The Throne of God Manifested to the World (Acts 2:40-47) (6/14/26)

We're continuing our summer series, the Pentecost

season, in being green and growing in the Lord.

And so we're continuing our foundations, Christian

foundations, here this morning. I want us to,

as we approach this here this morning, to think

a little bit about the title, and I'll reemphasize

several of these things. But the throne of God

manifested to the world is the church. The throne

of God manifested to the world is the church.

Let us pray. We praise thee, O God the Father,

God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, who of your

grace and mercy has called us to be your people.

You've made us a new creation in Jesus Christ

and have given us such great and glorious promises

concerning all of our todays and tomorrows. We

humbly ask that you make the words of my mouth

and the meditations of all our hearts acceptable

in your sight, O Lord our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Amen. Our text this morning is from Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2. Acts chapter 2. beginning with verse 36. I

Acts 2 · chapter mention

know I sent out 38 but I wanted to back it up

and add a couple of verses for context. So Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 beginning in verse 36. Therefore let

all the house of Israel know assuredly that God

has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord

and Christ. Now when they heard this they were

cut to the heart. and said to Peter and the rest

of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall

we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and let

every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus

Christ for the remission of sins that you shall

receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the

promise is to you and to your children and to

all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our

God will call. And with many other words, he

testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved

from this perverse generation. Then those who

gladly received his word were baptized. And that

day about 3 ,000 souls were added to them. And

they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine

and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and

in prayers. Then the fear came upon every soul,

and many leaders and sides were done through

the apostles. Now all who believed were together

and had all things in common and sold their possessions

and good and divided them among all as anyone

had need. So continuing daily with one accord

in the temple and breaking bread from house to

house, they ate their food with gladness and

simplicity of heart, praising God and having

favor with all people that the Lord added to

the church daily those who were being saved.

These are the words of Almighty God receive them

in your hearts Before we go any further you you

hear that line every week after I read the text

and Two things I want to point out one from our

texts. They gladly receive the words of Peter

Right and also this in my studies As a minister,

I came across a quote, targeted towards pastors.

So I'm going to accept the pastor part. Then

there's an intuitive part that is the congregation's

part. Every Sunday, I should preach as if I'm

never going to get this Sunday back again. You

should receive the word of the Lord as the congregation

here, as if you are never going to get. This

Sunday this service this word from God again

So again, I say to you these are the words of

Almighty God Receive them in your hearts Now

there are three things that I want us to get

out of that we're going to emphasize out of this

passage There's many things that could be taken,

but here are the three things that I want you

to get We are saved from our sins by Jesus That

of course reminds us of last week our emphasis

on this we are saved from our sins by Jesus Second

we are given the gifts of the covenant in baptism

we are given the gifts of the covenant in baptism

and finally We are given nourishment to maturity

in membership to the local body. We are given

nourishment to maturity and membership to the

local body. For the last several weeks we've

been reminded that Jesus came to deliver us from

sin and death. Jesus lived a holy life. He suffered,

died, and was resurrected. He ascended to the

right hand of the Father to reign until all his

enemies are put under his feet. We have also

been reminded that this did not end his work

in the world. He did not leave his people, the

church, as orphans, but kept his promises by

sending the Holy Spirit to transform hearts,

minds, and the affections of his people. That

is the church. What did he do all this for? He

did all this so that we may be able to complete

the task of tending and guarding the new creation.

by making disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit, and teaching them, that is the

nations, all, that is our disciples, all that

Jesus commanded. Why? That men may live, taking

dominion, being fruitful, multiply, and covering

the earth with the glory of the Lord as the waters

cover the sea. When God created the universe

he made his throne the center of it Throughout

the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation We

see that God gives his people access to him his

throne in his sanctuary Although after the fall

that becomes a very limited access by priests

and the blood of animals Over and over again.

