Church at the Ballpark

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. When you see the great love of God for you in the cross, it changes your heart toward God because you see that he was not an adversary that was trying to lord over you. He was a father who created you for his purposes and for you to walk in that is the abundant light. It's everything you've been searching for. Paul said it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.

Not just the threats of God, it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. Welcome to Summit Life with J.D. Greer, Lead Pastor of the Summit Church. I'm your host, Molly Vitovich. Did you know that every week the Summit Church meets on multiple campuses around the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina? But every once in a while we do get the chance to gather as one united family at places like the Durham Bulls baseball stadium. Today, we're hearing a message from that special gathering as Pastor J.D.

continues our study called Scent. We're in the book of Acts chapter 2 starting at verse 22. So grab your Bible and a pen and let's join Pastor J.D.

now. One of the things that has puzzled historians for years is why Christianity spread so fast in its earliest days. Jesus left a relatively small group of followers. They were not people of influence.

They didn't win others because of their stature and because they just had natural followings. There were lots of persecuted groups in that first few centuries. Christianity was not the only religiously persecuted group. There were lots of them but the believers, the followers of Jesus were the only ones that didn't fight back. They were the ones who went sometimes usually to their executions joyfully, praying for their captors. They welcomed the outcast.

They had the first multi-racial communities on the planet. But where, here's the question, where did that energy come from? Where did that energy that became that kind of community that grew faster and larger than any other religious movement ever has on the planet, where did that come from? I want us to take a look very briefly, relatively briefly at the first message ever preached and try to show you what it was that released that energy.

This message that Peter gave it relatively short and to the point led to an extraordinary response. 3,000 people were baptized in one day as the symbol that they were going all the way with Jesus. A couple years ago when we were here my, one of my daughters was baptized here at our ballpark service.

And as she was leaving she, we were in the elevator going down and there was a picture I'm assuming of a Durham, the Durham Bulls coach having won I think the championship for that year with his hands in the air and people were pouring champagne on him. And my daughter who was six years old at the time said, look dad I think he got baptized too. And I said well yes in a manner of speaking but we're gonna pick up and Peter sermon in verse 22. Let me tell you what happened leading up to Peter's sermon. The apostles and the first band of disciples had been hiding out together in an upper room when a mighty tornado like wind filled the room where they were sitting and little cloves of fire began to appear above their heads symbolizing the presence of God. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they went outside into the crowded marketplace and the temple area where there were people there from all the different nations on earth.

It was kind of like a world's fair every year that took place in Jerusalem. And they began to proclaim the glory of God and proclaim what Jesus had done in languages that they did not know were unknown to them. Well there were people there from all over the world who were listening to this saying wait a minute you're not from my hometown but you're speaking my language and you're doing it fluently you're doing it without accent.

How is it you having never been 50 miles outside of your hometown? How are you speaking my language fluently? This would be something just so you get the picture of like the crew of Duck Dynasty breaking out into fluent French or Mandarin.

