Um, today we're going to move on in to Acts chapter two. We're going to be in 14 verses, 14 through 21 and this is the first part of Peter explaining what just happened. You see the Holy Spirit has come, and everyone is speaking in tongues that you know that each one can understand each in his own language. And everybody's wondering what on earth is happening? And Peter is going to draw them back in as as Jews, and remind them, hey, Jewish people, remember what Joel said the prophet Joel, yeah, this is what's happening. And so that's where we are today. So if you'll turn in your Bible to Acts chapter two, we're going to be in verses 14 through 21 and will you stand with me as we honor God by the reading of His Holy Word. But Peter, standing with the 11, lifted his voice and addressed the address them, men of Judah, 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, it 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 heaven above and signs on earth below, blood and fire and vapor, smoke and 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 on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Father God, let that ring true today, that your truth, your promises, are coming true even as we speak now, Speak to our hearts, for it's in Christ's name. I pray Amen. Well, the big idea that I have for you this morning that if you don't get anything out of this message, surely you will understand this and be able to take it home and it, let it resonate with you. But the big idea is here we are in Acts. Chapter Two, Jesus had finished the work of redemption, and nothing more had to be done except to share the good news with the world, beginning with the nation of Israel. Jesus had died, was buried, He rose again, therefore completing the process of redemption. And so now we, just like the disciples in Acts two, have a job to do, and that is to share the Good News of the Gospel with the world. And so there are two questions that arise from our reading today, especially in the Jewish mind, the Jewish audience, the 120 ish people that were gathered there, this is the questions that would have popped up into their mind as to what just transpired with hearing these different people talk in different languages that they normally don't talk in, speaking in tongues, what's what's going on? So number one is, well, what is the promise? Peter? Remind us, what was the promise? So Peter says this promise is a fulfillment of Joel, chapter two, verses, 28 to 30 through 32 spoken about 800 years before Jesus was even born, the prophet Joel came and said, This is what's going to happen once the redemption process has been complete, when the spirit comes. And so when we look in in verse two, chapter two, verse 14, we see this character come on the scene once again by the name of Peter. He was one of the 12 disciples, probably Jesus's front runner, the most outspoken in. We see Peter, and by the power of the Spirit, this man, Peter, don't miss this church. This same man who had denied Jesus three times before now preaches boldly before the crowd. Let me tell you something. It doesn't matter where you've been, it doesn't matter what you've done. When you let Jesus take care of the sin in your life, he can use you for His glory and change the world. Peter denied Jesus three times. One of the worst things you can do to the Messiah outside of crucifying him that the other Jewish people did. Peter, his closest and most loyal follower, denied him three times, but now he stands before a crowd and preaches Christ crucified and the Holy Spirit coming. And so what Peter is doing here is he is emphasizing that he and the others they have witnessed Jesus's saving, death and resurrection. He's I've seen it with my own eyes. I can testify the man was dead and now he's alive. And so he argues to the to these Jewish people, that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, what it does is it testifies that the last days have now arrived, the days that Joel was talking about leading up to a time of judgment. You see, they expected Jesus to return pretty instantaneously, and here we are, 2000 years later, and Jesus hasn't returned. No surprise to God, he's the only one that knows when Jesus is going to return, but the disciples thought that he was going to return shortly, but, but Peter immediately. It sparks with him when the Holy Spirit comes and causes these people to speak in tongues. He remembers what the Old Testament prophecy from Joel said, how good is your Bible knowledge that when when you look around and you see things in this world transpiring, can you look and say, well, that's biblical prophecy being fulfilled, or is it just something that's happening? Peter was able to recall because he was trained by his parents and teachers in the Word of God, parents, grandparents, you got a job to do. We can't let these children and even ourselves slip through the cracks and not learn what the Word of God says. And so, in line with the early church's mission as articulated in the book of Acts. We see all throughout the book of Acts. This is the church's mission. Peter preaches the good news of Jesus as the true king who fulfills the Old Testament, promises and and that Jesus is the hope of Israel and all nations. He says, Remember what the Prophet said it's, it's happening. So, so what's, what's the promise? The promise is that Jesus is going to come, a Messiah is going to come, and the gift of the Holy Spirit is going to be given to us. And so in verse 16, it talks about with when he quotes Joel verses, chapter 228, through 32 and this is what it says to explain the events of Pentecost. This is what Joel said, 800 years before Jesus was born. This is what he said. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions, even on the male and female servants. In those days, I will pour out my spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. And before the great and awesome day, the Lord comes. And then verse 3232 he says. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, for in mount Zion and Jerusalem, there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls 800 years before. And now the evidence is happening. You see, God is a God who remembers his promises, and when he talks about the last days in verse 17, this phrase is a stark reminder that that God's purposes of making all things right on earth will be fulfilled. Church, family, we, we've, we've been in the last days. Faith since Jesus left, because Scripture teaches us that that he could come in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye like a thief in the night, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. And yeah, it's been 2000 years, but that's not a surprise to God. But he can, he can send his son back at any moment. And so we've got to realistically understand that the these promises that God has said are real. So let's look at four important promises that that we just cannot forget. Okay, these are, these are foundational to the Christian faith. Number one, we don't need to forget the Messiah's victory. Jesus conquered the grave and is alive today. If you go to any other prophet or false God's grave, their bones are still in there. I've been to the tomb. I've been to both places that they argue. Where was Jesus's tomb? And you know what? It doesn't matter which one was his tomb. He's not there, neither one. So whether it's outside the guard walls or where some of the Orthodox Christians think that it's inside the walls. His bones aren't in either place. He's risen. He's alive. So let's not forget the Messiah's victory. Number two, let's not forget the necessity for each and every one of us to repent. We have got to turn from our sins repent. Means you're heading in this direction with sin, and apart from God, you gotta make a 180 and go back to him, letting Jesus be the person that lead, guides and directs you and forgives you for the sin in your life. Every single person has to repent do a 180 Lord, I know that I've messed up, and even the smallest mess up separates me from you, even the smallest you know you can live 150 years and do nothing wrong, but talk bad about someone just one time, that's sin, and God cannot look on that, even that one little mishap in 150 years. Well, I'm 39 years old, and I'm pretty sure I have 39 million or trillion sins. But you know what Jesus paid for every single one of those, because I put my trust in Him, and He can do the same for you, but it's necessary for everyone to repent. Number three, we cannot forget the judgment of all every single person. Scripture tells us every person will come before the throne of judgment, and it says that he will separate the sheep from the goats and to the sheeps, he will say, Well done, my good and faithful servant, meaning you have trusted in Jesus. And God does not look on you through the lens of sin. God looks at you through the lens of Jesus, but to the goats, the people that are apart from God, the Father, who never trusted in Jesus as their Savior, He looks at them and he says, Depart from me. I never knew you because there, there's a block between you and God, and it's the sin in your life. Jesus is the only one that can remove that block, and all you have to do is ask for it. Jesus, forgive me. I make you the Lord and Savior of my life. Choose, choose to follow you, and it's done. You truly mean that he gives you redemption. But everyone will be faced, will face the judgment. And lastly, number four, let's not forget the time when God will establish His kingdom over all the earth. We see, we see this written in the prophets, Isaiah, two, two. Joel talks about it. Here the verses that we just read. Daniel 228 talks about it. But these are four important promises that we cannot forget. And when God makes a promise, He makes good on it. And we've already seen two of those come to fruition. Jesus's victory and the necessary, the necessity for people to repent. And so what are you going to do with Jesus knowing that God's promises are true? What will you do with the evidence before you that Jesus is your Lord, can be your Lord and Savior? Will you confess Him as Lord and Savior? Or will you say, I. I'm not going to trust the process. So, in summary, the the events of Pentecost that we're that we saw early on in chapter, two people speaking in tongues. What what they do is they demonstrate to to the Jewish audience, to the Jews that are reading this. That's that witness this it, it demonstrates to them that the promises made to them are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in Christ alone, they are fulfilled the One True Messiah. No one else is the Messiah but Jesus. And that all the last days has actually begun when Jesus conquered death and sent the Holy Spirit. And he says, verse 17, also he says, I will pour out my spirit. So in the book of Joel that we read earlier, God's full and final restoration of his people, when God restores his people, the the full and final restoration involves the inner transfer of His Spirit. Joel says in verses 28 and 29 but I love this quote by J S Baxter, when it when he talks about the Holy Spirit filling us when we confess Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes in us and and enables us to be who God has