And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as a fire, and it set upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak
with other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every
nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together and were confounded because that
every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and
marveled, saying one to another, behold, are not all these which
speak Galileans? How here we every man in our
own language, wherein we were born, Parthenians, and Medes,
and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea,
and Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, Persia, Pamphylia, and
Egypt. and in the parts of Libya about
Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and
Arabians. We do hear them speak in our
languages the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed
and were in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this? Let me just remind us of a few
things this evening. before I come to the message
that I want to bring to us. The day of Pentecost, this chapter
begins declaring when the day of Pentecost was fully come. The day of Pentecost was one
of the feast. There were several feasts that
the law of Moses commanded the Israelites to observe. It is
also called the Feast of Weeks. And the reason it is called a
Feast of Weeks is because they would count seven weeks, 49 days,
after the Feast of the Passover, and they would come to 49 days,
and the next day, 50th days, would be the day, the Feast Day
of Pentecost. When you see the word pent, Pentagon,
we're all familiar with the building in Washington, D.C. that houses
the Defense Department, has those five areas. The Pentitude, we talk about
the Pentitude, the first five books of the Bible. And Pentecost,
it has to do with five, 50, the 50th day was the day of the Feast
of Pentecost. And Jews would be there in Jerusalem.
It wasn't one of the three feasts that every Israelite was commanded,
every male Israelite at least, was commanded to be in Jerusalem
every year for those three feasts. It wasn't one of them, but it
did, as we see, attract a large number of people because there
were men from all over the world. these various nations that are
mentioned here. And, of course, they all spoke
Hebrew, no doubt, but they had been born in a foreign country,
so they spoke whatever the language was of that country in which
they had grown up. They spoke Hebrew, I would imagine,
being in Jerusalem, because all the services would have been
held using the Hebrew language. They were very particular, the
Jews were, about that. The Lord Jesus Christ, after
he rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples several times
by, Luke tells us, many infallible proofs. But on the 40th day,
after his resurrection, he ascended bodily into heaven. Now, on this
50th day, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the disciples. And the people there were amazed.
They marveled. How can this be? And this shows
us that these at least 12 men, the 11 original apostles, plus
the one they had chosen that we read about in the first chapter,
that they were given this gift of speaking in several different
languages. Because when you count up the
number of nations that were represented here, we realize that these men
could speak in several languages, these apostles. These were gifts
that were given unto them. And all of this amazement. Phenomenon. All of this amazement produced
this question, if you notice in verse 12. And this is what
I'll use as an outline for my message. What meaneth this? What
meaneth this? I want to answer that question
four ways from this chapter. What meaneth this? They were
all amazed. Wouldn't you be? Of course, we
all would be. What does this mean? What meaneth
this? Well, there are four ways I want
to answer this. First of all, it means that the
word of John the Baptist was fulfilled when Pharisees and
Sadducees, some of the religious leaders came out to him to be
baptized. Remember, he told them, you must
bring forth fruits, meat for repentance. In other words, he
didn't just baptize them when they came out. He was baptizing
those who believed the gospel that he preached. But he told
them this, that he that cometh after me. Now we know who that
is, don't we? Born six months after John the
Baptist was born. He that cometh after me is mightier
than I. John, he was mighty in speaking
and power and people came to him, but he said, listen, he
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes, whose shoes,
sandals of course, I'm not worthy to even bear. He's so much superior
to me. He's so much above me. And remember,
our Lord said this about John the Baptist, of those born of
woman, there was none greater. But what did he say about Christ? He's mightier than I. I'm not
even worthy to unloose his shoes, to bare his shoes. But he went
on to say this. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and fire. What meaneth this? Well, the
first thing this means is that the word of John the Baptist
was fulfilled, and every prophecy in the scripture. Lane sent me
a comparison earlier today between the Quran and the Bible, and
it's a very interesting comparison, but one of the things I noticed
in the Quran, there's no prophecies. There's no prophecies. Well,
you can say, why? You can say, why? It was a book written by a man,
and man cannot predict the future. God can, and the word of God
is filled with prophecies, isn't it? And that's one of the ways
that we know the Bible is the inspired word of God. Because
not only do we have these prophecies, but we see how these prophecies
were fulfilled. And John prophesied, if you please,
when he said, he shall baptize you, this one who comes after
me, who's mightier than me, whose shoes I'm not even worthy to
bear, he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And that's what took place this
day. The Holy Spirit was poured out upon these disciples and
they were given this gift of tongues, or speaking in other
languages, and at the same time there appeared upon them, their
shoulders I believe it was, cloven tongues of fire. He shall baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Now, this is a different
message. I'm gonna go away for just a
minute. But it's important to see and
to know that in the early church, there were these special gifts.
