A CO:MISSION Powered by the Holy Spirit that Produces a New Community...

This week, we are looking at a story that is recorded for us in a letter in our Bible called the book of Acts that records a day in history when God did something new by sending His Spirit in order that followers of Jesus would be united together by His Spirit as a part of a new community called the church. And this new community called the church would be the vehicle that He would use to reveal Himself and His message of rescue through the gospel to the world.

Yesterday, we saw Peter stand in the midst of crowd of thousands to explain that God was sending His Spirit in order that followers of Jesus would be united together by His Spirit as a part of a new community and with a new mission be the vehicle that He uses to reveal Himself and His message of rescue through the gospel to the world. And that everyone who responds to the message of the gospel would be rescued from selfishness and rebellion and experience the relationship with God that they were created for. Peter then proceeds to proclaim the message of the gospel in verse 22:

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. "For David says of Him, 'I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 'THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 'YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.'

In other words, Peter exclaims “God has revealed Himself to you through His Son, who proved that He is “God–in-a-bod” by doing what only God could do; Healing lepers, giving sight to those born blind; raising the dead. And the reason that God revealed Himself though His Son is because God had a plan. A plan that involved sending His Son who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we had lived Jesus perfect life. And while He was put to death, God proved that His promise of forgiveness and rescue was true by raising Him from the dead and bringing Him back to life. And this should not come as any surprise to you, because King David, our greatest leader, predicted and proclaimed that this would happen in Psalm 16:8-11”.

Now, for many Jewish people listening to Peter here, it is at this point that there would have been an objection to Peter’s words here. The objection would have been around the belief that most Jewish people in the first century believed that David was referring to Himself in this Psalm. And while some may have thought that David was referring to himself in these verses, Peter goes on to prove that King David was not referring to himself, but to Jesus:

"Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

To understand what Peter is communicating here, we first need to understand about King David and his grave. Upon King David’s death, he was buried in a tomb that was located just south of the city, near Siloam. The tomb had previously been entered and robbed in the past by those who had conquered the Jewish people. And King Herod, after being halted from robbing and desecrating King David’s grave upon taking power, made amends for his actions by building a monument of white marble at the entrance to the tomb. So everyone knew where King David was buried. And everyone knew that his dead and rotting corpse was in the tomb. So with that knowledge in mind, Peter continues his sermon:

"And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."'

Peter explains “everyone knows that King David died and is buried in his tomb, so King David could not be talking about himself in this Psalm. King David is not talking about himself because God promised King David that one of his descendants would be the Promised Messiah who would come and rescue the Jewish people. And the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead by God and is not in a tomb rotting away reveals the reality that Jesus is the Messiah. God has fulfilled His promise and what you think is drunkenness is actually God sending His Spirit in order that followers of Jesus would be united together by His Spirit as a part of a new community called the church. And this new community called the church would be the vehicle that He uses to reveal that the claims of Christ and His message of rescue through the gospel to the world are true. Peter then hammers his point home in verse 36:

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."

In other words, there is no doubt that Jesus is God and our Messiah that was sent to be our Rescuer-and you killed Him! Now imagine yourself as part of the crowd listening to this sermon and seeing and hearing what was happening through these Galileans who were speaking in your native language. How would you respond? We see how many in the crowd responded as the story concludes:

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"

As the crowds listened to Peter’s sermon and saw the evidence of God’s extraordinary activity in the lives of these earlier followers of Jesus that served to authenticate that Peter was speaking for God, they were cut to the heart. God’s words through Peter and God’s activity through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence resulted in their eyes being opened to the truth of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel and their need for rescue from selfishness and rebellion. The crowds had a simple response: What shall we do? Because our eyes have been opened to see that God is at work and is doing something new in the world to provide forgiveness from sin and open the door to a relationship with God. What shall we do?

Maybe you find yourself wrestling with this very same question. Maybe God’s message of rescue through the message of the gospel has connected in the core of your being. And you find yourself asking that same question: What shall I do? If I have described you, I have good news for you; the same good news that Peter gave to those who asked this same question some 2,000 years ago. Let’s look at that good news together:

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"

When Peter uses the word repent, this word literally means to feel remorse that results in a change of one’s mind and heart. To repent means more than simply feeling sorry for something you did; to repent means that you feel sorry for what you did and the sorrow that you feel drives you to change something in your life. If Peter was communicating this message to us today in the language that we use in our culture, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God back towards God”.

As we have talked in previous sermons, baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus. A person who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who has been rescued from my selfishness and sin by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader and I desire to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”.

Peter here was calling those listening to respond to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. Turn the trajectory of your life from trusting in your performance, or your possessions, or your position, to trust in what God has done for you through Jesus. And when we respond to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we receive forgiveness and experience the relationship with God that we were created for. We also receive the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in our lives. We are then to publicly proclaim and identify ourselves as being a follower of Jesus by being baptized.

And it is in this story that we see revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to the Co-mission we have been given. And that timeless truth is this: God’s co-mission is powered by the Holy Spirit and produces a new community. God provides the power to complete the mission we have been given in partnership with Him by sending His Spirit in order we would be united together by His Spirit as a part of a new community called the church. And it is the church that God desires to partner with and use as the vehicle to reveal Himself and His message of rescue through the gospel to the world. We read what happened next as this story comes to an end:

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

Now for those who believe that mega churches are evil, here’s the thing; the church began as a mega church. God’s transformational intervention and activity in the world resulted in a new community called the church. A new community that was given a co-mission; a mission that would be powered by the Spirit of God in order to advance the kingdom of God and enhance the reputation of God.

And in the same way today, as followers of Jesus, we are called to continue to partner with the co-mission of God that is empowered by the Holy Spirit that continues to invite others to become a part of the community of faith. And today, to become a part of the community of faith as a follower of Jesus is the same as it was 2,000 years ago and can be summarized by three simple words: believe, trust, and follow.

First, you need to believe that you have done selfish things that have hurt God and others and are in need of forgiveness and that Jesus was who He said He was; that Jesus was God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived His perfect life.

Second, you need to trust that Jesus death for your selfishness and sin provides forgiveness and the relationship with God you were created for. And third, you need to follow Jesus as Lord and Leader. If you are here this morning and you desire to experience the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that you were created for, you simply need to express to Him that you believe, trust, and desire to follow Jesus as Lord and Leader. There are no magic words, prayers, or formulas. Just simply have a conversation with God where you are.

Because God’s co-mission is powered by the Holy Spirit and produces a new community. So are you embracing and engaging in the co-mission that we have been given by investing in that mission in a way that reveals and reflects Christ and invites others to be a part of the community of faith called the church?