Acts 2:39: The Lord Is Calling You, Answer "Here I Am"

Introduction

"God with us." The preacher opens this message at the Église Évangélique de Pentecôte de Nantes with the name of Immanuel announced by the angels. When Israel left Egypt, the people did not know where they were going, but they had the assurance that the LORD was with them and knew where he was leading them.

The text for the day is Acts 2. The disciples have just received the Holy Spirit, and Peter addresses the crowd: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself."

It is this last phrase that holds the preacher's attention. The Lord calls so great a number, and yet his call is individual. He expects a simple answer from each person, the answer of Abraham, Moses and Isaiah: "Here I am."

Message Outline

1. A Promise for So Great a Number

• The prophet Joel had announced it: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy." The prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost, in the upper room.
• Jesus had promised it in Acts 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."
• At that time, not everyone was destined to receive the Holy Spirit. Yet the Lord intended this promise for every individual.
• "I don't have the figure in mind, but I believe there are about seven to eight billion people on earth." The Lord calls them all, and it is a call for each one: a call to repentance and to come to him.

2. From Adam to Isaiah, God Calls and Waits for "Here I Am"

• Adam and Eve are placed in the garden to tend it and keep it. Led astray by the devil's seduction, they hide. The LORD comes into the garden and calls Adam, who answers that he hid himself.
• The call continues with Abraham, called to leave his country, from Ur of the Chaldeans, for the land the Lord would show him. In Genesis 22:1, God calls him and Abraham answers: "Here I am."
• "This is the answer the Lord expects from each of us when he calls us." Not hiding, but coming into the open. Besides, who could hide from the one who searches hearts and minds?
• Moses, saved from the waters, grew up in Pharaoh's house. He wanted to deliver his brothers, but they rejected him and he fled. There, alone, far from Egypt, God came looking for him. In Exodus 3:4, Moses answers: "Here I am."
• "Perhaps, for each of us, it is the moment when we are alone, the time when the Lord comes to call us."
• Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on his throne and hears the cry: "Holy, holy, holy." He knows he is a sinner in God's holy presence. To the question "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" he answers: "Here I am. Send me!" Not that he thinks himself capable on his own: he puts himself at God's disposal.
• The simplest answer to God's call fits in a few words: "Lord, you are calling me, here I am. Use me. Transform my life. My life has been a ruin, it has been a wasteland, but today I come before you so that you can do your work."

3. God Calls to Take Away the Burden

• When the Lord called Adam, his life was chaos, sin and shame. That is still the situation of humanity: shame, wandering, and the weight of not having fulfilled what we were created for.
• God created us for a purpose. He calls so that this burden and this guilt may be lifted.
• To Moses, rejected by his own people, the Lord seems to say: "Even if others have rejected you, I do not reject you." Isaiah 49:15 points the same way: even if a woman could forget the child at her breast, the LORD never forgets us.
• John the Baptist walked the banks of the Jordan crying: "Repent." Jesus spelled out this call: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). We repent for a purpose: to come to Jesus.
• "Will you answer: Here I am, Lord, or will you stay there speechless, unmoved, and turn your back on this call? The call is still going on."

4. He Died for the Whole World, and He Calls You Today

• Jesus died for our sins, and not only for ours, but for those of the whole world (1 John 2:2). The preacher points this out with humor: not only for his own sins or those of the pastors of the church.
• Under the old covenant, the person who brought an animal to the temple offered a sacrifice for himself and, more broadly, for his family. Jesus accomplished the perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
• Nicky Cruz, handed over to the gangs of New York and nicknamed "son of the devil," spread trouble and terror. One day he heard the Lord's call and had to choose between the switchblade and the cross.
• "I don't know if it's the switchblade and the cross, but in any case there is the cross and something else. You have to choose between the cross and something else." The Lord invites you to choose the cross and the path he has laid out, because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
• "Jesus saves today. Not tomorrow, not the day after." Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart: the Lord has set a day, and it is today.

