as I said, let's look first 
at the instruction given by the Apostle Peter in verses 22 to 
39, and then we'll look at the response of the hearers to the 
Apostle Peter in verses 41 to 42. In the first place, Peter's 
instruction involves the gospel. Verses 22 to 36, specifically 
the events associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. That word 
gospel is abused today. We call everything and anything 
gospel. The gospel narrowly defined is 
that message about Jesus Christ. It's not about you. You may participate 
in it, be a partaker of it by God's grace through faith in 
it, but the gospel is primarily about Jesus, His life, His ministry, 
His death, and His resurrection. And this is precisely what Peter 
does. His life and ministry in verse 
22, His death in verse 23, His resurrection from the dead in 
verses 24 to 32, and then his ascension on high to the right 
hand of the majesty of God in verses 33 to 36. Peter doesn't 
come to proclaim a message of good advice. Peter doesn't come 
to try and apply a bit of humanistic therapy to his hearers. He doesn't 
come to try to make them feel a bit better about themselves. 
He comes to preach Christ and Him crucified. The Apostle Paul 
in 1 Corinthians 1 says that Jews seek after signs, Greeks 
seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. If 
this is the pattern, the paradigm, the example of the apostolic 
ministry, then why is the church lacking in this particular area? Gospel preaching must be preeminent. That must be definitive of the 
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, you come and you hear helpful 
messages on hopefully how to be a better husband or a better 
father. But the primary undergirding 
theme of all preaching ought to be Christ and Him crucified, 
Him resurrected, Him ascended on high, Him having led captivity 
captive, Him having given gifts to men, Him enthroned at the 
right hand of the majesty of God for the edification of His 
people and the salvation of sinners. You see, that's Peter's point, 
is setting before his hearers the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But then secondly, part of his 
instruction includes the law. It doesn't say, well, here's 
first an exposition of the Ten Commandments, and here's why 
you need the Lord Jesus Christ. But he certainly appeals to the 
Sixth Commandment, because in two places he highlights the 
fact that you have crucified him. You see, as I was thinking 
about this particular section this morning, what is it that 
brings us together here? It's not the Canucks. It's not 
a political party. It is our sinnerhood. It is our 
sinfulness. It is our in Adam-ness. It is our wretchedness and our 
undone-ness, and we need the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need redemption through his 
blood. Well, Peter knows that. Peter 
knows the reasons why Jesus lived, Jesus died, and Jesus was raised. Again, it wasn't to provide good 
advice, to provide moralistic therapy to people so they'd have 
a little bit better life. No, it's to deal with the sin 
issue. the sin problem. Notice what he says here in verse 
36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus whom you crucified. See, this is what 
necessitated the life and the death and the resurrection of 
our Lord Jesus. This is another element that 
somehow is lacking in churches today. We preach the centrality 
of the cross, but we must also highlight what necessitated that. the waywardness of man, the sinfulness 
of man, the guiltiness of man, the reality that we have broken 
the law of God. And in this particular section, 
again, he refers to it in chapter 2 at verse 23, he'll refer to 
it again in chapter 3, and then again in chapter 5. What's he 
doing? He's highlighting the chief sin 
of these Jerusalem sinners. Why is that? Because if men don't 
see their sin, they'll never see their need for Jesus. It's 
a very simple concept, isn't it? It's what our Lord taught 
in Matthew chapter 9. I didn't come to call the righteous, 
but sinners to repentance. So what does the church do? I'm 
speaking generically. Well, let's just preach on how 
to be a better you. No, we tell people they're sinners. That's so negative. They won't 
like that. It doesn't matter what we like, 
it matters what we need to hear. Certainly, when somebody goes 
to the doctor and hears the diagnosis, you've got cancer, it's not nice, 
but it's necessary. How do you find remedy without 
first finding the problem? How do you find a solution unless 
you know what the situation is? We are not to be tickling the 
ears of people on the way to hell. We are to be telling them 
sin. We are to be telling them of 
their lawlessness. We are to be telling them of 
their wretchedness. And in this particular situation, 
Peter doesn't say, you know, you've got these few issues among 
you. He says specifically, whom you crucified." I love Thomas 
Manton. He says this, 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. These loose discourses, 
these sort of vagaries, these sort of thoughts out there, you 
know, you're not as great as you ought to be. That's not going 
to convict anybody of their sin. When they hear that they have 
crucified the Lord of glory, that one sent from God most high 
as Israel's Messiah, as Israel's champion, as the promised one 
according to the Old Testament scriptures, and yet you denied 
him, you by lawless hands crucified him, you delivered him up to 
godless men, and they pounded stakes into his wrists and into 
his feet, and ultimately a spear was plunged into his side, he 
bore that wrath for sin. You see, vagaries never do the 
job. We need to highlight where persons 
have sinned. And if you are here today and 
you are new to this whole thing, you need to think about this. 
You're not a perfect man, woman, boy or girl. I know that your 
parents may think you are, your spouse may think you are. You're 
the best thing that's ever happened to me. You're still wicked. I'm 
sorry. You're still sinful. This is 
the point now where persons say, well, this is good for my ego. 
Perhaps our egos need to be bruised, broken, and battered, so we'll 
appreciate the bruised, broken, battered Savior that was raised 
the third day and throwned on high where He ever lives to save 
all who come to Him. You see, your sin may not be 
directly the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, but the law 
of God is a wonderful place to go to sort of do a survey of 
your conduct before a holy God. The first two commandments prohibit 
idolatry. You're not supposed to have other 
gods before God. You're not supposed to make images 
of the true God. That's a pretty easy litmus test 
to see where I stand before a holy God. In fact, this is the first 
and foremost commandment. You'll love him with all your 
heart, soul, mind, and strength. Are you an idolater? You say, 
well, I don't worship Baal. I don't worship Molech. I don't 
bow to Asherah. Well, it may be something a little 
bit more respectable. See, on this side of the Canaanites, 
we've become more respectable in our idolatry, at least outwardly. But it's still inwardly corrupt 
and wicked and vile. anything that we put in the place 
of God, anything that we want more than God. That's why that 
fundamental kingdom principle of Matthew 6.33 comes, hopefully, 
as no surprise to the people of God, but something very offensive 
to the non-people of God. Seek first His kingdom and His 
righteousness, and then these things will be added unto you. 
