We just read a sermon by the Apostle Peter - a sermon he preached on the day of Pentecost - and it was so powerful that about 3000 people responded by asking: WHAT SHALL WE DO? And then they repented of their sin and were baptized into Christ. Their future was changed because of what Peter said.
What was it about Peter’s sermon that caused them to interrupt him? What prompted them to ask him what they could do? I mean - wouldn’t it be cool if you talked to someone about Jesus and they’d interrupt you and ask that question: WHAT MUST I DO? I’m here to tell you that you can interrupt my sermon anytime to ask to be baptized.
But now, what did Peter say that made them ask that question?
Well let’s start by examining the background of this story. Fifty days earlier Jesus had been crucified, buried and all the people in Jerusalem knew that. For 3 years before His crucifixion, Jesus had been teaching, preaching and healing and casting out demons. He was phenomena! Wherever He went, people flocked to see Him.
But then, He was arrested by the Sanhedrin who had hated Him; Mocked and tortured by the Roman soldiers who had despised Him; And condemned by the crowds that had ONCE praised Him. And then, He was crucified! That was just 50 days earlier - and now, many in the crowd that Peter’s talking to had been there when Jesus was condemned. Many of them had called for His death. And Peter reminds them of that: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know — this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified (you crucified your Messiah) and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Acts 2:22-23
You did THAT! You crucified Him! You made it so lawless men could execute your Messiah! It’s YOUR FAULT! But then Peter tells them that Jesus didn’t stay dead… he rose from the grave; and now (Peter tells them) you’ve got to figure out what to do with this Jesus that you crucified.
You know, this is a common theme in Peter’s preaching… it’s your fault! In Acts 3:13-14 Peter tells another crowd the same thing: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.”
You delivered Jesus over to be crucified; You denied Him in the presence of Pilate; And you asked for a murderer (Barabbas) to be freed instead of your Messiah. You demanded that Jesus be crucified; you put him on the cross - it’s your fault!
And after that sermon we’re told that, “many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” Acts 4:4
This was so much a part of Peter’s preaching that – when he and John were brought before the Sanhedrin - the Sanhedrin complained “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” (Acts 5:28) Peter basically tells this powerful body of men - IT’S YOUR FAULT!
Peter was kind of an in-your-face kind of guy, and what Peter did (when he preached) was he shook people up. And what shook them up was that he UNCOVERED their sin. You see, lots of people tend to cover up their sin.
If you were to ask them if they were going to heaven they’d often say “I hope so.” What they’re saying (when they say, “I hope so”) is this: “I hope that I’ve done enough good to outweigh the bad I’ve done” They hide their sin behind that the belief that - on the whole… they’re not bad people.
But until they realize that that’s NOT GONNA WORK with God - they’ll never really want to repent, and they’ll never want to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. I mean, why bother? There’s no need! "God will accept me just as I am, because I’m a nice person." That’s what they’re thinking, and so, Peter UNcovered their sin. He helped them realize their sin.
So, the question is - how do we do that? How can we help people realize their sin? Well, one way is to get in people's faces and tell them they're sinners and they're going to hell. That's kind of what Peter did. But, while I may not be able to do what Peter did at Pentecost, there is a time and place for that type of thing.
ILLUS: For example, in 1829 Rochester, NY was called the “gateway to the west, known for its taverns and transients.” It was a rough city where rough people lived. At that time, there was a daredevil named Sam Patch who earned his living attempting great feats of daring that would draw large crowds - and he came to Rochester announcing that he would dive from the heights of the local waterfall into the foaming waters beneath.
The great day arrived and 1000s of people gathered to watch this man defy death. He dove from the cliffs… but apparently lost his balance. His arms twirled madly as he struck the churning waters below. Minutes passed, and the audience waited in silence as they watched for him to come back to the surface. But they waited in vain. After a while, the shocked crowd began to break up, and everybody returned to their homes. The man’s body was later discovered in the ice that spring.
Two days after Patch made his fatal jump – it was a Sunday - and a prominent businessman of the community, Josiah Bissell, arose got up at Church and declared that all “who by their presence encouraged that soul to leap into eternity will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.” Grief enveloped the church and people began to weep openly. Then Bissell sent for a prominent evangelist to come to Rochester and he paid for the preacher’s expenses for six months.
For 6 months, the evangelist met with - and confronted - various groups of people within the community and convicted them of their need for Jesus and His forgiveness and the importance of reaching out to others for the sake of God’s love.
That began what is called “the 2nd Great Awakening”. It was a nationwide revival that swept across America and resulted in Rochester being transformed from a rowdy city to a convicted community. A city where numerous people turned to Christ; a boom in the building of several new church bldgs.; the community established many charities; people began working to reform the prison system and the city dedicated itself to fighting slavery - Rochester was a station on the Underground Railroad. (source: Reader’s Digest 6/94)
So, there IS a time and a place to confront a sinful culture… just like Peter did. But most of the people we’ll talk to don’t have a common sin they’ve all taken part in - like at Jerusalem when they crucified Jesus; or at Rochester when folks were a callous party to a man’s death. The people that we live around present us with a different kind of challenge. But - just like Peter - it’s good to find a way to help people come to grips with their sin.
