1. The first step is that we _accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and
Lord_. We read in Acts ii. 38, R. V., "Repent ye, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Is not this statement as
positive as that which we made above? Peter says that if we do certain
things, the result will be, "Ye _shall receive_ the gift of the Holy
Ghost." All seven steps are in this passage, but we shall refer later to
other passages as throwing light upon this. The first two steps are in the
word "repent." "_Repent_ ye," said Peter. What does it mean to repent? The
Greek word for repentance means "an afterthought" or "change of mind." To
repent then means to change your mind. But change your mind about what?
About three things; about God, about Jesus Christ, about sin. What the
change of mind is about in any given instance must be determined by the
context. As determined by the context in the present case, the change of
mind is primarily about Jesus Christ. Peter had just said in the
thirty-sixth verse, R. V., "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.
When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart," as well they
might be, "and said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Brethren,
what shall we do?" Then it was that Peter said, "Repent ye," "Change your
mind about Jesus, change your mind from that attitude of mind that
rejected Him and crucified Him to that attitude of mind that accepts Him
as Lord and King and Saviour." This then is the first step towards
receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit; receive Jesus as Saviour and
Lord; first of all receive Him as your Saviour. Have you done that?

What does it mean to receive Jesus as Saviour? It means to accept Him as
the One who bore our sins in our place on the cross (Gal. iii. 13; 2 Cor.
v. 21) and to trust God to forgive us because Jesus Christ died in our
place. It means to rest all our hope of acceptance before God upon the
finished work of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. There are many who
profess to be Christians who have not done this. When you go to many who
call themselves Christians and ask them if they are saved, they reply,
"Yes." Then if you put to them the question "Upon what are you resting as
the ground of your salvation?" they will reply something like this, "I go
to church; I say my prayer