As Many As The Lord Our God Shall Call To Himself – Part I

Introduction

I’m not going to be able to go through the entire context of some of the passages that I will reference, but hopefully you can jot these down and go back to them, particularly the first one, because really the entire chapter is fascinating. As Israel is coming in to conquer the land that God had given them. Five kings of the Amorites are opposing the army of Israel. It is going to take longer than a normal day of battle to get the job done. And so God does something truly extraordinary. This story has resonated with me ever since I was a little boy. Joshua chapter 10 that says, and the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

Isn’t that incredible? Someone said, This is impossible. The kind of cataclysmic results of such a thing that the sun would not continue on its normal rotation, or actually the earth on its normal rotation, I guess, around the sun. But the cataclysmic results to our earth. No, wait a minute, this is the Creator doing this. He can suspend all of those things. The sun. I mean, I’m sure the opposition is going, man, this day’s never going to end. It stood there for about a whole day. What a story. In Joshua chapter 10. But what I want to focus on is the phrase that follows. It says, There was no day like it. Before or after it. Now, that says something extraordinary, too. No day like this.

It is such a day in later history. A day recorded in the New Testament that I want to talk to you about briefly this morning. No day like that day, before or after sites of epic battles fought.

What comes to mind? Thermopylae, Waterloo, Marathon, Yorktown, Gettysburg, Normandy. Evil Gema. I just wanted to say that. Helm’s Deep Minister. Wait a minute, those are fictional. Of all the greatest battles ever fought on this globe. The event that we’re going to be studying this morning represents one of the most significant battles of all history. When righteousness stormed the citadel of Satan and vanquished his awful tyranny. And I am not exaggerating at all the events of Acts chapter 2. As we unlocked the mystery last week and saw seven key passages in the Old Testament that summarize the Bible story of redemption. Everything pointed to this special day. All of those passages were anticipating this moment in history, the long-awaited culmination of God’s plan. And again, I can’t read the entire chapter this morning.

You might get bogged down in some of the details. I’m going to summarize this for you. You’re going to have to go back later and look at this, like you look at Joshua 10. But this is it. Isaiah, 700 years earlier said, in the last days, pointing to this great battle, this great event.

And will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. That is Acts 2, and that is what we’ll study tonight, Acts chapter 10. And many peoples will come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. I’m going to tell you that’s what this is all about this morning. That we may be taught concerning his ways, and that we will walk in his paths, for the law will go forth from Zion. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is going to be an epic day in the history of man. In fact, of all the great days in the history of man, this is one of the most unique and most important days of all history.

Recorded for us in Acts chapter 2. Now, we’ve been moving toward this for some time in some of the preaching that I’ve been doing. I’ve had this sermon mulling around in my mind for about three months. But I wanted to do some other things first that were sort of preparatory, like unlocking the Bible story last week, those seven passages in the Old Testament that pointed to all of this. And the culmination of God’s plan. And then several weeks ago I’ll remind you of this. Jesus’ statement in this ministry when he encouraged his disciples by saying, I will build my church upon the basis of your confession, Peter, that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God, upon this rock I will build my church.

And not even the strength of the gates of Hades, the power of death, which is being vanquished on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Not even the gates of Hades can overpower it. And so Jesus Himself is anticipating Acts chapter 2 when he makes this statement in Matthew chapter 16. Well, how extraordinary is this. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve studied Acts and particularly chapter 2 from the time I was a little boy. And I’ll tell you what happens is sometimes you miss the wonder of it. Of how extraordinary this chapter and these events really are. Remember, I talked about those epic battles. And I suggested to you that this is one of the great epic battles of all history. Acts 2 has been styled by some the hub of the Bible.

That is, everything rotates around this significant day in history. This was a very real day in history. And I begin reading in Acts 2. And when the day of Pentecost had come. Fifty days since the death of Jesus. They were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Wouldn’t it have been something to see that? And there appeared to them tongues of fire, as of fire, distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. Imagine, here are the apostles and this fire resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

They’re speaking in languages they had never spoken before and fluently. How remarkable is that.

Okay, this was not some small sound. When this sound occurred, the multitude, they came rushing together. They came together and were bewildered. Because they were each one hearing them, the apostle, speak in his own language. They amazed. They were amazed and marveled and said, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? And this commences the sermon that Peter and the eleven would preach. And I want to give you a summary of that sermon now. And you can begin looking at your text in Acts chapter 2 as we go through all of this. Notice, as we’ve just read, the dramatic events that lead to an impromptu assembly. And the sermon actually starts in verse 14 with some quotations from the Old Testament.

I don’t know if your Bible does this, but mine sort of indents things starting in verse 17 down through verse 21, where Joel, like Isaiah 2, and this is a good thing to remember, Isaiah 2, Joel 2. Both in the second chapter of those prophecies, Joel is quoted at length in this sermon of how the Holy Spirit would be poured out. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. This is the beginning of this, the fulfillment of this. And then I want you to notice the conclusion. Verse 21. And it shall be that everyone who calls, everyone, notice that, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That was the promise of the Holy Spirit.

