Power in People is Part of the Plan!
- This is a PREVIEW: Enjoy a taste of what's coming! (Acts 2:16-18)
- This is a PROMISE : God will keep his word on judgement, too! (Acts 2:19-20)
- This is a PROVOCATION : You have to do something about this! (Acts 2:21)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above with your cursor for answers!
-
00:00-00:04
You turn in your Bibles with me, please, to Acts, the book of Acts, chapter 2.
00:05-00:07
And while you're turning there, let me pray.
00:08-00:19
Father in Heaven, we're going to continue in worship now as we have worshipped you in spirit and with our emotions and in music.
00:19-00:29
And we have worshipped you with giving back to you that which you gave to us so that we might use these things for ministry to advance your kingdom.
00:29-00:38
Father, just now we're going to continue in worship, worshiping you with our minds as we dive into your word.
00:39-00:50
And I pray father, the presence of your Holy spirit would give us understanding of your word because we can't, our natural minds, uh, discern these things.
00:53-00:58
So as I, Just share what the page says.
01:00-01:07
Let your Holy Spirit communicate in the hearts of the hearers what you want to communicate to them.
01:10-01:15
Father, we live in a day where we have a very little attention span.
01:17-01:24
I pray against any distractions, against minds wandering.
01:25-01:40
Father, I pray that we would consider this an act of worship, that we are engaging our minds with your Word, allowing you to transform us as we know you in a deeper way through what your Word teaches.
01:42-01:44
Father, again, glorify your name.
01:45-01:47
I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
01:49-02:03
So Acts chapter 2, we're going to be picking up in verse 14, and in this passage, this is actually part 1 of 3, we're going to be looking over the next three times that I speak, we're going to be looking at the first ever Christian sermon.
02:04-02:14
This is the first sermon, Holy Spirit filled sermon delivered after the Holy Spirit came in Pentecost that we talked about last week.
02:14-02:17
And I wanted to share a word with you about preaching.
02:18-02:22
Because you know, at Harvest Bible Chapel, we are pretty serious about preaching.
02:23-02:24
That's actually our first pillar.
02:24-02:29
We proclaim the authority of God's word without apology.
02:30-02:36
So every week when we get up here and say, "This is what God says," we're not apologizing for that.
02:37-02:54
God's not apologizing for his word, so we're not going to get up and say, "Well, this is what it says, and I'm sorry if you don't like that, and let me sugarcoat it for you." And, you know, God's pretty serious about His Word, and we are serious about proclaiming His Word.
02:56-03:09
But, you know, this preaching thing, it's a funny thing, because the Bible says that what I do for a living is foolishness.
03:10-03:11
Think about that.
03:12-03:15
Think about what you do for a living. What do you spend your time doing all week?
03:16-03:30
Think about the place where you go to work, and imagine if somebody came up to you and says, "Hey, you know what you do for a living?" "Well, God says it's foolishness." You're like, "What are you talking about?" But the Bible actually says that what I do for a living is foolishness.
03:31-04:01
First Corinthians 121 says, "For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly or the foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe. And I gotta tell you, it's not lost on me every week. You know, I've been a pastor now for like 19 years or something like that, and it's never lost on me how foolish what we're about to do really is.
04:01-06:29
I'm just a regular guy from a redneck town that has a name. I'm just a guy and I stand up and I say this is what the Almighty Sovereign Holy God of the universe has said. Doesn't that sound like foolishness? It is. God says that's exactly what I'm going to use to glorify my name. But I'd also like to remind you of something else the Bible teaches you know this year at Harvest Bible Chapel we're talking about how Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come and we would receive power in order to be Christ's witnesses so we're talking about power this year and when you study God's power in Scripture you know you know what the Bible calls the power of God obviously Jesus said the Holy Spirit is God's power and the Bible says that Jesus himself is the power of God but do you know there's only one other thing in the Bible called the power of God and it has nothing to do concerning his creative works or his sovereignty or or his brilliance those things are all tied to his power but the only other thing that the Bible actually calls the power of God you know what it is it's the gospel of Jesus Christ Paul says in Romans 1 I am NOT ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God the gospel is the power of God and I'd like to remind you foolishness of preaching for you if you ever want to unleash the power of God on someone you ever want to do that like man there's this guy at work that I would just like to unleash the power of God on that guy you have a guy like that at work here's how you do it you share the gospel with them because the gospel is the power of God so yes preaching is foolishness and I get that what I do for living is foolish but it was God's idea and Peter in this passage gives the first ever Christian sermon. So just to review for those of you who might not have joined us the last few weeks as we started this series, Jesus did promise the disciples the Holy Spirit was going to come and they and we would be his witnesses in a Pentecost, the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, which was actually 50 days after the Feast of Passover, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came.
06:29-06:31
That's the birthday of the church.
