Transcript
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
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? And 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. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Not a year ago last April our newspaper has carried the report of a mountain church in the area of Newport Tennessee that had discovered a new way to test the faith of its members. The members of this particular church had already become accustomed to testing their faith by picking up serpents and by drinking poison. The pastor of the church, a man by the name of the student actually kept three copperheads and three rattlesnakes in his four room cabin in boxes where he lived with his wife and five small children. On Wednesday nights Saturday nights and on Sunday nights these boxes were brought to the church. And if any of the members of the church felt that they had the date to do so the boxes were opened so that they might handle the serpents. Some of the members of the church occasionally drank poison. And on a recent Saturday night both the brother of the pastor and the assistant pastor had died bringing strict calm. But now the church had found a new way to test the faith of its members. Someone had given a proform picture and in the light of Hebrews chapter 11 which spoke of faith that quenched the violence of fire it had been decided that blow torches would be used to test the faith of the membership and that it would be applied to the face and arms of those who had been anointed with the holy oil. I suspect that I speak for everybody in this audience that we are horrified and disgusted that anybody should ever suppose that God would want his people to test their faith that way. And we are appalled and rightly so that the work of the Holy Spirit should ever be associated with activity like this. And yet is it not true? Is it not true that one subject on which there is deep confusion widespread is the subject of the person and work of the Holy Spirit? Though I’m assuming that in a well taught Bible believing church like this one is that we all understand the Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Godhead. One God revealed in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead that means that He is God. And that He has always existed from the very beginning of the Bible. From the very first chapter of the Bible we see the activity of the Holy Spirit. As in creation He moved upon the face of the waters. Down through the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was active in the life and experience of God’s people. The prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit. In 2 Peter they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And like David realized the importance the presence of the Holy Spirit. At the time of his great sin he prayed that God would not take the Holy Spirit from him. And very particularly it is important for us to understand that in every age when men were born again this was always the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again.
But having said that let me remind you of something that we’ve been saying more than once on the past couple of Wednesday nights. To be born again by the Holy Spirit is not the same thing as receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. When people were confronted with the Lord Jesus Christ as he was here upon earth and when they trusted him as Savior even while he was here upon earth the work of the Holy Spirit was performed in their heart imparting life.
Jesus said, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation. But is passed out of death into life.
And so at the very moment of faith even while Jesus was upon earth the Spirit of God imparted eternal life to everyone who believed in Him. But the gift of the Holy Spirit as we know was not yet given. God is very clear about this. The Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. And it was only after the Lord Jesus Christ went back to heaven. It was only after He was glorified at the right hand of God. It was only then that He received from God that special gift of the Holy Spirit which then was poured out into the lives and experiences of men in a fresh and entirely new and unique way. And it is the gift of the Holy Spirit, not the experience of the gift of the Holy Spirit, that creates the church and that takes individuals and baptizes them into the church. It makes them members of the body of Christ. And it is this special unique new ministry of the Holy Spirit that the apostle Peter is talking about in his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost. And he is telling his audience of Jewish people that the Jesus who was crucified so recently among them has now gone back to heaven. That He has received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. And that what these people now see and hear is the evidence of the outpoured gift of the Holy Spirit of God. So the Holy Spirit had now come to do a special work that He had never done before. And that leads me to ask if there is anyone in the audience who happened to get married on their birthday? Is there anybody like that? Would you raise your hand if your wedding day fell on your birthday? Nobody in the audience. I suppose it has happened somewhere to someone. When I was a little boy I always used to think it was unfortunate if a person’s birthday fell on the 25th of December. Because to me that always meant that you would get one present instead of two. And I was personally very very grateful that my own birthday was separated by about six months from Christmas Day. And I always figured that if someone had to shell out some money to get your birthday present they could always double their fortune by the time Christmas came and give me another nice present. My own brother happens to have his birthday on the 4th of December. I have to confess to you that even to this day when I think about getting my brother a present I have to consider my Christmas budget. And there have been times that I’ve got a special big present at Christmas that covered his birthday too. A little unfortunate that your birthday is on Christmas Day. But on the other hand it seems to me that it would be a very nice thing to be married on your birthday. That seems to me to be appropriate. Because what two events of normal human life and experience are more important than birth and marriage? And as I say although there is no one in this audience who has had that experience probably somewhere sometime it has actually happened. Listen carefully. For you and me our spiritual birth occurs on the same day and at the same moment in time as our spiritual wedding. Or you see it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us into the family of God by new birth. And when you and I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that takes place at the moment of faith. But so does something else at that same moment. The Holy Spirit joins us to Christ in His body. And that is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ which is best compared to marriage.
