How to Receive God's Forgiveness

Acts 2:37-41

 

• To receive God’s forgiveness you must repent of your sins. John 3:16; Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:3; Luke 24:46-47

• Repentance means turning from a life of sin to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Matt. 3:5-6; Matt. 3-8

• Repentance requires seeing Who Jesus really is. 2:36; 3:14; 3:15

• Repentance requires being convicted of how terrible your sins are in God’s sight. Matthew 15:18-19; Matthew 5:48; Isaiah 64:6

• To receive God’s forgiveness, you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 1:14-15; Acts 20:21

• Believing faith is surrendered faith.
• Saving faith changes the heart. 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Saving faith imparts the Holy Spirit. v. 38
• Saving faith desires to do good works. Ephesians 2:8-10
• Saving faith is committed to obeying Christ’s commands. 1 John 2:3
• Saving faith is motivated to please the Lord. Ephesians 5:8

• Baptism is a declaration of believing faith in Jesus Christ. Matt. 28:19-20

• Water Baptism is not required for salvation! Acts 3:19; Acts 10:43; Acts 16:31
• Water Baptism follows after believing faith that has resulted in salvation. Acts 8:35-38; Acts 10:43-47; Acts 16:30-34
• Believing faith and baptism are an individual matter. vs. 38

• Repentance and believing faith are a work of God v. 39

• We are dead in our transgressions and sin Ephesians 2:1-3

• We are unable to submit to God. Romans 8:7

• We cannot understand the things of God by ourselves. 1 Corinthians 2:14

• Satan blinds us to the gospel. 2 Corinthians 4:4

• Repentance and saving faith are not our works; they are God’s gracious gift. Acts 11:18; Ephesians 2:8-9

Witnessing – What Do I Talk About?

Acts 2:14-26

• Peter’s point: God has finally fulfilled the prophecy of Joel, pouring out His Spirit among us (vv.16-18). 2 Peter 3:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:13
• What to talk about: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Galatians 5:22-23; John 10:10
• Peter’s Point: God will judge the human race (vv. 19-20). Revelation 6:12-17
• What to talk about: Each of us will be held accountable to God for our sin. Romans 3:23; Hebrews 4:13; Romans 6:23
• Peter’s Point: God still can save you from His judgment if you turn to Him (v. 21).
• What to talk about: God offers to save you from judgment and death. 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 6:23; John 3:16
• Peter’s Point: The Lord (spoken of in vs. 21), Whom you can call on to be saved, is Jesus of Nazareth Whom God has declared is the Lord and the Christ (v. 36).
• The term “Lord” means master. But in the NT it was also used to mean deity. Philippians 2:9-11
• The term “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew term “Messiah” which means “God’s anointed one.” Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5
• What to talk about: Salvation is through Jesus Christ Acts 4:12
• Peter’s Point – The miracles Jesus performed are an authentication from God that He is the Messiah and Lord (v. 22). John 3:2; Luke 7:22; Isaiah 35:3-6
• What to talk about: Jesus has complete authority over demons and nature and life, so He must be the Lord.
• Mark 5 – Jesus heals a demon-possessed man.
• John 6 – Jesus walks on water.
• John 9 – Jesus heals a man born blind.
• John 11 – Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave.
• Peter’s Point: The death of Jesus was part of God’s plan for the Lord all along (v. 23). Isaiah 53:10
• What to talk about: The death of Jesus is God’s way of judging your sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 9:26
• Peter’s Point: God raised Jesus from the dead proving that Jesus is the Lord and Messiah (vv. 24-36). Romans 1:4
• What to talk about: Jesus conquered death so He can give life.  John 11:25-26; John 14:6

Teaming up with God to be a Witness

Acts 2:5-13

• Insight #1 – Being a witness for Jesus starts in your own backyard (v. 5).
• “dwelling in Jerusalem”
• “God-fearing” – a word that means cautious
• “every nation under heaven”
• Insight #2 – God will bring people to you if you want to be His witness (v. 6).
• “when they heard this sound” – referring to a singular sound
• “a crowd came together”
• Insight #3 – God loves to use what man sees as unusable (vv. 6-7).
• “bewilderment” – mixed up, confused
• “utterly amazed”
• “are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?”
• Insight #4 – God can remove any barrier for you to witness for Him (v. 8).
• “how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?”
• Glossa – used here to mean a spoken language – speech (vv. 4, 11)
• Dialekto – means dialect, part of a family of languages with a common ancestry (vv. 6, 8)
• Insight #5 - Miracles from God point people toward worship of God (v. 11). Exodus 15:11; Psalm 40:5; Psalm 77:11-12; Psalm 78:4; Isaiah 25:1
• “we hear them declaring the wonders of God”
• Insight #6 – Some People will reject Jesus and you as His witness (v. 13).
• “some, however, made fun of them’
• Insight #7 - Miracles from God are to help you witness to the Lordship of Jesus (v. 16).
• “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”
• The main point: v. 36
• Insight #8 - The verbal declaration and explanation of Jesus and His Good News is a necessary part of being a witness for Him.

The other Scriptures where the Pentecost experience occurred: Acts 8:14-17; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 11:15-18; Acts 15:6-11; Acts 19:1-7

Becoming A Great Witness

Acts 2:1-4

Becoming a Great Witness starts with believing that….

• God is Sovereign (v. 1). John 7:37-39
• Passover (Leviticus 23:4-8)
• A remembrance of when God saved Israel from the angel of death and freed them from slavery in Egypt.
• Feast of First Fruits, (Leviticus 23:9-14)
• Was the celebration of the first fruits of the barley harvest
• Took place the day after Passover. 1 Corinthians 15:20
• Feast of Harvest/Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22)
• A celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest
• Took place 50 days after Passover Ephesians 1:13-14
• God is All-Powerful (v. 2). Ezekiel 37:14; John 3:8
• God has taken up residence in your life (v. 3). 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 1:16
• God can enable you to witness for Jesus (v. 4). Ephesians 5:1