Welcome
Prayer
Acts 2.38
Milk
October 11th 2015
I want to introduce something new to our Gatherings here at CAMPUS.
It was a suggestion from Mary quite a while ago and it has taken some time for me to implement it but let’s start today.
What I’d like to do is take the passages we are going to sing and read them, then take thirty seconds to explain a bit about them and their context before we sing them.
This will add only one or two minutes to our time together but I think it might lend to a more attentive and meaningful approach to the Word set to music.
Today we are singing:
SING
SILENCE
Okay, we have been in Acts chapter 2 for two months.
As a quick review, the place is Jerusalem, the time of year is the Day of Pentecost, a Jewish Holy Day where all male Jews 12 and older were required to attend – no matter where they were living at the time.
Jesus has been resurrected and has ascended into the clouds. His apostles and 120 of His followers have gathered there – the location unknown.
Suddenly the Holy Spirit fell upon them in a mighty way – entered them – their hearts, cleansed by faith in the shed blood and life of Jesus the Messiah.
So overpowering was this experience that a crowd of more than three thousand Jews gathered – some of them suggesting that they were drunk.
Peter stood up and preached to them. In his preaching He claimed Jesus as Lord, explained that they were witnesses of His miracles and His overcoming the grave.
Calling them brethren he told them they had put Jesus to death but that death could not hold Him.
Then he explained that what they were witnessing was spoken of by their prophet Joel.
He used King David as a comparison to prove the Lordship and Messiahship of Jesus even over him.
And he wrapped all of this up, reiterating in verse 36:
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
I want to point something out here. We have just spent two months studying what? WORDS – specifically the inspired Words of Luke. And what did Luke describe for us? The Words of Peter. And what Word was Peter using? The Words of God through the Holy Spirit to convince them.
First, Peter quoted Words recorded in the Old Testament and then put them together in a presentation of His own WORDS that he delivered so they may hear.
Hear what? The combination of WORDS from scripture, from him and from the Holy Spirit.
And from these WORDS Peter spoke, something was formed or created in them – in these devout hearers – a reason to believe. A justification for faith. Evidences that moved them to commit.
For reasons unknown to us, God, in His relationship with the human world, has made the use of Words to convey truth, to express His person, to convert the heart of unbelievers, to heal people, to bless them.
Paul said clearly in Romans 10:13-15
“For whosoever shall call (words) upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? (what do we hear? Words) and how shall they hear without a preacher? (what does a preacher do? Speaks Words) and how shall they preach (with Words), except they be sent?
So important are WORDS that Jesus sent the Apostles out to preach because it is by the preaching of Words that people believe, are then changed by His grace through the Spirit, become new creatures in Christ, and whose lives are altered forevermore.
I happen to think that this is the means God does things through us, and has us reach others, because it is through Word that He does things. Maybe even all things.
Remember all the way back to the creation in Genesis 1:3 we read
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one plac . . .”
Psalm 148:5 says:
Let them praise the name of the LORD (YAHWAY): for He commanded, and they were created.
His Word – the Word from Yahway’s “mouth” creates, gives life, altars form, regenerates corruption. Last week we read (at the end of our gathering) Psalm 33:6 which says:
“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”
In the New Testament, speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote in Colossians 1:16
“For by Him (the Word) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
Of course we know the first words in John’s Gospel –
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
(then to verse 14)
14 And the Word (of God, I would add) was made flesh . . . (beat)
. . . and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Listen . . . hang with me . . .
God’s Word – “spoken” (and/or) “which became flesh and dwelled among us” is eternal. It has always been and it will ever be.
This word made flesh has saved us from sin and forever reconciled us to the living God.
According to Psalm 138 “God magnifies His Word above His own name.”
Isaiah 55:11, speaking of His word says:
“it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
People often apply that passage to His written word spoken and preached. I also assign it to His Word made flesh, that condescending below all things, when God said:
“it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
I believe he is speaking of Christ.
Note that God said His word “would not return void” and in Genesis, God saw the void, spoke, and things came to be – His word not coming back empty handed.
When “His Word became flesh and dwelled among us” we know He did not return void to His Father either.
Now the words we speak, by the Spirit, which was sent to testify of Him, will not return void either when shared!
Finally, scripture says His words never pass away. Jesus said, “heaven and earth would pass away but my words would never pass away.”
This is what we have happening here in Acts 2. Peter is speaking WORDS of God, which testify of Jesus, and from them we are about to witness Peter’s words from God NOT returning void but were going to create something altogether new in the hearts of those who heard.
New creations. New earthly lives. New eternities once it took hold.
My job as a pastor, according to the emphasis of scripture is to feed those who come here, the sheep.
What am I required to feed you? The Word of God. Everything else is superfluous.
If you look around you the art on the wall depicts scenes from the Word. There are passages from the Word, and our music is from the Word.
