Well, it's been a great blessing,
hasn't it, to be starting going through Acts and seeing the wondrous
works of our great God and Savior and seeing how he works through
his people. Today, if you would turn in your
Bibles to Acts chapter two, we'll continue our study and this wonderful
book written about the acts of the apostles after the ascension
of the Lord, after he went up into glory. And then the promise
of the Father was that the Holy Spirit would be sent and the
promise of Christ was that he would send the Holy Spirit. And
we saw that fulfilled last week when they were filled with the
Holy Spirit and cloven tongues of fire were upon their heads
and they spoke in other languages and that's what tongues is they
spoke in other languages knowing languages and also we found out
in that wonderful narrative in acts chapter 2 verses 1 to 13
that at that time there were people there from all over the
world And the world there is the known world. The Romans called
the world only that which they had conquered. Everyone else
was just heathens. And the Israelites, the world
to them was their nation, and everyone else were just heathens.
So there was a lot of people accusing each other of being
heathens, weren't there? And that's just how it was back then.
my oh my so different men from all over the world at that time
they come to jerusalem for the feast of the pentecost 50 days
after the feast of the passover was the feast of the pentecost
and so they've come here to gather together and this is one of the
three that all the men of israel and all jewish men were required
to be at And so there's all men from all different areas. And
let us ponder the very different effect here described, which
was wrought upon the minds of the different characters beholding
this miracle. Look at verse 13. We're going
to start at the latter part of verse 11, and we're going to
go to verse 13. Acts chapter 2, verse 11 to 13. We do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God. Now note, note what was
their topic. Their topic was the wonderful
works of God. Who does God do the wonderful
works in? Christ and Christ alone, right? So they're preaching Christ.
Next week we're going to see the message that Peter preaches
to them. But we're going to look at first coming up to this. And
here we see it says, And they were all amazed and were in doubt,
saying one to the other, What meaneth this? Now they heard
in their own languages, that's what tongues is there, it's not
some gibberish, it's a known language, beloved. The Greek
is very clear on that, that it's a known language. And then it
says, and that they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying
one to another, what meaneth this? Look at this. Others mock
and said, these men are full of new wine. So marvel at this,
this wondrous divine teaching of the wondrous works of God
in Christ. And we can see here that only
God can make a difference. Only God can make a difference.
Both groups are hearing the same message. Right? Both groups are
hearing the same message. One says they're preaching the
wonderful works of God. What does this mean? And the
others say, ah, these guys are drunk on new wine. They start
mocking them. They're hearing the same message.
Who made them to differ, Brother Dave? Only God, eh? Only God,
only God made them to differ. See, this message goes out, our
messages go out on the internet, and there may be, at one time,
two or three people listening to a message, and one hears,
and the other doesn't. Who made the difference? God
and God alone. That's what he did to us, eh,
Brother Tom? He did that to us. He's the one who made the difference.
He's the one who gave us ears to hear this wonderful, the wonderful,
the wonderful works of God. Salvation in Christ alone, redeemed
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. justified
before God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. So one group
of men, they're struck with awe. It says they were amazed. They're
struck with awe. And the other group's like, ah,
who are these fellas? They're just a bunch of drunks.
My, oh my. My, oh my. Only God makes the
difference. Only God makes the difference.
One is struck with awe and the other group is ridiculing. And
only God has made them to differ. And then, my oh my, they're blossoming
the Spirit of God. They're saying, these men are
full of new wine. No, they're filled with the Holy
Spirit. That's who they're filled with. One group is praising God,
the other group is blossoming God. And this is true even today. When the gospel of God's salvation
is preached, some rejoice, and some curse. Some want to hear
it, and some want nothing to do with it at all. Who made them
to differ? Who made us to differ in all
them cars driving by today? All these folks driving by, no
care for the gospel. And here we are, each one of
us, sitting in here, wanting to hear the gospel and rejoicing
over the wondrous things of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who made us
to differ? God and God alone, beloved. Isn't
that wonderful? What a privilege. What an honor.
Because by nature, we're just like everyone else. And if God
hadn't made us to differ, we'd be driving right by, wouldn't
we? My, oh my. My, oh my. I ask you this. Have
things changed? Do some mock while others pray?
Do not some laugh while others mourn? Does not the preaching
of the same gospel produce these different effects? To one, it's
a saver of life. To the other, it's a saver of
death. 2 Corinthians 2, we'll read these verses here. Nothing
but the grace of God alone can make us to differ from anyone
else. And then even after the Lord saves us, all we are is
saved sinners. I stand before you, a man saved
by the grace of God, but still a sinner. I hate sin now, in
myself more than anywhere else. And by God's grace, I struggle
with sin now, when I never struggled before. It didn't bother me.
