I'm pleased the Lord to bless
us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let's
turn to the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 2 and we'll read
verse 21. The Acts of the Apostles chapter
2 and reading verse 21. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. This was indeed a very wonderful
day in the history of the church. And it was that really which
had been prophesied Many years ago, as we read in this second
chapter, the Prophet Joel spoke of that which would come to pass. And now, that which had been
prophesied had come to pass. And again, it's very wonderful
for us today to realise that what God speaks, what God has
prophesied, does come to pass in our own lives. We should be
very thankful to believe that that which God has spoken and
does said will come to pass. You may sometimes be fearful,
but it's a good thing to trust in the Lord at all times, ye
people. How important it is for us then
to be blessed with that spirit of faith to believe what God
has spoken. So on this day, Pentecost which
we know was some 40 days or so or after Christ was crucified
this time which was signified the Lord greatly came down and
blessed the people. Initially as we read the word
it would appear the disciples were in in the house and the
Spirit came upon them there was a sudden sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where
they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like
as a 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
a spirit gave them utterance. Well that in itself was such
a wonderful wonderful occasion. And we're told now when this
was noise abroad, the multitude came together. It wasn't until
obviously the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples that this
now came about and the people gathered together and they were
amazed and marveled, saying, Behold, I know all these which
speak Galileans and how here we every man in our own tongue
wherein we were born. Well, this was, of course, a
very special and wonderful occasion. And it was granted so that the
people who were there from all these different nations and nationalities
were able to hear the Word of God in their own language. It's
a wonderful blessing, wasn't it? Necessary it was, and how
good the Lord was. But of course, there were those
who were amazed and some were in doubt. And they said, what
meaneth this? I was mocked. These men are full
of new wine. Then the Apostle Peter stood
up. The Apostle Peter then told them
what the truth was. And it's good for us today to
understand what the real truth of these things are. And as he
said, ye men of Judea and all that dwell in Jerusalem, be this
known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken,
as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day,
but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And so as
we've already mentioned, these words then came to pass and the
apostle was able there to speak to them and to tell them very
clearly. And then we come down to this
21st verse, the wonderful gospel word. And it shall come to pass
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. It's a wonderful, gracious gospel
invitation for those who realize They have offended God. They've
disobeyed the commands of God. And because of that, they've
sinned. And therefore they've offended
God. And therefore they're separated from God. And how are they to
be united to God? Well, here we have this very
plain and very simple statement. The gospel is simple. Let us
not make it complicated. And so says Peter, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That means they will shall be
delivered from the condemnation of their sin. Because of our sin, we are condemned
before a holy God. We have offended God. We've done
that which has caused us to be against and separated from God. And we need to be brought back
to God. And how can we be brought back?
As sinners. Sinners who have offended God.
How can we be brought back? Not by any good works that we
can do, not because of what we might think are good things,
because we're told all our righteousnesses, those things that we think are
good, are but as filthy rags. And so here we have this gracious,
blessed word of encouragement, whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. What does that mean? It means
this. We must come to God in prayer, praying for forgiveness. And again, we have a very glorious
and simple prayer, which the Lord left on record as he gave
an account, a little parable of two men, a Pharisee and a
publican, and we're told the Pharisee prayed with himself. He was satisfied with what he'd
done. But the publican was very different. The publican smoked upon his
breast, hung his head down, and prayed very simply, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. Jesus said, I tell you, this
man went down to his house justified rather than the other. So when
we have a very simple statement like this, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. That means whosoever shall come
truly praying to God, God be merciful to me, a sinner. The Lord will hear and the Lord
will answer and the Lord will come and set us free and deliver
us from that condemnation of our sin. And then, blessed be
God, how glorious it is when then the Holy Spirit comes and
directs us to the way of salvation, to the way that we shall be saved. And it's not because what we've
done, it's because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done as
we read farther on. In this chapter, the apostle
said, and he said, therefore being a prophet and knowing that
God has sworn with an oath to him that the fruit of his loins
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne. And he's quoting, therefore,
David, King David, in that which David wrote in the 16th Psalm. You can read that at your leisure.
I won't go through it now. The 16th Psalm, and from verses
to 8-11, it speaks about the glory that Christ would come
and perform. And so he says, he's seen this
before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ. that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh shall see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses." A wonderful
truth and a wonderful fact that the apostle was able to declare
that the Lord was raised from the dead. He conquered sin, death,
hell, and the grave and he says, 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." Well, that was the promise being fulfilled. For David is
not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord
saith unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make
thy foes thy footstools. And then he says, therefore,
because of that, therefore, let all the house of Israel, all
the house of Israel. And really, that means all true
believers. No, assuredly, that means that
this is a great truth that we can rest upon. No, assuredly,
it's not something which is doubtful. It's true that God has made that
same Jesus, that same Jesus, whom you've crucified, both Lord
and Christ. Wonderful testimony, wasn't it?