Don't worry about food, don't worry about what you're going 
to wear, Don't worry about all those particular cares or anxieties 
that you have. You seek first the kingdom of 
God and His righteousness, and then those things will be added 
to you. We're told in the scriptures that we're not supposed to blaspheme 
the name of God. We're not supposed to misuse 
His name, and yet it's done all around us. It's done by us in 
our actions. When King David of Israel fell 
into adultery and then murder, the prophet Nathan says, by this 
you've given cause to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme his name. 
Sabbath-breaking. I mean, we could probably all 
just fall on the floor right now and confess our sin of Sabbath-breaking 
to God for the next several hours. Who of us esteems God's day? 
Who of us says with David in Psalm 122, I mean, obviously, 
we should be recalling what is written there and encouraging 
our hearts to make those sorts of declarations. David says, 
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of 
the Lord. Were you glad to get the email 
last Saturday that we couldn't get the lot plowed? Were you 
glad that the house of God was barred up by the white stuff 
and we weren't able to come? Are you glad on Sunday morning 
when the alarm clock goes off and you get to come to church? 
Or is it more like, I have to go to church? The fifth word, 
very particular to kids. Do you kids honor your father 
and your mother? Do you obey them in the Lord? You see, one 
of the functions of God's law is to show us our need for Jesus 
Christ. The function that I am highlighting 
here shows us that we are wicked and we stand in need of Christ. 
And this is how it functioned here on the day of Pentecost 
under the power of the Spirit, because they were cut to the 
heart. And having been cut to the heart, what do they do? They 
say, what shall we do? Now that's wrong-headed. That's 
always the response of a sinner who's been found out. What shall 
I do? Shall I give money? Shall I pay tithes? Shall I go 
here? Shall I do this? There's always that covenant 
of works orientation in an awakened sinner. I want to do something 
to get right with God. We'll see in just a few moments 
how Peter answers that particular query. Murder. We may not be 
cutting throats or shooting people in the head, but we may hate 
people in our hearts and we may have bitterness and resentment 
and all manner of corruption. Adultery. Jesus says if you've 
looked upon a woman or a man to lust, you've broken the commandment. It's not just externals that 
the law of God is concerned with. That's what the Pharisees thought. 
That's what the rich young ruler thought. All these I have kept 
from my youth. What thing do I lack? That's 
why Jesus says, go, sell everything you have, give it to the poor, 
and then follow me. The law of God is internal. This 
man was a covetous wretch. Just because he had externally 
not cut someone's throat, just because externally he had not 
lain with another man's wife, doesn't mean he is a sinless 
creature. And it doesn't mean that for 
any of us. The 8th commandment, you shall not steal. The 9th, 
you shall not lie. The 10th, you shall not covet. 
All these things are utilized by the apostles in their preaching 
to highlight the need that persons have. You see, if you come to 
church and you don't hear your sin addressed, you're never going 
to see your need for the Savior. It's just that simple. This is 
one of the challenges in the modern culture that we live in. 
We are witnessing or trying to witness to people that have very 
full lives. Imagine, we go to the neighbor's 
house and he lives in this massive house. He's got boats and cars 
and summer homes and he's loaded rich and all that sort of thing. 
And we come to him under the guise of the modern evangelical 
message and we say, you need to come to Jesus so you can be 
happy. Happy? I've got this massive 
house, I've got a wonderful wife, I've got five beautiful kids, 
I've got boats, I've got homes out in other parts of the world 
so that when snow comes, I can get out of Dodge and bask on 
the beach of Tulum. I have all that. What are you 
telling me? I need Jesus to be happy for. 
See, that is fundamentally flawed. You don't need Jesus for your 
happiness. You need Jesus for your salvation. You need Jesus for your righteousness. You need Jesus for your deliverance. 
You need Jesus for redemption through his blood. You need Jesus 
for reconciliation with a holy God. You see, this whole approach, 
add Jesus to your life and it will get fundamentally better. 
That just doesn't fly, brethren, and that's not how the apostles 
proclaimed the gospel. Whom you crucified, he says. I love the words of J. Gresham 
Machen. He says, a new and more powerful 
proclamation of that law is perhaps the most pressing need of the 
hour. Men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they had only 
learned the lesson of the law. So it always is. A low view of 
the law always brings legalism in religion. That's contrary 
to what most of us think. Oh, that guy, he really loves 
the law. He's a legalist. Legalists hate the law of God. 
Legalists and antinomians are bedfellows with reference to 
the common opposition, which is God's holy law. A low view of law is what brings 
legalism. A proper view of God's law does 
not promote legalism. It does not promote antinomianism. A proper view of God's law produces 
liberty, joy, thanksgiving, blessedness. A proper view of God's law on 
the other side of Christ, the non-saved, produces the reason 
why we need Jesus Christ. Machen ends that bit by saying, 
a high view of law makes a man a seeker after grace. Pray God 
that the high view may again prevail. Amen. So notice, they 
are convicted of their sin according to verse 37. Now, when they heard 
this, it could be the specific reference in verse 36. More likely, 
it is all that Peter has said concerning the man, his ministry, 
his death, resurrection, and ascension. Peter ends this sermon 
with that, therefore, verse 36. Therefore, let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly. You see, the Bible isn't something 
that might be true. The Bible isn't something that 
is possible. The Bible isn't something that 
is fairytale-like, as Pastor Porter pointed out recently. 