My, look at this. 2 Corinthians 2, verses 15 to
17. My, for we are unto God a sweet
saver of Christ. That's for believers. You know,
we're unto God a sweet saver in Christ. Look at that. in them
that are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are the
saver of death unto death." So the one they hear and they say,
These men are full of new wine. They ridicule and mock the preaching
of the gospel. Save her unto death. And to the
other, they'll save her unto life. Look at that. To one, to
one, they'll save her unto life. To one, oh, all I want to hear
is about Christ. You know how I love Jesus now,
as we say. Why? Because he first loved me. We
learn that, don't we? We didn't know that before, and
now we know that. And then look what Paul says.
Who's sufficient for these things? That's how every gospel preacher
feels. Who's sufficient? I'm not sufficient. It's only
by the mercy and grace of God that I can preach the gospel
and that he's given me an understanding. You talk to every gospel preacher
you know, and we're all saying the same thing. We're saying,
along with Paul, who's sufficient for these things? But God enables
us to stand in the pulpit or stand and preach the glorious,
wondrous things of Christ. And I can't tell you about something
I don't know, right? People say, why do you get so
excited, Wayne? Because I know what Christ has
done for me. He saved my soul! I was... I don't even... God's so merciful, beloved, that's
all I can tell you, to save a sinner like me. And we've all talked,
right, to save sinners like us. Oh, what a great and glorious
God we have. He says, and who is sufficient for these things?
No one. No one. But God enables us, and this
is all believers too, he enables all believers to testify about
Christ, doesn't he? To tell the wondrous things that
God has done for us. For we are not as many who corrupt
the word of God, but as of sincerity. But as of God, in the sight of
God, speak we in Christ. See, we're not here with our
hands out. I've told you all that if anything ever happened
to the church here, where I had to go and work, I'd go and work.
I did it in Oregon. It's not about money. It's about
serving the Lord. It's about preaching the gospel,
right? It's about the gospel going forth from this place.
That's what's paramount. That's what's most important,
isn't it? It's the gospel. You see people on TV, and they
are corrupting the Word of God. All they're trying to do is get
money, beloved. And they're saying they have
this gimmick. And I can't understand, Dave,
how it works. I really can't. They say, well,
you take this seed money and you put it in my coffers. In
my coffers? Oh yeah, my coffers. And God's
going to bless it. He's going to make it abundant.
And that fella who's saying that's getting rich and those other
folks getting poor, they're corrupting the Word of God, beloved. Paul
was a tent maker, wasn't he? I'm sure he received love offerings
from the church. He mentions that in one of his
letters. But God's preachers don't preach
the gospel for money. The Lord saved me in my 30s.
I'll tell you what, I had enough time to be a Hellion to know
what he saved me from. He saved my soul, and I didn't
deserve it. I didn't deserve it at all. Is
it so for you? Praise God. Praise our wonderful
Savior and merciful Savior. And now what do we do? Now what
do we do? Sister, we tell people the wonderful things of God now,
don't we? When the Lord gives us a chance. He's so great, I
can't tell you how great He is, but I'm gonna tell you anyways. He's marvelous! He's wonderful!
He's the most merciful, merciful man you'd ever meet in this world. And He walked in this world,
didn't He? He's bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Most
compassionate, most loving person that ever lived. And His name
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's my Savior. Is He yours?
Praise be to God. We can say that together. Praise
be to God. Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. I'll tell you what. Oh, so marvel
here. God's make the difference here.
He's the one who makes the difference. And notice in that verse in 2
Corinthians 2, 17, it says, for we are not as many which corrupt
the word of God, but as of sincerity from our hearts, right? But as
of God, in the sight of God, we speak what? In Christ. See,
what is the one thing that the preacher is supposed to do? Preach
Christ. I'm not supposed to tell you
how to live a better life and how to live a successful life,
because I'm struggling myself. See, I often wonder about these
guys. They all write these books. How to be a better Christian?
How to do this? That's funny, because they're struggling too,
right? You wonder, do you live by your
book, buddy? My, oh, God's people know what we are. We're sinners
saved by the grace of God, aren't we? That's all we are. That's
all we are. And we praise God for it. My. So let's read that again. We
do hear them speak in our tongues 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. The only thing that has made
these two groups to differ is God and God alone. Now let's
read Acts 2.14. Peter stands up with the eleven,
lifts up his voice, and says unto them, Ye men of Judah that
dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words.
Look at this. Look at verses 15 and 16. 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. So
Peter stands up in boldness in the Holy Spirit of God, right?
And remember, who's empowering him? It's God, the Holy Spirit,
beloved. That same God who empowers you and I, right? Same God who
empowers you and I. He's standing up there and he's
preaching. He says, we're not drunk. We're
not drunk. And he's saying this by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit. Seeing it's the third hour of
the day. Remember it was but a few days before this, that
they were afraid to return to Jerusalem. Well, it was 50 days
since the Lord, since he rose from the grave the third day.
My oh my. And here they are, filled with
the Holy Spirit now, with boldness. That fear of man's been removed.
