What do we have here? Peter goes about to put into words the understanding to be given to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit being displayed on that occasion. Here was confusion…great confusion, AND confusion about a direct appearance of the Holy Spirit from heaven! They were confused! The understanding emerged out of the words spoken by Peter AND accepted by the 3,000 or so who were baptized.

That tells us a great deal. That tells us that confusion in matters religious must ultimately be answered by the revealed Will of God. If we go about to answer questions of religion without basing the answer IN the text of the Bible, we are always facing the danger of further confusion. But, when our mind is guided by the Words of the text, the question is then answered, but it is answered by the revelation given in the Word of God.

Now, that’s a marvelous thought to entertain. What am I to believe? What am I to do in worship? How am I to live? What is the church to do? What is its work and role? Well, you go by the number of religious bodies in this town, and you will find as much difference as you will find on the streets where they’re located. Now, is all of that true? Is all of that in harmony? Well, of course not! A visitor from Mars, if we could imagine such a being, would go to this congregation or that congregation, or this group or that group, and ask about their belief, their worship, whatever, and he’d walk away saying, “These are mad men! They’re in hopeless confusion! They teach different things! They do different things! These people are simply in total confusion!” And that would be true.

How could the confusion be removed? Well, on the Day of Pentecost the way was, “We want to follow the revelation of God being given on that occasion by the inspired apostle Peter.”

A THIRD LESSON: Look in verse 22 for a moment. This lesson is that Jesus is the center of ALL God’s redemptive plan. To repeat: Jesus is the CENTER of ALL God’s redemptive plan. Peter said on this occasion, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain…,” and so on. Think for a moment about what is presented: Two entirely different thoughts about Jesus.

The thought of God: Jesus is approved of God. The word translated “approved” is from a word that means “to point to; to point out.” By the miracles and wonders and signs that Jesus did during His personal ministry, God was pointing, as we would say, a finger toward Him. “This is My Son! This is the ONE I have sent! See the miracle? Understand the Truth? This is My divine Son!”

Now, the Jewish people, on the other hand, they didn’t believe that. They said, “No. He is a false teacher! He is in league with Satan! He is deceiving; He is misleading; He deserves to be tried, condemned and crucified!”

We’ve got two ideas about Jesus.

Now, in the sermon preached by Peter, the heart of the sermon was by the preaching of the Truth to bring the mind and heart and will of the Jewish person into harmony with what God taught about His Son! That’s still to be the leading burden of our preaching—causing us to understand from God what He has revealed in and through His Son so that we, in submission to His Son, will do what God instructs us to do accordingly. That is the most sublime thought that can enter the mind of man…that God made it so, that through His Son I can understand His final Will for man. And in that marvelous culmination in Christ, all of the history of Israel, from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob until the end of Jerusalem in AD 70, all of that is culminated, and I am able to appreciate the Words of the Old Testament, the Words of the New Testament and bring these into my life and they guide my life and guide the life of the church according to what Christ is teaching. And if I err from that, if I reject that, if I pay no attention to that, I am trading the instruction of God concerning His Son for my own understanding—the exact mistake of the Jewish people on that day.

One more thought, and our time is gone. In this reading, notice in verse 38 that obedience to Christ is the means of our deliverance. In verse 38, an answer was given to the question, “What shall we do?” “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.”

I’m sure that you are familiar with this passage. I do not wish at this point to discuss repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. It’s true. It is taught in this passage. But I want to look at another part of the passage. Look at this little expression, “…in the Name of Jesus Christ…”—literally “upon the basis of the Name of Jesus Christ.” A remarkable moment has come to be. Jesus, so Peter had shown, had been raised to God’s right hand. He had received the promise of the Holy Spirit. AND, in fulfillment of that promise, He had sent the Holy Spirit, as the apostles had received. And this was to enable them to preach the Truth of God, and do so by virtue of the Name of Christ. Christ is now at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and principalities and powers made subject to Him. Now, if one wishes to abide within, or to come to be within, the Will of God, that is guided by the Name, the authority, the sovereign majesty of Jesus Christ. To shun that, or reject that, is to reject not simply a few Words in the text of a verse, but to reject the purpose and the plan of Almighty God.

Now, in closing our thoughts for the moment, these four simple, but profound Truths are the difference between the church being what God wants it to be, and not being that. These verses and Truths are what stands between individuals that have not been saved and who are saved. In order to do the Will of God, I must first of all understand that what God has said is true. I must believe that. I must be willing to let that guide me. Also, I understand that by God’s revelation, whatever uncertainty, confusion in religious matters may obtain, these can be overcome by the revelation of God. And then, I am to see every dimension of religious life in the present time from the standpoint of the divine nature and authority of Jesus, the Son of God and the head of the church. And finally, I am to be submissive to Christ, submissive from the heart, submitting to Him as the Son of God, as the Savior of the world, as the head of the body, the church. And, as a result of that, I am able to turn to the Words of the Bible, and whatever the passage, when I understand that, when I follow that, I am abiding within and holding true to the Will of God concerning my life individually, concerning the church, concerning the worship, concerning ALL of the dimensions of the life and work of the church.

On these four foundation themes we will hope to build in subsequent discussion. Our time is gone. Thank you.