created us to be those witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I love what Baxter says. Don't miss this. What God chooses. He cleanses, what God cleanses. He molds, what God molds he feels, and what God feels he uses. So look at that process. We are dirty, messed up. We've turned our lives away from God, but God chooses to cleanse us, and what he chooses He cleanses. And what God cleanses, he molds, so he's molding us into who he needs us to be for His kingdom. And what God molds, he feels. You ever mold a piece of pottery? You ever watch a potter mold a coffee mug or something. What they when they do it correctly, and they fill it with coffee, it's filled, and it holds and it does the job, and what God feels he uses. So God will use you. You've just got to be willing to be filled, molded and cleansed. In verse 18, he talks about slaves, and he, he says, you know, let me read the let me read verse 18 for you real quick. It says, even on my male and female servants in those days, I'm talking about the the servants being slave in those days, I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy. See, saying there, he's saying it didn't matter who you are. Everyone will get to verse 21 in here a minute, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And I he will use everyone the Spirit's ministry and and the gifts that he that he gives to the believers, they're not they're not restricted by social status. They're not restricted by how much money you have or don't have, or how good looking you are, or how not good looking you are, what size house you have, or whether you have a house. It's not restricted by that God doesn't look at your material things and decide to give you anything, he looks at you, and He bestows those gifts on you as the believer. Once upon a time, AJ Gordon, he was the founder of Gordon Cromwell Divinity School. He He told of being out walking and looking across the field this house and and there beside this house was what looked like a man, old timey, pump well pump, pumping water out of the ground. And as he watched, the man continued to pump and pump and pump for a long time and and he seemed absolutely tired, like he wasn't giving up. He wasn't slowing down. He he had all this energy in his, in his, in his, in his life, and so pumping up and down and up and down without ever slowing in the slightest. And Gordon said it was, it was a truly a remarkable sight that this man was able to pump that much water. So so he started walking toward the man and and as he got closer, he could see that it wasn't a man pumping the water, after all, but it was a wooden figure painted to look like a man and the arm that was. Pumping so rapidly that he was impressed with was actually hinged at the elbow and at the hand well, and the hand was wired to the pump, and the water that was pouring out was actually an artesian well, a natural spring. But you see the figure was not pumping the water. The water was pumping the man. When you see a man who is at work for God and producing results, here's what you do see somebody that is so fixated with their life on God and and giving God their all, what you have to do is recognize that it is the Holy Spirit working through him, Not the man's efforts, that are giving the results. Don't ever think that your deacons, your pastor, or any other believer is producing the results. You know, one day we're going to see countless people baptized and come to faith in Christ in this community. And I can't wait for the day, but it's not because of anything that I have done, or you have done, or the deacons have done. It's what God has done through the power of His Holy Spirit, and that we were faithful in following him. We're not making people come to faith in Christ. We're just the vessel that God chooses to use and so all he has to do, all you have to do is keep your hand on the handle and watch him fill and go. Then we get to verses 19 and 20. And these verses have, I will cause wonders in heaven above the sun will be changed to darkness. This has nothing to do with the blood moon that you saw the other night, okay, the lunar eclipse. Okay, you know that was cool and everything. And you know that some people may argue that, you know that's end time, prophecies and all of that. Okay, good. But in the original context, Peter quoting Joel, what Joel is talking about in Joel chapter two, verses 28 to 32 is not end time prophecies, but he's actually referring and reflecting to the plagues that took place in Egypt. The fire he mentioned here is also the the fire from Acts chapter two, three and so. So though these descriptions originally referred to to the Exodus plagues, this language is also used by the prophets to describe the the signs of God's coming judgment. So although the Blood Moon was a pretty thing to look at and everything, it's not a oh, here comes Jesus in 24 hours and three minutes and 16 seconds get ready. I think God uses that to remind us that there is a judgment coming. And so when, when you see these things happening, when you see the lunar eclipse and things that are synonymous with what Joel is writing here. It doesn't mean that those things are about to happen in a specific amount of time that people can calculate. I think God is saying, hey, remember, remember Christians, you have a job to do to reach as many people with the gospel before the day of judgment comes and and if you are not a Christian, let this be a reminder of God's promise. And so in summary, Peter is reminding them that God's promises always come true, always so be ready. Lastly, number two, the Jewish people would have asked, well, what's the purpose, the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming the tongues and all of that? Well, this is an answer to Acts one eight. You remember several weeks ago we were in Acts one, got to Verse eight, and Verse eight says, but you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So, so this is a response to that verse, like the Holy Spirit has come on you now you go and be my witnesses in these locations. And so, church, Jesus is now in heaven, the Holy Spirit is now empowering the followers, the Christians, to do the work. The power of the Holy Spirit helps men and women believers carry out the Great Commission. And remember the great commission in Matthew 20. 