06:32-06:36
The Holy Spirit came to a sound of wind and the appearance of fire.
06:36-06:42
And the Bible says that the crowds in Jerusalem that were there to celebrate the feast, they hear this noise.
06:43-06:45
And the rubberneckers come out.
06:45-06:46
And they're like, "What was that noise?
06:46-06:47
What's going on?" And they come out.
06:47-06:48
And do you know what they see?
06:49-06:55
disciples were preaching to all of these people in their own language.
06:56-07:09
And we have the list of all of these languages, all these people groups that were in Jerusalem at the time, and they were all hearing the gospel being proclaimed, the majesty of God, rather, the power of God being proclaimed in their own language.
07:11-07:13
We closed last week seeing the two reactions that people had.
07:13-08:04
There were some people that were like, "What's going on here?" then you had people that, remember, they're like, "They're drunk. They're full of new wine." And that's where our passage picks up today. Acts 2 and verse 14, it says, "But Peter, standing with the eleven," those are the eleven other apostles, including Matthias, newly installed, welcome to the club. "But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and address 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." I want to stop there for a second.
08:05-09:28
Peter says, first of all, I was studying this week, one pastor I read said that he thought that Peter was trying to use humor and I'm not that didn't strike me as Peter trying to be funny here I think Peter was kind of a kind of a straight shooter and he was just basically saying they're not drunk it's the third hour what's the third hour well they started counting the time at 6 a.m. so the third hour is 6 plus 3 is it was 9 a.m. okay so Peter stands up he goes look guys it's 9 o'clock in the morning we're here to celebrate a Jewish feast I promise you nobody is drunk okay now I was thinking about this week you know what these guys thought that the disciples were drunk what's the craziest thing you ever saw a drunk person do that don't answer that I changed my mind I meant to write I went to scratch out of my notes forget that one let me say this instead in my time I have seen some drunk people do some crazy things but something I have never ever ever seen a drunk person do. Something I've never seen in my life is somebody to get so drunk that they stand up and speak fluent Mandarin. I've never seen it. I've never seen somebody so drunk that they stagger out and they start speaking Portuguese. Like, "I didn't know you knew that language!" Like, "I don't!
09:28-10:09
I just have too much to drink!" And, um, you realize how crazy this is? They're language that they don't know and they're like, "Oh, they're drunk. That's idiotic." And Peter's like, "Seriously. Seriously. It's 9 a.m." I don't know. I thought that was kind of funny because I don't even think that's the better argument. I think the better argument is who gets drunk and speaks another language, but Peter was addressing the crowd where they were at and that was very important. So Peter preaches the first Christian sermon And we're going to be covering it in three parts today.
10:09-10:13
My whole sermon is really just Peter's introduction to his sermon.
10:14-10:19
Let's read down the rest of the verses, and then we're going to circle back and have some understanding.
10:19-10:22
This is a tough passage, but we're going to get through this together.
10:22-10:22
Amen?
10:23-10:23
You with me?
10:24-10:25
Okay.
10:26-10:27
Peter goes on.
10:27-10:32
"But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel." Now Peter's going to quote from Joel chapter 2.
10:33-10:34
Joel was an Old Testament prophet.
10:34-11:50
Okay, so Peter gets up to preach and he starts by Sharing the Old Testament from Joel It says and the 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 There it is again. 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." So I have one point today in Peter's introduction, and we're going to break it down into three sub-points.
11:50-11:53
But here's the point that Peter was making.
11:53-11:59
Here's why Peter, my understanding, was quoting this from memory.
12:00-12:03
I'd encourage you to do. Memorizing scripture is a fantastic idea.
12:04-12:06
But Peter gets up and he quotes from Joel.
12:07-12:12
And the whole point of Peter's introduction, follow along on your outline, here's his point.
12:13-12:17
Power in people is part of the plan.
12:19-12:26
Peter's point is this, the idea that God's Holy Spirit comes and indwells people, it wasn't like God had this afterthought.
12:27-12:29
Like God was like, "Okay, we tried the old covenant, it wasn't working.
12:29-12:36
I get an idea, I'll send my son, and they crucified him, and I rose him from the dead, and now what should I do?
12:36-12:38
Now what should I do?
12:40-12:41
Oh, I just had this idea.
12:42-12:43
I will indwell their hearts.
12:43-12:46
I will personally live inside them." That's what I'll...
12:46-12:48
It wasn't this new thing.
12:49-12:54
Power in people was always part of God's plan, and you can see it in the Old Testament.
12:54-13:03
God says, "There's going to come a day that I am going to personally indwell my people." So this is a difficult passage.
13:03-13:06
We're going to break some things down here, and I want to remind you of some things.
