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Acts 2:37-38 At the heart of the Gospel, there is the love of God. This is the story told by Peter on the Day of Pentecost – the story of God’s love for us. In love, God offers to us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 38). These blessings are undeserved – we are “far off” (v. 39). As the message of salvation was proclaimed, the Spirit of love was powerfully at work, creating faith – “they were cut to the heart and asked, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (v. 37). The story of salvation calls for our response. Can we hear this story of salvation without responding in faith, without earnestly seeking the blessings promised to us in Christ? – Sadly, there are people who hear the Gospel many times but are never gripped by the Gospel. We are only gripped by the Gospel when we allow the Spirit of God to do His work in us, drawing us to Jesus Christ. This emphasis on the Spirit is important. Repentance and faith come to us through the work ...

Acts 2:37-38 At the heart of the Gospel, there is the love of God. This is the story told by Peter on the Day of Pentecost – the story of God’s love for us. In love, God offers to us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 38). These blessings are undeserved – we are “far off” (v. 39). As the message of salvation was proclaimed, the Spirit of love was powerfully at work, creating faith – “they were cut to the heart and asked, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (v. 37). The story of salvation calls for our response. Can we hear this story of salvation without responding in faith, without earnestly seeking the blessings promised to us in Christ? – Sadly, there are people who hear the Gospel many times but are never gripped by the Gospel. We are only gripped by the Gospel when we allow the Spirit of God to do His work in us, drawing us to Jesus Christ. This emphasis on the Spirit is important. Repentance and faith come to us through the work ...

"The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32). "The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courtyard. They're teaching the people" (Acts 5:25). "Every day in the temple courtyard and from house to house, they refused to stop teaching and telling the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah" (Acts 5:42). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Lord moved forward. There was great boldness in preaching the Gospel. People were brought to the Saviour.

Peter points away from  himself to Jesus (Acts 3:12-16). What he's emphasizing is this - This is more than what I say about Jesus. It's what the prophets said about Him. This was God speaking through the prophets (Acts 3:18). "The power of Jesus Christ" (Acts 4:10) - This is more than the healing of one man. This is salvation for all who come to Jesus, the Saviour (Acts 4:12). "All the people were praising God for what had happened" (Acts 4:21). This wasn't  praise for Peter and John. It was praise to God. We must learn to look beyond the servants of God to the God whom they serve.

"The Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2,5,8,16) - This was the time for the fulfilment of promises made by Jesus during His earthly ministry (John 14:16,25; John 16:12). "The Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4,17-18,33,38) - God is doing a new thing. This far surpasses all that happened in the Old Testament. What had been promised is now reality. From prophecy to power - This is what happened on the Day of Pentecost.

"His dominion shall be ... to the ends of the earth" ( Zechariah 9:10 ). God's purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power. This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus - "the Saviour of the world" ( John 4:42 ). In Jesus Christ, crucified for us, God was reaching out, in love, to "the whole world" ( 1 John 2:2 ). The Gospel is not only for the Jews: "It is it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" ( Romans 1:16 ). Jesus is calling us, His redeemed people - empowered by the Holy Spirit - to take His message of salvation to the ends of the earth: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" ( Acts 1:8 ).

‘When the Holy Spirit comes on you… you will be My witnesses… to the ends of the earth’(Acts 1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’(Acts 10:45; Acts 11:1,18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’(Acts 11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (10:44; 11:15). In God’s Word, we read of (a) God’s love for the whole world (John 3:16); (b) God’s Son who died for ‘the sins of the whole world’(John 1:29; 1 John 2:2); (c) God’s command that ‘the Good News’ should be preached to ‘everyone’(Mark 16:15); (d) God’s purpose that there should be disciples of Christ in every nation (Matthew 28:19). ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the News that Christ can save… Here am I, send me’(Youth Praise,128). ‘Go forth and tell!’(Mission Praise, 178).

