Acts 2:38 “Believer’s Baptism – A Simple Appeal “

 

Our text is simple – easy to understand, and I aim to make the same appeal which our text issues,  to you!

“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.” (Acts 2:38).

This statement was made by Peter the apostle. 

It was made to a great crowd gathered in Jerusalem, after the promised Holy Spirit – that mighty rushing wind, had descended on a gathering of disciples. This event issued in a mighty filling with the Holy Spirit, enabling those present to speak in other languages, so that Jews that had come from far away nations (cf 2:8-11) for the feast  (Shavuot) would hear about the mighty works of God (2:11) in their  OWN language.

This happened 50 days after Resurrection Sunday, on the weekend of the Jewish Passover. Hence it is called Pentecost (fiftieth in Greek). Jews had been celebrating the Feast of weeks (Shavuot)  for at least 1500 years by the time this  event in  Acts 2 happened. 

Word got around very quickly.  Some were amazed and perplexed: What does this mean? (2:12). Others mocked and said – they are drunk (2:13). 

Peter, the spokesman of the 11 apostles had some explaining to do. He had to explain what had happened on that marvelous and amazing day.  He did this by way of an impromptu sermon:

 (i)                 Acts 2:17-21 He tells the crowd that this outpouring of the Spirit was a prophetic fulfilment, a promise spoken by the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). This promise tells of a time when many that call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved. That time had now come. The purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit  was to bring salvation – cf.  2:21 (not to bring tongues- a misplaced emphasis!).  And now Peter explains how that would come about … This is how they will be saved… THIS IS THE GOSPEL!

(ii)              Acts 2:22-28 He tells the crowd that this event follows the coming of Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus born in Nazareth). Jesus  is the Gospel. He worked in Israel with mighty works and wonders and signs. Then He was delivered up to the purposes of an evil humanity – BUT according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. We learn that in God's economy nothing is out of control. Peter  tells them that God allowed His Son to be crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But again, since this is the Divine Son of God, death could not keep Him in the grave.  God raised Him up. Peter explains this with the help of Psalm 16:8-11.  

(iii)            Acts 2:29 -35  Peter  tells the crowd that this Jesus is the Greater Son of David- the expected Messiah, who though He died, He was not abandoned to Hades. God the Father raised Him up, and not only raised Him up, but took Him up to where He is now seated at the right hand of God (This we call the  Ascension). This is the One of whom David spoke in Psalm 16.  David did not speak here of himself. He could not have referred to himself here.  Peter says that David died, and his tomb is there for all to see. And  moreover, David did not ascend to heaven (cf. Psalm 110:1àActs 2:34,35). No! David is speaking here  prophetically about His greater Son!  

(iv)            Acts 2:36 And to crown it all, Peter now reminds the crowd … so THIS is the ONE whom you crucified!

 The Response was profound (2:37)  

“When they heard this, the crowd was cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

Peter’s hearers were stunned at what they saw and heard.  

They were deeply convicted by Peter’s message. And they profoundly understood their corporate guilt in crucifying the Messiah!  The dread of God and all the consequences of their sin fell upon them. You hear it in their collective voice:  Brothers, what shall we do? 

This is true conviction. 

This is the work of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 16:8-11)

 2:38,39 : And Peter said, 

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call." 

 5 OBSERVATIONS

 1.     He calls them to repent – literally to turn around, to walk away from their sin and to walk into the arms of this Lord Jesus whom they had crucified. It represents a turning from the old life, embracing a new life under the rulership of Christ.

2.     He calls them to signify that repentance in baptism i.e. by immersion in water – that is its plainest meaning.   

    NOTICE THE ORDER! REPENT  and then BE BAPTISED 

For this reason, baptism ought not to be applied to infants or babies.  The reason for that is twofold:

(i)                 Infants are not yet capable of expressing repentance

(ii)              The idea of infant baptism by virtue of being born into a Christian family, and to be presented for baptism through the faith of a Christian parent is not taught at all in the New Testament. Rather this is inferred from the OT practice of infant circumcision. Those who defend the practice of infant baptism maintain that, just as in Israel circumcision was applied to eight-day-old infants, so in the church baptism should be applied to the infants of Christian parents.  

         But is this analogy credible? 

       We cannot disagree that there is a relationship between circumcision as a sign of belonging to the Old covenant community and baptism as a sign of belonging to the new covenant community.  

         However, there is also a great difference between these two signs

a. Circumcision was administered to all the physical sons of Abraham, who made up the physical Israel.

b. However, the baptism of the New Covenant is only administered to the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham, those who repent and are baptized by immersion.  