Have you noticed that? And Peter stands up and says,
for these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is the
third hour of the day, but this is that which is spoken by the
prophet Joel. Peter has a boldness. Now, Peter put his foot in his
mouth like a lot of us do. I put my foot in my mouth all
the time, right? I don't look at Peter and say,
well, yeah, look what Peter did, because I'd have done the same
thing, right? People say, oh, if I was there,
I wouldn't have said, crucify Him, crucify Him. Yes, we would.
All of us would have. If we were dead in trespasses,
then every one of us would have said, crucify Him, crucify Him. But by the grace of God, now
we praise His mighty name. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? Oh, and it's only God who made us to differ, right?
Only God. Same with these two groups here. So God, our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has
given Peter wisdom and boldness now to stand up in the face of
this hostility before him to speak the truth. And Peter, declaring
by what's written in the Word of God in Joel, was declaring
that these mockers were nothing but unbelieving liars. That's
what they were, who were trying to turn people away from the
gospel. What's their whole goal in saying that? Oh, they're just
drunk. They're trying to turn those
folks away, beloved. And then here's the other group who the
Lord's working on, and we're going to see next week there's
3,000 of them the Lord saved. Here they are, the other group
the Lord's working on, and they say, we're here, the wondrous works
of God. What's this stuff mean? Oh, isn't it wonderful? I'll
tell you. Remember when we were babes in
Christ? We didn't know nothing, but we knew Christ is our Savior,
didn't we? Right? And that was good enough for
us, wasn't it? And now that we've grown in grace,
we've learned how more magnificent He is, haven't we? Right? We've
learned how wondrous He is. We've learned now about God's
divine plan. We didn't know about that when
we first came to Christ. I didn't know nothing about election
and all that. I'd heard of it, but I didn't.
understand a whole lot of it, or limited atonement, or all
those things. I was like, well, what's that stuff? I just love
Christ. But see, as you grow in grace,
he teaches you those things. And all that does, beloved, is
solidify your faith. Christ is the solid ground. He's
the foundation. And these doctrines that we love
and that we preach are all Christ-centered doctrines. Without Christ, there's
no election. He's the first elect. Without
Christ, there's no atonement, right? None. Without Christ,
there's no perseverance of the saints. Without Christ, there's
no unconditional election. In total property, that's ours,
isn't it? Yeah, that's ours. But that happened, the fall occurred,
did not catch God by surprise. It was all planned and purposed
by God that we might be redeemed. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. It's amazing, I'll tell you what.
It's absolutely amazing. So here's Peter, he's declaring
what was written in the word of God by Joel, declaring that
these mockers, again, were nothing but unbelievers. And he says,
hearken unto my words, we're not drunk. We're not drunk. Scene
is but the third hour of the day. Now, nine o'clock in the
morning is the third hour of the day for the Jews. Their morning
starts at 6 a.m. It's not like ours, it starts
at 6 a.m. So 9 a.m. is the point in time for the
morning sacrifice, too, when they would all come and give
the morning sacrifice. So that's why there's all these folks there.
at that time. They've come to offer their mourning
sacrifice, and Peter was reasoning with facts that most of the Jews
would agree. And we're going to see that.
He's going to quote to them from the book of Joel, and they would
agree with that. And facts would expose the accusations
of the unbelieving rebels as nothing but sinful mockery when
they say, these are just a bunch of drunken folks. Peter says,
these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing as it's but the
third hour of the day. They're not drunk. You might
think they're drunk, but they're not drunk. And Peter says this
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. Now when Peter
received the promise from God the Father, which he received
that special anointing when he was filled with the Holy Spirit
of God, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he was given wisdom to
understand spiritual things in the scriptures. The meaning of
the Old Testament sacrifices. The meaning of the Old Testament
scriptures. And our Lord Jesus Christ enlightened the mind of
Peter, just like he enlightens our minds, beloved. Who teaches
us the things of Christ? God the Holy Spirit. We've all
talked about this. You'd be reading and going, I've
never seen that verse before. Where did that come from? Is
the ink dry here? Right? That's the Holy Spirit
illuminating the scripture and giving us understanding of it.
Or a preacher may be preaching, and a verse might just light
up for you, and you go, my, I never saw it in that way. That's the
Holy Spirit illuminating the scriptures and teaching us the
things of Christ. So our Lord Jesus enlightened
the mind of Peter, probably at that very moment, one commentator
says, to the prophetic words of the prophet Joel, the spiritual
meaning of his prophecy, so that Peter knew that Joel's prophecy
was being fulfilled right before their eyes. Look at this in Acts
chapter 2, verses 17 to 21. And it shall come to pass, now
he's going to tell us what Joel said. 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, look at this,
shall, there it is again, prophesize, and your young men shall see
vision, and your old men shall dream dreams. And all my servants
and all my handmaidens I will pour out in these days of my
spirit, and they shall prophesize. And I will show wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor
smoke The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into
blood Before that great and notable day of the lord come and it shall
come to pass. Look at this now I love this
look at this verse. There's another one than words.