819, and 20, Jesus said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and I am with you always, even into the end of the age. And so the power of the Holy Spirit helps us carry out that and remind us that Jesus is with us every step of the way, every knock, every door, every road that we travel on, the Holy Spirit is with us, empowering us to get the job done, to fulfill the purpose. And so he's saying as you go, remember 800 years before Jesus, God spoke through Joel to tell the people that a day is coming where everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Wouldn't that be incredible to see in our lifetime that everyone calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. But that's not necessarily what this means that once everyone calls on the name of the Lord, He's saying that the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of Jesus is so powerful that everyone who does call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And there's a Calvinist dogma creeping into our churches that would say, Yes, we love this verse, everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved. But the back story is that the Calvinist, or the Reformed faith, is realistically saying in this verse, when they interpret it, they're saying, everyone who God has elected will call on the name of the Lord and be saved. There. There are several. There are three different passages in Scripture that use the terminology, whosoever will, whoever calls on the name of the Lord, whoever, whoever, whoever, nowhere, does it say, whoever God has elected and calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Calvinist agenda theology is wrong to the nth degree. Now you have, you have a spectrum of Calvinism where you've got some that would just kind of say, Yeah, God elects people. We don't know who that is, so we still have to evangelize, okay? But then you've got the hyper Calvinist who will say, Well, God's already chosen anybody. What's the point in us doing any kind of evangelism? There's nothing healthy anywhere in that spectrum. Nothing is healthy. Nothing is biblical in that spectrum, because the three verses that I read, and we'll get to one in in Acts, chapter 10 in a few weeks, it says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Not everyone who God is elected, not everyone who may do good things, not everyone whose grandmother went to church, but only the people who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so I think a good thing to think about here is God's will. You see Calvinists talk of the father only drawing certain people, only electing certain people to be saved. But it's God's will that all men be saved, that all women be saved, that all humanity be saved. And it and it comes to the knowledge of the truth. First, Timothy two four says this, God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Do you know what happened when I clicked on in my Bible software, when I clicked on that word all to see what it meant in the original Greek, the word all in the original Greek means all. It means everyone, literally everyone. You can also say the whole W, H, O, L, E, but, but it's God's will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. Therefore, when, when Joel writes in Joel chapter two, and and Peter quotes him in Acts chapter two, specifically verse 2021, everyone who calls the name of the Lord shall be saved the word everyone. When I clicked on it to look at the original Greek for the word everyone, it was the same Greek letters for the word all. So do you know what the word everyone means? Greek, everyone, you're good. So proud of you, so proud of you. I'm going to go for another hour now. Everyone, literally means everyone. Everyone, the same exact Greek word for all, everyone, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Period. We don't read into anything that's not there contextually. We don't add stuff to Scripture, but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So as I conclude this morning, I want you to know, you know, Jesus did not tell people to try to speak in tongues nor seek the Holy Spirit. He didn't say that. He told them to seek for power. Speaking in tongues is just an overflow of the Spirit in your life. It brings a deep reverence for God. But this promise is for all people. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for all people. You put your faith in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and receive the Holy Spirit. There's nothing to do with speaking in tongues. It's the enabler to help you accomplish the mission. It's what the Holy Spirit is. This promise is for all people. It's for all churches. And all our church has a job. All a, l, l, everyone has a job in our church to partner with other churches in reaching everyone period, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age, you have a job to do. I have a job to do. We all, everyone has a job. You