Paul makes it clear that this baptism does not automatically apply to every Jewish infant born into a Jewish household. No! He considers Abraham’s offspring as those who are “in Christ” ( see Gal. 3:29;  see vv. 23-29 for context). These who are baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27) are the true sons and daughters of Abraham – and as such accordingly they make up the Church. Galatians 3:7 says: "Know then that it is those of faith, who are the sons of Abraham (see context in Gal.  3:7-9)

 3.     He calls them to do this in the Name of Jesus Christ, whose atoning death would take away their sin. 

Baptism is identification with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. 

The picture is plain. Paul puts it like this in Romans 6:3,4: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life

4.     He calls them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit i.e. SALVATION.  

    The same Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin also directs us to the Saviour - He is Jesus  Christ our Lord.  PLEASE NOTE - This is not a series of steps –  receiving the Holy Spirit is not another step in  receiving the gift of salvation. This  is ONE work of SALVATION and these are the VITAL ingredients included in the 'package' of salvation 

5.     Peter urges not only them, but entire families to believe – even those who are “far off “ -  everyone, far or near, who hears and responds to the call of God.

 APPLICATION

 ·      Are you hearing the voice of Peter, speaking here by the inspiration of the            Holy Spirit, to your own heart?

·       Have you ever come to a point in your life where you have repented of your     sin, following which you have declared this by being  baptized by immersion   into Christ?

·       Some of you are not making any spiritual progress, because you have not       yet  obeyed these plain words.

·      AND THEN THIS: To become a church member is by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ ALONE. The sign of that entry should only be administered to those who believe ALONE. 

·         Those that are being  baptised  in accordance with this conviction are               therefore  saying to you:

o   I have believed in Jesus as my Saviour. I celebrate in baptism today the mighty work of God in my life.

o   I have repented and I have laid my sin burden at the foot of the cross.

o   I want to tell you (i.e. these witnesses here before me) that Jesus has died for me ... that I have been buried with Him… that I have been raised to newness of life in Christ.

o   I am saying to you that I am a son/ daughter of Abraham.

o   I belong to the new covenant community. Therefore, I must receive the sign of the new covenant community. This is not the old mark of the Jews, which was circumcision.  This is the new mark administered to all who profess true repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. This is my confession issued in water baptism - a pictorial statement proclaiming, “I have died with Christ, I have been buried with Christ; I have been raised with Christ”.  Jesus' disciples continued in this practice and baptized those who believed. To that end Jesus clearly commissioned His church at the end of his earthly ministry to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28:19). 

 This is the meaning of  of biblical covenantal baptism.  

 Amen.

 

ACTS 2:42-47 "THE MARKS OF A LIVING CHURCH"

 

If the church were forced to focus on the bare minimum- what would we do?

If  the church stripped away everything and just do the essentials, what would we do?

If the church had to make a choice between the good and the biblical, what would we keep on doing?

Our text in Acts 2:42-47 gives us an indication of what are essential and vital marks of a living church, loved by God, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of God. 

Following Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit, the Christian church comes into being. We immediately get an impression of the essential activities and responses which make a biblical church unique. As many were converted and baptised, these were added to the church (2:41),  the  immediate result was that the church began to organise itself in terms of  a commitment (i.e. they devoted themselves) to gather under the apostolic Word, a commitment to fellowship,  a commitment to  remember the Lord’s death in the Lord’s supper,  and a commitment to prayer. Here  then we see the essentials marks of a living church. 

(i)                 Regular apostolic teaching: The very first evidence of the Spirit’s presence in the church is that they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. He is the ultimate Communicator of the Word about Jesus. And the early apostles, chosen by Jesus were the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20). Thus, by the Spirit  and under the supervision of the early apostles, the teachings of Jesus were accurately recorded and passed on.  And so we find that this is still so today. The  primary activity  of the church remains  the proclamation of the  Word of God – both  in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  At the heart of the church’s  establishment is the Word of God!  And so they  devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.

(ii)  Regular fellowship: “They devoted themselves… to the fellowship” (Koinonia – ‘communion’, ‘sharing in common’).  Our fellowship  is expressed in  two ways:

a.      It expresses what we share in: We share in common God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 1 John 1:1-4  says that our fellowship (koinonia) is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.  The heart of what we share together is defined by the Bible. We have fellowship in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Our fellowship – our common experience is defined by the fact that we share Him! That is the key to genuine fellowship.

b.      It expresses what we share out together: The church is deeply involved in each other’s lives. One of the key expressions of this is that they would help those who were disadvantaged in their midst. There was great compassion! This follows the O.T. pattern where Israel was taught to have a strong level of concern of care for the poor (e.g. Micah 6:8). Christian fellowship is Christian caring, and Christian caring is Christian sharing. We must not try to evade the challenge of these verses.