You have no idea where that's coming from. Well Peter stands up in response to the question and he explains that this multi-language phenomenon was the symbol that the Holy Spirit had been given that God's promise had been fulfilled and it signaled that God wanted the gospel preached in all languages in all nations on earth. And so Peter stands up and he says verse 22 men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves already know you're very familiar with these this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of wicked men this Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified verse 40 says and with many other words he bore witness to these things and continued to exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked and corrupt generation verse 37 now when they had heard this they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles brothers what shall we do brothers what shall we do cut to the heart it felt like a knife had entered their chest Jesus had promised that when the Holy Spirit came John 16 8 he would convict the world of sin and convince the world of who he was the word convict that he uses in Greek is Elenko and what it means is to cross examine it's think of a lawyer he's going to press the case until the inconsistencies are exposed and you have to face and hopefully finally admit the truth that's what the spirit had promised to do and that's exactly what's happening here in Acts chapter 2 verse 40 so here are two questions I want to consider really quickly first of all what was it that cut them to the heart and then secondly what did they do in response because this is the energy behind that first Christian movement number one why were they cut to the heart why were they cut to the heart Tim Keller says that there are two things about what Peter said that cut them here they are number one they realized they had been wrong about Christ you see in Peter's day in Jesus's day there were a lot of different theories about Jesus but Jesus would not conform to anybody's expectations he claimed to be God he claimed to be able to forgive people's sins something that the Jewish people thought was blasphemous because only God forgives sins he demanded absolute lordship over people's lives he uh he he did miracles he let people worship him saying that if they didn't worship him the rocks and the trees would cry out in praise of him he claimed to be on a rescue mission to save people and that he was the only way that we could be saved and people were like Jesus we like you and we're behind you but but but you got to be quiet about this all this God and Lord stuff he wouldn't be quiet about it so they crucified him Peter said that in the resurrection however God overturned their opinions and declared Jesus to be who he was Lord which means God not another religious prophet but the creator of the universe Lord and Christ which means the only savior not one way among many but the only name given under heaven by which we can be saved many of us today have something we want Jesus to be I saw an interview a couple years ago with Bono and in the interview the subject of Jesus came up it was on a public news station but that doesn't stop Bono if you've ever seen him and after bringing Jesus up the most fascinating conversation transpired between him and the interviewer who was one of his biographers Bono said this listen the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this Jesus was a great prophet obviously a very interesting guy had a lot of it had a lot to say along the lines of the other great prophets be they Elijah Moses Muhammad Buddha or Confucius but actually Christ Bono said says no I'm not saying I'm a teacher don't call me a teacher I'm not saying I'm a prophet don't call me a prophet I'm saying I'm saying I'm God in the flesh and people say Bono said people say back to him no no no please just be a prophet a prophet we can take you're a bit eccentric Jesus but we've had John the Baptist eating locust and wild honey we can handle eccentric but not God not the Messiah because you know we're gonna have to crucify you if you keep saying that and he goes no no I actually am the Messiah at this point Bono says everybody starts staring at their shoes and says oh my God he's gonna keep saying this so what you're left with is either Christ was who he said he was Bono says God incarnate the Messiah or a complete nutcase I mean we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson I'm not joking here the idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have changed its fate and turned upside down the world by a nutcase for me Bono says that's a little far-fledged far-fetched now some of you weren't engaged at all when I was reading Peter's words but you're like Bono what what what what are you saying he's somebody pointing out what Peter is saying here they killed him but God resurrected him and if God resurrected Jesus then what you and I think about him is less important than who he actually is are you open-minded enough to consider Christ for who he says that he is are you open-minded enough for God to be what God is and not really what you want him to be are you humble enough are you open enough for Jesus to be who he is or do you insist that Jesus be who you want him to be they were cut to the heart because they realized that they've been wrong about Jesus and what did they point to that kind of proved that to them the resurrection the resurrection that's the question did God resurrect Jesus the people listening to Peter didn't see how they could deny that I mean keep in mind this is in the very city where Jesus had been crucified and buried and you got three thousand people who could say oh no no no no we know where his grave is but they could have said that but they didn't because they're very familiar with the events that had taken place they didn't see how they could write it off as a hallucination Paul refers to 500 people that saw Jesus at the same time 500 people don't hallucinate about the same thing at once they couldn't write it off as a hallucination they couldn't just dismiss these people as liars what profit would they have gained they thought from this lie they were telling this lie did not gain them money prestige or power quite the contrary every one of the apostles would end up dying a martyr's death but proclaiming to the end he's alive we saw him we saw him and they didn't believe in the light of that resurrection they could simply go on choosing to believe about Jesus what they thought he was Lord in Christ so they were cut to the heart