The Church joined together in prayer constantly.

You can read what Peter said about Judas Iscariot, the traitor who turned Jesus in to the Jewish authorities.

You can read about how they cast lots to replace Judas with Matthias. They were down to eleven (after Judas Iscariot’s suicide) so now they’re back to twelve.

Some of you may say, "Whoa. They’re speaking in tongues." It explains later on that they’re speaking in native languages.

If you wanted to know the exact start of the Church, this is it. This is where it happens. The Holy Spirit comes onto them and the Church begins (with 120).

As you read Acts, you must know who they’re talking about. This says that they were "God-fearing Jews" and they were "from every nation under heaven." Every nation with a God-fearing Jew was represented in Jerusalem.

They were in Jerusalem for the "Day of Pentecost" or the "Feast of Weeks." This was an Old Testament, Jewish holiday. The reason these Jews were in Rome, in Africa, etc., is because the Babylonians came over, destroyed Jerusalem, and dispersed the Jews. The Jews left. They didn’t want to be part of that persecution and destruction. As a result, Judaism went all over the world. Picture that. Then there were 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments. Christ comes and the Church begins. What have these dispersed Jews been doing for 4-500 years? They have been proselytizing. They have been teaching their Jewish history, culture, and religion to other people. We’ll read about some of these people during Paul’s missionary journeys. He’ll visit synagogues (the Temple substitute) where they met to read the Scripture as part of their Jewish religion. You can see that because these representatives were in Jerusalem from all over the world, that is a key reason the Church spread so vastly and so quickly.

There is the speaking in tongues. It wasn’t unintelligible blabbering. It was the native languages of the various representatives.

What was happening here was that God was intervening. Peter would speak and everyone would hear their own language. It was like at the U.N., where everyone has their own headset on. They heard their own language. That’s a miracle, isn’t it!? That’s what God caused to happen.

We don’t have time to look at it, but if you’re a serious Bible student, go back to Genesis 9 (at the Tower of Babel) when God confused all the languages. Man has been confused since. But here, God said, "I need to tell them the story of salvation through Jesus Christ, so I’ll allow them to hear in their own languages." That is so remarkable.

All of these people were God-fearing Jews from other parts of the world. Growing up, I thought every Jew was in Jerusalem. I didn’t understand that they’d been dispersed all over the world but they were everywhere.

So there were some Jews, dispersed to Rome, who started synagogues and converted others to Judaism. Understand who is here. There are Jews as well as Gentiles who have converted to Judaism. That’s who’s hearing the message of Jesus Christ.

It’s interesting that Paul wrote to the Jews and Christians in Rome even though he had never visited.

If you’re a really serious Bible student, one of the greatest things to do with the book of Acts (and it will open up the whole New Testament to you) is to study it this way:

Make three columns: People, Places, and Events. Fill these in as you read. Doing this, you will begin to get a picture of what was going on with the Church. You’ll also understand where Corinth, Ephesus, Antioch, etc., fit in. It will really open it up to you. It’s a great way to study the book of Acts.

That is key. The Jews and converts to Judaism were confronted with a miracle. They came to Jerusalem just to celebrate the normal, annual Feast of Weeks. They’re presented with this miracle of God—speaking in languages and tongues of fire. So they asked, "What does this mean?" That’s a very good question.

It’s pretty early in the morning but some people thought they were drunk. That doesn’t explain anything. They still heard their own languages.

Remember that just a few weeks ago, Peter denied Christ three times. 40-50 days have passed and the Holy Spirit has come upon him.

This is the first sermon at the beginning of the Church right here. It is a fascinating thing to read. We don’t have time to read it but the key is that Peter, a Jew, is standing up and saying, "Jews, let me tell you what this means." The "Jews" includes those living in Jerusalem and those from outside of Jerusalem. A few weeks ago, those living in Jerusalem had been shouting, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Peter stands up to tell them some things.

He goes on to reference the Old Testament about Christ.

He’s talking about Jesus of Nazareth. After a little Old Testament prophecy, he tells them about Jesus of Nazareth.

This is pretty bold. It’s completely opposite of how Peter was 50 days ago. He’s filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He can see and speak things that he couldn’t have earlier.

