The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Acts 1:4Jesus commanding the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until the Father sends the promised gift
4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
the primary text of the sermon, covering Pentecost, Peter's sermon, and the growth of the early church
1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.
4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky.
6 When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language.
7 They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans?
8 How do we hear, everyone in our own native language?
9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”
12 They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
15 For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
18 Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,
23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28 You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay.
32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
34 For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
36 “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “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.
39 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.”
40 With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
43 Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 All who believed were together, and had all things in common.
45 They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.
46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
Peter quotes Joel to explain the outpouring of the Spirit, sons and daughters prophesying, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord being saved
28 “It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
29 And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
32 It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
David's prayer asking God not to remove the Holy Spirit from him after his sin
1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
the road to Emmaus, where Jesus explained everything in the Old Testament that referred to him
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.
2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.
4 While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.
5 Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,
7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”
8 They remembered his words,
9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.
10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles.
11 These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.
12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.
13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem.
14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened.
15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them.
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb;
23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”
27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.
30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them.
31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.
32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,
34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43 He took them, and ate in front of them.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
51 While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
52 They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor preached through Acts 2 as part of the church's ongoing series in Acts, covering the day of Pentecost, Peter's sermon to the crowd, and the life of the early church that followed. He did not shy away from the parts of the chapter that can make conservative Christians uncomfortable, and he made clear from the start that he was not going to hedge or treat Acts as a book that does not apply today.
What was said
The chapter opens on a Jewish feast day, fifty days after Passover, when pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for Passover would normally have returned home. The believers were still there because Jesus had told them to wait. That obedience, the pastor said, is itself the point: preparing for a move of the Spirit means obeying what you have already been told, staying together, praying, and paying attention to God's word.
When the Spirit came, it came with a sound like a mighty rushing wind from heaven and with what looked like tongues of fire settling on each person present. The pastor noted that the language of filling recalls the consecration of the tabernacle and the temple, and that the whole scene is loaded with Old Testament echoes. The result was that everyone present began speaking in other languages, and devout Jews from all over the known world heard them speaking in their own native tongues.
The crowd's confusion, the pastor said, is the key to understanding what happened. They were confused because they understood. They could hear clearly what was being said, which was the mighty acts of God, and they knew that the people saying it were from Galilee. He connected this moment to the Tower of Babel, where God had scattered humanity by confusing its languages, and called Pentecost the reversal of that.
Peter stood up and preached. He quoted Joel to explain what the crowd was witnessing, then quoted Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 to show that David had been speaking prophetically about a descendant whose body would not see decay and who would be seated at God's right hand. The logic of the sermon, the pastor said, is that Peter is doing exactly what Jesus had done on the road to Emmaus: showing from the Old Testament that all of it was pointing to Jesus.
The result of Peter's preaching was that the words pierced the hearts of those listening and they asked what they should do. Peter's answer was repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, a promise not just to those present but to all who would be called. About three thousand people were baptized that day. The pastor paused here to mention a man who had been working in the church's parking lot that week, had recently asked God to show himself, and told the pastor he felt he needed to be baptized.
The chapter closes with a picture of what the new church devoted itself to: the apostles' teaching, fellowship, sharing meals including the Lord's Supper, and prayer. The pastor held this up as the pattern the church still follows today, and pointed to the potluck happening down the hall and the congregation's benevolence fund as present-day expressions of the same life. The church grew, he said, because they kept doing those four things together, and each day God added to their number those who were being saved.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor said that preparing for a great move of the Spirit is a time to obey, be together, pray, study God's Word, and recognize leaders. Which of those disciplines feels hardest for you personally right now, and why?
Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem that they all knew what Jesus had done, and that some of them had been calling for his crucifixion. He was looking right at them when he said it. What does it mean to you that the gospel was first proclaimed to the very people who had rejected Jesus?
Speaker 1Sounds like a cavalcade in here, doesn't it? A little bit of a stampede. Would you all stand with me and we will sing them in from the vestibule? Imagine somebody will start closing doors and it'll get a little quieter in here, but I'm glad to hear the sounds of life going on in here. Victory in Jesus, would you sing with me?
This old, old story.
Speaker 2I heard an old, old story how a savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. I heard about his groaning, of his precious bloods atoning, then I repented of my sins and won the victory. Oh, in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me him, and all my love is due him.