because they realized they've been wrong about Jesus they're also cut to the heart number two because they realized they were responsible for the death of Jesus they realized they were responsible for the death of Jesus couple different times verse 23 and 36 peter points at this crowd and he says you killed him over the years this verse has been used anti-semitically claiming that the Jews killed Christ and that they ought to be held responsible for it but that is a very poor understanding of Peter's meaning first when Peter says you killed him he was speaking globally he was speaking to all of us not everyone there had been directly involved in the Christ crucifixion yet Peter looks at all of them and says you all of you killed him verse 39 Peter says this is about you your children and those who are far off children and other nations who haven't even been born yet this was not about a particular group of Jews in Jerusalem it's about all people it's about you and it's about me second when Peter says you killed him Peter was speaking personally Peter knew he himself had had a part in it on the night that Jesus was crucified Peter had denied him three times Luke who was recording these things and the last denial records one very important little detail that people sometimes overlook it says that after Peter denied Christ the third time that Jesus turned and looked at him he was close enough that he could see the face of Jesus Jesus by that point his face would have been beaten and swollen bruised blood and the spit of Roman soldiers dripping off of it and Peter realized in that moment as he stared into the eyes of Jesus that it was his betrayal that was putting Jesus on the cross Jesus was looking at Peter saying this that I'm doing I'm doing for you you are doing this to me those who were listening to Peter came to the exact same conclusion that Peter did we did this you see the Bible says that Jesus died for our sins he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities you're cut to the heart when you realize it was your sin that did this you're cut to the heart when you see Jesus looking at you you did this against God that was for your rebellion it was for your cheating it was for your refusal to do things God's way your selfishness your pride your hatred your hypocrisy your bigotry you see before you are cut you see sin as breaking God's rules after your cut you think of sin as breaking God's heart you see in the look that he gives to you that he came in love in love as a father coming to gather his rebellious children home but you said no I don't trust you I'd rather be in charge of my own life we resisted him and when he wouldn't be resisted we killed him you see I've heard it said like this in every heart there's a throne and a cross if Christ is going to be on the throne you got to be on the cross but if Christ you are on the throne then Christ has to be on the cross if you're going to be the Lord of your life then there is no room for Jesus and the only option is to kill him the one who came to save we crucified I'd grown up in church growing up in a great family but I saw that my rebellion put Christ on the cross I saw that my refusal to follow him that's what crucified him my caring about so many things more than I cared about him the opinion of my friends more than his opinion my feeling of being ashamed of being identified with him by giving myself over to the lust of my flesh where they were in control of me and not him I saw him in high school not with the eyes of my head but the eyes of my heart looking at me and I said with John Newton the writer of that him amazing grace my conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair I saw my sins his blood had spilled I helped to nail him there I was cut here's the question has that ever happened to you not what do you believe or what you know what kind of families you were up in have you ever had a firsthand personal experience with God you can't come to God on the faith of your parents you have to be cut personally where you see that it was your sin that did that and you see that he did it for you so here's the second question what did they do what was it that cut them I told you that the truth about Christ the death of Christ what did they do let me give you just a handful of things here number one they sought forgiveness from the cross they sought forgiveness from the cross Peter said in verse 38 come and be baptized as a symbol that you're claiming Christ's death as your forgiveness now that's a little ironic isn't it you say well if the cross is where we murdered Jesus why would it be the place of our forgiveness yes that is the great irony of the cross that God used our most heinous act against him ever as the source of our salvation Romans 6 23 says the wages of our sin is death Jesus on the cross paid that death penalty in our place Isaiah 53 he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was put upon him by his stripes that we laid on him we are healed there are two things that you have to see in the cross one is that your sin did that to him two that he did it to rescue you the cross is an invitation of grace it's an offer for you to come home back to him it is not enough to feel the condemnation of the cross you have to perceive and personally receive the goodness of God that comes to you through it you see Peter was not the only apostle to betray Jesus that night another one did named Judas when you really look at it Judas's and Peter's sin against Jesus were not that different they both betrayed him but Judas went out and hung himself and Peter came back to Jesus because both of them felt watch this the condemnation of the cross but Judas did not perceive by faith God in the cross saying Judas come back to me I did this to bring you back not to condemn you Jesus resurrected from the dead saying listen you killed me come back because I did this for you have you heard that voice it is the voice of your father saying come home it's been calling to you all your life you might have realized that you might not have whatever religion you're raised in whether you were religious or not it's been calling to you there's something in all of us that knows we are estranged from God you were created to know the God of the universe you were created to feast upon his glory you were created to walk in him in might and power to show people the demonstration of the beauty of who he is he created you as his son or daughter so that you could know him and bring joy to him but you and I forsook that and the ravages of what is left