We love dave and it and it whatsoever Yeah, no, but look, look what
it says before that though. I love the whosoever too. Shall,
there it is again. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Have you called
upon the name of the Lord? If you call upon the name of
the Lord, it says here, the Lord whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Isn't that wonderful? So out
goes the gospel into the world from this little place in Elmont,
right? Out goes the gospel into all the world and whosoever The
Lord's pleased to reveal the message to hear save and others
there hear it, but they'll fall on deaf ears, right? But our
hope our hope isn't it is that one of God's lost sheep hear
this word. I'll be honest with you I don't want people writing
me and telling me I want them to praise the Lord if that happens
Because when my men and this happens to even good men all
the time not good men We're all we're all bad But you know what?
I mean that you start hearing about stuff like out your head
can get a little big the glory has to go to God Always, always. Amen, Brother Tom. Always, always,
always, always. He must have the preeminence.
I'm just a little Canadian boy preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ to my dear family here, and we're rejoicing, aren't
we? We're rejoicing. Oh my, it's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. Okay, look at this. And it shall
come to pass, I'm gonna read it again, that whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever! Here
it is. Whosoever will! Call upon the
name of the Lord, and thou shalt be saved. See, we don't limit
God, do we? We know that God has a people. Of course he does.
He tells us he has a people. But we have no clue where they
are. So what do we do? We preach the gospel to everyone,
right? Man, I'd blow that trumpet, right? That gospel trumpet, just
let it sound. Just let it sound. Oh my beloved,
my oh my. And Joel was God's spokesman. And take note in the prophetic
statements, he didn't say, well, these are my words, did he? And
he didn't say, this is what I think. I heard a preacher this week,
I was listening, I shut him off right after he said this. I was
listening to this fellow I know back in Oregon. And he was bringing
up a scripture. And he said, well, I think it
means this, so we're just gonna go with that. Click. I'm done. The scriptures have no private
interpretation, is it? No. No. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Thus saith
the Lord. Praise his mighty word. My oh
my. So Peter, like all of God's preachers,
and as the Old Testament prophets say, thus saith the Lord, Peter
was quick to point out to his hearers that that which was spoken
is spoken by the prophet Joel. Look at verse again, 17. And
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God. Who's saying
this? Who's speaking is right there.
Who saith God? These aren't even Joel's words.
This is God working through Joel, right? Holy men of God were moved
to pen the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit of God. Say, God,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." So we see here,
God himself has told us, in the last days, I'll pour out my spirit
upon all flesh. Well, the last days started when
Christ came. We're in the last days. We've
been in the last days for 2,000 years. People say, what are you
talking about? Yeah, we have been. Yeah. One
day to the Lord is 1,000 years. So he's only been gone two days.
Not very long, is it? Long time for we humans, but
not a long time for God. So the last days began with the
coming of the Messiah, and the last days encompass the whole
space of time from the first advent when he came, born in
a manger, to the second advent of Christ when he'll come in
glory and judge the living and the dead. And I will pour has
reference to the different gifts of the Lord gives to his people. The Holy Spirit gives gifts in
the church as he's pleased, right? That's what that's talking about.
And the spirit of God has been poured upon all flesh. That's
not every, when it says all flesh, that's not everyone. That's all
God's people. But you know what that means,
Jew and Gentile. Because remember the Jews thought they were the
ones and everyone else was just a bunch of dogs. Now, when Peter
was saying, think of this too. When Peter was preaching this,
he did not know that the whosoever included the Gentiles, included
you and I, beloved. He didn't know. He's preaching
what Joel said, not knowing that we are included in that prophecy,
beloved. Isn't that wonderful? We're included
in the whosoever. It's wonderful. Did God know
us before we were born? Absolutely. Has God chosen us
before the foundation of the world in Christ? That's what
Ephesians 1.4 says. My oh my. Isn't that wonderful?
I'll tell you why. It just gets better and better.
And this outpouring, this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit
was reserved as a signal that Christ has come and his kingdom
is being established. Now his kingdom's not of this
world, is it? No, we seek a better country, don't we? Our citizenship's
in heaven. We're just strangers and pilgrims. That's all we are here, just
passing through. What's that old song, The Angels
Up Above? I can't remember. One of you
might know that song. I'm just a passin' through, ah,
I can't remember. It's a neat old song, though.
It talks about how we're just pilgrims in this world. We're
just, I don't think it's in our song book, but we're just pilgrims
and strangers. So let us be filled with praise
and thanksgiving. When he, the Lord Jesus, ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure
of the gift of Christ. So let us be filled with praise.