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about his healing, of his cleansing power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again and cause the blind to see. And then I cried, dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit. And somehow, Jesus came and brought to me the victory. He loved me air I knew him, and all my love is to him.
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing blood. I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory. And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea about the angels singing and the old redemption story and some sweet day I'll sing up there a song of victory.
Speaker 1Amen. That's fun. Thank you for that key change. If I warn you about the key change, it always trips me up for some reason. You got grace greater than all our sin.
Listen to the lines in this song. Marvelous grace of our loving lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Ain't that beautiful? Amen. Praise God.
Here we go.
Speaker 2Exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's Mount outpour. There were the blood of the lamb was filled. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair. Here we go. Threaten the soul with infinite loss.
Grace that is greater. Yes. Grace untold points to the refuge, the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, whiter than snow you may be today. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all.
Our sin on the last marvelous infinite matchless grace really bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing to see his face, Will you this moment his grace receive? Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.
Y'all can have a seat.
Speaker 1In the first service this morning, the announcements didn't come up and we just didn't do them. That's not the way it's gonna go right now. They're coming up and we're gonna do them. So Awana happens tomorrow night. It is long line night and that is a terrible thing to advertise in my opinion.
Long line night. In this context, what it means is tomorrow is the time where kids bring in donated canned goods and the red, yellow, blue and green team stack up those goods in a line and the longest line wins and it's like an award. So long line night is the giving of canned goods and kinda seeing how that goes. It starts at $5.45 right here in this room. We have boxes, a few boxes left out in the entryway.
Packed boxes are due November 17. So if you want to pack a box for Operation Christmas Child of Samaritan's Purse, you can do that. $10 per box, get some sent to the other side of the world, but there are some instructions on that back in the back of the room in the vestibule if you wanna know more about that. There is a standing time for a discovery class. So the discovery class is for somebody who thinks they might wanna be a part of the church, been coming for a while and wanted to have some questions answered or wanna just talk.
Discovery class happens third Sunday of the month. It's the second door down the hall to the left on the way to the fellowship hall. And that's my office. Whether I'm in there or not, somebody will be leading that on the third Sunday of the month in my office. And if you want to schedule another one, we're always ready to do that.
Hey, that was the last we didn't miss much in that first service, did we? Would you all stand with me? If there's one more. Roseanne Welch is here today, Not wanting to be called out, I'm sure. But I'm glad that y'all are here in Roseanne's family.
So would y'all stand with us and we'll sing together. But we're really, really glad to see you. What an inspiration and we just love you dearly. So, she called me last night and said she was coming and I thought, I think I already knew this. But I was just making sure but I'm really really glad.
There was a potluck that I didn't announce down the hall in the first service but it's good to see everybody celebrate you. So his name is wonderful. We're gonna celebrate this. We'll sing it twice.
Speaker 2His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my Lord. He is the mighty king, master of everything. Thing.
His His name name is is wonderful. Wonderful. Jesus, my lord. He's the great shepherd, the rock of all ages. Almighty God is he.
Bow down before him, love and adore him. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord.
Speaker 1Let's sing it again.
Speaker 2His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Amen.
Speaker 1Lord God Almighty, you are wonderful and you are worthy of praise and we wanna sing it to you. In Jesus name, amen. Thou art worthy. I think. And y'all can have a seat.
And I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward. Would y'all pray with me? Lord God almighty, I'm overcome today with the way that you move. Lord, I'm I am preaching from Acts two and we're reading, we're seeing this great demonstrable move of the spirit where people are being added to the family in the Bible, but Lord, you're still doing it. You're still moving.
You're still moving among us. You're still moving in the midst of your people. So God, I pray that you would have your will done in your way among us and through us, Lord. We wanna be a part of that and this this offering time for whatever is placed in these plates, whether it's financial resources or metaphorically if it's time, conversations, the meditations of our heart. Lord God Almighty, I pray that you take everything that people invest in you and that you would multiply it and that you would do your kingdom's work exactly how you want it done.
It would not be inhibited but it'd be actually blessed by and through this congregation. In Jesus name, we pray pray that it would go forward. Your good gospel would go forward. Amen. Amen.
I I want the gal that sang that song on the radio. Went to seminary with me. Yeah. It's pretty neat. I hadn't thought of that in a while.
Beautiful song. The story behind it is wonderful too. Acts two, it says it up on the screen. This is where we are. We're going through and after having preached for, I think 10 different sermons on the 12 steps of recovery, I was really glad to get back to the Bible.
