WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
RECAP OF LESSONS IN SERIES
- The Cross is a Foolish Message (1 Corinthians – message is foolish to a world that is perishing)
- The Cross Gives Us Endurance (we run this race in this world and are able to overcome obstacles, fear, weariness)
- The Cross Has Enemies (With tears we say this. How do we treat enemies? With love. We pray for them.)
- The Cross We Take Up (as disciples, if we follow Christ, we take up our own cross and follow Jesus)
- The Cross Brings Friends and Family Together
- The Cross is Powerful (its message is power in the way that God shows his might in the events surrounding the crucifixion)
- The Sign of the Cross (the sign over Jesus’ head was offensive to the Jewish leaders because it proclaimed that Yahweh was hanging on the cross)
- Today – the Cross Leads to Salvation
FORGIVING A FRIEND
Forgiveness is not always an easy thing to give. We have places in our lives where someone has done wrong to us and we struggle with the way we are called to forgive, yet having a distrust still in our minds.
When I was a student in college, I was struggling to figure out my place in this world. What my role would be in a career. Even with a degree, I wasn’t sure what it would look like to have a job pursuing my degree. Would I truly be able to find a church to minister? Would I need to find something outside my degree area?
On campus, the job of Resident Director of Dorm Life was opening up. The old dorm director was leaving that role to another and wouldn’t be living there anymore. So, as a young resident assistant, I threw my hat into the ring. I knew the job and knew I could handle it.
I wasn’t the only one with this idea. They probably got dozens of applicants for this job. One of which was a friend of mine. His name is Darren. He was a fellow member of the same social service club on campus, Kingsmen. He was one of the students I was directly in charge of during pledge week. So we knew each other well.
Well, word was getting around campus about the different people who had applied. And with that word comes rumors and other gossip about who would be best for that role, especially, if as a student you were going to have to listen to their direction and rules of the dorm. A rumor had gotten around back to me that Darren had been telling people that as for my candidacy, I was not a responsible person and shouldn’t be Dorm Supervisor. When I heard about this I kind of laughed at first. I was a part of a lot of different on campus activities and was leading some as well. To be considered unreliable and irresponsible was not true. And everyone knew that. But to hear that a friend was going around and saying this was heart-breaking. It hurt my feelings that he would say this and if he believed it, that’s even more heart-breaking.
At first, I laughed. Then I got kind of angry about it. But after a bit, I realized that maybe it wasn’t true. And after even more reflection, I realized that so many people were after this job, that it was silly for me to believe that I had a shot anyway. On top of this, I determined that I wasn’t going to worry about what someone had said – true or not – because I knew that the responsible and reliable thing to do would be to forgive Darren.
I knew we would eventually run into each other. But in my heart, I had already forgiven him. Whether he said it or not.
We did run into each other on the way to something happening across campus. As we approached each other, he started to say that the rumor wasn’t true and I stopped him and put my arm around him and said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m your friend and I don’t care if you said it or not. I’ve already moved on.”
In our lesson today, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross provides the forgiveness we need. On the Cross of Christ, we will explore this idea that The Cross Leads to Salvation.
READ PASSAGE: ACTS 2:36-42
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying,
“Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
This passage is the result of Peter’s declaration and sermon. Following the Holy Spirit’s resting on each of them and speaking languages they had not learned but that each one could hear in their own tongue, they were called drunks.
Peter, probably irritated by that accusation, but combined with the call of Jesus to preach and “feed my sheep” stood to speak. His conscience was not going to allow him to miss this opportunity.
Peter presents what could be considered the first Gospel sermon. In this sermon, Peter quotes from the same prophets these men should be familiar with.
Of all the Old Testament prophets Peter could quote, he invoked the words of the prophet Joel. This little book of Joel is not very well known today. Joel himself isn’t spoken of often. But to those Jewish people, Joel is very well known. The people at Pentecost believed in Jesus. But even those who mocked Jesus and now mocked these apostles, they too awaited the Day of the Lord and by bringing up this passage from Joel, Peter was speaking something quite bold. All Jewish people knew the message Joel had preached to Judah and Jerusalem. His prophecy was impending doom to all who had unrepentant sin. The priests of Joel’s day mourned because of the locust plague that had destroyed everything. There would now be nothing to eat for the people or the cattle. The animals would be sickly and malnourished. There were no worthy animals to sacrifice. There was nothing, no grain, no oil…the priests could not perform the worthy offerings to God. All sin became unatoned for.
