Empowered by the Spirit to Preach
Acts Ch. 1-5: Empowered for Jesus’ Mission

Pastor Dave Bruskas

Pastor Mark: Howdy, Mars Hill. Pastor Mark here. I’m really excited to introduce Pastor Dave Bruskas. Many of you know him and love him. He’s our teaching and network pastor. All of the lead pastors have as their pastor Pastor Dave Bruskas. He oversees all of the ministry side of Mars Hill Church. He’s got a beautiful family. His wife, Kara, is a sweet friend to Grace. We love and enjoy her very much. And they have got absolutely adorable, sweet, happy, cute, godly daughters. This is a beautiful family. Pastor Dave is very much a blessing. He has pastored at a great number of very successful churches. He’s been involved in some church plants as well, and he planted City on a Hill Church some years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As we got to know Pastor Dave, it seemed like they should become a Mars Hill Church, and they took that step in becoming Mars Hill Albuquerque. And so, that was our first out-of-state Mars Hill Church which has paved the way for Orange County, Portland, and, we hope and pray, others to come.

Pastor Dave has since joined the senior leadership of Mars Hill as an executive pastor, along with Pastor Sutton Turner and myself. And together, we’re the three amigos who are always together doing something—traveling, loving, serving, and working on Mars Hill, ’cause you guys are the best, and we want the best for you.

And so, I’m very honored to have Pastor Dave teach. He’s a very gifted Bible teacher, formally theologically trained, lots and lots of years in the pulpit, and won the preaching award at Dallas Theological Seminary as the finest preacher in his graduating class—from a school that is known for producing a lot of good Bible teachers. He’s a humble man. He’s a man whom I love and trust. He’s a man whom I consider a very dear friend.

And over the years, I have been, quite frankly, hesitant to have people preach across all of Mars Hill for a variety of reasons, not least of which is, I wanted to know that they loved you with a father’s love and they were committed to you and not just using you to build a platform for themselves. Pastor Dave’s heart is a father’s heart. He loves you very much. He serves tirelessly for the well-being of our church, and I trust him. And so, it’s a real honor today to have him teach, and I would just encourage you to give him your attention, to keep your ears open, to keep your Bible open, and see what the Holy Spirit would have for you through my friend and your pastor, Dave Bruskas.

[Video]

What does Jesus’ mission look like here? What’s his mission here? What does Jesus’ mission look like here? What does Jesus’ mission look like here? What is Jesus’ mission here? How do I know what Jesus’ mission is?

[Video ends]

Pastor Dave: At Mars Hill Church, we love Spirit-empowered preaching. At Mars Hill Church, we love Spirit-empowered preaching because through it, non-Christians become Christians. At Mars Hill Church, we love Spirit-empowered preaching because through it, non-Christians become Christians and Christians become more like Jesus. At Mars Hill Church, we love Spirit-empowered preaching because through it, non-Christians become Christians, Christians become more like Jesus, and the mission of Jesus moves forward. At Mars Hill Church, we love Spirit-empowered preaching. But what exactly is Spirit-empowered preaching? I’m so glad you asked that question, because we are going to spend our day today talking, discussing, and defining Spirit-empowered preaching.

I want to invite you again to turn in your Bibles to Acts 2. We are going to look at the very first sermon ever preached in the New Testament church. It’s interesting that today we’re going to listen to a sermon about another sermon, and as we continue our series in the book of Acts and the mission of Jesus is unfolded through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, I want us to look at the distinguishing marks, the distinguishing characteristics, of Spirit-empowered preaching.

Prayer

Before we do anything else, how about we stop and pray and I invite the Holy Spirit to empower this message? Will you pray with me? Father, you are a good, kind Father. You love us with all the love that you have for your Son Jesus. Father, you’re the one who called this meeting today, and you’re the one who has gathered us, and we thank you. Jesus, thank you that you being eternally God, being worthy of worship, being without beginning or end, you humbled yourself and came into our world. You were born into your world. You walked our earth. Jesus, you lived the only perfect life that’s ever been lived, and you died an unjust death. You took our sin upon you, and you absorbed the wrath that we deserve to experience, and you died on the cross, and you were buried. Oh, but Lord Jesus, thank you that you didn’t stay in the grave. Thank you that you are risen from the dead, you’ve conquered sin and Satan and death, and you’re at the right hand of the Father this morning. You are worthy of all our worship.

