Participants: Jim & Mark Howard
Series Code: ABOTB
Program Code: ABOTB00005B
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00:01 Welcome back to "Books of the Book."
00:02 We here are studying in the Book of Acts today 00:04 and right before the break, 00:07 we were talking about Peter's sermon 00:11 that brought that conviction. 00:13 He-He, first of all, took the prophecy of Joel 00:15 and then the prophecy of the Psalms 00:18 and he applied that prophecy, 00:20 that David had given to the Messiah 00:24 and this was new for the Jews that were listening to him. 00:26 This gripped their hearts and the Bible says 00:30 that they were cut to the heart, and they said, you know, 00:33 "Man and brother, what shall we do?" 00:34 They were, they, they in that moment, 00:37 they saw their role in crucifying, 00:40 in murdering their own Messiah. 00:42 And you can only imagine 00:44 the weight of conviction on their hearts 00:47 and what a desperate and hopeless place to be in. 00:52 Absolutely, and you know, 00:54 being that they were in that place, 00:57 it put Peter in a position of opportunity, 01:01 really, because Peter as one of the disciples certainly was- 01:08 taking a lot of accusations and things like that 01:11 about the sect of Jesus and His followers, 01:14 and certainly, the pressure of that led him to deny Jesus 01:19 back before His death, and you know, 01:21 now Peter is in a different type of situation 01:24 and it's very clear that Jesus is on the throne 01:28 and these people who were guilty 01:31 are now in a very vulnerable position, 01:35 and Peter could have tried to get even 01:37 as it were, and cut them off. Oh, yeah. 01:40 But instead of cutting them off, 01:42 I want you to know that Peter had a love for these souls. 01:45 The Holy Spirit is never poured out to bring conviction 01:50 and guilt only to leave someone 01:53 without salvation. That's right. 01:55 Every time the Holy Spirit was poured out 01:57 like on the day of Pentecost, 01:59 it was for the salvation of souls. 02:01 We're reminded that God did not send His Son 02:03 into the world to condemn the world, 02:05 but that the world through Him might be saved. 02:07 You know, that's an important point, Jim. 02:09 It's not just for the purpose of chastisement 02:12 and there is sometimes that people 02:13 in the church get the idea, when they hear a pointed message 02:19 and there needs to be pointed messages, 02:22 but they can get the idea that, that pointed message- 02:24 and the person giving that pointed message 02:27 is just really getting even with those hard-hearted stubborn, 02:31 saints. 02:33 When the reality is, the man who is inspired- 02:36 who is motivated by the Spirit of God 02:39 is only giving a message like that in order to, 02:43 by the grace of God, see a person brought to a position 02:46 where they'll be open to receiving a transformation 02:50 through the Lord, to receive repentance, 02:51 and that's what we see here. 02:52 That's exactly what we see here. 02:54 Because now, in verse 37, they say "Men and brethren, 02:56 what shall we do?" 02:58 They are opening themselves up, 02:59 making themselves vulnerable to the apostles 03:02 and Peter rather than taking advantage to get even, 03:05 says some of the most beautiful words in the scripture. 03:08 He says, in verse 38, then Peter said to them, 03:10 "Repent and let every one of you be baptized 03:13 in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission," 03:15 that is the forgiveness of sins. 03:17 Your sins can be forgiven, 03:19 and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, 03:21 you can be placed on equal ground with where we are today. 03:24 Verse 39, "For the promise is to you, 03:27 and to your children, and to all who are far off, 03:30 as many as the Lord our God will call." Oh, wow. 03:32 He just opens wide the door of salvation 03:35 and it's no wonder that you see the response that you see here. 03:38 That's right, and viewer, if you ever have felt far off, 03:42 if perhaps today you are watching 03:44 and you're feeling far off from the Lord, 03:46 just remember the promises for you. 03:48 The Lord Jesus is in the business of saving souls 03:51 and the Bible says, "He can save to the uttermost all, 03:53 who come to God through Him." Amen. 03:55 And so, it's a powerful message here that Peter gives. 03:57 Now before, Jim, there was something else 03:59 you're gonna jump into, but before we do that, 04:01 I want to highlight something Peter says 04:03 and this may be new to some of our viewers, 04:05 this thought that Peter brings up something here in his sermon 04:09 that was understood by his hearers, 04:12 but in Christianity today, 04:14 it might get lost sight of a little bit 04:16 and that is where David was. 04:19 You know, he tells us as his evidence 04:22 that the prophecy of David was pointing forward to Christ 04:25 and not speaking of David himself. 