If you would, turn to Acts chapter
2. I want to begin reading in verse
32 of Acts chapter 2. But before I start, I'll give
you the title. The title of this is The Message
of Pentecost. Started to call it Peter's Pentecostal
message, but I figured now that might be a bit too much The message of Pentecost Acts
chapter 2 beginning in verse 32 This Jesus hath God raised
up Whereof we all are witnesses of Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Sit thou
on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. I'm going to stop right there. Now I chose this title on purpose.
I chose it deliberately. Mainly because, now this is just
the title, not the message. The connotation that the word
Pentecost has, and even Pentecostal have in this day, that word has
been usurped. demeaned by many in this day
It is used as part of a title on churches, and it's used as
an adjective Pentecostal for a style of preaching or a certain
type of message However in Pentecostal churches
as they are called All around us on this day. I would be willing
to bet real money if I had any that the message of Pentecost
will not be preached in those churches today. There's nothing wrong with the
word Pentecost. There's nothing wrong with the
word Pentecostal. But there's almost everything wrong with
the use of it today. And I will admit I have been
guilty of this. I will use that word Pentecostal
as a description, as a shorthand for so-called what people so-called
worship services, which are unruly, they're full of will-worship
and not God-worship, or they're also full, I'm going to use this
term, jibber-jabber. Because I refuse to call it speaking
in tongues, because that ain't what they're doing. That is not
what they're doing. I'm not going to get into it
a whole lot, but I will tell you this. If you look at Acts
2 and verse 4, it does say, and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost and began to speak with what? Other tongues. Not unknown tongues. Other tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance. But there's also a result to
that. You look at it in verse 11. I'm not gonna read the rest
of it, but just verse 11, it says, Cretans and Arabians, because
it gives a whole list there, the people that were there from
all over the world. Cretans and Arabians, what? We
do hear them speak in our own tongues. And what did they hear?
The wonderful works of God. And that's why I'm gonna call
what they do jibber jabber from now on. unless I can think of
a better word. Because if they're speaking supposedly
in tongues and unbelieving people can't hear the wonderful works
of God, they're not doing what the apostles did here. They're
not doing what the disciples did here. They're not, they're
not, period, speaking in other tongues. Because that's the definition
right there. And Paul said, if there ain't
an interpreter, and that meant if there wasn't an interpreter
for an other tongue, keep silent. Anyhow, I said I wasn't going
to talk about that. But I've used that word, Pentecostal,
as a designation. Either Pentecostal or I will
say holiness. And that's what it means because
they demean, and I mean this very seriously, they demean the
miracle of Pentecost. And they deny the gospel of this
Jesus right here. And that's the point. I don't
like it. Now there's a reason they don't
preach the message of Pentecost, and there's a reason they don't
preach this Jesus, and that reason is because they don't know this
Jesus that Peter is preaching here. Because the message of
Pentecost is the result of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit being given.
There is a definite result, and it is shown here. But they've
gotten so wrapped up in the event of the Pentecost, or their interpretation
of the event of Pentecost. Because they think it's about
power. Power for them. And they're wrong. Now, there is the power of God, and
the power of his spirit, that was revealed and given at Pentecost. That is true. But if you look
at the results of the Holy Spirit being given, what we have is
this message right here from Peter. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, this Jesus, was declared publicly. That's the
result of Pentecost. That's the message of Pentecost. I have heard them say with their
own lips. I said I wasn't going to preach
on this, but I am anyway. Jesus was just a man filled with the Holy Spirit.
And you think that devil had a bad time at the cross. Oh,
he had a horrible time at Pentecost because it was 500 disciples
filled with the Holy Ghost, just like Jesus. No, no. I'm going to tell you something.
500 disciples filled with the Holy Ghost. Can't put a candle
to Jesus. Jesus Christ was God manifest
in the flesh. And he is God manifest in the
flesh. But they think this puts them
on his level. And they're wrong, wrong, wrong,
so wrong. And you read what Peter says
here. And we're gonna go into that. The results of Pentecost,
the results of the Holy Spirit coming, result in the exaltation
of our Lord Jesus Christ, not ourselves. Verse 32 says, this Jesus hath
God raised up. This is the message of Pentecost.