5. Lives Transformed by the Call

• To the fishermen by the lake, Jesus says: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men" (Matthew 4:19). A clear call, and the Lord did what he had said.
• Saul of Tarsus, breathing threats and murder, hardened in religion, was persecuting Christians. On the road to Damascus, the Lord stops him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
• God could have punished him, but he does not want the sinner to die: he wants him to come to repentance. "What is your first name this afternoon? He could say your name to you and simply tell you: come to me."
• Onesimus, Philemon's servant, had probably robbed his master before fleeing to Rome. In prison, he meets Paul, who tells him the gospel. The preacher imagines Paul's words: "The same call God has for me, he has for you. Jesus died for your sins; even if you have stolen, he can forgive you and restore your life."
• To help us feel what this means, he takes a common example: a workman who came to do some work at the house steals money, and our first reflex is to file a complaint.
• The preacher also testifies: "One day, the Lord called me to come to him, to come to the foot of the cross, to choose the cross." God let him know that he is able to create out of nothing, to put joy where there is none, happiness where there was unhappiness. His answer: "Lord, if you are able to do it, here I am. You who are able to create out of nothing, create something in me."
• He recalls an old song: "Come to Jesus, he is calling you today." For too long you have walked in opposition to the word of God, but he is calling you today. Do not draw back.
• The rich young man, faced with the choice between his wealth and the cross, went away very sad. The preacher hopes we will leave instead like the healed man of Acts 3, who leaped for joy praising God, and that it can be said: "The Lord has created something in his heart."

6. The Good Shepherd Calls Each Sheep

• Seeing the crowd, Jesus compares it to sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). He himself says: "I am the good shepherd." If you need a shepherd, it is Jesus Christ you need: he leads to green pastures, where life is refreshed and where peace is found.
• "My sheep hear my voice" (John 10:27). The preacher prays that the Holy Spirit will make this voice heard in hearts.
• A sheep knows the shepherd's voice: even from a hundred meters away, when it hears him, it comes closer. "Whether you are a hundred meters away, two hundred or farther, hear his voice."
• Jesus wants a relationship of closeness. He tells his disciples that he no longer calls them servants but friends (John 15:15). Abraham was called the friend of God. "It is not we who propose to God that he be our friend. It is he who comes to us to offer us his friendship. What grace!"

7. Going Further: The Rising Water

• The promise is for those who are far off, but it begins with those who are here.
• If you have already answered the call to repentance, the Lord calls you even further. In the vision of Ezekiel 47, the water comes up to the ankles, then to the knees, then to the waist, until one is completely immersed.
• The goal is to be immersed in his presence and to become completely dependent on him.
• The call was to be announced to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. At Pentecost, pilgrims from different parts of the world heard it and went home telling that a man named Jesus, crucified and risen, had left a message containing a call.
• This call contains peace with God, the grace of the punishment that fell on him to give us peace (Isaiah 53:5), and the hope of eternal life, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
• A decision has to be made: say "Lord, here I am," or stay silent and turn your back. The message ends with a prayer and an invitation to come forward to say "Here I am" or to receive prayer.

Key Takeaways

• The Lord calls so great a number, but his call is always personal: he calls you by name.
• The answer he expects is that of Abraham, Moses and Isaiah: "Here I am," without hiding, at his disposal.
• God calls to remove the burden, the shame and the guilt; he does not reject the one whom others have rejected.
• Jesus died for the whole world, and today is the day he saves, heals and restores.
• Answering once is not enough: the Lord calls you to go further, until you are immersed in his presence.

Personal Application

1. Is there an area of your life where, like Adam, you are still hiding from God?
2. What is the "something else" that you are weighing against the cross today?
3. If the Lord spoke your first name this afternoon, what would you answer him?
4. How far from the shepherd's voice are you right now, and what keeps you from coming closer?
5. If you have already said "Here I am," where are you in Ezekiel's water: at the ankles, the knees, or further?

Verses Cited

• Acts 2:38-39
• Joel 2:28
• Acts 1:8
• Genesis 3:8-10
• Genesis 22:1
• Exodus 3:4
• Isaiah 6:8
• Isaiah 49:15
• Matthew 11:28
• 1 John 2:2
• John 14:6
• Hebrews 3:7-8
• Matthew 4:19
• Acts 9:1-5
• Philemon 10-16
• Mark 10:17-22
• Acts 3:8
• Matthew 9:36
• John 10:11-27
• John 15:15
• James 2:23
• Ezekiel 47:3-5
• Luke 24:47
• Isaiah 53:5
• John 11:25

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself" mean?

In Acts 2:39, Peter announces that the promise is for his hearers, for their children and for all who are far off. For the preacher, the Lord calls every inhabitant of the earth, about seven to eight billion people, but his call remains individual: a call to repentance and to come to him.

What answer does God expect when he calls?

The simplest answer is that of Abraham, Moses and Isaiah: "Here I am." It does not mean hiding like Adam in the garden, but coming into the open before God, making yourself available to him and letting him transform your life.

I have already answered God's call: what more does he ask of me?

The preacher draws on Ezekiel's vision where the water rises from the ankles to the knees, then to the waist, until one is completely immersed. If you have already said "Here I am" in repentance, the Lord calls you to go further, until you are completely immersed in his presence and dependent on him.