(iii)     Regular participation in the Lord’s supper:  “They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and the prayers …”. They organised themselves to come together for the regular remembrance of the Lord’s death. The cross is where the church meets. The cross of Christ is our common experience - sinners saved by the grace of God. The cross of Jesus is our common ground.  The cross is that which brought us peace, with God and with one another.  Therefore the cross, the remembrance  of the  shed blood of Jesus is the symbol of our unity, and so every time we celebrate Communion, we are acknowledging our unity in Christ. We are one.

(iv)      Regular participation in the prayers.  The church had meetings for prayer all the time. We see this pattern in the book of Acts[1]. Illustratively then  we read in Acts 12:5-7: “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer  for him was made to God  by the church...and behold ,  an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the and woke him, saying’ Get up quickly’. And the chains fell off his hands.” The Puritan preacher, Thomas  Watson,   commented here astutely: The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer fetched the angel. By prayer the church reminds herself continually that her strength and help is from God. Prayer fetches God. Prayer says, “Look here Lord… help!”  … and we need so much help, don’t we,  in these  challenging days?    

 Now this organisation of the church   had a remarkable effect:

       (i)                 “awe came upon every soul” (2:43a)

 

       (ii)               “signs  and wonders were being done through the apostles” (2:43b) 

 

       (iii)              there was a culture of sharing (2:44,45)

 

       (iv)              there was a culture of worship and joy (2:46)  lit. exultation and sincerity of heart.” It is right in public worship to be dignified; it is unforgivable to be dull!  Our joy must be tempered by awe! When God was in their midst they knew it! And they bowed before Him in humility and wonder. The combination of joy and awe provides healthy balance in worship.  Also note  that the church  met both formally and informally  for fellowship and teaching i.e. in the temple  and in  each other’s homes (2:46),  which is an interesting combination, and I think that we need both today!

 

        (v)                there were regular conversions,  and  there was constant church growth (2:47)

 

a.       The Lord Himself did it: “the LORD added…. “ Yes, He did it through the preaching of the apostles, the witness of church members, through the witness of their common  life and common love for one another, but it is still by His power through them which He did it. “Salvation belongs to our God alone , This is such a much needed emphasis in a day when people speak of the work of salvation  as if it were all dependent upon human effort.

 

b.     The Lord added to their number!  The Lord saved them and then he added them to the church! Here is a solemn thought. God does not save us, without also placing us into a body. Salvation and church membership belong together. I would issue a simple challenge to you who say that you are Christians, but who have not committed themselves to the discipline of church membership.

 

c.  The Lord added daily!  The early church’s evangelism was not a sporadic or an occasional activity. They did not organise occasional evangelistic campaigns, and occasional mission trips! No! The life of the early church was evangelism and missions. Just as their worship was daily, so was their witness, and as their outreach was continuous, and  so converts were being added continuously.

 

d.       The Lord added those who were being saved!  The present participle emphasises that salvation is a progressive experience: we were saved … we are being saved … we shall be saved!

We note that this was winsome and contagious Christianity. “They were having favour with all the people”, notwithstanding the fact that very soon the enemy of the church would launch an all-out attack on them and scatter  them.

 
Today is a wonderful Sunday.

On this day we are experiencing much of what we read of here.

We are gathering around the Word and in prayer in the spirit of worship;  we are  gathering around the communion table; we are enjoying fellowship; we are  seeing people converted and baptised and received into the church; we are witnessing the sending out  of  our  missionaries.  And we are joyful!   

Thank God for Sundays and high days in which we have a taste  of what it was like for the  early church!

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[1] Acts 3:1;4:23-31; 12:5,12; 13:2,3; 14:23 ; 16:13,16

Acts 28:11-31 "The Last Word of the Book of Acts"

As we come to the final verses of the Acts of the Apostles we will find Paul finally in Rome. All this began in Acts 21:27ff when he was arrested in the temple in Jerusalem on charges of undermining the law and the temple and Caesar (25:8). He is saved from angry mob justice by a  Roman cohort in Jerusalem, and this begins a process  whereby  Paul is sent from Felix the Roman governor to  Festus another governor, under whom he makes this appeal to appear  before Caesar (25:11)  in Rome.