Father and Son, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, I first pray that you would empower the preaching of your Word this morning. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would take those who are with us who don’t yet know Jesus and introduce them to Jesus. I pray for those of us who know Jesus, that through the proclamation of the Bible, you will become more like Jesus. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would empower the mission of Jesus, that it may move forward in our time, in our day, in our age, in our world. All this we ask, for the glory of Jesus and his good name, amen.

Spirit-Empowered Preaching Is Biblical

Look, if you will, at Acts 2. We’re going to begin in verse 14. Let me give you some background so that you will know exactly what just happened. As we studied last week in the book of Acts, Jesus told his disciples about the mission they were going to go on. Then he asked them to pray and wait for the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has now come upon them in power. It’s Pentecost. It’s a religious festival in Jerusalem where the devout Jews from all over the Middle East have gathered. Many pilgrims have come to Jerusalem, and as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples of Jesus, 120 in all, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And as they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in known languages, the languages that represented the native tongues of all the pilgrims.

And so, this amazing scene has unfolded. It’s a chaotic scene. It’s a confusing scene. And there are those who are observing this scene, looking and are convinced that something supernatural is happening. As in every crowd, there are cynics watching this unfold and they have concluded that those who are being filled by the Holy Spirit are merely drunk. They’re watching a mob become drunk. And then there are those who are just confused.

So, in the midst of that chaos, in the midst of that confusion, the Apostle Peter stands up, and he begins to preach. Acts 2:14—I want you to see as we begin to define what is Spirit-empowered preaching that Spirit-empowered preaching is first biblical: “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.’”

Peter begins with reason explaining what’s going on, and he makes the claim that since it’s only the third hour of the day, 9 a.m. in Jerusalem, these people can’t be drunk. Now, in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, that’s not a very convincing statement. I love you, Albuquerque, but you know how you are. But in Jerusalem, it’d be quite unusual, especially during this festival of Pentecost, to see drunk people walking around, particularly at 9 a.m., because at 9 a.m. prayers began. Official prayers began, and most pilgrims and most adherents to Judaism didn’t even eat until after the morning prayers were finished.

Moving from a Rational Argument to a Biblical One

But now Peter is going to move from a rational argument to a biblical argument. He’s going to explain exactly what’s happening through the lens of the Bible. Verse 16, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel”—and he quotes directly Joel 2—“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Peter takes in this scene that’s unfolding in front of him, this controversial, chaotic, confusing scene, and he explains it through the lens of the Bible. Spirit-empowered preaching is biblical. The Holy Spirit loves the Bible. The Holy Spirit, according to the Bible, has two roles in the Bible. First of all, he’s inspired the Bible. It’s through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that human authors record the words of the Bible and Scripture teaches us that those words that are recorded are the very words of God. So, the Holy Spirit is the one who inspires the Bible. But the Holy Spirit also illuminates the Bible. The Holy Spirit works among those who belong to Jesus in such a way that when we read the Bible, when we study the Bible, when we speak and preach the Bible, when we hear the Bible, the Bible makes sense.

What Peter is doing is he’s taking these unusual circumstances that are unfolding and he’s using the Bible to interpret the experience. That’s important to know. We don’t interrupt the Bible through our own experience, but instead, we allow the Bible to interpret our experience. The reason we do this is because we live in a very confusing world. We have a distorted perspective that the Bible teaches that everyone who was born after Adam and Eve is contaminated with sin, rebellion, and treason toward God and the residue of our sin is that we live in a distorted reality. Not only is our reality distorted, there are demonic spirits who can take experiences and then use them to confuse us. And what we ultimately need is we need God to speak from his perspective on what’s reality and what’s important.

That’s exactly what Peter is doing here. What Peter is saying is, “This is what the Bible said would happen.” The prophet Joel, prophesied about 800 B.C., almost 900 years prior to this experience. Peter is saying, this is exactly what the Bible said would happen. All that God has promised his people is coming to fulfillment today in the Holy Spirit being poured out. He’s saying to the people, we’re living in the last days. The last days have begun, and what you’re seeing is exactly what the Bible said would happen. People are speaking in tongues. People are filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to any class of persons. The Holy Spirit isn’t specific to gender classes, because women and men are prophesying. The Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to categories of socioeconomic class, because servants, along with those who are wealthy, are filled with the Holy Spirit and they’re speaking in tongues. The Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to simply those who are older, because the Holy Spirit is working and filling those who are old and young.

And Peter explains the experience of what is happening through the perspective of the Bible. Peter is interpreting our experience through the Bible. That’s the essence of Spirit-empowered preaching.

