It's good to see you this evening
and I want to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me
to the book of Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. I want to read verse 39. But I'd like to just start in
verse 1 and come up to this last verse, verse 39. Acts 2.39, the scripture says,
for the 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. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, we
call upon you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
thank you, oh, for this blessed time to be able to lift our hearts
unto you, asking, Lord, that you have mercy upon us. I pray
that you'd bless the service tonight. Blessed to the comfort
of your people, I pray, the salvation of your elect. These things we
ask for Christ's sake. Amen. The scripture beginning in the
first verse of Acts chapter 2 states that the day or when the day
of Pentecost was fully come. Fifty days after the Passover. Seven Sabbaths and one day. It was the day of Pentecost. When that day of Pentecost was
fully come, now the Passover was instituted in Egypt. It set
forth our glorious Passover, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here
is fifty days. after the crucifixion of our
Lord. Fifty days. He has ascended into
heaven. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty
wind. The wind wasn't there, but the
sound of the wind was there. and it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them,
that is, either the apostles or the 120 cloven tongues, like
as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as
the Spirit gave them utterance. The scripture sets forth that
there was a group of men that were in Jerusalem. The day of
Pentecost had come, and the Spirit of God descended upon these men. And these men, the Scripture
says, began to speak in languages known to other people, but not
known to these. They were speaking in languages
that they themselves, had never learned. And these cloven tongues,
it was like as a fire, it wasn't fire, but these men who had those
cloven tongues over their heads began to preach in languages
that they had never learned before as the Spirit of God gave them
utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men out of Listen to this. Every nation under heaven. That's an amazing thought. The
Spirit of God had brought all of these people together. Every
nation under heaven was there. Now when this was noised abroad,
whenever they either heard the sound of the wind, or they heard
that these men were preaching in languages that they had never
learned. When this was noised abroad, the multitude came together
and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak
in his own language. And they were all amazed and
marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which
speak Galileans? And how Here we every man in
our own tongue wherein we were born, Parthians and Medes and
Elamites and dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea and Cappadocia and
Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia in Egypt and the parts of Libya
about Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes. Cretes
and Arabians. We do hear them speak in our
tongues, in our language, the wonderful works of God. And they
were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth
this? And others, mocking, said, These men are full of new wine. These people, out of all the
nations under heaven, were in this place and they were hearing
the gospel preached. And they were hearing it preached
in their own language. And like the case always is,
where the Lord is pleased to bless, there's those that mock,
make fun, and laugh. Verse 14, But Peter standing
up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said unto them,
Ye men of Judea, And all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken, as
ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, it
is just nine o'clock in the morning, Peter said. But this is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass
in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon
all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams,
and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will
show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath,
blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned
into darkness, the moon into blood before that great and notable
day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Now, Peter, under the direction of God's Spirit, said that these
things that they were all witnessing had been prophesied. by the prophet
Joel that God was going to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. Now you know that it doesn't
mean all flesh without distinction. The Lord is not pouring out His
Spirit on all flesh without distinction, but it means on Jew, Gentile,
men, women, poor, rich, whosoever the Lord is pleased to call his
spirit. Verse 17, he said, ìIt is going
to come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men
shall dream dreams.î Verse 18, "...on my servants, on my handmaidens,
I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall
prophesy." Now, to what extent the maidens, the handmaidens,
were prophesying, I don't know. But I do know this. I can tell
you this in Titus 2, 3-5, I can tell you a calling of the women
Titus 2, 3-5, the Scripture speaks of this, the age women likewise
that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers,
not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may
teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
Now, the Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle Paul to write
this concerning 1 Timothy 2. You can turn there if you'd like. 1 Timothy 2, verses 11 and 12,
and this will end any controversy that anyone, no one here has
it. I know this. women preachers. Does God call
women to preach? The Scripture answers 1 Timothy
2, verses 11 and 12. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Now, back in Acts chapter 2,
when the Lord said He was going to pour out His Spirit upon all
flesh, on his handmaidens and on the maids and daughters who
prophesied. To what extent did they do these
things? Well, according to God's Word,
the Lord set limits on the teaching that women could do. But as far
as standing and usurping authority over man, standing in a pulpit,
they are never called by God to do such things. Then Peter
spoke to the Jews in particular. After he had spoken to the group
that was there, he spoke to the Jews in particular. And obviously,
everyone was listening in. They were all there while Peter
was preaching. And this is what Peter said to
the Jews back in Acts 2, verse 22-24. Ye men of Israel. Now
like I said, there were the Medes and Parthians from Cappadocia
and all this, but he speaks to the Israelites. You men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, truly
man, took upon himself flesh. A man approved of God, proven