13:06-14:04
First of all, as Peter is quoting Joel, understand in the Old Testament, when the prophets were talking about things in the future, They weren't giving a timeline as much as they were talking about things that were going to be on the timeline. Does that make sense? They weren't giving a timeline. The Old Testament prophets didn't say first this is going to happen, then this is going to happen, then this is going to happen. Like when you read the prophets, read Isaiah, read Ezekiel, read Joel, when they talk about end time stuff, it's basically like a list of things that are going to happen. All the you're reading about the Messiah is going to rain, And then you read about them when the Messiah is going to suffer and then you read about God's going to judge the earth then you read about the Messiah is going to rain and then you read about God's going to bring judgment and They're seeing these things but they weren't laying them out in a linear fashion. Does that make sense?
14:04-14:21
you see Jesus came as The Old Testament promised he came and he suffered the Bible says the Messiah would suffer isaiah 53 and And the Bible says that the Messiah would reign over all the earth, Isaiah 9, 6 and 7.
14:22-14:29
But the Old Testament prophets never saw the period of time between when He suffered and when He reigned.
14:29-14:30
There's a period of time.
14:31-14:33
In other words, as I look out here, I see people.
14:35-14:40
Now, imagine if each person here, each person represents a particular prophecy.
14:40-14:42
You represent judgment, sorry.
14:42-14:47
And you represent the millennial reign of Christ, and you represent judgment too.
14:48-14:56
So when the prophet is prophesying, he's giving the things that are happening, but he's not talking about the space in between.
14:56-15:00
If I was to walk through the tables, there are spaces between where you're sitting.
15:01-15:03
Let those spaces represent time.
15:03-15:06
This is going to happen, and then there's a period of time, and then this is going to happen.
15:06-15:07
Does that make sense?
15:08-15:14
So, as Peter is preaching from Joel, it's a similar thing going on here.
15:16-15:22
Joel is talking about some of the elements that are coming ahead on God's calendar.
15:24-15:34
But when we get to the New Testament, specifically the book of Revelation, we do have a linear account of how all these things are going to fit into place.
15:35-15:39
I want you to look at your outline here. We have a timeline on here.
15:39-15:40
Everybody look at that.
15:41-15:51
This is a timeline because now in the New Testament days, with the completion of God's Word, we have these Old Testament prophecies and understand better where they fit.
15:53-15:55
So where are we on this timeline?
15:56-15:58
We're in church age, right?
15:58-15:59
We're in the church age.
16:00-16:04
Okay, the next thing we talked about this when we went through 1 Thessalonians.
16:04-16:06
The next thing on God's calendar is the rapture.
16:06-16:10
Jesus said He was going to come and He was going to deliver His people.
16:11-16:14
He was going to round them up and He was going to take them back to heaven.
16:15-16:16
That's the next thing on God's timeline.
16:16-16:23
And then after the rapture, Revelation 6 through 18, that's a typo, it should be 6 through 18.
16:25-16:28
Revelation 6 through 18 talks about a seven-year tribulation.
16:29-16:33
After the church is raptured, it's going to be hell on earth for seven years.
16:34-16:41
Revelation talks about the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments, and there are seven of each.
16:41-16:45
Each of these judgments is a manifestation of God pouring His wrath on the earth.
16:46-16:50
That's what we call the seven-year tribulation, Revelation 6-18.
16:52-16:55
Then in Revelation 19, Jesus returns.
16:56-16:59
Revelation 19, 11, Jesus Christ comes back.
16:59-17:01
This time it's not to gather up His people.
17:02-17:09
The Bible says He's coming back to slaughter the people who have rebelled against Him.
17:09-17:12
The people that would kill His people.
17:12-17:15
The people that would want to exterminate His gospel.
17:15-17:18
And the people that have blasphemed.
17:19-17:22
There's going to come a day that enough is enough.
17:23-17:32
You had your opportunity, you've rejected the goodness and grace of your Creator who saved you, the Bible says Jesus is going to come back.
17:33-17:37
This time it won't be to be crucified on a cross.
17:37-17:40
This time the Bible says a sword is going to come out of his mouth.
17:42-17:45
He's going to judge everyone who has rejected him.
17:46-17:58
Now, following that, the Bible says in Revelation chapter 20 that Jesus Christ is going to reign on the earth for a thousand years.
17:58-18:02
This is so important because the Old Testament prophets talked about this a lot.
18:02-18:07
They talk about the reign of the Messiah and the peace and the blessing that comes.
18:08-18:16
And Revelation 20 says that after the Tribulation, after the Second Coming, Jesus is going to set up a thousand-year reign.
18:17-18:21
Now, I talked to some people that say, "I don't think that it's literally a thousand-year reign.
18:21-18:50
think that's just figurative I disagree with that and here's why if you look at Revelation chapter 20 six times six times God says that the reign of Christ is going to last a thousand years so my question is if it wasn't a literal thousand years why would God have said it six times right it sounds to me that that God was trying to make a point.
