Pentecost. Pentecost. Perhaps you've heard the word.
Perhaps you've heard the term. There's a religious denomination
that goes by that name. Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 is
the story of the disciples preaching on the day of Pentecost. And
I want to do the same this morning. I want to do some Pentecostal
preaching just like Simon Peter and the Apostles did. In verse
1 it says, the day of Pentecost was fully come and they were
all with one accord, one mind, one spirit in unity in one place,
the disciples that is, the apostles, they were there together on the
day of Pentecost. The name means, the word means
the 50th day, the 50th day from the Passover. Now, there is no
more Pentecost. There's no need for it. There's
no Passover. Scripture says that Christ is
the Passover, and He, once in the end of the world, came to
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. There is no need
for another Passover nor Pentecost. And it says in verse 2, "...there
came from heaven a rushing mighty wind, and filled the house where
they were sitting. There appeared unto the apostles
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."
Now, this was promised by the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter
1 here of the book of Acts, verse 8, the Lord said to his disciple,
whom he met with in the upper room, you shall receive power,
the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, under the
uttermost parts of the earth. So what happened here was suddenly,
miraculously, these Galileans, these men from Galilee, most
of them fishermen, unlearned fishermen, they could all speak
other languages. The word tongues means languages. It's not speaking of some ridiculous
gibberish, some fake or phony language made up by some false
prophet to prove that he or she is some kind of spiritual person
speaking in a language you cannot understand. No sir, that's fake,
that's phony. But these were known languages. Verse 6 says that every man heard
them speak in his own language. You see, they were at Jerusalem,
devout men, Scripture says, of every nation under heaven. And it says they heard them speak. They heard these Galileans miraculously,
amazingly speak in their own language. For one purpose, the
Lord gave these apostles the gift of languages immediately. No time to go to school to learn
these languages, no time to visit the foreign country and learn
the language, but miraculously gave them the ability to speak
a foreign tongue or language for one reason. Verse 11 says,
the Cretes and Arabians heard them speak the wonderful works
of God. As Christ said, He said unto
them, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Now these
so-called Pentecostal preachers, they are not of God because,
number one, they don't preach the gospel that you're about
to hear this morning. And this ridiculous gibberish,
unknown languages, is not of God, it's not of His Spirit,
it's another spirit. Look in verse 12 and 13, the
people at Pentecost at the Passover were amazed and said, what is
this? Some of them said, these men
are drunk. They're full of new wine. By the way, I've seen some
of these so-called Pentecostal preachers today acting as if
they were drunk. That's not what Peter and the
men were doing at this time. They were preaching the gospel.
No, they weren't drunk. Peter said, we're not drunk.
We're serious. This is a serious thing we're
doing here. And they began to preach the Word of God. Now Scripture
said, and Peter quoted Joel, the prophet, in the next several
verses, that this would happen. Now Scripture says, to him, that
is to Christ, give all the prophets witness. All the prophets prophesied
of was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All the apostles preached and
prophesied of was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Anyone who's
truly filled with the Holy Spirit of God is going to talk about
and tell others and declare the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's how they're known. They
won't speak of tongues. They won't speak of miracles.
They won't speak of music. They won't speak of these things.
