Acts chapter 2 begins in this way, and when
the day of Pentecost was fully come. When one hears the word Pentecost,
Pentecost, Pentecostal, what comes to your mind? Well, some
will say it was the day when the Holy Spirit was sent to this
earth to dwell upon God's people. And that's true. If you turn
to Luke, chapter 24, our Lord's last instructions to his disciples
before he ascended to the Father were these. In Luke 24, verse
50, or verse 49, he said, I send the promise of the Father
upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be
endued with power from on high." And he led them out as far as
to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. He
told them to go to Jerusalem and tarry there until they be
endued with power. power of the Holy Spirit. That
was ten days later. This was on the fortieth day
after our Lord arose from the grave, and he sent them to Tarry
in Jerusalem. In Acts 1, verse 8, which we
read Wednesday night, our Lord said, But you shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And you shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria,
and to the uttermost parts of the earth." So when you think
of Pentecost, it is the coming, the day of the coming of the
Holy Spirit to dwell upon God's people, all of them, not just
the prophets. In the beginning, in the early
days, God spake to our fathers by the prophets, but then the
Scripture declares In the last days they shall not say one to
another, no, the Lord, they shall all know me from the least to
the greatest. They'll all be filled, baptized
with the Holy Spirit. What do you think of when you
think of Pentecost? Well, some will say, well, the
gift of tongues, and that, we read that. It says in verse 3,
and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire
that sat upon each of them. And they began, they were filled
with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance. And they did speak, and every
man heard the gospel in his own language. But that's nothing
amazing, really, because at the Tower of Babel, everybody spoke
the same tongue. And suddenly, after they'd tried
to build that towered in heaven, God confounded their languages. And they all began to speak with
different languages and went their separate ways to dwell
in other places of the earth. So God Almighty is the father
of language. And tongues in the scripture
always, always refer to a language that can be understood by somebody. That's right. That's right. Look at verse 6 here in Acts
2. Now this was noised abroad, and
the multitude came together and were confounded, because every
man heard them speak in his own language. Not an unknown gibberish,
but his own language. It says the same thing in verse
11. Cretes, Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues. the wonderful works of God. And
some people in this day and have for, I guess, 150 years since
this thing has been in progression, this unknown tongue, they say,
well, tongues are a sign that you've been baptized with the
Holy Spirit. No, they aren't either. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 14. Tongues are not a sign at all
to believers. Tongues were not given to be
assigned to believers of anything. Tongues were given to be assigned
to unbelievers of the power of God. Each man heard the wonderful
works of God in his language. They were assigned to unbelievers.
First Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 22. Wherefore, tongues are assigned not to believers. You see that? Underscore that. Tongues are assigned not to them
that believe. We don't need signs and wonders.
We have God's Word. We have His promise. We have
His Son. We have His Spirit. But tongues
are assigned to them that do not believe. But prophecy serves not for them
that believe not. They don't believe what we preach.
But prophecy serves for for teaching to those who do believe. You
believe, and you're edified through the Word. People who do not believe
are not edified through the Word. So God sends them signs and wonders,
and they hear the gospel in their own tongues. It's a sign for
unbelievers. All right, thirdly, what do you
think of when you think of Pentecost? Some people say, well, it's when
the Holy Spirit came. Secondly, it was when the These
disciples preached the gospel in other languages, miraculously,
miraculously. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2 just
a moment. And these signs work to confirm
the ministry of these men. Hebrews 2 verse 4, verse 3, Hebrews
2, 3. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed by them unto us, by them that
heard him, God also bearing them witness, bearing witness that
these men spoke for him, both with signs and wonders and divers
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his will.
God gave these apostles, these early believers, these gifts for unbelievers, for these people
of all nations to hear the gospel, to hear the truth. All right.
Then sometimes when you mention Pentecost, people think about
great crowds and great conversions. Like over here in chapter 2,
verse 41. That happened when Peter preached
at Pentecost. It says in verse 41 of Acts chapter
2, that gladly received his word were baptized, and the Lord,
and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
conversions. Three thousand. We have an old
song I used to sing when I was growing up. Lord, send the old
time power, the Pentecostal power, the floodgates of glory open
wide. Lord, send the old time power,
the Pentecostal power that centers might be converted and your name
glorified. Well, when we mention Pentecost
or Pentecostal, those are the things that occur to people's
minds. But what is Pentecost? What is Pentecost? Now, I'm not
going to the Old Testament and read about all these different
festivals and feast days. You can read it. Let me give
you the reference, Leviticus 23, beginning with verse 4. These are the festivals. These
are the feasts of God that Israel kept. First there was Passover.