Pastor Porter pointed out recently. There's some alliteration for 
you, sermon lovers. Pastor Porter pointed out recently 
that the Bible does not begin in a distant land. It doesn't 
begin or speak with the language of fable or fairytale, but know 
assuredly that this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made Him 
both Lord and Christ. They've heard this. They understand 
this. Now we're going to focus on something 
a little bit later, the reality that these are Jerusalem sinners. 
The very city of God, David's city, Zion, had lately become 
the bastion of apostasy, had lately become abominable, had 
lately become defective and utterly undone. Why? Because they crucified 
the Lord of glory. Do you understand that? I'm going to refer to John Bunyan 
in a few moments, his message, or his sermon, or his discourse, 
The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, from Luke 24, 47. Jesus says that 
this message of repentance and remission of sins needs to be 
preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Now, there's political, 
theological reasons why that was the case, but practically 
consider it. You were just crucified by a 
wicked city. You've ascended on high and you've 
given command to your disciples. Do you target that wicked city 
first? No, hit the other nations and 
then follow them up on the back end. They need to learn their 
lesson for what they have done to me. These were vile, corrupt, 
wretched people. These were persons that really 
stood in need of all that the Redeemer had accomplished, and 
God the Spirit brings that conviction upon them right now. Verse 37, 
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?" Now let's look at Peter's response. First of 
all, he tells them to repent. Why would he do that? Because 
they crucified Jesus, this man who is attested to you by God 
through signs, wonders, and miracles. This man that you, instead of 
praising and worshiping and receiving and bowing and hearing and heeding, 
you crucify. You said, away with him, away 
with him, crucify him. Of course they needed to repent. 
They were certainly conversant with the Old Testament scriptures. 
The Old Testament, Yahweh's always calling through the prophets 
to the nation of Israel to repent. He's not their big cheerleader 
up in heaven sending the prophets to give him a shot in the arm 
saying, you're doing a great job. No, return to me, says Yahweh. Look to me and be ye saved, all 
the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Let 
the wicked man forsake his ways. Let him return to God. You see, 
Peter's language here is appropriate. Repent, go from the place of 
having murdered Jesus to the place of believing on Jesus. And you might apply that very 
specifically to your own place, your own station, your own breach 
of the commandments. You need to repent. Don't continue 
in idolatry, blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, insubordination, murder, adultery, 
theft, lies, and covetousness. Don't perpetuate the sinfulness 
and the madness, but repent. Now, repent fundamentally means 
to have a change of mind. The Bible envisions that when 
we have that change of mind, there will be a change of conduct 
that follows. There will be fruits of repentance. So you take the man who worships 
Baal. Repentance is going to look simple. He's going to not 
worship Baal anymore, and he's going to worship Yahweh. Repent! That's the fundamental meaning 
there. Bruce defines it as a spiritual about-face. Kids, you've seen 
soldiers marching in unison, and the drill instructor says, 
about-face, and they all turn and go back the other way they 
came. That's what it means. I think J.A. Alexander helps 
flesh it out a little bit as well. Excuse me. He says, regret 
or sorrow is only one of its ingredients. You see, it's not 
just, I feel bad about that particular sin. I feel bad that he mentioned 
adultery and I've been looking at porn. I feel bad that he mentioned 
murder and I've hated my wife or husband in my heart. I feel 
bad that such is the case. That's not all that's involved 
in repentance. Alexander goes on, 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. It's not piecemeal. It's not 
just a bit. It's not just a little so that 
I can avail with God. No, it's a radical revolution. Look at Philippians chapter 3. 
Paul highlights what he once was and what he had become. Look 
at any of the repentance in the scriptures. Matthew is sitting 
at the tax office counting his loot, and Jesus says, follow 
me. What does he do? He leaves it 
all and immediately follows. Now, repentance is never perfect. Repentance is never absolutely 
complete. Repentance is not something that 
we do once and, well, tomorrow I won't have to repent again. 
No, that's not the case. Well, we need to understand repentance 
and faith because we come to a reformed church and we hear 
about justification by faith a lot. It's almost hinted at 
times as if repentance is a work out in sort of other proclamation. When you look at the book of 
Acts, and we don't have time to do this now, the words belief, 
or believe, and repent, repentance, turn, those things are used separately 
in various contexts, and they are used together in various 
contexts. In fact, look at our particular 
context. Peter says in verse 38, repent 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. Notice in verse 41, Then those 
who gladly received his word were baptized. So they're told 
to repent. We see in verse 41, they received 
the word. Now notice the identifier in 
verse 44. Now all who believed were together. It's almost as 
if these terms are used interchangeably in the book of Acts. There's 
certainly a difference. There's certainly distinction 
between faith and repentance. But for our point now, when Peter 
says repent, he's not prescribing humanism. He's not telling them 
behavior modification is where it's at. He's not telling them 
just to affect their morality enough to get things right with 
God. No, faith and repentance go hand in hand. In fact, Thompson, 
I think, is right on when he says, repentance and faith are 
two sides of one coin. They are not identical, but where 
one is mentioned by itself, the other may be presupposed. You 
need to get that as you read Acts. Well, did I repent properly? 
Did I believe? Those are two sides of the same 
coin. One of the Puritan authors says 
faith is penitent faith. Belief is, or repentance is believing 
repentance. The two go hand in hand. Their 
grace is given by God by means of which sinners close with the 
Lord Jesus Christ. So Peter's words are very specific 
to them. Repent. Notice secondly, he tells 
them to be baptized. It's reflecting the Master's 
orders here in Matthew 28. Why is that tank filled, and 
why is Emma going to go into it? Because Jesus commands it. 
