Sermons
A Throng In The Pools
Series: The Way Of SalvationA THRONG IN THE POOLS
Sermon By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / August 25, 2019
The second chapter of the book of Acts is both exciting and eye-opening for a number of reasons.
It shows the beginning of the church in the period following the ascension of Christ.
It contains the first gospel sermon - - delivered by the apostle Peter.
And, in keeping with the focus of this morning's sermon, it delineates the reaction that came from Peter's first sermon.
It details a significant response from a multitude of Jews who had been guilty of crucifying Jesus.
Read from Matthew 27:11-26
Jesus came to earth as Israel's Messiah.
But, as the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke all three reveal, it was the Jews who demanded His crucifixion.
Mk.15:11-13 / the chief priests stirred up the multitude to ask for (Pilate) to release Barabbas for them instead.
And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, 'Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?'
And they shouted back, 'Crucify Him!' But Pilate was saying to them, 'Why, what evil has He done?'
But they shouted all the more, 'Crucify Him!'.
Lk23:23 / they were insistent, with loud voices asking that (Jesus) be crucified.
Acts 2 tells of the first Pentecost after Jesus' crucifixion.
Pentecost was one of three major Jewish pilgrimage festivals centered in Jerusalem.
It took place fifty days after another major festival (Passover), during which Jesus had been crucified.
Many, if not all, of the very ones who chanted so vociferously to “crucify Jesus”, are now back in town.
HOW WILL THEY NOW RESPOND?
Will they be hardened all the more?
Will their memories be stirred to recollect the miracles that Jesus performed?
Will their eyes be open to the miracles that now accompanied the preaching of the apostles on Pentecost?
And most importantly - - Will their hearts be softened so as to receive the proclamation of the gospel?
Acts 2:22-24 & 36 records the heart of Peter's sermon.
Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles
and wonder and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know - -
this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, YOU nailed to a cross
by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to
the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power...Therefore let all the house
of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - - this Jesus whom you crucified.
Peter calls attention to the dual facets of this hinge-of-history event.
First, this was GOD'S DOING - - (Jesus) was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.
Secondly, Jesus was put to death by a mob of JEWISH UNBELIEVERS - - nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men.
On this day of Pentecost some 2,000 or so years ago, the tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife.
And that is exactly what Peter did, he employed the word of God (the sword of the Spirit/Eph.6:17) to do soul surgery.
Note the response of the crowd recorded by Luke (Acts 2:37) - - Now when they heard this,
they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
I want us to pause here and ponder what Peter, on behalf of God Almighty, is about to offer this guilty multitude.
The gravity of their sin could not have been greater - - they had crucified the very Son of God.
F.F. Bruce (New International Commentary, Acts, pg.75) writes:
“If Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the appointed Messiah, then no guilt could be greater
than treating Him as He had been treated. They had refused Him in who all their
hope of salvation rested; what hope of salvation was left to them now?”
When they cried out, “WHAT SHALL WE DO?”, it was a cry of outright anguish.
Everything about it was as ugly as it gets: rejection … utter disdain … calumny (false charges) … cruelty.
Indeed, If there are degrees of sin, their sin rose to the nth degree.
One could reason that God through Peter would have had ever right to declare,
“You have committed an unpardonable sin and there is no hope for you.”
But the message of the gospel reverberates throughout the hills and valleys of Jerusalem.
What Peter says to the crowd is almost too good to be true.
Follow as I read to you from Acts 2:38-40 - -
And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and
all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.' And with many other words he
solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, 'BE SAVED from the perverse generation.
Imagine that - - they had crucified the Son of God, but the Father was offering them full forgiveness.
All they had to do was repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
I've said this in such a way that I feel the need to clarify this matter, which I will do shortly.
But for now, let's press onward in the text, and discover how they responded.
Acts 2:41 documents - -
So then, those who had received his word WERE BAPTIZED; and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.
Hundreds upon hundreds of Jews arrived in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost burdened with sin.
A sin so grave that you wonder how they slept at all during those 50 days following the Passover.
But soon they will head home - - and their journey back to their homes will be A TRIP FILLED WITH GREAT JOY.
Acts 2:46-47 tells how in the immediate days that ensued they were continuing with one mind
in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together
with GLADNESS and sincerity of heart, PRAISING GOD, and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
It's almost impossible to fathom the excitement of that day - - 3,000 coming to be baptized into Christ Jesus.
Some people get so hung up on the logistics.
How could Peter baptize so many?
But, who said Peter was the only one doing the baptizing?
Surely the other apostles helped out. And who says only apostles could baptize others?
Some argue that this “baptism” could not have been “an immersion in water”, as there was no river in Jerusalem.
It is true that Jerusalem did not possess a river, per se - - the closest river, the Jordan river, was 21 miles away.
Though it was without a river, Jerusalem had water - - it was fed and sustained by numerous pools.
The Virgin's pool was 132 square feet and 3 feet deep.
The pool of Siloam was about 800 square feet and deeper that three feet.
The lower Gihon was a pool that covered three acres and was as much as 40' deep.
The upper Gihon is a pool covering an acre and a half with some parts 20' deep.
In fact, there were many smaller pools and cisterns, more than adequate for immersing people.
You can google “how did ancient Jerusalem get their water?” and you will be amazed at the ingenuity.
The city was actually replete with many pools and even aqueducts build by both the Jews & Romans.
(e.g., see references to “water supplies” mentioned in 2Kgs.20:20; Neh.3:16 and Isa.7:3).
Two more brief points and then we will close in prayer.
First, did you carefully notice Peter's words. He was speaking primarily to that first-century crowd that had
assembled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost around 33 A.D., but did you hear his full admonition (Acts 2:39) - -
for the promise is to you and your children and FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR OFF,
as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.
God is still calling. He wants all to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
How will we respond? How will you respond?
Will you heart be hardened? Will you spurn this grand invitation?
Will you put off doing what you know you ought to do?
Will you allow you mind to be flooded with all of the sins you committed so as to be convicted of your own guilt?
(We have all done some bad things - - perhaps some really bad things and perhaps way too many to enumerate).
Will your heart be open wide to receive the mercy and grace of God?
How tragic it is to turn away from the gospel invitation.
Secondly, and lastly - - I said earlier, “all they had to do was repent and be baptized.”
It would be malpractice on my part as a preacher not to warn you that that “all” is quite radical.
When one comes to be baptized into Christ it is a lifelong commitment.
I think it was Bonhoeffer who once wrote: When Jesus bids a man to follow, He bids him to DIE.
The act of baptism simulates a watery grave, because baptism signified the death of the one being baptized.
When we die to sin in the waters of baptism, it requires a lifelong death to self.
Baptism also requires that one arise to walk in newness of life, which demands consecration on our part.
It is not easy, but it is the greatest way to truly LIVE.
It is not only the greatest way to live (a self-less life), but in truth it is the only way to live eternally.