You're familiar with the Passover. It originated in Egypt. When
God would deliver Israel out of Egypt, he told them to take
a lamb without spot or blemish, separate it from the flocks,
put it up for two or three days, observe it, and then slay the
lamb. and roast it with fire, and eat the flesh, put the blood
on the door. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you." And from that time until our Lord Jesus came, who
is our Passover? Who is our Lamb slain? Who is
our Atonement? Who is our Redeemer? Israel kept
the Passover. The Passover on a certain day
of a certain month, they kept the Passover all those years. The first day after the Passover,
Sabbath, there was the waving of the sheaf. A sheaf is a bundle
of grain. It's the first fruit. There was
the feast of the Passover, and then on the first day after the
Passover, Sabbath, there was the waving of the sheaf. The
waving of the first fruits before the Lord. They went out at the
beginning of the harvest and gathered the very first fruits
and brought them to God. and waved them before the Lord,
because every product of the soil is of the Lord. And everything
we eat and wear and use came from the soil, all of God. And Christ is the firstfruits
of them that slept. He's our feast of the firstfruits.
He's the firstfruits of them. Then, Pentecost. And Pentecost means fiftieth. And you number seven Sabbath
days after the Passover, and one day, and that's Pentecost. The end of the harvest, the feast
of praise and thanksgiving to God for all his mercies and for
all his works. Now, it had the Passover, it
had the Feast of the Firstfruits, and now everybody from everywhere
The end of the harvest was gathered at Jerusalem. You heard me read,
all these Jews from every nation under heaven were there to keep
the Feast of Pentecost. And God chose at that time, at
that time, to send the Holy Spirit upon his people. He told them
that he would. God chose at that time to begin
the worldwide witness and ministry of the apostles. This was their
first venture alone without their Lord. This was their first standing
alone after he'd gone back to glory, filled them with the Holy
Spirit. Now it's their ministry. He said
they should do greater things than I do because I go to my
Father. And he gave them the gifts and the miracles and the
power to do great things. This is the beginning of the
ministry and witness of the church. And this is the time when God
Almighty bore witness of the power and presence of the Lord
upon men. If we hear from God, we'll hear
through a man. The scripture says, How shall
they call on him in whom they've not believed? 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? And God has sent them. and God
has anointed them, and God has given them the gospel, and God
Almighty uses them to preach the gospel, because at that time,
through their preaching, 3,000 people heard the gospel, believed
the gospel, and confessed the gospel. But the chief issue,
the chief factor at Pentecost was not the mighty wind. I know
when that happened, they were in this building and who knows
what a mighty wind that was. I'm sure that attracted a lot
of attention. It was not the cloven tongues of fire. That's
not the chief issue. That's not the chief factor at
Pentecost. It's not the cloven tongues of
fire. And I know people use that sign
now as a sign of religion. It wasn't the coming of the Holy
Spirit. That's not the chief factor.
That is a factor. It's not the gifts and miracles
of tongues. It's not the mighty crowd. All
of these things attracted attention, held their attention. They were
amazed. They were astounded. That's what
they used here. These people were astounded. They were greatly troubled. But all of these things, the
wind, the cloven tongue, The coming of the Holy Spirit, the
tongues, all of these things faded into the background when
Peter stood and preached. And I want you to listen to him
here in verse 14. Peter stood up with the eleven,
lifted up his voice, and he said, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that
dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, hearken to my words.
Hearken to my words. These men are not drunken, as
you suppose, seeing it's the third hour of the day. But this
is that spoken by the prophet Joel. All right, let's turn back
to Joel and see what Joel said. In the book of Joel, chapter
2, verse 28, Joel is prophesying Years before Christ came. Years
before Christ came. And here's what Joel's saying.
Let me tell you while you're finding it, I'll tell you what
he's saying. Joel is saying the last days are the days of the
coming of the Messiah. That's the day of the coming
of the Messiah, the last days. Secondly, and the Spirit of God
will fall upon all who believe, not just special prophets at
special times. And thirdly, God will show wonders
and signs in the heavens. The Lord will give you a sign.