There are churches that don't practice the sacraments. Why? 
Certainly some think, well, we're in heaven, so we don't need sacramental 
adherence anymore. That's just bizarre. But then 
there are others, say the Salvation Army, I think, doesn't teach 
no baptism, no Lord's Supper. Why? Didn't Jesus say, all authority 
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and 
make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and 
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So if we ask the question today, 
why is there water and why is Emma going into it? The primary 
answer is because Jesus commands it. Right? Well, because Emma's a 
great girl. She is a wonderful human who 
needed blood to save her from her sins. We have a great master 
and he commands it. And this is what Peter says, 
repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus 
Christ for the remission of sins. It is important for us to understand 
here that this is not a oneness Pentecostal formula statement. For those who don't understand 
what I just said, that's okay. There are some who teach that 
we're only to be baptized in the name of Jesus because that's 
what the apostles said. Look at what Peter says, repent 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. It's not formulaic. The formula 
is laid down for us by the Lord in Matthew 28. John Gill is a 
far more able expositor of God's Word than any oneness Pentecostal, 
and he explains in the name of Jesus Christ this way. But now, 
upon their repentance and faith, they are to be baptized in his 
name by his authority according to his command, professing their 
faith in him, devoting themselves to him, and calling on his name. That's what it means. Faith and repentance, and the 
object of that faith and repentance is Jesus Christ. Be baptized 
in his name. Now, forgiveness is not obtained 
by baptism. There's others who teach, well, 
in order to be saved, you have to be baptized. We don't believe 
that here. It's not obtained through baptism. 
It's not as if Emma goes into the water, and now God forgives 
her. No, it's signified by baptism. When she goes into that water, 
it is an external attestation of what God has done inwardly. 
So in this particular context, repent and let every one of you 
be baptized. So that when they came to be 
baptized, these 3,000 souls that are added to the church, when 
they are baptized, this is an attestation that they, by God's 
grace, had repented, that they, by God's grace, had received 
the word, which means they believed it. That's what's in view here. And then notice something that 
I mentioned earlier. Why are we here? It's not the 
Canucks. Not the liberal party, for sure. 
It's because we're sinners that stand in need of God's forgiveness, 
isn't it? Why the gospel? Because you've 
sinned against a holy God. Why the gospel? Because that 
holy God is going to rescue sinners. Why the gospel? Because without 
the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Why the gospel? Because Christ is the Lamb of 
God who takes away the sin of the world. See, this is why these 
people gathered. This is why these people heard. 
This is why these people were cut to the heart by the Holy 
Spirit. It was to bring them to this place, repentance toward 
God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, having received the word, 
washed in that precious fount. The prophets testified. Zechariah 
specifically said, in that day, there will be a fountain open 
for sin and uncleanness. Where is he talking about? He's 
talking about Jerusalem. How is that fountain filled? 
It's drawn from Emmanuel's veins, as we sing in Number 188. You 
see, this is the point of the whole reason we exist. Why do 
you go to church? Is it because you like looking 
down on everybody else? Why do you go to church? Because 
you're a self-righteous schmuck that's very mean to everybody. 
I go to church because I'm a wretch who stands in need of blood. See, I think, brethren, that 
if we get our minds wrapped around that tight enough, then we might 
begin to be the Christian people we're supposed to be. We're not 
saved because we're better. I've used the illustration before. I think it was Ted Turner, the 
founder of one of the networks, said that Christianity is for 
losers. He meant that as a put-down. 
That's actually too nice. We're not just losers. We're 
a whole lot worse than losers. You come in last in a marathon, 
you can go home and have a wonderful night with your wife and kids. 
Well, you probably have to rest a few days, but life goes on. Losing isn't the worst thing 
in the world. Sinning is. That's our issue. That's our problem. That's who 
Christianity is for. Can I get a praise be to God 
on that one? It's not because we are good. It's not because we merit. It's not because we obey those 
10 words. It's because God, in Christ, 
is reconciling the world to Himself. And it comes as a result of His 
perfect life, in obedience to the Father, His death as a sacrifice 
and substitute at the cross, and His resurrection the third 
day. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses, and He was raised for our justification. That's 
the reality that Peter is setting forth in this particular section. Notice, Peter then promises them 
the Holy Spirit, verses 38 and 39. Now, there's a couple of 
things here before we proceed. I notice my voice isn't as strong. 
Six weeks out has been tough, but it's been six weeks, so if 
I go a little bit longer, nobody will mind, right? I got six weeks 
of stuff. Just kidding. I already go long 
enough as it is, but notice what he goes on to say. He says, and 
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 39, for 
the promise is to you. Now that promise there is the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. This is conspicuous in the book 
of Acts. It's conspicuous in the context of the prophets. 
It is conspicuous in light of Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 37, the promise 
of the new covenant, the prophet Joel that has already been quoted, 
God is going to do something. God the Father is going to send 
the Spirit through the agency of the Son, according to verse 
33, that will be unlike anything He had done up to that point. 