We are singing the Word of God which when it gets inside does not return void.
We could supply you with extremely emotional music that plays to your senses. We know this. I personally come from a family background saturate in almost every form of music.
But my job is NOT to tickle your ears. It’s to feed you the Word because His Word will NOT return void.
And so, after he finished SPEAKING WORDS, Luke tells us what the results of Peter’s Words were on the crowd . . . and we read (picking it up at verse 37)
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We have a lot to talk about.
Verse 37 –
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
We have to note that Peter didn’t threaten these men with hell to convince them. Neither did he beat them to death with the fact of their sins.
He simply pointed out historically and through empirical evidence who Jesus was and then twice reminded what they (as a people and possibly even as individuals) did to Him.
And when the message got through, Luke says:
“They were pricked in their heart.”
The word translated to “were pricked,”
is “katanooso” and it isn’t found anywhere else in the New Testament.
It means to pierce through thoroughly, painfully – either with a genuinely sharp instrument or with grief or remorse. In either case the pain would be sudden and deep.
I have had a lot of time and experience speaking with people about receiving Jesus, accepting Christianity, embracing the faith, etc.
For many, Christianity has been an act of simply accepting the intellectual ideas of the faith – that Jesus was born, did miracles, lived perfectly, died, and rose again. You know, the story.
“By faith I accept this,” they say.
But I have witnessed an enormous difference between this type of conversion and the type that come by people with a “hatanooso (pricked) heart.”
In fact, when I meet with people who are experiencing a distancing between themselves and Jesus or have never really truly connected to Him the problem typically lies in a dysfunctional view of who they are (and what they have done to Him) and who He is (His love, His power, His glory).
Again, in my opinion, when people don’t sense or are lacking a deep connection to Christ it is usually the result of some sort of disconnect between how they view themselves and how they view Him.
Here in Acts 2 Peter has plainly shown these Jews who Jesus is – “The Lord, the Savior, a miracle worker sent by God who was so holy death (the grave) could NOT hold Him bound” and then he additionally made it plain what they did to Him – they killed him.
This caused an immediate “katanooso” – they were riddled with sharp painful grief over their actions, in the heart.
This is the grief I experienced and expressed to you a few weeks ago when I lost faith in God to see me through our situation. It was an acute anguish over my faithlessness.
Today, when people truly understand that their sin – great or small – killed the One Himself God sent to save them, the result is “katanooso.”
When people either don’t see themselves as sinful, when they think they are all that, when they think they aren’t so bad AND/OR they think God is not so holy, or Jesus is not so great after all there’s often a disconnect and rarely a pierced heart or katanooso.
No katanooso, then little respect, little gratitude, and little to no relationship.
Here in Acts 2 it was as if someone took an extremely sharp two edged sword and plunged it into the individual chests of these devout men – this would be the physical comparison to what they were experiencing spiritually.
And at that moment – BEFORE GOD WHOM THEY REVERED AND SOUGHT – they realized their guilt AND His innocence. That combo is key to a “heart-rendering” conversion.
Show me someone who either does not see themselves as guilt before God and/or someone who does not see God as holy light that cannot stand sin in the least and I will show you someone who does not comprehend “katanooso” . . . and therefore someone who will “struggle” with Christianity or their faith.
In response to their anguish, and as a sign that they trusted in the Word’s Peter had said, they (one or some) said:
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Prior, it’s possible that some of these same men were mocking them as being drunk but now there is a respectful attitude and a plea for direction –
“What shall we do?”
Now, I want to explain something here before I address their question. We are about to approach a major fork in the road.
Thus far, and even in the face of this question of “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” we have been – Jew and Gentile, traveling down the same narrated road shoulder to shoulder.
We have all been (as it were) preached to by Peter to the point were we may have been “pricked in the heart” too – because we have realize our sin and contribution to the death of the Messiah.
But to this question, “What shall WE do?” we now split the road we are on because what Peter, who was sent to the House of Israel, tells or instructs “them to do” is something that Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles – to us, does not do.
This is EXTREMELY important to understand IF you are interested in learning to understand the New Testament.
In other words we would make a grant error in reading what Peter says to these men and then assign it to ourselves today, gentiles reading the Word.
This is where context in our study of the word plays such an important role. So important that I would take Joseph Smith’s words on the Bible and change them to say:
“We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is read contextually.”
This situation right here proves this point more than true. Why? Because is we, today – any non-Jew, really – just reads Peter’s response to these devout Jews, ignoring context and purpose for him saying what he has said, ignoring that Peter was sent to the Jews FOR A REASON and ignoring that Paul was sent to all the rest of the world for a reason, then the passage will be wrongly applied.
In other words, what Peter says to HIS audience is not what Paul would say to us today. His is a very different situation and we need to remember this as we traverse through these passages.
