The world has a lot of words to say about who Christians are and what Christians are like. And we sometimes fall into the trap of accepting what the world says a Christian is, instead of what God says in his word, a Christian is. So this afternoon, The title of the message is a way of life from who we are. Who we are determines how we live our lives. And I'm directing our attention to the second chapter of Acts, Acts chapter two, and I'm going to read for us beginning in verse 36. I failed to see what translation you use. I'm using the New King James. So, there's okay. New King James and it's Acts chapter two beginning with verse thirty-six. Acts chapter two. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Acts chapter two. I'm Acts two thirty-six and I'll read through the end of the chapter. Acts two thirty-six through forty-seven. Again, let's listen carefully as the spirit speaks to us through the word written. Therefore, that all the house of Israel know assuredly that both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, be saved from this perverse generation. And those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day, about 3,000 souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believe were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them all as any had need. So continuing daily with one another in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. The flower withers, the grass fades, but the word of our God stands wherever. Amen. Three points, three moves in this message this afternoon, and perhaps it's easy to remember because they're all going to begin with the letter C. the very first point that we want to consider is the context. What is the context of what I've just read? Probably you understand that the second chapter of Acts is that record of Pentecost. It's that record of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we read earlier in this chapter that there were, as it were, tongues of fire over the heads of those who were praying. Now, Joel, that passage that we actually had for memory, Joel is the Old Testament context of this New Testament message. In other words, Peter is saying what you are seeing happen with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with cloven tongues over us is a fulfillment of the second chapter of Joel and verses twenty-eight through thirty-two. Now, when this But when it happened, there were people there who said. They're all drunk. And what is what is Peter Peter's answer to the accusation? Well, it's because they're drunk that this is happening. It is luck. It's way too early in the day. For anybody to be drunk. People don't give themselves to drinking this early in the day. Then he says, this is indeed to fulfill that which God said would happen. Divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And then those who were in the audience heard them speak in his own tongue. Now think about that for a minute. Suppose I were to stand up here and I were to speak to you in Greek. And as I'm speaking to you in Greek, each one of you heard what I say in Greek, but you hear it in Atlanta English. I'm speaking Greek, but you hear it in the language you speak here. That's the miracle that was taking place on this day of Pentecost. And some would say, This miracle that's taking place on the Day of Pentecost is, in a sense, a reversal of what happened in the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis. You remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Do you remember how the people in that time built a tower to do what? reach to the heavens to make a name for themselves. Not to live. How? Spreading the name of the lord and doing what god said to our parents there in the garden. Spread out. Don't stay huddled I want the world populated with my image bearers. Instead, the people who are on the earth at that time doing what God said they were to do, they, instead of glorifying his name, want to make a name for themselves. So what did God do? God confused the languages. Why do we have Greek and Hebrew? Why do we have English and German? Why do we have, and you know the languages, Spanish, French, Swahili, Mandarin, Japanese. Why do we have all those languages? Because God confused the language of the people at the Tower of Babel in order to separate them and spread them out. But here, here what's happening is these apostles are speaking in Hebrew or Aramaic people from around the world who have come as Jews to the feasts that they're to come to Jerusalem to observe. I hear this word from the mouth of Peter and the others in their own language. Context. is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Peter having the opportunity to preach the gospel to a multitude of Jewish people who have gathered together there in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast that the Old Testament economy says they're to do and they hear the word of God in their own language. Well, what is it that Peter communicates? What is it that Peter says to them? Peter says that it shall come to pass and whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Peter, if you look back up in verse 21, says this because it's the first verse of chapter 2 in Joel. Joel 2, 28. the name of the lord. We'll be saved. Now, think about that for a minute. Where's the book of Joel? The book of Joel is in the Old Testament. There's the book of Joel Joel. It's in the Old Testament. It's before the coming of Jesus. What is the salvation. How was someone to be saved if they lived before Jesus came? What does Joel tell us? Call on the name of the Lord. Well, who is the Lord upon whose name we're to call if we're going to be saved? Well, this Lord upon whose name were to call in order to be saved is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by god to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which god did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, he being delivered by the determined purpose of god, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death