The age of the Spirit has dawned. The age of the Spirit, or the 
age, rather, of Messiah has dawned, and that is an age of the Spirit, 
where Christ enthroned at the right hand of God Most High, 
according to verse 33, having received from the Father the 
promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now 
see and hear. So you shall receive the gift 
of the Holy Spirit. Look back at Acts 1. It's important 
that we understand this, that in verse 39, the promise in view 
is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's not a promise upon which 
we baptize our babies. It's not a promise upon which 
we smuggle in infants. It's not a promise upon which 
we claim that this is the proof text so that we can sprinkle 
little ones. That's not what the promise of 
verse 39 is. It's the promise of the Holy 
Spirit that they had been taught to wait for in accordance with 
the prophet, the prophetic word of the Old Testament, and the 
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 4. And being 
assembled, this is Acts 1, together with them, he commanded them 
not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of 
the Father, which he said, you have heard from me. Notice as 
well, Acts 1.8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 
has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem 
and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 
And then again, we see it in Acts 2.33, I've already read 
that. God, or 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." So we see that the Holy Spirit is the one promised 
by Peter to those who receive the word, those who by God's 
grace believe the gospel and repent of their sin. They received 
the Spirit. It's a beautiful thing. Now some 
interpret it as the gifts of the Spirit. Well, the apostles 
spoke in tongues, and so what Peter is promising here is that 
they'll receive the gifts of the Spirit so that they too can 
speak in tongues. It probably means the Spirit 
has gifts. This is what you get courtesy of our Lord Jesus, enthroned 
at the right hand of God Most High. Certainly you got it in 
the Old Testament. Believers were not devoid of the Spirit 
in the Old Testament. But there is a quantifiable difference 
in terms of God's dealings in this new covenant era through 
Christ, who is enthroned at the right hand, who sends forth His 
Spirit. This is what Peter promises. 
Now let's look at verse 39. Now, for those of you who have 
been involved in any sort of church life, those of you who've 
been on either side of the baptism debate, you'll know that verse 
39 comes up a lot. This, and to your children. It's 
sort of like the motto text for paedo-baptism or infant baptism. I don't want to get into all 
that this morning. I want to encourage us with what Peter 
is actually doing. I don't think Peter here is giving 
us sort of a detailed statement on how we ought to regard infants 
in the New Covenant situation. I think Peter is encouraging 
his hearers with the scope of God's mercy. In other words, 
I might say to you, come over to our house this afternoon. 
It's a bare invitation. But I might follow it up with, 
my wife made a pot of soup, and this soup is so delicious. It 
is so wonderful. Some of the kids are going to 
bring other items. Everybody's going to show up 
at our house today. It's an encouragement, isn't it? It entices you. You've not only heard the invitation, 
but it's been highlighted, it's been punctuated. That's how verse 
39 functions. I'm not saying we ought not to 
refer to it in our polemics or discussions about baptism, but 
in the context, it functions this way. For the promise is 
for you, Jerusalem sinners. Christ murdering sinners. God in His grace, God in His 
kindness, God in His goodness has sent His Son to die for that 
kind of sinner. It's also for your children. 
We know what this means because of our studies in Matthew 27. 
In Matthew 27, before Pontius Pilate, all Israel says, may 
his blood, the Lord Jesus Christ, may his blood be upon us and 
our children. What's God saying through the 
apostle Peter? The blood of Jesus Christ, his 
son, cleanses us from all sin. So it's for Jerusalem sinners, 
it's for the children of Jerusalem sinners, and get this, it's for 
all those who are afar off. In other words, Gentiles. See, the threefold outline of 
the book of Acts is in chapter 1. You're going to witness to 
me first in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and then, what? To the 
uttermost parts of the earth. That's precisely how the book 
of Acts flows. And that's precisely how these 
outpourings of the Spirit flow. Acts 2 is not to be duplicated, 
at least some of it, in the modern church. We're not looking for 
Pentecost today. We see it in Acts 2, we see it 
in Acts 8 when they're in Judea, Samaria, and we see it in Acts 
10 when the Spirit is given to the Gentiles. So the Spirit is 
given in these particular instances to manifest God's fulfillment 
of the Old Testament prophets to empower and equip the church 
so that it can go out and preach Christ and Him crucified. The 
first message of the church ought not to be, you need to speak 
in tongues. No, you need to believe the gospel. You need to look 
unto Jesus and live. You see, that's what Peter is 
saying here. It's an encouragement. 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. You see, that's the fundamental 
statement that we need to make sure we attach to the others. 
It's for you. It's for your children. It's 
for all those who are far off, the Gentiles. But it's all modified 
by that statement, as many as the Lord our God shall call. 
Not all of them without exception, but all of them without distinction. 
In other words, Jerusalem sinners, Chilliwackian sinners, Abbotsfordian 
sinners, Vancouver sinners, African sinners, Asian sinners, a whole 
host of sinners from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, a 
great multitude that no man can number. That is an encouragement, 
you see. That's what Peter's doing there. 
He's not giving a polemic on the inclusion of infants in this 
new covenant era. He is telling the people to come. He is telling the people to repent, 
to believe, to come to this one who died for guilty sinners. And then he goes on to exhort 
them, be safe from this perverse generation. Let's just look quickly 
at the response of the hearers to the apostle Peter, verses 
41 and 42. 41, we see salvation. Then those 
who gladly received his word were baptized. If you got the 
ESV, they weren't glad. A particular manuscript gets 
rid of gladly. Gladly should be there. When you got saved, okay, I'll 
come to the Lord Jesus. You know those people. They always 
look like they got a pocket full of lemons. It's just scowl. It's unfortunate. I think I'm 
like that at times. I walk around with a big natural 
smile. You get that sort of an idea with Christianity. It's 
all dour and sour and bad. Oh man, what is Jesus doing? Pulling teeth without novocaine? 
I mean, what is it like being a Christian? Well, look at some 
believers. That's the way it might be communicated. 