Straight up, Acts one. The last time I preached two weeks ago and so we're going to go. We did the whole chapter one of Acts the last time I preached and we're going to do all of chapter two this week. It's a pretty amazing chapter. It recalls the birthday of the church.
We celebrate birthdays. I mean, it's just kind of a normal thing. Seems to me sort of arbitrary but you gotta, you know, celebrate people. In the life of this church, about a week, week and a half ago, I don't remember exact the exact time. We were not right here when it happened.
Oh, it was right before last weekend. So it was a week and a half ago. Richard Largie and Drea Largie had their bouncing baby boy and he's huge. And they will tell that story for the rest of this baby's life and I know that because I was huge. And when I say I was little back home, people say, you were never little.
Right? This baby was a ten pound seven ounce boy and everything that they are gonna say, they're gonna hear the beginning of this baby's life. He's gonna hear this for the rest of his life. This is the story of the early church and it's a big start. It's an amazing thing that had been forecast ahead of time.
We'll see that. But also Acts two has been in the I'll say this, we act more in in this community. We're more like an interdenominational than Baptist Church. And it's uncomfortable for Baptist a lot of times to talk about Acts two. I remember the Bible being preached my whole life and I remember getting clear, good, accurate sermons where I feel like it was really biblical.
I don't remember many about Acts two because it was almost for conservative Christians that don't feel like the gifts are for today. It was almost embarrassing to read it. And so, I don't feel like we ought to be embarrassed by reading scripture. I don't feel like we ought to shy away from it. We ought to listen to what it is that God is saying.
I promised the first sermon of Acts that I would try not to hedge and say, well, you know, acts as a transitional book and you can read that but don't think it's for today. I'm not going to do that. If it sounds Calvinist this week, that's what it says. If it sounds Armenian next week, that's what it says. There's a balance to the Christian life and it's easier to go to a consistent logical extreme than to remain in the center of biblical tension.
So this is a beautiful chapter of scripture and I can't wait to get to it. This is the quote that in the first service I could not find two weeks ago. I read part of it to y'all, but I also want for you to see the acts of the apostles or if you prefer, the acts of the Holy Spirit is about the birth of the church and how it's carried out into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts And after it leaves off in chapter 28, really, it's like chapter 29 is everything else that happens after that because the consistent expansion of Christ's body which he calls, I will build my church. He's still doing it. So Acts in the end of Luke and at the beginning of Acts, the great commission is the last thing that Jesus says.
And the fact that the great commission, this is by my professor Greek and and the fellow who helped write the New Living Translation version of Acts. He's a he's a Presbyterian pastor seminary professor who has now passed. He's a good friend, William Larkin. This was from his book. The fact that the great commission is the last instruction of the risen and now ascended and imminently returning Lord gives it great weight.
He's not mentioning just an optional ministry for individuals of cross cultural interest that like weird food. Right? I've I've heard him say this a lot of times. He said, it's not just for people who have a penchant for weird food, cross cultural interest, and churches that have extra money, surplus funds. The church must always be a missionary church.
Those who have received the grace of God must always be proclaiming it. Karima, proclamation is really really important and the way that people come to know is by seeing lives that have been transformed. So the Christian must always be a world Christian. It's a looking forward. Here we go.
Acts two beginning in verse one, it says, now on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost for us, if you grew up in the way that I did, I just knew Pentecostal was somebody else. We don't do that. So Pentecost for me, the definition of is, yeah, those are the wild ones. That's on the other side of town.
I that's that was my history. My first real sincere reading where the words were leaping off the page in Acts was when I went on my very first mission trip. It was to Mexico and I had my Bible with me and I thought, why don't I start? Well, I gotta read one of mine. It's gonna be a few hours.
I read the entire book of Acts and it came alive like it never had before. On the day of Pentecost and the word Pentecost in Greek means fiftieth, the fiftieth, on the fiftieth. So, the fiftieth day, it's fifty days after Passover. We don't have any any doubt about when this was. We know on the calendar exactly when it happened.
On the day, the fiftieth day after the Passover, that would be on this particular one they're talking about fifty days after the crucifixion, which was Passover. Right? On the fiftieth day after Passover and what they normally would have been celebrating fifty days after Passover, what the normal pilgrims that come to Jerusalem for Passover are celebrating is the Exodus. Right? Exodus after Exodus, they have forty years of wandering.
