Jesus Christ in His Church..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Let's open up our Bibles to Acts chapter 2. We are going to continue, as we said, with our series on the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in his church.

And this time, this opportunity, we are going to be doing Acts chapter 2. We're going to be reading the whole chapter, paying attention to the narrative and the things that are taking place here in Acts chapter 2. And we're going to do that with reverent hearts and paying attention to each One of the words is this is the all-sufficient, the ever-enduring, the perfect, the life-giving, the soul-edifying, love-found Word of God. Let's read together Acts chapter 2. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?

Perthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontians, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? But others, smoking said, They are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven, Lift up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, Let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days he shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants in those days, I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. If the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him. In your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up. losing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken.

Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy 1. See corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life.

You will make me full of gladness with your presence. 2. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried. And his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not bound unto Hades, but did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus God raised up. And of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many others' words he bore witness, and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. And all came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Amen. This is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Now, brothers and sisters, as I said, we are going now to continue with the series of Jesus Christ in His church, and we have decided that we are going to address the workings of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. in His Church, through His Spirit, through the book of Acts. And the chapter that we have this evening, tonight, it is chapter 2, a very long chapter with very interesting passages and very interesting stories.

But what we need to understand, beloved of Christ, is that that which we have in chapter 2, The whole thing that we have that we have read here in chapter two is the fulfillment of the promise that the Lord himself gave to his disciples in chapter one in verse eight. If you go there to chapter one verse eight, as our brother explained to us last week, this will be the main verse, if you want, that is going to outline the framework that is going to serve us to understand the structure of the Book of Acts. And chapter 2, as I said, is the fulfillment of that promise that was given to the disciples by the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 8, in which the Lord said, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." The promise was that they were going to receive, or that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them, and that they were going to receive power.

And by receiving that power, they were going to be witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Now, I want you to have in your mind, beloved of Christ, just the picture of the things that are taking place in chapter 2. We have all the disciples gathered together in love. They are coming together on the same day.

And when the day of Pentecost arrived in the morning, around nine o'clock, there comes this sound, this mighty sound that comes from heaven. And they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and they start to speak in different languages, tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. They start to speak about the glorious and mighty works of God. And because there were many people that were in the city on that particular day, they heard the noise, and they came to see what had taken place, and they see. these Galileans that are speaking in different tongues, that are filled with the Spirit, and that they are speaking of the glories of God.

We read through the chapter that some of them mocked the things that were happening. And here's when Peter is going to stand up and he's going to give the first sermon in the book of Acts. All of this story we are going to address, but it's very important for us, beloved of Christ, that we may have clear the context of the promise that is being fulfilled here in chapter 2. This promise that was given to the disciples in verse 8 in chapter 1, because the context happens in between two glorious things. The first is the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, that in verse 9 of chapter 1 is very simply by the author defined as he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Brothers and sisters, we may not pass that fact. just without any type of affection in our hearts, or not being moved in our souls by the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming into heaven by the victorious Lamb of God who was slain upon the cross, the one who had come from his glory down to the earth to be like one of us, and who had victoriously gone through all those things upon the cross, being resurrected, and now he's entering into the heavens. He's received. The gates of heaven are open to him, just as the psalmist says in Psalm 24, Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory?

The Lord is strong and mighty. The Lord is mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. This King of Glory is the Lamb of God, who is now seated at the right hand of the Father, the Lamb of God, who is worthy to clean the tears of those who were weeping in heaven because there was no one found that was able to open the seals of the book. There was no man that was able to open the seals of the book.

But Jesus Christ, beloved of Christ, the Lion, the one who triumphed over the cross, enter into and through the gates of heaven, triumphing. And he was the one who was worthy to be praised and to receive honor and to receive riches and blessing and power and might and strength. This is the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that is entering into the Holy of Holies as a high priest, the one that is sitting on the right hand of the Father, victorious to the throne of grace. But He's not the only one that does so, because the church, as they are left without their Savior, and then eagerly waiting for the promise that they had received from Him, Also, by the faith that they have in the Savior, these people of the church will also come together in one accord, and they will lift up prayers. They will come also to the throne of grace through their prayers, to the place where the Lamb was seated at the right hand of the Father.