And Peter goes on to say, yes, Jesus has died, but that does not represent the triumph of evil men.

Jesus is sitting on David’s throne. As was promised. And I want you to notice in Jesus’ ministry that Jesus made it very clear that his death was of his own doing or initiative. Look at John chapter 10. John chapter 10 and verse 16. And again, Jesus is anticipating this day when he says, I have other sheep who are not of this fold. That is not the Mormons.

That is not what this is talking about. And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd. We should have sung that song. One flock with one shepherd. Jew and Gentile is the idea. Other sheep, being those Gentiles who were excluded from Israel. But now God is going to bring them together, beginning in Acts chapter 2, but certainly into Acts chapter 10. One flock with one shepherd. But he says, For this reason, the Father loves me. Because I lay down my life. This is something he’s doing. I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative, and I have authority to lay it down.

And I have authority to take it up again, this commandment I received from the Father. This is how this death of a son will be different than the passage in Genesis 22 that Jesse read from. And notice in John 18. In John 18, when Judas comes along with those who have been sent to arrest Jesus, when they come to him and say, We’re searching for Jesus the Nazarene. He says, I am He. It says, when they heard this, they drew back and fell to the ground. I love that. The power and authority of Jesus’ voice caused them to fall backward. They were in the presence of greatness. And Peter is emboldened to take out his sword and to cut off one of their ears. Happens to be the slave of the high priest Malchus, who ducks just in time to save his life, but not his ear.

And Jesus tells Peter to put up his sword. See, Jesus is laying down his life, will he? He says, Peter, put up your sword. And he reaches forth and he touches Malchus’ ear and heals it. No doubt that impacted the rest of his life. To have his ear healed by the touch of the Savior. Put up your sword, Peter. And then he says, I have twelve legions of angels. And we’ve debated how much that is. Most people think it’s 72,000, but it’s however many Jesus wanted. Could have come down in this garden. And boy, that would have been a scene, wouldn’t it? I can call 12 legions of angels that are at my disposal. Jesus is willingly laying down his life. His death is not the triumph of evil men, it is the plan and purpose of God.

And that Jesus was raised from the dead and he sits on David’s throne. And that’s the conclusion of the sermon. Just as was promised in one of those seven key passages of the Old Testament in 2 Samuel chapter 7 that we looked at last week. And now here is the conclusion. This Jesus, he is Lord. He is ultimate ruler and authority in the universe. He is Lord, He is the Messiah, He is the long promised person from the Old Testament, the Messiah who would save the people from their sins. He is Lord, He is Christ, and you put him to death. And in Acts chapter 2, in verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain, and I want to tell you what we’re talking about this morning is not conjecture.

It is not hypothesis or theory. It is for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus, whom you crucify. The Jews were responsible for his death. Our sins were responsible for his death. And so they responded with that great question. If we could just get more people to ask the question.

1. Have You Embraced the Promise?

And our lesson will conclude. And so as we look at the teaching of Acts chapter 2 and what follows their question, men and brethren, what shall we do? The first question that I want to raise is have you embraced the promise. Our sins were responsible, as Jesse talked about also, our sins were responsible for putting Jesus on that cross. Have you embraced the promise? How are we going to respond? Men and brethren, what shall we do? He said, repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus, on the basis of all that he is, he is both Lord and Christ. On the basis of all that he is Savior, King, and Lord. Repent. Change from evil ways. Turn unto righteousness. Repent and be baptized.

Be immersed in water in the name of Jesus, more on that tonight, for the remission or forgiveness of your sins. That’s a simple message. And he says. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now we sometimes don’t like to read that phrase because a lot of people misunderstand it and are afraid of it. We don’t need to be afraid of this. Yes, that involved, that involved the imparting of the miraculous. Other people are going to speak in tongues and they’re going to do miraculous things through the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. But that’s not all that’s about.

And what he’s saying is, everything the Holy Spirit has promised from the Old Testament, you’re going to get it. You’re going to get the whole enchilada here. You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And I want to tell you. Embracing this promise is better than winning the lottery. Even though it was up to 500 million. Did somebody win it? I just saw that it was up to 500 million. And you shouldn’t be playing it. It’s a tax on the dumb. 500 million. Let’s say you want it. But you shouldn’t be playing it. But you want it. Five hundred million. Receiving this promise. It’s better than that. It’s better than paid college tuition for your child. That’s huge. Sending a kid to college isn’t cheap.

It’s better than your team winning the championships. Some of you don’t know about that. Oh, that’s so wrong. This is better than that. And I’ve known the elation of that. You know, I have to pull that in. It’s better than that. What we’re talking about today. You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the promise is for you. But it’s not just for you, those original recipients of this great sermon on the day of Pentecost. It is for your children. It is for those who are afar off. Now they have no idea what Peter is saying here, but that’s where tonight’s sermon comes in. The far off people. As many, he goes on to say, as the Lord our God shall call to himself.