But then when they finally entered into the promised land, the feast of weeks celebrates the first fruits, the first harvest that they had in the promised land. The time of year is the is determined by that. But in Greek, the fiftieth or the Pentecost was fifty days after Passover. They're celebrating the first fruits of the promised land. Now, God had promised them that they would go to a place that flows with milk and honey and then he saw them there and they developed the harvest with of course, he gave the increase and they celebrated the first fruits there.
Now, think about the parallel to that in the New Testament on the day of Pentecost. We're gonna see what happens, but his outpouring of his spirit happens while they're celebrating the first fruits. That's beautiful. The parallels are great. On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place.
That's significant because in the first chapter of Acts and as well in Luke, at the end of Luke, he had told them, it says nonchalantly in Acts one four. Once when he was eating with them, after he had been resurrected, when he would show up from time to time for those forty days that he was with them. Once when he was eating with them, he commanded, y'all don't leave Jerusalem until the father sends you the gift that he promised. As I told you before, you've already known to be expected it. John baptized with water but in just a few days, y'all are gonna be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Don't leave Jerusalem until the father sends you the gift he promised. And in the meantime, after he told him that just before, you know, in the forty days between resurrection and ascension, they listened to him and they're all together in one place just as he said and that was a time to be obedient. It was a time to be together. This is what the last sermon I preached two weeks ago and I'm thankful for Brad preaching last week. It was really good.
I watched the second service while I was riding down the road. Preparing for any great move of the spirit is a time to obey, a time to be together, a time to pray, to to be asking God, speaking to God but also listening to hear from God and it's a time to study and proclaim God's word and it's a time for recognizing and appointing leaders. In the first chapter, they replaced Judas with Matthias and that's part of it. I mentioned last week that or two weeks ago that the last time we see anybody casting lots or using a game of random chance to determine God's will is in Acts one because the Holy Spirit is going to be provided in Acts two. Here we are.
On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place and suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm. The fact that it is from heaven is significant. It is a supernatural thing that everyone recognized as such And there are tons of parallels to Exodus, to Ezekiel, to lots of times when there was a theophany, a visual presence or a sensory presence of Almighty God. Suddenly, was a sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind or a mighty windstorm and it filled the house where they were sitting. To to use the word filled there, it recalls lots of different times when God was filling especially the temple And at the consecration of the temple, at the consecration of the tabernacle, you see that God's presence filled the place.
So that word is significant too. Suddenly, the mighty rushing wind filled the house where they were sitting and then what looked like flames or tongues of fire. Luke, the Gentile historian has interviewed the people. He's told us about it at the beginning of Luke. He told us about it at beginning of Acts.
He said, I have done the investigation on this. I talked to everybody that was there And what they said was that fire came in and it looked like tongues of fire. That's what he said. Now, we say that the flames were licking at whatever because it it does. The little flames that even a flame job on a car when somebody paints when it looks like little tongues.
Right? That's what it looked like. Flames or tongues of fire appeared and then it settled on each of them. Let's go on. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit which is unusual for them and for the whole of the Old Testament, it was unusual for someone to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It happened from time to time and it happened upon particular offices. Kings are often said to have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Prophets are said to be filled with the Holy Spirit. True prophets. There were lots of fakes.
Prophets were filled with the spirit and from time to time, someone else might be, but it wasn't the norm. If you think back to David, King David, he's king and he's prophet and when he sins and realizes it, his prayer in Psalm one thirty nine, Psalm 51, I think both of them mentioned it but his prayer is, lord, please, I know that I've done wrong. I'm laying it down before you. I don't deserve your mercy but I'm asking for it. Please don't remove your Holy Spirit from me.
I can't imagine no fate worse than that because he knew what it was like to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and he did not want it removed. Other people didn't and that's weird for us. When we watch the pages of the disciples making stupid error after stupid error over and over and over again, sometimes we think, how could they be so dense? Well, they didn't have the Holy Spirit until here. This is the place after those the mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire appeared settling on each other and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and that's unusual.
And they began speaking in other languages. There's not any doubt about what that means. It is about other languages. And we're gonna see that from the text. As the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Now, who is everyone present? Everyone present is all believers. Everybody's there being obedient to God, being open to his spirit, and then this happened suddenly. And at that time, it's Pentecost. People usually make the trip for the Passover, but then it's fifty days before Pentecost.