04:27 His evidence is, in verse 29, 04:30 "Men and brethren, let me speak to you freely 04:32 or speak freely to you of the patriarch David 04:35 that he is both dead and buried, 04:37 and his tomb is with us to this day." 04:40 Something that is- is taught in scripture 04:44 and has been clouded because of certain Greek philosophies 04:50 and ideologies that'd been woven into Christian understanding 04:55 throughout the thousand years plus of the dark ages 04:58 when people didn't have the Bible to study, 05:00 is the idea that man has an immortal soul. 05:05 And it's a very common teaching, 05:07 but it's not a biblical teaching. 05:08 The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6, 05:11 that "God alone has immortality 05:14 and that, that immortality is conferred as a gift 05:16 whosoever believeth in Him, should have everlasting life." 05:20 And Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 05:22 that-that we put on that immortality 05:24 when Jesus comes again, and so, man is not naturally immortal, 05:29 the Bible says, in Romans 2, that man seeks for immortality, 05:33 and one of the important things, aspects of that is that 05:37 if we have an inherent immortality, 05:39 then the reality is 05:41 that we really are not in need of it. That's right. 05:43 But if we don't have immortality and we're seeking for it, 05:46 there's only one place we'll find it 05:47 and that place is in Jesus Christ, 05:48 and that's what Peter is wanting to get across here 05:51 among other things, and he says that, 05:53 "David has not, his tomb is with us to this day, 05:59 he is dead and buried," and somebody may say, 06:02 "Well, his tomb maybe with us and his body is with us, 06:05 but his spirit has ascended." 06:09 Peter is very clear in verse 34 06:11 "For David did not ascended into the heavens." 06:14 And this just matches the rest of the scripture, 06:16 because Jesus was very clear 06:18 that the only way to ascend into the heavens for us 06:22 to ascending the heavens outside of a miraculous like, 06:26 Elijah being taken up and translated, 06:28 is for Jesus to come back. 06:30 He says, in John 14, "I will come again 06:33 and receive you to myself, why? 06:36 That where I am, there you maybe also." Right. 06:39 So the picture is that if you want- 06:40 if I want you to be with me where I am. 06:42 I am gonna have to come back and get you." 06:44 Same thing happens in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 06:47 it says, "The Lord Himself will dissent from heaven 06:49 with the shout," and says, 06:50 "The dead in Christ will rise" and then it says, 06:54 "That those who are alive 06:55 and remain will be called up together with them 06:56 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air," 06:58 and then it says, "and thus or in this way, 07:01 shall we always be with the Lord." That's right. 07:03 So the way that we go to be with the Lord 07:05 is at the second coming of Christ, 07:06 that's why the second coming of Christ 07:07 becomes that blessed reunion, 07:09 that blessed hope for humanity. That's right. 07:12 Now, we're gonna look at the early church 07:14 in the make up of- 07:15 of some of the fellowship of the early church 07:17 as it was burgeoning here and coming into, 07:20 you know, three thousand souls, 07:22 you can only imagine what that did. 07:24 Yes. To the church. 07:25 Well, we need to move down to verse 40 07:29 because here is where it picks up on 07:30 some of what happened 07:32 as a result of the wonderful preaching 07:33 and outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that day. 07:36 It says in verse 40 of Acts 2, 07:38 "And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, 07:42 saying be saved from this perverse generation. 07:45 Then those who gladly-" 07:47 and so there's many different words he used, okay, we don't- 07:50 It would be wonderful when we find out all of that sermon. 07:52 But at this point all we know is 07:54 it had something to do with "be saved." Right. 07:56 If you're in a-you're in a bad condition, be saved. 07:59 And as a result, in verse 41, it says, 08:01 "Those who gladly received his word were baptized 08:04 and that day about three thousand souls 08:06 were added to them." 08:08 That's what we need today. 08:09 We need that kind of power of the Holy Spirit 08:12 and we are promised that that's going to come. Absolutely. 08:14 But I'm wondering, just exactly how we would handle it. 08:17 You notice here in verse 42, it says that the apostles had 08:22 something special in that early church, 08:24 I want to- I want to look at that. 08:25 Verse 42 says "And they continued steadfastly." 08:30 So, after this group was baptized 08:33 and were added to the church, that wasn't it. 08:35 They continued. 08:37 Now, too often, I think today, as we look into our churches, 08:41 we have a strong focus on baptism 08:43 and we should because the great commission says to go 08:45 and baptize in the name of the Father 08:46 and Son and Holy Spirit. It also says to make disciples. 08:50 Teaching them- that's right. 08:51 Teaching them to observe and to make disciples 08:54 and really you haven't made a disciple 08:56 until you have groomed someone to minister 09:01 like the master. That's right. 