We're all given gifts. Let us be filled with praise
and thanksgiving to our sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, who is pleased
to bestow His special gifts on different ones for the well-being
of His chosen blood-bought church. And He's the one who equips us,
isn't He? He's the one who enables us. And our Lord declared that
He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. And this, of
course, in part has reference to the Spirit of God that fell
upon the Lord's chosen disciples on the day of Pentecost, and
upon other chosen Jews during the days of the apostles. But
it also included the pouring of the Spirit upon His chosen
blood-bought people amongst the nation of the Gentiles, which
is us. Every believer is filled with
the Holy Spirit of God, all according to God's plan and purpose. That's
why we're new creatures in Christ. We've been given a new heart.
We're not the same as we were. And the miraculous gifts of tongues
and prophecy and visions and others were temporary. They were
given to announce the enthronement of Christ. They've ceased now.
They've ceased now. Let's read Acts chapter 2 verses
18 to 21. It says, In all my servants and
all 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 vaporous
smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and 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."
Don't you love that little word, shall? The more we look at that.
You know what? I'm seeing that thing everywhere
now. That little word, shall. I see it. I'm reading the scriptures.
I'll be studying on it. Shall! Oh, there it is again!
Praise God! It's wonderful. It's just wonderful. Oh, it's
just changed my studies that way It's so it's such a sweet
word because remember it's binding like we looked at last week.
It's a binding word It's in in legal terms. The word shall is
a binding word Well, well God the Father's bound to the everlasting
covenant of grace And so when he says shall he's binding himself
to that everlasting covenant of grace in which we were chosen
in Christ for the world was and My oh my. The judgment of God
has fallen upon the nations of Israel for their rejection now
and crucifixion of Christ. And Joel describes God's judgment
of Israel here in figurative symbols. Because of their contempt
of the gospel, God destroyed the civil government of Israel.
Jerusalem was overthrown in 70 AD. And that little nation, he
turned the light that he had given them into darkness. And
now, national Israel is blinded. Blinded. And they, you know what
they stand? Gene Harman said this. He said,
they stand now as a beacon not to trifle with God. Not to trifle
with God. my oh my and now look at verse
21 and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on
the name of the lord shall be saved whosoever shall call upon
the name of the lord shall be saved refers to god's elect god's
elect from every kindred tongue people and nation look at that
that's you and i that's all who the lord will save we see the
gospel of god's grace and christ is now proclaimed to all the
nations of the world and peter had no clue what he was saying
here He didn't know the Gentiles were included. Isn't it wonderful? Now God gathers his elect from
all among the Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel. Turn
if you would to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. And then
put your finger in Galatians chapter 3. I'm going to have
to go two places here. Psalm chapter 2 and Galatians
chapter 3. My oh my. Psalm chapter 2 verses
7 and 8. God says, I will declare the
decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of earth
for thy possession. See the heathen for his inheritance? That's the Gentiles. That's us. Isn't that wonderful? Because
the Jews called the Gentiles a bunch of heathens, a bunch
of dogs. My oh my. Now turn to Galatians
chapter 3 if you would. The meaning of Pentecost, the
outpouring of God the Holy Spirit declares that Christ has come.
He's redeemed his people. He's established his kingdom
at last and God's promise to Abraham is fulfilled. His righteousness
is revealed through the preaching of the gospel now. Look at this
in Galatians chapter 3 verses 13 to 14. My oh my. Christ hath. Not he did his best
and the rest is up to you. Not he tried. Or not he made
us redeemable. Like people say. Oh, it's so
awful. Look at it. Christ. Good news, Brother Tom,
for you and I. Christ hath redeemed us. He's
redeemed us, Brother Zane. Christ hath redeemed us. What
did he redeem us from? The curse of the law. We're free
now, we're free. How did he do it? Being made
a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth
on the tree, that the blessings of Abraham, all the promises
of God. You see, I used to run with a
group that said, all those promises of God were only for the Jews.
Look at what this verse says, that the blessings of Abraham,
all the promises that God made to Abraham might come on the
Gentiles. Through who? Through Jesus Christ.
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
God, given faith, born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and
granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. One more place
I'm going to have you turn. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter
12. Joel stated in Mount Zion and Jerusalem shall be deliverance.
But Mount Zion is God's born-again blood-washed church, and the
heavenly city is God's holy Jerusalem. Look at this in Hebrews chapter
12. We'll read verses 22 to 24. And keep in mind, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Hebrews chapter
12, verse 22 and 24 to 24. But here come unto Mount Zion
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem into
an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly in the
church of the firstborn. We're the church of the firstborn.
We're the church of Christ, beloved, which are written in heaven.
and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just man
made perfect. Who's that? Who's the just man
made perfect? That's us in Christ. Well, I'm
a sinner though. Scripture says we're just man
made perfect in Christ. Now we're still sinners in this
earth, but God looks upon us and sees his son, doesn't he?
He sees the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we're in glory, we're
gonna be made perfect. We'll be made perfect, beloved. And
to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, he's the only one.