When the Jews of Peter’s day had seen that the Holy Spirit had poured out on those disciples, it was seen as a sign of the coming of the Day of the Lord. And they weren’t prepared.
Peter had taken something even the unbelievers would acknowledge. Peter used this time to illustrate what they had done to Jesus. It would get their attention.
Joel had mentioned that in the last days:
- God would pour out His Spirit
- Sons and daughters would prophesy
- Young men would see visions
- Old men would dream dreams
- There would be wonders seen in heaven (sun…darkness)
- Signs on earth (Jesus, miracles)
Jesus of Nazareth, who did many of these things before the coming Day of the Lord, you killed him.
How terrified these men of Israel should rightly be. That same Day of the Lord they heard through Joel was now at hand and their sins were not atoned for. They weren’t ready. They had waited for so long and had put it in the back of their minds.
It’s at this point that they ask Peter, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
They weren’t asking necessarily because they believed in Jesus now…it cut them to the heart because they were convicted by this accusation, but they also saw all the signs. Peter, in his answer, again invokes Joel. This prophet called on Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their sins. Go and put on sackcloth and lament for what has happened.
For these men here in Acts, Peter tells them to repent. But not to put on sackcloth but put on Christ in baptism. Clothe yourselves with Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is possible. Even for the crime of crucifying Jesus. The cross leads to salvation.
We find in this message to the people at Pentecost that the cross is the power that leads to our salvation. The promise given meant that for these Jewish people, they no longer needed the sacrifice of cattle or grain or oils. In Jesus, that final sacrifice had been made and now with his resurrection, we can also walk in newness of life.
Peter tells them this promise was for everyone who believes. Even those who are far off. They could receive forgiveness and the same gift of the Holy Spirit that they had witnessed in these “drunk” people.
With that, the ones who received Peter’s word of truth were baptized. Three Thousand souls were added that day.
It seems that we have a hard time even today with forgiveness. We cannot seem to understand how it’s possible to forgive really heinous crimes. We have a hard time forgiving ourselves for the things we’ve done to others and to God. But in Christ we are forgiven.
It is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross which atones for our sins.
1 Peter 2::24-25
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter here has referred his readers back to Isaiah 53:3-6
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This time of sadness can now be turned into a time of joy. Because Jesus is no longer on the cross! He has been raised from the dead! The tomb is now empty!
And all of this message from Peter in Acts 2 can now be our message for us today. If we have sins we have not atoned for, we can be forgiven. Even those of us who might be far off. The Day of the Lord is still coming. Jesus promises he is going to return and it’s going to be a glorious return.
Like these Jewish leaders and the people of Acts 2, we may have put it in the back of our minds.
How many of us wake up wondering if today is the day of Jesus’ return? How many of us live each day as though he will be riding that white horse to bring triumph and renew our world? We often live our lives without this in mind.
Brothers, and sisters, what shall we do? Repent. Be baptized.
It is never too late, we are never too far gone to turn back. Many of us have been clothed with Christ in baptism. That’s not my call this morning…there may be a few that need to hear this part but if we are baptized then we are clothed. Not in sackcloth to lament…but clothed in Christ to rejoice and worship him!
We are forgiven. By the grace of God we have salvation!
When we go into the waters we are buried with Jesus. We die to our old selves. The old is gone the new has come. When we are raised up out of that water, our lives are changed and transformed. We are now part of that resurrection that Jesus brings with his return. And we are awaiting that day with anticipation. Not having it at the back of our minds but at the forefront to remember why we live the way we do and who we now belong to.
Our Scripture Reading this morning GALATIANS 2:20-21
I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
We can be confident in our salvation because the cross leads to salvation for all who believe. All who repent and are baptized are part of that promise.
And friends, today we want to repeat that promise. The Cross of Christ is our hope. This series on this cross was to remind us of all the ways the Cross of Christ is and what it means for us today.
INVITATION