You can say what you want, you can do what you will. This is
America. But that don't make it right.
Remember a few months ago I told you about a sign I saw where
it says it's better to be smacked or hit by the truth than to be
kissed by a lie? Well, that same place had a sign
up not too long ago and left it up for a couple of weeks.
I didn't tell you about it because I was saving it for something.
I guess it's this. And it says, sometimes peace is better than
being right. No, it ain't. No, it ain't. Not when it concerns this Jesus.
I can tell you that right now. Not when it concerns the gospel
of God. Oh my. There are some people
who have left this place and their excuse was they're trying
to keep peace in their family. Because this gospel puts a division. Our Lord puts a division. I came
to bring a sword to set at variance. This Jesus hath God raised up. This Jesus is the Jesus of the
Old Testament, the Messiah of the Old Testament, the Anointed
One of the Old Testament. This Jesus is the Jesus of the
Gospels that we have written. But this Jesus here at which
we're speaking is the one whom Peter preached at Pentecost.
so if you would just back up just a little bit to verse 22 because here is this jesus that
peter preached ye men of israel hear these words jesus of nazareth
just in case you weren't sure which one he was talking about
A man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having
loose the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it." What's the first thing about
this Jesus? He's a man. Peter said it. He's a man. This
Jesus of Nazareth was a man. The Word was made flesh. God
was manifest in the flesh. God was born of a woman made
under the law with a purpose to redeem those that are under
the law. He was made flesh. He became
flesh. He did take on the form of a
servant. He did take on the form of sinful flesh. He did not take
on sinful flesh, but he came in that form. He came in that
likeness, it says. He was a man. This Jesus, whom
Peter is preaching, is a man. He was flesh, and he is flesh. And then it says, approved of
God. The Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove
at the baptism of John, when Jesus was baptized by John. And said, this is my beloved
son. Another place said, this is my
well-beloved son. And another place said, hear
him. Hear him. This man was approved of God. There was an incident, an account
given, of what they called the Mount of Transfiguration. When
he was transformed while here on this earth, and Moses and
Elijah appeared unto him. Now, why did Moses and Elijah
appear? They were supposed to. They were sent by the father. The father approved of the work
of the son. He was, he is a man and he is
approved of God. And then it says among you. Because
not only was the word made flesh, he dwelt among us. He dwelt among us. He tabernacled
here. He walked on this earth. At the
age of 12, he confounded the doctors. That's the law doctors,
not the medical doctors, with his knowledge. And he told his
mother, wish ye not that I be about my father's business. He
walked among us. God manifest in the flesh, approved
of God. He walked among you and it says
what? By miracles and wonders and signs. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and what we beheld his glory. The glory is with the
everlasting father. We beheld his glory, the glory
of the only begotten Son of the Father." Like I said, he made
water into wine. He healed the sick. He healed
lepers. He gave sight to the blind. All of this was done openly.
Openly, in public. He fed 5,000 and they followed
him until he spoke to them. Then they followed him no more. Miracles and wonders and signs. He healed. He raised the dead. He spoke Lazarus' name and Lazarus
came forth, even though he had been dead for four days. All of this was done publicly.
front of these people And it says which God did by him these
miracles and wonders and signs The word that was with God and
was God did not cease to be the word Once he was made flesh. He was the word made flesh. He
was still the word He was still God by him all things consisted
while he was here on this planet walking It is the Adam-Kedmon,
the God-man. Yes, he's a man, but yes, he's
God. How can you justify that? All
he got's the scripture, and his work, and his approval of the
Father. He's not a man made into God,
as some teach. They do. You understand, this
is where, this Jesus is where If you want to put it that way,
this is where the rubber meets the road. This has been attacked
ever since the beginning. They'll either say he was a man
who got the Holy Spirit and he became a little bit more or they'll
say he was a spirit and he never was really a man. They'll go
both ways and both of them are wrong. Because Peter's talking
about this Jesus, who is a man and who is God at the same time. And he was in the midst of you.