09:02 To be like Jesus, and too often, we work hard. 09:07 We, often times we'll study the Bible with someone 09:09 who's interested, and we'll study week after week after week 09:12 and we spend so much time and give them so much attention 09:15 and then after the baptism, 09:17 we go to study with someone else, 09:19 and they are left wondering, what happened? 09:22 We give them a sack lunch and send them on their way 09:25 and wish them well. That's right. 09:26 We hope you show up for church 09:27 and prayer meeting. That's right. 09:29 And the problem with that is, 09:31 it's not matching the Biblical model. That's right. 09:33 Because right here, it says, 09:35 "That these continued steadfastly" 09:38 and this mentions a few specific areas, 09:39 I think we would do well to recognize," 09:41 they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." 09:45 In other words, they continued studying the word, 09:48 seeing the evidence for their faith, 09:49 building their foundation in the word. 09:52 "They also continued in fellowship, 09:54 and in the breaking of bread." 09:56 So this fellowship had to do with eating together 10:00 and fellowshipping together in spiritual-socializing- 10:05 This wasn't just fellowship meal, 10:08 you know, one of the things I have run into as a pastor is, 10:10 a lot of members are- aren't feeling comfortable 10:14 to have people over into their space 10:16 and so when we go to a fellowship meal at the church, 10:19 this isn't fellowship meal fellowship 10:21 because it says, in verse 46, 10:24 "That they continue daily in the temple, 10:27 and breaking bread from house to house." That's right. 10:29 This was in a home fellowship. 10:31 And furthermore, and I think very significantly 10:33 at the end of verse 42, it says "And in prayers" 10:37 so this wasn't just social time. 10:39 It's possible that we can have secular fellowship 10:43 with church friends. That's true. 10:44 And this is not what they had, they mingled prayer, 10:48 they were having spiritual encounters 10:50 where they were sharpening 10:51 and growing one another in the Lord. That's right. 10:54 And one thing that grabs my attention 10:55 also there in verse 46 is, it tells us that 10:59 "As they went from house to house, 11:01 they ate their food 11:02 with gladness and simplicity of heart." 11:04 Now it's interesting, that word simplicity, 11:06 its different words in different translations, 11:08 but the Greek word means to be free from stones, 11:11 like a pathway that's had the stones taken out. 11:13 In other words, it's an unencumbered pathway. 11:17 These were people who-just got done telling us 11:21 that they sold off possessions, 11:23 many of them, and we'll see that more. 11:24 To help people as they had need. That's right. 11:26 But they themselves were unencumbered 11:29 by the things of this life. 11:31 They weren't- they didn't let their jobs get in the way 11:34 or they didn't let their pastimes get in the way. 11:38 You know, it reminds me of some friends of mine who, 11:40 I had the privilege of baptizing 11:42 and I remember going over to their home 11:44 and looking on the refrigerator and they had a calendar there 11:46 and I was just, you know, waiting for them to come out 11:50 from where they were and I was glancing at their calendar, 11:52 and I noticed something beautiful about the calendar, 11:54 every pastor would hope that 11:56 this-that a calendar would look like this. 11:58 On the calendar, they had the church Sabbath events, 12:02 prayer meeting, outreach events, 12:05 all the different events of the church, 12:06 all the different functions, 12:08 their life was invested in the church. 12:10 Everything else, they built around that. 12:13 And too often, I don't know if you have encountered this, 12:16 but though that is the picture of the Book of Acts, 12:18 that's not what often happens today. 12:20 No, no, no, it's- It's my son's soccer game 12:22 and my daughter's, you know, 12:25 roller skating event and it's my, 12:28 you know, the work picnic and, "oh, I'm sorry, 12:30 I don't have time to come out 12:32 to the church events." That's right. 12:34 And often we say, that's because we are doing that 12:38 because we want to stay balanced, 12:40 but boy, when I look at the balance of the early church, 12:43 the balance was they were unencumbered by those things, 12:46 so they had simplicity. 12:48 Simplicity of hearts, simplicity in their life, 12:49 the reason they were willing to sell 12:51 to give to those who had need 12:53 was because they weren't married to all of their possessions, 12:56 they weren't married to their hobbies and habits. 12:59 They were married to Christ. Amen. 13:01 And they had given their life fully to Him. That's right. 13:04 They were married to Christ, Jim, 13:06 and Christ was married to them. 13:08 Christ's desire-His greatest desire is for His church. 13:12 Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost, 13:15 that passion consumed the heart of the early church. 13:19 Jesus wants that compassion to consume our hearts too. 13:23 May God help us to follow in the footsteps of our Master. 13:26 See you next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17