Remember the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 7, Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Wonderful as it is to be a member of the family of God and that is wonderful. It is I think even more wonderful to be so intimately related to the Lord Jesus Christ that there is a deep spiritual union between ourselves and him created by the Holy Spirit which is so intimate that the best human analogy to it is the experience of marriage. And out of that deep intimacy with him fruit can be born. And for you and for me our spiritual birth and our spiritual wedding occur at the very same moment. But now even if it did happen that you were married on your birthday no one I presume would confuse being born with being married. Nor should we confuse these things when we are thinking in the spiritual realm. And although for us these things occur at the very same moment in our experience it does not follow from this that they should always have occurred at the very same moment. And in fact they did not. Last week we were looking at the experience of the apostle Paul. And we discovered that evidently the apostle Paul was a man who was born again when he met the risen Lord Jesus Christ in His risen glory on the road to Damascus. And yet there is reason to believe that Paul did not receive the Holy Spirit until three days later. We discovered last week he did not receive the forgiveness of sins until three days later. Or three days after he had been saved in the sense that he had been born again. Three days after his new birth Ananias came to him and said, “Brother Saul, receive thy sight.” Paul, what are you waiting for? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord. Now we are not told in so many words exactly when it was that he received the Holy Spirit. But we are given a very good clue. When Ananias comes to Saul in Damascus he also says to Saul according to Acts chapter 9, “The Lord Jesus has sent me to you that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” It is quite true that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not the same thing as being baptized with the Holy Spirit. And on the day of Pentecost the filling of the Holy Spirit was one of the evidences that the baptizing work of the Spirit had taken place. We are probably therefore to draw the conclusion that although the apostle Paul was born again on the road to Damascus it was only after Ananias came to him that he not only received the forgiveness of sins but also received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus his birthday and his spiritual union with Christ were separated by three days. If you have been with me thus far you will be prepared for what I want to suggest next. If the spiritual birthday of a man and his spiritual union to Christ can be separated by three days it is certainly conceivable that these two things might occur on the same day but not at the same moment. They might occur on the same day but not at the same moment of time. And that is what we actually see in Acts chapter 2. The apostle Peter throws his name service with conclusion where they reply you’re like thrust at the guilt of his order and he says that all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. And the cut went to many of the people in Peter’s audience were convicted. To Peter and to the other apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And then the apostle Peter speaks the verse that has been controversial for many many years. Acts 2:38. Look at it again. I’m sure you’re familiar with it.
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 as I said to you when I first began to speak on this particular series it is quite possible that you have friends or acquaintances who are members of the Church of Christ. If you do and if you have ever had conversation with them on religious subjects you will probably know that they believe very strongly that a man cannot go to heaven unless he has been baptized. And the chances are excellent that if they quote a verse the verse that they have quoted is Acts 2:38. “Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” Now I am perfectly aware that in our circles a number of explanations which purport to explain how the verse does not really say that it is necessary to be baptized for the remission of sins. But personally to be quite honest with you I have never found any of those explanations to be satisfactory. I am aware for example that some people wish to retranslate the verse though the verse says be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ because of the remission of sins. I’ve been reading Greek for quite a long time. I must tell you that it is my personal conviction that there is no good reason on the basis of the Greek language to translate the verse in that way. I’m very much impressed by the fact that two of our very recent modern versions published by conservative scholars the New American Standard and the New International Version continue to translate the verse in exactly the same sense that we have right here in the King James. “Be baptized for the remission of sins.” I would like therefore to lay down a very simple statement to begin with about this verse. This verse means exactly what it says. And the cause of truth will never be served by trying to take over the Scripture and twist it so that it does not say what apparently it clearly means. This verse obviously says that those who were listening to Peter needed to repent and be baptized. Then they could receive the forgiveness of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You say you’re agreeing with the Church of Christ? No I’m not. I would like to suggest two things that I would address to those who hold the view as it is held in the Church of