We have this three tiered world Given to us beginning

in creation. We have the Garden of Eden where

God meets man face to face Moving outward we

have the land of Eden and then by a river it

flows out of that place God is to the four corners

of the earth And just as Adam fell into sin so

all men are separated from God by their sin All

men were put out of the garden which was guarded

by cherubim you know this story Right and children

you know this those angels stood and guarded

The garden the sanctuary of God God's access

to his throne room for people with cherubim with

what flaming swords The only way to come through

was to pass through the fire of judgment in Exodus,

when God formed a people, a covenant nation,

to intercede not just for themselves in worship,

prayer, and teaching, but to be a priestly covenant

nation to every tribe, every nation, and every

people. God again gave a three -tiered house

to us. In the Tabernacle, we have the Holy of

Holies, the most holy place. We have what? Then

we have the courtyard. which all proceeds out

to the world. And you get this, right? What happens?

Who were the tribe that could be there? That's

the Levites, right? By the way, think about this.

One person in the Holy of Holies. At the establishment

of the Tabernacle, five men could go into the

most holy place, five priests. And then the rest

of the priests and the Levites could serve in

the courtyard. And then what was outside of that?

That was the 12 tribes of Israel. And then outside

of that were the God -fearers. And then outside

of that were all the nations of the world. It

proceeds out. And we have that very same imagery

given to us by the fact of waters flowing out

of the presence by the basins, the cleansing

waters that were placed into the courtyard. Finally,

when God establishes Solomon's temple. We have

the very same imagery. Oh, by the way, I forgot

to remind you. What was the curtain between the

most holy place and the holy of holies? Cherubim.

Guarding God's throne. Right? And we see that

again. When God gives instructions and they build

Solomon's temple, they build it in the same fashion,

the same three -tier house. And again, Solomon

is doing it so ornately, so grandly, in fact.

And he wants to emphasize the cleansing waters,

that he builds a great big bronze sea. They're

talking about 8 ,000 gallons in the way it's

described. And then proceeding from that were

smaller basins of water moving forward towards

the door of the temple. We have all of this.

