What Shall We Do?

Text: Acts 2:36–41 ESV

Introduction

Last week we focused on Peter’s first sermon where he convincingly argues to the Jews that the Jesus they just killed was in fact God in the flesh, the Messiah that was promised them from of old. Today we’re going to look mainly at their response to Peter’s sermon and what he calls them to. So first we will step into the shoes of those who were “cut to the heart,” as our text says, feeling with them the bad news of our sinfulness. Then, we will look at what Peter tells them to do. 

Cut to the Heart

If we’re bothered by someone who is perfect, this says more about us than them.

I’m not talking about that person who is simply better than you at this or that—so you’re a little jealous—or that person who snobbishly acts better than everyone else and acts like they can do no wrong but they are obviously full of pride and arrogance. I’m talking about those people who simply seem to do the right thing almost all the time, who are full of humility, who always seem to say the kindest and most wise things, who are wronged and yet they respond graciously over and over again. 

On our worst days, these people can actually bother us. Why? Because they are constantly exposing us for the imperfect people that we are, and they can make us want to just give up, throw in the towel. We basically have two decisions to make when these people are in our lives. If our hearts are working properly, we long to be more like them and learn from them. We’re attracted to them. Maybe we befriend them. If our hearts are not working properly, we, frankly, want to get rid of them or avoid them at all costs. We don’t feel comfortable simply being around them because they are constantly threatening the status quo of our lives. They inherently challenge us to change just by being who they are. They disrupt our conscience as we see their good works and we realize we wouldn’t have acted the same way if we were in their position. Maybe other people are more attracted to them than us and so we begin to resent them. 

The Bible actually highlights this concept in the gospel of John but on a much larger and more devastating scale. We’re not talking about simply a bad day where some people were bothered by a pretty great guy. We’re talking about the most outrageous, wicked act of all time. The perfect Lord of the universe was killed by his own people that he came to save because their hearts were evil. 

In John chapter 1, after arguing that Jesus is God in the flesh, John calls Jesus “the true light which was coming into the world.”  

“The true light (Jesus), which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9 ESV)

“He (Jesus) came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1:11 ESV)

Why would they not receive him?

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19–20 ESV)

Do you see how this is similar?

Let’s read that again replacing “the light” with “Jesus,” since this is the point of John’s metaphor. 

“And this is the judgment: Jesus has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than Jesus because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates Jesus and does not come to Jesus, lest his works be exposed.” (John 3:19–20 ESV)

And if we hate the perfect man Christ Jesus, it says more about us than him. This is part of the context behind the killing of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus, the exact imprint of God’s nature, the author of everything good, right, and true, comes into the world and the world says, “We gotta get rid of this guy.” Why? Because his presence among them exposes their evil hearts. Their status quo is threatened. Their consciences are disrupted. To kill him means they might no longer be disrupted by him and he can’t speak to them anymore about how they’re living. And in this passage, these people aren’t even atheists. They claimed to serve and love God, but this is doubtful because when God actually shows up they’re pretty ticked off. They understood pretty quickly that to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God would mean they need to change their whole way of life and they would need to admit they were wrong. 

And so we see example after example of people with hard hearts who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as God, Lord over their lives. Just one example is when certain educated Jews confront Jesus in Mark 2. Jesus heals a paralyzed man, which is incredible. No one had seen anything like that before. But then he does something even more incredible. “Son,” he says to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Mark says some of these Jews immediately started questioning in their hearts. “Why does this man speak like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” For you math or logic students in the room, what’s the equation here? 

Premise 1: Only God can forgive sins. 

Premise 2: Jesus just forgave sins. 

So that makes Jesus ______. 

But all they considered Jesus could be was a blasphemer. They said amongst themselves that he must be sinfully pretending to have God-like authority. They wouldn’t even entertain an investigation on the possibility that Jesus might actually be who he said he was. Even though this Jesus came fulfilling all the Scriptures that these Jews poured over day in and day out, they would not have him, because their hearts were evil. Jesus says to them,

“How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37). 