Coffee Shop Debate

I don’t know about you, but I’m a kinesthetic learner, and if I’m going to really devote my energies mentally to studying, to writing, I have to be in a place that’s a little bit busy. And I tend to study, read, and write in coffee shops. If you were to say to me, “Go in that room, all by yourself, and focus, study, and prepare to preach,” you would be doing nothing other than condemning me to take a nap. That’s all that would happen. I need some kind of activity going on around me to spur me on to think deeply.

So, I’m in a coffee shop, and I’m working on a book I’m writing, and I’m preparing for this message today and happen to be eavesdropping—I’m multitasking—on a conversation that’s happening at the table next to me: two preachers, go figure, talking about the person and work of Jesus. And quite honestly, it’s fascinating because they’re coming from very different perspectives. And at one point, one of the preachers is frustrated to the point that he begins to push away from the table and stand up, lean over the table and says to the other preacher, “The Bible says—” And at that point, the other preacher listening to his argument puts his hand in his face and says, “Stop there.” The other preacher says, “I don’t believe the Bible.”

What an impasse, right? Where can that conversation go from there? I even was even more attentive after that point. How can you call yourself a preacher and not believe in the Bible? Because Spirit-empowered preaching ultimately is biblical. And we don’t take ideas and thoughts and fit them into the Bible. We take the truth of the Bible, and we speak, exposit, expand, and explain the Bible. If you’re not listening to preaching that is biblical, you’re not listening to Spirit-empowered preaching. And if we’re not listening to Spirit-empowered preaching, then non-Christians are never going to become Christians, and Christians are never going to become more and more like Jesus, and the mission of Jesus isn’t going to move forward.

Peter starts from a biblical perspective and says, this is exactly what’s happening—it’s from the Bible. And the Bible suddenly begins to interpret the experience of those at Jerusalem in that day.

Spirit-Empowered Preaching Is Christological

Then Peter takes it a step further. Acts 2, picking up in verse 22. You’re going to see that Spirit-empowered preaching isn’t only biblical: Spirit-empowered preaching is christological. Let me explain. “‘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 know’”—in other words, he’s speaking to those who actually physically saw Jesus. They saw Jesus feed the hungry. They saw Jesus heal the sick. They saw Jesus raise the dead. These are people who were eyewitnesses to Jesus doing things that no human being ever had done—“‘this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosening the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him’”—more Bible, this is from the Psalms now—“‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’” Peter picks up his sermon—“‘Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.’” In other words, Peter is saying this passage cannot be about David only because David didn’t rise from the grave: David’s bones are still on a tomb, and we can go visit him there.

Verse 30, “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection”—circle that word—“of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’”

Peter continues with the biblical teaching, and now he’s focused on the person of Jesus, because Spirit-empowered preaching is biblical, but Spirit-empowered preaching has a destination, if it’s truly going to be biblical, and that destination ultimately falls upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what Peter is saying to this crowd that’s gathered, that’s watching these phenomenal things happen is, in essence, “This is all about Jesus.” And again, he works from the Bible to emphasize the very essence of Jesus. Jesus walked among us. Jesus performed amazing things. Jesus was unjustly executed, but Jesus didn’t stay in the grave. He’s risen, and he’s now at the right hand of the Father, and he’s sent the Holy Spirit. In essence, what the people are watching is the absolute proof and attestation that Jesus is who he said he was—he’s God.

Spirit-empowered preaching is christological. Ultimately if we’re going to preach the Bible, we’re going to proclaim Jesus, because if every sermon and every message doesn’t end up on the person and work of Jesus, it’s not Spirit-empowered: it’s something else. And my deep concern about many of the sermons I listen to today, and I listen to a ton of sermons from many different perspectives, although a ton of people preach the Bible, very few people preach Jesus. Much of Christian preaching is merely principled living. And you need to understand that the Bible isn’t a book about principles to live by: the Bible is a book about the person to live for. You see the difference? The Bible, if it’s preached accurately, must ultimately fall upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. And any sermon that stops short of focusing on Jesus is incomplete. It’s inaccurate. It’s unfinished.