18:51-18:56
It's going to be a thousand years. Did you catch that? A thousand years. Did you catch that? A thousand years. Six times he said it.
18:57-19:02
So if God says it six times, I'm not going to be presumptuous and say he probably didn't mean a thousand years.
19:02-19:03
He probably did.
19:04-19:04
Okay.
19:05-19:06
So, um...
19:07-19:08
I'm just going to go with what God said.
19:09-19:11
I'm not going to try to read into it when he's so clear.
19:12-19:15
Right? So Christ is going to reign on the earth for a thousand years. What's that like?
19:17-19:21
Christ is going to show for a thousand years what life was always meant to be.
19:22-19:25
Living in the joy and the peace of the Lord, we're going to be talking about that.
19:26-19:30
After the thousand years, the Bible says that Satan is released.
19:30-19:32
He's going to be bound for those thousand years.
19:32-19:37
He's going to be released and there's going to be one last act of rebellion.
19:37-19:40
It's going to lead to the great white throne judgment.
19:41-19:44
That is a judgment for unbelievers, okay?
19:44-19:47
That is a judgment for people that have rejected Jesus Christ.
19:47-19:49
It's the great white throne judgment.
19:49-19:51
Revelation 20 talks about that.
19:52-19:59
And then after that, Revelation chapter 21 says there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth.
20:00-20:02
God is already preparing the new Jerusalem.
20:02-20:07
Jesus said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you." And the new Jerusalem is going to descend.
20:08-20:11
And we're going to have a new heaven and a new earth.
20:12-20:13
And that's how things will be for eternity.
20:16-20:22
It's important that you understand this timeline as we look at this passage.
20:23-20:24
Because we're breaking this down.
20:24-20:26
You are here in the church age.
20:27-20:40
Now in verses 16 through 18 in this passage that we're looking at today, Joel, being quoted by Peter, is talking about the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.
20:42-20:48
In verses 19 and 20, Joel, quoted by Peter, is talking about the seven-year tribulation.
20:50-20:57
And then, notice verse 20, he talks about the Day of the Lord.
20:57-21:00
That's the return of Jesus Christ for judgment.
21:00-21:02
So what's the point?
21:04-21:04
What's the point?
21:04-21:13
Well, there are three points that Peter was bringing to our attention and bringing to the attention of the hearers by sharing this passage from Joel.
21:14-21:16
And this is the first one. You've got to catch this.
21:17-21:18
Number one, this is a preview.
21:19-21:20
This is a preview.
21:21-21:24
Enjoy a taste of what is coming.
21:25-21:26
Let's look at these verses again.
21:27-21:28
This is a preview.
21:28-21:30
enjoy a taste of what is coming.
21:30-22:29
Okay, so the Holy Spirit has come and people are like, "What in the world's going on?" And Peter says, "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 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 What are the last days Well, according to the Bible we live in the last days now Okay Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 says in these last days God has spoken to us through his Son These are the last days before God brings an end to this era in other words the last days refers to the period of time between the first coming of Jesus Christ and the second coming and of Jesus Christ. So why...
22:30-22:31
Let's take a step back here.
22:31-22:34
So, the Holy Spirit comes and everybody's all confused.
22:34-22:35
What's going on?
22:35-22:46
Peter gets up and he pulls this passage out of the Old Testament to say this explains what is happening.
22:47-22:51
Why would Peter use this text on Pentecost to talk about the Holy Spirit?
22:51-23:02
We see it twice in this passage that there is the promise from Joel, from the Lord, that God is going to pour out His Spirit on His people.
23:04-23:11
Peter's point is that this is a foretaste of kingdom life.
23:12-23:19
The complete fulfillment of what is happening now is going to happen in the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ.
23:20-23:28
Peter was saying that Pentecost was a preview and a sample of what was ahead.
23:30-23:38
In other words, during the millennial reign of Christ, He is going to reign over all of the earth.
23:40-23:49
Right now, Jesus Christ is reigning through the people that have received Him by faith.
23:50-24:02
which isn't everyone. To illustrate this, I know this is a lot of stuff, but to illustrate this, Deb, would you come up here please? I have a cake here. You guys see my cake?
24:04-24:20
I brought this in this morning and somebody said, "Are you going to pie somebody with that cake?" You don't pie somebody with a cake. You cake someone with a cake. So, I I know it's goofy, but grandma brought it for us, so I love it.
24:21-24:23
Just like you love the stuff your grandma brings you.
24:24-24:25
We're going to use our imaginations here.
24:25-24:28
I want this cake to represent something.
24:30-24:34
Let this cake represent the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
24:35-24:43
Let this cake represent all of the blessings and all of the goodness that's coming.
24:45-24:48
when Christ reigns on the earth for a thousand years. Can you see that?
