The Conversions at Pentecost¹

1. The Converts’ Previous State

James Buchanan

The nature, method and results of true, scriptural conversion may be illustrated by the striking narrative of the events in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. These events were accompanied with miraculous interposition; they produced a powerful impression on the public mind; and they resulted in the sudden and simultaneous conversion of thousands of souls. Yet in other respects they correspond exactly with God’s usual methods in the conversion of individual sinners, and we may learn from this instructive example about the great change which is still wrought through the faithful preaching of the gospel, when it is applied by the power of His Spirit.

1. The previous state of the 3000 souls who were converted on this occasion. There is reason to believe that they belonged to two distinct classes: the first included devout persons who were religious according to the light they had previously enjoyed; the second perhaps included a still larger number of irreligious men who had rejected and persecuted the Saviour and were chargeable with the guilt of instigating His death or consenting to it. This distinction is founded on those parts of the narrative which, on the one hand, declare that among the assembled multitude “there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven”; and, on the other hand, on those parts of Peter’s sermon in which he directly charges the guilt of the Lord’s blood on those whom he addressed: “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked

¹Taken with editing, from the “Illustrative Cases of Conversion” in The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit. It is based on Acts 2.

hands have crucified and slain”; “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”.

So here we have a variety of character. Among the “devout men” who were assembled at Jerusalem for the celebration of a great religious occasion, there might be some intelligent and godly Jews or proselytes who, like Cornelius, “feared God, and gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway”; some others who, like the Ethiopian treasurer, were ignorant but sincere; while perhaps there were many others who, like the devout women at Antioch, were filled with Jewish prejudices and an intolerant zeal which might lead them to take part in persecuting Christ and His followers.

Among the mixed multitude who listened to Peter’s sermon, there were probably men of every shade of character – some who had been active in the crucifixion of the Lord, others who had been mere spectators. According to their habits of thought and feeling, they were differently affected by the miraculous manifestation of the Spirit: while some were impressed by it, others treated it with mockery and scorn. We cannot know how many of these various classes were converted, but it is plain that not a few underwent this great change who were chargeable with the guilt of the Saviour’s blood. When Peter pressed this charge on their consciences, they “were pricked to the heart”, a clear proof that they were self-condemned.

The Place of the Sacraments in Worship¹

2. Seals, Means and Badges

Rev K M Watkins

Thirdly, sacraments are seals. “Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed and applied”.² Through them God seals as well as signifies His grace. What Paul says about Abraham and circumcision applies to all sacraments: “he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had” (Rom 4:11). It is a pre-eminent function of the sacraments to seal. That is why they alone are called “sealing ordinances”.

A seal was used to authenticate important documents. A royal stamp embossed on a letter would assure the receiver that it was indeed from the king. A seal is more than a mere sign. “A picture of an absent friend represents

¹This is the second part of a paper given at the Theological Conference in 1998. The first part showed that, firstly, the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances instituted by Christ, and secondly, that they are signs – outward signs of inward, spiritual grace.

²Shorter Catechism, Ans 92.

him, and as often as I look on it, recalls him to my memory; it is a sign, and no more. . . . But if that . . . has been given me by my friend as a token of his friendship; if he bade me keep it in remembrance of him, then we have the element of personal mind and will, and it is not merely a sign but a seal.”³

It is like the oath that God added to the promise, that “we might have strong consolation” (Heb 6:18). The oath did not make God’s promise more certain in itself, it being “impossible for God to lie”, but it was added to induce us to embrace it more readily. Likewise the sacraments. In themselves, the provisions of the covenant of grace could not be more sure than God has made them already, by promising them in His Word. But for our sakes, for the strengthening of our faith, God has added the sacraments to seal their certainty to our minds and hearts, and thus to support our confidence in His promise.