There's only one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ
Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. To Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling that
speaketh better things than of Abel. My, oh my. See, Abel's
sacrifice just pictured Christ. It was just the shadow. Christ
is the substance. He's the substance. And the beloved
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the deliverer of all his promised
children. I ask you, has he not delivered us? Hey, Brother Brian,
he delivered us, hasn't he? He delivered us from all our
sins. He delivered us from the wrath of God. We've been redeemed! Makes your heart filled with
joy, doesn't it? We've been redeemed. My, oh, my. And so all Israel
shall be saved. Romans 11.26. And so all Israel
shall be saved. There's that little word again,
shall. And that Israel speaking is spiritual Israel. As it is
written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, the deliverer,
singular, the deliverer. Romans, again, 11.26. And shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Jacob's another name for the
church. Oh my, we've been delivered. We who are the people of God
have been delivered by the great Deliverer. The Deliverer. the
incomparable Deliverer. See, people get rescued, right?
In this earth, you see people get rescued. They get rescued
from certain death, and they're so thankful. We've been rescued
from certain death, beloved. We've been rescued from eternal
wrath. We've been rescued from the justice of God. We've been
rescued from the law of God. But more importantly, we've been
rescued from our sins. Christ hath redeemed us from
under the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. My, oh my,
what a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So Joel made reference to the
remnant. Now remember, God has a remnant. He'll always have
a remnant. Remember Elijah? He's out there in the desert.
He's, I'm the only one left, Lord. Lord says, I got 5,000.
I haven't bowed their knee to pale yet. God always has a remnant,
beloved. Always. Even in the midst of
the darkest ages, He had a remnant. And He always will. He always
will. My, oh, my. In Romans 11.5, it
says this, Even so, then, at this present time, also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. Remember what
I said about D.J. Ward last week? He said, If God
hadn't have chosen some, heaven would have none. There'd be no
one in heaven if God hadn't chose some. Praise God, brother Jimmy,
chose you and I too, eh, in Christ. What a blessing! What a blessing! In our hearts, in our hearts!
Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. And he wrote these words after
the Holy Spirit moved him to describe God's elect as a spiritual
Israel, whom he had chosen out of all nations. In Romans 10,
13, it says this, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Paul's quoting Joel there, just
like Peter's quoting Joel. Shall be saved. No doubt there,
is there? God's going to get his sheep,
isn't he? I like what Henry Mahan said in preaching, we're on the
trail of God's sheep. That's right. We sure are. My, oh, my. And then the Holy
Spirit moved Paul to write these words. How then shall they call
on him and whom they not believe? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? See,
God sends his preachers to wherever he's pleased to send them. He
sent me from Canada to Oregon to here. I never thought I'd
ever live in the United States. And then I end up out in Oregon
and the Lord calls me to preach out there and then Here I am
with you, lovely folks, my family. Isn't that wonderful? Sent, sent
by God. And every one of you were drawn
here to hear the gospel. Isn't that amazing? Everyone
who's in this room right now, it's not by chance or luck. We
don't believe in that, do we? It's by divine providence. Anyone
who hear the message when it goes out, it's all by divine
providence. It's all by, we are here for
the furtherance of the gospel, aren't we? Here we are. Oh, what
a blessing that God's given us a place to come to and to gather
together in love. And love is gospel. and love
one another, and more importantly, love God. Again, as I said in
Sunday School, that love's foreign to us, right? It's not natural
to us. Love for our family and our friends
is natural to us, but not love to God. But He's put that in
our hearts. Scripture says He's shed it abroad in our hearts.
It's His almighty work. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Have you called on the name of
the Lord? Look and live, the scripture says. I talked to my
daughter. She says, it's that simple? I just have to look?
There's nothing I got to do? I said, just look and live. And
if you look, God's going to be the one give you the power to
look. Just look and live. My oh my. And the simplicity
of it, beloved, makes people stumble. Makes people stumble.
And then they say this. Dave, you and I, we live this.
Well, I got to give up all these things then. I got to give up all these things
I love. You're going to learn to hate
them. If the Lord saves you, you're going to learn to hate
them, and you're going to love a whole bunch of new things.
the scripture, the Lord, the Bible, God's people. It's amazing. I'll tell you why. And that's
the only God who can take a rebel and turn him into a saint. Only
God can do that. And I've told you, we're all
saints. All we who believe, we're saints.
I remember, I think I told you guys, my mom almost blew her
gasket one time. She's Catholic. And I said, I'm a saint of God.
Don't ever say that. I said, Mom, the Bible tells
me I'm a saint of God. I believe what the Bible says.