They will also come together, lifting up their praises and their prayers together as the church. with supplications and with prayers, we're told in chapter one. With confidence, as the apostle will say in Hebrew chapter four, they're drawing near to the throne of grace that they may receive mercy. Now this mercy that is available to them because of the workings of the ascended Jesus Christ, the one who triumphed upon the cross, the one that was with them for 40 days, speaking to them about the things of the kingdom, and the one who was taken up in the clouds and who that we know that he's gonna come back in the same way. That is the context of the promise that is given to the disciples, the promise that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria to the end of the earth.

Pay attention, beloved of Christ, to these two elements of this promise, that power will be given to you from the Holy Spirit that comes upon you. You will receive power. And the second element of the promise is that you receive that power in order to be witnesses, in order to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. This promise of the Holy Spirit bringing power to the disciples, brothers and sisters, is something that the Lord had already promised. In John chapter 7, verse 37 to 39, he has said, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.

whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water now this he said about the spirit whom those who believe in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because jesus was not yet glorified. This is the same promise they were going to receive the Holy Spirit and power from the Holy Spirit. The same promise is confirmed by the same Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 16, when he's speaking about his ascension, his living, and he's going to the Father. He's saying, He's saying, I am going to him who sent me, and none of you ask me, where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper or the comforter will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, When the Comforter comes, when the Helper comes, when the Spirit of Truth comes, when the Spirit of God comes, when the promise is fulfilled and I'm taken up to heaven and the Spirit of God comes upon you, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

This is the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ even before the time that he was there in Acts chapter 1 to the disciples that he was going to send the Holy Spirit to them. That the Spirit was going to come in power upon the disciples and the purpose of the coming of the Spirit upon them is to give them power to be witnesses. Now, brothers and sisters, we are not to oversimplify the concept of a witness. And only thing that a witness is the person that testify verbally to the outermost part of the earth that he or she is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and the things that the Lord Jesus Christ did. You see, a disciple is much more than simply just testifying and proclaiming the gospel and speaking of the things that the Lord Jesus Christ did.

But being a disciple or being a witness bearer of the Lord Jesus Christ requires that the person becomes a representative of Christ. That becomes a person that represents Christ with his or her life and with his or her testimony. These people will be later called Christians because they were representatives of Christ. And if they were going to be representatives of Christ, being a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ was much more than proclaiming the gospel, but was becoming like him, becoming like the person of Jesus Christ. And if it's been granted to us for the sake of Christ to believe, It's also been given and granted to us for the sake of the same Lord Jesus Christ, to suffer for his name.

So it was to be conformed, to bear witness of the sufferings of Christ, as Peter will say it in 1 Peter chapter 2, to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that was made real in the disciples of the Church of the Book of Acts. That was the reality of Stephen. His blood was shed as a witness. of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His blood was shed as one that was being like Christ, who was speaking the words of Christ, one who saw Christ standing at the right hand of the Father. That is the concept of being a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was just to be known as a follower of Christ. And by these people we'll know that we are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we love one another. So this is very important, brothers and sisters, because this power of the Spirit of God that is coming upon the believers in Acts chapter 2 was a power to make them witness to the uttermost part of the earth.

But it was not only to give them boldness to speak, but it was also a power to make them like Jesus Christ. So when we see from chapter 2 onwards, we don't only see people who are very bold, in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truths of the gospel that what we see is people that are filled with power to speak the words of Christ and also to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. Power to be the representatives of Christ power to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, the way that we are going to address this fulfillment of this promise in chapter 2, it is by addressing three important things. The fulfillment of the process, the fulfillment of the promise, it is that the power of God will come upon the disciples.

So what I want us to do is address the power of the Spirit of God in the first section is going to be in the day of Pentecost and the things that happened during the day of Pentecost but also I wanted to address the power of the Spirit of God in the first sermon of Peter, this long speech of the Apostle Peter. And finally, what I want us to do and see and meditate upon is this power of God, which is the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people, for His disciples. This power of the Spirit of God that came upon them in the first actions, in the first workings, in the first activities of the church. The chapter is quite long, and there's many details, and I'm going to try to pour into your heart through the preaching of the Word the things that I think I've seen in this chapter, in those three sections. The power of the Word of the Spirit of God in the day of Pentecost, and also the power of the Spirit of God in the first Sermon of Peter, and the power of the Spirit of God in the first activities of the church.

Now, this is super important, brothers and sisters, because I'm going to argue here, and I'm going to submit to you, that the fulfillment of this promise, as we have it in Acts chapter 2, it is the beginning of the last days. That is that the coming of the Holy Spirit in the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ after He had departed and the disciples had been without a Savior and without a Comforter. But when the Comforter or the Helper came upon them, that is the beginning of the last days. Just as in Hebrews chapter 1 it says that long ago and at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, in these last days He has spoken to us. the Church by His Son, that Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter says, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world in chapter 1 verse 20, but He was made manifest in these last times or in these last days for the sake of the Church.

