Everyone loves a birthday, at least before you
get 40. We are looking in the Word of God at
the celebration of a birthday. It is the birthday
of the Church, and the record is found in Acts
chapter 2. Would you turn there with me, please?
The church was born on the day of Pentecost by
the coming of the Holy Spirit to personally and
permanently indwell believers. He came to indwell
us so that he might unite us and form us as one
body in Jesus Christ. The day of Pentecost signaled
the beginning of a new age. a new dispensation
or administration of God's redemptive plan. This
epical event was marked by three visible or audible
phenomena. There was the noise of a hurricane
or a tornado, a violent rushing wind out of heaven.
There was not the movement of... the wind and
the air, but there was that noise, frightening
and terrifying perhaps to those outside who heard
it, but it signaled and symbolized the coming
of the Spirit of God for his indwelling ministry.
And then there appeared fire, which distributed
itself as a tongue of flame, as it were, over
the head of each of those disciples. in the upper
room. And then they were given the ability to
speak in languages or in tongues. That these
were human languages is remarkably clear, it
seems to me, in the text. There is the interchange
of the word tongues with the Greek word for dialects
in verses 6 and 8. which makes it clear that
these people who were gathered in Jerusalem from
all over the world heard these disciples speaking
in their native tongues, even though the disciples
had not learned those languages. All of this
happened by God's timetable. It happened on the
day of Pentecost by design. The coming of the
Holy Spirit, as we saw last week, is the fulfillment
of what is typified in the Old Testament Jewish
feast of Pentecost. Jerusalem at that time was
crowded with people, Jews, from all over the
known world where the Jewish people had settled.
Those places are named for us in verses 9, 10,
and 11. The reaction of the multitude varied.
There were those who were astonished, some who
were perplexed and confused. And as a result
of that, they resorted to ridicule and mockery.
They said, these people are drunk. But at least,
at least, what took place in the lives of God's
people on that occasion attracted the attention.
G. Campbell Morgan wrote, The Church's responsibility
is that her members be so spirit -filled that
the Spirit may be able to produce the new phenomena
required to startle this age. The Church has
been far more anxious about emperors and states
and wealth and theologies and organizations.
than about the spirit. It is the church, spirit
-filled, which makes the city amazed, perplexed,
critical. That is the church's opportunity for
preaching. What is the use of Peter preaching
when the world is not amazed? The psychic moment
for preaching comes when the city is amazed,
perplexed, and critical. as the result of the
living testimony of the Spirit -filled Church.
Then upon the astonished ear of the amazed people,
the word will fall as thunder and as benediction,
and results will be produced. Our responsibility
then, says Morgan, is only that of seeing to
it that we are filled with the Spirit. Those
are powerful and convicting words. As we look
at the narrative of chapter 2, we see the drama
building toward a peak. And then Peter seizes
the moment to speak. In verses 14 through 21,
he gives an explanation of what is taking place.
In verses 22 through 36, an exposition of Jesus
Christ. and concludes in verses 37 through 40
with an exhortation for them to repent. Today
we will look at the first section of what he
had to say, the explanation in verses 14 through
21. But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven,
raised his voice and declared to them, Men of
Judea, And all you who live in Jerusalem, let
this be known to you, and give heed to my words.
For these men are not drunk, as you suppose,
for it is only the third hour of the day. But
this is what was spoken of through the prophet
Joel. And it shall be in the last days, God says,
that I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all
mankind, and upon your sons and your daughters.
And your sons and your daughters, rather, shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon
my bond slaves, both men and women, I will in
those days pour forth of my Spirit, and they
shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders in the
sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood
and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be
turned into darkness and the moon into blood
before the great and glorious day of the Lord
shall come. And it shall be that everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
In his explanation of what was taking place,
Peter sets the record straight on what was occurring
in their midst. His explanation... can be separated
into three parts. In verse 14, the introduction.
