Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 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, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 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 2:33–41 

Outline

Introduction: False Freedom of Rebellion

1. Reign of Christ (Acts 2:33–36)
2. Response of the Crowd (Acts 2:37)
3. Repentance of the Called (Acts 2:38–41)

Application: True Freedom of Repentance 

Introduction: False Freedom of Rebellion

Well, here we are in the second week of Advent 2020. A season we desperately need as a church. If we ever needed a season to fix our eyes on King Jesus, it is in 2020. Last week, we saw God’s power and purposes at work to affirm Jesus as King through his life, death, and resurrection. This week, we will see that Jesus is indeed Lord of the universe and hear the preaching of repentance in him. As Kurt Elting-Ballard said to me about Advent: The Kingdom is near because the King is here—how will we respond? With repentance. Why? Because Jesus being our King does not just mean that he defeats our enemies for us, but that he rules over us. 

We live in a world where authority is almost a swear word. It is most natural to question everything, while also affirming our own personal opinions about things. In the book of Judges, it was a word of judgment that the people did “what was right in their own eyes.” Today, that word of judgment has become the most prized principle in our society. You do you. You seek happiness and comfort for yourself in the moment. We see this permeating society, and if we’re honest, we see it permeating our own hearts. Everyone’s an expert and should live for their own little slice of heaven here on earth, whatever their heaven looks like. We call this freedom. I have my right to do what I want when I want it.

I’m not saying authority can’t be abused. It can be. It has been. But never before have we been so allergic to any notion of authority and had such easy access to voice our angst.

Kids, can you imagine a world with no rules, where there were no bedtimes, ice cream and snacks were everywhere, you didn’t have to pick up after yourselves, and you could do whatever you wanted? At first, that sounds fun, doesn’t it? Well, what you need to know is that God has put your parents in your life for a reason—to help you live with wisdom. I would encourage you kids to obey your parents and learn that it is for your good and God’s glory.

Why do I bring this up? Because the text today is going to present a view of Jesus that demands our complete submission to him. Our culture offers a view of freedom where we are ruled by our own desires. The Bible says that freedom is when we are ruled by the commands of Christ. 

And here is where I want to remind us what sin really is: rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no freedom there. You see, too often we see our sin very minimally. We’ve even come up with new words to describe it. We “struggle” with pornography instead of calling it sin against a holy God. We say we are “frustrated” as a way to cover up our sinful anger, bitterness, and need for control. We use our pain as an excuse to gossip about our brothers and sisters. We use our platforms and influence to mock and speak with gall and rationalize it as a means to “speak the truth.” What has happened as we’ve done this? 

We’ve turned ourselves into our own judge and jury—often very easy-going and giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt while simultaneously condemning and cancelling others in the courtroom of our own opinions. And this morning, I’m eager for us to take ourselves off the throne and put Jesus back in his rightful place as Lord of all.

This is the good news of Advent Fulfilled. Our King has come and he’s alive to reign over us. And where we have given in to this false freedom, he simply tells us to turn and come under his perfect reign again.

1) Reign of Christ (Acts 2:33–36)

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”—Acts 2:33–35

Last week we saw that the apostle Peter stood up and said that the power of God was at work to carry out the plans of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These things had been planned all along according to Scripture. So had the pouring out of the Spirit. The pouring out of the Spirit was not a sign of drunken foolishness, but a sign of divine faithfulness. Jesus lived and did miracles according to God’s plan. Jesus died for sins according to God’s plan. Jesus was raised to conquer death according to God’s plan. 

Here, in these verses, Peter says that Jesus ascended and was seated as Lord of the universe at the right hand of God according to God’s plan. God had given Jesus the authority as Lord of the church to pour out the Holy Spirit on the church.

In this text, we see that Jesus receives the Name that is above every name according to God’s plan. And with this Name, the Father gives the Son the authority to pour out the Spirit on this New Covenant people. Remember, Acts is all that Jesus continues to do and to teach by the power of the Spirit empowering his blood-bought people. This book is about the supremacy, sovereignty, and supernatural saving work of the King of kings.

Peter quotes Psalm 110 to show these Jews that this was all according to God’s plan. There, in Psalm 110, David says that there is One who will ascend to the right hand of God to reign until all the enemies are finished. It was clear to Peter that David did ascend to the heavens. But there is one who did: Jesus Christ. Therefore, he is the king who is given the authority that is in view in Psalm 110. He is the one who reigns supremely and will have final victory over his enemies. Here’s the point: the outpouring of the Spirit and the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures testify clearly that Jesus is Lord of all. Can you imagine the chills that went down the spines of the listening crowd as Peter spoke the last line of his sermon?

