Acts 2:37-41 the Fruit of the Spirit S Work on the Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:37-41 The Fruit of the Spirit’s Work on the Day of Pentecost

Rev. L. Roth

Beloved Congregation. When we consider the events which took place on the Day of Pentecost about 2000 years ago, we can only stand in amazement at the change which came over the disciples on the one hand, but also of the great works which God performed on that occasion when about 3000 people were added to the Church such as should be saved. That sure was a great miracle which took place there in Jerusalem. When we think of the boldness of Peter to deliver His Pentecost sermon, accusing his fellow Jews of slaying the Lord of glory with wicked hands, even the eternal Son of the Father. Whereas about six weeks previous, Peter was afraid of admitting his attachment to the Lord Jesus to a damsel in the palace of the High Priest, now, openly, without shame, and with holy boldness, Peter declares the Savior both Lord and Christ.

Yes, congregation, the Lord blessed those words of His disciple unto the hearts of the hearers so that they began to fear for their lives. For the first time in their lives they began to become anxious for the needs of their soul so that they cried out: Men and brethren, what must we do. Yes, for them it became a matter of life and death. In this marvelous way the Lord added a large number to those such as should be saved.

Well now, let us regard the words of our text during this preparatory service under the following theme: THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. In the first place let us consider The People’s Great Need. In the second place let us regard The Apostle’s Instruction. In the third place let us look at The Spirit’s Work Revealed.

In the first place let us consider The People’s Great Need. It is remarkable, congregation, that we do not know who any of these feast celebrants in Jerusalem were; we are not given any of their names but we are simply told that they were Jews from various parts of the Mediterranean region, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, from the region of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene and so on. They had all come to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feasts such as Passover, now also Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and had received tongues of fire which rested upon them signifying the anointing of the Spirit of God. And then they began to speak the wonderful works of God in those foreign tongues so that everyone was able to understand something of the great deeds of the Lord. But as you know, there were some who accused the followers of Christ with being filled with new wine. And then Peter spake his sermon concerning the identity and work of Christ. Yes, God’s servant who had also been the spokesman for the disciples on numerous occasions before Christ’s substitutionary death, did not mince words, no. Christ Jesus of Nazareth had been approved of God by the many miracles and wonders and signs which He had wrought. But He had been delivered by the determinate counsel and they had had wickedly crucified and slain the Lord of glory. But this is He Who the Lord raised up as the long promised son of David, the Messiah of God. Yes, He, Who they have slain has been made both Lord and Christ.

We can imagine that Peter spake very animatedly, with great force and power concerning his Master Who he had learned to love, and by Whose Spirit he was now being led. And so with conviction and power Peter spake of the great redemptive work of the Lord. And then, Peter became silent and held his peace; his speech was come to an end. Seldom has a speech been held with such power. For Peter was being inspired by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit’s work had just been evident all around them when Christ’s followers had spoken the wonderful works of God. There had been the tongues like as of fire and the sound of a mighty rushing wind. All these things were very impressive and set the stage of Peter’s stinging rebuke. The people had hung upon Peter’s words; they were moved and filled with holy wonder. And when he for the second time charged them with crucifying the Messiah of God, their amazement and wonder was changed to brokeness of heart. They were crushed, congregation, by sword of the Spirit through Peter’s words. Their hearts were pierced by the two edged sword of God, by His word and His Spirit. And when they smitten in their heart, they experienced a need as never before.

We read in the words of our text that the hearers were pricked in their heart. What do these words mean? A form of the original which is used here is found in only one other place in the New Testament, in Romans 11:8 where the Apostle speaks of the people having been given the spirit of slumber, or as the margin has it, the spirit of remorse. In literary circles of that time it had the meaning to sting sharply, to smite. Try to imagine it in this way. These people were cut to heart because while they thought to have done away with an imposter and enemy by putting Christ to death, they have been brought to the realization by Word and Spirit, that instead, they have killed their elder brother, the Messiah of God. Just think of an individual killing an intruder who was breaking into his house in the middle of the night and when he turned on the light switch, he sees that he has killed his own father. That’s the sense which we have here in our text.