And this which we have here, the coming of the Holy Spirit in power, is the beginning of those last days. May the Lord help us to grasp something from this chapter. Brothers and sisters, let's address the first point. The power of the Spirit of God in the day of Pentecost, as He comes in the day of Pentecost. That is the narrative that goes from verse 1 to verse 13.

And He said to us the time of when this happened, when the day of Pentecost arrived. The day of Pentecost arrived. Pentecost is a Greek word that simply means 50, and that is 50 days after the Passover. This is one of those feasts, the Feast of Weeks, one of the feasts that we are going to study by the will of God and by His grace in Leviticus chapter 23. But because this was a very important feast, We are told in verse 5 that there were many people that were coming or dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

You see, there were many Jews that were scattered, that were in the diaspora, and they were coming to Jerusalem to participate of this feast, this feast of Pentecost, if you want, this feast of weeks. We are going to study that in Leviticus chapter 23, but what I want you to see here not so much is the details of what the feast represents, but rather, I want you to see what actually takes place on that particular day, because the churches gather all together, and we are told that suddenly came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house when they were sitting and they were gathered together. And what happened is that all of these disciples that were there together, they received tongues as a fire. And these tongues rested upon each one of them. And as they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they started to speak in different languages.

They started to speak in different tongues. And the things that they were saying were the mighty glories and workings of the Lord. The sound that came from heaven was so strong and so mighty and so powerful that all of the multitude that were in the city, they came to see what had taken place. And when these people came to see what had taken place, they find this amount of Galileans, this group of Galileans who are speaking in different tongues, and they can hear them in their own languages. Here we have brothers and sisters, Jews that were coming from Gentile lands, coming to the covenant people of God, to the land of God, to participate in one of the feasts that He was given and described in the Word of God.

They were coming to participate, to be partakers of this holy feast. And what they hear is they see a group of Galileans speaking of the mighty workings and the things of God in Gentile languages. People from different places, they hear these people speaking of the mighty works of God, things that were reserved and things that were kept for the wise and for the high, for the person of high reputation, for the one who had studied, for the one who was of high knowledge in Israel. It was now these people that were speaking not only of mighty works of God and not only of high things of God and mysteries of God, but they were speaking those things in languages that were languages of the Gentiles. How are we going to understand this?

What is the meaning of this thing that took place in the day of Pentecost? And brothers and sisters, let me tell you, the people He had given so many different answers to the things that took place on the day of Pentecost. But what I want us to do is just simply see what the Book of Acts says to us about the things that took place. And I want you to pay attention here, because the Book of Acts is going to tell us something very important about the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to His people in the coming in power of the Holy Spirit, a promise that had been given in chapter 1. I want you to go and put your eyes in chapter one in verse five, because in verse five, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to give us more information about this coming of the Holy Spirit.

He's going to give us a little bit of more information about the coming of the Spirit in power. In verse five, he says, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit no many days from now. Not many days from now, the Spirit of God will come upon you. And what the Lord Jesus Christ describes as the coming in power, or you will receive, or you will be clothed in power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, He says in verse 5 that you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days.

from now, and he compares that with the baptism of John the Baptist, saying, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is very important, because here the Lord is comparing this baptism of the Holy Spirit, namely the things that took place on chapter 2, the coming of the Spirit with power, with the baptism of John the Baptist, speaking and saying and using similar words that have been already used in the Gospels. If you can quickly go to Matthew chapter 3 in verse 11 in your Bibles, in Matthew chapter 3 in verse 11, you will see that similar words are used by John the Baptist speaking of his baptism, baptism of water and the baptism that the Jesus Christ, the Lord, will give. He says in Matthew chapter 3 in verse 11, he says, John the Baptist, I baptize you with water for repentance. But he, the Lord Jesus Christ, but he who is coming after me is mightier than me or mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. So now, this baptism of the Holy Spirit that is described in Acts chapter 1 verse 5 by the Lord Jesus Christ as equivalent to the fulfillment of the coming in power by the Holy Spirit in chapter 2, we're given more biblical evidence in Matthew chapter 3 verse 11 that this Jesus Christ, in difference than John the Baptist, He will baptize you. with the Holy Spirit, and now he adds, and fire. So it seems that there is another component or another type of baptism. How are we going to understand this baptism with the Holy Spirit and this fire that is attached to it, it seems.

