Well let us turn again to the
Word of God in the portion that we read in Acts chapter 2 and
I want to direct you this morning to the words that we find at
the end of Peter's sermon, that remarkable sermon that he preached
on the occasion and the consequence of his preaching The portion
that I want us to turn to is found here in verses 36 through
40. In Acts chapter 2, reading from
verse 36 through 40. The Apostle concludes his sermon,
he says, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. And 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? 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. For the promise
is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many
other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation." You may recall that last Lord's
Day morning we were considering those words in 1st Timothy chapter
2 and verses 6 and 7 and there also we have mention of testimony just as we have here in verse
40 in Acts chapter 2 that passage then that we looked at last time
concerning the Lord Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all
Paul says to be testified in due time where unto I am ordained
a preacher and an apostle I speak the truth in Christ and lie not
a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. And last time as we looked at
that particular portion we considered something then of the of the
testimony of the Gospel the day in which we're living, the dispensation
of the Gospel or the administration of the Holy Spirit because that
testimony is brought to pass ultimately by this remarkable
event that we read of in the second chapter of the Acts, the
descent of the Spirit and that anointing that was upon the ministry
and the testimony of Peter and all the other apostles and in
due time it would be the case also of course with Paul who
was to become the great apostle to the Gentiles. And so this
morning I want to say something with regards to this apostolic
ministry, this apostolic preaching The sermon, of course, is recounted
in some detail, although it's only an outline, really, of what
Peter said on that occasion, as we see from the opening words
of verse 40, with many other words that he testifies and exhorts. But it's interesting looking
at the outline that we have here. and we see how it is divided
it seems into about three sections and each of those sections begins
with a personal address the sermon really begins at the
14th verse where we're told how Peter stood
up with the other apostles, the other 10 really or I suppose we would
say it was really 11 because Judah's
place had been filled now by Matthias so there were again
12 apostles but they're all associated with the ministry and the message
that Peter is about to announce and he begins with that personal
address Shemen of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem and
then we have the opening section in which he is quoting really
the passage from Joel, the prophet Joel and the fulfillment of those
things that were spoken in the second chapter of Joel's prophecy
and then having announced his text as it were he again makes
a personal address at verse 22, ye men of Israel hear these words
and he begins then to speak of Jesus of Nazareth and then again
at verse 29 having made reference also to the language of David
in the psalm he says men and brethren let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David we see there now as he proceeds
with his sermon, he is time and again appealing to the Old Testament
Scriptures for his authority, he's expounding really the Word
of God. And as I said I want us this
morning to consider something of this apostolic preaching. Firstly to look at the content
of the preaching, and then in the second place to say something
with regards to the manner in which this message is being declared. Well, what is the content? As I said, Peter is really preaching
from the Scriptures. He's appealing to the Word of
God as we have it back in the Old Testament Scriptures. Verses
16 through 21 are a long quotation taken from the book of Joel. And then, as I said, here in
the words previous to verse 28, verses 25, 26, and 27, he quotes
now from a passage in Psalm 16. And then again, he makes another
reference to the Psalms when he quotes from David and David's
writings in Psalm 110 verses 34 and 35 he makes mention how
David himself said the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right
hand until I make thy foes thy footstool He is preaching then
here the Word of God. He is not simply expressing his
own opinions. What he has to say is rooted
and grounded in the Scriptures of truth. And that is the mark
in many ways, is it not, of the apostolic gospel. Of course,
these men are being inspired by the Spirit and we know that
They are those who are responsible, really, for the writings of what
we now have as the New Testament Scriptures, which has the same
authority, really, as all that we find contained in the Old
Testament. But look at the content of what
this man is preaching. He is preaching the Law of God,
but he is also proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. in a very solemn manner, preaches
the law to these Jews. That was their great boast, of
course, that they had the Torah. God had given his law to Israel
by his servant Moses. The great boast of the Jew was
that they had that law that was God's law and When we read of
the ministry of the prophets in the Old Testament, they are
continually appealing, aren't they, to the Lord of Moses and
seeking to apply that law to the nation of Israel. Isaiah
says to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, there is no light in them. And so what does Peter
do? Well, he preaches the law, he
preaches very much the Sixth Commandment. He lays a charge
against these Jews who are now gathered together for the great
Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, as it's sometimes called. And see how he charges them.