Les Misérables

Think of it this way: I’m not a very cultured person, as you can probably tell by just listening to me speak, but as Pastor Mark shared in the introduction video, I’ve been blessed with a wife and four daughters who are very artistic, very musical. They love musical theater. They just love it. And so, in order to love them, I have to love the things that they love, and I occasionally will go and see musicals with them. I’ve probably seen every one, but I was holding out on Les Misérables. I don’t know why. I heard it was a great story, but I thought, I just don’t want to see that, because quite frankly, it sounds like it’s a very long story. And you tack in a thirty-minute intermission that doesn’t make any sense to me at all, and it’s just an endless night. So, I held out to the last moment—until the movie came out again. And what compelled me was the thought of the Gladiator [Russell Crowe] in a musical alongside the Wolverine [Hugh Jackman], all right? It doesn’t get any better than that.

So, I had to go to the theater and I had to see Les Mis with my family. Now, if you know the story, you’re familiar with the story, it’s an amazing story of redemption, but what if I stopped the movie midway through and simply took a single scene out of the movie? So, imagine this scenario: I’m at the theater. I stand up. It’s dark. I take out my cell phone, and because I’m becoming more and more technologically savvy, I have that app that you download that’s the flashlight app. And I turn it on so it illuminates my face—not the strobe light, because that would be creepy, or creepier. And I say to the crowd, “Let me explain what’s happening here. It’s OK. As you were. I’m a pastor. I’m a Mars Hill pastor. It’s going to be all right. Let me not waste any more of your time. Let me explain to you what’s precisely happening here. It’s a low point in the film. And what’s happening right now in the film is that Jean Valjean is being exposed of being an ex-con and his reputation is being ruined. And Fantine is dying slowly because she’s given herself to a life of prostitution to support her illegitimate daughter. And Javert is triumphing ’cause he’s all about the law and justice.”

And if I were to take that scene and I were to say, “Let me explain to you the point of this movie. The point of this movie is this: if you obey the law, good things happen. If you keep the law, then things will go well for you. Look at Javert. But if you break the law and you’re a criminal, then your life is condemned forever. Look at Jean Valjean. Or if you give yourself to immorality, things can never go right for you. Look at Fantine.” I would totally miss the big picture, right? ’Cause what happens at the end of the movie—spoiler alert—is that the roles are inverted: Javert, the one who’s lived his whole life by the law ultimately is destroyed and he falls into the watery pit, right? And everyone else’s life, who had broken the law, find redemption. They find grace. They find mercy through God, and they are redeemed and restored.

You see what happens in the Bible simply becomes principles to live by? It’s like taking a single scene out of Les Mis and trying to explain the whole movie. But there’s a singular baseline in the Bible. The Bible isn’t about a thousand stories; the Bible’s about one story, and the baseline in the Bible is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We love to preach Jesus at Mars Hill Church. When I was the lead pastor at Mars Hill Albuquerque, one of our deacons who was serving in Pro Tech took a random sermon and before it played back, he said, “Pastor Dave, I just want you to know that Pastor Mark mentions the name of Jesus 78 times today—57-minute sermon. On average, he mentioned the name of Jesus more than once per minute.”

Now, it wasn’t simply because the name of Jesus is magical and there’s mojo in saying his name: it’s that the person and work of Jesus is the message of the Bible. Spirit-empowered preaching is christological and if you’re not hearing about the person and work of Jesus in preaching, you’re not listening to Spirit-empowered preaching. And if you’re not listening to Spirit-empowered preaching, then non-Christians aren’t going to become Christians, and Christians aren’t going to become like Jesus, and the movement of Jesus isn’t going to move forward.

Spirit-Empowered Preaching Is Confrontational

This story gets really good. Back to Acts 2, because not only is Spirit-empowered preaching biblical, not only is Spirit-empowered preaching christological, Spirit-empowered preaching is confrontational. Verse 36, Peter continues, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him”—Jesus—“both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Wow, Peter goes for it. Peter cuts loose. Peter has spent the previous verses extolling Jesus, elevating Jesus, talking about how Jesus isn’t just any man, Jesus is the God-man. Jesus is the one who did things that no one has ever done. Jesus couldn’t be contained by death. Jesus rose from the grave. And then he goes as far as saying that the Trinitarian God, the God of the Bible, has given to Jesus, the God-man, the title of both Lord—he’s ruler of all, that’s what that word means—and Christ—he’s the anointed one.

So, if you’re listening to this sermon, you’re getting caught up in the greatness of Jesus, all of a sudden, your heart is being drawn to Jesus, then Peter hits you in the stomach and says, “This great Jesus—you killed him!” It’s as if Peter says, “I want you to take a timeout. I want you to go sit in the corner, and I want you to think about that, mister: you killed Jesus.”