Here’s Peter providing some more references to the Old Testament—David, talking about Jesus Christ. Do you see what Peter is doing? He’s talking to Jews and Jewish converts and saying, "Here’s what you did to Jesus."

There is the key message. Peter said, "Jesus is the Lord and Christ, the Messiah! He’s the Promised One from the Old Testament."

What does that mean? They felt guilty, depressed, down, convicted, and judged. They thought, "Oh no. What have we done!?" I hope we’ve all felt that way.

In other words, they see what they’ve done. Feel what they feel. See what you’ve done!? We should feel the same way. Our sins crucified Christ. They actually, physically said, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Peter told them that.

Let’s look at it this way. We said these Jews were

Take a look at John 3:16-18 quickly.

There are two groups of people. There are those who have eternal life. They are "saved." They believe in Christ. These Jewish converts are on the other side, not saved. They are being "cut to the heart." This isn’t a thin line dividing "saved" from "not saved"… it’s a chasm, worlds apart.

"Believe in Christ" = "Not Condemned"

"Not believe" = "stands condemned already"

So Peter is standing up and speaking to the Jews and Jewish converts and tells them, "You stand condemned today." Didn’t he tell them that? That’s what "cut to the heart" means. I want you to see this. Let’s apply this to you. For whatever reason you think you’re "saved," do you see how the "cut to the heart" must come first, to understand it?

Some people believe they’re saved but they are not—they are condemned. This group includes the Jews Peter is speaking to. It includes the religious right (whom Jesus addressed). They are the furthest away from salvation. Jesus told them that, "You’re whited sepulchers. You’re empty. You think you’re something but you are nothing." As a matter of fact, in several places, the Bible refers to the "religious", "churchy" people. They are the furthest away from salvation. They do not believe in Christ. They don’t feel condemned. They’re living their own self-righteous lives. These people are further away from accepting Jesus Christ because they think they’re right and don’t want to hear the truth.

These verses say that if you believe in Christ then you are not condemned. This is what Peter is trying to tell them, "Feel condemned." Apart from Christ, every one of us, right now, stands condemned before God. We’re human beings. Because we’re human beings, we’re condemned by God. There’s nothing you can do about it. You are judged and condemned by God. But God sees Christ, sees your belief in Christ, and says, "OK. Now you stand righteous. You are not condemned."

Do you understand that it has nothing to do with you? That’s the key. It’s understanding that you want to feel the condemnation, to come to the point where you say, "God, you mean if Christ hadn’t died on the cross, was raised the third day, and I don’t believe in Him, I’m condemned already!? You mean it’s not what I do!? It’s not going to church, going to Sunday School, or being a deacon!?" God answers, "No. It has nothing to do with that! You can’t do a thing. It’s your belief in Christ that saves you." You have to feel condemned. The more and more I think about how condemned I am, the more I see that I’m a judged human being with no hope apart from Christ. It’s got to be Christ and Christ alone. This is what every one of you must experience. As Peter is saying to the Jewish converts, "Feel the condemnation. You are condemned." That’s what God says, "You are condemned," and He sent His Son for you to be saved.

They feel this condemnation so they ask:

They’re right there. I hope you ask the same thing in your life sometime. You get to a point where you ask, "What should I do? How can I stand before God?" It has to be through Christ.

There’s the heart of Christianity. Accept Christ, be saved, and receive the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is identification with Christ. Baptism is not being dunked in a pool. Being "dunked in a pool" is an identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. You desire to be baptized because you want to identify with Christ. We recognize that identification by what is said in the baptismal pool, "We are buried with Him in baptism and raised to walk in a newness of life." It’s identification. You want that. You’ve accepted Christ and now you want to be identified with Him. The baptism and the water mean nothing for salvation. It’s just identification with Christ.