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.—Acts 2:36

Now, they could not hide. They were exposed. The Scriptures confirmed it. They had crucified their Savior and the Lord of the universe. They were directly opposing God himself. Have you ever seen your sin clearly and seen the holy power of God clearly? Kids, have you ever had that moment where you were doing something you knew you shouldn’t and your parents found out? That’s what these people felt like as they realized they were found out and opposing God.

2) Response of the Crowd (Acts 2:37) 

How did the crowd respond to this question?

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart.—Acts 2:37

Notice there was an inner response before an outer response. They were pierced to their very souls. The word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, pierced through the bone and the marrow and they were naked and exposed before the eyes of the Lord Jesus.

This process hurts. There is a reason it is called a piercing. It undoes us. There’s a reason it’s called being naked and exposed. Here is the moment where the Lord, by the Spirit, tears away all the pretense of our lives. Here’s the moment where the Lord comes calling to us in the Garden and says, “You sewed your own fig leaves and hid in the trees? Don’t you know I created the world?” 

This is painful and unpleasant, but it’s a loving invitation to freedom! You see, this is how it is supposed to work. When we realize we are objectively guilty before the Lord of the universe, shame kicks in. We realize we are naked and exposed. The ways we have tried to justify our sin and cover it up are stripped away. Guilt and shame are not bad things. It is built into us to help bring us into alignment with reality and remove the blinders we have placed on our own hearts and release us from the chains of our own self-protection. We will get to what you do with that shame and guilt in just a bit.

And when this feeling comes, we should not push it away or avoid it because it will be painful. It is only as we are cut open that the painful but healing open-heart surgery can come so that our hearts can beat and function and we can live as we were made to live, for the glory of God.

The other option is to ignore the feeling. Stuff the feeling away. Numb the feeling with one more article or one more glance at social media or one more movie. Push away the feeling with further justification of why your sin is OK. Distract yourself from the feeling with religious activity. 

So, South family, where have you made idols? Where are the places in your heart that are replacing Jesus as your sure hope and Lord? Where are your hidden, subtle sins? Where are you so distracted with a desire for comfort and control that you’ve missed Jesus? Where is your attention? Where is your fear? Where is your confusion? Where is Jesus in all of that for you?  

Do you realize why the Jews missed Jesus? They wanted political control. They knew their morals and way of life were best. They wanted their rights. They wanted to be respected and treated well by society. They wanted their place. They wanted a conquering King who would defeat Rome rather than a crucified King who would defeat their sins.

O church, be careful where you place your hope and where you are distracted. Don’t miss Jesus. He will not be a means to an end. I am praying that whatever sins are coming to your mind right now, you would allow the lordship of Jesus—carried out by the power of the promised Spirit—to have its full probing and piercing effect right now. This is the inward response of the crowd. It leads to an outward response of desperation.  

And [they] said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”—Acts 2:37b

That’s the right question. We are at the mercy of the Lord. We have been distracted. We have missed him. We have justified our sin. We have covered it up. What do we do?

3) Repentance of the Called (Acts 2:38–41) 

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, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 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.”—Acts 2:38–40

What is the answer for them? How will the church be born and 3,000 souls be saved? “Repent.” This simply means to turn. Turn away from sin and turn to Jesus. Turn from false places of hope and turn to Jesus as your hope. Say with your heart, “Yes, I have sinned against the King of kings. Yes, he lived a perfect life with miracles according to God’s plan. Yes, he died for my sins according to God’s plan. Yes, he rose again and ascended to power according to God’s plan. I trust him for my forgiveness and I bow to him with my life.” 

We are going to circle back around to baptism next week and spend some time on it since we are good Baptists—but for now let’s hang out on the idea of repentance.

Peter says, “Repent from your sin.” That’s it? That’s amazing news. You crucified the King of the universe. “What do we do?” You would think there would be a quite a long moral list to accomplish. Some kind of religious feats to prove something. That somehow you would need to prove you could do better next time. Work your way back into the favor of God. And some of you feel that way about your sin right now. But Peter says, “Repent.”

Turn to Jesus. Jesus accomplished the moral list. Jesus lived the perfect life for you. Jesus died for your sins. So you repent. You confess your sin. Your guilt and shame over sin is right. It is alerting you to walking out of step with reality—but what you do with it next is so important. Will you bury it? Ignore it? Justify it? Be paralyzed by it?

No. Instead, confess your sin. Run to Jesus, who has taken your guilt and has covered your shame. The cross means that your sin is more serious than you’ve imagined and his grace runs deeper than you can fathom.

Notice two more things with me from these verses on repentance.