We're saints, beloved. And it's not no man who made
us that. It's God. It's God. And God alone. My,
oh my. God must call us. And when he
does, when he calls us with a holy call, with an effectual calling,
a personal inward efficacious call, our Lord Jesus Christ draws
his people. He calls His promised people
unto the preaching of His glorious gospel. And He calls His elect,
beloved. Well, we're hearing that Jesus
Christ is our sovereign creator. Now, we may have given lip service
to God before, but now we find out He's the creator of all things. He's the sovereign Lord over
all. He's the promised Messiah. We go from thinking He was a
good teacher to thinking He's God alone. Because now we know
the truth. Who made us to differ? Any of
us who have brothers and sisters? Who made us to differ from our
brothers and sisters? Why are we sitting here and they're
not? Only the grace of God, beloved. Only the mercy of God. Now I'll
tell you this, keep praying for them. Pray for them as long as
they got breath. Keep praying for them. Because
we don't know, again, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. We don't know who God's elect are. We
have no idea. But we still pray for folks, don't we? Oh my. And
our Lord is the promised Messiah. We learn that, don't we? We're
taught that by the Holy Spirit of God. And we hear that He's
made of a woman, that He was virgin-born. Now, natural men
don't believe that, but by faith we believe that, don't we? Because
now, think of this too, now we believe what God says. You know,
I think back, and I used to say I was a Christian, because I
was Catholic and all this, but I didn't know nothing. I didn't
know Christ. I was following the works of man, right? And
when the Lord revealed to me who He was in the Scriptures,
my whole life changed. He's God. He's God over all. He's a sovereign Lord. I told
my daughter, I said, you will never meet a man who will love
a person more than the Lord Jesus Christ loves His people. I'm
serious. Think of how much we love the
dearest person in our life. Doesn't even scratch the surface
to how much God loves just one of his children. And he loves
us all the same, right? He doesn't say, well, you're
my favorite, you know. He doesn't say that. We're all his children.
Do you know that you and I were chosen in Christ the same time
Peter was chosen? And the same time Paul was chosen?
Same time David was chosen? Same time. When was it? Before
the foundation of the world. And the scripture says that God's
love is an everlasting love. And the scripture says that God
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, he doesn't
change, does he? So if he doesn't change, and
he's loved me with an everlasting love, that means he still loves
me with an everlasting love. And that means he will love me
with an everlasting love all the way into eternity. Just grab
hold of that, beloved. Just let that wrap you around.
Scripture says we're held by the everlasting arms of God,
and those are arms of love. I mentioned this on, I think
it was Wednesday that I mentioned this, not this Wednesday, but
the past, and if I mentioned it Sunday, forgive me, but when
Christ looked at Peter, I think I mentioned it last Sunday, that
was a look of love. That wasn't a look of condemnation.
after the cock and crow three times. That wasn't a look of
content. He wasn't looking at him like, what did you do? No, that
was a look of love, beloved. He knew who Peter was. He looks
at us with love. He doesn't look at us in anger.
See, that's the one thing we have to separate, that if we
had a dad who was angry with us and manifested his love by
anger, then we as believers have to say, my heavenly father is
nowhere like my earthly father. He loves me unconditionally.
And he loves me so much, that He gave His life and redeemed
me by shedding His blood to redeem my soul, which, well, the life
of the flesh is in the blood, so He gave His life for us. Now
you can't get a more of a manifestation of the love of God than Christ
Jesus hanging on the cross for those who by nature hate Him.
But yet He's loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and
sins. It's just mind-blowing. But it's true. Did God just start
loving us when he saved us? Or has he loved us from eternity?
Were our names written in the book of life when we confessed
Christ? Or were our names written in the book of life in eternity?
Well, we know the answer, right? In eternity. So that which God's
purpose and the plan, well, what? Will come to pass. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Who are
they? They're God's elect. My, and
then we sit there and we ponder, we go, me? God saved me? A worm like me? Yep, praise his
mighty name, right? Oh, he's wonderful. I'll tell
you what, I'll tell you what. He calls us while we're hearing
the gospel. We hear that he was delivered
for our offenses. We hear that he was raised for our justification
through the preaching of the gospel. We hear that Jesus Christ
is the glorified God-man who now reigns in heaven above. Right
now, he reigns, beloved. And all of God's elect hear and
believe the gospel. Because we've been given God-given
faith after we've been born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And
all who were ordained to eternal life believed. Do you know that?
You know who believed? All who were ordained to eternal
life. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 13. I'll show you
right in Scripture where that's the truth. Do you know the only
reason we believed? Because God ordained us to believe.
Remember? God sends the Spirit of His Son
into our hearts, into those who Christ redeemed, right? And we
cry, I have a Father. Now again, we do not know who
they are. So we cry, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Knowing that God's
people, his elect, will call upon the name of the Lord. I'll
tell you why. He can get every one of them, right? It's wondrous. Look at this, Acts chapter 13.
Very clear example here. We're starting verse 44. And
the next Sabbath day came, almost the whole city together to hear
the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitude,
they were filled with envy. Look at these religious fellows.
Oh, they're jealous. They got more people than we
do. You know what? We grace preachers don't look
at numbers. We just preach the gospel to whoever comes. That's
how it is. I preached to seven people for
seven years in Oregon. That's what God called me to
do. It was wonderful. I was one of the seven, and it
was wonderful. And then God calls me here. Well,
there's a few more people. Well, I'll keep preaching the
same gospel. And now the Lord will not be
here till I die. I keep preaching the same gospel. I'll tell you.