You can read about them in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Tongues, the interpretation
of tongues, the gift of healings, knowledge, prophecy. And they
were to continue and did continue, the apostle tells us in 1 Corinthians
13, until that which is perfect is come. Then that which is in
part shall be done away. These special gifts of the Holy
Spirit, they were in the church, the early church, but they were
to be done away and they have ceased. Why? Because that which is perfect
has come. What's perfect? Here it is, right
here. You know, people get confused.
You say, you don't believe anyone has the gift of healing today?
No, I don't believe that. And most of these so-called faith
healers you see on TV and here that are promoted, most of them
are crooks. That's all they are. Do I believe
that God heals people? Absolutely. Yes. But I don't believe there's any
man today that has the gift of healing that can walk up to a
person who's paralyzed and say, in the name of Jesus, rise up
and walk. Have you ever heard of that?
Why do you think those men, when they have those big meetings,
they have people brought there in wheelchairs and on stretchers
and everything, and that man just passes as fast as he can
through that bunch? Why? Because he's a fake, that's
why. The same thing is true of the
other gifts that were prominent in the early church. To testify
of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here's something,
the reason I want to point this out. A person might have any
of those gifts, all of those gifts, and die and go to hell. Didn't mean a person was saved. One of the most well-known prophets
in the Bible was a false prophet, Balaam. Yeah, he had the gift
of prophecy, but he wasn't saved. Judas walked with the other 11,
they went out preaching, I assume he preached too, and he no doubt
had the gift of healing like the other apostles of our Lord. But where's Judas tonight? He's
in hell, the son of perdition. That's the reason it's so important
to notice how in 1 Corinthians, and it was only the church at
Corinth where Paul had to deal with this, it became a problem
Because these gifts call attention to a person. And that's the reason
most people today want to stand up and say, thus saith the Lord.
They want to call attention to themselves. If you look at the way the scripture
is written, you have 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 14, where these
gifts are dealt with, but right in the middle, you have Paul's
word on love. Love. Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. Though I have the gift of faith
to remove mountains, and have not love, No, the gift that God
gives each and every, the grace, I should say, the grace that
God gives everyone that he saves is the grace of love. Covet, he said, Paul said, covet
the best gifts. Here it is, love. By this shall
all men know that you're my disciples. Not because you can speak in
tongues any of those things, and no doubt they got people's
attention. Our Lord said, by this, not by
these other things, shall men know that you are my disciples,
that you have love one for the other. So that's the first way
I would answer this question is, what meaneth this? It means
that that John's word concerning the Lord Jesus Christ has been
fulfilled. We're not looking, again, for
the phenomenon that was there when the Holy Spirit was poured
out upon the church on the day of Pentecost. A second thing, what meaneth
this? It means we're living in the
last days. Look at that in verses 16 and
17 when Peter stands up to answer because the people said, well,
why these people are drunk. These people are drunk. No, no,
no, no, no. This is the fulfillment of an
old Testament prophecy, the prophecy of Joel. But this is that which was spoken
by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass in the last days. Well, it's come to pass, Peter
says. It's now come to pass. But the
prophecy is it would come to pass in the last days. It's come
to pass. What does that mean? It means
that we're living in the last days and have been since over
2,000 years ago. Remember how he began the letter
of Hebrews? God who hath in sundry times
and diverse manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets hath
in these last days spoken unto us in his son. We're living in the last days,
and the church has been living in the last days. Now the term,
and it's found several places in the Old Testament, that term,
the last days. And to the Jews, it meant the
days of the Messiah, the days of the Messiah. The term does
not mean the last days of the world. And it's just an observation
of mine, but usually When we're speaking about the
end of the world, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
resurrection of the dead, and the judgment, it is usually day,
not days, but day, singular. For instance, in 1 Thessalonians,
for yourselves know perfectly well that the day, not the days
of the Lord, it's gonna happen fast, isn't it? In the twinkling
of an eye, the Lord's going to descend. And those whose bodies
have turned back to the dust, they're going to be raised incorruptible. Those who are alive when the
Lord Jesus Christ comes again, their body's going to be changed.