24:49-24:52
So right now as you're looking at this cake, it looks good, doesn't it?
24:54-25:08
When you're thinking about this cake and you're looking at it, what we're thinking about is there's going to come a day that I'm going to enjoy all of the goodness and blessing that the millennial reign of Christ will offer.
25:10-25:12
Take a few pieces of that off.
25:14-25:19
Okay, so everybody's with me. This is representing the goodness of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
25:20-25:22
So here's what Peter is saying about Pentecost.
25:24-25:25
Alright, who wants some cake?
25:27-25:29
Take a few of those. Hand those out to some people.
25:30-25:31
I love how the kids aren't shy.
25:32-25:40
The adults are all like, "I really want some cake, but I can't raise my hand." Here's what Peter's saying in this passage.
25:41-25:46
The coming of the Holy Spirit is like those samples of that cake.
25:47-25:53
It's real. He's real. And he's a taste of what is to come.
25:53-25:57
I'm not saying that we have some lesser Holy Spirit. Don't read into what I'm saying.
25:58-25:59
Look at the illustration for what it is.
26:01-27:06
He's saying Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit now, This is a real taste of what it's going to be like when we get here right now God is just giving you a sample of it What do you mean by that Well think about small group many of you are in small group How many people in a small group in our church would say that you just think your small group is awesome How many people would say that because I I just think my small group is awesome. You see those hands that are up Okay, and how many people that are part of harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North thinks you know what I just love this church How many people would say I just love this church Okay, you better have your hand up Those of you that have been to harvest University how many people would say I love going to harvest University how many people would say that You know why all of those things are so awesome small group church harvest University, you know why all those things are so awesome It's because all of those things are a taste of what's ahead, right?
27:07-28:42
That's what I love about her. I'll talk about harvest universe I love going there because you have people from all over the world and all these languages and all these skin colors and all these People from all over the world Worshiping Jesus Christ and I say the same thing every year. It's like a little taste of heaven. I love it That's what heaven's going to be like that's why harvest you is such a fulfilling time That's why I love going to our small group because I'm around people that I love and that I trust that that encourage me in the Lord Those things are all a preview Of how awesome heaven is going to be and Peter is saying listen this was prophesied and Granted everything in this prophecy of Joel hasn't come to pass yet right that's obvious All of those things didn't come to pass yet, but Peter's saying we're seeing the down payment on it Coming of the Holy Spirit is a taste of what is to come when the Messiah reigns In other words Imagine if everybody Can have a bite of the cake Wouldn't that be great? We're all just sitting around Marshall Middle School eating cake. That'd be a good day. Well imagine For those of you who are born again, for those of you who know of the comfort and the joy of the presence of God's Holy Spirit, I know there are many of you like that in this room, imagine the day, imagine the day when that's everybody.
28:44-28:53
Imagine the day when small group isn't like two hours of my week, but I have that kind of joy and fellowship all week.
28:54-29:04
Imagine the day that the worship stuff doesn't get packed away, because the worship just keeps going on and on and on.
29:04-29:05
Imagine that.
29:05-29:06
Isn't that going to be awesome?
29:07-29:18
And just like this is a taste of then, Peter's saying the coming of the Holy Spirit is God's first down payment on the glorious things that are ahead.
29:20-29:45
life as a taste of what is to come. Living in the Holy Spirit now, it's a preview of the kingdom, it's a preview of heaven, and I want to encourage you, Church, you know, when we get up and preach the Word of God, and we encourage you to make choices to walk in the Spirit. The reason we encourage you to make those choices to walk in the Spirit is because that's how you maximize your life in Christ now.
29:46-29:48
It fires you up for what is to come.
29:50-29:57
Every time we say, "You need to love people," we're saying that because that's what heaven's going to be all about.
29:59-30:00
This is a preview of that.
30:01-30:11
When we tell you now that you need to trust the Lord and you need to cultivate that fellowship with the Lord in prayer, why do we do that?
30:11-30:13
Because this is a taste of what is to come.
30:15-30:17
We tell you, you need to engage yourself in worship.
30:19-30:20
Why are we so fired up about worship?
30:20-30:24
Why do we spend so much time and effort and energy into worship?
30:25-30:27
Because this is what we're going to be doing for all of eternity.
30:27-30:29
And this is like dress rehearsal, okay?
30:30-30:34
This is preparing us for when we're in the presence of Christ himself.
30:34-30:35
And this is what we're going to be doing.
30:37-30:44
So Peter starts his sermon by saying, "Hey, this isn't a new idea." Power in people is always part of the plan.
30:45-30:48
In fact, remember what Joel said about that when he gave all those prophecies?
30:48-30:52
Part of that prophecy is God promised he was going to pour his spirit into people.
30:53-30:57
So secondly, this is a promise.
30:58-30:59
This is a promise.