Usually, people go back home and come back. But they had been told, the believers have been told stay here until. So they were still there. At that time, there were devout Jews that had come from every nation and they were living or passing time or residing in Jerusalem. Devout Jews from every nation.
That does not say that they were believers but it does say that they believed the Old Testament. They were devout in Judaism. And when they, those devout Jews heard the loud noise, everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. Now, when I start speaking, I'm looking around. There are a lot of southerners in here.
I know that when I start speaking, people could see me from a distance and they don't know me and they'll kind of, you know, you're summing up. Oh, that guy looks more like a surfer than a preacher. I can hear all those I I hear that a lot, you know. And then, when I start talking, go, woah, where are you from? You know, what backwater hillbilly place are you from?
In a lot of people's minds, it drops their IQ points. They just they think I'm dumber because of how I sound. That's exactly what this is pointing to. In fact, the next line does that. It says, they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
What's cool about this is my favorite summary of Acts two. They were confused because they understood. They heard it in their own language and they knew that those people up there were big dummies from Galilee. It says it. They were completely amazed.
How can this be? They explained. All these folks are from Galilee. And yet, when we hear them speaking, they're speaking in our own native languages. Now I I have lived in Mexico for a while, speak Spanish.
This week, we had a couple come in and when they came through, they were talking to Nick and Nick was like, hold on just a second. He ran down and said, hey, there's somebody here speaking Spanish. They haven't even said what they were here for as far as I can tell, but can you come talk to them? And then we had a great conversation for the next thirty five minutes in Spanish. They didn't they didn't speak English.
I've had a couple of different times where I said, why would you speak to me in Spanish? Because I don't look like I speak Spanish. Right? And I'd say to a Mexican man in, you know, Wichita at a gas station, what made you think I speak Spanish? He goes, I don't speak English.
I spoke to you in the language I know. You just happened to respond. That's how I know. Yet, we hear them speaking in our own native languages. That says that what the tongues were was spoken languages.
Think about this. This is so cool. All the way back to the Tower Of Babel, when mankind said, we are gonna make ourselves like God. We're gonna build this monstrosity up to heaven and God confused their languages and this is the reversal of that. That's good.
Here we are, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya and Cyrene, visitors from Rome, even Rome. Rome's a far flung, that's the empire that is dominating us. We are hoping to get rid of them. Right? Even from Rome, and he takes a break there and says both Jews and converts.
It's not ethnically just devout Jews that are there. It's Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans, and Arabs. It's everybody. And actually, if you look at them I'll show you a map. Here it is.
The way that it it lays them out, it kind of goes like this and then and then it goes desert and wet, high and low. It's a representative sample, let's say. It's all of the areas around, but it's very inclusive. All. We all hear these people speaking in our own languages.
What were they saying? They were speaking about the wonderful things God has done, about God's mighty acts. It's so beautiful to see that what they're saying is just what God has done. They stood there amazed and perplexed. What can this mean?
They asked each other. They were confused because they understood what was being said. They're hearing a message about God's mighty acts and they're saying, what can this mean? This is the weirdest thing we've ever experienced. But others in the crowd ridiculed them saying, they're just drunk.
There will always be naysayers. How often do I say that? There will always be naysayers. This is a mighty move of God and some people still did not recognize it and they just said, they gotta be drunk. Then Peter stepped forward.
Oh, think about that. Peter stepped forward with the other 11 apostles, the ones that Jesus had sent out and he shouted to the crowd, listen carefully all of y'all. Fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem, make no mistake about this. These folks are not drunk like you're thinking. It's 09:00 in the morning.
It's way too early for that. No. What you're seeing was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel. In the last days, he now starts to quote from Joel two. It's actually Joel two twenty eight.
Then after doing all these things, I will pour out my spirit upon all of the people. Your sons and your daughters prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions. Paul, Peter proclaims that this is that. Now, that's Joel two twenty eight.
He goes on from there and says, in those days, I will pour out my spirit even on all of my servants, men and women alike and they will prophesy and to prophesy is not just foretell the future. I think that that's what we think and that's not really the case. Kerygma is proclamation. They are to proclaim the mighty works of God and they will be doing it. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below.
The wonders in the heavens above from the heavens, there's a mighty rushing wind and flames that lit upon each of them as tongues. And then, they heard in their own language, signs on the earth below. Blood and fire and clouds of smoke, the sun will become dark, the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. And in my estimation, I think that this is a split range prophecy. What was happening on the day of Pentecost comes up through most of that, signs on the earth below, and then the blood and fire and the clouds of smoke can still be a future prophecy that has not yet come to pass.
