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When
Three Thousand Were Added
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In Acts 2 we have the first recorded Gospel sermon given by Peter, and
on that day “three thousand souls were
added.” From
these events we learn that there was:
A
Powerful Proclamation.
A reading of Acts 2:14-36 reveals Peter preached those things
concerning Christ: His life, death, resurrection and
exaltation.
This powerful proclamation was heard even by
“…Jews,
devout men, from every nation under heaven.” Peter
spoke
concerning things that the multitude needed to hear. When a
preacher’s sermons are filled with more stories and jokes
than
scripture, it is not a powerful proclamation! The sermon may
be
funny or seem interesting, but the last time I read Romans 1:16, it
still reported that “…the gospel of
Christ…is the
power of God to salvation…” The Bible
declares that
our “…faith should not be in the wisdom of men but
in the
power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5). To help us appreciate
how
powerful a proclamation Peter preached, Hebrews 4:12 reveals,
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than
any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and
of joints and marrow, and is a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.” Powerful, isn’t it?
Conviction.
“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?” (Acts 2:37). The multitude became
painfully
aware of their own sin as “as they were cut to the
heart”
when hearing Peter’s sermon. The apostles were
promised a
helper, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “And when He has
come,
He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness,
because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11).
This led
the multitude to ask, “men and brethren, what shall we
do?” The folks that heard this Gospel sermon wanted
to know
what they must do to be saved.
Direction.
Upon
hearing the powerful proclamation and being convicted of their sins,
Peter gives direction. 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 with many other words he testified
and
exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse
generation”
(Acts 2:38-40). Peter very clearly pointed out the way of
life. God requires man today to hear the gospel (Rom. 10:17),
believe it (Mk. 16:16), repent of their sins (Acts 17:30), confess
their faith in Christ that He is the Son of God (Acts 8:37); Rom.
10:9-10) and be baptized for the remission of past sins (Acts
2:38). This is God’s direction for
man.
Acceptance.
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and
that
day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts
2:41). These three thousand souls heard, believed and obeyed
the
word. These obedient souls were made free from sin and were
“added to the church” (Acts 2:47). The
seed, the word
of God, on this occasion fell on good soil. As Jesus taught
“he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the
word
and understands it, who indeed bears fruit…”
(Matt.
13:23). Have you accepted the word by hearing it, believing
it
and obeying it?
Newness
Of Life.
Notice their newness of life as “they continued steadfastly
in
the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in
prayers” (Acts 2:42). These new converts continued
to grow,
walk in the light of the word, continued to observe the weekly
observance of the Lord’s supper and pray. These
growing
Christians could also be found “praising God and having favor
with all the people…” (Acts 2:47). Paul
penned,
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into
death,
that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”.
(Rom.
6:4)
Will you, too, hear
the powerful
proclamation, believe and obey?
~Keith
N. Welch
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