In verse 23 he says, Ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain." Oh yes, it was all in accordance with God's eternal
purpose that the Christ must come and live and die and die
for sinners, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. But they're culpable of murdering
the Son of God. He has taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain and then in a sense he repeats
the charge as we come to the end of the sermon there in verse
36 let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath
made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and
Christ you crucified him you put him to death you broke the
commandment of God, God says thou shalt not kill thou shalt
do no murder and that was the very thing that you had done
you had demanded the death of an innocent man why on three
separate occasions his human judge Pontius Pilate had declared
to the Jewish mob I find no fault in him he was an innocent man
and this is the message that is being preached And remember
what John says in that first general epistle. No murderer
at eternal life abiding in him. These are murderers. Is there
any hope that they could know the forgiveness of sin and peace
with God and the gift of eternal life? No murderer at eternal
life abiding in him. What is this man doing? He is
preaching. And he is preaching the Lord of God. But that is
necessary really, if there is going to be a faithful ministry
of God's words. There must be a proclamation
of the law. It is administration of condemnation. It's administration of death
by the law. It's the knowledge of sin. Remember what another apostle
Paul says there in Romans 3.19, we know that what thing soever
the law saith it said to them who are under the law that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God this is what Peter is preaching for that these people might be
brought to that sense of the conviction of their sin they
were the ones who had crucified the Lord of glory but we surely
we must recognize that we also had some some parts in that awful
event, the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. And I think it's
remarkable how Joseph Hart brings that solemn truth out in that
long hymn 153, in two parts, and he's speaking there of the
passion, the death of the Lord Jesus. And in the second part,
verses 7 and 8 the Jews with thorns his temples crowned and
lashed him when his hands were bound but thorns and knotted
whips and bands by us were furnished to their hands they nailed him
to the accursed tree they did my brethren so did we the soldier
pierced his sight is true but we have pierced him through and
through or when God brings us to that realization Why was it
that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered such a cruel death upon the cross?
Why was that one who knew no sin made sin? It was in order
that there might be the forgiveness of sins to those who were the
guilty. He died in the room instead of guilty sinners. Even as many
as the Father had given to Him in that eternal covenant, He
willingly came. and having loved his own unto
the end, how he loved them, even to that bitter death of the cross.
Oh, there is then here the preaching of the Lord of Gods, and how
necessary that we see the significance of that by the law, the knowledge
of sin. Again, Paul can write in the
Galatian Epistle concerning that ministry of the Lord, Galatians
3.23, before faith came we were kept under the law, he says,
shut up to the faith which would afterward be revealed. Wherefore
the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might
be justified by faith. Oh, there is a ministry of the
law and it is something quite distinct from the ministry of
the gospel and do we not see it really in the ministry of
the Lord Jesus Christ himself Christ preached law, Christ preached
gospel also and in times past we've looked at that in the content
of the 10th chapter in the gospel according to Saint Mark where
Christ speaks of two individuals who come to him or Mark I should
say speaks of two individuals who come to the Lord Jesus Christ
he speaks of the rich young ruler there in Mark chapter 10 at verse
17 through 22 we read of this young man who comes and he's
very respectful in the way in which he speaks to the Lord Jesus
He calls him good master. Good master, what shall I do? Matthew says, what good thing?
What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? He speaks of doing, you see.
And how does the law address him? Well the law addresses him
in terms of the law. He says to him, thou knowest
the commandments. do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour thy father
and thy mother. And the man says, all these have
I observed." Well, this man is very much looking to himself
and his own deeds, his obedience of the Lord. He's very respectful
in the way in which he turns to Christ and addresses Him,
as I said, but strangely the Lord rebukes him. and says, why
call us and me good? There is none good but one, that
is God. He doesn't recognize who this
person is. This is the Messiah, this is
the Christ of God, this is the Savior of sinners. He's still
looking to himself. He doesn't recognize that God
is now manifesting the flesh as that one who for his people
will obey all the commandments and establish a righteousness
to justify them and die that cruel death on the cross. And
so the Lord deals with him in terms of the state he's in. He needs to be brought to realize
that the ministry of the law is a ministration of condemnation.
That there's no salvation in anything that the sinner can
do. And then strangely at the end of the same chapter we read
of another man. Blind Bartimaeus the beggar.