Brethren, what floods the heart of those who receive the word 
of God? Gladness. praise, joy, thanksgiving. We move from a state of guilt 
to grace, to gratitude. They're leaping, they're praising, 
they're joyous in the presence of the God who has saved them 
through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. They gladly receive 
the word. If you come to the Lord Jesus 
Christ, it's not drudgery. It's not heartache. It's not 
a trip to the dentist. It's life, and it's life abundant. Isn't that what Jesus says in 
John 10? I came to give them life, and that abundantly. It doesn't just miserly give 
us a little bit. What do we get from God when 
we come to Jesus? Brethren, you can smile at this 
point, it's okay. Think about redemptive benefit. 
Think about the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1. Blessed be the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with 
a few spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. 
If you perform well, you'll get the others. That's not what he 
says. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Yet we walk around 
like lemon-sucking sour pusses that are not good advertisements 
for the Christian religion. I love Peter's statement in 1 
Peter chapter 3. It says, always be ready to give a reason for 
the hope that is within you. Do people know you have hope? 
Do people know there's something different about you? If your 
plane is going down, are you flipping out with the rest of 
them, or are you saying, praise God Almighty, I'm entering into 
the New Jerusalem via this downed airliner? Brethren, there ought 
to be evident hope in the lives of God's people. Doesn't mean 
there's no sorrow, doesn't mean there's no depression, doesn't 
mean there's no hardship, doesn't mean there's no Psalm 42 or 43. 
Why art thou disquieted, O my soul? But there's the hope thou 
in God. Jesus spoke to the disciples 
in the upper room discourse. He said, in this world, you will 
have tribulations. How's that for a salesman, brethren? 
You go to some person, oh, it's only ever great. Jesus says, 
you're going to have problems. You're going to have issues. 
You're going to have hardships, but be of good cheer. I've overcome 
the world. You see, brethren, there ought 
to be a gladness about our worship, a gladness about our singing. Does it just come out in rote? Does it just come out because 
we have to? Or is there a joy and a thanksgiving that by God's 
grace we've moved from guilt to grace, and now we're going 
to express that gratitude to our Savior? They gladly receive 
that word. Now notice, they obey. then those 
who gladly received his word were baptized." I should stop 
for just a moment here. If you're a believer and you're 
not baptized, you're disobeying God. You know, sometimes as pastors, 
we don't want to browbeat people, and we don't want to force people, 
and we don't want to threaten people. We don't want to actually 
tell them that it really discourages us when they don't come to meetings 
of the church. We don't want to tell them things like, it 
would be nice to see you on a Wednesday night once in a while. We don't 
want to do that, except when we passively, aggressively do 
it. But if you are a believer in 
Jesus and you have not entered the water of baptism, you are 
disobedient. I don't know how you can get 
out of that. Make disciples and baptize them. In Acts 10, when 
Cornelius and his household come to the Savior, what does Peter 
say? He commands that they be baptized. 
There may be some in this place that are believers in Jesus Christ 
that have not been baptized. You are disobedient to the master. These people repented. These 
people gladly received the word. That means they believed on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. All that Peter had said concerning 
the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior, his ascension 
on high, his current session, all that they believed. So they 
come and they are baptized. You'll notice in the book of 
Acts, there's no altar call. There's no every eye bow, or 
every eye closed, every head bowed. Some of you have been 
to evangelical churches, you know, you just shoot up your 
hand and that gets you in. You know, the pastor tells you, 
bow your head, close your eyes, put your hand up if you want 
to receive or accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today. 
There's no altar call. You know what the altar call 
is? Believe on the Lord Jesus and 
then go get baptized. It always intrigues me, too, 
that there's not a six-month new member class before they 
get baptized. I'm not knocking churches that 
do that. I guess I am, again, passively, aggressively doing 
that. Well, Peter, how do you know 
that all these 3,000? Because God's at work. And God, in his 
grace, has actually given us a tool for those who enter in 
that aren't supposed to be in. It's called church discipline. 
It's called dealing with people. I know that's tough, but that's 
what we're supposed to do. So they obey God, but the sovereignty 
of God is on display. It says, and about 3,000 souls 
were added to them. They weren't added by Peter. 
They weren't added by the apostles. They weren't added by the agency 
of man. They were added by God. God the Spirit came that day. 
What's significant about the day of Pentecost? God saves sinners. It's an amazing thing. Our charismatic 
and Pentecostal friends will say, well, the Holy Spirit and 
tongue speaking. Do you realize that 3,000 people 
went home that night justified by grace through faith in Jesus, 
heaven bound? Who cares who spoke in tongues? 
I'm not disregarding the gift of the Holy Spirit in this particular 
instance. It was to communicate, not through gibberish, but through 
other languages, the great works of God Almighty. But if you're 
seeking after the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not the Holy 
Spirit, you've got problems. The great miracle on the day 
of Pentecost, well, there are several, but one significant 
one is that 3,000 sinners were saved. Why is that not qualified? You know, as someone who believes 
in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit having ceased in the 
first century, we're often ridiculed. I don't believe the Spirit's 
at work. Every time a God-hating rebel sinner comes to know Jesus 
Christ as Lord and Savior, that is a manifestation of the supernatural 
power of God that cannot be matched. It's beautiful. What do I care 
if somebody's yammering on in tongues? Brethren, we need to 
make sure our significance is Peter's significance. Now, let's 
look finally at the practice of the church. I think this bears 
out fruit for us. Now, I've been thinking that 
after the book of Matthew, we'll move into the book of Acts. It 
might be a sort of a nice way to see what happened after Jesus 
does ascend on high, goes back to the right hand of the Father, 
and we can kind of take up the narrative of what he continues 
to do through the apostles. One of the things I'm pretty 
certain I'm going to say is that not all of the book of Acts is 
prescriptive. That means it's not all a prescription 
on how the church is to function. Much of it is description. When 
we read it as prescription, we get discouraged because we don't 
speak in tongues. When we read it as prescription, 
we get discouraged because we're not able to work the great miracles 
that the apostles did. We're not the apostles. We need 
to keep that in our minds. but it's descriptive of what 
church was about in this early era. But if we had to pick out 
a section that was prescriptive, a section that does prescribe 
for the church what the church is supposed to be doing, I can 
think of no better place than verse 42. What happens when these 
sinners gladly receive the Word, which as we've seen, involves 
repentance and faith, they've come to the Savior, they've been 
baptized, now what? How do we live? How do we conduct 
ourselves? What ought to be our practice? 