of God, demonstrated and set forth by 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, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. Now, Peter set forth the guilt
of the nation of Israel, revealing that their actions, a direct
result of their ruin and fall in Adam, while not excusing their
sin. They were guilty. They did just
exactly what they wanted to do, but in doing exactly what they
wanted to do, accomplished the eternal purpose of Almighty God
in the redemption of His people. You men of Israel, hear this. The man Christ Jesus, the one
that you took and you slew by your wicked hands, God, verse
24, hath raised up, having loose the pains of death." Now this
is an amazing passage of Scripture right here. Because it was not
possible that he should be holding of it. Whenever the Lord Jesus
Christ died, and you know this, He was in Himself perfect. There was no sin in him. All he ever did was perfect,
word, thought, deed. He himself knew no sin. When he was made sin, when he
died at Calvary having laid down his life for the sheep, something
was accomplished in one mighty act of obedience. by one sacrifice
for sin. One sacrifice. He suffered the
entirety. He suffered eternal judgment
and justice in one sacrifice. Those who die in sin, those who
die in rebellion against God are going to spend eternity because
they sinned against an eternal God. Therefore, their punishment
is eternal. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
because He knew no sin, the punishment that He suffered was in one moment. One sacrifice. And when He paid
the debt, nothing else was there. He died under the judgment of
God, and according to the purpose of Almighty God, stayed three
days in the grave. He truly died in the grave. But after he paid the debt of
that sin, there was nothing in him to corrupt. It was not possible that he should
be holding of it. There was nothing there for corruption
to take hold of. So he came out of the grave.
No corruption. It wasn't possible. The debt
was gone. All men that die without Christ
will suffer and see corruption. Their debt is eternal. Their
punishment is eternal because the God before whom they sinned
is the eternal God. So the one that they've sinned
against, they're going to have to pay that penalty. He didn't. It wasn't possible that he should
be holding. The Scripture sets forth that King David. I'll get it right
in a minute. The one that the prophecy was
set forth in Psalm 16, verse 11, Paul was explaining a prophecy
to the Jews that they had always associated with King David. It was found in Psalm 16, 8-11.
I'm going to read it right here. It's a quote. But they said that
this one that was in the ground was talking about King David. And Peter says, no, the one that
is being spoken of is King Jesus. Let's look at verses 25 to 36.
It says, For David speaketh concerning Him. I foresaw the Lord always
before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should
not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope." They had always associated this with David. And
Peter is saying, now listen, it's the Lord that it was not
possible to hold him in the grave. This is the Lord speaking. Verse
27, "...because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." Neither
wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to seek corruption. Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full
of joy with my countenance." Men and brethren, let me speak
freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he's both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins. According to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul, that is,
the Lord Christ's soul, his soul was not left in hell. Neither
his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up. Wherefore, we are all witnesses
Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has 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
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foals my footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Know this,
the one that you crucify, God made him both Lord over all men. He is the Lord of all flesh. He rules over all flesh. All power has been given him
over all flesh. that He should give eternal life
to as many as the Lord has given Him. He is Lord and Christ to
His people, the Messiah. And when it says the Lord hath
made Him both Lord and Christ openly, He has declared Him to
be openly who He is. And after Peter told them these
things, something amazing happened. The scripture sets forth in verse
37, ìWhen they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,î
boy, what a change of heart, ìwhat shall we do?î And the scripture
sets forth that Peter told them what they must do. That is, according
to the flesh, what they couldnít do. Think differently. Change your heart. Change your
will. Change your mind. Peter said
unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, let me ask you this. Jeremiah 13.23 asks this question,
Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Can a black man change the color
of his skin? Not any easier than a white man
can. Can the leopard his spots? Can a leopard will his spots
away? Then may ye also do good that
are accustomed, that are taught. to do evil. Taught by your own
wicked heart. Men and brethren, what must we
do? You're going to have to do what
only God Almighty grants for you to do. Repent. Look at Acts 11, verse 18. Acts
11, 18. Let's start in verse 17. For as much then as God gave
them the light gift as He did unto us who believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? And when
they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life. Man, by nature, cannot repent. Repentance is granted by Almighty
God. And the evidence that Almighty
God has granted repentance, that He has given the gift of the
Holy Ghost, evidenced by a repentant heart, a change of heart, is
an amazing thing. They have a desire to confess
the Lord. in baptism. When those men that
heard the gospel preached, heard that they were ruined in the
fall, heard what they had done in the crucifixion of the Lord
Jesus Christ, they turned by God's power and will and purpose, having
given them a new heart, and they did what formerly they could
not do They repented unto the Lord and confessed. We are guilty. They were pricked in their heart. Then they were baptized, every
one of them, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for, when it
says they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, There is a lot of controversy and it
has evolved into a religion that bases salvation to be on baptism. If you read this verse of Scripture
and you read it like this, be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for or in order to be forgiven for
the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost, then that means that you believe that the water is
actually what saved you. But the word for there can be
translated because of. Now, let's read it like this.
Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ because of your forgiveness of sins. Baptism is a confession
of our faith. Baptism does not save. Water does not save. We're saved
by the grace of God Almighty. We're saved by the power of God. Not by water. Not by water. If it's by water, then it's by
your works. If it's by water, then it's by
the man that's baptizing you. The one that uses these certain
words that put you there, salvation is by grace. Repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ because of God's
forgiveness to you. For the 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." Now, the promise. Now, here's
what I want to just, in closing, just make a few comments about
this call. For the promise is unto you. What promise is that? Well, back
in verse 21, Acts 2.21, here's the promise. It shall come to
pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the shall be saved. Jews, Gentiles, men, women, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord, whosoever has been given
a heart to cry out for mercy, like that publican. A Pharisee
and a publican went up to pray, two men. One of them would not
so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. The Lord had already been merciful
to him. To him was the promise given. The 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, shall summon, effectually invite. This salvation is not an offer. If salvation is an offer, then
that means that it's left up to you to make the decision. If salvation is an offer, then
salvation is by works. It's not an offer. This summon,
this invitation is effectual, drawn by the power of God. It's not a general call. We preach
the gospel, and when I preach the gospel, I'm preaching the
gospel as far as I can preach it. And it comes across as a
general call. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. I don't know who the whosoevers
are, but Almighty God does. This is an effectual, powerful
summons. to a people that have everlastingly
been loved by God Almighty and who are given a new heart, made
willing in the day of God's power. This call by God's power, grace,
is a holy calling. There's three Scriptures I want
us to look at. The first one is 2 Timothy 1.9. It's a holy
calling. You know, it's amazing to me
when I received an email today from
someone that wanted to tell me that really free will and sovereign
grace is both right. You can just imagine my thoughts. 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 9.
The Scripture says, "...who has saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began." Back in Acts 2, verse 39, the promise is unto
you, to your children, to all that are far off, even as many
as the Lord our God shall call." First of all, with this holy
calling. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling. Now, what does the Scripture
say that holy calling is? It's a calling not according
to our works. but according to His own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That is a holy calling. Secondly,
this calling, as many as our Lord shall call, the Scripture
says it is a high calling. Apostle Paul says fourth, Philippians
3 verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Whenever runners would run, whether
in the Olympics, if any of you ran track in high school, you'd
line up and you had a lane you had to stay in. If you're running
certain races, there's some races you can cross over if you're
running long, long races. But if you're running like an
open quarter one time around, you stay in your lane. And there's
a finish line. That finish line is what Paul
was talking about, a press toward the mark. But our finish line
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God. He is. Our price. This high calling. This calling
from Him who is high. Who is on high. When I looked
up the word, the high calling, here is the definition. The top.
I like that. The top. This is the top calling. There is no calling beside this
calling. We don't look backwards to measure
how far we've come or what we've accomplished. We set our face
toward Christ, looking unto Christ, the author and finisher of our
faith. And lastly, this call, as many
as the Lord our God should call, it's a heavenly calling. Heavenly. It is a work done by God Almighty's
Spirit. It is a work of an internal and
effectual gracious act upon God's people. A marvelous thing happens
when God calls. He has imparted, I heard Brother
Henry said, what comes first, salvation or faith? He said,
you can't separate them. What comes first, a new heart,
a new mind, or faith? You can't separate them. What
comes first? I'll give you a new spirit, I'll
put a new mind, a new will in you, or calling? You can't separate
them. Almighty God calls effectually. At work, at internal and effectual,
it's a heavenly calling. It's not a call to my intellect. It's not a call to my knowledge
to be able to figure out, as I've said before, I can't figure
out the triune God. I know it's so. I can't figure
out how I could be seated in the heavenlies right now, but
I know it's so. It is an internal and effectual
gracious calling. Dear soul, and I do say dear
soul, All souls are the Lord's, and
it's eternal. Dear soul, we're all going to
spend somewhere eternally. Heaven or hell, we're going to
spend eternity in some place. Dear soul, has the Lord given
you a heart that looks away from your works for salvation? A heart that trusts Christ alone
for life eternal. A heart that says, Lord, if you
don't save me, I'm going to perish. Lord, if you don't keep me, I'm
going to be lost. Lord, if you don't help me, I
have no hope. If you look to Him, called by
God Almighty, a holy calling, a heavenly calling, If God Almighty
has caused you to look away from self, look to Him, then the Lord
has given you a promise. The promise is unto you, to your
children, to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call. I want us to at this time remember
Him who has saved us and called us. with a heavenly calling,
a holy calling, an effectual calling for His honor and for
our eternal good. Amen.