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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.
What Shall We Do?
Series Acts (2024)
| Sermon ID | 10202422050604 |
| Duration | 37:44 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Acts 2:37-41 |
| Language | English |
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