When we value the sacraments’ place as seals, how they confirm the gospel! The work of both the Holy Spirit in us (represented in Baptism) and of Christ for us (represented in the Supper) are set forth to confirm our hearts in their reality and efficacy. When we give these precious seals their due place in God’s worship, they are nothing less than “a pledge of the covenanted grace of God”.⁴

To overlook this is to empty the sacraments of their value, a theme which the following quotation develops beautifully: “A token or keepsake derives its whole value from the promise or assurance with which it is associated. If that fail, or is forgotten, it is the most useless and melancholy thing in the world. So are the sacraments when observed as mere ceremonial rites, without any affectionate remembrance of the Lord who gave them to His Church as keepsakes in remembrance of Him. But just as very small and trifling things in themselves, that to a stranger would be utterly valueless, acquire in our eyes a perfectly priceless value when they have been given as tokens of a deep and strong love; so the simple, poor, and mean-looking ordinances of Baptism and the Supper, just the application of a little water and the eating a morsel of bread and a sip of wine, are to the earnest Christian more precious than any other outward thing he has, since they are the memorials of that love that is deeper, stronger, and tenderer than any others; and that is the centre of his new life”.⁵ This is the place we should give to the sacraments.

In this connection, it is to be noted that sacraments are dispensed to indiv-

³James S Candlish, The Christian Sacraments, Edinburgh, nd, p 29. Our quoting of Candlish, or indeed of any author, is not intended to mean that we endorse all his views.

⁴Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p 651.

⁵Candlish, pp 30-31.

iduals: the water is applied, and the bread and wine given, to one individual at a time. Other ordinances are dispensed indiscriminately to the whole congregation. But in sacraments private individuals are identified in public worship. Sacraments seal the truth and faithfulness of God to each soul in person. It is as if God is saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee”. Turretin makes much of this: “The Word is addressed indifferently and promiscuously to all, but the sacraments single out individuals and far more powerfully and efficaciously move the heart . . . the special application of the sacraments shows that the blessing of grace belongs to each one using them well”.⁶ Among all the ordinances of worship, what a special place these divine seals have!

Fourthly, the sacraments are means of grace. Through them God applies grace. “By sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.”⁷ Through them God is pleased by the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit to convey grace to His people. They are included among the “outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption”.⁸ When blessed by the Lord, they become efficacious means of grace, for the quickening, strengthening and comforting of God’s people. Turretin could go so far as to write: “The thing promised is so represented to our minds that it is caused also to be truly communicated”.⁹ Therefore, to give them their place, we must actively look to God for His blessing to come through their use, remembering that this is not confined to the time of administration – it may come later.

We fail to give the right place to sacraments when we treat them as mere symbols. Modern Evangelicalism tends to look on them as little more than memorials. It has been rightly said that “to lack interest in the sacraments and regard them as external and empty signs is to render poor service to the Reformation”.¹⁰ Calvin had to campaign vigorously against this notion prevalent among the Anabaptists of his day. Admittedly, Zwingli among the Reformers denied the sacraments to be means of grace. His view was: “By their significance and by association they might suggest truth and awaken feeling, but they were not channels of divine communication”.¹¹ But as the Reformation matured, few maintained Zwinglian views, and the Reformed position as found in our Westminster standards prevailed.

The sacraments are made effectual means of communicating grace, “not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the

⁶Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, P & R Publishing, 1997, vol 3, p 343.

⁷Shorter Catechism, Ans 92. ⁸Shorter Catechism, Ans 88.

⁹Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol 3, p 340.

¹⁰G C Berkouwer, The Sacraments, Eerdmans, 1969, p 25.

¹¹Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Eerdmans reprint, 1986, vol 3, p 499.

blessing of Christ, and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them”.¹² Roman Catholicism attributes to the sacraments an inherent virtue in and of themselves to bestow and produce grace. But Rome’s dogma of ex opere operato (by the work the work is done), which insists that sacraments apply grace automatically, has no foundation in Scripture. Lutheranism failed to purge this old leaven entirely. Although agreeing with the Reformed that receiving any good from a sacrament is dependent on faith in the receiver, Lutherans agree with Rome that sacraments contain grace in themselves.

The efficacy of the sacraments is dependent on a sovereign God bestowing His blessing upon them. Like the Word, they are instruments through which He is pleased to work, as and when He wills to work. The Word is made effectual only by the Lord’s blessing – and the sacraments also. When the sacraments have their right place in worship, worshippers seek God fervently for a divine blessing to accompany them. The only people who benefit from them are those who receive them in faith, so the cry will be going up: “Lord, increase our faith”.