Christ. The first thing that I would like to say is this. While it is perfectly true that Peter says to this audience you have to be baptized for the remission of sins it is equally true that in the book of Acts he speaks to another audience and offers forgiveness of sins and says nothing about baptism. I think it was the household of Cornelius. And obviously when Peter came to the household of Cornelius he was not even thinking of baptizing when he got into his sermon. He offered Cornelius and those who were with Cornelius a forgiveness of sins unrelated to baptism with water. Remember he says, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” But while he was saying this the Holy Spirit, much to the surprise of everybody, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles. And it was only after that that he thought of baptism. He turned to the others who were with him, “Who can forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” Now it is evident from this story that the apostle Peter while offering the forgiveness of sins to Cornelius and his friends was not making water baptism a condition. What I would want to say first of all to you is very simply this. It is not possible on the basis of the book of Acts to lift out Acts 2:38 and to say that the experience of Acts 2:38 is the experience that we need every place in the book of Acts. Because that plainly is not true. And I would want to further ask them where in the book of Acts or in the rest of the Scripture do we have any Gentile confronted with the demand that he be baptized before he is saved? Where in the Word of God are Gentiles told that they must be baptized in order to have their sins forgiven? The answer to this question is nowhere. And therefore the Church of Christ to begin with is not allowing the entirety of the book of Acts to instruct them in their doctrine. For the second thing that I would like to say let me ask you this. What does Acts 2:38 say about eternal life? Someone give me the answer to that. Nothing. Nothing. Acts 2:38 says nothing about eternal life. I’m very well convinced that many of you in this audience are very much accustomed to making a very strong and close identification between eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. So strong an identification in reality you almost think of them as two sides of the same coin. Am I correct in saying that that is the way we frequently think about these two things? Now listen carefully. If you make that kind of an identification if you make that kind of an identification you wind up making this verse say that the hearers of Peter had to be baptized in order to be regenerated. In other words you wind up with baptismal regeneration. And the problem that we face in understanding this verse ironically is exactly the same problem that the Church of Christ faces. We are making an equivalence between two things that the Bible does not make equivalent. We are making new birth equivalent or at least part and parcel of the experience of the forgiveness of sins. And that is why the Church of Christ reads this as though it was impossible to have eternal life without baptism. And that is why we want to read it in such a way as to make baptism unnecessary. The problem is the same at full faith. But we just remind ourselves the Gospel of John was written that men might have eternal life. Do you recall how many times the Gospel of John refers to the forgiveness of sins? As I mentioned earlier in the series far as I know there’s only one. And I think I can safely say to you that you can read the Gospel of John from beginning to end you will never find a single verse that equates eternal life with the forgiveness of sins. Not one. Why not? And our problem therefore is that we are making a quick identification between new birth and the forgiveness of sins that creates a difficulty that ought not to exist. Because Acts 2:38 says absolutely nothing about the conditions for eternal life. Absolutely none. So the question might be raised when did the people who heard Peter get eternal life? When were they born again? May I suggest what I think must have been the case. They must have been born again the moment they repented. They must have been born again the moment they repented. Now here I want to say a word about repentance once again to an audience like this. And I know you’ve had an awful lot of excellent teaching. I probably can safely assume that most of you understand that even though we often talk about repentance as though it basically involved remorse sorrow for sin that in the New Testament the Greek word that is translated repentance means basically to change one’s mind to change one’s point of view to change one’s attitude toward something or someone. When we change our mind radically that may bring remorse with it but the basic idea of repentance in the New Testament is a change of attitude. And whenever we meet the word repent in the New Testament we will have to examine in the context of the passage what is it that people are being called upon to change their attitude about. And in this passage what is it that people are being called upon to change their attitude about? I think the answer is obvious. Peter has concluded his message by saying that all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. You have had a wrong attitude toward Jesus. You have treated Him like a criminal. You have treated Him like an impostor. You’ve treated Him like a blasphemer. You caused Him to be crucified. But that’s not what God thinks of Him. The one that you crucified God made Lord and Christ. Change your mind. Change your attitude toward Jesus. May I suggest to you that when they did and accepted the fact that Jesus was Lord and Christ at that moment they were born again.