I will say this though. Fifty days ago, they saw the sky turned dark at the crucifixion. They heard the thunder. There was an earthquake that ripped the veil in the temple. Right?
All of these things happen. And so, to go through that and kind of get hung up on that, you might say, I don't understand about those blood moons. I read John Hagee's book. Still don't understand about those blood moons. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
That's the point. Right there. Okay? Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In those days, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
In Joel two twenty nine through 32 says, exactly the same thing but everyone who calls in the name of lord will be saved. Then, Peter after the reading of the scripture or the recitation of scripture, he then begins to apply it and says, people of Israel. Now, the first time it said, fellow Jews and residents of Israel, and now you say, our residents of Jerusalem, people of Israel, listen, God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him as all of y'all well know whether you liked it at the time or not. Y'all were the people here. Think about it.
When I look at it, think, oh, there's this group and there's that group, there's the Pharisees, and there's the sadducees, and there's the Roman guard, and there all these of these folks. But when Peter is speaking, just like I'm looking at you, he was looking at them. Y'all know this. Some of y'all were yelling crucify him. Y'all well know, he says, but God, who knew that that would happen and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed with the help of lawless Gentiles since y'all couldn't do it the way you knew that it wasn't right, you knew that it was Passover, you knew you couldn't do it, so you got the Gentiles to help you out.
Y'all nailed him to a cross and killed him. That's pretty bold preaching. Honestly, I can say it with confidence and if I was sitting out there, whoever's up front could say this, we are the ones who killed him. We are the ones. I hear my voice among the scoffers.
Right? You nailed him to the cross and you killed him but God released him from the horrors of death and he raised him back up to life for death could not keep him in its grip. It's only been ten days since the ascension. There were forty days where he showed up among him. He appeared to over 500 people.
A lot of those folks were in the room. He released him from the grave. Death couldn't keep him in his grip. King David said this about him. This is interesting too because King David saying about this about him what he's about to say right here.
I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for he's right beside me. Jesus had used this very text before and if you think about the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 and you think about him being invited in and it says and he told those disciples Cleopus and the other one, everything about what the Old Testament was talking about him. Then, when it goes back, it says, and he told them all about what Moses had said was about him. So, Peter is just continuing to do what it is that Jesus has been doing with them.
I see that the Lord's always with me. I won't be shaken. He's right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad. For my tongue shouts his praises.
My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You've shown me the way of life and you'll fill me with the joy of your presence. That's Psalm sixteen eight through 11. It's an exact quote of the Greek of Psalm sixteen eight through 11.
He begins to apply again. Dear brothers, think about this. Consider it. Let us reason together. Y'all can be sure that the patriarch David was not referring to himself.
Now, you might have thought that before, but he died and he was buried and his tomb is still here. It's right over there in Jerusalem. But he was a prophet. You know that. We all know that and he knew that God had promised with an oath that one of his own descendants would sit on his throne.
David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah's resurrection and he was doing it prophetically. He was the king but he was also a prophet and he was saying that God would not leave him among the Messiah, among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. God raised Jesus from the dead. The power in the preaching, the proclamation is up because it's the truth and so Peter is saying, okay, Joel said this and can you see that this is a plan and David said this and it couldn't have been about him. God raised Jesus from the dead.
We're all witnesses of this. It says he was standing up there with the other 11. There were another 112, 118, whatever present, 108 present at least. And then, he'd spoken to 500 others too. God raised Jesus from the dead.
We're all witnesses of this. Now, he's exalted the place of highest honor in heaven at God's right hand and the father. As he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us. He told us it was gonna happen just as you are seeing and hearing today, right now. Now, this today for me, when I see it like one of the first sermons that I preached here was about how Luke uses today in his gospel.
Four different times. It's like a programmatic use. For today is born in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And then at Jesus's first one of the early miracles when he says, today. Excuse me for a second.
When at his first sermon, at his first sermon in Nazareth, he says, he reads the Isaiah scroll and then he sits down and he says, today, you've heard this fulfilled in your hearing. You're part of something special. You're seeing scripture come true. When he says this, he's saying, he promised he's gonna pour out the Holy Spirit and he's doing it today, right here, right now. In the moment, Peter is proclaiming, prophesying if you will or proclaiming.