And how different, how different his approach Now he cries out,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Very different,
you see, to the rich young ruler. He imagines he can do some good
deeds to justify himself. This man cries out for mercy
and addresses Jesus, not just as good master, but as he is
the Son of David, the Promised One, the Messiah, the Christ,
the Son of God. And what does the Lord say to
this man at the end? Go thy way, thy faith hath made
thee whole. Or as it has it in Matthew's
account, thy faith hath saved thee. There is a difference.
There is a difference. As Martin Luther rightly observes, the offices of the law and of
the gospel are quite distinct. And I think we see it really
in that quaint poetry of John Berridge. I do love the hymns
of Berridge. I know the language is quaint
at times, but the precious truths that that man brings out in his
own way. We sang those words, didn't we? Run, run and work, the law commands. It finds me neither feet nor
hands. the sweeter news the gospel brings
it bids me fly and lends me wings well there's the difference put
so quietly by dear John Berry there is a gospel and it's different
to the law and here is Peter and he preaches law yes but he
also preaches gospel he preaches the gospel throughout the sermon
He speaks, doesn't he, of the gospel day, the great day of
the gospel. He's quoting, as we said there,
from the prophecy of Joel. And in the course of that quotation
that we read, does he not speak, Joel, quite clearly of the day
of grace, which shall come to pass in the last days. set God, verse 17, the last days. This is the day in which we're
living. This is the gospel dispensation. And John also speaks of it as
the great and notable day of the Lord. Oh, it's the great
day of grace. a most notable epoch in all of
human history, the Day of Grace. And what a day it is, because
it's that day wherein salvation is proclaimed freely to sinners. Verse 21, "...it shall come to
pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved." He's preaching the Gospel. And in preaching the
Gospel, of course, he must speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is in Christ that the Gospel altogether centers the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The humiliation in order to the
salvation of sinners. You remember how Paul speaks
of him being in the form of God, making himself of no reputation,
taking upon him the form of a servant, being found in the likeness of
man. And here in verse 22, Who is
it that Peter proclaims Jesus of Nazareth, a man? Oh, it's
God manifest in the flesh, it's the man. The man Christ Jesus. The wonder of his person. He
thought it not, probably, to be equal with God. He is equal with God. It's not something
he must grasp after. But he makes himself of no reputation,
he becomes a servant of God. in terms of the outworking of
the great covenant of grace and so he takes upon him the form
of a man Jesus of Nazareth a man and then all that work that the
Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished being found in fashion as a man
he humbles himself and becomes obedient unto death even the
death of the cross and here is Peter as we have seen declaring
his death Now these Jews had actually put him to death, although
they did not do the deed, it was not in their power, they
had no authority to condemn a man to death, but they demanded that
of the Roman authorities. And so Christ was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. He made that great sin
atoning sacrifice. But not only the humiliation of his work and
all that it costs to fulfill all righteousness not only to
live a righteous life but also to make atonement for the sins
of his people that their sins might be altogether blotted out
but also his exaltation all his blessed exaltation Verse 32, this Jesus hath God
raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Oh God hath highly
exalted him and given him that name which is above every name. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead. This is what Peter is preaching.
You see, what we find throughout the Acts of the Apostles is men,
they preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Isn't that the
great message of Paul in chapter 17 where we see him at Athens,
amidst all the great minds, the great philosophers of the ancient
Greeks, and he preaches unto them Jesus and the resurrection?
This is a vindication of Christ, how the Father has raised Him
from the dead, and risen now He has ascended on high. The
psalmist says, Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast received gifts
from men. Yea, for the rebellious also,
and how, writing to the Ephesians, Paul takes up those words of
Psalm 68 and makes it clear that this is Christ that he's being
spoken of. He has received gifts from men.
What are the gifts? not just the gift of salvation,
but also the way whereby that salvation might be brought into
the soul of the sinner and become a blessed reality. Him hath God exalted with His
right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, we read in chapter
5 and verse 31. The Lord Jesus is exalted, a
Prince, a Saviour to give repentance to Israel. and the forgiveness
of sins. These are the gifts he has received.
He gives repentance. He gives faith. He gives faith. As Paul says in Hebrews 12, we
are to be looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. If we want to know salvation,
we must know that evangelical repentance, that saving faith.