Have they killed the Messiah? Was Jesus of Nazareth David’s long promised son? How terrible! That his blood is required of them, that’s unbelievable! What must they do? How can they make amends? Yes, beloved, these people have been suddenly discovered to the greatness of their sin. That they sought the blood of an innocent man was bad enough but that they had crucified the Lord of glory, the eternal Son of the Father, how will they ever be able to be able to make amends? Well now, have you ever had it in life, congregation, that when you had done something wrong, when you had not only made a mistake but when you had willfully gone your own way and even against better knowledge, that when you reaped the bitter fruits you could only lament, if only there was a way to undo the wrong, if only there was a way to make amends. Sometimes something of these things are experienced in a preparatory week for the Lord’s Supper. How can I appear before the Lord? How can I come to His holy Table especially in light of my sin and guilt? Yes, congregation, if things are right, these are real issues for God’s people, issues which cut to their heart. And then the question remains also for them, What must I do to be restored to God? How can I become right before God and live? Yes, congregation, how necessary it is that we be awakened from our sleep of death, that our conscience be pricked with the knowledge that we must one day appear before the judgment seat of God to give an account of all our deeds, whether they be bad or good. That first. Truly, the answer to our need is not to come to another opinion concerning matters; it is not to give some assent to the preaching alone, no, but it is to be motivated, to be impelled to a certain deed. And what is that?

Well, just listen to the words of our text when Peter replies to their question, 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. You see, congregation, the moment a sinner is convicted and cries out, What shall I do, he doesn’t know yet what he must do. But, experiencing something of his responsibility and the weight of his sin, he inquires if there is a way he may correct his wrongs. The impulse and need of man’s heart is to put to rights what he did wrong and to fulfill God’s demands. That was also Paul’s response on the road to Damascus as well as the Philippian jailer when he cried out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well now, that needs to be our response as well, beloved, for the first time in our life, but also by renewal in light of our sins. Through the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit we need to be impressed with the righteous judgment of God in view of our sins which brings with it a sorrow after God, a deep seated need of His grace. What must I do to be saved? becomes the all consuming question for the natural man. How can I again become right with God? is the deep need of God’s children by renewal.

However, while the uncovering work of the Spirit brings man to sense of his sin and guilt, you will understand that this is not enough. He needs to be shown the remedy for sin. And that lies outside of ourselves. The Lord also teaches us that. The longer that the Lord has had dealings with our souls, the more we will be convinced that a solution lies outside of ourselves. Do you know why, beloved? Because when the Spirit convinces us of our guilt, at the same time He impresses us with our impossibility to make amends. Oh yes, we may at first try this and that but all to no avail. And still, something needs to be done so that a broken heart may be restored. Yes, beloved, when we are brought to that point through the Spirit’s power, the broken heart is being prepared for the reception of the Gospel, for the revelation of the Mediator between a holy God and a needy sinner, namely, Christ Jesus the righteous. Oh how blessed is the heart which the Holy Spirit has touched, where a sinner has become convinced of his bankruptcy. For they have become candidates for the mercy of God. No, not on account of anything in them, also not due to the urgency and sense of their need. But when the Spirit convicts the heart as we see in the words of our text, He will also work further tokens of His grace. Which brings us to our second point: The Apostle’s Instruction.

With the urgent question placed before him, What shall we do, as a herald and ambassador of the Lord, Peter is not hesitant to place before his hearers the way of salvation and life. Does he send his sorrowful hearers to the priests, that they would make an offering for them? No, not at all, for the offering has already been made. The Lamb of God has shed His blood. Instead, Peter simply gives the age old command which has been issued since mankind rebelled against God: Repent. Yes, congregation, Peter is inspired to give the same commandment issued by John the Baptist over 30 years before. And, it is the same command which Christ also gave when He began His ministry, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. As we hope to see again somewhat (tonight), by this command, Peter’s hearers are instructed to turn from their self-willed, sinful ways unto the will and ways of the Lord.