First, notice from verse 40 God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. What did Peter exhort and preach to them? “Save yourself.” That’s a statement calling for a response. “Come to Jesus! Turn from sin! Stop hiding! Stop self-justifying! Save yourselves!” But, who will respond to that preaching? Look at verse 40: “Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  So I have no problem right now saying, “Come to Jesus! Come home! Respond! Come out from hiding!” And while I say that, I’m praying that God would call, that God would convict. That the Lord Jesus would do his work by the power of his Spirit to bring about repentance right now.

Second, notice that this promise is for all who call on the name of the Lord. Children and those who are far off. Are you here right now and thinking, “Pastor Dave, you don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know what I’m hiding. You don’t know my sin. I’m too far off.” Call upon the Lord. Repent. That’s it. There might be all sorts of things that have to change in your life and all sorts of messiness. That’s OK. We will get messy with you as you call out to Jesus. He is Lord and he can handle your mess.

And kids, children are mentioned right in this verse. Kids, I love that you’re with us and one of the ways I can love you best is to tell you that you are sinners. You can’t save yourselves. But if you will see that Jesus is King and that he died for your sins and rose again, you can call out to him even today and he will save you fully, freely, and forever.

In light of the lordship of Jesus and in light of our sin, the call to repentance is really good news. In fact, it’s our only hope. 

Application: True Freedom of Repentance

Repentance sounds scary. But it’s an invitation to freedom. It’s an invitation to reality. The reality of this universe is that we are sinners, with no hope on our own, but we have a crucified, resurrected, and reigning King who invites us to turn from sin and turn to him. Our King is eager to forgive us and then lead us.

I remember multiple times as a kid and teenager when I had just done something really foolish and thought I could get away with it—and got caught. And there are several times I remember the feeling of getting caught and exposed. I knew I was wrong. I knew I had defied my parents. That was painful. I remember several times this happened and my parents simply hugged me and let me cry in their arms. That’s what this moment of repentance is like. 

And then my parents had to discipline me and help me walk in further obedience. It was for my good. And guess what? They had to keep parenting me after that, day after day.

This is what it’s like to turn from sin and turn to Jesus. We repent and return to him. He meets us with open arms and grace. And then he continues to help us submit every area of our lives to him—not to take away our freedom but to help us walk in the true freedom of repentance. Until we repent we are locked up in the prison of our own sin. We are stuck. We have no hope. We are walking out of step with reality. Jesus came that we might have life and life abundantly—and that means transforming us to love what he loves and hate what he hates and walk closely with him. These people in Acts were never the same. They were all-in for Jesus and Jesus alone.

Jesus is eager to do this today with whatever your sin is. He is still teaching and working among us today! Perhaps you’ve been distracted and putting your hope in political parties and systems instead of Jesus. Repent. Perhaps you’ve been guilty of harsh words and mocking. Repent. Perhaps you’ve been guilty of bitterness and gossip. Repent. Perhaps you’ve been guilty of sexual sin or other types of addiction. Repent. Perhaps you’ve been guilty of harsh anger. Repent. Perhaps you’ve been apathetic toward loving your neighbor or filled with grumbling and selfishness. Repent. Kids, perhaps you’ve been disobeying your parents. Repent. I don’t know your hearts. But Jesus does. He sees them all. The Christian life is a life of repentance. 

Perhaps you’ve never actually trusted in Jesus. As you’ve listened, you’ve realized you’ve never really put your trust in Jesus or really wanted to follow him as King with every area of your life. You’ve been in church, but you’ve been playing games. 

What shall we do as we realize the kingdom is near and the King is here this Advent season? Repent. And then Jesus gives us the promised gift of the Holy Spirit to continue to conform us to his image. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us live lives of repentance, always seeking to confess our sin and submit every area of our lives—public and private—to Jesus. This is what the Spirit does and this is true freedom. 

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.—2 Corinthians 3:16–18

Let us repent and call out to Jesus. He has paid for our guilt and covered our shame. He will grant us true freedom as he transforms us. You are not too far off. Come to him now.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. The Reign of Christ (Acts 2:33–36)
2. The Response of the Crowd (Acts 2:37)
3. The Repentance of the Called (Acts 2:38–41)

1. Where do you see a subtle “allergic reaction” to authority in your own heart?
2. Are there ways the culture has shaped you to minimize or excuse your sin?
3. How does the outpouring of the Spirit confirm the reign of Christ? Why does Peter use Psalm 110 in order to show this?
4. How does the crowd respond to the preaching of the word? What is the inner response? What is the outer response?
5. Are there areas of sin that you’ve been hiding or justifying? Why is exposure good though painful?
6. What response does Peter call for? What is repentance?
7. What is baptism? What is the purpose and picture of baptism?
8. Why is true freedom found in repentance and submission to Jesus?
9. In what areas of life have you been hoping or trusting in things other than Jesus? What is one area of your life where you can take the step of repentance today?