And it's a gift. of God. It's what Christ Himself
has procured, purchased by His death upon the cross. What is
the Gospel? It's the great promise of God. Verse 39, the promise is unto
you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. How can we define the Gospel? You know, there is a sense in
which When we try to define the gospel, we best do so by speaking
of the promise of God. Whereas the law says, do and
live, the gospel says, live. It's a communication of life.
And as the life is communicated, so the deed is done. And all these promises of God,
all they center in Christ, and they're all yay and amen in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Yay and amen, not yay and nay. There's a consistency here. Salvation is evidently of the
Lord. And we're to look to Him. Oh,
we're to look to Him. Look unto me, He says, and be
ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God. and there is none else. And what does the psalmist do?
He says, from the ends of the earth will I look unto the earth. When my heart is overwhelmed
within me, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Or to
learn then from the experience of the psalmist there in Psalm
61 and to cry to God from the ends of the earth and to look
to that rock that is higher than we are, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the content then of the message that is being proclaimed.
Yes, he preaches law, he charges them with transgression of the
sixth commandment, but he preaches Christ. And in Christ the forgiveness
of sins, because Christ has died for a purpose, even to save sinners. But let us, before we close,
just say a little with regards to the manner of the preaching. Three things we can observe with
the manner. The preaching is pointed, it
is authoritative, and it is urgent. Let's just observe those three
things. How pointed it was. We see it here in verse 37, when
they heard this, They were pricked in their heart. Oh, how the word
pierces their very souls, the word of God, quick and powerful,
sharper than a two-edged sword piercing to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit. It's a discern of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. And how they felt it, you see.
It penetrates. The Spirit is in the Word that's
being preached. It brings conviction into their
souls. They realize what they've done.
They're guilty before God. And so what do they do? They
cry out. They were pricked in their heart, and they said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do? If we're guilty of this awful
crime, We're the murderers of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ,
the Son of God. What shall we do? Now in a sense,
in a sense, are they not here running to the Lord of God? They think there's something
to be done. We see the same in chapter 16
with regards to the Philippian jailer. who had been so cruel
in his treatment of Paul and Silas, putting them into the
inner prison, making their feet fast in the stocks. But when
there's that remarkable deliverance granted to the apostles, now
the money's brought to the place of conviction. And what does
he say? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What must I do? You see, when
sinners are awakened, they tend to do that. They immediately
think of, surely I've got to make amends, there's something
for me to do. Now men fly straight off to a covenant
of works. And there's a sense in which
they do that, but there's more than that, surely, in what they're
crying out, what must What must we do? What can we
do? Is there a sense of helplessness
here? They know not what to do. And
this is the case, surely, when the Lord begins to deal with
the sinner. The Lord will bring that man
to the end of himself. when Paul writes to the Corinthians
there in the opening chapter of that second letter he says
we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not
trust in ourselves but in God that raises the dead the Lord
God turns a man to destruction the Lord has to bring us to that
the end of ourselves and we have to learn that hard lesson all
we can do We can do nothing really. We cannot help ourselves, we
cannot save ourselves. We have that sentence of death.
Every mouth is stopped by the law of God. All are brought in
guilty. But what do we see there? Their
state is helpless, but is there not here a willingness to submit
to the authority of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. They ask these
men. They ask these men what they've
got to do. They speak to Peter and the rest
of the Apostles it says. Men and brethren, what shall
we do? And then Peter tells them, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. He speaks to them of the necessity
then of repentance. It's the same message really
that the Lord Jesus Christ preached. Remember the opening chapter
of Mark where unlike the other synoptic Gospels where we have
some account of the the nativity, the birth of the Lord Jesus.
In Mark, of course, we are immediately introduced into his public ministry. After that John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God, saying, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repentance! And believe
the gospel. That was the Lord's own message.
Repentance. And what is that repentance that
the Lord is proclaiming? Well, it's real repentance. What we might term evangelical
repentance. It's not just remorse. It's not
something that centers in self. But it centers more especially
in God. We read of godly sorrow that
work as repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. The sorrow
of the world works death, just to feel sorry for myself. No,
it's a repentance that centers in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus. It's not what we read in the
sad case of Esau. Remember we a mention of Esau,
and I think naturally we feel some sympathy for that poor man. His brother Jacob was the usurper,
but Jacob was the man who had the grace of God. Jacob have
I loved, says God. Esau have I hated. And what do
we read concerning him? Mentions made there in Hebrews
12, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who
for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, he despised the birthright
for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited
the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance
though he sought it carefully with tears. Oh God deliver us
from any Might we know that repentance
that is evangelical, real, it centers in Christ. Godly sorrow
over such a gracious Sager who makes so willingly that remarkable
sacrifice when he gives himself to the death of the cross in
order to save sinners. Repent, says the Apostle, repent
And the force of that word, we've said this many many times, it's
one of those Greek words that's a combination really of two words.