Note first their steadfastness. Their steadfastness, verse 42, 
they continued steadfastly. This is a good message for the 
snowflake generation. It's a good message for us weak 
and soft people. We need to be steadfast. We need 
to be persevering. We don't kowtow to the prevailing 
wisdom of the age. We do what we're supposed to 
do. It's not romantic, it's not exciting, but doing what you're 
supposed to do is what God calls you to do. And this steadfastness, 
the definition means to persist in something, hold fast to, continue 
in, persevere in something. So what do they continue steadfastly 
in? Now, mind you, they had just 
witnessed some amazing things. They had witnessed the gifts 
of the Holy Spirit vis-a-vis tongue speaking. They had witnessed 
powerful preaching by the Apostle Peter wherein 3,000 souls are 
added to the church. I mean, this is a church body, 
a group of people that are ripe for those sort of polished kind 
of guys to come in and teach them on how to do this and that 
spiritual gift. They don't want gifts necessarily. They don't want ecstasy. They 
don't want excitement. They certainly don't want entertainment. What do they continue steadfastly 
in? The apostle's doctrine. Again, I think corporately, the 
church, I don't mean just ours, but the church ought to just 
stop in her tracks and say, you mean doctrine isn't bad? You 
get that, even still today, after all the good things that have 
happened to sort of disavow or disabuse people of that notion, 
doctrine is our life. We don't want doctrine, we just 
want Jesus. You don't have Jesus without 
doctrine. Because if you have Jesus without doctrine, it's 
going to be a Jesus of your own making. but they continued steadfastly 
in it. Brethren, I think verse 42 is 
a powerful encouragement to the Church of Jesus Christ to do 
what she's supposed to do and not succumb to the prevailing 
wisdom of the age. To the Surreites and to my dear 
brother Michael Kirkpatrick, be faithful, continue steadfastly, 
don't change course. Apostolic doctrine is what the 
church feeds on. Apostolic doctrine is what the 
church needs. Apostolic doctrine is what these 
people wanted. It was not just doctrine, it 
was fellowship. And the fellowship here doesn't 
just mean going to a Canucks game together. Fellowship means 
mutual society. And that mutual society is reflected 
very powerfully in another dimension of that word, in their giving, 
their selflessness. They're donations to one another. 
It's not communism that follows here. There's no state coercion 
when they share their goods and property. No, it's spirit coercion. It's the power of the spirit 
coming upon the people of God, and they're willingly and freely 
giving in an expression of fellowship. But then in the breaking of bread, 
and the term has sort of a technical designation later on in the Book 
of Acts and in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, it's the Lord's Supper. It's the Lord's Supper. I mean, 
why would he tell us they just got together and had breakfast 
together? They got together and they ate turkey. They got together 
to break bread. You see, the initiatory rite 
or sacrament or ordinance, with reference to the entrance to 
the church, is baptism. You don't get baptized every 
week. You don't get baptized every year. You don't get baptized 
every fifth year. But with the supper, that is 
God, who is the householder, serving to his weary pilgrim 
saints a necessary meal from time to time to encourage them 
on the way. and why weary saints don't always 
avail themselves of that, I will never understand. I will never 
understand why our service will be half this full tonight. But 
for those of you who are weary, those of you who are discouraged 
at times, those of you who are tired, those of you who want 
the householder God to serve you bread and wine, to remind 
you of your Savior, then come and eat. And then finally, of 
course, prayers. What does a spirit-filled people 
do? They pray. When we gather together on Wednesday night, 
when we gather together on Sunday morning, they don't pause. It's 
not a pause meeting. Sometimes I think that's what 
we should call it. Come to the pause meeting. There's this sort 
of awkward silence. You all know that awkward silence. 
You're with somebody and you're silent and it just feels weird. 
Well, sometimes at a prayer meeting when nobody's praying, it just 
feels weird. Brothers, pray. That's what spiritual 
people do, they pray. They want to pray. Well, I'm 
not good at, who cares if you're good at praying, pray. We don't 
have the language that brothers, that's not your concern. Open 
your mouth and speak to God. God is very kind, he'll listen 
to you. Just like with us as parents, 
we don't tell our two-year-olds, don't talk to us until you're 
15. I mean, we might be tempted to do that, We might have a desire 
to do that, but we don't do that. You can formulate long sentences 
using the proper syntax, subject predicate. We don't do that. 
We love to hear our two-year-olds lisp out their requests to us. 
Yeah, sure, whatever. Why do we think prayer meeting 
is any different? God's up there with a notepad saying, well, 
that guy doesn't pray that good. That's not the way our God functions, 
brethren. He hears the prayers of the upright. If you are in 
Christ, you're upright, so pray. It's not a pause meeting. Well, 
in conclusion, we really do need to end. In conclusion, I just 
want to encourage Emma. You know, sometimes our church 
or our sort of theological commitment has been identified as, oh, you 
practice adult baptism. No, we practice believer's baptism. That's not the distinction between 
us and others. It's not adult-infant. No, it's 
believers. If infants believed, we'd have 
no problem baptizing them, but we don't know if they're believing. 
And also, there's no command in Scripture to baptize infants. 
