A Repentant, Baptized, Church

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Good morning, everybody. I'm Shantanez, Shantanez Jacob, and I'm going to read with you today from the Acts of the Apostle, chapter 1, verse 8, then verse 14, and 36-42 of chapter 2.

Let us begin now.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.

Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this.

God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles,

Brothers, what shall we do?

Peter replied, 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.

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.

With many other words he warned them, and he pleaded with them, save yourselves from this corrupt generation.

Those who accept his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

This is the word of our Lord.

You may be seated.

Well, it's been said already, but happy Pentecost Sunday, Christ Church.

Today, we are joining together with the global church, every tribe, language, people, and nation, to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was resurrected, and he was enthroned at God's right hand, he poured out the Holy Spirit to put new life, to put the divine life of God in our souls,

and to empower us across all of our differences to be the one family of the Father, and to be witnesses of Jesus.

That's what Pentecost is about.

And, you know, at Christmas, God proved that he's with us.

At Easter, God proved that he's for us.

And at Pentecost, God proves that he's in us.

And how amazing would it be if we came up with some new and creative ways to celebrate this amazing gift of Pentecost,

the way we celebrate Christmas, and the way we celebrate Easter.

So I want to invite us to open our pew Bible today.

You've heard this text read, but on page 888, you'll see that this is not a floating text without any context.

And page 888, we've been slowly just exploring Acts chapter 1 and chapter 2,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

because we want to better know and we want to better experience the person and the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And we want to be able to answer this question,

what does the Holy Spirit do to make a person a Christian?

And having made a person a Christian, what does the Holy Spirit do when he fills that Christian with himself,

when he fills a collective group of Christians, the church, with himself?

And what I want to do today is talk about four things.

I want to talk about how God calls you, God baptizes you, God saves you, and God adds you.

Okay, God calls you, he baptizes you, he saves you, and he adds you.

And I want to start with God, how God calls you.

And I want to bring us to verse 38, where Peter replied,

after having preached this first Christian sermon ever, on the day of Pentecost,

he replied,

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.

The promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off,

for all whom the Lord our God will call.

And if you want to underline that last phrase, you can.

For all whom the Lord our God will call.

A Christian is someone who's been called by God.

If you're a Christian, you know that God has called you by name into a living relationship with himself.

And how does God call us?

Well, he calls us in the same way that he called those people on the day of Pentecost.

God poured out his Holy Spirit, and that Spirit is a Spirit of truth.

And so the Spirit of truth spoke through Peter's exposition of the Bible.

The Spirit spoke through Peter's exposition of the Gospel,

and led them into the truth about Jesus.

The truth of his life, the truth of his death, the truth of his resurrection.

And the Spirit was driving the words of the prophets.

He was driving the words of this apostle into the minds, and into the hearts,

and into the wills of everyone who was listening.

That's how God was calling them.

And when God calls us, the first thing he does is he causes us to think.

Right?

In verse 36, it says that,

Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this.

God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

The Holy Spirit caused them to start thinking with their minds about Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit caused them to engage with the objective historical facts of the person and the work of Jesus.

And the logic of Peter's sermon, because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit,

it began to work in their minds.

And they said to themselves,

Hmm, okay, if God raised Jesus to life,

if God made this Jesus whom we crucified, both Lord and King,

then we are in deep trouble.

Why?

Because we crucified him.

And we live in a world that when God comes in the flesh,

it crucifies him.

And they realized that,

Oh my goodness,

this whole time I've been neglecting and ignoring Jesus.

I've been thinking that I had no need of Jesus.

I've been completely unconcerned about Jesus.

And they realized that if I've not actually accepted Jesus,

then I've been rejecting the one that God approves and that God raised and that God has exalted.

And it says in verse 37 that when the people heard this,

what happened?

Well, God began,

God's call began to work through their minds down into their hearts.

And it says they were cut to the heart.

They were convicted.

They were disturbed.

They were caused to feel this intense inner pain that we talked about last week.

They were made uncomfortable and they began to grieve.

Why?

Because they realize,

again,

if I've been stiff-arming Jesus,

that means I've actually been stiff-arming God.

And you see,

the Spirit of God is applying the Word of God to their minds and to their hearts.

And they experience pain because they realize,

we treated God's Messiah so unjustly.

They realize that if we've hurt Jesus,

we've actually hurt his Father.

And they realize that,

oh my goodness,

our greatest need

and our greatest sin

is that we failed to see our need of Jesus.

We thought so little of Jesus.

And it caused them to cry out for help.

And they say,

brothers,

what shall we do?

And doing is about the will,

right?