As long as God gives me breath to preach, I'm going to preach
the same gospel. Look at this. And they were filled
with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul.
That's natural. Natural man, religious man, will
always speak against the gospel. Because Tom, as you said one
time, the gospel, we don't bring anything to the table but our
sin, right? There's nothing for man to do. And natural man hates
that because they want to do something to be saved. It's in
us. It's wired in us. That's partly the stumbling block
of the scriptures is that it is finished. It's done. The atonement,
the work is done. We just look to Christ for salvation.
That's part of the stumbling block of it. Look at this. Words
which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. My. Then Paul
and Barnabas, now here, they waxed bold. How'd they wax bold?
By the power of God, the Holy Spirit, beloved, only by the
power of God, the Holy Spirit. And said, it was necessary that
the word of God should first have been spoken to you, that's
being the Jewish, the Jews, but seeing he put it from you, and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. Praise God, that's us. Aren't
you so thankful that God ordained that to happen? It's wonderful.
My, now this was a shock for the Jews because they thought
that everything had to do with the Jewish nation. Oh, they're
in for a shock now. Look at this. For so hath the
Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, and thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. So they are set to go into the
Gentile nations and preach the gospel. What happened? They went
into Thessalonica. A church is established. They
go into Ephesus. A church is established. They
go into Galatia. Many churches are established.
They go to Philippi, a church is established. They go to Laodicea,
a church is established. They go to Sardis, a church is
established. Isn't that amazing? You go to
Philadelphia, a church is established. My oh my, the wondrous works
of God. They're just preaching Christ,
beloved. They're not writing books to make money, right? Paul's book on how to be a better
Christian. No, they're not doing anything like that. They're just
preaching Christ. That's all they're doing. We
know they're in unity, right? They're in unity. Oh my. When the Gentiles heard what
they did, look at the scripture. When the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. They were full of joy. This is
for me too. Oh, praise God, right? Because
they thought, oh, this is just for the Jews. Oh, could you imagine
being one of them Gentiles that the Lord saves there? Could you
imagine? Could you imagine how they felt when Paul said that?
We know. I should have looked that word up in the Greek. I
bet you it's joyful or something. They were glad. They were glad.
And what did they do? Look at this. And they glorified
the word of the Lord. And look at this. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life, Believe. There it is right there. People deny it, and it's so clear,
said in scripture, as many as were ordained to eternal life
believe. Any Christian who's born again,
the only reason is because we were ordained to eternal life.
Now that's grace, isn't it? And these Gentiles, they were
glad. They'd probably been pricked in the heart by the Holy Spirit
of God, because they were born again, because they glorified
the Lord. Only a believer will glorify
the Lord. In many words, ordained to eternal life, believe. Well,
how'd they believe? Well, they're born again and given faith, just like
we are. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all
the region. Out it goes, there it goes, boom, out it goes. And
the Jews stirred up devote and honorable women and the cheap
men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and
expelled them out of their coasts. Oh, those religious folks, they
just want them gone. Get out of here. We don't want
nothing to do with you. But what did they do? They shook
on the dust of their feet against them and came unto Icarum and
the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost.
Therefore, when we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
with a sincere cry for his mercy, that cry does not precede our
deliverance. Rather, it's a result of God's
sovereign work already in us, beloved. You see, the reason
we cry out to the Lord, save me, is because we're already
born again. Isn't that amazing? God's already
done work in us. He grants us repentance. He grants
us repentance unto life, and the result of his personal call
enables us to now hear the life-given gospel. Now we hear. Now we hear
something, don't we? We hear the wondrous works of
God in Christ. And we will never be the same. Isn't that wonderful? Never be
the same, beloved. So when Peter quoted these prophetic
words by the prophet Joel, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. There it goes, right? The risen
Christ of God had not yet revealed himself to Paul. He had not yet
revealed himself to Paul when he spoke those words. And Paul
was going to take the gospel to the Gentiles. My oh my. He was going to take the gospel
to the Gentiles who are included in that word. Whosoever will.
Whosoever. Whosoever. My oh my. We'll see later on in this study,
divine revelation, when we get to the ninth chapter of Acts,
when Paul's knocked off his horse and the Lord saves him. Persecutor
of the church, murderer of the church in the Greek, a waster,
a born-again, blood-washed believer. I'll tell you what, he is able
to save to the uttermost all who come to Christ. God is able. And how do we know he's able,
Brother Dave? Because he saved us, right? We can all, every
one of us can testify. How do we know God's able to
save the most vile, sir? He saved me. He can save whomever
comes to him. Glory to his name. What a great
God. What a glorious God is Jesus
Christ our Lord. Brother Dan, can you close us
in prayer?