And that’s what this call of the gospel is. It is a call to God Himself, a relationship with a perfect and holy God. And it’s to be coveted above everything. That you might be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. For you were once not a people, but now you’re the people of God. That’s this. For from him and through him and to him are all things. Romans 11 and verse 36. I love that statement. From him and through him and to him are all things. And flowing out of that is that we need to be living sacrifices. As Christ was our sacrifice.

Romans 12 and verse 1. Now, I want to tell you, this is awesome. This sermon, the promise. But you know there’s something else truly extraordinary about this event, and there’s no day like it before or after it. Three thousand people. We’re baptized. We read that number. Think about that. We’re excited on a given Sunday if we can baptize one. The most I think I’ve ever baptized in one Sunday is three. And most of some of them are here. Three thousand people. That baptismal event took a while. That’s how significant this day was. Have you embraced this promise? That’s the great thing about it. It’s for the far-off people. That’s us too. Have you done the simple things? As we were talking about in our Bible class, the simple things that God asked us to do to receive this promise.

2. What Kind of a Christian Are You?

Now there’s a second question. Not just have you embraced the promise, but once you’ve embraced the promise. The second question is what kind of a Christian are you? Because that’s what these people became as a result of their decision to embrace the promise. Now that sounds a little bit strange. What do you mean? What kind of a Christian are you? Because that term means a lot of things to a lot of people. In fact, a lot of the great terms of the New Testament, terms like saint and church and love and grace and faith and baptism. There’s misconceptions about all of them. People don’t understand what these terms are saying about our rich relationship in Christ. And one of the things we’re about in this place is explaining what those terms mean as the Bible uses them so that we understand what it means to be the church that we sing about, I love thy kingdom, Lord.

That’s us. And how it is to appropriately love God in response and what his grace actually means in our lives. It’s not a license to sin and to do whatever we want, not worry about it. Every one of these terms has been misunderstood, including the term Christian. But let us allow this text to tell us what it means to be a Christian. And so those who gladly received His word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 souls. And here’s what they did. They devoted themselves to worship. To the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship. And I believe that actually is a reference to giving in this context, to sharing materially with everyone. And to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

These people were devoted to worship. And then this let us not lose a sense of awesome. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders and signs were taking place to the apostles. You know, I never saw those. But I can stand in wonder and awe as I read about those miraculous events that happened in that time. There needs to be an ongoing awe about our involvement in these great things. And they cared about one another. All those who believed were together and they had all things in common. They sold their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple. They pursued being on the same page with one another.

They were with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. They were taking their meals together with gladness and singleness of heart. These are what the early Christians did. And what we’re called to do.

3. Is Your Life All About Praise to God?

Oh, there’s an expounding on all that it means to be a Christian throughout the New Testament. But here we see the early response of these first believers. So, what kind of a Christian are you? Are you a Christian after your own making? Your own definition? Or are you really pursuing what it means to be a Christian as we read following Acts chapter 2, the instruction that was given to churches and individuals in the New Testament? Can I challenge you to seek those answers? Perhaps in a deeper way than you’ve done before. Question number one. Have you embraced the promise? Question number two. What kind of a Christian are you? Question number three. Is your life all about praise to God? The conclusion of this sermon. As they were eating their meals together with gladness, there was a oneness, one heart and one soul, it says in Acts 4 and verse 32.

It says this in conclusion. Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number or to the church day by day those who were being saved, those who were embracing the promise. And the reason why I raised this third and final question is that in summary of what these Christians were all about, it says in verse 47, they were praising God. And I bring this question up partly because of Steve. We were talking about sermons that I preach, and he said one of the ones he remembers, what, about five? It’s about five sermons. One of the ones he remembers is one of the very first ones that I preached, and that was five and a half years ago or more.

And it was a sermon called Praising God. And I talked about praise in the Old Testament. Then I came to Acts chapter 2 and said, What were these Christians all about? And they were praising God. And that’s just the logical response you should expect from people who’ve embraced the promise. We’re all about praising God. Is that really what you’re all about? Is that how you would define you? That’s how you would define these people who embrace this promise and were committed as his people. Praising God and having favor with all the people. What happens in the next chapter? Another notable miracle occurs where a guy who’s never walked is given the ability to walk. And he’s immediately, he leaps up, he’s strengthened immediately. And with a leap, he stands upright, and what’s he do?

He praises God in verse 8. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they were filled with wonder and astonishment. And again, that ought to be our response. The fact that we’re involved in the likes of this. That our sins have been forgiven, though we are responsible for Jesus’ death.

Conclusion

And so consider those three questions. Have you embraced the promise? What kind of a Christian are you? Are you compelled to praise? And if there’s someone in this audience this morning who needs to do these simple things that we’ve seen in Acts chapter 2. I want you to look at verse 40. And we’ll come back to this tonight. And with many other words, he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, This is the abbreviated version of this sermon that we have in Acts 2. He testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. And that’s the message we extend to you. We live in a perverse generation. Who, by and large, rejects God, ridicules his word, and those who live it.

Will you save yourself while there’s time and opportunity from this perverse generation? We seem to encourage your response. Let’s stand.