Verse 15, his contradiction. And then beginning
in verse 16 through 21, his declaration. In his
introduction, Peter takes three actions. First
it says that he took his stand with the eleven.
I think it's significant that the eleven were
there with him. indicating that they were together
in this proclamation that was about to be made.
They were one group. And so while Peter is the
one doing the talking, as we might say he often
did, the eleven are with him in what he is about
to say. Furthermore, it is worthy of note to
see that he took his stand in order to speak.
In doing so, Peter gave an example for how preaching
should be done through this whole age. For there
is a new attitude that is conveyed in his taking
his stand. The rabbis, when they taught, would
sit down. Indeed, that was the posture that the
Lord Jesus took many times when he taught. In
Matthew chapter 5, it says that when he got those
people together, the multitude together for the
Sermon on the Mount, that he sat down to teach
them. That was the custom, you see, for the rabbis.
They would sit down and then would give their
discourse. But now in this age, Peter tells us
by his example that we are to stand up when the
proclamation is made. Now, why is that? Because
in the message that we have to proclaim, there
is a certain authority. There is an authority
that comes from God. There is no tentativeness.
There is not a time for discussion. But there
is a proclamation of what God has said. Now,
of course, we can use methods. of discussion
in small groups, etc., on certain occasions.
But when it comes to the proclamation and the
preaching of God's Word, it seems most appropriate
that one stand up. Because, you see, a herald
would stand when he would give his proclamation.
A herald was one who was sent by the king to
give the message. He stood on the authority of
the king and proclaimed what the king said. And
you see, folks, that's what we are doing in this
age. We are proclaiming what the word of God
in all of its authority has to say. Peter took
his stand. And then he raised his voice. And
well, he might, for he had none of these kinds
of contraptions that I wear today to... magnify
the voice. And he had quite a multitude to speak
to, many thousands of people. As I said last
week, there are some scholars who suppose that
up to 200 ,000 people could fit into the temple
area. And that's where they were at this point.
How many of those thousands were listening, we
do not know. But there was a great multitude.
He lifted his voice. And then it says he declared.
That is the word that we saw in its noun form
in verse 4. There it referred to a weighty utterance,
to an oracle that was about to be delivered.
The point is that Peter is about to lay something
heavy on them. And so with a clear voice, he
articulated this important message. He declared
it. He addresses, the men of Judea and all of
you who live in Jerusalem. Literally, he says,
men, Jews, to get their attention. And of course,
they would be the ones on the Temple Mount, for
no Gentile was permitted there. And he broadened
it to include all of those who live in Jerusalem,
which seems to have included these many, many
people from all parts of the then -known world.
The point that he makes as he says, let this
be known to you and give heed, is this. I have
an explanation for what is perplexing and amazing
you. They had inquired of its meaning, you will
notice, in verse 12. They said, what does this
mean? And so now Peter says, let this be known
to you. Verse 16, he says, this is what was spoken
of through the prophet Joel. And he uses that
same phrase again in verse 33. He says, therefore,
having been exalted to the right hand of God
and having received from the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this,
which you both see and hear. So what Peter is
doing is giving an explanation. of this, this
which perplexed them, this which amazed them,
this coming of the Holy Spirit which they could
not figure out. In his explanation, Peter essentially
tells them two things. Number one, this was prophesied
by your own prophet, Joel, and you should recognize
it. Number two, this... is what Jesus Christ
spoke about. The one that you saw and witnessed,
the one that you crucified, but whom God raised
from the dead and exalted to heaven, this is
what Jesus Christ had spoken about, and therefore
you should know it. The sad part is that on neither
account did they understand what was taking place.
He proceeds to his contradiction in verse 15.
This is not drunkenness, he says. After all,
it's only nine o 'clock in the morning. Charles
Ryrie reminds us that those engaged in exercises
of the synagogue on feast days, or that is, devout
Jews, would fast from food and drink until...