Spirit-empowered preaching is confrontational. It’s not merely informational; it’s transformational. And the only way that preaching can be transformational is if it proclaims, first and foremost, Jesus and his greatness and glory, then simultaneously reveals to us where our thoughts, our words, our action, and our attitudes are misaligned with the person, work, of Jesus. Do you realize, like these hearers in Jerusalem at Pentecost, that your hands are covered with the blood of Jesus? Peter could say these very same words to us today, “You killed Jesus. What are you gonna do about it?”

Confrontational Preaching at Mars Hill

Let me ask you a simple question, Mars Hill: do we experience confrontational preaching at Mars Hill Church? Now, before you answer that, let me give you a set-up question that will give you the answer: is the new pope Catholic? Yes! Yes, we believe in confrontational preaching. Week in and week out, primarily Pastor Mark Driscoll stands before us and he proclaims the greatness of Jesus. He’s biblical in his preaching. He’s christological in his preaching. And then he’s confrontational. He calls us to deal with the discrepancy that exists between the greatness of Jesus and the way that you and I live life daily, because Spirit-empowered preaching must be confrontational. It’s not like reading a commentary that merely exposits and explains the text so that we might be educated: Spirit-empowered preaching is persuasive. It’s designed by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God to move us to action, to have us make a decision.

Now, here’s what I love about Mars Hill Church: not only do those of us who attend here week in and week out understand that Spirit-empowered preaching is confrontational, those who watch what happens from the outside see the same thing. People whom I love and deeply respect, people like Pastor Matt Chandler, who’s going to be speaking at our Resurgence conference, sees this at Mars Hill Church, and I respect him as much as any preacher alive today. Listen to what he has to say about it. I got a great clip I want to show you. Listen to pastor Matt Chandler talking about the preaching ministry of Mars Hill Church. Roll that, please.

[Video]

Matt Chandler: And then here’s the big one that we talked about earlier: fulfill your ministry. Early on in the process, what most guys do is they identify somebody whose model is working. So they’ll go, “OK, Driscoll.” But can we—like Driscoll’s a good friend of mine—admit that he’s just got a unique gift? He just—it’s really, really unique. And I don’t know anybody else I’ve ever been able to see pull it off. Like, I can’t get up in front of the people at the Village and go, “My sermon today is entitled, ‘I Think You’re Stupid.’ I’ve got thirteen points.” And then he goes through it, “Look, one is just simple: you’re just stupid; there’s nothing behind it.” But OK, but let’s be honest. This is a Holy Spirit thing. What happens when he does it? Like, people get saved. It’s like, point one, “You’re stupid.” And they’re like, “Oh, God, I’m stupid.”

All right, so now, when you listen to a bunch of Driscoll and then come and get in your pulpits and go, “Let me tell you people why you’re stupid.” And then—OK, listen, fulfill your ministry. Amen.

[Video ends]

Pastor Dave: I can only show that when Pastor Mark is out, right? Spirit-empowered preaching is confrontational. If Spirit-empowered preaching is going to be biblical and going to be christological and ultimately be transformational, then it has to be confrontational. And my great concern today, as we live in a culture that’s drifting day in and day out, further away from Judeo-Christian principles, is that we are going to emphasize being contextualized more than being confrontational. And don’t get me wrong, we believe in contextualizing the gospel, but what our culture desperately needs to hear is exactly what the listeners in Jerusalem heard: Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the Christ! He’s the one who’s anointed to bring about God’s redemptive plan—and you killed him! What are you gonna do about that?

Spirit-Empowered Preaching Is Impactful

The last thing I want you to see in this sermon, the last characteristic that I believe from the sermon defines Spirit-empowered preaching is this: Spirit-empowered preaching is impactful. Verse 37, “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’“ That’s the impact of Spirit-empowered preaching. It goes right to the heart. Suddenly, we are confronted with the reality that we have murdered the God-man Jesus, our Creator, our Redeemer. Our sin, our treason, our rebellion were ultimately responsible for his murder. We’re cut to the heart. Spirit-empowered preaching always goes right to the heart.

And this is a profound word that’s used here. This word “pierced in the heart” is the very same word that’s used in the Bible to depict what the soldier did to Jesus to confirm his death when he pierced his side. Maybe for some of you today, you’ve experienced that right here, right now for the very first time. You’re convicted that you murdered Jesus, that his blood is on your hands, and you’re cut to the heart. And much like the listeners in Jerusalem, you’re crying out, “What should we do?”