And of course we see what happens, again guarded

by cherubim. Christ dies, what happens? That

curtain in the temple, because it precedes every

temple built after that, inherits temple on that

day that Jesus dies, that curtain is torn in

half. And now through the blood of Christ, the

people of God can return back to face to face

with God. They can draw near once again. And

of course we see in Revelation, in chapter 22,

this very same in the second vision, we see the

church age described in these terms. There's

this heavenly city and the temple and God sitting

on His throne and Jesus is at His right hand

until every enemy is put under His feet. And

what do we see? We see this river of life flowing

outward. Bringing again imaging what we hear

in Ezekiel, right? This image goes out and it

specifically says there are long that that river

of life proceeding out There are trees planted

bearing fruit. I would argue the fruit of the

spirit All year round and the leaves of those

trees are for the healing of the nations So from

the beginning all the way to the church age and

all the way to the end of time God's throne is

the center of the universe And it is in this

way that we must understand what it is to be

in the church It is through Christ's work on

the cross that we are reconciled to God the Father

by the power of the Spirit. Hear these words

of life that proceeds from Jesus' mouth in John

14. It says, I am the way, the truth, and the

life. The only way to find the truth. The only

way to find the way to God the Father. The only

way to find life is through Jesus. The only way

to be reconciled. to the Father Dearly beloved

Jesus the Son of God is the only way to be forgiving

your sins and Is erected to life not just life

in the world to come but now First John 1 9 tells

us if we confess our sins he that is Jesus is

Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Dearly

beloved be assured in Jesus of the forgiveness

of your sins Sometimes we struggle Sometimes

we think we have sinned so grievously that we

cannot be forgiven Here is a herald of the gospel

of Jesus Christ. I say to you confess your sins

and Jesus is just and He will forgive you Sometimes

we think, I can't be forgiven. As one pastor

says, Jesus stands ready to forgive more than

we stand ready to be forgiven. We can't believe

the fact that Jesus would forgive us. I'm gonna

speak to you fathers for just a moment. If you're

an honest father, you know that you have sinned

against your children. Sometimes very grievously

again husbands in the same fashion, you know

You've sinned against your wife and this of course

applies to every one of us, but I want us to

understand Don't get caught up believe Jesus

for the forgiveness of your sins and go and sin

no more Strive put your face towards Christ Jesus

ask him to help you to be full to be fruitful

in the fruit of the spirit and to tend To your

children and to your wife and to your household

and to the people of God to make it fruitful

For every one of you moms dads Even older kids

who've led other little kids to sin confess your

sin receive God's Forgiveness joyously, you know

kids are great Right we tell them hug each other

forgive each other after they do something they

do that and they go about life free What do we

do? We get in there and we want to drag all our

past sins up. No, don't stay stuck there. Grow

and mature in Christ. In our passage from Acts

this morning, notice that Peter confronts his

hearers as complicit in the unjust murder of

Jesus. See that in verse 36 of chapter 2 of the

book of Acts. And what does he do? He also proclaims,

not only does he tell them that they're complicit,

And it would seem to me that some of those men

on that day that were in Jerusalem, the nearly

200 ,000 that had swelled into the city, right?

I imagine that some of them may not have actually

been there, but they were still complicit by

their sin, by their rebellion to God in the murder

of Christ Jesus. And he proclaims Jesus as both

Lord and Christ. And what's their response? Now

when they heard this they were cut to the heart

and They said to the rest of Peter and the rest

of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we

do? And what's Peter's response repent and let

every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus

Christ for the remission of your sins and You

shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit And

of course we hear this great thing, and in our

circles, we love this part, right? This gift,

it's for us, it's for our children, and it's

for all who are far off, and we rejoice in that.

We rejoice in that. There's a lot more here.

Now all this on that day fulfills what the prophet

of Jeremiah says in chapter 31, beginning in

verse 31. Behold the days. Oh, by the way, I

just want to say this to you. I apologize for

interrupting there. But there are a lot of visitors

here today. And I know during a prayer, you heard

the Lord's name being called Yahweh. I'm going

to read it here, as you know, in the Old Testament,

where you see capitalized L -O -R -D, that's

Yahweh. This is especially important when we

think about the context of covenant and God's

covenant work in our life, because Yahweh is

the name that God gave himself as the covenant

God. So it's very appropriate. I want us to say

this when we see it because it reminds us he's

a covenant God and he keeps his covenant. He's

the covenant God and he keeps his covenant with

his people. Behold the days are coming says Yahweh

when I will make a new covenant with the house

of Israel and with the house of Judah. Drop it

down to verse 33. But this is the covenant that

I will make with the house of Israel after those

days says Yahweh. I will put my law in their

minds and write it on their hearts, and I will

be their God, and they shall be my people. No

more shall every man teach his neighbor and every

man his brother, saying, know Yahweh, for they

all shall know me. From the least of them to

the greatest of them, says Yahweh. Here it is.

I will, for I will forgive their iniquity and

their sin, I will remember no more." And of course,

this can only be done by the work of Jesus Christ.

Remember, when these people at Pentecost heard

Peter, it says they were cut to the heart. This

is real important when you think about the covenant.

What do you think a Jewish man or the people

of men, women that were standing there, they

hear cut to the heart. They hear the cutting

of flesh. What do you think they think of? They

think of circumcision. You know consider what

the Apostle Paul says describing this very thing

in Colossians chapter 2 beginning in verse 11

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

in him that is Jesus you were also circumcised

with the circumcision made without hands by the

putting off the body of the sins of the flesh

by the circumcision of Christ Buried with him

in baptism in which you were also raised with

him through faith in the working of God who raised

him from the dead and you being dead in your

trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh.

He is made alive together with him, having forgiven

you all trespasses, and having wiped out the

handwriting of the requirements that was against

us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken

it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Praise God. God keeps his word. He circumcised

the heart. This isn't a circumcision made by

men, but by God, by the work of Jesus Christ

on the cross, and the power of the Spirit. And

that is what happens in the waters of baptism.

The Holy Spirit comes in because of the work

of Christ Jesus, and He dwells upon His people.