Well, the Apostle, or better, John is going to give us more information here in verse 12. If you continue reading there in verse 12, you have, he says, he's winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Now, he's given us in verse 12 an illustration of what means, of what represents to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. And now he even gives us some illustration about what fire means, and that is that the chaff will be burned.

with unquenchable fire this baptism of holy spirit and this baptism of fire was a baptism of judgment fire it is unto judgment. But when the Spirit of God came upon the disciples in Acts chapter 2, it was not unto judgment, but rather it was unto approval. Please go back to Acts chapter 2, because there's a very important verse that is going to give us more information about this baptism of the Holy Spirit, of this promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, of sending the Holy Spirit. We know now from Matthew chapter 3 that this is compared with the baptism of John the Baptist, a baptism unto repentance with water, and there is this comparison of the baptism of the Holy Spirit compared with fire. One is to set apart the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the other one is to bring judgment with unquenchable fire.

Go back to Acts chapter 2, and in verse 32, beloved of Christ, there's a very important couple of verses. that from my studies in this chapter, many people just simply pass over and then do not address much. But these two verses are very important that speak about this baptism of Holy Spirit as the promise of the Holy Spirit given to the church. Now, in verse eight of chapter one, we are told that this is the promise of the Father for the church. Pay attention, please, in verse 32, chapter 2.

It says, This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore, after the resurrection, this Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God. And now pay attention. These Jesus who has been raised up and has been exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father. the promise of the Holy Spirit that is Jesus received after his exaltation, seated at the right hand of the Father. After his crowning, because he accomplished the work, he received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.

And he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. The promise of the Spirit was the result of the exaltation, the crowning of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to what we have in verse 32 and 33. He was resurrected, and once He had been resurrected, He was exalted at the right hand of the Father. And having received the promise of the Spirit, He then gave the Spirit, He then poured the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost was the pouring of the Spirit as the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ given.

Now, brothers and sisters, this is very important because the coming of the Spirit upon the people of the Church of God in chapter 2 represents a super important moment in the history of redemption. There is no other moment, of course, compared to this in a similar way in which the Spirit is given to the church. You see, the Spirit of God when is given to the church in this manner is going to become the presence of God in the midst of the people of God. That is going to represent that the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was completely and finally accepted in the throne of heaven, that he was exalted, that he was crowned, and that he's now seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the establishment and the consummation of the kingdom as a manifestation of that, then the Spirit of God has been given. That's why he says that it's good for me to go, because if I go, then I will be able to send, or the Spirit of God, or the Comforter, or the Helper will be sent to you.

the coming down in power from heaven of the Holy Spirit upon the church. It is a crucial moment in the history of redemption that, as every other moment that took place before that, it is vital for the development and the final consummation of our salvation. The Spirit of God will become the seal that the righteousness of Christ was accomplished and given to the church and given to the believer so that the Spirit of God will now dwell in earthen vessels. So now the Spirit of God will come and dwell in the midst of the people of God, awaiting for the consummation and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the final and eternal wedding. That's why Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13 says that in one spirit we have all been baptized into one body.

Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all have been made to drink of the same Spirit. You see, it is this glorious and eternal consummation of the divine union with the church, that through the Spirit and through the baptism of the Spirit, we are all inserted into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, independently of who we are. Jews and Greeks and slaves are free, and we are made the dwelling place of God. This is super important, brothers and sisters, because we are told by the apostle Paul also that We are the temple, that we are now the dwelling place of God. He is going to come and He is going to baptize those who are not in Him with fire.

But when we are baptized in the Spirit, we are found to have the righteousness of Christ, and therefore we are inserted into His body to be eternally the dwelling place of God. That's why there are so many fulfillments and so many comparisons that people try to point here in Acts chapter 2 when it comes to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. You see, in Genesis 11 and 12, many languages were dispersed across the nations and across the different regions of the world in the Tower of Babel. But here, all come to Jerusalem, and all of them here are able to hear and to listen to the marvel and glorious things that God has through his people. Also, the dispersed people of God are now being able to listen.

Those Jews that have been dispersed all across the diaspora now, they are able to come and hear. And when they hear and when they listen, they listen to these glorious and mighty things. in Gentile tongues. It was written in the law that by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners, I will speak to my people. This was a judgment to the Jews that had not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.