And so here we are at our text. Peter effectively convinces many listening that this Jesus they conveniently “got rid of” was actually Lord and Christ, maker of the universe and promised Messiah of his people. What’s more, their main plot was unsuccessful since He’s back; he rose from the grave like their Scriptures said he would. Even worse, this Jesus, who is now exalted at the right hand of the Father, happens to be their judge. They aren’t sitting pretty. This judge doesn’t need a jury. He knows perfectly well what happened, and he will judge perfectly, which is bad news for these men. I believe when the text says, “they were cut to the heart,” it means not that they were currently repenting but that they were filled with anxiety about the implications of what they had done. They know they have no chance. They are in the worst case scenario. The word cut here literally means pierced or stabbed, brokenhearted or disheartened, overwhelmed with anxiety. And so they say the only thing they can say. “Brothers, what shall we do?” Is there anything we can do? Is there any way out of this absolute death sentence we have created for ourselves? 

If there is anyone in this room who has conveniently kept Jesus out of their life, who has refused to come to him, refused to entertain the possibility that he might actually be who he said he was (God and Savior of the world) and that you might be accountable to him, I pray that you would feel what these men felt. You’re not unique. There isn’t anyone else in this room that hasn’t at least been where you are right now, where these men were. This is a devastating place to be. Despite what we have learned from the world, there is a God who made all things, including our very selves, and he is the King. He reigns over all things. The world wants to keep the existence of God and the reign of God as a completely arbitrary, meaningless conversation. Why? Because if they succeed at doing this; if they can deceive themselves enough that there is no objective truth outside of themselves (that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth), then they can feel good about keeping their right to do whatever they want whenever they want, put their own stamp of approval on it (in other words be their own God), and move on. 

But as Ryan said last week, there is no neutral ground. You are either for or against the King. You can stiff-arm him and go your own way, remaining his enemy, or you can seek to be on his side. But how could one manage to get on his side? How is this possible? This is the question these men are asking. What shall we do? How can we possibly get right with the guy we killed, especially since he is so perfect, so good, that he can’t just write off what we did? His anger toward us is right, and we deserve death!

“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.’ ” (Acts 2:38 ESV)

But there is good news, friends: forgiveness is available to us. Oh, if there is anyone in this room who finds themselves guilty of rejecting the King this morning, hear the good news! Jesus didn’t need to let himself get killed by these evil men. He put himself in that position willingly not only for them but for you, for all of us, knowing we would reject him too. He knew taking on flesh and coming among us would result in his death. But it was the only way to save us. Since death is what we deserve for our rebellion, Jesus offered himself up so that he would receive the death penalty in our place so that anyone who would believe in him and repent of their sins could be forgiven forever. This is the peace offering of the King. 1 Timothy 2 says that, 

“God our Savior…desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV) 

He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, so he came in the form of a man, Jesus, the Son, and died so that the perfect judge can forgive you—which is what we wants to do—without compromising justice. The perfect judge still administered the punishment we deserved, but on Jesus instead of us. But if we reject Jesus, our peace offering—if we reject our only hope for forgiveness—we cannot and will not be saved from eternal banishment from the King and his kingdom. And we will have nothing but suffering, for we will have kept ourselves separated from the one who is the fountain of all good things. So how does Peter instruct these men? How can this forgiveness Jesus purchased for us be ours?

Hearing the Call

Repentance 

The first thing Peter calls us to do is repent. Repentance is not being cut to the heart in the sense that you are terrified or anxious about your sin, though this can often accompany repentance. The men who were cut to the heart asked Peter what to do and Peter’s answer, repent, implies that they hadn’t repented yet. There are many who get caught in their sin and it makes them very afraid, but they never repent. They simply hope it won’t catch up to them. They’d rather try to bank on getting away with it because their hearts haven’t really changed. They still don’t want God. They won’t go to him to be forgiven.

The word repent essentially means, “a change in the whole orientation of your life.” This includes, especially in this passage, belief in who the man Christ Jesus is. Ryan said it so well last week when he asked the question, “Do you agree with God about who Jesus is?” Repentance includes going from one state of thinking about Jesus to believing what the Father says about Jesus and what Jesus, co-equal with the Father, says about himself. But I say that repentance is a change in the whole orientation of your life because it’s more than simply believing the right things. James reminds us of this in James chapter 2. 