And He circumcises the heart. The Holy Spirit

comes at baptism, and we are circumcised in our

hearts. Heart washed and our sins are forgiven

in Christ Jesus Now notice what happens again

in Acts chapter 2 it perceived it says in those

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Who gladly received the word were baptized that

day about 3 ,000 souls were added I've never

been anywhere where I've seen 3 ,000 souls converted

at one time Okay, I may have been have seen on

television a Billy Graham crusade and God did

use him in many ways in that fashion Right, but

I've never personally seen 3 ,000 souls What

what a rejoicing thing we get to see that they

gladly received and were baptized and It then

tells us in verse 40 42 that they continued steadfastly

in four things the Apostles doctrine and in fellowship

in the breaking of bread and in prayers People

of God, from their joyful baptism, they continued

steadfastly in these four things. So what are

these? First of all, what is to be steadfast?

To be steadfast is to courageously and continually

attending to. Being steadfast is courageously,

continually attending to what? The Apostle's

doctrine. Right remember what Jesus said after

his resurrection? Right he breathed the Holy

Spirit on and then he then he says then he explains

How all of the law all of the prophets and all

the Psalms were about him? He's constantly through

Jesus whole work Jesus is teaching and recalibrating

and fixing all the errors of the doctrine of

men while serving Yahweh And of course, Jesus

in the Great Commission says to teach them after

you baptize them, to teach them all that I have

commanded. So that doctrine is the word of God.

Second, they were in fellowship. That's a joint

participation in the community. That's koinonia.

Sometimes you guys have heard that. That's the

Greek understanding. It's this dwelling together,

but in this way in a particular fashion. They

were breaking bread. That's the table As we're

praying we see in first Timothy chapter 2 Paul's

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

telling people this Regarding worship therefore

I accept first of all that supplications prayers

intercessions and the giving of thanks be made

for all men and it talks about praying for All

those in authority over us why? the lead a quiet

and peaceable life and all godliness and reverence.

And he tells us that this is good and acceptable.

These four things demonstrate the foundations

of the church. Church membership in a local body

is not just a good idea, but it is essential.

In order to remain steadfast in the world, The

scriptures tell us that these 3 ,000 converts

had to continue in the teachings, admonishments,

and the proclamations of the words of Jesus.

That is all scriptures. They then remained steadfast

by interceding for the church, the authorities,

and the nations. They remained steadfast as they

ate the covenant meal and breaking Bread being

reconciled to God the father by the work of the

son by the power of the spirit In this work in

God in the sacrament of communion There's more

going on in communion It isn't just about our

relationship to God, but also our relationship

to one another this is really important Paul

describes it this way in first Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

10. I'm gonna read it and then explain it to

you Says this the cup of blessing which bless

is not is it not the communion of the blood of

Christ the bread Which we break is it not the

communion of the body of Christ? For we though

many are one bread and one body for we all partake

of that one bread And we kind of listen to that

It seems back and forth. What is this? In communion,

we are covenantally connected to one another

by all of us being the body of Christ. You're

the body of Christ. You all know that, right?

Think about this. By being the body of Christ

and eating the body, the bread, we are connected.

See, in the old world and in many places of the

world yet today, People understand the significance

of eating with other people, and particularly

if you eat something that died that we both share

in that animal or that thing. It died for us,

and we're covenantally connected because it sustains

us. It binds us together. You may have heard

me talk about this before, but I call it the

Kentucky Fried Chicken Paradox. In America, we

have this issue, right? We don't think about

this. Some of you, I know, like to go out, cut

the chicken's head off, and pluck it all, and

cook it up. And so you understand this a little

bit because you're doing it in the old fashion.