This was a judgment for those who had rejected the coroner's tongue, that now God was going to come and speak to these people through Gentile tongues and through Gentile This is, brothers and sisters, the coming in power of God upon the people of God, similar to what happened upon Mount Sinai. Remember when we were studying Exodus, that the Lord came from heaven to be among the people. The coming down was also in the likeness of fire and thunder. Remember that the people didn't want to go up and they said, You, Moses, please, you go and speak to him because we don't want to go there because we will die. You go and speak to him and we will do the things that you say.

The coming of the Lord upon Mount Sinai came to set upon the mount the commandments and the law. But here the words of God given to the people of Israel through Moses, but in Pentecost, The word of the Lord now comes and sets upon the people. Each one of them received tongues of fire that were set upon each one of them, and now they were able to speak the things of the Lord. When in Sinai the Lord came upon the mountain with thunders and fires, and the people were astonished about the things that they were saying, the covenant was given to the people of Israel to establish a dwelling place in which God was going to be made manifest to the people. But now, upon the establishment of a better and new covenant, the presence of God comes to dwell upon not only the church, but each one of the believers.

In the old covenant, God was dwelling in the tabernacle and there in the temple, but then in the new covenant that is established and confirmed by the sealing of the Spirit, Now the presence of God is in the midst of the people and in each one of the believers. In the old covenant, brothers and sisters, the law, the commandments of God were given to the people in tablets of stone. But when in the new covenant that is being fulfilled, accepted, received in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the seal of the Spirit comes upon the people of God. to write the law of the Lord, not in tablets of stone, but in tablets of flesh, to establish them in the heart. This is the betterness of the new covenant, that now the Spirit of God becomes the seal and the warranty.

The inheritance, the eternal inheritance that we have of eternal life, it is given to us and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. That's why Pentecost is so important. The people now were able to utter the things of God in the Old Covenant. The Word of God came to Moses, and then from Moses came to the elders. And in Numbers 11, Moses says that he would desire that everyone would be able to prophesy.

But then in the New Covenant and the coming of the sealing of the Spirit or the coming of the Spirit in power upon the church, now each one of them was able to open their mouth and speak the glorious things of God. This is what the coming of the Spirit in power in the day of Pentecost means. It is that now the Spirit of God is dwelling among the church in each one of the believers. Why? Because a better covenant, an eternal covenant, has been completely established upon the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when He was ascended and crowned at the right hand of the Father, everything came to an end. Everything that was planned by God the Father in eternity past was accomplished. It was seated. waiting for the establishment and the consummation of His kingdom. So He sends, receiving, the promise of the Spirit.

He sends the Spirit upon his people so that the Spirit will be among them, dwelling among the people and bringing them until the end so that consummation will come. But Peter, oh yeah, in his speech here, Peter is going to tell us something even more. It is not all of these things that I have just said, but Peter is going to say something very important. And in his sermon, he's going to tell us that what happened on that particular day is not only the coming of the Spirit of God to dwell among the people of God, but it's also the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. So now I want you to see the power of God in the first sermon of Peter.

I have tried to show you with my limited ability and my limited words the power of the Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost as he came upon the church to dwell in each one of the believers and to make them the temple of God and to seal them as a confirmation of the complete and final word of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I want to show you how for Peter in his first sermon, the day of Pentecost, it is the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. So he's going to tell us in verse 14, after the mocking of all of these people saying these people are drunk, he's going to say they are not drunk. It's only nine o'clock in the morning. It's very early in the day.

They are not drunk. But what you see is what it was uttered, he says in verse 16, what it was uttered through the prophet Joel. Peter now, the one that had been a coward just a few days before that, the one who had been filled with fear, the one who had been running away and not saying the things that he was supposed to say, the coward Peter of like 50 days before this, this Peter now, with the power of the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters, becomes now an interpreter of Old Testament prophecy. He's not even debating in his mind. He's not even questioning in his mind.

He gives the answer. When he hears the mocking from these people saying, these people are drunk, they are filled with new wine. What he comes out of his mouth is saying, these people are not drunk. This is the fulfillment of an old Testament prophecy. And you have to see here the sovereignty and the providence of God who uses this sinful mocking and this questioning of these men of the things that they were seeing, this unbelieving crowd that was questioning the things that were just happening and taking place there.