“You believe that there is one God. Good for you! You do well. Even the demons believe––and shudder.” (James 2:19 ESV)

Demons are rock solid on who Jesus is. But they hate him. They hate what they know. And they hate his works. The change that repentance brings moves both your mind and your heart so dramatically that you not only believe who Jesus is but you love him. You celebrate who he is, what he has done, and what he has made you for. And this change in mind and heart affections is so deep, the shift so decisive, that you change your mind about the evil you’ve been walking in. You stop, turn, and you’re poised for a new way of life. I say poised because repentance is not the new works themselves. You could say repentance is a turning from sin in the sense that you are walking one way and change your direction. But good works, rather than evil ones, are the fruit of that change in orientation. That’s why Luke, the author of Acts, records in his Gospel John the Baptist saying to the crowds, 

“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8 ESV)

Your new life, your new works, are those fruits that show that your repentance is genuine, that it actually happened. It is impossible for someone who has repented to simply keep walking the same way, doing what they’ve always done before coming to Jesus. This doesn’t mean if you’re a believer that you will no longer experience sin, but it does mean that you don’t make peace with it like you did before. The Christian life is a life of continual repentance as long as we continue to sin. Until that day when we are completely freed from sinning, we keep asking God to change our hearts that we might walk in a new way.

Repentance, that change in orientation, whether it is the first time or the 10,000th time, is a miracle. It's a miracle when we turn from rejecting Jesus to embracing him. It’s a miracle when we begin to hate the things we used to love and love the things we used to hate. It’s a miracle when our pride no longer keeps us from admitting our sinful foolishness and wrongdoing. It’s a miracle when we not only admit we have a problem but we see ourselves as guilty of evil and have personally offended God and we seek reconciliation. And it’s a miracle when with a newfound belief in Jesus and his saving work on our behalf, we adjust our direction away from evil, eager to run the other way. I pray that he will lead you there if you’re here this morning and you have not believed in him. And I pray if you are a believer who has slid back into consistent sinful habits, that you would also repent. His willingness to forgive you is as certain now as it was when you first believed, and he will help you change your direction. 

Baptism

Peter also calls us to baptism. 

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38 ESV)

Peter is not trying to suggest here that you are also saved through Baptism, though the English certainly feels like that. He is calling them to do that act which corresponds to saving faith. Luke  writes in his gospel about John the Baptist, that he 

“went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3 ESV)

He is talking about a baptism sought out by those who have experienced the inward change of repentance. There are many other places in the Scriptures, including other places in Acts, that help us understand that baptism is not what saves you. There is not time to go to those texts this morning, but I would love to talk about it more with you afterwards if you have questions. I know for most of you I’d be preaching to the choir.

Why does Peter include baptism here? Peter is calling them to repent (and so be forgiven of your sins) and be baptized, showing the world and assuring your own self that this repentance for forgiveness of sins has taken place and you’re identifying with Jesus. 

Peter sees an urgency of baptism here because it is a sort of first-fruits of the changed life that comes through repentance and belief. Baptism is a statement, a proof by a new believer that they are no longer against Jesus but are fully with him and they are not ashamed to be with him. All over the book of Acts we see baptism as very important. When people came to faith, it’s almost as if they or the apostles were immediately thinking, “Where is the nearest body of water?” We see one man, after his eyes being opened to the good news of Jesus, seeing some water next to the road he was on and saying to the disciple who led him to Christ, 

“What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36 ESV). 

If you are a believer and have not been baptized, what prevents you? Jesus called his disciples to this in Matthew 28 (we’ll go there in a minute). There should be an urgency here. Jesus gives baptism to you for your good and the good of those around you. Your act of baptism reminds people of what Jesus has done for them and assures their hearts, and even more importantly, it is a means of grace—assurance—for your own soul. Baptism is the joyous proclamation, “I’m with Jesus. I’m united in his death and resurrection!” The sin that was once killing me has been killed through Jesus’s death because through faith in him, I’ve died with him and died to sin. That’s what we symbolize when we’re immersed beneath the water like a burial. And when we rise up from the water, we’re displaying the truth that death is swallowed up in victory. It will not leave the grave. Jesus, and we through faith in him, emerge alone from that tomb, forever freed from that curse we brought upon ourselves. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ who has delivered us from our body of death. We’re with Jesus!

If you believe in Jesus and have repented from sin, receiving forgiveness and more from your great Savior, what prevents you from being baptized? If you are not a believer, what prevents you from going to Jesus to receive forgiveness from sin and be given eternal life with him forever? Repent. Believe. And be baptized.  