And it's all going to happen in the twinkling of an eye, so,
so fast, so fast. No, we're living in the last
days, have been for the last 2,000 years. Later in the book
of Hebrews, the letter of Hebrews, Paul went on to say, who hath
in the end of the world. End of the world? Christ hath
appeared in the end of the world. Well, he appeared over 2,000
years ago and the world still hasn't ended. The Jewish world
had ended. when he appeared, the old dispensation
was coming to a close. And with the pouring out of the
Holy Spirit, this last dispensation, this new dispensation has begun. I mentioned in the message this
morning something about these dispensationalists, you know,
that tell us that the church doesn't appear until the book
of Acts in the Bible. And actually, they go on to say,
well, the church is just a parentheses. It's just a parentheses. And
you know, Schofield, when I was a young man, long time ago, everybody
wanted a Schofield Bible. We didn't have any sense. Everybody
wanted a Schofield Bible. And we come to realize, after
we learn a few things. That thing was as heretical as
it could be, the notes in that Bible. He divided the world up
into seven dispensations and in every different dispensation
a different way to be saved. There's been an old dispensation
that came to an end when the Lord Jesus Christ cried on the
cross, it's finished! And that veil in the temple was
rent from top to the bottom, showing that the way into the
most holy place has now been opened unto us. When we go to
the Lord in prayer, we don't stay outside. We're not like
those men in the Old Testament who stayed outside the tabernacle
somewhere. No. Only the priest went into
the holy of holies. No, we have that privilege now
to come into the very presence of God and make our requests
known unto Him. And we do so through the blood
of Jesus Christ. That old dispensation's over
with all of its types and shadows. No, we're living in the last
days. The third thing this means, And
you're going to like this one, I do. It means that whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You see
that in verse 21? And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What
does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord? Well, they
say it's a Hebraism, which means to call upon the Lord. That's
what it means, it means to call upon the Lord. Now the fact that
Peter, he's speaking here, the fact that he is speaking to a
congregation, for the most part, that's made up of Jews. There
were proselytes here, that's true, but mainly they're Jews. And now he says, for whosoever
shall call, in other words, if he's a person from wherever,
whosoever, shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For a Jew, they thought that when our Lord said, for God so
loved the world, that somehow God's love was contained within
the limits of the physical descendants of Abraham. While Peter said,
no, no. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. American, Latin, African, whosoever. That's what it means. Back in
that old dispensation, a person had to become a Jew. And that's
part of the problem. And remember, the Book of Acts
is Transitionary period for the church because we see here even
the Apostles here are in the temple They're in the temple
and they continue together in the temple For some time until
they were run out People want well, yeah, yeah,
we believe you can be saved by faith, but you have to be circumcised
and Yeah, we believe you can be saved by faith, but you have
to come under the law of Moses. You've got to observe these feasts.
You've got to observe a seventh-day Sabbath. And on and on and on. And Paul, he wasn't the only
one, but he led the charge, didn't he, showing that Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law. We're not under that
law, not as a rule, not as a means of justification, no. We love
the law. As Paul said, the law is good,
holy. Has to be, it's God's law. But
we're not under that law. Doesn't mean that we have a freedom
to break the principles of that law. When I say we're not under
the law, I'm talking to a preacher. One time, down at Luby's, there
used to be a Luby's down here on Greens and I-45, and we were
in there, and he said, when I heard Brother So-and-So say we were
free from the law, he said, I just thought he was saying that we're
free to lie, we're still free to commit adultery. I said, you
didn't believe that. You didn't believe that. That's
not what we're saying, not at all. The law is good, as Paul
said. It's holy. And there's principles
in that law that, yes, we observe, want to, try to. It's our purpose. We don't set the law up as a,
you know, people, they say, well, you come to the law and you come
to Mount Sinai with all the fire and all the noise and And it
just makes you so afraid. And then you go over here to
the cross, to Calvary. That's good. But then they say, now you go
back to the law and live under that law. No, no, no. He's made us free. Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom, freedom to worship.
Here's the fourth thing. What does this mean? It means
that the one that they crucified is alive, Peter says. The one that you crucified by
wicked hands. This is what it means. He's alive. And not only is he alive, but
he's ruling. He's reigning. He's the king
of kings and the Lord of lords. Look down, look down in verse
33. Therefore, being the right hand
of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, he, he has shed for this, which you now see and
hear. The promise, the great promise
of the Old Testament, what was it? The coming of the Messiah. The great promise of the New
Testament, what is it? The coming of the Holy Spirit. Because by His coming, His being
poured out here on the day of Pentecost, as Peter said, He,
Christ, He has shed forth this. He declares that He is exalted
to the Father's right hand. What meaneth this? It means that
those of us who believe in Him are saved. That's what it means. We're saved with an everlasting
salvation. This is what it means. And we
should praise His name forever and ever. I noticed in reading
the psalm all ago at the beginning of the service, Psalm 27, the
psalmist spoke about the sacrifices of joy. You know, God is, the scripture
says he's well pleased with our praises. The sacrifices of joy. We're priests, he's made us kings
and priests, but what do priests do? They offer sacrifices. We
don't offer blood sacrifices, oh no. Wouldn't ever do that. That'd be an abomination, wouldn't
it? That'd be saying that the sacrifice of Christ was not sufficient. But we offer sacrifices as priests,
and the sacrifices that we offer are sacrifices of praise, sacrifices
of joy. When we come together, that's
what we're doing here, praising God. We're offering sacrifices
unto our God. And he's well-pleased with these
sacrifices. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to us here tonight. I mentioned we're going to have
a brief business meeting. Actually, we have two items that
we need to discuss.