A virgin shall be with child. The Son of God came. Signs in
the heavens. The sun will be darkened. It
was when he died on that cross. The moon turned to blood. God will show mighty signs. And
fourthly, and the gospel will be preached to all nations and
whosoever Not just Jews, not just natural sons of Abraham,
but whosoever himself will call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. That's what Joel prophesied for these last days. Listen to
it here in Joel 2.28. And it shall come to pass afterwards,
that is in the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
sons and daughters, men and women, young people. shall prophesy,
shall understand the scriptures, shall teach the scriptures to
one another. Ye old men will dream dreams, and ye young men
will see visions. And also upon the servants and
the handmaids in those days I'll pour out my spirit, rich and
poor, old and young, bonded and free. I'll show wonders in the
heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, pillars of smoke. The
sun will be turned into darkness. the moon and the blood before
that great and terrible day of the Lord, that day of redemption,
that day of, it is finished! It is finished. He bowed his
head and God died in the flesh on the cross. What a miracle. And it shall come to pass because
of his precious blood and holy righteousness and infinite sacrifice
that whosoever, whosoever shall call on the name, the name which
is above everything, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, shall
be delivered." This is Old Testament preaching. It shall be, shall
be delivered. For in Mount Zion, that's the
church, in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. Deliverance from
sin, deliverance from darkness, deliverance from captivity, as
the Lord said, and in the remnant whom the Lord And Peter said,
that's what's happening here. Go back to Acts 2, and there
here he explains it right here. In Acts 2, verse 17, this is
what Joel said. It's like we met in Sunday school
this morning. And here are ladies back there
with their little children. Back in the Israel days, that
wouldn't have been done in the temple. It would have been the
prophets or the priests. If you wanted to hear anything,
you had to go to the priest. If you wanted to hear anything, you
had to go to the prophet. But your sons and daughters, men and women,
gather and teach one another. You ladies gather in your homes
and you witness to your children. You know Christ. You know the
gospel. You're filled with the Spirit. The elders meet in the
different classrooms and they teach the pastors preaching here.
But that's what he's saying here. I'll pour out my Spirit on all,
not all natural flesh, all flesh saved people, redeemed people.
It's by the Holy Spirit that we call Christ Lord. It's by
the Holy Spirit we quicken. It's by the Holy Spirit we understand,
we teach. And they'll dream dreams and
see visions. have understanding, verse 18,
and all my service, my handmaidens I pour out in those days my spirit,
and they shall preach and teach the word of God. That's not giving
a woman authority to preach in the church because Paul dealt
with that subject, but they teach the younger women, they teach
the children, and the men teach, but all my people witness. Everyone's a witness. And I'll
show wonders in heaven and signs in the earth beneath, blood and
fire, vapor and smoke. Come to pass, whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now, now he
says in verse 22, look at this. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Hear these words. Don't be taken
up now with the miracles. It's not the miracles that save,
they're just given to point to Christ. Don't be taken up with
the gifts. Desire the gifts. But I'll show you a better way.
And that's to love Christ. Don't be taken up with the wind
and the fire and the signs and the wonders. Hear these words. The power of God is in the word
of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes. It's the word that quickens.
It's the word that gives life. It's the word of God that saves,
that reveals Christ. Of his own will begat he us with
the word. John 5, 24 says, He that heareth
my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life. And when he sent those disciples
out to preach in Matthew chapter, Mark chapter 16, he said, You
go and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The power is in the Word. The power is in the Word. And
listen to this, verse 22. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. I was reading one of the old
writers, and he said this. The men of Israel will hear the
Word. The men and women of true Israel,
they'll hear the Word. They love the Word. They'll hear
with the heart. And they'll receive it and believe
it and embrace it and rest in it. They'll hear the word and
believe it. All right, go ahead. Jesus of Nazareth. This is the
issue. Jesus of Nazareth, a man born
of a virgin, no ordinary man, but a man approved of God, anointed
of God, ordained of God, sent of God, among you, raised up
from among you. by miracles and signs and wonders
which God did by him in the midst of you. As you also know, that's
what Nicodemus said, we know you sent from God. No man could
do these miracles except God be with him. Paul said to the
Roman governor, this wasn't done in a corner. You're aware of
all the signs that God showed through this man? This man. Now
watch verse 23. And Him, this is Pentecostal
preaching. It's not preaching about the
Holy Ghost. It's not preaching about signs and wonders. It's
preaching Christ. Him, to Him gave all the prophets
witness. It's the person that we preach,
not the Spirit. It's the person, not a plan.
It's the person. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel of God, by eternal counsel, Lamb slain in the foundation
of the world, being delivered by a determinate covenant and
the foreknowledge of God, known unto God all his works from the
beginning, predestinated, predetermined, God delivered him into your hands to do what? Turn to Acts 4, Acts
chapter 4, verse 7. Verse 26, Acts 4, 26, listen. The kings of this earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, Herod, both Herod, Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, with the people of Israel, were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel before to be done."
They're fulfilling Isaiah 53. It pleased God to bruise him.
It pleased God to make his soul an offering for sin. It pleased
God to put him on that cross. He used these human hands, but
these human hands, though they did what they wanted to do, they
did what God determined before to be done. whom God delivered
into your hands, and you with wicked hands crucified him and
slew him." I want you to turn to Acts 13 a moment. Acts 13,
this is such an interesting comment
from the Apostle Paul. Verse 26, Acts 13, 26. Now, men and brethren, children
of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God,
to you is the word of this salvation sin. It's the word, it's the
word of God, the word of redemption, the word of life. For they that
dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, back in this these days. Because they knew him not, they
didn't recognize their Messiah. He came unto his own, they received
him not, the world knew him not. And they didn't know yet the
voice of the prophets, like Joel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, which
are read every Sabbath day. All these prophecies concerning
the Messiah. Behold, the Lord will send you
a sign, a virgin shall conceive. And unto us a son is born, a
son is given, a child is born, a son is given. Listen, these
things are read every Sabbath day. They have fulfilled all
these prophecies in condemning him. And though they found no
cause of death in him, yet they desired Pilate that he should
be slain, crucified. crucify him. And when they had
fulfilled everything that was written of him, from the promise
in Eden's garden, he'll bruise the serpent's head, to the last
promise in Malachi, they have fulfilled everything written
of him. And when they fulfilled it all,
they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. and brushed
their hands off and said, we're through with him now. But God
raised him from the dead. That's the message of Pentecost.