Yes, the fullness of time has come, the special time of grace, now that the Son of Man has been glorified and the Spirit has been poured out. God, in His grace seeks for fallen man and calls him to turn unto Him. Although sinful fallen man will continue upon self-chosen ways when left to himself, yet the Lord calls unto him, Turn unto Me and be ye saved. Yes, congregation, this call for repentance is the demand of God. We can say it even stronger- it is God’s right, that the sinner repents of his evil ways. For God the Lord is the Giver and Sustainer of man’s life. All that we have and are, we owe to the Almighty, beloved. Mankind, and especially God’s covenant own have no right to remain unconverted because they belong to God in a special way. They who remain unconverted are actually giving the powers of darkness that which rightfully belongs to God. How terrible that is especially when that is true of those of the House of God. This is the same as giving all our energy in a time of war to the enemy while our own government is equipping us with munitions. And so how necessary it is that we repent and turn unto the Lord, congregation.

But you know what is so sad, congregation, is the fact that we may know these things with the mind and assent to them and give lip service to them, going through some motions of religion as Israel did, and yet refuse to give our heart. And yet, how terrible unbelief is, congregation; it is the sin which will condemn us before the judgment seat of God. But oh what great mercy does the Lord reveal to the Jews. Although they have hardened themselves against the Lord and have in actual fact crucified the Lord, He comes to them in grace. For besides the call to repentance Peter calls them to turn to the Lord, to be baptized in Christ’s name for the remission of sins. Yes, beloved, the work of the Lord Jesus is held up before them while they are still in their sins. What great mercy. Just as the Lord Himself also taught during His ministry: He did not come for the righteous, but He came to seek and to save those who are lost.

Well, now through the blood of atonement which Christ shed, they too could be accepted in God’s holy sight. Yes, by repenting of their sin, turning from it and seeking life in the Lamb of God they could be received by God. True repentance consists of two aspects, congregation. It is to experience a hearty sorrow for sin as well as fleeing from it, and it is to experience a hearty love and delight in God through Christ from which the desire is born to live and walk in His ways. Yes, in a nutshell it is to say Amen upon the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus; it is to experience a dramatic change not only in our outlook on life but of our life itself. Yes, but mankind is not able to convert himself, someone says, and that is true. And yet the demand is there, beloved; it is given by God. You see, the ground of God’s demand is not found in man’s ability to perform it, but in the righteous judgment of God. In the beginning, man was able to perform what was good but he robbed himself of his excellent gifts by listening to the lies of the devil. But that does not change the demand of God, beloved.

But now the miracle of all this is, congregation, that what we are unable to fulfill, the Lord is willing to give by His grace. For He knows how weak and frail we are, how prone we are to stumble. Yes, He knows that we are dust. And therefore He will give that which He demands. In the covenant of redemption, the Lord has supplied everything man requires for salvation and to that end He will work a new spirit within him to equip him to fulfill His just demands. And all these covenant promises are sealed by the Lord in the sacrament of baptism. Yes, congregation, so that the uncovered sinner would not despair of his inability to fulfill God’s will, the Lord graciously couples the demand for repentance with the amazing promise given in our text: Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And therefore there is hope for a deeply fallen covenant people, hope in the Lord Himself, through His Son.

You see, congregation, by taking upon themselves the baptism of repentance through the blood of Christ, the Israelites would in effect be saying that they no longer were seeking to gain salvation through the law, but through the sacrifice brought by the Lord Jesus. In the old dispensation, the sign of the covenant was circumcision, which involved the shedding of blood and pointed to the need of reconciliation by blood. But by receiving baptism, they were testifying that the shedding of blood was no longer necessary. For the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ the righteous had shed His blood. Yes, through baptism a peoples’ separation from the world is portrayed just as the great flood separated believing Noah and his family from the unrepentant world and as the Red Sea separated the Israelites from the Egyptians. Well now, in a similar way, the non bloody sacrament of baptism separates God’s people from the heathen world, while pointing us to the precious blood of Christ Jesus.