How Many of Us Has the Lord Called?

Tom: We are in the Book of Acts…we’re in Acts:2:37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
See All..., which is where we’re going to pick up. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Dave, last week, this statement by Peter—I’ll go back to verse 36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Today they would view that as, “Oh, we have to take that out. That’s not very tolerant.”

Dave: Let me make some observations in relation to what we’ve been talking about.

Tom: Okay.

Dave: First of all, Peter didn’t get a spiritual profile, or a talent—find out what his talent was and on that basis then he was picked to give the sermon on the day of Pentecost. It doesn’t work that way at all.

What is his methodology, or how does he preach? He’s referring to prophecy. He’s going back to the Old Testament. He’s talking about the prophecies concerning the Messiah. He’s telling them, “He rose from the dead…and this was foretold by David,” and so forth, okay? This is his technique. It’s not a technique. It’s just biblical.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: He is going by the Bible. What happened? These people are convicted by the Holy Spirit. It says, “They are pricked in the heart.” And they say, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” This is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

Tom: This is Spirit-led from Peter…

Dave: Right.

Tom: …to those who were under conviction. Spirit-led, not purpose driven, Dave. I don’t mean to belabor that, but it’s really the truth.

Dave: This is through the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, not through some book. And, you know, just going back to the end of where we were—that, “…When you know your natural talents…and your spiritual gifts…and your personality…and you form your ministry, you know. according to that criteria—then you’ll be most effective.”

I find none of this with Peter. And I would say he was very effective. Apparently, 3,000 people got converted on this particular day through that sermon. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins….”

Now, these are the people who had just crucified Christ. They need to repent of that. He has explained to them that, “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel, foreknowledge of God”—now, this is all foretold—and it had to be because the Messiah had to die for our sins. “But you have taken the Lord of life and glory and you have crucified Him—you’ve slain Him.” Well, they’ve got something to repent of.

Tom: Dave, you know, the other thing I don’t find here is that Peter is speaking the truth in love. This is not seeker-friendly. This is not seeker-sensitive. This is not trying to adjust the church for the sake of the lost. This is preaching the truth.

Dave: And there are no different venues, you know—gather people here for this type of worship or that, and so forth. So, they have been convicted by the Holy Spirit. They’ve done something horrible. They’ve rejected the Messiah. They’ve even crucified the Messiah, and God has made Him Lord and Christ. He’s exalted Him to His right hand in the heavens.

Now, you’ve got to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. It’s not that baptism saves. “…And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” [There’s a] little difference here. We find in Acts:10:44While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
See All... for example, when Peter is preaching to Cornelius’ household—actually, they are filled with the Holy Spirit before they get baptized. So it makes it very clear that baptism follows conversion. It’s not the means by which we are brought into the kingdom of God, or by which we receive the Holy Ghost.

Now, Tom, without going into too much detail, there’s a verse here that some people—the Oneness Pentecostals, for example—they have used this and used this. We read in Matthew 28, “Jesus said, Make disciples…go into all the world…make disciples of all nations…baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” But then they say, “Well, yeah, but the Father—that’s just another name for Jesus. Jesus is the only one. [It’s] just an office or a mode, or something—but we baptize in the name of Jesus only. And Jesus is the only one. He’s the Father, he’s everything.”

Well, it does violence to the Word of God. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” One office sent another office, you know? it doesn’t make sense. Well, but it says “baptize them in the name of Jesus.” Now doesn’t that contrast with Matthew 28, “Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”? What are you going to do with that? Well, if we jumped ahead to Acts 19, Paul comes in touch with a group of—well, they’re disciples, actually—disciples of John—and verse 2, “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? They said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.”

“We never heard of the Holy Spirit.” That’s a tip-off to Paul. Immediately he says, “Unto what then were you baptized?” Why would he say that? Because they were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And if you say you’ve never heard of the Holy Spirit, you couldn’t have been baptized properly in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That meant you didn’t hear the gospel. You were not baptized by those who were preaching the gospel, because they baptized you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And they say, “Well, uh, John’s baptism.”

“Well.” Paul says, “that explains it. You guys aren’t even saved. You did not really believe the gospel about Jesus Christ, and you were not baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

So, that’s just a side note here. “For the promise,…” that is the promise of the Holy Spirit and of salvation—because salvation comes…and then when you get saved, you receive the Holy Spirit, were born again of the Spirit of God. “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Tom, not to get off onto Calvinism, but here’s an offer for everyone. It’s to you, to your children. How could he say that—that this is for your children, if they’re not among the elect? Now, you could say, “Well, as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Yeah, because everybody is called. This is the gospel call.

I’ve spoken at some conferences in several countries. Midnight Call…they call the ministry. And, I speak at some of their conferences in the United States. They put out a magazine Midnight Call. What does that mean? It’s midnight! Christ is about to come back, and we’re calling people to come to Christ. So, the call of the gospel has gone into all the world.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: And it is for everyone who will believe.

Tom: Verse 40: “And with many other words did he testify and exhort saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”

“Untoward generation”—what’s that mean?

Dave: Well, it means they have rejected the Word of God.

Tom: “…evil and a wicked generation.”

Dave: Right, they….

Tom: …the Scriptures talk about....

Dave: They have turned away from God. Don’t be part of that any more. Turn away from them.

Tom: Dave, the issue—just to go back a little—the issue of “repent.”

Dave: Mm-hmm.

Tom: We’ve addressed that in the past, but simply, it means “to turn.” You’re going away from God. Turn back to Him.

Dave: I think….

Tom: It doesn’t mean to clean up your life, clean up your act.

Dave: No. [In] this particular instance, there was nothing they could do to clean up their life. They’ve already crucified Christ. They’ve already rejected Him. So, I have to repent. I’ve got to turn….

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: …from that attitude of heart, but I try to explain that, or use that word very cautiously, because some people would get the impression, “Oh, to get saved, I’ve got to clean up my life, you know. I’ve got to become a new person.” No, you become a new person through your salvation—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Tom: You know, Dave, as a former Catholic, we didn’t use the word “repent.” We used “penance.”

Dave: Penance—right. 

Tom: And that’s where you pay for your punishments, clean up your act…

Dave: Right.

Tom: …and go back to the church.