However, many of the elements of what Peter does say continue to apply to us but in an entirely different way and reason.
So having been “pricked in their hearts” these devout Jews, who lived the Law of Moses (so much that they had traveled from all over the place to be in Jerusalem at that time asked,
“Men and brethren, (you witnesses of Jesus resurrection) what shall we do?”
They had been convicted of a crime – putting the Messiah to death.
What can we do to . . .
Be forgiven?
Escape the wrath and judgment of God?
To essentially, be saved!
Remember these devout Jews lived by the Law and the Prophets. They understood “doing” (as in “What shall we DO) really well. Everything about their religious life orbited around “doing.”
And Peter, sent to them had something that they needed to do – repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
We are going to talk about the first two points here:
“Repenting and being baptized”
This won’t be the only time the question is asked, What shall I do?”
We have another example (actually in this very Book of Acts chapter six) when Paul was blinded and then confronted by Jesus and he (Paul, being a devout Jew) asked the same question of the Lord:
“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
And he was given specific instructions on what he was supposed to do. So here, in response to their question Peter says:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Now how many of you have heard that in order for a person to be accepted by God everyone must also follow this model – repent, then be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you would receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost?
I have.
Both in (and out) of the LDS faith I have heard this taught as all through the Christian faith this is the clarion call to people. Most of it is the result of this passage being wrongly applied because people forget who Peter was talking to and why.
So let’s see what happens when Paul (the apostle called to NON-JEWS) is asked the same question, “What should I or we do?”
In Acts chapter 16 we read the story. We begin with Paul and a man named Silas who have been placed in jail.
Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.”
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Did you notice a difference between Peter’s reply to the question and Paul’s?
First, where Peter said, “Repent,” Paul doesn’t even mention it. And second, Peter says, “Be baptized for the remission of sins,” but again Paul does not tie that action to his response either!
ALL PAUL SAYS IS, “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED,” (AND THY HOUSE – a point we will discuss when we study Acts 16.
In fact, you want something amazing, Paul – in all of his New Testament epistles never employs the word repent to believers any of his letters.
The only time repent is used is in
2nd Corinthians 7:8 where he writes:
“For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent.”
The only time repented is used is in 2nd Corinthians 12:21 he says:
“And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.”
And then there are eight times where he uses repentance (which gentiles do certainly participate in but not as a precursor to salvation in the Old Testament sense).
How are we to understand all of this? Let’s begin with Peter’s words.
He was speaking to the House of Israel who were under the covenantal Law of God. They had been promised the Messiah and had not only dismissed Him, they had Him killed.
So Peter, having clearly explained to them who Jesus in this speech to them, tells them to repent – change their minds – about who Jesus was – “accept Him as the Messiah.”
The word repent in the Greek is METANOEO. Noeo means the exercise of the mind and meta describes something “in the midst of” or “with,” so METANOEO means, “with the exercise of the mind.”
These devout men’s minds, to some extent or another, accepted the fate of their Messiah. Peter says, “Repent from this – with the exercise of your minds move to faith in Him rather than a stance of indifference toward or an actual rejection against Him.”
You see, they had something as a Nation to change their minds about. They had been promised the Messiah. Peter quoted passages about His coming. But they rejected Him.
“Change your minds about Him.”
Now, I have a question for you. Were the gentiles under the Law? Nope. Just our conscience.
Were we as a people group promised a Messiah in an ancient book like the Old Testament?
Nope. We had nothing – not even a relationship with God. We were strangers and foreigners to God.
So we do not FIRST repent we simply first believe – on the story, on the Words shared about Him, on His existence and His deity.
Now, the House of Israel first believed too. Those here at Pentecost “believed” the words of Peter and then they asked him what do we do? And Peter’s response was, “Repent for rejecting your promised Messiah.”
But the jailer had to believe – that’s it, Paul said (or we would have to consider him a liar) – “believe and you will be saved.”
This is why Paul writes that we are saved by grace through faith and NOT we are saved by grace through faith and repentence.
Just believe and you will be saved.
Now, do gentiles have to repent? They do. But it comes hand in hand with belief.
Think of it this way – (and I’ve talked about this before) before any repenting comes into play, we first believe.
Upon the hearts true belief we are gifted with what I’ll call the“coin of salvation.”
On the one side of the coin – the head side – it says “believe” and on the otherside – the tails side, it says “repent” – they come or arrive at the same time! How so?
Because when we believe that Jesus is Lord, that He is Savior, that He was sent by God, that He is God with us, and that He was raised from the dead – when we believe this from the heart we will simulataneously repent (change our minds) about how we see Him AND how we see ourselves before Him!
Get it?
The moment you or I believe on Jesus we have repented – changed our minds! That’s why on the other side of the coin of faith repentance automatically exists.