So God's call to these people in the gospel

has penetrated their minds and their thinking.

And it's gone down into their hearts

and their desiring.

And now it's getting down into their wills

and their doing.

And they say,

what shall we do?

What should we stop doing?

What should we start doing?

They realize this truth of Hebrews 9.27

that says,

people are destined to die once

and after that to face judgment.

And they realize that we need to be rescued

from the judgment of God.

We need to be reconciled

in a relationship with God.

They say,

we absolutely do not want to be separated from God

and to go on into an eternity

of ever increasing misery.

And if we don't do something different

than what we're doing now,

that's what's going to happen to us.

But rather they say,

we want to be with God.

We want to enjoy the pleasures of God

for all eternity.

And so they cry out,

brothers,

what shall we do?

So what's happening on the day of Pentecost

is that this community

of 120 Christian disciples,

they're bearing witness

to these 3,000 people about Jesus.

A crowd of more than 3,000 people,

but to these 3,000 in particular.

And through the witness of

this spirit-filled,

spirit-empowered church,

God is calling these 3,000 people

out of condemnation

and into a reconciled relationship

with himself.

So let's pause here

for some brief application.

Some of us are here

and we're exploring Christianity.

And what I want you to hear

is that God is calling

these 3,000 people

to come home to him.

Right?

Just like that prodigal son

in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

This young man

who turned his back on the father.

He went off to a far country

and he plunged himself

into a life of self-centeredness

where he just did everything

that he wanted to do.

And one day he got down

to the very bottom of his misery

and he came to his senses

and he remembered his father.

He remembered,

oh my goodness,

my father is rich

and my father is generous

and if I just turn back

to my father,

everything may be okay.

And so he turns

and he realizes

as he's walking up the road

to go home

that this whole time

the father's been looking for him,

the father's been calling him

and the father's now running to him

to embrace him

and bring him home.

And if you are hearing

the external call

of the gospel

in your mind

and if you are sensing

the internal call

of the father

in your heart,

then your next move,

your next step

is to answer that call

with your will

to do something different

and that is to turn home

to your father

and to his embrace.

And to apply this for you,

if you identify yourself

as a Christian,

I want you to know

that this call of God

is a powerful call.

That when he calls you,

he's exercising

and manifesting

the same power

that he exhibited

in the creation

of the universe

and in the resurrection

of Jesus.

And here's how

the New Testament

describes this powerful

calling of God.

It says,

Peter,

who's giving this sermon,

says in his first epistle,

he says,

God called you

out of darkness

into his wonderful light.

The God of all grace

called you

to his eternal glory

in Christ.

The apostle Paul

says to the Thessalonians,

he says,

God calls you

into his kingdom

and glory.

He called you

through our gospel

that you might share

in the glory

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the question

for you is,

has that powerful call

happened to you?

Have you been called

out of darkness

and into his wonderful light?

Has God called you

by his grace

into his eternal kingdom

to share with you

the glory

and the honor

and the majesty

and the beauty

of Jesus?

Because that's what

a Christian is.

A Christian is a person

who knows

that they've experienced

this powerful call

of God.

But it's more than that.

God not only calls you

but God baptizes you.

God baptizes you.

If we can go back

to verse 38,

it says,

Peter replied,

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.

See,

Peter's describing

what is involved

in being joined

to this community

of Jesus

that's had the life

and the power of God

poured into it

by the Holy Spirit.

And he's telling us

what's involved

in this tremendous change

that takes place

within us

and how this inward change

begins to show itself

outwardly

in our lives.

And Peter's saying

that this Jesus

who God raised

from the dead,

right,

this Jesus who God

exalted to his throne,

this Jesus who God

now calls

Lord and Messiah,

he's there

and he's actually

making both promises

and demands.

And what are his promises?

Well,

he promises forgiveness

and the freedom

that comes with forgiveness

and he promises

the Holy Spirit

and the power

that comes

with the Spirit.

To be forgiven

is our greatest need

and it's the thing

that we cannot do

for ourselves.

Right,

all the stuff

that you've done

and that you said

and that you've thought

of which you're

totally ashamed

and would want

no one to know about.

All the things

that you've failed to do

and failed to say

and failed to think

of which you are guilty,

it's possible

to be released

from all of that.

And that's the great message

of the Christian gospel

that Jesus

bore

the condemnation

that we deserve

so that we could

receive the forgiveness

that we do

not deserve.

And he came

to liberate us

from our shame

and from our guilt

and from the penalty

of our sins.

And again,

this is how Peter

puts it in his first letter.