For David himself never ascended into heaven yet he said this, the Lord said to my Lord, sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies making them a footstool under your feet. That's Psalm one ten. And he said, that's not true of David, but it is true of his descendant of Messiah, Jesus. So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus. It's emphatic.
This Jesus. There are lots of people named Jesus at the time. Let everybody in Israel know for certain without any doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified to be both lord and messiah. This is the truth. And it says, Peter's words pierced their hearts, cut them all the way inside and they said to him and they said to the other apostles, because Peter didn't have monopoly on truth, Peter was one of the guys proclaiming the truth.
Peter's words pierced their hearts. They said to him and to the other apostles, brothers, what should we do? This new information, even though we might have said crucify him, crucify him, and good riddance once he was gone, The way that you've presented this and I can't explain what I've seen and I have heard that he was resurrected, but I didn't know what to do with it. But now, when the Holy Spirit is present, speaking through people and as Jesus said, he will convict us of sin and convince us of righteousness and lead us into the truth. Peter's words pierced the hearts.
They said to him, brothers, what should we do? And Peter replied, each one of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and then you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, I said I'm not gonna hedge it. This is what it says, upon belief, you receive the Holy Spirit. This first instant, they all believed in Jesus but he said, y'all wait and you're gonna see something different and miraculous and when you do, you will know it and you won't miss it.
And Peter immediately says, believing you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is not just to you, it's not just to your children, but it is to those who are even far away. All of those who have been called by the Lord, our God. And then Peter continued preaching and I love this for a long time. That's what a commentary Luke gives.
I did the interviews. Right? Luke is saying, I did the interviews. I asked everybody that was present and they didn't agree about how long but it was a long time. He even says this about Paul a few chapters later, and Paul just went on and on.
So to the boy, he fell asleep and fell out of a window. Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all of his listeners. Y'all save yourselves from this crooked generation. Believe the good news and those who believed what Peter said were all baptized and they were added to the church that day, about 3,000 of them in all. Amen.
Isn't that great? Spontaneous move of the Holy Spirit through his people who were together and obedient and prayerful and paying attention to the word and proclaiming it. Amen. It's good. This week, I had a guy came do something here at the church.
He just came to work here in the back parking lot and as we're talking about what he was working on, it didn't have anything to do with this. But another one of the guys that was working with him said, how's pastoring going? Something like that. And he goes, you pastor? He said, I asked God recently if you're real.
Would you just show me who you are? And he said, and he did. And I'm overwhelmed by it. And I I feel like I need to be baptized. I said, great.
I'll do it. And then I pointed to this because I've been studying this. Pointed to Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Like, they believed the repentance was real, and he said that was a part of what God showed him but he's ready. Praise God.
I'm not primarily an evangelist. I'm more of a peacemaker or a pastor teacher kind of guy but I do the work of an evangelist sometimes. It was really good. Those who believed what Peter said were baptized. They were added to the church that day about 3,000 in all and all of those believers including the 3,000 it appears.
All of the believers devoted themselves to four things. It was to the apostles teaching. They had been directly taught by Jesus before the crucifixion and after the resurrection. And so, they had been schooled actually in another place. It says, on the word of the prophets and the foundation of the apostles.
Right? They they knew the truth and so they believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals including the Lord's Supper which we have prepared and ready here for us today and prayer. Those four things. What should we be doing? What should we be devoting ourselves to in the church today?
The pattern has been set. The pattern was set on the first appearance of the Holy Spirit. What we should be devoting ourselves to is the apostles teaching. They were sent out by Christ. They carried his truth which is what makes the way.
We should be devoting ourselves to fellowship. It's so good to be together. It's so good to be together today down the hall and sharing in meals, eating together, and sharing in the Lord's Supper. This is saying it's not about us, it's about Jesus. That's what binds us together and we should be devoting ourselves to prayer.
There is a movement of the spirit happening in this valley among the youth, among children, in the the area of recovery. There are a lot of things that are going on and it's discerned together in prayer, fellowship in one another, and paying attention to what God has said. So here we are in the last four verses, five verses. A deep sense of awe came over them all and I might say here and they were confused because they understood. A deep sense of awe came over them all.
It's a miracle every time anybody gets set free. And the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. The funny thing about this to me is this is secondary. This sounds like he's downplaying it. It's like, oh yeah, there were the miracles too.