When Aaron Met Jesus

There’s a man who began to attend Mars Hill Albuquerque whom many people knew. He was a well-known radio personality. He hosted the leading morning radio show on the alternative rock station in Albuquerque, and he began to attend, and people began to say, “You should pray for Aaron.” And we were in the book of Luke, Pastor Mark was preaching, and he solicited input through The City on if anybody had some painful, suffering experiences that could illustrate a sermon, please share.

And Aaron got on The City and he posted his heartbreaking story of not only losing his dad but losing brothers, and you could tell that Aaron didn’t yet know Jesus. And you could tell from his words that Aaron actually felt, rather than loved by God through Jesus, wounded. And so, Aaron showed up that Sunday, and Pastor Mark preached about Jesus and suffering. And Aaron made his way toward me at the end of that gathering, covered in tears, heartbroken, pierced through the heart, simultaneously understanding two things, that Aaron indeed was sinful, that Aaron was estranged from a God who loved him and was pursuing him in Jesus, and simultaneously seeing that Jesus was the solution to Aaron’s sin problem.

And Aaron came up to me, and he could hardly speak he was crying so hard, and me being insightful and profound, I simply looked at Aaron and said, “Do you want to meet Jesus today?” And he said, “Yeah,” and Aaron met Jesus. I want you to meet Jesus today. I want the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, to do a work on your heart that, much like these hearers, you are pierced to the heart. It’s as if someone stuck a spear in your heart, and you understand for the first time the very glory and greatness of Jesus, and you see, for the very first time, that it’s your sin, your treason, your rebellion that killed him. And I want you to say like these listeners, “What should I do?”

Repent and Be Baptized

Look at Peter’s response. Verse 38, “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’” Peter tells him to do two things, and it’s very important that we dial this in. It’s very important that you understand the connection between repentance and baptism.

Peter first says, “Repent.” Repent means to literally change your mind. Repentance is a change of perspective. I love what the great theologian, Wayne Grudem, who will be here later this summer preaching right here at Mars Hill, the way he defines repentance. He defines it in a three-fold way: Repentance is understanding through the mind that you’ve transgressed against God, you’ve sinned against God, and it’s being remorseful, mentally. But it’s also a condition of the heart: it’s regretting your sin and turning from your sin and having a desire to please Jesus. But it’s also a decision of the will—“If I’m going in this direction. I’m going to stop and I’m going to turn back. I’m gonna turn away from sin and turn toward Jesus.” And the Bible teaches us that that’s a gift from God in and of itself. Will you repent today? If you’re cut to the heart, the Holy Spirit is doing his work, because Jesus said he’ll convict the world of sin. The Holy Spirit is working hard. “How do I respond to the work of the Holy Spirit?” You repent. You turn from sin and you trust in Jesus.

Then Peter says, “And be baptized.” This is potentially problematic, because you can look at this passage and you can make two very different mistakes: you can overemphasize baptism and you can underemphasize baptism. You can look at this text and say, “OK, two things have to happen for my sin to be forgiven and for me to receive the Holy Spirit: first, I have to repent; then, I have to go through the ritual act of baptism.” It’s not what this verse is teaching. As a matter of fact, Luke, who penned these words, also wrote the Gospel of Luke. The other times he connects repentance with a forgiveness of sin, there’s no mention of baptism. When Jesus talks about his message in Luke 24 going out, he simply says, “The message is repentance, and the result is the forgiveness of sin.” This very same Peter is going to preach a sermon in Acts 3. He talks about repentance and the result of repentance is the forgiveness of sin. Again, baptism isn’t mentioned. Stephen, the first martyr in the early church, in Acts 5 preaches a very similar message. He talks about the need for repentance, and the result of repentance is the forgiveness of sin.

When we interpret the Bible, we understand the majority of passages, and we interpret the minority passages in light of the majority passages. And there’s a cause and effect that’s presented in the Bible. The causative action here is repentance. Repentance results in two things, according to this text: it results in the forgiveness of sin and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s as if Peter could have said, “Repent and be forgiven of your sin and receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s the cause and the effect of that is publicly be baptized.

Baptism As Statement and Symbol

Baptism is really two things. It’s a statement and a symbol. When you’re baptized publicly, you are saying, “I now belong to Jesus. Jesus is Lord and Jesus is Christ.” It’s also a symbol, because when you’re baptized by immersion, you’re identifying with Jesus. You’re saying, “Just like Jesus, I’m dying. I’m going to the grave and I’m coming out of the grave. I’m rising out of the water, living out this new life. I’m now united with Christ.”