He says in 1 Peter 1,

you were redeemed

with the precious blood

of Christ,

a lamb without blemish

or defect.

He himself

bore

our sins

in his body

on the cross

so that we might

die to sins

and live to righteousness.

By his wounds

you have been

healed.

the first promise

that Jesus makes

from his throne

in heaven

is that you can be

forgiven of your sin.

The second promise

that he makes

is that you can have

the Holy Spirit

living within you.

That the Holy Spirit

can come into your heart

and when he gets

into your heart

he regenerates you.

He gives you,

he brings about

a new birth.

He plants the life

of God

in your soul

and he makes you

a new creature

and he causes

the presence of God

and the power

of God

to permanently

reside

within you.

And so the question

for you is

do you have

this promised

freedom of forgiveness

and this promised

power

of the Holy Spirit

that Jesus

has promised to us?

But you see,

Jesus doesn't

just make promises.

The resurrected Lord

from his heavenly throne

he also makes demands.

And what are his demands?

Well, it says

in verse 38

Peter replies

speaking for Jesus

he says repent

and be baptized

every one of you

in the name

of Jesus Christ.

And we talked about

this word last week

repentance

metanoia

metanoeo

means to change

your mind entirely.

To have a radical

about turn

in your attitude.

gratitude.

To repent

is to

turn

your allegiance

away from

yourself

and away

from your sin

and away

from all of your

God substitutes.

And repentance

is always combined

with faith

and with trust.

It's turning away

and turning toward

and faith

is implicit here.

There's no possibility

of turning

from sin

negatively

unless we turn

to Jesus

positively.

and this

double turn

from sin

to Jesus

from self

to the living

God

that's what we call

conversion.

And it's such a radical

turning away

from ourselves

and a turning

toward God

that it bears

fruit

in changed

behavior.

So that people

who previously

repudiated

God's Messiah

are now brought

to a place

where they publicly

affirm their

dependence on Jesus

by undergoing

baptism

in his name.

Be baptized

every one of you

in the name

of Jesus

Peter says.

The New Testament

knows

of no

unbaptized

believers.

Baptism

is the means

and the medium

by which

the promises

of Jesus

and the demands

of Jesus

are expressed

in our lives.

Baptism

is how we publicly

demonstrate

our repentance

and our faith.

And baptism

is this outward

visible public

act

symbolizing

the washing

away

and the forgiveness

of sin

the pouring out

of the presence

and power

of the Holy Spirit

are being united

to the death

and the resurrection

of Jesus.

We say

when we baptize you

you've been buried

with Christ

in baptism

and raised

with him

to walk

in newness

of life.

Baptism

is humbly

submitting

to

a name

and to

an authority

that's symbolized

by that name

into which

you are being baptized.

It's a change

of your identity

and a change

of your allegiance.

It's saying

to the world

and to yourself

I'm under new management.

I have a new Lord.

I'm no longer

identified

primarily

with my own name.

I'm no longer

Jonathan

as it were.

I'm no longer

identified

primarily

with my agenda

and my will

for my life.

Rather

he's my new identity

and his agenda

is my agenda.

This is where

some churches go

amen

just a little

amen.

Just for some

application

if you're exploring

Christianity

have you considered

that

the freedom

and the power

that your heart

wants

the freedom

and the power

that

you're spending

your time

and your energy

and money

trying to

get for yourself

through your work

and your career

through your success

and your financial

security

through friendship

and romance

through your family

through your kids

through new adventures

and travel

and experiences

that none

of these

are going

to be

enough for you

in this life

and they're

certainly not

going to be

enough for you

in the life

to come.

There's a freedom

and there's a power

that your heart

desires

that only Jesus

can give to you.

The freedom

of divine forgiveness

the freedom

of living

in a reconciled

relationship

with the living God.

the power

of divine

indwelling

the power

of having

God

the Holy Spirit

permanently

residing

within you

your heart

will forever

remain restless

and will keep

restlessly searching

for freedom

and for power

that this world

simply promises

to you

but will not

give you.

And Peter says

that this freedom

and this power

it's yours

for the taking.

It's a free

gift

that all you

have to do

he says

is just

change your

mind.

Stop putting

your faith

in yourself

start putting

your faith

in Jesus

and start saying

you know what

you're my Lord

and you're my King

that's your next

move.

But secondly

if you're a Christian

to apply this

to you

do you understand

what it means

to be baptized?

Do you understand

what it means

to be a baptized

Christian?

And here are

some tests.

Are you going

to him

daily

the one

in whose name

you've been baptized

are you going

to him daily

and saying

Jesus

would you please

apply to me

the freedom

of the forgiveness

that you offer?