But the thing was, people believed and they were added to the fellowship and they did these things together, devoted themselves, and that was a deep sense of awe. It's amazing to see what God has done. They perform many miraculous signs and wonders and all the believers met together in one place and they shared everything they had. They sold the property and possessions and they shared the money with those in need. I I wanna say, we mentioned the benevolence fund from time to time like, I'll mention it during old bills just to let you know the routing that that needs to take.
But the benevolence fund here, it's not just for the person that shows up that doesn't have a place to stay tonight or they showed up here and then they didn't get the job they thought and so they need a bus ticket to get back to wherever they're from or it's not just for somebody whose alternator is broken down, you know. It's for the church. It's for we hold this fund in common so that the folks of this church that are in need. There's some that are in plenty and some that are in want and we really do have that so that we can be brought up, right? Together.
They sold the property and possession. They shared the money with those in need. They worship together at the temple each day and they met in homes for the Lord's supper. They shared their meals with great joy and generosity. That's what I saw down the hall and I I like in Acts five forty two, I think it is.
It says, and daily and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They worshiped together at the temple. That's that was their custom. They also met at homes for this, the Lord's supper and they shared their meals with great joy and generosity. All the while, they're praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.
And each day, the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. You know how it is that God continues to grow his church? It is by devoting ourselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to sharing a meals. When you share a meal with somebody, it's it's saying, we're here together. We I don't have anything against you.
I don't think you have anything against me. We're communing together. And to see that they worshiped, they met in homes, they looked to Jesus, they shared their meals with great joy and generosity and all the while, they're praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. That's how God continues to build his church. Now, we're coming to a time right now of the Lord's Supper or communion and I'll invite the ushers.
Barry, would you come? Who else? Tim, thank you. And we're going to distribute this. I forget this every single time that we do this.
These little things right here that are g f on the top of them are gluten free wafers. They also have a cup of grape juice attached. There are two little foil things, plastic things you can pull off. That's if you're gluten free. Okay?
Diane said, there's no good time to explain this. Would you just do it this time? So I did. So we're gonna pray here in just a minute but God almighty has established a pattern. He's established a pattern and he has given us this agape feast showing the love of God and the grace of God.
It's available. If you have tasted of the love of God and you belong to the believers, If you believe, then this is a meal for you. I don't care what denomination you come from. I don't care what your background is. It's an open table for all who would believe whether it was eighty years ago, fifty years ago, or fifteen minutes ago or right now.
If God has moved on your heart to come to trust him, this is for you. First of all, we'll take the bread and I'm gonna pray for that. Lord God Almighty, I pray that you would bless the distribution of this little cracker whether it be gluten free or not. That this little representation is a symbol of the body of Christ, that he walked it out in submission to the spirit. He walked out a perfect life and did not have any sin of his own.
So therefore, he could offer that perfect record to anyone who would trust in him. Lord, would you bless this little cracker, this little wafer as we distribute it. In Jesus name, amen. Now, on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he said to his disciples that were there gathered in that room, same some of the same folks that we have just been talking about. On the same night he was betrayed, he said to them after supper, he took bread and after he broke it and gave thanks, he said, this is my body which is given for you.
Take this and eat of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, we are so thankful that you were able to walk it out, that you did not fail where Adam failed, you did not fail where we fail, that you proved true in your walk every day. Lord God Almighty, thank you. I also pray a prayer of blessing on this cup, this little plastic cup of grape juice representative of the innocent blood that was shed on behalf of all of those who would believe. In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 2For you. There's room at the cross for you. Though millions have come, there's still room for one. Yes. There's room at the cross for you.
The hand of my savior is strong, and the love of my savior is long. Through sunshine or rain, through the soaring gain, There's room at the cross for you. Though millions have come, there's still room for one. Yes, there's room at the cross for one.
Speaker 1Amen. In the same manner that he'd taken the bread, he also took the cup, a common cup of wine at the time which we celebrate here with this grape juice. This is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood. What Jeremiah had spoken about, what Joel had spoken about, this is the new covenant in my blood.
Take this and drink of it and do it as often as you will to remember me. Amen. Amen. Paul says as often as we do that, we proclaim his death, his redemptive saving death until he comes again. It's a statement of utter reliance.
Would you stand with me? Can you just give us a g, Judy?
Speaker 2Yeah. Thank you. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host.
Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
Speaker 1Amen. Lord, bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. Amen.