10, 11, or 12 o 'clock in the morning. They should
have known better. These people were not drunk,
for they were all fasting from food and drink
on this feast of Pentecost. But something abnormal
was taking place. They weren't acting like normal
men should act. They were under the power of
something beyond themselves. In their confusion,
the multitude attributed it to drunkenness. The
fact that it reminded the bystanders of drunkenness
reminds us of what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians
5 .18, And be not drunk with what? With wine,
wherein there is excess, there is waste, but
be what? filled with the Holy Spirit. So you
see, even in the mind of the Apostle Paul, there
is an association of some sort with drunkenness
and with being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now,
in the pagan religions of that day, drunkenness
was a part of their orgiastic worship. They would
get themselves drunk to lose control of themselves
and somehow enter into a higher level of consciousness.
That was part of their pagan idolatry. And so
the apostle says to them, don't be drunk with
wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Why is there
this association made? Men take wine, do they
not, to lift their hearts from their cares? to
put some light into their eyes, to produce a
certain euphoria and lift to the spirit. Is that
not why they take wine? Today in our television
sets we see the good life, so -called, of those
who drink. We are led to believe that one cannot
have a party. or a good time, unless there is
some kind of alcohol involved. It is too bad
they do not show the end result of all of that,
where I and some of you have been down on Skid
Row, and we see men who were once family men,
some prosperous, some in their professions as
doctors and lawyers. who today live from one
bottle of cheap wine to the next in their sin
of alcoholism. That is the end result of it.
That's where it leads to debauchery, to waste,
to riot. But initially men take it in order to
lift themselves, in order to deaden their hearts
from the pain that they feel. But that is a false
and temporary lift. It is the Holy Spirit who
produces the genuine lift to the Spirit, who
puts the real sparkle in the eye, who is able
to lift the heart from its care, and who can
produce a real joy within the heart. It is the
Holy Spirit. And so instead of taking wine for
that purpose, we are commanded to be controlled
or dominated by the Holy Spirit. When one is
drunk with wine, it is obvious that there is
a power controlling him outside of himself. When
one is controlled by the Holy Spirit, the same
is true. It is clear that there is more to that
personality than the person himself. but that
the Spirit of God is working in that life. That
is made clear. And so Peter says on this first
day of the church, this birthday, this day of
Pentecost, this is not drunkenness as you suppose,
yet they were under the control of someone else.
It was the Spirit of God. He then, in his declaration
in verses 16 through 21, explains what, in fact,
is taking place to his hearers. He says this
is the work of the Holy Spirit. And as his proof,
he quotes from the prophet Joel in the Old Testament.
From the second chapter, as we divided in our
English Bibles, verses 28 through 32. Notice
that he says, this is what was spoken of through
the prophet Joel. I mention this in passing because
Peter does not say here that Joel was the originator
or the source of what he said. But he was merely
the channel. He was the instrument by whom the
words came. In other words, this is a strong
statement. and affirmation of the inspiration
of Joel's writing. Essentially what Peter is
saying is that Joel was but the mouthpiece of
the Holy Spirit. And so it is with all of Scripture,
for all Scripture is inspired by God. It is God
-breathed. The content of Joel's prophecy was
regarding the coming of the Spirit. And that's
what they were seeing. The beginning of the fulfillment
of Joel's prophecy was taking place right in
their midst. Now that prophecy included several
elements. It included first a time, and we see
that in verse 17. It shall be in the last days.
That is the time element. What is meant by the
last days? That is a phrase that seems to embrace,
in this context as well as in some others, this
whole age. Not just a few days as we number them
in 24 -hour periods, but it is a phrase which
seems to describe this whole age, the age of
the Messiah. The age between his first and second
advents. The writer of Hebrews uses the same
phrase in the same way. He says, God has spoken
in these last days by his Son. In other words,
in this age, we have the fullness of all God
wants to say. We have the completion of his revelation.
in his son, in these last days. He applies it
there to this whole period in which we live.
Its start, that is this age, its start was signaled
by Israel's rejection of her Messiah and her
resultant destruction as a political power and
the scattering, the diaspora. of the Jewish people.