30:59-31:03
God will keep his word on judgment too.
31:04-31:13
Looking at verses 19 and 20 again, it says, "And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
31:13-31:47
sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood stop there for a second all those things are in Revelation 6 through 18 you can read those you can just read them all of those phenomenon are happening in the future and as Peter talks about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit he reminds us something else Joel says in the same passage before the kingdom comes before the thousand-year It's going to be a time of God pouring out His judgment.
31:49-31:52
You know, we want to believe God's Word for the good parts, don't we?
31:53-31:56
We want to believe God's Word for the comfortable parts.
31:58-32:05
The judgment parts might be a little harder to swallow, but they're just as true.
32:07-32:17
You see, you could come to church and say, "You know, can't we just do the loving Jesus parts?" Can't we just do the parts in the Bible that say like Jesus loves you and you should just love people?
32:17-32:20
Can't we just stick to that stuff?
32:20-32:28
And I would reply by saying nobody warned about judgment and hell more than Jesus Christ himself.
32:29-32:29
Nobody.
32:31-32:39
Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, "Wide is the gate that leads to destruction." Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said, "I'll tell you who you should be afraid of.
32:40-32:43
You should be afraid of God who can throw you into hell.
32:44-32:44
Jesus said that.
32:45-32:54
Matthew 13, Jesus said, there's a day of judgment coming and there are going to be people that think they're going to escape it, but nobody's going to escape it.
32:54-32:55
Jesus said that.
32:56-33:11
Luke chapter 16, Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus and didn't spare any details when he talked about the suffering that the rich man had to endure because he lived a life of God rejecting.
33:12-33:15
So many parables, I don't even have time to get into them. I was studying it this week.
33:16-33:20
I just got to the point that I'm like, I just gotta stop, because this will be like another eight hour sermon.
33:21-33:34
And there's a visitor here today like, "Another eight hour sermon? Is that how long they are normally?" Like, so many of Jesus' parables, so much of his teaching, so much of it, do the homework yourself, so much of what Jesus taught was warning.
33:36-33:51
because it's true. It's true. You know, when I was a little kid, I remember going to grandma's house. I remember going to grandma's house and we'd sit at the bottom of the steps on that register. We'd throw the ball up and, you know, we'd throw the ball up and it would bounce down.
33:51-34:00
We didn't have iPods, okay? We had that pink ball in grandma's stairs.
34:01-35:27
and we were better people for it. But no, I remember as a kid, grandma would always say, "Don't go upstairs." Remember why? Because the boogeyman's up there. Grandma always told us that. I was just a little kid, but I remember sitting there as a kid, looking up the stairs, seeing if I could get a glimpse of the boogeyman. And there were times, I kid you not, there were times I thought I saw him. Like, I thought I saw like the hem of his robe, or like the back of his leg. I'm like, "Grandma, Grandma, I saw him! I Grandma would be like, "Don't go up there." I found out later in life, as in two months ago, that there was no boogeyman. Grandma made that up. You know why Grandma made that up? Because she didn't want four-year-old little Jeffy running around getting into the medicine or whatever. Some people think of God's judgment and think of the doctrine of hell they think of it as the boogeyman like that's something that the church says because we're trying to scare you into behaving and it's not true look at what the Bible actually says the Bible says that hell's a real place and real real people are really going there the Bible says God's judgment is coming as sure as heaven is hell as sure as God's blessing for those who receive him as as God's condemnation for those who rejected Him.
35:29-35:35
It's in this passage that Peter doesn't shrink back from preaching the whole passage.
35:36-35:52
I heard this past week some famous preacher, I'm not going to mention his name, but some famous preacher said, "If you preach through the Bible a verse at a time and go through a book at a time," this preacher said, "that's easy and it's lazy." That's what he said.
35:53-35:57
I guess the alternative is the preacher just picks what he wants to preach on.
35:58-36:00
And if that were the case, that'd be real easy.
36:00-36:13
I'd just get up every week and be like, "Jesus loves you. I love you. Can we just get along?" And the worship team's gonna come and sing "Kumbaya" and, you know, "Let's have another donut." But you see, Peter didn't skip this verse.
36:13-36:20
And if we're preaching through the Bible, we can't skip this stuff either, because God's judgment is as real as His blessing.
36:22-36:24
Christ loves you too much to lie to you.
36:25-36:31
Church, I love you too much to skip the parts that might be a little uncomfortable like this one.
36:33-36:43
Peter says God's Word is coming to pass, all of it's coming to pass, including, he says, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
36:46-36:54
And there's probably somebody here, even now, There's probably somebody here that says, I hear what you're saying about judgment and hell, but you know what, Jeff, I don't believe it.
36:55-36:57
I want to play a hypothetical with you, okay?
36:57-36:58
Can we do that?
36:59-37:03
Hypothetically, let's say you're right and I'm wrong.
