From Our Meetings

Acts 2: Judgment

Since I am late again posting, here is a quick summary of the sermon last Sunday.

This past Sunday, we looked at Acts 2 and focused on the judgment of God the was revealed at Pentecost.

I laid out my approach in three headings:

1. The Pouring out of the Holy Spirit is connected with the beginnings of the New Covenant Kingdom. We have seen this over the past few months as we have started Acts and as we looked previously at the significance of the Holy Spirit in regards to the New Covenant.

2. The Coming of the New Covenant Kingdom is associated with Judgment on the old kingdom. As we saw from our previous studies in Isaiah 5 and Luke 20, the Kingdom of God was about to be revealed and given to a people who were not previously God’s people. Instead, the Old Covenant people were being judged for their unfaithfulness through this.

3. The Pouring out of the Holy Spirit is connection with the Judgment on the Old Covenant people of God. We see Isaiah 28 (and other passages) being fulfilled with the extraordinary tongues of God spoke in a way that some of the Old Covenant people did not understand, even though others were able to hear the great deeds of God.

As we finished our time together, I took us to Romans 9-11 to see that we ought to have humility as we consider our faith and salvation. For just as God brought an end to the Old Covenant and poured out His promised wrath upon the Old Covenant people, so too there is a judgment to come for all. This fear should always keep us clinging to the Gospel through faith and also keep us proclaiming the Good News to others!

Acts 2: The Spirit and Salvation

“It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This past Sunday, we began looking at Acts 2. My plan is to continue in Acts 2 over the next several weeks and see the different themes that shine forth throughout this wonderful chapter. This week, we spent time looking at the salvation revealed as promised by the prophets.

The prophet Joel warned his people that though it seemed like things could not get any worse, they should take heed. God’s judgment was near, “Who can endure it?” (Joel 2.11). Yet in the midst of God’s judgment on the Old Covenant people, the prophet calls the people to repentance again and then states a glorious hope. One day, God has promised to pour out His Spirit (Joel 2.28) and it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2.32).

In Acts 2, we see the undeniable proof of the outpouring of the Spirit and Peter declares that Joel’s words were now fulfilled. May God be praised! Selah.

Then the text shows us the power of the Spirit – the power of the Gospel – and 3,000 people called upon the name of the Lord Jesus by the mercy of God and were saved!

Truly our God is merciful and faithful! Truly the Spirit’s power is real and effectual! Consider these disciples and the apostles. They had walked with the Lord for many years, experiencing his wisdom in teaching and seeing his glory. But now He has been put to death by those in political and religious power. The followers of our Lord had no power to respond. The risen Lord then appears to them and Jesus teaches them of the Kingdom and commands them to wait in Jerusalem until power comes upon them – the power of the promised Spirit.

Until this point, the followers of Jesus had no power, no ability, no wisdom to take the message of the crucified Lord, the atoning work of Jesus, nor even the news that He is risen and hold that message as a light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. But now, the moment the Spirit came in power, as Jesus promised, Peter stands and declares to those who opposed Jesus that they are guilty of His blood. They crucified the promised Messiah.

Now these believers have boldness. They have no fear of the religious and political leaders who just crucified Jesus and would want to do the same to them. Christ has now given power and authority to those in His kingdom. They will now go forth from here in Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and then onward to the remote parts of the world. The Gospel will not be stopped. And all of this is due to the power of the Holy Spirit, promised to be poured out on God’s people.

The text also shows us that God had gathered a remnant of Israel that had been dispersed. During Pentecost, many Jews had returned to Jerusalem from the list of many far away places as found in Acts 2:5-11. As God had promised, he would gather a remnant and bring them redemption through the Gospel.

We often look upon Calvary and see the atoning work of Christ…and we should often do this! Though we have been redeemed and we are forever secured by His grace as believers, in our weakness and in our sins, we continue to ever look to the blood of Christ and seek its cleansing power by faith. So too, though the promised Spirit has been poured out upon the Church (to the Jews in Acts 2, later to be given to the Gentiles) and the Gospel will go forth by its power, let us look back to Pentecost and be reminded that without the Spirit, we would not see the Gospel go forth. Without the Spirit, we would not have the boldness or wisdom to proclaim the Gospel to our friends, or family, our neighbors. And therefore, if we find that we are not as bold and faithful to share the Gospel as we should, let us beseech the Lord to empower us with His promised Spirit and send us forth as His servants to proclaim the Good News and see His kingdom expand!

Resurrection and Missions

It was our joy and privilege on Sunday to have Dr. Ron and Faye Rogers join us for worship. The Rogers are missionaries to Brazil and we have known them since Stan and I met Dr. Rogers at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Rogers’ sermon provided a glorious look at the relationship of the resurrection of Christ to the missionary work of the Gospel. The providence of God was clearly demonstrated as we have been studying in-depth on the subject of the resurrection and also through Isaiah, and in March, I started preaching through the first chapter of Acts. All of these studies came together in Dr. Rogers’ sermon.

