The passage of Scripture that we will use today is a record of one of, if not the most responded to messages of all time. Peter preaches and the response is overwhelming. And in it all, God gets the glory as the Holy Spirit moves among the people and convicts them of their sinful ways.
God's word does that. If God's word is being preached in truth, His Holy Spirit will cause people to realize the error of their ways and will bring them to their knees as they confess those sins and turn their lives over to the Lord.
Sin is rampant in our world today. But instead of the confession and repentance that is needed to be forgiven of those sins, people try to justify their sins by trying to convince themselves and others that what they are doing is okay, that it’s not that bad. Instead of conviction, the world is convincing, or trying to convince, themselves and others that THEIR sin isn't so bad.
What we need to realize is that the primary way that God speaks is by convicting us of our sin. You see, God loves us too much to allow us to rush into sin without calling us to repent and return to Him. Let's pray as we get into His Word. PRAYER
For our Facebook families, we will be using Acts 2:32-41.
Some people get bogged down with seeking to hear God's voice and discovering His will for every little mundane decision. God usually speaks to us about His concerns and priorities. He speaks so that we will know what is on His heart. He invites us to join Him in His work. God's primary concern for people is that they be in a right relationship with Him.
If you are a Christian, then God's primary focus is not on what company you work for, or what neighborhood you live in. His focus is on seeing you acknowledge that you are a sinner, turn from your sin, and place your faith in Christ. That is God's primary concern. Here is how Peter stated it in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:32-36 – “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear.
********34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says:
The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
God is telling us through Peter that Jesus was crucified and resurrected for our salvation. As Acts 2 begins, the Holy Spirit comes upon the 120 followers of Jesus in the upper room. That is what led to Peter's sermon, one he preached to the multitude of Jewish people who filled the streets of Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. Peter's message focused on the resurrection and the exaltation of Jesus.
In his sermon, Peter cited Psalm 110:1 and David's prophecy of the Messiah.
Psalm 110:1 – “This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
This was one of the favorite passages of Scripture for the early church. It reminded the people that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord and Savior of all who place their trust in Him. The highlight of Peter's sermon was verse 36.
Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Peter spoke these words with certainty and authority and emphasized that it was they who crucified Jesus. They may not have hammered the nails into Jesus's hands and feet, but they were guilty by their sin and rebellion against God and their rejection of the Messiah.
Peter was telling them that it was his listeners who were enemies of God. And I have said it before that when we sin, we are enemies of God in that sin. But notice that when God speaks to you, He will draw attention to the sin in your life and your disobedience to His word. God will point out anything in your life that is disrupting your fellowship with Him.
Isn’t it amazing and wonderful how the Holy Spirit works at convicting us? That is the Holy Spirit's role to reveal and apply God's truth to your life. This is one of the ways to be sure that the word that is preached, taught, or read comes from God. It all is centered on Jesus Christ, especially His death and resurrection.
Throughout church history, there have been false prophets who proclaimed messages about purification rights, feasts and festivals, or methodology. False messengers tend to focus on secondary or non-essential matters. And believe me, those false prophets are still in our world today. But I can assure you that when God speaks, He always uplifts Christ and His work. And if our ways don't line up with God's ways, the Holy Spirit will convict us. It was Richard Blackaby that said. "God will point out anything in your life that is disrupting your fellowship with Him." Now after Peter’s sermon:
Acts 2:37 – “When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
Can you see their immediate conviction? Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. God wants us to realize that we all have a sinful nature and are inherently evil and rebellious against God. We don't naturally do what is right or good. Our consciences are so scarred by sin, we would be without hope if it were not for God's grace to convict us of our sins.
The people responded to Peter's sermon by asking what they should do. It seems that they understood that they needed to act immediately based on God's words to them. Many times this is the major difference between Satan's words and God's words. Satan will try to make you feel guilty and yet not offer any solutions for you to find freedom. God, on the other hand, will convict you of sin. But will then offer a remedy. Words from Satan lead to guilt and shame. Words from God lead to repentance and life. So the people asked what they should do.
Acts 2:38 – “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter told the crowd to do two things:
First, he told them to repent. They were to confess their wrongdoing and to turn their lives around in a different direction. Second, Peter told them to be baptized. Baptism is that outward sign of an inward transformation. But baptism does not save anyone. Baptism is a public testimony that someone has repented of their sin and identified themselves with Christ as their Lord and Savior. Baptism symbolically identifies a person with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It symbolizes death to sin and being raised to a new life in Christ.
Those who repented received two things. First, they received forgiveness for their sin. They were convicted of the cruel way they had treated the Messiah. The Jews may have assumed that there was no way to appease an offended, holy God.
But to their relief, Peter assured them that forgiveness and restoration were possible through Christ.
Second, those who repented of their sin received the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit enters your life, you have every resource of God at your disposal to enable you to do God's will.
Acts 2:39-40 – “For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”
So, Peter offers hope that the people could repent of their sin. They and their children could experience salvation. When Peter said they and their children could experience salvation, he was making us all aware that the decisions that we make with God have a profound effect upon our children and grandchildren. Our children mimic our ways and our language.
So Peter urged the people to be saved from this corrupt generation. We all know the feeling of being saved from something. Anyone who has ever been saved from drowning, from a dangerous situation, or in a medical emergency knows the enormous relief that comes when you have been saved from harm or death.
Peter understood the eternal significance that the listeners faced. So, he preached with urgency. The dangerous part is living in sin—being a part of a corrupt generation that is saturated in sin and headed for destruction. But God offers a rescue. He offers us the saving faith in his Son, Jesus.
Acts 2:41 – “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.”
Can you imagine an invitation at the end of a sermon and 3,000 people come forward and accept Jesus as their Savior? As Peter concluded his sermon, he offered hope and encouragement. He emphasized God's promise of salvation. It is for all who believe and trust when God calls.
Now get this. God had foretold that those who were far away from Him would be saved. Look what Isaiah prophesied hundreds of years before.
Isaiah 57:19 – “creating words of praise.” The Lord says, “Peace, peace to the one who is far or near, and I will heal him.”
The Jewish people had always assumed that God's salvation was exclusively for them. But God promised that it would be available to everyone, even for those who were far from God. This was good news indeed! And this is also good news for you and me today.
You might remember when Jesus foretold that His disciples would do greater things than He had done.
John 14:12 – “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”
In one sermon, Peter saw more people find salvation and enter the kingdom of God than occurred during Jesus's entire earthly ministry. This clearly shows us the power that can be found in a word from God that's delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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We are in the middle of trying to discern the voice of God. Last week we were reminded to make sure that what we were hearing is in line with God's word. But now let's consider what that voice is calling us to.
Is what we are hearing or reading convicting us of sin? Or is it leading us to a place of hopelessness? Am I being pointed to Christ and His mercy and grace? When God speaks, He always speaks the word of truth and grace, wanting to bring us even closer to Him.
A distinguishing characteristic of God's voice is that His words always call for a response. And you cannot remain indifferent to it. You will either reject it or obey it, but you cannot remain neutral.
Just as Peter offered hope to the people that they could repent of their sin and be saved, God is offering you that same opportunity right now.
Is there something that you need to turn over to God? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you right now of something that you need to confess to God? Not to me, but to God.
Now is the time for us to respond. What will it be? Yes? Or no?