He was here. He was made known unto you. But
all you saw, all they saw, all they saw was that he had no form
nor comeliness that they should desire him. They had no beauty
that they should desire him. They saw him walking on this
world, speaking the truth of God, speaking the truth of his
father, doing the will of his father perfectly and wholly,
completely wholly. And they despised and rejected
him just like Isaiah said they would. The chief of the Jews had been
trying to kill him for a while before they actually did crucify
him. They had been trying to stone
him. They had set out to kill him. Some people tried to throw
him off a hill, but he walked out of their midst. He was despised
and rejected of men. He spoke to those 5,000 he fed,
and they left him. This Jesus has God raised. So he was despised and rejected
of men. And then it says, as you know, he was in the midst
of you and you know it. And this is the way of the natural
man. They knew this Jesus, but they
didn't know this Jesus. They saw him, but they didn't
see him. They saw a man, but they didn't
see the word made flesh and dwelt among us. They saw a prophet
or a preacher or a teacher. We know you're a teacher come
from God. Oh yeah, well then shut up and do what he says.
Nobody got it at that point. They'll have a preacher, they'll
have a teacher, they'll have a prophet. But He is God manifest
in the flesh. He is prophet, He is priest,
and He is King. They knew Him, but they didn't
know Him. They may know the wonders, they
may have seen the miracles and signs, and they may have heard
the sermons, but they didn't know this Jesus. that God hath
raised that Peter was preaching to him. Because Peter was preaching
this Jesus. Like I said, this is the result
of Pentecost. The preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ raised from the dead. Public declaration of this Jesus
whom you rejected. Then it said, he was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, this Jesus
was. I don't hear Pentecostals preach
about that anytime. I will say that, and I use the
description again. I don't hear people who go to
Pentecostal churches say anything about the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. They say foreknowledge, but they
describe foreseeing. Now, David foresaw something.
It says it right down here in the next couple of verses after
this. This ain't foreseeing. This is foreknowing because this
is foredoing. And they never mentioned the
determinant counsel because, see, this is the way the father
said it was going to be. And the obedient son carried
out everything his father told him to. Go ahead, I dare you, read Isaiah
53. You'll read something about the
determinant counsel and the foreknowledge of God in Isaiah 53 or you won't
understand a word of it. Because Isaiah 53 preached this
Jesus that Peter preached here at Pentecost. You read Isaiah 53 and tell me
that God wasn't in control of everything. that God isn't in
control of everything. He was definitely in control
of exactly what happened to this Jesus. This Jesus is the burnt offering,
the sin offering, the atonement, the scapegoat, the altar, the
candlestick, the ark, The mercy seat and the tent and all the
curtains and the curtains around it from the Old Testament this
Jesus is He is the sweet savor unto God And it pleased the Lord to bruise
him Shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in the hands of this Jesus That
Peter was preaching Then it says you took and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain you This was absolutely necessary
and it's also Absolutely wicked. It was done by the determinant
counsel and the foreknowledge of God. But it's also absolutely wicked. Totally foreordained and totally
criminal. Judas had one thing right. He
said, I have betrayed innocent blood. That was right. He did. And they crucified innocent
blood by the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God, and yet still by wicked hands. You can't
do that. Well, don't worry. I didn't.
God said it. Peter preached it under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, and Luke recorded it here. Took by wicked hands and if crucified
and slain him this Jesus died the death of the cross This Jesus
was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him You saw it And you saw him as
stricken smitten of God And afflicted But this Jesus He saw the travail
of his soul and is satisfied. This death on the cross had to
happen in order for the salvation of
his people. made of a woman, made under the
law. Why? To redeem them that are
under the law. And how is that redemption accomplished?
