Would you go with me in your Bibles, in Book of Acts, as we continue our study throughout the Book of Acts, Chapter 2, verses 37 through 41. This is the word of God. Now when they heard this, they were caught to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? 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. 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. And with many other words he bore witness and continue to exhort them saying, save yourself from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Entonces, cuando oyeron esto, se afligieron de corazón y dijeron a Pedro y a los otros apóstoles, hermanos, ¿qué haremos? Pero Pedro les dijo, arrepientanse y sean bautizado cada uno de ustedes en el nombre de Jesucristo para perdón de sus pecados y recibirán el don del Espíritu Santo. Porque la promesa es para ustedes, para sus hijos y para todos los que están lejos, para todos cuanto el Señor nuestro Dios llame. And let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We know that Your Word is powerful, and we know that the Holy Spirit applies Your Word in our hearts. We thank You for all of us who have been given the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the blessing of understanding and believing in you. We thank you that we are saved through faith and not by works. And we do pray together for anyone who is in this place today. who have not yet been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that as he or she hears your word, you empower him to believe as well. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to start by reading a verse from 1 Corinthians chapter 1, which is verse 21. This is, the verse says like this. For sins in the wisdom of God The world did not know God through wisdom. He pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. I started with this verse because I want to remind you of the centrality of the preaching of the Word of God. It is central in the way God saves his people around the world. You know, the people of Israel were expecting a savior. But they were expecting a savior that would come with might and fight against their enemy with sword. And Jesus, the Messiah, came. And he came proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God. And the way he was fighting against the power of evil was through preaching. Through showing signs that he was God the Messiah. But through proclaiming the word of God. And sometimes the church and many churches are tempted to put aside the Word of God and the proclamation of the Word of God. And engage in other activities. Like social justice. Trying to help people one way or another as if this is the mission of God. Because they lose faith in the power of the preaching of the Word of God. Sometimes other churches also lose sight of that, the preaching of the Word of God. And they focus in entertaining people. In making people feel comfortable when they come to church as if it's a time of just enjoyment. Forgetting that the central part of our worship to God. is hearing what God has to say about Himself. And that the way He saves people is through the preaching of the Word of God. Why am I talking about this right now? Because this is the beginning of the early church here in this test that we're reading is part of the beginning of the early church. And then what we see is actually Peter preaching the Word of God. Preaching the message of salvation. preaching the gospel. And we see the instant response of people, 3,000 people at once. hearing the Word of God, being transformed by the Word of God, believing in Jesus, and being baptized. All this because of the power of the Word of God. And because of the power of the Holy Spirit in people's life, that empowered them to believe in the Word of God. And this is what we're seeing in these verses today. It is the response of this group of people to the preaching of the Word of God. So we want to see in these verses, first of all, three aspects of our humanity that the Word of God reaches when God has a plan with you. And three blessings that we receive when we are part of the plan of God. Let us start with these three aspects of our humanity. The first one is that the word of God reaches the ear. you read in verse 37, now when they heard this, what is this that they heard? When Paul, the Apostle Paul, went to Athens, he preached to the people that were there. according to something that was connecting with their needs. They have many idols. And then he spoke about one idol or statue that they have. It was known as the unknown God. He spoke to them about the unknown God. Now who does Peter has in front of them when he's preaching? If you remember, he was in Jerusalem with the other apostles. And it was Pentecost. So it was an important festivity for the Israelites. So devout men from all the nations were there hearing Paul, Peter preaching. These were men from many nations, but they were all Jews. They were hearing Peter speaking to them the Word of God. And what he does is explaining about the events that happen with the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He tells them that God shows his power in Jesus through many signs. That they deliver him in the hands of lawless men. that they, the Jews, deliver him into the hands of lawless men. But all this happened according to the plan of God. that God has sent his son to die on the cross. Also he tells them that Jesus was resurrected according to the plan of God. And we see how he quotes in