And we might literally therefore translate it as change of mind. It's the word mind, but a change
of mind. But it is such a great fundamental
change of mind. It's a turning about. It's a life that has been turned
upside down and inside out. It's a fundamental change. There's
a difference here. And then, to be baptized, it says. Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins. John's baptism, of course, was
a baptism of repentance and it's a continuation in many ways of
John's baptism, but it's now baptism in the name of Jesus
Christ. It's Christian baptism. It's
Christian baptism that he's speaking of. It's that baptism that the Lord
himself speaks of at the end of his ministry. Remember the
closing words of Matthew's Gospel. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you, and I am with you until the end of the
world. It's a Trinitarian baptism. It's
baptism in the name, a name in singular there, And what is the
name of God? Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And it's a baptism associated
with the remission of sins. That's a great word, isn't it?
Remission. And it has the idea of something
being center-wide, separation. Why the sins are removed from
the sinner as far as the East is from the West. Infinitum. North and South, of course, are
specific points, aren't they? The North and the South. But
once you start moving in an easterly direction, you move in that direction
forever and ever and ever. Or the opposite, if you go West,
you're always travelling West. You go North and you arrive at
the North Pole, then you begin to travel South. How wonderful
the Word of God is, you see. It doesn't say our sins are removed
from us as far as the north is from the south. But as far as
the east is from the west. They're gone! And they're buried
in the very depths of the sea. With all that great promise of
the Holy Spirit here. It is the Spirit who comes, it
is the Spirit who must work that great work of regeneration, the
gift of the Holy Ghost. It has been well said that this
is the sum of all Gospel blessings. And that's the day in which we're
living. The administration of the Spirit, we sought to say
something of that last time. And here it is, the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost was
fully calm they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and
it filled all the house where they were sitting then there
appeared unto them clove and tongues like as of fire and sat
it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost and the evidence of that they could speak languages
that they never learned the wonder of it, it's the gospel, it's
the gospel now it's not just for the Jew it's going out to
all peoples and of course we know subsequently there is a
second Pentecost really in the 10th chapter because there we
have Peter at the house of Cornelius the Roman centurion and there were those of the Jews,
the circumcision, who were with him At the end of Acts chapter
10, when while Peter gets bathed, these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision
which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any
man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which
have received the Holy Ghost? as well as we and he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord then prayed they him to tarry
certain days all that's that blessed gift then of God the
Holy Spirit when he comes in all that quickening
power and brings life to those who are dead in trespasses and
sins and that's what's happening here In the opening chapter we read
the number of the disciples after the death of Christ was 120.
And now suddenly 3,000 in one day. What a glorious appearing
of the Spirit. And with what authority these
men are able to speak. Peter tells them what they are
to do. Repent and be baptized. in the name of Jesus Christ,
he says. But there's an urgency also in
the manner of his preaching. Verse 40, "...with many other
words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from
this on towards generation." they are to look to it they are
to be diligent in their crying to God they are calling upon
God they are attending to this message that is being proclaimed
they are to receive it in all humility receive with meekness
the engrafted work that is able to save the soul and so we read
the consequence how they gladly receive Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls. And now they continue
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking
of bread, and in prayers. Oh, that we might know such a
gracious visitation of the Spirit in our day! Another mighty effusion
and outpouring from on high, the Spirit descending, sinners
being converted. Oh, the Lord be pleasing to grant
that we might yet be favored to witness such a day when that
blessed Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is shed abroad in the
hearts of sinners. Oh, the Lord be pleased to bless
His word to us today. Let us sing our concluding praise. I'm going to sing the hymn 113. Who but the soul that's led to
know how just and holy is the law will to the cross of Christ
prepare and seek salvation only there. The hymn 113. and 13. The tune is Williams 436.