After our worship service, Ron and Faye shared with us of the specifics regarding their work in Brazil. We heard many encouraging testimonies of the work as a whole, and specific men who have given their lives to starting Bible studies, planting churches, and taking the Gospel throughout their region.

The passion of Ron and Faye for the Gospel’s advancement is a testimony of the power of the Spirit of God. Ron’s personality is not charismatic. His preaching is not loud nor excitable. Instead, he demonstrated yesterday that in the simple preaching of the simple Gospel there is power as the Spirit attends it. His passion shows the transforming power of union with Christ and love for the people whom Christ has redeemed throughout the world.

These thoughts led us in delightful conversation in our Men’s fellowship in the evening. We all recognized that this day was special. The Lord had answered our prayers and been merciful to us. Our great and mighty God displayed for us true power as the Arm of the Lord continues to go forth, displaying the power of the Gospel for the salvation of all who believe. We were able to share the opportunities that God had presented to us over the past few weeks to share the Gospel. Then, we joined together in prayer, petitioning God to strengthen us for His service, to use us as leaders in our families, and to continue to provide for our needs by His great grace.

All of this is humbling and encouraging. We must not let this moment depart without changing us. Our prayers ought to be changed. Our desires ought to be changed. May God forgive us of our failures to pray for this work of the Gospel as we should have prayed. May God grant to us a renewed heart for missions and evangelism as we serve the risen and living Lord!

Worship 3/23

Our worship service on Sunday provided a bounty of themes that gave each of us much to consider in devotion and thanksgiving. Our hymns included:

“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”
“Victory in Jesus”
“O Sacred, Head Now Wounded”
“I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”

We experienced a wonderful time of open testimonies displaying the Lord’s provision in answering our prayers and also showing the joy that we have in Christ for being redeemed as God’s choice possession, the Body of Christ.

Stan’s Bible study continued his discussion on the extent and efficacy of the atoning work of Christ. This study led into many edifying comments and points of discussion. I must add that it has been one of the best studies upon the subject that I have been involved in. I am tremendously grateful that the Lord has blessed us with unity and with a desire to seek the truth of the Word. Such blessings are only by His good grace.

My sermon came from the text of Acts 1:12-26. In this passage we find many important points as the apostles chose a replacement for Judas after his betrayal of the Lord. First, we find that while these followers of the Messiah obeyed the Lord’s command to wait for the power of the promised Holy Spirit they were immediately encouraged by the knowledge of God’s sovereignty, even in the terrible betrayal by Judas. This trust in the sovereignty of God gave them a sure hope that God would indeed give them power to be his witnesses to the entire world. As such, they were bold in the midst of persecution and even facing certain death. In fact, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

Obviously, God’s judgment is presented often throughout Acts, and is here displayed in graphic manner in the description of the tragic end of Judas after his betrayal of the now risen Lord. As believers, covered by God’s mercy and free from condemnation, we must never think of God’s judgment in a light manner. It is God’s wrath towards sin that took our Lord to the cross on our behalf. And though our sins be atoned, we must never use mercy as a license for sin, but we must instead now live for His glory and for the good of His people.

Finally, on the day when the world considers the resurrection of Christ, we too found our passage calling our attention to the fact that Matthias was chosen to be a “witness of the resurrection”. The resurrection is central to the Gospel. Without Christ’s resurrection, our faith is in vain. Without it we would lack the power of the newness of life (Romans 6). In Acts we see verses that link the resurrection with our personal salvation. But we must not miss the critical focus of the resurrection – Jesus was raised in exaltation to the right hand of God the Father and is now Lord! He is ruling over his kingdom. He is active in the church. The resurrection of Jesus is presented as proof throughout Acts that Jesus is the promised Messiah, fulfilling the Law and the Prophets (Acts 28:23-31).

Therefore we left an appeal to all in attendance, as we do to you, repent and believe in the Gospel of Christ…who is the promised Messiah. As Spurgeon has beautifully said:

“Follow only one track: Jesus is the one and only way to life. In the old times of slavery in the States, when men escaped from their masters, they did so by knowing that the north star would lead them to freedom, and by following that heavenly guide. They had to travel by night, for fear of being captured and taken back; and therefore they learned little of the geography of the country: they cared for nothing but the star. As they hastened through the woods, they did not study botany; as they flitted through towns and villages along the road, they learned nothing of poetics or social reform: they knew one thing, and minded that one thing only: they kept on following the pole-star. Brother, there are hosts of things that you do not know at present, and many things that you will never know; but see that you know Jesus, who is the pole-star of salvation. Keep Christ in your eye. Follow the crucified and risen One. Trust him, rely upon him, follow him, receive the life of which he is the Prince, and it shall be well with your soul. May you live in Christ Jesus, and glorify him as “the Prince of life” for ever and ever! Amen.”