Before we move on I just want to acknowledge those of you who may be thinking back to their baptism and wondering, I’m just not sure it meant to me what it should have meant. Perhaps those who were baptized at a young age are especially feeling this. That’s okay. And you’re not alone. I was baptized when I was 10. I definitely believed in Jesus and that I had forgiveness through him. All the excitement that I just expressed about baptism though, I didn’t have that in the same way when I was 10. But I do think the most important thing I understood is that I was siding with Jesus. I wanted to be on his team. I wasn’t ashamed to be on his team. He forgave my sin. I wanted to stop sinning and leave behind my old ways. Maybe you’re thinking back and thinking gosh, I missed out on so much significance. But baptism isn’t something reserved for those who have mined the depths of its theological significance. Baptism is given all over Scripture to those who just became believers and are infants in the faith. What were their credentials? They believed Jesus is who he said he was, believed he could forgive them of their sins, and so they repented of their sin to receive that forgiveness. That’s it. I resonate with the feeling that my baptism would have been so much better if I had understood more about its significance in the moment. But we don’t need to doubt our baptism because we’ve now learned so much more about what it signifies.  

If you are a believer now who was baptized a long time ago and you look back and know pretty confidently that you weren’t a believer when you were baptized, we’d love to talk with you about that. Life is complex. But don’t be nervous about it. God knows your heart.  

Making the Call

So we heard the call to repent and be baptized. Let’s be like Peter and make the call to repent and be baptized. 

“‘For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘save yourselves from this crooked generation.’ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:39–41 ESV)

The main thing I want us to see here in these three verses this morning is Peter’s emphasis on how this promise of forgiveness for those who come to Jesus is not only for you. It is for your children, and for all who are far off (Jews and Gentiles), people in Boise, people in Meridian, people in Nampa, people from California who live here in Boise, people from other religious backgrounds, people from non-religious backgrounds, people from other nations, people in your schools and in your workplace. The promise of forgiveness from sins is for anyone who would repent and believe, anyone who our Lord is calling to himself. And those people whom the Lord is calling to himself, the soil of their hearts is being cultivated, ready for the words of the gospel from his servants. That’s us. What prevents us from going out and declaring the message of the gospel to the lost around us?

Well there is at least one thing right in this text that is unnerving to many of us. Verse 40: 

“Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” (Acts 2:40 ESV)

Saying it exactly that way might raise a few eyebrows today. It probably did then as well. The point is, talking about the good news is often accompanied by talking about the bad news with people. Calling people to repent and using language that helps people see that they are part of a crooked generation that needs saving, that requires a bit of boldness. Not everyone likes to hear that they are broken. People may reject us. People may think we’re arrogant to say Jesus is the only way to be saved and that destruction awaits those who don’t go to him. But may our love for others compel us to talk with them even about the bad news. What is unloving is for us to leave people in their current state rather than talking with them about their sin and their separation from God. It is not unloving to confront others with the truth that they are walking on a road that leads to destruction. They need to know. Will we tell them? 

May we remember, as 2 Corinthians 5 says, that 

“Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:18–20 ESV)

Table Rock, the Lord Jesus has entrusted to us his message of reconciliation to the world. That is our identity. We are messengers of the Lord Jesus. Will we be silent with his message? Do we talk about it only with those who already know it? Let’s not let fear or apathy or any sin keep us from communicating to the lost the hope that the King, out of his great love for us, has given this rebellious world terms of peace in Jesus, his Son, who we killed. Not all of us—probably not many of us—will have the same sort of boldness as Peter, and that’s okay! But may we who have received this news with great joy joyfully proclaim it to others. 

And as people respond in faith as the Lord grants it, call them to baptism and call them to the church. Jesus commanded his disciples in Matthew 28 to 

“Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19 ESV)

Help them to pursue that act of obedience, that joyful identification with Jesus, that beautiful assurance for their own soul.

As the servers and music team come up to prepare for communion I want to say some last things. If you are not a follower of Jesus and you’re afraid about what it might mean for your life, maybe what might need to change if you followed him, you have a leg up on Peter, the one who gave the sermon in our text. He left his trade to follow Jesus before Jesus went to his death for all mankind. You know significantly more than Peter did when he started following Jesus. You know that the one you would be entrusting your life to now has come from heaven to earth to die for you so that you would be with him forever. The lengths he went to to bring you back to him is proof that he will carry you through life, he will never forsake you, and he will always be for your good, even through the trials of life. He is faithful. I pray that you would go to him. 

If you are a believer and feeling like you’ve messed up too much, either before you came to know Christ or after, know that no one in this room is too far gone. If we have taken part in killing the Lord of glory through our rejection of him—the worst of the worst evil we could commit—and God is willing to extend forgiveness to us for that, then do not bring accusations against yourself or listen to the accusations of the devil that would try to convince you that you are unforgivable or unlovable. Jesus went to the cross to give you proof that any and every accusation against you is insufficient to condemn you because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.