The Bible says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
The Bible also says,
These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his name.
And there are no exceptions to this anywhere in the Bible. Wherever the Bible lays down for us the condition by which we may hear and now receive eternal life that condition is faith. If you will keep that and not allow an identification with the idea of forgiveness of sins to confuse the issue then I think it will be obvious that for the Jews on the day of Pentecost the moment they changed their thinking about Jesus and accepted the fact that He was Christ at that moment they were born into the family of God. That was their birth. But their union with Him in the church did not occur immediately. First they had to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Then they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Moreover over the years it has been my privilege as a preacher to marry quite a few young couples. And you know that all of the young couples that I have married I have never yet married a fellow and a girl who were in the process of having a quarrel when they walked down the aisle. I have married some very nervous fellows. I clearly remember one marriage that I performed. A couple of minutes after the ceremony the groom fainted and he had to be revived on the spot. I really didn’t blame him because you know I have sometimes thought if I were to ever get married after the ceremony I realized that all the wonderful years of bachelor freedom were over I might faint myself. Excuse me ladies what I really meant to say when I realized that no more TV dinners the rest of my life then I would have married some nervous nervous public. But never a quarreling one. Because if a fellow and girl are quarreling just before their marriage usually they are pulling it all together. Won’t you listen very carefully to this? God had a special form with the Jewish people. He was willing to bring them into His family by simple faith in Christ just as He has always been willing. But God was not willing to allow these people to come back into fellowship with Him and to be united in this deep spiritual union with the Lord Jesus Christ until the quarrel was settled. What was the quarrel? The people who lived in Jerusalem and in the land of Palestine who traveled there from time to time for the feasts had a very special and unique offering before the Lord Jesus had appeared on the scene. God had sent to Israel to the land of Israel the greatest of all of His real prophets. Among those born of women there is not a greater. And it was John’s special responsibility to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. And he did this through baptism. John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. People came to John. They went down into the waters of baptism confessing their sins. John was trying to get them ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ when he came. When Jesus was introduced to Israel he was introduced through the medium of John’s baptism. Then Jesus began to baptize. Not Jesus personally of course but his disciples. And for three and a half years the Jews of Israel had been confronted with the testimony of God being presented to them through two baptizers. First of all John the Baptist. That is I believe that when at the end of those three and a half years the Jewish people rejected the Lord Jesus but turned him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified they were rejecting His ministry and testimony. They were rejecting His ministry and testimony of John the Baptist. They were rejecting the baptizing ministries that had been going on for those three and a half years. That was God’s special form. God is saying in effect to the Jews on the day of Pentecost before I will allow you to come back into harmony with myself and enter my church you go back to square one. Go back to square one. That baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Then God was willing to roll them not only into an ordinary fellowship with Him but into an extraordinary fellowship through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And for these Jews their birthday and their spiritual wedding they occurred on the same day but not at the same moment. I want you to notice how in the sequel that follows Acts 2:38 we can see these things if we really look for them. Look at verse 41. Then they that gladly received his word. That was obviously their repentance with the acceptance of the message. And it would be obviously at this point that they receive life. As then they that gladly received his word were baptized and it would be at this point they received remission of sins. But then notice and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. What was this? Look down at verse 47. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. You see it. First they received the new birth. They received life. But that is always a regenerating experience. What is the word of the gospel? Then they were baptized and for these Jews that was the moment they came back into harmony with the God whose Son they had crucified. But that same day not at the original moment the same day they were added to the church by the Holy Spirit. For you and me our experience is the experience of Cornelius and those in Cornelius’ household. These three things happen to us at one and the same moment. But for these Jews they happened on the same day but not at the same moment. Many centuries ago Cyrus the Great the Persian conqueror invaded the land to the east of the Caspian Sea. For the land of the Massagetae and was ruled over at that time by a queen named Tomyris. Initially he was successful in defeating some of Tomyris’ army and he slaughtered a good many of them and took captives. And among the captives that he took was the son of Tomyris. The son of Tomyris heard when it happened. She