He uses that sinful question and confrontation to confirm through the lips of Peter that this which was taking place was the fulfillment of a prophecy. And then we're given from verse 17 to verse 20, brothers and sisters, one of those passages that is very, very controversial and that is sometimes difficult to understand. And I'm going to try to explain to you how I interpret this passage here. There are two parts of this prophecy that is given to us. Peter here now is going to, in the power of the Spirit, to confirm that the things that are taking place, it is the fulfillment of a prophecy, and that is the prophecy of the prophet Joel.

And that prophecy is given in verse 17 through verse 20, and it says, And in the last days ye shall be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on My male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I'm going to submit to you, brothers and sisters, that this prophecy is clearly divided in two different parts. Two different parts. One part that goes from verse 17 and verse 18, and another part that goes from verse 19 to verse 20. One, you can see that this is two different parts for a couple of reasons. The first is that the first part of this prophecy is given to God's people, while the second part of the prophecy is given to God's creation.

That is, that the first half of this prophecy are things that are going to take place and happen with people, with God's people. But the second part of the prophecy are things that happen to creation. So then you hear, and I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and it speaks of the people of God who will be able to prophesy and utter the things of God. That is the first part of this prophecy.

But then in verse 19, the prophecy changes, and it's not about the people of God and what they can do, but rather it's going to be about those things that will take place in the creation of God. And I will show my wonders, and I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. These are things that happen to the creation. But also I want you to see that the apostle, of course, the Spirit of God is very clear to put those two portions in kind of like in boxes.

You can see that he closes the first part of the prophecy in verse 17 and 18 with the same statement. He says, and in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy that's how he started saying and i will pour out my spirit on all flesh speaking of people and then he closes that section of the prophecy in verse 18 by saying the same thing the last part of verse 18 says I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy." This is the part of this prophecy that it is for God's people, and the prophecy is that all flesh will be able to speak the words of God. In the Old Covenant, Moses was the one that was able to speak the things of God and the oracles of God, and through those on whom the Spirit of God was given. But now in the New Covenant, when the Spirit of God comes to dwell among the people, and these tongues of fire are set upon the people that are the temple of God, then in this time, the Spirit of God will make them available or able better to speak and prophesy the words of God.

While what you see in verses 19 and 20, it is that this is going to happen for the creation and not necessarily people. Another thing that I want you to see is a clear detail of timing. Here we have clear detail of timing. If you pay attention, it says in verse 16 of the prophecy, it says, But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. He says, this is what was uttered by the prophet Joel.

That is, the things that you are seeing now, the things that you are hearing now, the things that you're witnessing now are the things that were prophesied by the prophet Joel. Joel. And what were the things that these people were seeing? These people were seeing Jews, devout Jews that have came from many nations. And now these Jews that were devout, they were seeing these Galileans who had received the power of the Spirit, and they were prophesying precisely that first part of the prophecy.

But when you go to the second part of the prophecy in verse 19 and 20, that which is related to creation, you can see that we are also given another clue of timing, one other portion of timing in verse 20. Well, let's just read from verse 19. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. When?

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. It was very clear, or it is very clear, at least to me here, brothers and sisters, that the things that were taking place on the day of Pentecost correspond directly to the fulfillment of the first part, that is, that the people, the all flesh, that these Galileans, these low people of society, were now able to speak of the mighty works of God namely, that they were able to prophesy and to speak of these glorious things. All of these visions and dreams and all of these things are means through which the revelation of God then will be given to the early church. This was means of prophecy and revelation of God. But then it's also clear to me that this second part of the prophecy, which now it is attached to another portion of timing, before the day of the Lord, comes.

So what I'm trying to say here, and I know that this might be a little bit difficult and too elaborated, beloved of Christ, but this is something that needs to be addressed. There's two options. You pass it over or just address it. And this is what we're trying to do. And what I'm trying to say here is that there is a double sense to this prophecy, that there is a double meaning to the prophecy.

And this is not going to be foreign or this is not going to be alien to prophecies in the Bible. The Bible always gives us, not always, but many times gives us prophecies that have a double or sometimes triple level of fulfillment. What I'm saying here is that the pouring of the Spirit upon the people of God to prophesy and speak of the things of God, this was an immediate level of fulfillment. But the thing that we're coming after, that which happens to creation, these mighty signs and wonders in creation, that these things were given by the Spirit, of course, is speaking of the last days, the last last days, or as he says there, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And this is not foreign, and this is not something that is not used in Scripture.

