Wind & Fire Come Down to Earth Pt.2 “What Shall We Do?”

Last week we ended with the promise that, “it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(v.21, Joel 2:32) But what is his "name"?

1) The Call to the Risen Christ (v.22-35)

Peter preaches about "This Jesus"

In this section of his sermon, Peter takes makes it very great clear that the name of the Lord upon whom we must call is Jesus of Nazareth. This first part tells us quite a bit about him. As you read through these verses, I encourage you to make a list of the things it says about who Jesus is, what he is like, and what happened to him.

 ²² “Men of Israel, hear these words:

                    Jesus of Nazareth, 

                        a man attested to you

                                             by God with mighty works and

                                                                 wonders and

                                                                 signs

                                       that God did through him in your midst,                      

   as you yourselves know— ²³ 

             this Jesus,

         delivered up according to the definite plan

               and foreknowledge of God,

   you crucified and killed

                                  by the hands of lawless men. 

                                               ²⁴ God raised him up,

                                                          loosing the pangs of death,

                  because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 

²⁵ For David says concerning him,     [Quoting from Psalm 16:8-11]

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
²⁶ therefore    my heart was glad, and

                     my tongue rejoiced;
                     my flesh also will dwell in hope.
²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
                     or let your Holy One see corruption.
²⁸         You have made known to me the paths of life;
         you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

²⁹ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence

                                         about the patriarch David that

                                                     he both died and was buried,

                                              and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰ Being therefore a prophet,

         and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him

                              that he would set one of his descendants

                                                                on his throne, 

³¹            he foresaw and spoke about

                      the resurrection

                             of the Christ,

                                that he was not abandoned to Hades,

                           nor did his flesh see corruption. 

³² This Jesus God raised up, 

                                and of that we all are witnesses. 

³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God,

                         and having received from the Father 

                                                  the promise of the Holy Spirit, 

      he has poured out this

                          that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 

³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
³⁵     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ [Psalm 110:1]

In speaking about verse 22, I mentioned a good quote about the “mighty works and wonders and signs” by which God “attested” to Jesus. Here is that quote,

Three terms are used to describe the way in which this took place in the course of his ministry. There were miracles (dynameis, 'powers') or mighty works, signifying the operation of God's power or kingly rule through him (cf. Lk. 11:20). But these could also be called wonders (terata), because of the amazement they effected in the witnesses, and signs (semeia), because they pointed beyond themselves to the character of Jesus and the significance of his coming. (Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, 145)

Peter’s audience had certainly heard about these mighty works God had done through Jesus. Peter claims as much. We need to remember that the claims of Acts and the Gospels could have easily been disproved if they were not true. It was during a time when there was an abundance of eyewitnesses. Yet, the evidence pointed towards the truth of what they claim…that “this Jesus” was Lord! Here is a simple list of some of what this passage says about Jesus of Nazareth…

• v. 22 He was attested by God working through him in power
• v. 23 This Jesus, delivered up on schedule (according to plan) but what did they (and by extension humanity) do with him? “You crucified him.”
• v. 24 God raised him up since it was not possible for death to hold him.
• v. 31 He was foreseen By David
• v. 32 He was raised up by God and the 120 disciples speaking that morning were all witnesses.
• v. 33 He poured out the Holy Spirit
• v. 34 He is the “My Lord” of Psalm 110:1 which is the most quoted verse of the Old Testament in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus himself quoted it in Luke 20:41-44.
• v. 36 God made him both Lord and Christ!
• v. 36 This Jesus [is the same one] whom you crucified

Don’t miss Peter’s emphasis on “this Jesus” in making his appeal. The same Jesus who taught in their synagogues and healed the sick in their streets had died and been raised.

In church, we played the audio of a classic sermon excerpt, entitled “My King” by the late Dr. S.M. Lockridge, which was originally preached in 1976, fully 40 years ago. We used to listen to it at least once a year. Here is a link to the audio.

“Well I wonder…do you know him?” When we listen to this wonderful description of the Lord Jesus, perhaps we can relate to the dilemma the listeners faced that day.  

2) The Confrontation… Getting a clue; facing the facts  (v.36)

   Let all the house of Israel therefore

                                       know for certain that God

         has made him both Lord and Christ,

    this Jesus whom you crucified.”

There is a scene in Disney’s The Kid  (perhaps the only Bruce Willis movie without shooting or explosions) where Willis’ obnoxious character Russ Duritz realizes that he has to go to someone he had mistreated to find the answer to his own problem. At one point she says, “Can I get a warm-up on my coffee while he is getting a clue?” Well, that morning in Jerusalem there was a whole crowd of people “getting a clue!”