V. 11 Last time we saw him in Malta, the island where they ran aground in the shipwreck. Here   Paul and his entourage   stayed approximately from mid-November to about mid-February, whilst waiting out the storm season.  Eventually they had found a ship from Alexandria  that had  wintered in the island.  The ship had the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux, patron deities of sailors on her bow.  Luke probably records this intentionally. The pagan  sailors  would have attributed their rescue from the shipwreck  to these twin gods, but it is clear that these were not  the ones in whom Paul had put his trust. In 27:23-25 Paul has made it clear  who  his Protector and Deliverer is.

V. 12  After a  90 kilometre  journey north, the ship  lands in  Syracuse  the provincial capital city of Sicily,  at the tip of the boot of the Italian peninsula.  Here they stayed for three days. 

V. 13 From there they sailed on to Rhegium in southern Italy ,  another 110 kilometres further and from there,  with the south wind in their sails  they  arrived in Puteoli 2 days later,  and 325 km’s further. In Puteoli  they found some brothers and stayed with them for 7 days.  Isn’t this worldwide network of support and encouragement amazing?  This must have meant  that  the centurion  and guard must have given his consent.

v. 14 And now he is in Rome, through many dangers toils and snares ... ship wreck, snakebite  … This marks the  fulfilment of God's promise to Paul (23:11; 27:24).

v. 15   The way he got to  Rome from  Puteoli ( a 210 km  journey) there was on land. First  Paul made his way  about 30 kilometres  up the Via Compana to its intersection with the Via Appia, or the Appian Way.  The Forum of Appius  is about 70 km’s from Rome   and  some 16 km’s  further  was the place called the  three Taverns. At both these places Christian brothers from Rome, who had heard that Paul and the others were coming, came to meet him.  At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and took courage. Why?  This show of support was surely most encouraging  to Paul. He knows that he is in God’s hands, but it is also good to know that there are caring Christian  people, visible tokens  of the love of God. Furthermore Paul knew that the end of the long journey was now in  view. They  had met some significant obstacles.  So, when  with God's help, we achieve divinely appointed goals, the proper response is thankfulness to God.

v. 16  When Paul entered Rome  he  is  put under house arrest and  guarded by a soldier. At this stage he has considerable liberties.

28:17-22 Encounter with Jewish Leaders

v. 17 Three days after his  arrival, and  in accordance with his "to the Jew first" strategy, he called together the local  leaders of the Jews[1] .  It is estimated  that the Jewish community at Rome numbered  some fourty  to fifty thousand people, most  of them being Roman  slaves and freedmen. The names of ten to thirteen synagogues have been recovered from inscriptions in the catacombs[2]. As Paul began to speak he addressed his hearers as brothers. He saw each new audience of Jews as potentially containing some of the elect remnant who would hear and respond to the gospel.  This brief address to them contains four statements:

(i)               He is innocent before the Jews (28:17b, 19c). They can bring no sustainable charges against him, and he has none to bring against them. The Jews may have charged that Paul is working against the Jewish people and their customs, but the charges aren’t true because Paul was always working for his Jewish brothers (Rom 10:1). He always respected Jewish customs (21:23-24, 26).

(ii)              He is a prisoner of the Roman government and there are reasons for this (28:17c, 19b).  He was handed over[3] as a prisoner from Jerusalem to the Romans. He was forced to appeal to Caesar (v. 19; also see 25:11).

(iii)            Romans and Jews had  different opinions  toward Paul (28:18a, 19a). The Romans wanted  to release him. The Jews objected to Paul's release (25:3, 7). This situation is very similar to Jesus. 

(iv)             He was  not guilty of any crime deserving death (28:18). Paul is innocent before the Roman state (23:28-29; 25:25; 26:31-32).

V. 20  In this  verse Paul gets to the point.  He has been preparing the ground for the question, "so if you are innocent , then why are you here ?  And Paul answers, "Why am I here?  I am here because of the hope of Israel ...that is why  I am wearing this chain."  The Jewish leaders respond to Paul's statements by saying that they have heard nothing bad about Paul, whether by letter or by word of mouth.  What they do know however,  is that  this sect (Gr. haireseōs) which Paul represents  is spoken against everywhere (v.22). Clearly, Christianity was not viewed positively by them.  