If there was, I'd like to think we'd obey it. Why wouldn't we? What is there? It's not like, 
wow, I can't get this kid wet. That's terrible. Of course we 
would, if it's commanded. Sometimes, Emma specifically, 
we really value those who are saved out of the world, and we 
don't see the same sort of power of God affected when they're 
saved in a Christian home. And I think it can be a bit of 
a stumbling block to young people. I haven't done anything really 
bad. You've done everything really bad. Maybe you didn't sell crack 
or use crack or visit prostitutes, but everything you've done up 
to the point where Jesus saved you is sin. But there is that 
in us. I mean, just face it. The local 
church was going to advertise testimony night. Would you go 
to hear the guy that had been a bank robber, he had gotten 
shootouts, and in prison he was about to hang himself, and somebody 
witnessed to him, and God miraculously saved him. I mean, that's pretty 
sensational and pretty, you know, interesting. Or somebody says, 
yeah, I was brought up in a Christian home by the grace of God. My 
parents restrained me. I didn't go out and rob banks. 
I never went to prison. I didn't almost hang myself. 
I had a pretty normal, simple life. And one day, somehow, imperceptibly, 
I can't even pinpoint it on the calendar, I was believing in 
Jesus. Why is it the guy who was about to hang himself, we 
see more power of God than we see in the other? The power of 
God is the power of God. The effectual call is the effectual 
call. I think Paul speaks to that encouragingly 
with Timothy when he says, fight the good fight of faith, lay 
hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have 
confessed a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 
Gordon Clark says, we note the fact that God called Timothy 
out of his state of original unrighteousness into his present 
state of grace. Such effectual calling is obvious 
in spectacular conversions, such as Paul's, but is just as real 
and necessary for those who learn the gospel from their mothers 
and grandmothers. Now, you may not know what I'm 
talking about, but I think this happens. Somebody is young. They are converted in the context 
of the Christian home. And at 18 or 19 or 20, I've never 
had this crisis. I've never had this event. I've 
never had this sort of dramatic thing. Are you believing in Jesus? The same kind of thing when somebody 
says, I can't pinpoint on the calendar when I believed. If 
you couldn't pinpoint on the calendar, or if you didn't have 
a birth certificate, you couldn't pinpoint on the calendar when 
you were born physically. Why is it that we attach all 
this sort of significance and superstition? The question for 
all of us is, am I looking unto Jesus? Secondly, we ought to 
observe in verse 42, and I don't want to pound this nail too hard, 
with reference to the practice of a spirit-filled church. Just 
note verse 43, then fear came upon every soul. Now, there's 
a bit of difference in terms of interpretation. Some say fear 
came upon the city of Jerusalem when they saw what was happening 
in the church. Others suggest that it was the church, the people 
of God, that engaged in this practice, this continual steadfastness, 
then fear came upon every one of them. But it is interesting 
to note that fear came upon somebody. Much of contemporary worship 
does not have that effect upon anybody, least of all the worshiper. One man made this observation 
with reference to contemporary worship. It creates a tone that 
is casual, comfortable, chatty, busy, humorous, pleasant, and 
at times even cute. He goes on to suggest that if 
the seraphim assume this Sunday morning mood, they would be addressing 
God not as holy, holy, holy, but as nice, nice, nice. You see, if there is prescription 
in the book of Acts, it certainly must be verse 42. What's our 
task as the people of God? Continue steadfastly in apostolic 
doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayers. 
Well, it's just kind of boring, isn't it? If God says this is 
what is calculated to do our souls good, then it's not boring. And then finally, The glorious 
grace of God. I don't want anybody to miss 
this. The Jerusalem sinner saved. A message by John Bunyan. This 
typical Puritan fashion, the titles of their treatises have 
more theology than many of the Christian books that are in Christian 
bookstores. Here's the title. I don't know 
if it was a sermon specifically. I think he preached this material, 
but he certainly wrote it out. The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, Good 
News for the Vilest of Men, or a Help for Despairing Souls. You know what his doctrine is? 
that Jesus Christ would have mercy offered to the biggest 
sinners. Isn't that beautiful? You're a big sinner. Yeah, exactly. And God offers mercy to big sinners. And this is the lesson of 2447 
in the book of Luke, that you preach the gospel to all nations 
beginning at Jerusalem, this place that had murdered Jesus. God's design is to offer mercy 
to the biggest sinners. If you're a big sinner here this 
morning, come to the Savior. Repent and be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Bunyan gives 
several reasons why this is the case. The biggest sinners have 
the most need. When the biggest sinners receive 
that mercy, it redounds most to the fame of Christ's name. 
Others hearing of it will be more encouraged to come to him 
for life, because it is the way, if they receive it most, to weaken 
the kingdom of Satan. Because such, when converted, 
are usually the best helps in the church against temptations 
and fittest for the support of the feeble-minded there. I love 
that. The biggest sinners serve a great encouragement to the 
rest of the sinners. God plucked him off and saved 
him. There's certainly hope for me. 
And doesn't Paul use this ethic in 1 Timothy 1? Christ Jesus 
came into the world, sinners to save, of whom what? I am chief. I am foremost. If there's a biggest 
sinner list, then Paul is number one. See, what ought that to 
do to you this morning? Don't get discouraged, don't 
despair, don't fret, don't say no, but rather receive the Word. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
This man, who was attested by God with these miracles, who 
ultimately died and who was raised the third day, this man who was 
ascended on high and exalted at the right hand of God Most 
High, this man will save the biggest sinners. So come. believe, and live. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word. We thank you for this record in the book of Acts, and 
we thank you for this opportunity that brings us together. And 
may you open hearts to receive the word of God, and may this 
be manifest through belief in the gospel, and repentance unto 
life, and baptism, to identify publicly with Jesus Christ the 
Lord. We ask these things in his most 
blessed name. Amen.