previous verses Psalms Psalms 16, 8 through 11, that he was in reference to David, but he was pointing to Jesus. He also talks to them that when Jesus was resurrected, he went up to heaven where he's seated at the right hand of God the Father. And then he concludes telling them that God made Jesus Lord and Christ. Well, this is the this that they heard. When he said, they heard this, it was important for Peter to tell them that that Jesus that they crucified is actually the Messiah that they were waiting for. That his death and resurrection was actually part of God's plan. And that they just missed him, they didn't recognize him. So this is the message that they heard. Then second, reaching the heart. So we start first reaching the ear. When Peter proclaimed to them, now we move to reaching the heart. The text says, when they heard this, They were caught to their hearts. So many of them, many of these Jews who were there present, likely have heard and seen Jesus before. They have heard Jesus preaching to the multitudes. They have seen Jesus doing all these miracles and signs. But it is clear that at that moment, that message has not reached their heart. I think it is the case of many of us who may have heard the Gospel many times and that there was a moment in our life that the Gospel caught to our hearts. If you grew up going to church, Some of you may have come to faith at a very early age. But some of you may have heard the gospel many times over many years. And it was maybe when you went to college. Or maybe when you came to the United States, after you heard the Gospel many times before wherever you were coming from, that the Gospel reached your heart. I hope that if the Gospel had not reached your heart until today, that the Gospel reach your heart today. And how does that happen? That happens through the power of the Holy Spirit. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, Jesus said to Nicodemus, no one can see or enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again. It is because all of us are born dead. And therefore you need to have a spiritual rebirth in order to hear the word of God and believe. The gospel cannot reach to your heart if your heart is stoned. A rock. You need to receive a heart of flesh so that the Word of God can touch your heart. Third, reaching the will. So we say Peter proclaimed the gospel. He reached the ears of those who heard the gospel. We know that about 3,000 souls came to faith. But likely there were more than 3,000 people there. And not all of them were touching their hearts. So he says, when they heard this, the gospel, they were caught to their heart and said to Peter, and the rest of the apostles. Brothers, what shall we do? Why do you think they asked that question? Well, first of all, Peter had told them, that Jesus of Nazareth who was in the middle, in their midst, who did works and wonders, they delivered up to lawless men. that they did that according to God's plan, that God raised him from the dead, and now he's seated at the right hand of God. Think about how they felt about what they did. I think they understood they were in trouble. They have killed the Lord of glory. And they were saying, what are we going to do right now? Maybe those who have the gospel, they didn't reach their heart. Maybe for those whom the gospel didn't reach their heart, and they said, okay, then what? But for those whom the gospel reached their heart, They had a responsibility before God. And also they understand that Jesus was the Messiah. And as they understood that, they wanted to know what they had to do with that truth that Peter had proclaimed to them. And Peter said to them, repent. And there you hear words of hope. Because Peter could have said, you are done. You miss it. You kill the Messiah. But here they have the gospel. Even for them, this is the word, repent. Repent of your sins. Repent of what you have done, but also repent of all your sins because that is what Jesus is about. This is what the gospel is about. When somebody shares the gospel with you, you hear the gospel with your ears. If the Holy Spirit works in your heart, you are caught to your heart. You will ask the question, what can I do? And the answer is repent. Now let's move on to the three blessings that we receive. The first one is that we receive the spirit. And I'm going to go in reverse order here. Because Peter is talking about three things that you received. A sign, the forgiveness, and the spirit. But the order in which these things happen in your life is the spirit, forgiveness and the sign. And when I say the order Peter refers here, I'm going to read it to you so you know what I mean. Here is the order. So Peter says in verse 38, and Peter said to them, repent and be baptized. That's the sign. 