Fifthly, the sacraments are badges of profession. “Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.” They provide a place in worship – for those who believe the true religion – to make public profession of their faith and of their need of grace. In Baptism this is an uncontradicted profession to believe the doctrines of Scripture and (along with one’s children where relevant) to be disciples of the Word. In the Supper it is an accredited profession that one has been converted to Christ. Both bring the parties under a public engagement to be wholly and only the Lord’s.

However, for the sacraments to retain their right place in worship, care is needed not to overstate this. Berkhof writes of those who “placed the emphasis more on what man did in the means of grace than on what God accomplished through them, when they spoke of them as mere external badges of profession”.¹³ He contrasts this with Calvin: “instead of stressing the Lord’s Supper as an act of man (either of commemoration or of profession), he emphasised the fact that it is an expression first of all of a gracious gift of God to man, and only secondarily a commemorative meal and an act of profession”.¹⁴

Baptists can so emphasise their personal profession of saving faith, especially in Baptism, that little else is left. But chief in Baptism is God assuring us of the gracious power of His Holy Spirit in the “washing of regeneration”.

¹² Shorter Catechism, Ans 91.

¹³ Systematic Theology, pp 607-608.

¹⁴ Systematic Theology, p 646.

Likewise in the Supper: yes, partakers are professing what they believe Christ has done for them and also pledging their allegiance to Him, but primarily it is Christ who is assuring His people of the full provision that is in Him for all their spiritual needs. The sacraments are means of grace primarily, before they are badges of profession. The latter is secondary.

Yet the sacraments are badges of profession, and as such they have the place in worship of formally distinguishing the Church from the world, and those who profess the true religion from those who do not. Not everyone has a right to wear this badge. Sacraments must be administered in a way that seeks to make this distinction as clear as possible. Only then will they have their right place. The fact that, unlike other worship ordinances, these are not for everyone, should be clearly demonstrated. The modern Evangelical practice of passing the elements of the Supper along the pews, instead of the communicants going forward to a table, is unhelpful and detracts from the segregating function that the sacrament ought to have. Likewise, the reluctance of many churches to exercise proper discipline, in not distinguishing those who have an ecclesiastical right to the sacraments from those who do not, blurs this important role of the sacraments and fails to give them their right place in worship.

We have now seen five aspects which together constitute the place that sacraments have in the worship of God. They are instituted by Christ as signs and seals, to apply grace effectually, as well as to be badges of profession.

The Blood of Christ¹

W K Tweedie

Jeremiah 50:20. In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

It is sin that embitters life. It is the abominable thing which darkens the Father’s countenance. It is sin that pollutes my conscience and that mars my peace. Sin is the sting of death and, in the unpardoned, that sting will cause the second death; it will be the cause of agony for ever.

And do I not feel that sin cleaves to my soul in spite of me? When I would do good, evil is present with me. It kneels down with me when I pray; it blends its offensive suggestions with my praise; it haunts me while I read the Word, or hear it; it intrudes alike during the silence of the night and the glare of day. Wherever self is, sin will be found. Briefly, it haunts and

¹Taken, with editing, from Tweedie’s volume, Glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peace.

pollutes and harasses the believer’s soul amid its very attempts to serve the Holy One.

But a voice is heard from heaven, and the Lord proclaims that “iniquity shall be sought for, and there shall be none”, and sins, “but they shall not be found”. They are cast into the depths of the sea. They are blotted out for ever. A sponge of extinction has passed over them, and the believer can now exult in the freedom which the Son of God bestows. He exclaims with David: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”

On this subject the Word of God has employed some of its strongest language. Here, if ever, line upon line is given to impress the mind alike with the freeness and the fulness of pardon. Till it is bestowed, man is, even in his best state, a criminal already condemned. Hence the glad tidings of redemption through Christ’s blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Hence the duty of every soul, that would not be self-deluded and self-destroyed, to press to a conclusion this simple but solemn question, Are you pardoned? Glory to God in the highest that the believer can be taught to exclaim, I thank God for deliverance from the body of sin and death, through Jesus Christ my Lord, and, “There is . . . now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”