The people that hear them, those people that are convicted of
sin, the people on whom the Spirit of God moves, will not go away
talking about the Holy Spirit. but they will go away convicted
of sin, have the fear of the Lord in their hearts and mind,
amazed by Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and calling on the
name of the Lord for salvation, like these people at Pentecost. Whatever religious service takes
place today, on Sunday, the Lord's Day, if the people go home talking
about anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ, God is not
in it, and it's not of the Spirit of God. So Peter stood to preach. He stood to preach, and that's
what a true preacher does. He preaches. What does he preach? Not what, who. Paul said, necessities
laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In
verse 22, Peter begins his message and says, Ye men of Israel, Hear
these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in
the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. He preached the Lord
Jesus Christ, a man come to earth. Now, when Peter finished preaching,
these 3,000 people whom the Lord convicted of sin, these 3,000
people whom the Lord saved, 3,000 people after Peter preached were
going to know that Jesus was no mere man. 3,000 people are
going to bow their knee and with their tongue confess that Jesus
is Lord. 3,000 people, religious people
but lost, who heard of this Jesus, who believed there was a man
named Jesus, are going to be convicted in their hearts of
sin, righteousness, and judgment. Those who thought they knew God,
thought they were going to heaven, are now worried about going to
hell. And 3,000 people are going to repent. That means they're
going to call on God for mercy, beg God for mercy, for forgiveness
of sin. They're going to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ to the salvation of their soul. They're going
to confess Him. They're going to be baptized,
confessing Him that they were crucified with Christ, buried
with Him, and now risen to walk in newness of life. Three thousand
people will know the living and true God and Jesus Christ, the
Lord whom God sent. Who He is, why He came, who He
did it for, where He is now. Three thousand people are going
to know the truth. Here's Peter's message, verse
22. He said, a man approved. Jesus
of Nazareth. You've heard of him? He's the
man approved of God. The only one. Scripture says
there's none that doeth good. No, not one. There's none righteous. No, not one. That includes you
who are listening to me. That includes this preacher who's
preaching to you. Not one. There's only one. only
one holy one, only one just one, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ,
a man approved of God, sent by God, a man sent by God for men
to represent men. Not all mankind, but men. And it says in verse 23, him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
but God raised him up. You crucified him, the Lord Peter
preached, but you did what God purposed to do, what God was
pleased to do. Isaiah says, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. Now, why? To what purpose did
Jesus Christ die on Calvary's tree? To what purpose did God
put Him on the cross? Well, He did it as a sin offering. Not to man. Jesus Christ is not
offered to men. But God offered him up for himself. God put him on Calvary's tree
as a substitute for his people, as a sin offering for his people. God made his soul an offering
for sin unto himself, that God might be propitiated, that God
might be pleased with this man, his righteousness. Now, Peter
quotes David from the Psalm, in Psalm 16 here. David speaks
of the Lord at his right hand, that the Lord would not suffer
corruption, that his body would not suffer corruption, but he
would be put in the grave, but he would rise from the grave
without sin. Now here's what David is saying,
and here's what Peter is preaching, and here is the essence of the
gospel. That Jesus Christ was made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem His people. God sent him down to this earth
as a righteous representative, as a covenant head to fulfill
all righteousness, to glorify God as a man, which his people
could not and did not do. But Christ did. And then God
imputed that righteousness to his chosen people. And they are
reckoned righteous by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And then God
made him to be sin. God made him to be an offering
for sin, made his soul an offering for sin. The Scripture says,
the soul that sinneth shall surely die. Well, Jesus Christ was made
sin for God's people. He died as a sinner before God. As God's people are guilty of
sin, Christ was made guilty for them. And he went through hell. He didn't go to hell. He went
through hell. He suffered the wrath, the punishment,
the separation of God for their sins. And he put away those sins,
and he was buried, putting away their sins forever, hidden, covered
from the presence of God. But God, in verse 32 says, God
raised him up. We're all witnesses. The high
priest of old used to go into the Holy of Holies with the names
of God's people on his breastplate and on his shoulders. That's
particular redemption. That's Christ who came to save
His people from their sin. And He came out, that high priest
came out, God was satisfied, the sacrifice accepted, God was
appeased, and propitiation. And so Christ came out of the
grave. And now, Peter said, he's at the right hand of God exalted. He's not outside your heart's
door. No, sir. He's not asking you to let him
in. He's seated, Peter said, at the
right hand of God. And the Lord said, sit here until
I make your foes You're a footstool. And Peter ends this message by
saying, let everyone know that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified and rejected, both Lord and Christ. Simon Peter didn't say, what
will you do with Jesus? No, he preached what God hath
done with Jesus Christ. Made Him Lord over all. He didn't
say, what? Now He's done all He can do.
Now it's up to you." No sir, he said, he's done all that can
be done for the salvation of his people and it's finished.
He didn't say, won't you accept him? No, he said, God made him
Lord. Now bow the knee and confess
with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord. And Peter sat down, and the Holy
Spirit of God opened deaf ears, blind eyes, hard hearts, convicted
them of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and they bowed the
knee and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you?
Is this the Lord Jesus Christ you know? I pray that God will
make Him known to you. Amen.