By the sacrifice of the son. By the sacrifice of this Jesus. By the blood of this Jesus whom
Peter was preaching. Whom God raised up. It was not
possible that death could hold him. Jesus is not only life. This
Jesus is not only life. This Jesus is life. This Jesus
is life. He became flesh. He became a
man to die because God could not die. And yet death was the
penalty for sin. And he was made sin for us. And he died the death that we
could die and survive. But death, it's not possible. I love that. It's not possible
that death could hold him. Not the one, the only begotten
son of the Father, whom God raised up. This Jesus that Peter preached
here With his stripes we are healed. And there is no other
Jesus than this Jesus. Just like there's no other gospel
than the gospel. Others have come in their own
name and they were received and this Jesus came in the name of
the Father and was rejected of men. But he was believed by some. God hath raised him up and it
says We are all witnesses. Peter said that of the disciples
that saw him after the resurrection. He was seen of above 500 people. There's evidence. But we see him now through the
eye of faith. He reveals himself to his people. This Jesus does. We were blessed by God to see
this Jesus, Peter is writing, before and after he rose from
the dead. And it says, therefore, being
by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, Hath shed forth this which ye
now see and hear Remember I said the result of Pentecost Is this
preaching of Peter right here the preaching of this Jesus?
Having received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost
that was him coming at Pentecost He has shed forth this which
ye now see in here. I The Holy Ghost, when he comes,
will not speak of himself. The Comforter will not speak
of himself. He shall take the things of mine and show them
to you. And he told the disciples in particular, he's going to
take the things that you've seen and bring them to your mind,
to remembrance. And they wrote the Gospels. The Holy Spirit doesn't speak
of himself. The Holy Spirit will cause you to speak of Christ.
and will cause you to speak of this Jesus and not another. This Jesus is being exalted by
the right hand of God. There's a man in heaven. I remember
the first time Earl said that. And he's seated at the Father's
right hand. The place of authority, the place of power, the place
of acceptance. You now see and hear us preaching
this Jesus How is the gospel truly preached
by the power of the Holy Ghost How is the gospel truly received
by the power of the Holy Ghost I Remember Earl saying that too.
There's nothing wrong with the word Holy Ghost That's been abused
by certain people It's scriptural word. It is by the grace and power
of God alone that allows men to preach this Jesus and for
this Jesus to be received by hearing ears. Only by the grace
and power of God. And this is the result of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Ghost
into men They preach this Jesus. This Jesus is both Lord and Christ. That's what it says. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." I wrote it down here. There it
is. Kyrios and Christos is the Greek
word. And Kyrios comes from the word
Kyros, which means supremacy. So the Kyrgios is the supreme
authority. He's the one to whom the things
belong. He's the owner and the anointed
one, the Christ. God the Father hath made him
both Lord and Christ. There's no separation anymore.
They never was true. I know the truth about it, but
you understand if he's not your Lord, he's not
your savior. If he's not the Lord, he can't
save you. The message of Pentecost, Peter's
Pentecostal message is the message of this Jesus whom God has raised
up this Jesus. And if you don't know this Jesus,
you don't and you can't understand what happened at Pentecost. Because
this is shown in the thousands of church buildings every Sunday. They don't preach this Jesus,
who was delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God. who was taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain
and whom God hath raised up and it's the same Jesus from the
beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible there's only
one I am trying today to preach this
Jesus Like verse 39 says, for this
promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are
far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. That's who we preach to. We preach
to everyone. But it's only heard by those
the Lord our God calls. I think I quoted it last week
and I've done it before, what Paul said to those Jews in Rome,
the chief Jews. I've got to stop. And when they
had appointed him a day, there came many to him to his lodging,
to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading
them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of
the prophets from morning until evening. Acts 28 verse 24 says this and
some believe the things which were spoken and some believe
not. This is where it is. This is
where it is. Do you believe this Jesus that
God hath raised up that Peter preached at Pentecost? Who believed? Those that the Lord added to
the church daily, such as should be saved, who believed, as many as the
Lord our God shall call. God calls whom he will to this
Jesus, whom he hath raised up. He's done it. He did it all in
his life. He did it all in his death. He
did it all in his resurrection. And he's doing it all now from
heaven. He is both Lord and Christ. It
doesn't matter whether we believe it or not. He is both Lord and
Christ. It's better if you believe it,
but it doesn't matter as far as that part goes. God says he's
Lord and Christ. And he is our heavenly father. We are thankful again for this
time, this place, but most of all, thankful for you because
you did send this Jesus to us, to the world as a man. And he did save his people from
their sins. He was slain and he was resurrected. and he ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Thank you, Lord, for all the
blessings you've given us in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
in whose name we pray. Amen.