Now Jesus approached that task differently than Peter did – Jesus ate with people; He talked with them; and He listened to them. And THEN He would challenge them. He’d say things like: “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”; “Go and sin no more”; “Take up your cross and follow me”; and “Come to me, all you who labor and heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest.”
Jesus’ approach wasn’t quite as in -your- face as Peter’s was. When Jesus met with people (people who worked at covering up their sins) Jesus worked to UNcovering those sins - exposing their need for forgiveness and God’s love so that they’d want to follow Him.
ILLUS: Now you and I can do the same thing: For example, we could ask someone “When you die, do you think you’d go to heaven?” If they say “I Hope so” (which is a KARMA mindset where they hope they can work off their guilt and shame and thus, they’re NOT quite sure GOD would take them as they are). So then we could ask: “Would You Like To Know For Sure?” and then tell them about Jesus.
ILLUS: Or you could ask someone “Do you believe that people who commit moral crimes ought to be punished? In other words, when people do bad things, should they pay for them?” And they’ll probably say “yes”, they agree. Then you could ask “Have YOU ever done wrong things that you believe God might punish you for?” and they’ll probably admit that they have done things like that. And then you’d admit… you have too. You (like they) have sinned & you realize you’ve angered God.
Then you could admit that since you both agree that people who do bad things ought to be punished, and that you both agree that you have BOTH done bad things – then you and they both deserve to be punished by God. So ask them (in their imagination) to visualize themselves standing before GOD (who is our judge), and He’s about to lower the gavel and pronounce sentence. You know you’re both guilty… and you’re BOTH going to get what you deserve - BUT WAIT… suddenly you see God pausing and saying “By the way, are either of you interested in a pardon at this point?”
A Pardon! An Opportunity To Be Spared From Punishment! That’s what Jesus did for us on the cross - He offered us a pardon. He offered forgiveness for all the bad things we’d done in our lives.
So, let’s say that you get that far, and they interrupt you and ask “WHAT SHOULD I DO!” Would you know what to tell them? Hopefully you’d tell them what Peter said “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”
You’re NOT leading them in a prayer of salvation (which doesn’t exist in Scripture). And you’re not telling them to just come to church and talk to the preacher (they might not come to the church right away… or ever)
But if you’re telling them what they need to hear – then you’re going to tell them to REPENT! You’re telling them they have to accept that they can’t cover their sins, and they have to plead "guilty" to the charges against them, and promise not going to live like that anymore. In Acts 3:19-20 Peter told the crowd “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
And then there’s this baptism thing. When the church sent me to Jerusalem a few years ago, I stood where Peter probably stood at Pentecost, and I looked down the hill where there were a bunch of holes in the ground that I could from a distance. (We showed a couple pictures of “Mikvehs” here). What I was looking at was an archaeological dig where archaeologists have found about 50 baptistries there, with another 75 or so nearby. The Israelites called these “Mikvehs”. Worshippers and priests would immerse themselves in the waters of these Mikvehs, and they did this before going up the Temple to make their sacrifices. They believed this would “purify their minds and souls in that ritual bath.”
Now, they didn’t sprinkle or pour water on their bodies. They TOTALLY IMMERSED themselves in that water to totally remove the impurities from their lives. And that’s what baptism is all about. It’s being buried in those waters for the forgiveness of sin, and in the waters of baptism God removes the impurities of our sins. Acts 2 tells us there were about 3000 people baptized that day, and those ritual baths were ideal for the purpose.
Now, a lot of Christians would call the preacher and have HIM do the baptism. But you couldn’t do that at Pentecost. There were only 12 “preachers” there (the Apostles) and there’s about 3000 they baptize that day - that could take up to 12 to 13 hours. Other Christians had to do the job, or they’d been there a verrrry long time! I have a phrase I often repeat: “You bring them to Christ… you baptize them into Christ.” You don’t need me to do this…you can do it!
One last thought - IF you’re here this morning and you haven’t made that decision to become a Christian… why haven’t you? Is it that you think you’re good enough to get into heaven just as you are? Now, you’re welcome to think that way… but I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’D RETHINK THAT! God tells us “it’s by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Or is it that you feel you NEED MORE TIME to think about it. Now, you’re welcome to do take that time if you wish - but I’D RETHINK THAT ONE TOO! In II Corinthians 6:2 we’re told “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" God’s word tells us - the time to accept God's salvation is now! Do not put it off - don’t delay!
Or is it because SOMEONE else has told you that you DON’T HAVE TO BE baptized? Well… unless that person’s name is Jesus, I would REALLY rethink that one! Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:16
Think about the genius of God in telling us to repent and be baptized. In repentance you determine to DIE to your past ways, and when you die, God calls you to be buried with Christ. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” Romans 6:3-7
INVITATION