That's all that God sent here at this time was not to give
us something to play with and argue about and quarrel about
and when the church started, when the Holy Ghost came, what
the Tobin tongues, what the mighty way, what the unknown tongues. It's who is Jesus Christ? Who sent Him? Why did He come? What did He do? Why did He do
it? And where is He now? That's what
Peter's preaching. You men of Israel, hear my words. Don't be taken up with these
other things. They fulfill a purpose. God sent
them, did it in His own way. But I'm telling you, Jesus of
Nazareth, a man, the God man, approved of God, anointed of
God, sent of God, ordained of God, and proven by miracles and
wonders and signs among you, which he did in the midst of
you, as you know, him delivered by the determinate counsel, the
covenant, the foreknowledge of God, you, with your wicked hands,
took him and nailed him to a cross. You did what God determined before
to be done. And you fulfilled every purpose
and every prediction and every purpose of God in the Old Testament
in slaying that man. And then you took him down from
the tree and laid him in a grave and went on about your religion.
But verse 24, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
death, because it was not possible he should be holding of them.
And David spoke about him, everybody in the Old Testament spoke about
him. To him gave all the prophets witness. David said, I saw, I
foresaw the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ always before my face.
He's on the right hand of God that I should not be moved. Therefore
did my heart rejoice, my tongue was glad, and my flesh shall
rest in hope, because God will not leave his body in the grave. Now suffer his holy one to see
corruption that he raised him from the grave." Now once you
look at verse 29, I'll be brief on him. Who is David talking
about? The men and brethren, Peter said,
let me speak freely to you about David. These men loved David.
David was the king of Israel. God blessed him so mightily.
They loved David and Abraham. Let me tell you about David.
David is dead and buried. His sepulchre, his body, is in
a sepulchre unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and
knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, the son of David, that's who Christ is, of the
house and lineage of David. When our Lord asked those Pharisees
one day, what think ye of the Christ, whose son is the Messiah?
They said, the son of David. Well, he said, well, tell me
this, how can it be David's son be David's Lord? They didn't
know. Do you know? Sure you do. When
you know that, you know the gospel. He's David's Lord because he's
God. David's son because he's a man. He was made of the seed
of David, declared to be the son of God. But God said, of
the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, that he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne. David then, seeing this before
him, spake of the resurrection of Christ throughout the book
of Psalms, that his soul was not left in the grave, nor his
spirit nor his flesh seek corruption. This Jesus, not another, this
same Jesus, had God raised up where were all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, And having received
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed abroad this which
you now hear, see, and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he himself said, The Lord said to my Lord, God
said to our Lord Jesus Christ, Sit on my right hand, and I will
make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, here's a summary of
the message, conclusion. Therefore, that all the house
of Israel know assuredly, know with full assurance, a fact to
be depended upon and declare and believe, that God the Father
hath anointed and constituted and ordained Jesus Christ of
Nazareth to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and has given
him all authority in heaven and earth, that in all things he
might have preeminence. And God the Father hath ordained
and approved and appointed assuredly that Christ Jesus is the Messiah,
the only Mediator, the only High and the only Savior of sinful
men. That same Jesus whom you crucified,
Lord in Christ. The book of Revelation says this
in chapter 1, Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first begotten
of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He hath made us kings and priests
unto God. To him be the glory, the dominion,
the power forever and ever. Amen. Now tonight, when they
heard this, seeing the wind didn't do a thing
for them. Seeing the tongues didn't do anything but confuse
them. Hearing the tongues, seeing the cloven tongues of fire. Listening
to these people talking their own language didn't do anything
until they heard these words. And I know religion today is
taken up with screaming and yelling and shouting and singing and
whoop-de-doo and all these things. But my friends, blessed is the
congregation that can sit quietly and hear these words and receive
them. This is your foundation. Honestly,
with all my heart I tell you, what a blessing that we hear
these words and understand them. Thank God for them and rejoice
in Christ Jesus our Lord. What a blessing, what a blessing.
Don't be confused and confounded. Be converted. Hear the word of
the Lord. Oh, ye dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord. That's right. All right, let's
sing crowning with many crowns, number 62.