This is how faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin called salvation. And this occurs by and through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The order for the Jew is
Repent
Be baptized
Receive the Holy Spirit
And the order for the gentile is
Believe and Receive the Holy Spirit (or, if you’re a Calvinist
receive the Holy Spirit and Believe
(repentance is automatic by such)
Be baptized
Do NOT make the mistake of thinking that before a person can become a Christian they have to “repent of their sins” (in order) “to be clean” (in order) “to be forgiven” (in order) “to be baptized” (in order) “to be saved.”
That is the result of people reading this account, ignoring context, and assigning what they read to themselves.
It’s pure religion.
After telling them to repent, Peter says:
“ . . . and be baptized every one of you” (in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins . . .)
Let’s cover the line, “and be baptized every one of you” now and we’ll cover (“in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”) next week.
Here is another big one because at this point religious people today will scream –
“You see! You see! We have to repent AND be baptized for the remission of sins.
This passage PROVES that baptism washes away sins and is mandatory for being saved and for receiving the Holy Spirit.”
It is an interesting point and just reading these words it seems like that argument hold “water” (pun intended).
Go with me back to Paul and the jailer. Remember how Paul answered the man when he asked, “What shall I do?” He said, “Believe on the Son of God and you shall be saved.”
And then we read afterward:
2 And (then after saying this) they (Paul and Silas) spake unto him (the Jailer) the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
First they told him to believe on Jesus.
THEN they taught Him the Gospel by the WORD of the Lord (once he believed) then read the next verse:
33 And he (the jailor) took them the same hour of the night (Paul and Silas), and washed their stripes (which were inflicted on them the night before); and was baptized,(the jailor) he and all his, straightway.
Are Christians baptized? Certainly. It is a wonderful outward expression of an inward faith. But it does NOT (in ANYWAY) saves us, wash away sins, or introduce the Holy Spirit to our hearts.
There is a very tricky but revealing passage in 1st Peter that seems to say the opposite if not read entirely.
There Peter has been speaking of the eight people on Noah’s Ark and the water that saved them from wickedness. And then Peter writes, speaking of baptismal water, says:
“The like figure (water) whereunto even baptism doth also now save us!
At this point it seems like water baptism saves us. But remember two things – Peter was writing to Jews – that was his call. And in connection to all their history and all their demands, water baptism played a different role at the beginning.
Nevertheless listen to what Peter adds after saying this – “not that the water puts away of the filth of the flesh, (instead, he adds, but water baptism is the) “answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
All I’ve done is give you a biblical view to understand repentance and water baptism in the whole of the New Testament and not just from the Day of Pentecost narrative.
I know it’s a lot but the subtle differences are important to believers today.
Relative to baptism, Paul, (in 1st Corinthians says), “He thanks God I didn’t do much of it” – the inference being, “It is NOT what saves, but that he spent his time preaching “the Gospel” proving that water baptism is NOT part of the Good News.
Even to the Jews, who told to partake in water baptism by Peter here were not being baptized to save themselves or “to put away the filth of the flesh.” They were being baptized because they first believed, as did it as an outward sign of having BEEN saved.
We know this from the Greek. Let me explain. When Peter says to them,
“Repent . . . and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins . . .”
The Word “FOR” (as in, “for the remission of sins) in the Greek can either be a word that means, “In order to receive a remission of sins” or it is a word that means, “as a result of having received a remission of sins.”
One is “causal” (“In order to receive a remission of sins” and one is “resultant” (because you have received a remission of sins).
Here the word is resultant – “Repent and be baptized BECAUSE you, who have been pierced to the heart and have asked, “What should we do,” HAVE RECEIVED A REMISSION OF YOUR SINS.”
Is that radical or what?!
And this is why we baptize people today. NOT for them to join a church, not to make them a member of anything, and especially NOT to attempt to wash away their sins (scripture says that only the blood of Jesus can perform such an act and it is applied by faith).
It’s because those who submit to it are publicly acknowledging that they have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, in their heart – which means they have and will repent (change their mind) from former views BY the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It is a means of identification. And for the Jews in that day to accept it was for many a death sentence – to either their life as they knew it or to their literal life itself.
Why?
They were being identified with a man who was weeks earlier crucified or to many with a criminal, a lawbreaker, and a heretic.
We are going to witness some water baptisms this morning. There are all sorts of symbolisms tied to them in scripture.
In the New Testament water baptism in many ways replaces circumcision of old.
In the New Testament water baptism was a way of being identified with Christ – like fabric being dyed.
In the New Testament water baptism is described as being buried with Christ and then rising to New Life.
But bottom line those being baptized are publicly saying to the world around them:
I am identifying myself with Jesus Christ.
Like circumcision of Old it is an outward expression of an inward identity. I am submitting to being “buried with Christ and when I come out of the water I am calling myself His – before all who witness it.
Q and A
Let’s go outside.