So, the mistake we can make when we come to this passage is, we can overemphasize baptism and think that we have to be baptized or our sins aren’t forgiven. The Bible doesn’t teach that. It’s only through grace through faith, grace through repentance. Repentance is a gift of God and it’s only the turning from sin and trusting in Jesus that results in the forgiveness of sin and receiving the Holy Spirit. But some of you are going to underemphasize baptism. You’re not going to see the necessity to be baptized, and you’re gonna miss the point, too. If you have repented of sin and, as a result of repenting of sin, turning from sin, trusting in Jesus, your sins have been forgiven. You’ve received the Holy Spirit. You must be baptized. You need to be baptized.

Today’s the Day to Be Baptized

And I know there are some sitting here today who’ve never been baptized. Today’s the day. You’ll never find a single example in all of Scripture of a Christian who wasn’t also baptized. We came prepared today. We’ve got a change of clothes for you. We got a towel for you. We got a discreet place for you to change. Be baptized today. Don’t wait any longer. If you’ve repented from sin, your sin has been forgiven, you’ve received the Holy Spirit, right here, right now, today, be baptized. That’s the biblical injunction to you. That’s the Word of the Holy Spirit to you. Don’t wait any longer. Today’s the day. Look at the response.

Back to our text. Verse 40, “And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’” Verse 41, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” Wow, what an impactful sermon! Spirit-empowered preaching is impactful. Three thousand souls were added. Last year, we experienced the greatest year of growth that we’ve ever experienced at Mars Hill Church, where we added three thousand new people in the course of a year, spread out over fourteen churches. In a single day, the church went from 120 to 3,120. That’s the impact of Spirit-empowered preaching, because through it non-Christians become Christians, and Christians become more like Jesus, and the movement of Jesus, or the mission of Jesus, gains momentum.

Mars Hill Church, do we, week in and week out, have the sheer pleasure of listening to Spirit-empowered preaching, yes or no? Yes. What is the outcome of Spirit-empowered preaching? Mission happens, a church is birthed, and church grows and expands, and lives are transformed, and communities are changed, and generations and legacies are altered. Will you be a part of that?

As Pastor Mark shared with you in the video introduction, I was a part of Mars Hill Albuquerque. Week in and week out, as we became Mars Hill Church, we had the benefit of hearing Spirit-empowered preaching. Lives were changed. Non-Christians became Christians. Over five hundred people in Albuquerque have been baptized in three years, five hundred people. Christians became more like Jesus. People repented of sin. Men began to take responsibility for their wives, for their families. The biggest issue in Albuquerque is men behaving badly. Men began to change, Christian men, and a movement began to take foot, and we began to include Spanish subtitles. And would you believe today that the work that Jesus is doing through Spirit-empowered preaching at Mars Hill Albuquerque is spilling over and crossing borders. We have, on a regular occurrence, pastors coming up from Mexico, driving hours and hours on their one Sunday off a year, to be at Mars Hill, simply to serve on the hospitality team, because Jesus is changing lives. I want you to be a part of that.

4 Responses to the Holy Spirit

What can you do today? How do you respond to Spirit-empowered preaching? Three things, four things, yay, speaking in Proverbs today.

Be forgiven

First, be forgiven. I want you to repent. I want you to see clearly the greatness of Jesus.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit

Then I want you, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to see where your life is misaligned with the person and work of Jesus, and I want you to turn from that sin, and I want you to trust Jesus. Second thing I want to see you do is be filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s through repentance that we not only receive the Holy Spirit, but we become filled with the Holy Spirit. Christian, there’s no greater joy this side of the kingdom of God than being filled with the Holy Spirit. May you be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Be baptized

I want you to be baptized. If you’ve not been baptized, don’t wait another day. Right here, right now, the local lead pastors will explain to you in just a moment how you can be baptized, right here, right now. Fourth thing I want you to do is belong. Pastor Mark will pick up these verses next week, but here is the outcome of this message: people repented from sin. They were baptized. They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Belong

The church grew by 3,000 people and every day, those people came together in a large group for worship, then they would go into their homes. They would meet large group, small group. I want you to belong to Mars Hill Church. I want you to come here Sunday in and Sunday out. As we look at our attendance numbers week in and week out, here’s something that’s a little bit perplexing: we can see new people are constantly coming through the door, but we can see that our attendance numbers aren’t increasing in a proportionate number, so what we’re estimating is that many of us don’t come on Sunday consistently. I want you to be here on Sunday because when you’re here and Spirit-empowered preaching happens, while you’re gathered with the people of God, the Holy Spirit manifests his presence in very unique and encouraging and life-changing ways. Don’t miss out on that. If you miss, I love that you go online and you listen to the message—that’s great—and then you participate in your Community Group. But be here as often as you can because amazing things are happening week in and week out. Be in a Community Group. Share with someone else the amazing things that you’re experiencing, the way that you’re being transformed through Spirit-empowering preaching. Would you do that?