You know that that chicken died. If you all sit

there and eat that chicken together, you all

know that chicken died to sustain you, to give

you life and strength, to sing God's praises

and to do God's works. But here in America, in

this world of individualism, we go to Kentucky

Fried Chicken, we get a bucket with 20 pieces

in it. And we don't know how many chickens is

there. And so our mind is totally disconnected

from the realization that in breaking bread in

what we eat and how we share that with others

changes the world. Dearly beloved, here in the

power of the Spirit, when we come to this table

right here, you need to understand that you are

not only reconciled to God through the work of

Christ Jesus by the power of the Spirit, but

the Spirit works in you as it passes along. This

is why... This is why each one of you breaks

a piece and you eat You're each covenantally

linked to the father by the work of the spirit

by the by the work of Christ Jesus by the power

of the spirit to one another Look around you

the good the bad and the ugly the happy the sad

the joyous The distracting one all these people

in this room right now. These are your covenant

people It's true fellowship. We're an inseparable

people, the family whose God has declared us

by placing his own name upon us as his people.

We are not simply Travato's, Nash's, Grief's,

Zelostowski's, whatever else your surname may

be. We are not simply that. We need to understand

this. If we honor the first one, it's Christ,

then our family, the second, will take care of

itself. Dearly beloved, as you look around this

room, all of those of you who are baptized in

the name of the triune God, these are your people,

no matter their tribe, their tongue, or their

nation. Jesus tells us that his people will be

distinctive from the people outside of the faith.

By what? How we love one another. Now in the

reform world, this is particularly difficult

because you know what we like to do? We like

to argue and bicker and divide and divide and

divide and find every kind of distinctive. People

of God, that is not how we should be operating.

Now sometimes we need to stretch one another

and push one another a little bit. That's okay.

Because at the end of the day, just like my biological

brother, I can't change that he's my brother.

God ordained that those men were my brothers.

One's with the Lord, and two are yet to get there.

I mean, they're following God, but they haven't

passed on. Here's the point I'm making. I didn't

get to choose them. Not their proclivities, not

their character, not their strengths, not their

weaknesses. I didn't choose any of it. God ordained

it to be so and it was. God ordains it and it

is so for you. Today in our world where individualism

and tribalism reign in both thought and deed,

the church and its worship is seen unnecessary

at best, or excuse me, at worst and only a helpful

tool at best. Unnecessary. Might be a helpful

tool The people of God are out of calibration

as to what is the center of the universe God's

throne is the center of the universe and life

proceeds from his throne in the river of the

Holy Spirit into the world through what? Through

the Lord's Day worship from which All of our

families proceed to our outposts as trees by

the living waters, producing the fruit of the

Spirit all year round with leaves for the healing

of the nations. Saints of God, local church membership

strengthens us by calling us to the Lord to draw

near to His throne by the blood of Jesus for

the transformation. of ourselves and the world.

The church is not optional. It is essential.

Now, I just want to say this to you. Here in

a little bit, we're going to take a young man

into membership. By the way, this was already

on my sermon plan weeks ago for today, and I

didn't pay attention and realize it was the second

Sunday and we were going to bring someone in.

But by God's good providence, it is so. But I

want to tell you so, I'm very, very grieved if

you look out at your brothers and sisters and

you think, man, they're struggling. They got

a problem in their marriage with their kids,

how they're doing their work every day on their

job. You notice these things and you go, I don't

have any responsibility. It's none of my business.

Well, the first thing is it is your business

to pray. Second, check yourself. Make sure you're

aligned with the scriptures. And then third,

knowing that this is your brother with whom you

cannot escape. Go to them in love. You don't

walk up and hit them with the hammer. Start with

questions, with humility. Hey, I noticed this.

What were you thinking? And what you might learn

is, A, you didn't have all the facts. You were

missing something. Or B, they are sinning in

a tough way. Or how about the third one? Some

of both. You didn't know everything, and you

can encourage them how to do it better, following

Christ, pointing them to Christ the whole way.

The church is an optional. It's essential, and

you are coming to one another, and you are to

bear one another's burdens. What is Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

10? Tell us beginning verse 19 therefore brethren

having the boldness to enter the holiest by the

blood of Jesus Excuse me by a new and living

way which he consecrated us for us through the

veil That is his flesh and having a high priest

over the house of God Let us near draw near to

God with the true heart in full assurance of

faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil

conscience And our bodies washed with pure water.

There's that baptism. The work of Christ, baptism.