sent a message to Cyrus and this was her message. O bloodthirsty Cyrus he said don’t be lifted up with pride because of what you have done. Take some advice from me. Return my son. Get out of this land. Because if you do not I swear by the sun as you have been thirsty for blood I will give you your fill of blood. Cyrus not unsurprisingly neglected that warning and ignored it. To make matters worse while he was holding the son of Tomyris captive the son managed to take his own life. At dawn the news of all this reached Tomyris and she massed all of her forces and attacked the Persian army. And the Greek historian Herodotus tells us that it was a fierce and critical battle between the Scythian people and the Persians. But when the battle was over and the dust of conflict had settled it was the Persians who were defeated and Cyrus the Great lay dead on the battle field. Then Tomyris did something that to our modern ears sounds very horrid gruesome. It was really rather mild compared to some of the trimming over the battlefield. Looking for the body of the Persian and when she found that body she took a sack of blood put it over him. Then she said to the dead form of Cyrus I have defeated you but you have defeated me. But you destroyed my son. Therefore I have done to you what I promised. I’ve given you your fill of blood. Listen when the Jews crucified the Son of God to death and His blood shed they were inviting the vengeance of a blackboard. I can scarcely remember anything in all of human history more terrible than the words they uttered outside Pilate’s judgment hall. His blood be on us and on our children. Though the patience of God waited a long time eventually they were overtaken by a bloody wrath. The judgment of God fell on that nation in seventy A.D. But the wonderful thing is that God did not really want that. He wanted to extend forgiveness. And I think there is a danger when we are considering Acts 2:38 from the standpoint of the problems it seems to present that we shall forget the real impact of this. The tremendous mercy that God is extending to the Jewish people. They have crucified His beloved Son and He says to them all that I’m asking you to do is change your mind about Him and accept baptism in the name of my Son. I’ll have fellowship with the murderers of your Son. I’ll even give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. Bring you into my church. That is marvelous grace. While it is perfectly true the experience of these Jews is a little bit different than the experience that you and I have when we trust Christ nevertheless the basis of it all is exactly the same. Blood was shed. And when a Jew saved on the day of Pentecost gets to heaven along with the Gentile saved in the household of Cornelius and along with the Gentile saved in Politan Baptist Church we will all be singing exactly the same song. Precious precious blood shed on Calvary. Shed for rebels. Shed for me. But my gracious by sinning people who committed the most horrible crime in all of the annals of human history for our understanding of the wonderful mercy that you have extended although we are reminded that we too are desperate needy sinners. That we too have come into the haven of mercy. It was open to us by the cross. So we are one with these our Jewish brethren with all men everywhere who place faith in thy Son. We thank thee for yet what the blood shed on the cross for the grace so richly abundantly at least to us both of this we ask that we might so live to reflect the reality of His grace in our lives that others may be drawn by our bodies to the same Savior. The people but we ask it in Christ’s name. And now once again since I finished just a little bit early I would be most happy to entertain questions from the floor and try to clarify things that they wish to ask about anything that you would like to raise. My waiver question the answer that must be no but that must be explained in the terms that I have tried to present. Give his assent at me. I think that’s an excellent question. That they once again view some of the things that I’ve said about Paul. First of all I have said that as far as I can tell from the Bible the crucial issue that decides whether we go to heaven or to hell is the issue of whether we have eternal life. And in the final judgment you may remember when we read Revelation chapter 20 the deciding factor was whosoever’s name not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now the basic issue therefore between God and man in terms of eternal destiny is the issue of whether a man has been born again and is a part of the family of God. If he is then that God receives him forever. If he is not his name is not in the book of life and destiny as I could now. That is why I have tried to also suggest to you that the forgiveness of sins is basically the removal of sin as any kind of a barrier between ourselves and God permitting us therefore as children of God to have fellowship. And here I want to illustrate again. I want to refer again to the fact that even after we are saved have an initial experience of forgiveness of sins it is obvious that we need forgiveness of sins day by day. If I as a Christian I have a fellowship with God with sins unconfessed that does not affect my eternal salvation for the simple reason that I am a part of the family of God who has eternal life. I would suggest therefore that when these individuals repented and therefore received eternal life if they had died before they were baptized which I don’t think was the case any of these people but if they had in theory their experience would have been no different than the experience of the Christian who dies out of fellowship. Except that these people would not have experienced the forgiveness of any of their sins. I realize that this is the area in which this concept becomes very difficult to follow. And I must admit... [the audio ends here].