Let me also say that this passage does not give any support to anti-Semitic claims (Most, if not all, of the 120 speakers were Jewish). It is clear that Jew and Gentile alike, all the world collectively, and each of us as an individual are responsible for Jesus’ death!  What that first audience had going for them was a conviction, which led them to ask a faith question instead of finding someone else to blame.

3) Their Conviction (v. 37)

    Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart,

and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,

“Brothers, what shall we do?” 

When I read this I can almost hear the “Oh crud! We are so busted!” To learn that Jesus was God's plan for their salvation…but that they had rejected and killed him, would be brutal news. Think about Isaiah’s reaction after he realized that he was in the presence of God but was not sinless. He cried out “Woe is me! I am utterly undone!” (Isaiah 6) On Pentecost, the crowd reacted much the same that morning long ago. Oh, that we were “cut to the heart” more than we are. It seems that we are a culture that has turned denial of personal responsibility into a profession and a form of performance art! If you don’t believe me just take a moment to read the patronizing safety instructions on everything!

But there would be good news for the crowd that day… Peter answered their question.

4) The Change Jesus Brings (v. 38-41)

   And Peter said to them, 

     “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. 

   For the promise is for you and 

                                 for your children and

                                 for all who are far off,

                                      everyone 

                                        whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 

⁴⁰ And with many other words

                                he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, 

                            “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 

God’s promise of salvation in Christ was not just for Jewish people long ago. Certainly, it came through the Jews but it was for all the world. I will discuss the specific command of “repent and be baptized” below, but here I want to clear up the phrase, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” We often get this wrong. Only Jesus can save us. What this means is that we have to "make a break with the generation…and call on Christ!" A.T. Robertson summed it up, "Be ye saved!"

5) The Conclusion—the Church did some Math (v.41)

    So those who received his word were baptized,

                              and there were added that day

                                                          about three thousand souls.

Why do I say the church had to “do some math?” Because they “added” 3000 souls that day. In saying this I am fulfilling my promise for another “Dad joke” this week. I also challenged the kids in the congregation to do the math and tell me how many people were a part of the church as of Acts 2:41. Are you smarter than them?

The crowd's question “What shall we do?” is a good one for us to ask as well. Jesus took our sin upon himself making eternal life available for us so we should:

1. Repent.

Repentance is a complete change of mind resulting in a change of direction. It is not merely external/behavioral, but internal and relational. Repentance involves sorrow for sin…our old way of life is no longer what we glory in. In repentance, we are relationally turning back to our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit! It is important that we realize that we don’t repent in order to be forgiven, but because we have been forgiven in the death and resurrection of Christ. We love him because he first loved us!

2. Be Baptized.

“Baptism” is a Greek word that has been given English letters without translation. So what does it mean? The nuances in the original language include both immersion (like a sunken ship) and identification. I have to ask myself the question, “In what am I immersed?  With what, or whom, am I primarily identified? For the nation of Israel, it was the Exodus event. In fact, 1 Cor. 10:2 says, “they all were baptized into Moses at the Red Sea” but this is not our defining moment. Christians are defined by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is about our declaration, identification, and obedience:

• Declaration—We are saying something.  In baptism, we are declaring that we are dead to sin and alive to Christ.  We are making public our decision to submit to Christ and to leave behind the sinful things of the past.  We are saying that we have determined that because of Christ's finished work on the cross, we will no longer allow sin to reign over us, but instead will submit our lives to Christ, actively living for Him. In baptism, we are immersed in Christ!
• Identification—We are relating to Someone.  In baptism, we are identifying ourselves with the Savior, in both his death and his resurrection. In going down into the water we identify with the death and burial of Christ. In coming up out of the water we identify with the resurrection of Christ. We are saying that if there is going to be any distinguishing feature, any recognizable traits in our life, it will be that people recognize by our life and our words that we are followers of Jesus!
• Obedience—We are following Someone.  In baptism, we are obeying God's Word, beginning our life with Christ in an appropriate way.  We are commanded to be baptized; Jesus has given us an example to follow.  In being baptized as a profession of our faith in Christ, we are beginning to walk with the Lord as we ought. Until we begin to do the basic things he has told us all to do, how can we have confidence in any kind of specific/personal leading from the Lord?

3. Receive the promise of the Spirit and of salvation to all who call on the Lord Jesus!

• God comes to live within us through the Holy Spirit.
• He forgives us of our sins, something we could never do for ourselves.
• He empowers us to live faithfully unto God and each other.

Do you know him today? If you have never asked Jesus to forgive your sins and to be the Lord of your life, you can do so today. And if you do, make sure you tell someone!

If you haven’t been baptized and want to declare God’s work in your life, identify with him, and obey his commands I suggest that you talk to your pastor about it as soon as possible!