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. A sign, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit. But the first thing that any believer receives in order to believe. It's the Spirit. He says, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit himself. It's not something additional that the Spirit is giving to you. And you receive the Holy Spirit according to the will of God. And that's why this is beautiful because it actually explains to you a question that you may have, who receives the Holy Spirit? The text says, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and your children and for all who are far off. So it's for the believer and his children and those who are far off, which means Gentiles and anyone. And he says, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. So who receives the spirit? Anyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. will call to himself. And that's very important for us to understand. You cannot do anything to receive the Holy Spirit. It doesn't depend on your will. If we go back to Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus explains to Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit is like the wind. You don't know where it's coming from and you don't know where it's going. You don't know when the Holy Spirit will come to your heart. But you will know that it came to your heart because he is going to give you the power to believe. So if God has a plan with your life, if you are one of those that the Lord is calling to Himself, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be caught to your heart, and you will ask this question, what shall we do? Or what shall I do? And the answer is repent. The second thing that you received is forgiveness. Again, the Holy Spirit comes to your heart according to God's plan and moves you to ask that question, what shall I do? The gospel is saying to you, repent. Remember, it's the same thing that John the Baptist was asking people to do when he was preparing the way for the Lord. Repent that the Lord is coming. It's the same thing that Jesus said to people when he announced the coming of his kingdom. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. And what is the gospel? That you can be forgiven. Because if you repent and you put your faith in Christ, you can be forgiven. It is not just that you come to God. And you say, I repent of all the things that I have done in the past. And will you forgive me on the basis of me repenting? Because God is just. And sin has to be punished, but Jesus Christ paid on the cross for our sins. Therefore, Jesus says, repent and believe in the good news, in the gospel. When He was announcing, repent and believe in the Gospel, those good news is that He will go to the cross and die on the cross to pay for your sins. So this wonderful thing, if you have belief in Jesus, you have received. You have received forgiveness. Think about this. Sometimes you take it for granted. that we have been forgiven by God. You know, little children, there is this famous phrase that they love to say all the time. It's not fair. I think that what is fair, I haven't said this to my kids yet, is that we will all go to hell. Because we deserve to go to hell. Because the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. but it is because of God's grace, it is because of Jesus' work on the cross that we can be forgiven. So the third blessing that you received is the sign. And Peter said to them, verse 38, Repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. This week I got a message from a very close friend. And she was saying, there is this person who have come to faith in Jesus. But this person is not sure that he or she, I don't want to say he or she, but he or she should be baptized. What is baptism? It's an external sign of an internal reality. It's the external sign that you have faith in Christ. That your sin has been washed away. Baptism doesn't save you. But it's this wonderful sign that shows to the world, that shows to the body of Christ that you are a member of the body of Christ. That inside your heart, there is faith. Therefore, should you be baptized if you believe in Jesus? Well, here the word of God is clear. Repent and be baptized. Because you will be eager to receive that sign. The sign that shows that Christ has saved you. the sign that shows externally the work of Christ in your heart. This message was for people who still didn't know Jesus. It was a message about Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord. That through the power of the Holy Spirit produced faith in those who heard it. that they were ready in their will to do whatever it takes. And the answer was repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. And 3,000 came to faith. If you are here today, the same message is for you. Repent. Believe in the good news. And you will be safe and have eternal life. But if you are a believer, the gospel is for us every day as well. It's the same message, repent of your sins. Because we need to repent of our sins daily. And we have this great hope and assurance that if we trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. We have the great blessing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives that empower us to believe, that remind us our sins, that remind us or make us aware of our sins and lead us to repent. So let us praise the Lord for that. Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you empty yourself to take the form of a servant to die on the cross for us. Father and Son, we thank you that you send the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Father, Son, we thank You for sending the Holy Spirit into our hearts and that You empower us to believe the Gospel. We thank You for our eternal life. We repent of our sins, Lord. And we thank you that we have forgiveness through Jesus. And we do pray together for those who still don't know you, even in our midst today, that you might send the Holy Spirit into their hearts, that they might come to faith. that they might repent, that they might be forgiven, and have eternal life. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.