I'm not living

in freedom.

Were you going

to him

on a daily basis

and saying

Jesus

please refill

me with the power

of the Holy Spirit?

I want to live

in the power

of the Holy Spirit.

Are you

going to the throne

of grace

with confidence

so that you may

receive mercy

and find grace

to help you

in your time

of need?

Is your prayer life

evidence that you

have received

these heavenly promises

and that your baptism

is expressing itself

in your life?

And we need to remember

that for these

3,000 converts

in Jerusalem

on the day

of Pentecost

and for many

of our brothers

and sisters

around the world

in the global church

today

being baptized

meant risking

everything.

It meant being

separated from

your nearest

and dearest

relatives.

It meant being

renounced by

your family.

It meant being

ostracized by

society.

It meant that

people began

to despise you

and no longer

want to do

business with you

or have anything

to do with you.

Sometimes it meant

going to prison.

Sometimes it meant

dying for your faith

to be baptized

was a costly thing.

And I wonder

if sometimes

we forget

our baptisms.

I wonder

if we love

the one

in whose name

we've been baptized

so much

that we'd be

willing to experience

discomfort

and inconvenience

for his sake.

I wonder

if we take

our relationship

with Jesus

so seriously

like our mothers

and fathers

in the faith

that we're willing

to suffer

for him

and even

to die for him.

That's what

baptism

represents.

Dying with Christ.

Being raised

with Christ.

Repent and be

baptized every

single one of you

Peter says.

But God not only

calls you

and not only

baptizes you

but God saves you.

And look at

verse 40.

It says

with many other

words he warned

them and he pleaded

with them

save yourselves

from this corrupt

generation.

Jesus trained

Peter for three

years.

He equipped

Peter.

He authorized

Peter

as his apostle

to say things

like this.

Right?

To speak

words that not

everybody

necessarily wanted

to hear.

And what's Peter

pleading with them

to do?

He says save

yourselves from

this corrupt

generation.

Save yourselves

from this crooked

and twisted

generation.

Some translations

say be saved

from this

generation.

And that's

an equally

legitimate

translation.

Be saved

from this

generation

emphasizes that

salvation is a

rescue operation

initiated and

accomplished by

God and God

alone.

We do not

save ourselves.

God is the

one who saves

us.

And if you look

in your Bible

down at verse

47 it says

the Lord added

to the church

daily those

who were being

saved.

Saved by who?

Saved by God.

The difference

between a

Christian and a

non-Christian is

that a Christian

is among the

saved and a

non-Christian is

among the

not saved.

And you can

imagine a house

on fire with a

bunch of people

inside of it and

a ladder is put

up to the window

and the firemen

come and there's

a certain number

of people that are

rescued that are

saved.

Out of that

house and then

there are others

who are not.

Or you can

imagine a shipwreck

where some people

are saved to shore

and then others

are not.

Or you can

imagine a

courthouse where

some people are

accused and

they're going to

go home acquitted

and set free but

other people are

not going to go

home.

They're going to

be condemned.

And that's what

Peter means when

he says be saved

from this generation.

A Christian is a

person who has

been saved and is

being saved and

will go on to be

saved.

And that's what the

Apostle Paul means

when he talks about

you've been justified

and you've been

sanctified and you've

been glorified.

A Christian has been

saved and put into a

totally new position

and standing where you

already stand justified

and righteous before

God.

God.

And a Christian is also

being saved from the

remnants of sin and

evil that remain in

our mortal body.

We are slowly,

gradually being prepared

for the glory into

which we are going.

And a Christian will

one day be saved

completely,

delivered from the

pollution of sin and

the power of death to

enjoy and to glorify

God and a resurrected

body in his new

creation.

That's what it means

for God to sovereignly

save you from this

corrupt generation.

So, is our translation

correct or incorrect?

Well, yes.

It's right.

Be saved from this

corrupt generation and

save yourselves from

this corrupt generation.

And when Peter says

that, he's just quoting

his Bible.

He's quoting the

Torah.

Deuteronomy 32.5

talks about living in a

corrupt and warped and

crooked generation.

And that refers to the

outlook of humanity

without reference to God.

That's what a corrupt

generation is.

It's how human beings try

to organize themselves and

their world apart from and

separate from God.

And Peter says there's

something corrupt and

there's something twisted

about that approach to

life.

It's heading for disaster.

It's driving over a

cliff.

And Peter urges his

listeners to actively

separate themselves and

to separate and to set

themselves apart from this

corrupt generation.