I’ll step on some of your toes, but this is in the Bible. It says, "Repent and be baptized." We don’t do this these days because you’re scheduled to be baptized in the elevated pool in the sanctuary. But in the Bible, baptism comes immediately after belief. It is not something to delay. It’s not something to mess around with. It’s not like you accept Christ and then say, "Well, one of these days I’ll get baptized." Again, I’m not talking about the water. I’m talking about the identification with Christ. When you accept Christ, you desire and crave to be identified with Christ. In the early Church, baptism comes immediately after belief. "You believe? OK, let’s get baptized." They didn’t separate the two. We separate the two today. I don’t know why, but we do. We say, "Oh. That’s a different decision." It’s not. Baptism is the identification with Christ. That’s what every person should understand. If someone asks you if you’ve been baptized, you clarify, "Do you mean: have I ever been identified with Christ through baptism?" Then you’ll understand. Every Christian should want and desire, as quickly as possible, to have that identification with Christ through baptism. That’s what the early Church did.

Salvation is through belief in Christ, alone. But as soon as you believe, you want to get baptized to identify with Christ. Salvation is not part of baptism. Baptism is not part of salvation. But let’s take it a step further. We have this modern-day thing called "church membership." A lot of you belong to a Sunday School class but don’t belong to the church. Don’t confuse the two. What does it take to belong to the church? The church says, "Two things: faith in Christ and baptism." What we’ve done is said, "Oh. To become a member of the church, you have to be baptized." No. Well, yes, in a way. Don’t say, "The only way I can become a member is to be baptized." Don’t say it that way. Instead, say, "I’m a believer in Christ and want to be identified with Christ through baptism." Do that and then decide what church you want to belong to. Does everybody see the difference? This is so misconstrued.

I would ask, "When you were sprinkled or baptized or whatever, did you consciously know at that point that you were saved through belief in Christ and identifying with Him? If you were not, go get baptized." Yes, baptism comes after salvation. It’s saying, "I’ve been saved. I want to identify with Christ. I want to grow in Christ. I want to be nurtured in Christ. I want to become Christ-like." That’s baptism. That’s why it’s so important. Accepting Christ and being baptized should have nothing to do with church membership. That’s what I’m saying. You do it for your Christian walk with Christ and then ask, "Do I now want to become a member of this church?"

I can’t read it any other way. Do you see that? That’s not a "Baptist" Bible, "Methodist" Bible, or "Catholic" Bible. It says, "Repent and be baptized." What does that mean? "Repent" means to turn around. You’re going one direction and you turn around and go the other way. You made a decision for Christ. You were living in the World and now you’re going to live in the Spirit. You accept Christ. Then it says "be baptized." The word "baptism" there is a transliteration of the word "baptizo" We don’t have an English word that translates from "baptizo" other than baptism. When you say "si" in Spanish, it means "yes." Back then, if you spoke Greek and said "baptism," most people would say, "Oh. You mean ‘baptizo.’" It was transliterated. There was not a translation.

And when you look at the Greek word "baptizo," it means a full, complete immersion. Now the question comes, "What do you do about it?" It’s not, "What does the Baptist/Methodist/Catholic Church do?" Do you understand me? Don’t get the rules of the churches involved. Instead ask, "What does the Word of God say?" The Word of God says, "Accept Christ, believe in Christ, have eternal life, and be baptized." I just told you what that word meant. You can take that word and say, "OK. In the Baptist Church it means this. In the Methodist Church it means this. In the Catholic Church it means this." No. What did I tell you to do? You find out what the Word of God says, not what the modern-day churches say.

Baptism is identification. It even appears in the Old Testament. It goes back to Abraham, Moses, Noah, etc. What did it mean? It wasn’t the dunking in the water. It was identification.

It is true that there are a lot of religious people who have gone through the motions and the act but when you really search it out, they have not come to that point where they stand condemned before God. You are worthless. There’s nothing good about you. It is an individual decision. It is not a church decision. It is an individual decision. I’m asking each and every one of you, "Have you made that decision for Christ? Did you get to the point where you were ‘cut to the heart’ with how sorry, low-down, and good-for-nothing you are and know that you needed Christ?" You can’t stand before God with anything that you’ve done on your own merit, nothing. I don’t care what it is. There’s nothing you’ve done that could justify you standing before God. Because of that, you are condemned. As a human being, you are condemned. Once you accept Christ, God says, "I now stand you in righteousness. You are now holy and perfect before me only because of Christ." Here’s the thing: if you see that, then what the Bible says is, "now identify with Christ." Don’t just say, "I accepted Him and now I’m a Christian." Identify with Him.