God is calling us to move forward into His future. He's calling us to move forward with Him. He's calling us to move forward for Him. How are we to move forward with God? How are we to move forward for Him? If we are to move forward with God and for God, we must listen to those who have gone before us, and we must learn from them. Let us look back to the prophets and the apostles. Let us look back to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us listen to them. Let us learn from them. We begin with one of the prophets - Jeremiah. After that, we will look at the apostles, at the beginning of the book of Acts. Then, we will listen to Jesus, our Saviour, and we will learn from Him. After we have learned from the apostles, the prophets and the Saviour, we will return to the question: How are we to move forward with God and for God. Jeremiah 1:4-8 Jeremiah's call to serve God seems to come as a bolt from the blue. He was completely taken aback. He was surprised. He was shock...

Jesus is the way of salvation - Concerning "the Name of Jesus Christ", Peter tells us that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" ( Acts 4:10 , 12 ). Jesus is the way of joy - Jesus tells us, "In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" ( John 16:33 ). Jesus is the way of victory - Paul gives to us this word of encouragement: "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" ( 1 Corinthians 15:57 ).

Three Great Gifts – Jesus, Forgiveness, And The Holy Spirit ( Acts 2:38 ) Through faith in Christ, we put the old life behind us. Our sins are forgiven. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through faith in Christ, we receive the strength we need to live as men and women who love God. Through faith in Christ, we receive the strength we need to maintain our confession of faith – “Jesus Christ is Lord.” In Jesus Christ, God’s answer comes to us with the promise of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Our Question And God’s Answer ( Acts 2:37-38 ) The question is our question : “Brothers, what shall we do?” The answer is God’s answer : “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Where Does Our Question Come From? ( Acts 2:37 ) Where does our question come from? – It comes from God. His Word is preached. His Spirit is at work. Following on from the preaching of God’s Word in the power of God’s Spirit, we read this, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart”. This is where the question comes from. God has put it into our heart. Through His Word and His Spirit, he leads us to ask the question of salvation: “What must I do to be saved?” God’s Answer To Our Question ( Acts 2:37-38 ) The question is our question. The answer must always be God’s answer . We ask the question. We cannot give the answer. In ourselves, there is no answer. We are ...

The apostles pray for God's help (Acts 4:23-31). The believers share their property (Acts 4:32-37). The Lord is doing a mighty work among His people. At the heart of this work of God, there is "the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:31). God was doing a mighty work - and He was protecting it. Satan was trying to destroy the work of God - but God was one step ahead of him. This work must go on. It must not be spoiled. Following on from the act of divine judgment (Acts 5:1-11), there was great blessing (Acts 5:12-16). The judgment came so that Satan may be prevented from having a mighty triumph over God's people. This judgment paved the way for the blessing. First, there was God's purifying judgment. Then, there was His abundant blessing.

“God raised Jesus Christ from the dead” (Acts 2:24). Did this become true only because a lot of people said that it was true? Has it become false because many people refuse to believe that it’s true? No! It’s God’s great miracle. Death has been defeated. There is hope. Death will not triumph over us. Jesus Christ is Lord.

“Paul … strengthened  the faith of all the disciples” (Acts 18:23). Strengthening the faith of all the disciples – This is such an important ministry. We are not to be content with the faith that we have. We are to press on to a stronger faith. What do we mean when we speak about a strong faith? What we mean is this: We’re learning to trust in our strong God. Our God is always stronger than our faith. It’s not so much our faith that’s strong. It’s our God who’s strong. The strengthening of our faith – This is about a growing awareness of our strong God. He is our strength. Our faith is growing stronger when we’re learning to look away from ourselves – we are always weak – to our God – He is always strong.

Jesus is the way of salvation, joy and victory. Jesus is the way of salvation – Concerning “the Name of Jesus Christ”, Peter tells us that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” ( Acts 4:10 , 12 ). Jesus is the way of joy – Jesus tells us, “In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” ( John 16:33 ). Jesus is the way of victory – Paul gives to us this word of encouragement: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” ( 1 Corinthians 15:57 ).