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope

without wavering. That is being steadfast. For

he who promised is faithful. This is all able

to be done because Christ is faithful and his

words are true all the time. And then what's

the response of that? Let us consider one another,

loving one another. In order to do what? To stir

up love and good works. And then it says, all

of this is happening, right? You come into God's

presence, you can draw near because of the work

of Jesus. You hear the word, you're obedient,

you're baptized. The blood of Christ cleanses

you. The waters of baptism cleanse you. And it

says, forsaking, not the assembling of ourselves

together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting

one another, so as much more as you see the day

approaching. Now, when Hebrews is written, the

approaching that he's talking about is the greatest

persecution in the history of the church. And

it says, Jesus says of this in Matthew, that

if God hadn't put an end to it, The whole church

would have been wiped out. So you think it's

tough today. You think that we're in a bad spot

today This is worse That day approaching so whatever

day you have approaching God has ordained you

to be here He's ordained you to be his people.

He has ordained you to be in his house of worship

today What happened? What do we do in here? We

heard the call So we came right God's chosen

leaders for you First they set the time like

we saw here. We're changing the time for next

week. We set the time. This is the time where

we're going to assemble as the stones, the living

stones, and the new temple. We're going to come

together. And when we come in, what do we do?

Joyously. And then we confess our sins. We get

cleaned up. And then because of the faithfulness

of Christ, what happens? We're able to draw near.

There's a way in which you draw near in here

that you can't do at your home outpost. We need

the church. We need the church. And all of this

should be to help us keep our eyes on Jesus,

disturb one another to good works. For what?

So that we flow out of here through the river

of life, the spirit proceeding from the throne.

Every time we get here, we confess those sins.

And we elevate, and God comes down, His throne.

That is where we are. This is why, and you hear

me, this is maybe one of the things I focus on

a lot. Why do we pray so long? Because it's the

one time of the week. We can all pray and ask

God for His blessing, but this is the one time

where the people of God, united together, are

not just praying from afar, but we have drawn

near to God, and we can give Him all. all of

our concerns. And then by the power of the Spirit,

we proceed out of here to our family outposts,

calling on the name of Jesus, walking in obedience.

By the way, here's the thing. Just like those

folks on the day of Pentecost and Peter's sermon,

they gladly received the word. You know it, if

you're a parent, There's two ways that you can

get obedience. Right? Oh, man. Dag on it. I'm

going to have to do that. Right? Saints of God,

grownups in here do this all the time with God's

word. Glad to receive the word of God. And be

baptized. So you've been baptized, right? Great.

Go out. Stir up one another to good works. and

love. And so since it's right here, I'm going

to put this plug in. Every Sunday, no matter

where you are, you belong in church. Every Sunday.

Every Sunday. You're not at home? Find a church.

Find the best one. And if the best one you think

isn't good enough, too bad. Go to that one. Thank

God for all His grace. Rejoice in the fact there's

saints there. And pray for them. But don't walk

out haughty. Walk out knowing that we're all

saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. Our passage

in Acts 2 ends with this. So continuing daily

with one accord in the temple and the breaking

of bread from house to house, they ate their

food with gladness and simplicity of heart. Joy,

humility. And what happened? They were praying

to God, having favor with people. And the Lord

added to the church daily those who were being

saved. If we're going to see the nations baptized

and discipled so that the glory of God covers

the earth as the waters cover the sea, we must

trust in Jesus, be baptized, and enter the center

of the universe every week along with the people

of God. Because this is where the throne room

of God comes down to the earth. Remember what

we said in the beginning? God's throne room is

manifested to the world through the church right

here every Sunday. Let us then, because of this

great work, stir up love and good works in one

another. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank

you for your word, that your word is truth. and

that your word is joy and peace and life to our

hearts. We thank you for your word promises us

an assurance of victory in Jesus Christ. Make

us ever mindful of how rich we are in Christ

our Lord. Help us to center our lives each week

in your presence that we may be united with you

and your people to your glory and praise forever.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord

who reigns with you in the Holy Spirit. world

without end. Amen.