37:04-37:06
Let's say there is no judgment, there is no hell.
37:09-37:11
Hypothetically, I'm going to give you that one for a second here.
37:11-37:13
Let's just say that there is no hell.
37:13-37:14
There's no judgment.
37:15-37:16
There's nothing to worry about.
37:18-37:25
What have I lost by following Christ, by seeking the Lord in his word?
37:25-37:26
What have I lost?
37:26-37:27
I have a great marriage.
37:28-37:35
I'm surrounded by people in this room that I love and trust and are a great encouragement to me.
37:37-38:17
I, from your perspective, choose to follow a morality that honestly, it benefits my fellow man if I choose to live it according to my lifestyle by what I believe what have I lost let's let's turn that around now what if you're wrong what what if there is a hell what if there is a judgment from God coming let me ask you what have you lost by rejecting Christ you have forfeited any any blessing in this life.
38:19-38:24
And all you have to look forward to is stepping into a godless eternity.
38:26-38:33
We can't even fathom the type of agony that awaits.
38:36-38:36
What if you're wrong?
38:38-38:39
Here's the thing.
38:39-38:40
I have a reason to believe what I believe in.
38:42-38:51
I have a reason to believe what I believe, because I have a book that has been trusted and verified and proven for millennia.
38:52-38:54
What are you basing your beliefs on?
38:55-39:01
We talk to guys that we mark at the jail, where they're like, "Well, that's just my opinion." Oh, that's what you're basing your beliefs on, your opinion.
39:01-39:02
Has your opinion ever been wrong?
39:04-39:06
If your opinion's ever been wrong, that means you're untrustworthy.
39:07-39:09
And you're ready to roll the dice on eternity?
39:10-39:11
That's your plan?
39:12-39:15
of your silly little opinion and you will disregard the word of God?
39:16-39:17
Not a good choice.
39:19-39:24
God's going to keep his word on the good stuff.
39:24-39:29
Peter reminds us here, quoting from Joel, God's going to keep his word on judgment too.
39:31-39:38
If you reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you reject Jesus Christ as God's gift of eternal life.
39:40-39:43
Bad news for you is this life is as good as it's ever going to get for you.
39:45-39:55
So I want to promise you, echoing God's word which is echoing Peter, which is echoing Joel, which is echoing the Holy Spirit, God's judgment is real.
39:57-39:58
This is a promise.
39:58-40:00
Keep his word on judgment too.
40:01-40:04
Finally, number three, this is a provocation.
40:06-40:11
What's a provocation? A provocation is when something provokes you to do something.
40:12-40:15
This is a provocation. You have to do something about this.
40:17-40:25
So hearing Peter get up and preach about judgment, the crowd might start to think, "You know what?
40:27-40:40
Those scriptures do talk about judgment, and we're seeing a fulfillment of God's word coming to pass right before our eyes." You might already be starting to think, "How can I be saved?
40:41-40:45
How can I be spared?" Look at what the next verse says.
40:47-40:57
"It shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." This is the way of God's Word.
40:57-41:00
The bad news is to set up the good news.
41:01-41:03
We're just going to break this phrase down.
41:05-41:08
Judgment's coming. Judgment's coming.
41:08-41:14
The last phrase says that there is an opportunity that you can be saved.
41:16-41:17
Who shall be saved?
41:17-41:19
Well, look at the verse. Let's break it down.
41:20-41:24
It talks about calling upon the name of the Lord.
41:26-41:27
How can I be saved?
41:27-41:31
Well, you have to call on the name of the Lord.
41:34-42:50
by works. Okay, it's not like, well, the judgment of God is coming, therefore you better get yourself to a soup kitchen and start feeding homeless people and you better start sending money to poor people and you better start helping little old ladies cross the street because judgments coming and God's going to be keeping a tally of all the good things that you've done and doesn't say that. What does it say? It's about calling. It's about calling. It's about saying, "God, I need you and I'm crying out to you." It's prayer. It's saying, "God, I need you. I realize the danger that's coming. I realize the stupidity of my sin. I realize you have so much better for me. I'm calling." Notice it's not by your works. It's by calling calling on what this is everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord the name of the Lord it's calling it's calling on the right person for help that's important that's important if I need a package delivered I'm not going to call on the fire department.
42:52-42:55
I'm going to call FedEx, right?
42:56-43:01
If my car breaks down, I'm not going to call the cell phone company.
43:03-43:04
Say, "Hey, I desperately need help.
43:04-43:09
My car broke down." If I call the cell phone company, they're going to be like, "Why are you calling us?
43:10-43:14
We can't help you." I need to call who?
43:15-43:17
I need to call Ben Maul, right?
43:18-43:21
or AAA or somebody that knows how to fix this thing.
43:21-43:24
I need to call on the person that can fix the problem.
