ACTS: ALIGNING WITH GOD'S SOVEREIGN WORK OF DISCIPLING

IV. God's Sovereign Equipping To Disciple

(Acts 2:12-41)

I. Introduction

A. The book of Acts explains "the orderly and sovereignly directed progress of the kingdom message from Jews to Gentiles, and from Jerusalem to Rome," Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 351.

B. Accordingly, we can learn much about aligning our ministry efforts with God's sovereign work from studying the Early Church era as presented in the book of Acts.

C. Acts 2:12-41 records how the giving of the Holy Spirit equipped the Apostle Peter to disciple his countrymen on the Day of Pentecost. We thus view the passage for our insight, application, and edification:

II. God's Sovereign Equipping To Disciple, Acts 2:12-41.

A. God sovereignly gave Peter the spiritual gift of apostle so he could disciple others, Acts 2:1-4et al.:

1. What occurred in Acts 2:1-4 was the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit, what 1 Corinthians 12:13 reveals occurs to every believer today, so it must occur the instant one believes in Christ as his Savior.

2. In Peter's case, he was given the gift of apostle, the lead gift for discipling in the Church, Eph. 4:11-12.

B. God sovereignly created an interest in what Peter had to say to those who were to be discipled, Acts 2:11-15:

1. The arrival of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the sound of a mighty rushing wind that filled the house where Jesus' disciples were sitting, and that sound got the attention of many other people who crowded around the believers in Christ to understand what was occurring, Acts 2:1-6 ESV.

2. Upon entering the room where the noise was occurring, the crowd witnessed the supernatural tongues speaking by Galilean believers in Jesus, leading to their asking what it meant, Acts 2:11-15.

C. Peter relied on Scripture revelation to address the interest in those who were to be discipled, Acts 2:16-20: When some of those witnessing this event claimed that those who spoke in other languages were drunk, Peter with the other eleven stood up to defend the event as a divine miracle that fulfilled Joel 2:28-32.

D. God sovereignly led Peter to use that Scripture revelation to transition to the Gospel of Christ, Acts 2:21-24: When Peter in Acts 2:21 cited Joel 2:32 that predicted that whoever would call on the name of the Lord would be saved, he easily and quickly transitioned into giving the Gospel of Christ starting in Acts 2:22-24.

E. In giving the Gospel of Christ, Peter used Scripture passages to verify each point that he made, Acts 2:22-35:

1. Peter noted that Jesus had been approved of God by performing attesting miracles to demonstrate that He was the Biblically promised Messiah (Acts 2:22 with Matthew 11:2-6 and Isaiah 35:5; 61:1).

2. Yet, Peter claimed the Hebrew nation by God's determinate counsel and foreknowledge of Israel's rejection of Christ had taken and slain Him by wicked hands, Acts 2:23.

3. However, in fulfillment of Psalm 16:8-11, Peter taught that Christ was raised from the dead, Acts 2:24-32.

4. Peter added that Christ is now seated at the Father's right hand until He makes His foes a footstool for His feet as foretold in Psalm 110:1, and He had sent the Spirit that Peter's hearers had witnessed, Acts 2:33-35.

F. Peter then applied the Gospel to his hearers, leading to their coming under the conviction of sin, Acts 2:36-37:

1. The Apostle Peter clarified that Israel needed to know that God had made Jesus whom the nation had crucified both Lord and Messiah by way of Christ's fulfillment of Scripture, Acts 2:36 with Acts 2:22-35.

2. This summation of his sermon led Peter's hearers to come under intense conviction of sin, and they asked him and the other believers present what they should do to get right with God, Acts 2:37.

G. Peter thus told his hearers what they should do, leading to their conversions, Acts 2:38-41:

1. Peter's audience of devout Hebrews (Acts 2:6) needed to change their minds about Christ, so Peter called them to "repent," namely, to "change one's mind" in acknowledging Christ as God and Messiah (Acts 2:36b) that results in salvation, Acts 2:38; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Acts 2:38. They were to be baptized "for the remission of sins," not a reference to baptismal regeneration where one is allegedly baptized to be saved, but that baptism is the outward sign of repentance and the remission of sins, Ibid.

2. With many such words, Peter led about three thousand Hebrews to believe and be baptized, Acts 2:39-41.

Lesson: At each step of the discipling process, God sovereignly equipped and led Peter by the Holy Spirit and Scripture to disciple about 3,000 devout fellow Hebrews in a single discipling event.

Application: May we rely on the Holy Spirit for the gifting, power and leading to disciple others for Christ, and may we use Scripture, God's Word that will accomplish what He wills (Isaiah 55:11), in discipling all people.