I will say it one more time. I will not condone/approve/accept anybody else’s decision in here. It’s between you and God. I’ve said this to you before with other things. If any of you come to me for a solution or validation to your question, I will not approve or disapprove it. It’s between you and God. Your acceptance of Christ is between you and God. Your baptism or sprinkling is between you and God. Your joining or not joining a church is between you and God.

Whose decision is it? It’s between that person and God or the parents’ leading him. I’ve explained that you have to be a Christian to "take communion." Does anyone ask you, "Have you accepted Christ?" before they will pass you the plate? We don’t do that. It’s just passed and you decide. I don’t want you to look at me and say, "Hey Carlton, am I a Christian? Is it alright for me to take it?" I’m not going to answer that.

Quickly, here are my thoughts on organized religion. I grew up in a Methodist Church and then went to a Baptist Church. I taught at a Wesleyan Church and taught Catholics before. My "organized religion" experience is all over the map. It all comes down to, "YOU read the Word of God. You read what the Word of God tells you to do." Here’s what will happen: if you read what the Word of God tells you to do, then you find the "church" that’s closest to that. You will hear people who say, "Well, I don’t know about ‘institutionalized churches’ or ‘organized religion.’" That’s a cop-out. They don’t spend enough time figuring out what’s going on. They don’t. They don’t get involved in church on the basis of politics and organizations.

Now I know that there are crooked churches out there. Church history is full of crooked churches. But here is the point: you know what you believe—you find a church home that identifies with what you believe. That church will be freer. The people will agree with you in saying, "Here’s what I believe and what we should do," rather than an organized "Church" mandate. Sometimes we think the church is restrictive. No, we are. The pastor said this morning, "Most people would rather teach children because children have open minds." Adults have closed minds. Adults come to a Sunday School class and they’ve already made up their minds about everything and just want to see if the Sunday School teacher agrees with them and substantiates what they already know. Then he said, "You come to church, to worship, as adults and you think you already know it." You have to have an open mind. How do you have an open mind? You let God, through the Holy Spirit, teach you and guide you in all truth. I’ve said that over and over. That’s what you need to be about.

Every time we bring up "baptism," it will be how the churches have defined it. We could do a study, listing all the various churches with all the various denominations with all the various forms of baptism. It would even vary within the denominations. You can’t even say, "all Baptists do this" or "all Methodists do that." What do I say? Go to the Bible. See what the Bible tells you, see what God tells you, and you do it, regardless of what the "organized church" says. Are you with me?

So this 120 shot up to 3,120. Do you see the growth of the early Church? This happened at a Jewish feast. Don’t miss that. They came to celebrate the Day of Pentecost and became Christians. They’ll still call themselves "Jews." It’s a little while later that they’ll be called "Christians."

This is what the early Church did. This is what we should do.

They:

• "devoted themselves," meaning committed themselves, spent time, set apart time, gave of themselves, and sacrificed something (devoted, as in honoring God),
• "to the apostles’ teaching," like what you’re doing in here…learning, discussing things,
• "to the fellowship," and you all know how to fellowship/party,
• "to the breaking of bread," like we do when we share meals with each other,
• "and to prayer." We pray in here, we pass the prayer list, and we pray for each other.

If someone had a need, someone else would go out and sell something. This wasn’t Communism/Socialism—I don’t want to get into that. I’ve read this. It’s not.

So how many were added? It doesn’t say. But how often? Daily. Daily, people were "cut to the heart," accepted Christ, and went from being condemned to being not condemned. They understood what it was all about.

That’s New Testament.

That’s 5,000 men so I don’t know how many were saved. It’s going off the charts now. Do you see the growth of the early Church? Could you imagine this church if by next Sunday, we increased by 5,000!? There wouldn’t be parking problems. We’d share…"You take my parking space" "No, you take my space." "No, I insist." We’d park a mile away and walk here.

Do you see the sharing of possessions here? God owns everything you have. You don’t own a thing. Everything that you have can be shared to help someone else, whether it’s food, time, parking spaces, or whatever. Do you know how selfish we are!? We don’t even realize how selfish we are and we’re teaching the same thing to our kids because they watch us.