Time of Response

We’re gonna respond now. We’re gonna respond to the person and work of Jesus. We’re gonna respond by collecting an offering. We’re gonna respond by celebrating Communion. And in Communion what we do, once again, is we remind ourselves, through the bread and the wine that it’s through Jesus’ shed blood, it’s through Jesus’ broken body that we have the forgiveness of sin. We’re gonna sing loud. Some of us are gonna be baptized. I want to invite our financial stewards to come forward, and as they’re coming forward today, I want to show you something that you’re going to be excited about. I want to show you what Jesus is doing at Mars Hill Church Bellevue. So as they’re coming forward, I want you to see what’s happening at Mars Hill Bellevue.

[Video]

Pastor Mark: Howdy, Pastor Mark here at Mars Hill Bellevue with Pastor Thomas Hurst, and we’re about an hour before church gets started. It gets started real early here today. I thought it’d be cool to let folks see a little bit of where we meet on Sundays here in Bellevue and hear a little bit about what’s going on with the Hurst family and also what’s going on with the family here at Mars Hill Bellevue. So, maybe start with your family. You guys got good news recently.

Pastor Thomas: Yeah, we did. Got some great news that right now Angie is clear of cancer.

Pastor Mark: So, your wife got diagnosed with cancer, how long ago?

Pastor Thomas: It’ll be a year in July.

Pastor Mark: OK, and that was traumatic ’cause she’s super healthy. You guys didn’t expect anything. She’s pregnant and you’re expecting to have another healthy baby, and she goes in and finds out she’s got cancer.

Pastor Thomas: Yeah. And that was certainly an incredibly difficult time, but God continues to bless us through that. The church family has rallied around us and really shown us the love of God just through the way that they’ve served us, loved us, prayed for us, and cared for us so—

Pastor Mark: But after her treatment, she’s doing good. So, there’s your family and around that is the Mars Hill Bellevue family. What’s going on here and what are you expecting to see in the future?

Pastor Thomas: Well, I would tell you that if I could sum it up in a word, it’d be explosion. We’re now at four services. People continue to come to this church, be a part of this church, and grow in this church. And just like the city around us, Bellevue’s just an exciting place. So much is happening. In the last ten years, we’ve seen people who are eighteen [years old] or less, triple. We’ve seen 176 percent growth in the population here in Bellevue, and I think one of the most exciting things we’ve seen is the median age in the last ten years in Bellevue go from 57 to 34. And our church is really starting to represent that. We’re seeing a lot of different types of people here, different cultures of people, and we’re really just outgrowing this space, even within a year and a half. And so, we’re already looking for a permanent solution somewhere here in the Bellevue area, and so that’s a great problem to have, and so we’re very fortunate.

Pastor Mark: Absolutely. Well, you’re doing a great job. We love you, and I know with the church exploding and then also with Angie’s battle with cancer and losing a baby, it’s been a very exhausting year for you. We love you. I mean, you guys have been huge friends to Grace, me, and the other leaders across the church for many years. Anything people lastly could be just in prayer for you for? You’re carrying a really heavy, significant load.

Pastor Thomas: Yeah. Just continued prayer, you know, that I would just continue to persevere through this. I mean, we’ve still got challenges to face at home and we’ve still got, you know, things to fight through here at the church and want to just continue to serve, love, and care for both the family and the congregation well.

Pastor Mark: Absolutely. Well, we love you. Thank you, buddy.

Pastor Thomas: Yeah. Thanks, brother.

[Video ends]

Prayer

Let’s pray together and thank God, our Father. Father, thank you that you have sought us out. Thank you that you’ve brought us together. Thank you for Jesus. Jesus, thank you that through your life, your death, your resurrection, we might be forgiven of sin through repentance that you give to us. Father and Son, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to live in us, to fill us, to empower us. Holy Spirit, I pray that everyone who needs to respond today in repentance and in baptism will respond by your enabling, all for the glory of Jesus. In his great name we pray together, amen.

Note: This sermon transcript has been edited for readability.