JMA Newsletter Missions Mid-Month July 2024

The Great Commission Series!

Over the last few months, we have observed the Great Commission in the Gospels. Now, we'll continue our series on through the New Testament!

Acts 2:38-39, 38"Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Observations from the text:
1. This was the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection, 10 days after Jesus was received into heaven (Acts 1:3-11).
2. Jerusalem was full of internationals; Acts 2:9-11, 9"Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
3. Peter stood and preached to the crowds, ch2:14-39, explaining what was happening to them, connecting that outpouring to the prophetic word in Joel ch2, and our Great Commission text is the end of his sermon that day.
4. His concluding remarks in v38-39 are the answer to the question raised in v37, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?", and we especially want to note the phrase, 'they were cut to the heart', meaning they were convicted of their own personal sin, made aware of their guilt, convinced of the truth, and received the reality check that they, while in Jerusalem in a vain attempt to get right with God, were confronted with the realitiy that they were outside of the covenant. None of them were ignorant of the events that had happened in Israel in the past three years. And when Peter concluded his message with "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (v36), they all knew very well Who he was talking about. 

The proper response to a proper Gospel presentation.
1. "Repent", change your mind, including to turn away from your current life direction and turn to the Lord. Sometimes we get in our mind that repentance is a one-time event that we do at salvation, and not again. But that is novice level thinking. Every single one of us needs to change our mind about something! Some of us are addicted to thinking stupidly, or addicted to believing the lies we were told. If you preach a gospel that does not require repentance, you are doing it wrong.
2. "let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin", Peter is not talking about water baptism. He is talking about being baptized into the name. Here now is where we connect to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19b, 'baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In this verse, we see three baptisms: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. At salvation, we are baptized into the name of the Father, and we are given a spirit of adoption whereby we cry "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15). And we are baptized into the name of the Son, and we are submerged,  immersed, baptized into the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." And finally, we are baptized into the name of Holy Spirit. Being baptized into the name of Christ can and should include being water baptized, but here Peter is referring to 'the remission of sin' which can only come through the work of the cross, not the work of the pool.
3. "you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit", too many people wrongly interpret this to mean the giftings, or the supernatural outworking of Holy Spirit, ie miracles, tongues, etc. In this case, Peter does not us the word 'charis', the usual Greek word associated with gift. He uses 'dorea'. It means gift, but it is a larger sense. What Peter is saying is Holy Spirit is the gift. This is not about attendant manifestations that you might see as a result. This is about Him. His presence, His indwelling, His peace, His conviction, His comfort, His wisdom, His communion with us, He dwells with us. He is the gift.
4. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." This is a repeat of the pattern in Acts ch1, "You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and the end of the earth." Our families represent Jerusalem and Judea; those who are afar off are Samaria, and as many as the Lord our God will call are the end of the earth. 

This is the Great Commission. It starts at home. It moves to our neighbors. And it goes to places we do not even know, to people we don't know. But God knows them! Sometimes, He brings them to us, like we find in Acts 2 in Jerusalem. Sometimes, He takes us to them. Here's a reality check: it is not always easy. The Gospel is not always received. People do not always repent. And there's always spiritual opposition, either a little or a lot. S, what do we do? Stay humble, love mercy, do justly. Don't quit.

 

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