No, the Apostle Peter was the one that God had ordained should
bring this great and glorious message to the Church of God. And we're told, when they heard
this, they were pricked in their hearts. You may say, what does
that mean? That means this. When the Holy
Spirit comes and touches your heart and my heart, It is as
though we're pricked by the Holy Spirit to recognize that we are
a sinner and that we need salvation. And salvation only comes through
the glorious death of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ and his
wonderful resurrection. And I think that he's now ascended
into glory there to intercede for us. And so Peter says, now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren,
what shall we do? It's a good question, wasn't
it? What shall we do? I wonder if
you come, if you stood before God and said, Lord, what shall
I do? I'm a sinner. I'm a lost sinner. I'm a ruined sinner. I can't save myself. I'm thankful
I can pray. And I have prayed. And so says
the apostle, having been asked that question, what shall we
do? This is what he says. Repent. What does that mean? That means
to be truly sorry for our sins. Truly sorry for our sins. And
when the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, I don't know how
many of you here today have been convicted of your sin, but God
knows and you know. whether God has convicted you. That means you now realize, you
have realized that you've offended God. You've disobeyed God. You haven't kept his commandments.
You've done that which is wrong and you're guilty before God
and you deserve to be cast out of his sight forever in eternity. Well, you see what a great truth
that is. And therefore the apostle says,
in answer to that question, what shall we do? He says, to repent. When the Lord Jesus started his
ministry, it was the first word he said, repent. You see, unless
we repent of all our sins, unless we're truly sorry, for all our
sins. We shall never be saved. We shall
never come into this great statement, whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And every one of us needs to
be saved. Saved from what? Saved from our
sin. Delivered from the curse, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. And that means to be cast into
hell forever and ever. You see, this is the solemn reality
of the effect of sin. But this is the blessing of the
gospel. And you and I today should rejoice that we are able
to hear the good news of the gospel and to pray that we might
be given this blessed spirit of repentance. It means to come
and confess our sins. And the Bible tells us in the
Gospel of John, if we confess our sins, it means what it says,
if we confess our sins, he, almighty God, is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That means to have every sin
taken away. You may ask, well, how does that
occur? It occurs through what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. And the Bible tells us that we
are redeemed through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his great and wonderful
death upon the cross at Calvary which pays the price for our
sin so that we are redeemed. And this morning let's realise
the necessity of such a glorious truth being performed in our
spiritual life It's not something that you and I can just think
upon in our minds and say, well, perhaps I'll think about that
where I'm a bit older. The Word of God tells us this.
Today, if you would hear His voice, harden not your hearts,
not tomorrow. What does that mean therefore?
It means that we must come and repent As the apostle tells all
those people in answer to that question, what shall we do? Well, I wonder whether you come
ever come before God and said, what should I do? I'm a guilty
sinner. What should I do? Well, here
is the word repent and indeed believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Repent, he says, and be baptised
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. My friends today. If you have
not repented, pray earnestly to be given that spirit of repentance
so that you may come in that right way, pleading for forgiveness. We all need it. We must have
it. Remember, and there is no unforgiven
sinner in heaven. All must be forgiven. All must
testify. By the grace of God, we are what
we are. By the grace of God, we are under
the blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just remember there
was only safety in that Passover day when those people were under
the blood The blood of the lamb was put on the doorpost of the
lintels and they were all to go into the house having gone
under the blood. And there was safety when the
avenging angel came to destroy all the firstborn. And my friends
today, we don't live in that day. We live in a gospel day
where there is only, only safety. under the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So as we think in this wonderful
day, this day of Pentecost, when the gospel was so wonderfully
declared and preached by the apostle, so it had a wonderful
effect upon all those people. Because we're told, the apostle
goes on, for the promise is unto you and to your children and
to all that are afar off. We've all been afar off. What a blessing. If God has brought
us nigh to himself, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. This is where we have this great
and blessed consideration of being called by the grace of
God, the free unmerited favor of God, not something that we've
done, but what God has done for us in our heart. And he says,
and with many other words that he testified, exhort saying,
save yourselves from this untoward generation. And then we're told
then they that gladly received his word, were baptized and the
same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. A day of great blessing. My friends
today, do you and I gladly receive his word? I don't know. You know. But may it be true
of every one of us that today, as we think of this wonderful
occasion of Pentecost, we can come and say, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. That's what the Apostle Paul
said. And may we be able to say it to the honour and glory of
God and to realise that the Lord has had mercy upon us. And may the gracious effect be
as it was to these people of various nationalities. And the
same day they rose and were baptized and were added unto them about
three thousand souls. And what was the effect? They
didn't even wander off. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of
bread and in prayers. You see, this was the beginning.
the beginning of that Christian life and what a wonderful effect
it had. Well, my friends, may it have
to us today a wonderful and a gracious and a glorious effect. Well,
I've just mentioned a few things here this morning on this day
that we remember as that day, wonderful day in the history
of the world referred to as Pentecost. Well, may God add his blessing. Amen.