I think that the things that are happening in Matthew chapter 24 are very similar in nature. There are things that are said to that generation, and that are going to be fulfilled in that generation, and things that are going to be fulfilled in the last days. And then if you read Revelation chapter 6, I think also there are things that are speaking primarily using similar language of that day before the Lord comes. Now, of course, brothers and sisters, that for Peter and for the people that were there, they were expecting that this was going to take place all at the same time. They were expecting that the coming of the Spirit of God upon them was going to be the means by which all flesh was going to be prophesying and speaking of the things of God, and that it was the coming of the Lord Jesus.

The second coming of the Lord Jesus was at hand. This is what he says in 1 Peter 3, verse 7. The end of all things is at hand. But what I want you to see, beloved of Christ, even through this difficult portion of Scripture, is that what the Lord accomplished by His Spirit was given the people of God now the ability to open their mouth and to speak of the glorious things that were going to come. We have, of course, spoken about this in a different place and explained that this was something given to the church in the early stages of the church for the founding and establishing moment of the church, that when the canon was completed, then this revelation came to an end because now everything that the Lord had to say was now written and given to the church.

But brothers and sisters, the early establishment of the church was through the prophesying and through the edification of the utterance of revelations of normal people and of the mysteries and the glorious things of God. Now, this prophesying, of course, it is primarily, and in the heart, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not to let us just be taken by the desires of sinful men that want to make prophesying just to speak of these mysterious things and things that are going to take place in the future. No, the prophesying, the mysteries of God, are primarily, and in the heart, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the proclamation that this Jesus, whom you have crucified, is the one who came to save us.

And this is the body of the message of Peter. This is the body of the message of Peter. Peter, after he has proved to these people that the things that were taking place was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Joel, he's going to come and he's going to preach the first sermon in the power of the Holy Spirit. And there's many things, brothers and sisters, that we can learn from the sermon of Peter. But just because now time is going and this is going way beyond what I thought that it was going to go.

Let me just simply summarize this last section of this chapter, beloved of Christ, because in this message of Peter, there are so many things that we can learn. He's going to start in verse 22 with his message of preaching the gospel. of preaching the gospel after he has said to these people that this is the fulfillment of a prophecy of the prophet Joel. Now he is going to preach in the spirit a message that is gospel centered. Now remember what was the initial promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, But all the way back in John 16, when he had spoken about the Comforter or the Helper, he said that when He comes, when the Spirit of God comes, when you are baptized by the Spirit Church, when you are immersed in the power of the Spirit, and when you are given the Spirit so that the Spirit of God would dwell among you, when He comes, the Spirit of God will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.

And this is what Peter is going to focus his sermon about. He is going to emphasize with all his might and the ability of his words, one thing, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, but another important thing also, the guilt of those who were listening. or the responsibility, if you want, of the ones that were listening. He was going to say, this Jesus Christ, this Jesus Christ who came to die, he is now resurrected by God. And this is the Jesus Christ whom you He says in verse 22, Men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your myths, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. This is not a nice message to say. He's saying you are murderers. You are the ones that killed not only a human being, but you killed the Messiah of Israel. You see, we have received the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that was upon Moses and that was given to the 70 elders in Numbers 11, and this Spirit that in the Old Covenant was desired that will be upon all people.

The fulfillment of that prophecy has come just now and is in front of you. And all flesh is prophesying and speaking of the glorious things of Jesus and of the Lord and of God, the God of Israel. And this Jesus, the Messiah, you killed by the hands of lawless men. He is resurrected by the power of God. And you are the ones that are responsible for his death.

Peter is emphasizing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the guilt of these people. Not only the resurrection, but the resurrection as it was prophesied by Patriarch David. It says in verse 29, Brothers, I must say to you with confidence about Patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is is with us to this day, being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh seek corruption. Not only the resurrection of the Messiah had taken place, but the resurrection of the Messiah had been already prophesied. This Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, and then he comes with their guilt and with the responsibility again in verse 36 he says, let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.

This Jesus, whom you crucified, whom you crucified. Brothers and sisters, what can we learn from this preaching of Peter? We can learn that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only an abstract message that abides in the air, but it is a message that needs to be applied to the heart of the person. The message is a message that needs to confront the person. It is not that the message is just going to be presented in a way in which the hearer or the audience listens to the message just as an abstract message that is not touching me or that's not anything to do with me.

But rather, the message of the gospel is a message that is applied to the heart of the person. Of course, through the preaching, but primarily through the Spirit of God that is the one that convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness. and judgment. It is when the heart of the person sees the need and the responsibility and the accountability and their guiltiness and their state, the penalty that they deserve, that the heart is cut. That is given to us in verse 37, because the response of this type of preaching to Peter is that when they heard this, they were cut to the heart.