whom God raised, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. You see, in Peter's sermon, he says, y'all, you crucified Jesus. because they probably were part of the crowd that were stirred up by the Pharisees and the scribes to scream out, crucify him, crucify him, when Pilate is having him there to examine him to see if he's guilty and worthy of crucifixion. Pilate finds nothing wrong with him. And what does Pilate do? He says, I can release Barabbas or Jesus. Who do you want? Barabbas. Jesus. What do I do with Jesus? Crucify him. What's happening? Peter's preaching. You who are here are guilty of crucifying Jesus. But he also says in the sermon to them, this is what God planned to happen. Think about that for a minute. Wicked, lawless men cried out for the crucifixion of Jesus knew they were guilty of sin. And yet they did it according to God's plan and purpose. What didn't happen? What didn't happen is what often people say today. Well, if God ordained it should happen, how can I be guilty? Ever think that way? Have you ever heard someone talk that way? What a passage! God had this plan before the foundation of the world that he would save a people. And how would that happen? Through him sending his son, that his son would die on the cross so that people could be saved because the wrath of God would be poured out on his son instead of on you and me who deserve this wrath because we sin. And nobody is going, well, God, What right do you have to condemn me? Why? Because they were all cut to the chase. They were all cut to their hearts, knowing, yes, indeed, we cried out, crucify. Ah, you can be sitting here saying, well, I wasn't there on the day of Pentecost. I wasn't there to scream out, crucify. How can I be held guilty? You know, I could say if we were there, we would have done the same thing. or what I have to realize is every time I don't do what God wants me to do, remember we were talking about that in Kings in the class? Every time I don't do what I know the Lord wants me to do, what do I deserve? Wages of sin is death. I deserve every time I lie, every time I have a wicked thought. Every time I lost. Every time I envy. Every time I'm jealous that I don't have someone. All of the times that I do that. I stand. And I deserve death. So you see, there's a sense in which every time I sin, I'm saying, crucify him. Because if he's not crucified, I deserve to die. Do you understand? When I sin, I'm saying Jesus needed to be crucified. Understand this. Because Jesus was crucified, that whether you believe and are a Christian or not, you're alive today. Whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ or not, you're alive today because Jesus died on the cross. But the question is, as we come to the conclusion We have the context, we have the communication, the sermon of Peter, and we then have the conclusion. As Peter has preached from the second chapter of Joel, as Peter has preached from Psalm Psalm 132, 11, and Psalm 16, which we'll sing in a moment, verse 10, and Psalm 68, verse 18, and Psalm 110, verse 1. As he's preached these Old Testament psalms and Joel, he comes now to the conclusion. What do the people in the crowd do? What must we do to be saved? You see, the Spirit of God convicted them of the sins of crucifying Jesus. When the Holy Spirit convicts any of us of sin in our lives, what do we do? We cry out, what must I do to be saved? And what's the answer? Repent. Repent. You know what the word repent means? Metanoia. It's it's a change of mind. What kind of change of mind? Well, Jesus puts it this way in sells all that he has and follows me. He can't be saved. That's what we read, isn't it? In Luke chapter 18 and verses 18 and following. That's what we read. The rich young ruler. Now, I don't think any of us qualify as rich young rulers. The rich young ruler says, Jesus, what must I do to be saved? And what does Jesus say? Don't commit adultery. Don't murder. Don't steal. Honor your parents. And the rich young ruler says, innocent. And you know, when I think back on my life, growing up as a child, I didn't commit adultery. I didn't murder anyone. We'll skip the stealing one. I knew how to go to the little dairy stand at the end of the street and I'd go and I'd take a popsicle out. I'd pay for it and I'd eat it and then I'd stand over there by popsicle dispenser, right? As the proprietor turns away, you take the last bite and get out of the way. Looks like you're still eating the same popsicle. I get three or four popsicles. Well, anyway, we're not here to talk about how you steal. How many of us grow up thinking, if I'm only good enough, if I only keep the commandments, I can be saved? He says, no. None of us keeps the commandments perfectly. But to drive the point home, he says, sell it all and follow me. Give it all up. and come after me. It's simply a way of saying you must deny yourself. You must take up your cross and you must follow me. And he says, change your mind. Stop thinking that you can save yourself. Stop thinking that you can get yourself good enough to go to heaven. Stop thinking that Jesus was deserving of crucifixion. Stop thinking your thoughts. Start thinking God's thoughts. But then he says, be baptized. You see, these are Jewish people. These are Jewish people who knew circumcision. These are Jewish people who knew the covenant. These are Jewish people who knew that when God said to Abram, you get circumcised and guess what? Every child eight days who's a male is to be circumcised. To you and your children, a covenant was established and to those afar off. Yes. Fathers impact their sons and their sons' sons, and on it goes with the truth. But anyway, here they are. They repent. There's 3,000 who are baptized. And these 3,000 are added to the church. and their lifestyle radically changes. Do you see what happened? Do you see what happened? Do you see what happened in their neighborhood? 