That characterizes this age. The Jews scattered
and without a political base. You say, but wait
a minute, we have Jews who have a political base
in our day. Indeed we do. And there are many
of us who believe that that is a strong signal
that this age is just about over. We are coming
down to the closing days of the last He proceeds
then to give us a description of what these days
would be like. And he says that they would begin
with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It shall
be in the last days, God says, that I will pour
forth of my Spirit. And so it begins with the
outpouring of the Spirit. Not that the Spirit
was not here before. He was here in the Old Testament.
He was here in the days of Joel. It was he who
enabled Joel, who bore Joel along so that what
he wrote was the very words of God. But the Spirit
is being poured forth in a new dimension at this
time upon all mankind. Your sons, your daughters
shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions.
Your old men shall dream dreams. Fellows, do
you see visions or have dreams? Tell me, which
is it? That tells your age, doesn't it? Upon
my bond slaves, men and women, I will in those
days pour forth of my Spirit. And so that this
age... These last days will be initiated by the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all mankind.
Notice that, all mankind. Not just Jews, but
Gentiles as well. Everyone, all mankind. And
then all classes of people, despite gender. It
says men and women. That was hard for the Jews
to accept. Did you know the Pharisees had a prayer
that went something like this? Oh God, I thank
thee that I am not a Gentile. I am not a slave.
I am not a woman. That was their attitude toward
women in ancient Israel. They did not count as
people. And that is why even in the counting
of multitudes, it so often says, there were so
many men. Why do you count women? That was the
Jewish thinking. But now in this age, things
are different. Women are elevated to the place
of men. I will pour forth of my Spirit upon men
and women. Despite age, the Spirit is poured
forth, whether young or old. Irregardless of
social position, the Spirit was poured out upon
God's people, whether they were bond slaves or
free men and women. Irregardless of their social
status, the Spirit was poured forth. The result
of that was prophecy, visions, and dreams. In
other words, the beginning of this age in which
we live was characterized by an unusual imparting
of additional special revelation. That's what
the prophecy, dreams, and visions refer to. It
refers to that burst of revelation that was given
when the church was begun in the foundation days
of the church. The Spirit was poured forth, and
the immediate yet temporary result was prophecy,
visions, dreams, by which God gave additional
special revelation. The question is, and it's
still argued today, should that continue? Should
there still today be special revelation given
from God? The fact is that historically it did
not continue. Argue as you will about today,
historically it ceased. And it ceased in the
days of the apostles. In the foundation days
of the church, revelation was completed. I don't
care what people claim to have received today.
God is not today giving revelation as he did
then. That was a part of the initial outpouring
of the Spirit which began this age. Now notice
in verse 19 there is an abrupt change. From the
pouring out of the Spirit upon mankind, he turns
his eyes to heaven and God says, I will grant
wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth
beneath, blood and fire. vapor of smoke, the
sun will be turned to darkness, the moon into
blood. What is all of this about? Did that happen
on the day of Pentecost? No, it did not. Because,
you see, this prophecy not only describes the
beginning of this age, but it describes its conclusion
as well, these wonders and signs. They are a
part of the end of this age, these last... days
when there will be signs in the heavens and on
the earth beneath. Great wonders will be accomplished.
If you want to read more in detail about them,
go to the book of Revelation beginning in chapter
6 and just follow through a few chapters there.
