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Introduction:
We refer to the fifth book of our New Testament as The
Acts of the Apostles. However, take note of Acts
1:1-2, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about
all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was
taken up to heaven...” The Gospel
According to Luke was about all that Jesus began to do. The
implication is this second account (Acts)
is about what Jesus continued to do after He was taken up to
heaven. Granted this work was by the Holy Spirit, through the
apostles. Yet, when we read what was happening in the early days
of Christ’s church, we are seeing the work of the Lord. The
apostles and the early churches were His tools, but it was,
nevertheless, Christ working. We must understand this because
today is to be no different. We, as a local church and as
individual Christians, are to be the tools of Christ. However, the
only way we can be those tools is by following in the footsteps of
those whose deeds have been recorded as examples for us. From Acts we recognize the greatest work we accomplish is converting the
lost to Jesus. While Acts
contains examples of worship and work for the church, the greatest
examples of Christ’s work are the repeated demonstrations of the
lost being saved. If we want Christ to work through us in saving
the lost, we need to learn from these exemplary conversions. What
better place to start than with the first account of conversions
on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after our Lord’s resurrection,
recorded in Acts
2 when about 3000 souls were added to Christ’s church? Discussion: I.
Our lives must attract the attention of those around us. A.
How can we deny that the great impact of the gospel began
with the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit as seen in Acts
2:1-12? What would have happened if the apostles had just
stayed in their “one place” and simply taught the gospel to
each other? While the Spirit did not miraculously save anyone, the
great display of spiritual gifts caused people to look and listen. B.
What do we learn from this? We need to be doing attracting
attention. While many churches today are selling out to the social
gospel, striving to attract attention through welfare programs,
social outreach or entertainment, I believe we should still rely
on the Holy Spirit to attract attention.
Granted, there will be no displays of miraculous gifts,
speaking in tongues, healing or miraculous prophesying. Those
works of the Spirit were used during a specific time of the
church’s infancy and He no longer attracts attention through
those means (cf. I
Corinthians 13:8-13). Rather, we must shine the light of
Jesus through our lives, causing others to glorify God (Matthew
5:14-16). We accomplish this by living out the fruit of
the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, that is walking according to
the Spirit’s rule (Galatians
5:22-25). When we live by the Spirit’s guidance, the
Spirit, through our lives, will attract the attention of the
unbelievers causing them to listen to God’s message. II.
We will always have detractors. A.
While in Acts
2:12 many were amazed and wondered what the miraculous
display of the Spirit meant, some refused to be impressed with it
mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine” (Acts
2:13). B.
Even when we display the fruit of the Spirit, there will be
detractors. We must understand this. I am afraid some brethren
today want us to hold out for some kind of universal popularity.
They believe there is some way for us to live and teach that will
cause everyone to like us and no one to hate us. That just won’t
work. You would think that the people who lived by the beatitudes
of Matthew
5:3-9 would be universally loved. However, these same ones
are the persecuted of Matthew
5:10-12. We just need to come to grips with it. Some
people just aren’t going to like us and they will even mock and
falsely accuse us. III.
Don’t sugarcoat the need for salvation. A.
Those who seem to be looking for universal popularity get
upset today when teachers and evangelists clearly point out error
and sin. However, we have to realize the only way to bring people
to Jesus for salvation is to get them to realize they need to be
saved. Imagine what was going through the minds of people in
Peter’s audience when he spoke the words of Acts
2:22-23, 36. Peter wanted everyone in his audience to know
exactly why they needed the salvation Jesus offered. He didn’t
sugarcoat it, water it down or equivocate. “You nailed the
Messiah to the cross,” he said. B.
I am certainly not suggesting we be hateful or mean. I am
pointing out it is not hateful or mean to warn people of their
standing before God. Sin has separated them from God (Isaiah
59:2). False gospels have not helped them (Galatians
1:6-9). If we thought somebody was breaking the law and
would get arrested and go to jail, we would warn them. If we
thought somebody was doing something potentially life-threatening,
we would warn them. How much more should we warn them if we
believe they are doing something that will condemn their souls to
hell? IV.
We must teach Christ’s gospel plan of salvation. A.
As we have already learned from Galatians
1:6-9, there is only one gospel that saves. Every other
“good news” is false and accursed. That means if people have
obeyed a gospel that asked something else of them than Peter asked
on the day of Pentecost, it is a useless gospel. When we encourage
people to submit to Christ, we must not speak of moments of faith,
praying through or saying the sinner’s prayer. We must not speak
of asking Jesus into our hearts or just accepting Jesus as our
personal Savior. We have to talk about obedience God’s way. B.
In Matthew
28:19-20, Jesus said we make disciples by baptizing and
teaching them. In Mark
16:15-16, Jesus said we must preach the gospel and those
that believe and are baptized will be saved. In Acts
2:38, Peter demonstrated how that would be worked out. The
people had already demonstrated or confessed their belief in Acts
2:37. When they asked, “What shall we do?” They were
verbally admitting that Peter was right. Jesus was the Messiah and
they had killed Him. Based upon this verbal confession of their
faith, Peter explained what their options. They needed to repent
and be baptized for the remission of their sins. That is, they
needed to rethink their lives, turning from their sins and they
needed to be immersed. Both of these things were to be done with
express intention of receiving the remission of sins. C.
We must not muddy the waters thinking just because someone
has been immersed they have obeyed. The purpose is just as
important as the action. We are to repent and be baptized in order
to receive forgiveness. We are not baptized as an outward sign of
God’s earlier working. We are baptized believing that God is
working through that baptism (Colossians
2:12). V.
The Lord will do the saving. A.
We must understand that even when we have submitted to
Christ, we have not saved ourselves. The Lord adds to His body. He
makes that choice by His grace
(Acts
2:47). B.
Again, look at Colossians
2:12. Whose working was what provided salvation in
baptism? Was it man’s work that forced God’s hand? Or was it
God’s work to cleanse man that made the baptism effective? We
must obey, but it is God and God alone who does the saving. VI.
We must not stop at baptism. A.
Sadly, too many focus on getting baptized. However, we need
to understand that conversion doesn’t equal baptism. Conversion
equals life change. Before baptism as our initiating step of
obedience, we lived one kind of life. Now that we are Christians,
we must live a different one. B.
As Acts
2:42 demonstrates, once in Christ, we need to devote
ourselves to the teaching of Christ as given through His apostles.
We must be devoted to the joint participation and fellowship with
Christ’s children through association in the local congregation.
We must be devoted to remembering Christ through the breaking of
the bread. Finally, we must be devoted to worshiping God in
prayer. Conclusion: This lesson is as much about what this congregation should stand for and teach as it is about what we as individuals must do. On the day of Pentecost, the Lord saved people through the working of His apostles. The Lord wants to work through us. For Him to do so, we must follow the example we see from these early saints and obey their teaching. Have you submitted to the gospel message they taught? If not, let the Lord work through us and this lesson. Submit to Jesus immediately, repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins and you will also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promised salvation of God.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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