43:25-43:29
That's why it says everyone who calls on who?
43:29-43:30
Calls on the name of the Lord.
43:33-43:35
Once saved, you need to be calling on the right person.
43:37-43:39
Salvation is found in only one person.
43:41-43:46
My favorite word in this whole verse, honestly, my favorite word is the first one.
43:48-43:52
Everyone, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
43:53-43:59
You should have that underlined, highlighted, and like Christmas lights around that word in your Bible.
43:59-44:02
Everyone, everyone.
44:03-44:07
So, help me out, Bible students.
44:07-44:12
This invitation to call on the name of the Lord to be saved, who's the invitation for?
44:12-44:12
Shout it out.
44:14-44:14
Everyone.
44:14-44:18
But, okay, now you be the pastor and I'll be like the guy coming to you for counseling.
44:19-44:21
But I've done a lot of terrible things in my life.
44:22-44:23
Who's the invitation for?
44:24-44:28
But you don't understand. I did something, I did something so bad in my life.
44:28-44:30
I did something so bad.
44:31-44:32
Who's this invitation for?
44:35-44:37
What if I rejected God before?
44:37-44:41
What if I spent the last 40 years of my life rejecting God?
44:41-44:42
Who's this invitation for?
44:44-44:46
What if I've been rejecting God for 80 years?
44:46-44:47
Who's this invitation for?
44:49-44:52
What if I lived a lifestyle that hurt people?
44:53-44:54
Who's this invitation for?
44:56-44:57
This is for everyone.
44:58-45:00
I had to smile last night.
45:00-45:02
I was watching the World Series.
45:03-45:10
Did you see that cell phone commercial where the guy was like, he thought that the girl was giving him some kind of a special rate on the cell phone.
45:10-45:10
Did you see that?
45:11-45:20
He's like, "Oh, you gave me this special rate." And she's like, "No, that's for everyone." And he's like, "Even for that guy over there?" And she didn't even look up.
45:20-45:29
She goes, "Yeah, for him too." He goes, "You didn't even look." And she goes, "He is everyone." And I thought that's, like, that'll preach.
45:29-45:31
Who's this invitation for?
45:32-45:33
This is for everyone.
45:34-45:36
If you're sitting here today and you're like, "You know what?
45:38-45:58
"There's a part of me that's understood in my mind and maybe a little in my heart what's going on here, what I need to do, but I just haven't made that decision because I just really haven't felt worthy or I haven't felt like I deserve anything from God or I haven't felt like I'm somebody that can become a follower of Jesus Christ.
46:00-46:01
The truth is you're not worthy.
46:01-46:02
None of us are.
46:04-46:55
sends the invitation by the atonement of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit he makes you worthy because it's about him and what he's done it's not about you and what you've done everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved that's good news so at this point the crowd is saying how can this even be possible? Well, the next part of Peter's sermon answers the question how this salvation is possible, and the answer is found in one name, and that name is Jesus Christ. And it's a story that gets better every time you hear it, and it gets better every time you tell it. And I'm going to share that with you, Lord willing, in three weeks. Let's pray.
46:57-47:01
Father in heaven, as we bow our heads before you now, I lift up this church.
47:03-47:10
And I know we had to do a lot of Bible study today to understand.
47:12-47:19
I pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit is more than making up for what I'm lacking in my trying to communicate.
47:21-47:54
Father, I pray right now specifically for people in this room that might feel like they've screwed up too bad. People in this room that feel like they've made a mess of their lives and there's no way of getting themselves out of this mess. For people that feel like, "I'm so wicked there's no way God would want me." I pray, Father, right now that by the power of your Spirit you would tattoo this phrase on every heart that says, "Everyone Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
47:55-48:02
And this message is for every man, woman, child, no matter where we've been or what we've done.
48:04-48:07
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
48:08-48:16
Father, I pray today is a new day that people stop looking at their sin as an obstacle to your grace.
48:17-48:30
And instead, Father, You would magnify the grace in their eyes, from their perspective, that they would see that Your lavish grace is so much greater than any sin or any sins we've ever committed against You.
48:32-48:50
Father, we thank You for giving us Your Word, which is so simple and yet so profound, so easy to understand and so complicated, so encouraging and provocative at the same time.
48:52-48:56
Father, we thank you for the promise of salvation.
48:57-48:59
We thank you for the presence of your Holy Spirit.
49:01-49:03
We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 2:14-21
Why did Peter quote THIS Old Testament passage? Why use this passage if all of these things were not yet fulfilled (judgment, Day of the Lord, etc)?
Why do you think preaching is God's ordained method of getting His Word out? (Hint: What role does the Holy Spirit's power have in this?)
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another. I am going to selfishly ask you pray for me while I am in Thailand teaching the pastors at the conference. I know I can count on you!