28:23-28 Explaining the Gospel to the Jews 

v.23. The Jewish leaders  want to give Paul a fair hearing and so they agree upon a day. They arrive in force at his rented  lodgings (vv. 16, 30).  He expounded to them from morning till evening,  testifying  (Gk  diamartyromenos[4]-  23:11)  to  the kingdom of God and trying to convince them  about Jesus, both from  the law of Moses and the prophets. All this is just another way of saying that he was preaching the gospel to them with great intensity.

v. 24.The response to the message was mixed: some were convinced… but others disbelieved ( see this pattern also in 13:44-45; 14:1-2; 17:4-5).

vv. 25-27   Now to interpret this mixed response, Paul quotes from the Old Testament (Isa. 6:9-10). Paul takes the Jewish  Scriptures, given in a particular setting in Isaiah’s day, and he does not hesitate to apply this  to  these Romans  Jews. Isaiah in his day  spoke about  what happens when people hear  saving truth without appropriating it.  They  would  be  ever hearing but never understanding (compare the use of parables in  Lk. 8:10 with Isa. 6:9). Isaiah attributes this lack of understanding  to a hard heart, deaf ears , blind eyes. There is nothing defective or unclear in the message. The defect is  found in the audience's sinfulness. This sickness affects the heart (i.e. the willingness to be willing to hear and see) and the mind (whose  access is barred by faulty  hearing and seeing).     If they would but see with open  eyes, hear with open  ears,  and respond with  soft hearts, they would turn (repent)  and  God would heal them. The truth is  that  human sinfulness has made us so hard , so blind and so deaf that no –one would be saved. It takes a miracle, it take intervention from  God  to cure this condition.  

v. 28.  The gentiles will listen …. This is the third time Paul speaks of Jewish rejection and Gentile reception (13:46; 18:6).

28:30-31 The  Gospel is preached  for two years to all who wanted to hear  

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him, proclaiming the kingdom of God  and teaching about the  Lord Jesus Christ… This final summary statement  brings to conclusion the thesis  of the  Book of  Acts, in Acts 1:8,  that  ‘ you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria  and to the ends of the earth.  This also corresponds with Luke’s closing statements by Jesus  in   Luke 24:47.  That "repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [Jesus'] name to all nations" (Note in  Lk.24:45, Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures)  

And so we read that Paul was able to speak with boldness and "without hindrance" (akōlutōs).   This word points to the work of  a sovereign God whose saving plan, who  determined it that the gospel will be preached in Jesus' name to all nations, will not be hindered.

 SUMMARY

The Book of Acts traces the birth and phenomenal  growth of the church. At the beginning there were only a few hundred believers in Jesus Christ, and at the end, we can scarcely guess how many. Everywhere,  men, women and children  came  to believe in the Lord Jesus  Christ -   in Jerusalem, in Judea,  in Samaria, and also  among the gentile nations, which is where this book now abruptly ends.

The gospel advances despite much opposition. Persecution, beatings, death,  imprisonment, shipwrecks, snakebites all threatened the spread of the Gospel. So, too, did sinfulness and faithlessness within the church (e.g. Acts 5:1-11). However, in spite of all the opposition and difficulties this  account of  Luke indicates  that the Gospel will  spread  without hindrance. 

This is a principle of timeless application. The Gospel  spread  in an unhindered fashion in the early church (cf. 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20),  and  it does so now. The gospel did not cease to be proclaimed  when Paul was martyred. The future of the gospel  was not in Paul’s hands, but in God’s hands, and it is so   until this very day.  No-one can  stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel.

So, what does the Lord require of you, as you continue with  Acts 29, after the Gospel centered fashion  of the book of Acts, following in the footsteps of Paul ?

1.     Share the Gospel clearly and often.

2.     Do not worry too much about the outcome. You cannot save a soul. God alone can do that. You do not have to feel responsible for the salvation or damnation of anyone.

3.     Speak when it is given to you to do so, and do it  with all your heart and with a heart that loves the Lord Jesus  as well as the soul before you.

4.     Don't bully people into decisions. Let the Holy Spirit work.

5.     Be creative. Don’t  feel that you must share the Gospel in exactly the same way each time. Make sure that you know your Bible so that the Holy Spirit can bring the stored up  Word in you  to memory.  6.     Don't get into arguments. You don’t have to win an argument. You are already on the winning side. The Gospel is unhindered. So speak with confidence, urgency and love for this lost soul  before you. 

7.     Avoid developing an Elijah complex. You are not alone in  this gospel  work.

Regardless of how things may seem, the good news of the Gospel is, was, and always will be without hindrance. Jesus is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

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[1]  See 13:5, 14; 14:1; 16:13; 17:2, 10, 17; 18:4; 19:8

[2] http://www.catacombsociety.org/jewish-congregations-in-late-ancient-rome/

[3] Gk paradidomi

[4] emphasizes witnessing done with a high level of self-involvement, i.e. with strong personal interest motivating it. https://biblehub.com/greek/1263.htm