3,000 people are baptized They go back to their respective communities together as baptized members of the Visible Church, and what do they spend their time doing? They give themselves to the Apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, to the prayer. the apostles teaching. You know, I used to say to myself, self, I sure wish I was there in Luke chapter 24. Remember Luke chapter 24, the two disciples are going on the road to Emmaus and what happens? Jesus opens up scriptures and shows them himself in the Psalms and the prophets, right? And I've often said, wow, I really wish I was there. How foolish! How foolish! What do you think, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, what do you think those 29 books of the New Testament are? Why, those are the apostles' teachings. that show us how Jesus is all about. Uh Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Hebron, and all the way up to Malachi. That's what the New Testament is doing. It's doing what Jesus did to those two men on the road to mass. It's Jesus saying to you and to me, Here I am. How do we, in the Atlanta Reformed Presbyterian Church, how do we show our lifestyle changed because we have repented and have been baptized? We have repented and are part of the visible church of Jesus Christ. How do we show that our lives are changed? Well, we gather on the Lord's Day, don't we? We gather on the Lord's Day to worship the Lord so that we can have the apostles' teaching set before us, so that we can enjoy fellowship with each other, hearing the prayer requests, praying for one another according to those prayer requests, and the breaking of bread. There are times we have the Lord's Supper. There are times that we have meals together. The awards day is a day that we enjoy the fellowship of the saints in the apostles' teaching, in prayer, in breaking bread. But this passage talks not only about what the Christian community does on Sunday, What do we do during the week? We enjoy fellowship with each other. The passage says they were giving themselves to meals in each other's homes. You know what that looks like today? I can go to work. My wife can go to work. And we can come together to the dinner table and we can enjoy a meal together. We have children in our case. We have a daughter who lives with us. We have her 17 year old son who lives with us. Her three year old daughter who lives with us. And of course their friends come every now and then. And we have friends from the church. It's not unusual to have people over on Sunday to eat together. We had two Chinese students from Geneva College living with us for three years. The opportunity to break bread together. They had all things in common. Our minister has a power chop saw, you know what that is? It's in my shed, not his. We have all things in common. I need a ride to the airport at three in the morning. If my wife can't take me, I can call someone in the church who will take me. We have all things in common. We know what it is to stand out in the community as a people because we love Jesus. Because we have died to self, taken up our cross and are following Jesus. We look forward to life together Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Not just on the Lord's Day. Because we're brothers and sisters in the family of God. Who am I? A child of God. What does that mean for me when others name the name of Jesus? We're brothers and sisters. What do they say? We're brothers to a different mothers. Huh? But that's not just a clever line. It's the truth. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters of the same father, God in heaven. And finally, Jesus, John the baptizer said, I baptize with water, but what does he say about Jesus? With water and fire. And what is the fire? The Holy Spirit. Each one of us, who by the grace of God, you repent it and believe in the lord Jesus Christ and if you weren't baptized as a baby, you're baptized as part of the family of god. and the holy spirit is poured out on us. In fact, before we even come to believe in the lord Jesus Christ, the holy He took that heart of stone out, that heart of stone out and gave us a heart of flesh. We have a heart of flesh in which the Holy Spirit delights to dwell. And when we don't quench the spirit, we reflect the image of God. by loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, loving our neighbor as ourself. And when the world sees us living out the life that we enjoy in Christ Jesus, they're going to say, hey, what's so different about you? Why are you such a hopeful person? Why do you do things without grumbling and disputing? What a wonderful opportunity to say. Because I've died to myself. I take up my cross daily and I follow the Lord Jesus Christ. My Savior. who died for me, so that I can be forgiven, so that I can live a totally new life, animated by the Holy Spirit, so that I'm no longer intoxicated by the things of this world. I'm controlled by the Holy Spirit. So you see, by God's grace, we have a way of life because of who we are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Father in heaven, we've heard from your word what your spirit did 2300 years ago 2300 years ago And we know that he continues to work that way in our lives and the lives of everyone who knows you and we pray our father that as members of the It's our prestige in church here in Atlanta that we would shine forth, not only as we gather on the Lord's Day, coming apart from the world to worship you, but especially as we scatter through the week and we show forth Christ the way we behave with other people. And as we have an opportunity to see one another through the week, as we behave together before the world, the eyes that are watching. So we thank your father that your spirit enables us to see sin in our lives, and we would confess it, be more and more conformed to you, Lord Jesus. And we pray that you would send us forth with that understanding of who we are in Jesus Christ, new creation. In the praise and glory of your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Let's sing Psalm 133, the A selection. 133, the A selection.