Now, brothers and sisters, Men and women do not have the ability to speak to the heart of people. Men and women do not have the ability to utter words that will go into the heart of a person and cut the heart of that person. It is only the preaching that takes place in the power of the Holy Spirit, as if it was in the case of Peter, the one that has the power to go into the heart of a sinner and convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is the Spirit of God, the one that is able to cut in half the heart, spiritually speaking, of people, so that they might utter, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter, I'm falling into hell.

I'm hell bound. I'm going to pay for the things that we've done. I'm responsible. I'm accountable. What shall we do?

And then when the sinner is pierced in the heart by the power, the convicting power of the Spirit of God through the proclamation of the gospel, then mercy is given unto them and repent and believe. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit of God that has come down from heaven after the Lord Jesus Christ received from the Father so it was poured unto the people as the sealing, as the confirmation of the accomplished, the glorious divine work of redemption, this Spirit that has come down and has been given to these people, this is also promise for all of those who are called by God. Verse 39 says, For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Those who are called by God are the ones that receive of this glorious promise.

This is the preaching that added almost 3,000 souls on this particular day. This is the type of preaching, brothers and sisters, and this is the type of power better that turned the world upside down. This is the type of preaching that made them These people of Jerusalem and these people of Israel, haters of the way. This is the type of power that it was not only in words that were uttered, but rather that was also in the lives that were transformed and that was changed. Because the Spirit and the power that came upon them on the day of Pentecost did not only give them clear and nice utterance in different languages, But more importantly, brothers and sisters, this power, this dwelling of the Holy Spirit in them gave them the power to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said in the beginning, it is the power to be like Christ. That is to be a witness of Christ. It is to be like the person of Jesus Christ, one that is bold to speak the truth of the gospel as it is given in scripture, but the words that come out of his mouth or her mouth correspond to an internal reality transformation. One that is not found to be a hypocrite with empty words uttered and spoken to the ear, but rather that also in the heart is a person that is attached by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, a person that is grown in love and conformity to the Savior. This is the power of the gospel to all of those who believe, to the Jew and to the Greek.

This is the transforming power of the Spirit of God baptizing sinners and making them apart, setting them apart just to be baptized into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 12 verse 12. And this is the workings that we see in the early church, the power of God that was given in the spirit of God that gave them utterance to speak all of these glorious things, the power of the spirit that was upon Peter to speak with boldness and to confirm that this was the accomplishment of the fulfillment of a prophecy of the Old Testament. The same power of the Spirit of God was in the Christians to make them like Jesus Christ. They became lovers of the truth, so they devoted themselves to be in the apostles' teaching, in the apostles' doctrine.

They devoted themselves so they would spend time in fellowship because now the love of Christ was in them. They were devoted not only to the Apostle's teaching and to fellowship, as we are told in verse 42, but also to the breaking of the bread and prayers. They were filled with faith and certainty that the things that the Lord had set for them and to them were going to take place, that their lives were resting upon the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Power to go against the divisions of the flesh and to be united so that the manifestation of love one to the other will be that they will protect and cover and and provide for one another. Power to take and to remove the eyes from the things that are passing away and to set them on things that are above, not only individually but collectively as a church.

Power to proclaim the gospel with boldness and wait on the Lord so that the Lord will continue to add the number of those who will be saved, those who had been appointed unto salvation from eternity past. Power to overcome sin. and to be like the person of Jesus Christ. A power, brothers and sisters, that it was not only given to the Church in Pentecost, but a power that is given to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the ages. We are called by the Apostle Paul to walk in the Spirit.

We are called by the Apostle Paul, to continually set our mind on things that are above and not on things of the earth, to be filled and to produce fruits of the Spirit, the one that confirms, the one that bears witness to our soul that we are heirs with Christ, that we are the children of God, that we can cry out, Abba Father, by the workings of the Holy Spirit in us. the one who has baptized us into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, those who buy grace through faith, even in those in these times, those who have experienced that, they have been baptized by the same spirit in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Power to do all of the things that the early church was doing and power to proclaim the message of the gospel with the boldness, with clarity, with the same concerns of Peter, applying the truth to the heart of people, and always firm and standing firm in the message that only can be preached and that can only obtain or reach the salvation of souls when it comes from the divine places, when it comes from Him through the lips of preachers. May the Lord give us grace, brothers and sisters, to live in this power, the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.