You have an active and an

urgent responsibility,

Peter says, to leave this

human centered and God

resisting generation with

all of its corrupt views

of history and its

corrupt views of the

self and its corrupt

views of God and its

corrupt views of Jesus.

And you need to move

into a new reality.

You need to move into a

new humanity.

You need to move into a

new creation that has a

new view of everything.

God, life, eternity,

human meaning and

purpose, all of it.

In Acts chapter 26,

Acts 26:18

verse 18, it says that a

Christian is somebody who's

been turned from darkness

to light and from the

power of Satan to God.

The apostle Paul says in

Colossians 1.13, for God

has rescued us.

He saved us from the

dominion of darkness and

he's brought us into the

kingdom of the son that he

loves.

And it's the question for

us, is it clear that you've

been saved like that?

Paul says to the

Philippians, he says, be

blameless and pure, children

of God without fault in a

warped and crooked

generation.

These apostles love quoting

Deuteronomy for some

reason.

Be blameless and pure,

children of God without

fault in a warped and

crooked generation.

Then you will shine like

stars in the night sky.

Is your life and is your

conduct a clear

demonstration?

Confirmation that you've

been saved, you are being

saved, and you are going

to be saved.

God calls you, God baptizes

you, God saves you, and a

final word, that God adds

you.

God adds you.

Verse 41, we'll come back

to this next week.

But it says, those who

accepted Peter's message were

baptized and about 3,000 were

added to their number that

day, and they devoted

themselves to the apostles'

teaching and to fellowship,

to the breaking of bread, and

to prayer.

So added to this number of

120 disciples on the day of

Pentecost are these 3,000

newly baptized Christians, and

that means that the Holy

Spirit multiplied the church

26x in one day.

I'm not a math guy.

I think that's good.

26x, is that good?

It's good.

So, the New Testament knows

no unchurched believers.

They're all immediately

churched.

Your baptism adds you to the

church, and your baptism adds

you to the distinctive way of

life and devotion in the

church.

And to be a Christian means

that you've become a living

member of a living church of

the living Lord.

And at first, you did not

belong, but now you do

belong.

And God moved these 3,000

people from one position to

another.

They were over here, and now

they're over here.

And look at what happens to

them.

God causes them to undergo a

complete change.

Their thinking, their

outlooks, their actions are

totally revolutionized.

They have this new life in

Christ, and it immediately

begins to express itself.

And we can see this new life

of God that's been planted

in their souls being

expressed in their, the

quality of their life

together.

They gave practical

demonstration of their faith

by, it says, devoting

themselves.

Or other translations say

continuing steadfastly.

And again, we'll explore this

in depth next Sunday, but what

does it mean as we close?

It means that they

continued together.

These people that have been

called, that have been

baptized, that have been

saved, it means they

continued together in

constant devotion.

You could not keep them

away from each other.

Their association with other

Christians was the biggest

thing in their life.

It was the very center of

their lives.

And they said, we will not

let any lesser things get

in the way of this main

thing.

And what are the lesser

things?

Well, use your imagination.

What keeps us away on a

Sunday?

What keeps us away midweek?

A lot of lesser things

that do not matter.

And they said, we are not

going to let that happen to

us.

They said, we are going to

come together, and we'll

see this next week.

They came together regularly

and willingly, not just one

day a week.

It says they came together

day by day.

They so wanted to be with

each other that they, when

they finished their day's

work, they'd go to one

another's houses, and they

would study the Bible, and

they would pray.

Why?

Because they realized that

even though they were from

different biological families,

they were now part of the

same spiritual family.

They shared the same

spiritual life.

They were born of the same

spirit.

They were raised with the

same Christ.

They had the same life of

God the Father in their

souls.

And they had to express it.

They were rejoicing in the

same Savior, delighting to

put their trust in the

apostles' teaching about

Jesus.

Delighting to come to

fellowship in Christ Jesus.

Delighting to come and to

break that bread in communion

with Christ Jesus.

They were delighting to pray

prayers directly to Jesus,

directly to the Holy Spirit,

directly to the Father.

They fixed their eyes on the

same thing.

Their eyes were fixed together

on eternity.

They were preparing themselves

for the same thing.

They were preparing for the

life of the world to come, to

be ready to live in glory

everlasting.

That's why they came together

every day and every Sunday.

So the question as we come to

this table, has God called you?

And has God baptized you?

And has God saved you?

And has God added you to his

devoted and steadfast people?

And is that obvious?

Is it obvious that you belong

to this God who calls, baptizes,

saves, and adds?

And that you are a person of

devotion and steadfast love?

May it be so.

In the name of the Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.