And you will see sign upon sign and wonder upon
wonder which will occur at the conclusion of
this age in that period of time that we call
the tribulation. Jesus also spoke about this
in very similar language to Joel in Matthew 24,
29, and again refers to the tribulation. And
notice that Joel times it properly. He says,
these wonders will occur before the great and
glorious day of the Lord shall come. Those of
you who are Bible students recognize immediately
that phrase, the day of the Lord. That is an
apocalyptic phrase. It is a prophetic kind of
phrase. And it is found through the Old Testament
prophets. The day of the Lord would come. And
that day involved both judgment and glory. The
day of the Lord will begin in the day of the
tribulation. And it will culminate with the second
coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. In his return
from heaven through the clouds to the Mount of
Olives where his feet will rest. That is the
great and glorious day of the Lord. And it includes
his reign of a thousand years. which follows
it. And so in the prophecy of Joel, we see the
beginning of this age, the beginning when the
Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh. And
we see the conclusion of this age, when signs
and wonders would be performed by God in the
heavens and on the earth before the great and
glorious day of the Lord. And then in verse 21,
We see a third part of Peter's declaration as
he explains what is taking place. This too from
Joel. And it shall be that everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now in
the context here, it refers obviously to those
days when the signs and the wonders will be taking
place. But it's a verse as well that applies
to the message for this whole age. Do you see
that the 1900 plus years of this age fit into
that little white space between verses 18 and
19? Do you see it there? There's 1900 years right
there. Plus. And the message that we have the
joy of proclaiming throughout this age is the
one found in verse 21. The message, the universal
message of salvation. That is universal in three
aspects. It is universal in its offer. It says,
everyone who calls shall be saved. Everyone,
whether man or woman, bond or free, Jew or Gentile,
everyone who calls will be saved. It is a universal
offer. It applies to anyone here today who has
never trusted Jesus Christ. You are not outside
the possibility of salvation. For this offer
that God himself gives is an offer that applies
to you right where you're sitting. If you today
will call upon him, you will be saved. And then
it's universal in a second aspect, in its condition.
It says, everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord. Anyone hearing the gospel may do that.
One does not have to do certain things. One does
not have to have a certain background. One does
not have to perform certain rituals in addition.
All we have to do is to meet this one condition,
to call on the name of the Lord. What does that
mean? Does it mean to pray to Him? Sort of, but
more than that. For there are many people who
call upon Him in prayer who don't really call
upon Him for salvation. To call upon Him means
to appeal your case to Him. To recognize yourself
as a sinner who is under the just judgment of
a holy God. But to recognize that God in His
love for you has offered a substitute on your
behalf. One who died on a cross for your sins
and mine and who was raised from the dead. And
instead of being judged by God as we deserve,
we may today appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ
and call upon Him for salvation. And when we
do that, we're saved. Have you met that condition?
Have you appealed? your situation to Him who
loves you and died for you, who lives for you.
You say, well, I've been a church member all
of my life. I'm not talking about being a church
member. I'm not talking about being baptized.
I'm talking about a heart transaction of faith
where you recognize your own bankruptcy and helplessness
before God and call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus. There is a third aspect which is universal,
and that is the promise. It's a universal offer,
universal condition, and a universal promise.
And that is that everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. That's the promise.
And I remind you that God is the God who cannot
lie. Say, how do I know that he will save me?
Because he promised he would. And God is not
like man. Let every man be a liar, but God is
true. God cannot lie. And that is his promise
to you. You say, why isn't the church age itself
spoken about here? Why is it in between verses
18 and 19? If you think about it, you'll find
the answer yourself. It's because the... Truth
of the church was not revealed yet at this point.
The Bible is progressive revelation. And to this
point, that truth has not been revealed that
there even would be a church, except in one little
word that Jesus gave in Matthew 16, upon this
rock I will build my church. Beyond that, there
was nothing said about it to this point in Acts
chapter 2. However, it may have been. We do not
know, and I would not proclaim this as truth,
but it's a possibility that the man through whom
that doctrine would come, the Apostle Paul, was
somewhere around in Jerusalem on this day. Certainly
a little bit later, when Stephen is put to death,
he was there. And though Luke does not mention
it, and as far as I know, no writings, ancient
writings mention it, it is possible that Saul
of Tarsus was there on this day, on the birthday
of the church. At that point, he would have been
a great antagonist of what was taking place.
But it was he whom the grace of God would sovereignly
change and would make the greatest proclaimer.
of the truth of the Church in this whole age.