is called sin and he says in the cross come home they sought forgiveness they changed secondly their minds about God they changed their minds about God the word that Peter uses is repentance verse 38 repent and be baptized repentance in Greek means a change of mind a change it's more than just a resolve to do better it's a whole new attitude toward God you see that your whole attitude toward God has been wrong you saw him as your adversary but what he came as was your father and your friend and when you see that that changes your attitude towards sin you see when somebody loves you and you know they love you it changes your heart toward them does it not my wonderful wife Veronica is loyal and faithful to me you you wouldn't look at me and say you know J.D. Veronica is so loyal to you she is so tender she is so loving to you so devoted to you I bet you could cheat on her and get away with it I bet she'd forgive you if you did no her steadfast faithful love toward me makes me want to be faithful to her when you see the great love of God for you in the cross it changes your heart toward God because you see that he was not an adversary that was trying to lord over you he was a father who created you for his purposes and for you to walk in that is the abundant light it's everything you've been searching for searching for the book of Romans Paul said it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance not just the threats of God it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance lastly they surrendered they surrendered verse 37 they said what shall we do what should we do not okay okay give us two or three things we can do to make up for this is there an offering plate can we give them that no what do we do in other words we'll do anything coming to Christ means recognizing that he is the Lord that you've been living in rebellion against him there's only one appropriate response absolute surrender not compromise not negotiation God I'll go to church more God I'll give more money God I'll quit doing these things I'll clean up my language no there's one response surrender C.S. Lewis said it this way we don't come to God as bad people trying to become better people we come as rebels who need to lay down our arms when you come it's not about becoming a better person being a little bit more religious it's about recognizing the lordship of Christ that he's in charge and surrendering him and receiving his offer to save you because he's the only way that's something listen that you've either done or you haven't you've either done it or you haven't think of it like a line a line you've either crossed or you haven't right you see if you either come to a place where you've surrendered to Christ and received him as your savior or you haven't I don't mean you become a perfect person I still struggle daily with inconsistencies and sin but see I do know that he is the Lord and I'm done arguing about who is in charge in my life we have a culture where a lot of people have grown up in or around church but they've never crossed that line they say things like this I see Jesus as my savior but he's not really my Lord yet maybe you compare yourself to others all the time you think well I'm good enough you know as long as God grades on the curve I'm going to be fine that's not the issue the issue is Christ is the only savior he's the Lord have you crossed that line and received him you say well I grew up in church of course I'm a Christian what else would I be I'm not a Muslim I'm not a Jew I'm not an atheist you have to trust Christ as Lord and Savior for yourself the faith of your parents doesn't matter at all like thank God for but it's got to be your decision or a friend of mine says it this way God has no grandchildren he has first generation people that have chosen him for themselves have you made that decision to trust Christ as Lord and Savior have you stepped across that line with many other words it says that he said to that crooked generation come back to God he would say the same thing to us have you saved yourself from that generation by letting Jesus save you where will you be without Jesus what is life if you accomplish everything that you want out of life but you die without him what does it profit a man Jesus said if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul have you crossed that line have you trusted Christ as Lord and Savior the sign that you've made this decision is baptism a public declaration that you're following Jesus we see in verse 41 that that day we're at about 3,000 souls for 3,000 people that day marked a turning point in their lives the day they crossed the line now it's just a symbol it's a symbol of the fact that they had surrendered to Christ as Lord and received him as their Savior that day 3,000 crossed that line this day could be that day for you you can come up with half a dozen excuses to not publicly profess your faith through baptism but if you've trusted Christ as your Savior it truly is your first step of obedience it's a new beginning of blessing in your life we'd love to pray with you if you have any questions about what new life in Jesus means just give us a call at 866-335-5220 we're in a teaching series called sent and we're here every day on the radio and the web to help you dive deeper into the gospel so if you happen to join us late today or if you'd like to catch up on previous messages you can find them all free of charge at jdgrier.com when you give to summit life you're helping us expand our website and radio ministry to reach new listeners all across the country all so that more people can dive deeper into the gospel with us each and every day we're so grateful for your partnership and as our way of saying thanks we'll send you a copy of a new resource created especially for our listeners it's titled sent the book of acts volume one as you read and study you'll learn more about the book of acts and the history of the early church but more importantly you'll discover what it means to be sent the mission and call for every believer ask for your copy of sent the book of acts volume one covering chapters one through eight when you donate today at the suggested level of 25 dollars or more give us a call at 866-335-5220 that's 866-335-5220 or it might be more convenient to give and request the book online at jdgrier.com i'm molly vidovich and i am so glad that you joined us be sure to tune in wednesday when pastor jd continues our study of the early church movement on summit life with jd greer today's program was produced and sponsored by jd greer ministries