THE KING’S BUSINESS
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fore know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.’’ This verse contains the great truth to which Peter was leading up in all that he had previously said! this is the crowning point o f his testimony, that the Jesus whom they had crucified was both “ Lord and Christ.” Fulfilled Old Testa ment prophecy, Peter’s own testimony of what he had seen, the fact o f the outpoured Spirit, all prove a demonstration that God had made that their Jesus whom they had Crucified;- was both Lord and Christ and (on this three-fold, unassailable ground) they might know assuredly that Jesus was both Lord and Christ. Lord means Divine Master. Its constant usage in the Septua- gint, which was the version o f the Old Tes tament in constant use in Peter’s time, was the translation o f “Jehovah,” hundreds of times. It was so used in the Old Testa ment with which Peter’s hearers were famil iar, and these words o f Peter were the clearest possible declaration o f the abso lute Deity o f the Jesus whom they had crucified. He was not only Divine Lord, but He also was “ Christ," i.e., the long pre dicted Messiah, the King whom God had anointed to be King o f Israel, but whom Israel had rejected and crucified. v. 37. “Now when they heard this (i. e., what Peter had just said in v. 36), they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest o f the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?” The truth that the Jesus whom they had crucified had been made Loth Lord and Christ by God Him self, carried home to their hearts by the Holy Spirit, produced the deepest and sharpest conviction o f sin. Indeed, what an appalling sin it was to crucify their Divine Lord and Christ, and what an appalling sin it is today, o f which every one who rejects Jesus is guilty, no less than the sin o f taking part definitely in the crucifixion o f Him who is their Divine Lord. No other truth is so calculated to produce such profound conviction o f sin as the truth o f the glory o f Jesus and oUr consequently enormous guilt in the rejection and crucifixion o f such ah one as He. The Holy Spirit had
come to the Apostles as our Lord had prom ised, and through them convinced the world o f sin, just as the Lord Jesus said He would when He went away (cf. John 16:7-9). The sin o f which He convicted them was the sin o f unbelief in Christ, or o f their treatment o f Christ. These convicted Jews cried out to know what they must do. Well might they ask “What shall we do?” Their guilt seemed to be so great that there was nothing they could do to cover it. And well may every one who is guilty o f the sin o f rejecting Christ today cry out, “What shall I do?” v. 38. “And Peter said unto (rather, to) them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one (rather, each one) o f you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Peter’s answer to their question, “What shall we do?” was very explicit and very plain. There is perhaps nothing in the Bible that makes- plainer the way o f salvation and the way to receive the Holy Spirit. The first thing to do is to “ repent.” What is repentance? A change o f mind. A change o f mind about what? 'A change o f mind about sin; a change of mind about Jesus; a change o f mind about God. What the change o f mind is about in any instance must be determined by the context. As determined- by the context here, the change o f mind -was evidently about Jesus, a change o f mind from that attitude o f mind that rejected and crucified Jesus, to. that attitude of/mind that accepted Him as Lord and Christ. That, then, is the first step toward salvation, and the first step toward receiving the Holy Ghost, accepting Jesus as both Lord and Christ. This involves putting trust in Him as our personal Saviour, and surrendering our thoughts and lives to His control as our Lord and Christ. It also, o f course, involves repentance o f sin, i.e., not shedding o f tears over our sins, (though it is' well that we do) but a renouncing o f sin, the renouncing o f all sin. And it also involves the abso lute surrender o f our wills to Jesus whom we have accepted as our Lord and Christ. The second thing to do is to be baptized
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