There are several observations and applications
I would make briefly in closing. Number one,
the Jews were expected to have recognized these
phenomena and to respond to them positively,
but most did not. Because their hearts We're
cold. And the question that I ask myself and
I ask you is this. Do we today respond to the
work of the Spirit of God in our own midst? Or
like those Jews of old, are our hearts cold toward
His working? Not to respond places one in a dangerous
position. For the Jews, as a nation, it meant
their destruction and their dispersion for this
whole age. And for us today, as God's people
indwelt by His Spirit, it is a dangerous thing
for us as well not to respond to the work of
God's Spirit. Whether he is working in our lives
or in the lives of those around us, if we are
cold and hard -hearted toward that, then we place
ourselves in danger of chastisement and his judgment.
I exhort all of us today to be responsive to
the Holy Spirit and be not like those ancient
Jews. Second observation. We must learn to interpret
religious events in the light of God's Word.
That is, to allow it to direct our understanding
of the unusual around us. Let us remember that
the Word of God is the final interpreter in all
things. Not reason, not experience, not expediency.
The Word of God is the final interpreter. So
when there is something that occurs around us
that we do not understand, which perplexes us
or amazes us, before we jump to any conclusions,
let's go to the Word of God and let it be an
interpreter of those events that we see. That
was what Peter did on the day of Pentecost. He
let the Word of God and Joel 2 interpret what
was taking place. Number three. Consider your
privilege to be born in this age, the age of
the Spirit. Think of it. You are in an exalted
place of privilege that no people in the history
of the world until these last days has enjoyed.
For God has chosen to pour out His Spirit from
heaven, not just into the world, not just to
influence you, but to indwell you so that today
you are the vessel of God. You are indwelt by
His Spirit. And His Spirit is today active in
your life if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.
He is teaching you. He is guiding you. He is
leading you. He is encouraging you. He is sealing
you. He is empowering you. Think of the privilege
that you have. Consider that. Think of the wealth
spiritually that you enjoy that none of the ancient
Jews enjoyed. Abraham did not enjoy it. Noah,
though he walked with God in his generation,
did not know the exalted privileges that you
have because God has placed you in your lifetime
into this age of the Spirit, this age of Pentecost.
Are you living up then to those privileges? Do
you heed the Spirit's direction? Do you listen
to His teaching? Do you appropriate His power
within you? Are we not, of all people in the
history of the world, most miserable and wretched,
having the privileges that we have, if we fail
then to use those privileges? Could the judgment
upon Capernaum, upon Solomon Gomorrah, upon the
ancient world before the flood be any worse than
what we would deserve? Having the glorious privileges
that we have if we fail to use them? Not that
we will have those judgments, but what a pitiful
people we would be to be so blessed by God and
to live small, wrinkled. useless lives. Number
four, does your life startle anyone? Do you stimulate
anybody to ask questions about your faith? Is
there anything about you that perplexes or amazes
anyone? Do you ever provoke ridicule or mockery?
It seems hard to believe that any of us could
live godly in Christ Jesus and avoid that. In
such a day, in such an age, in such a generation,
perverse and darkened as it is, if we somehow
can avoid amazing and perplexing and even...
bringing ridicule upon ourselves, and somewhere
we are missing the boat because a people, a church,
that is filled with the Spirit of God will startle
its age. We have been called of God to make a
difference in this generation. By the grace of
God, let's do it. Heavenly Father, I pray today.
that by your Spirit you will work in our minds
and our hearts, our wills, so that whatever you
have said to us individually, we will now have
the grace, the faith, the obedience to respond
to properly. Lord, as we close this service,
I pray that we will see ourselves as you've called
us to be in this age of the Spirit, the channels
of your working. And if in our pride we see ourselves
as something more than that, humble us. And if
in some false sense of humility we see ourselves
less than that, rebuke us. And if there be some
sin or disobedience in our lives that hinders
us from being that, bring us to repentance. Make
us your channels of blessing, I pray. Would you
sing with me?