17-Jul-2001 10:42 AM The New Testament Church, Part F

The New Testament Church Part F

Taped by John Greene, transcribed by Mary Kay Lynd

Bible quotes are from NKJV unless otherwise stated. Beginning here in Acts Chapter 2 we're going to be taking a look at the boldness and the truth that is now going to be administered through the apostle Peter. This is his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost, and we're going to look at the first section. Starting in verse 14 it says, "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day." In other words it was only 9 a.m. in the morning. People in Jerusalem, some of them had a habit of getting drunk but not at 9. a.m. in the morning. And these guys that were mocking as we've already said, they were that these guys were drunk with the wine, that they'd been a little bit too tipsy. They just didn't know what they were talking about. I mean even drunks in Jerusalem had a standard of not getting drunk until it was in the afternoon. So that's what Peter is referring to. It's pretty simple. How people can twist that I don't know but they do. But Peter is telling them look, the things that you're implying here, your information that you're bringing up and trying to make a judgment on is all wrong. These guys aren't drunk.

You see them falling over. You see them staggering. You hear them speaking with a slurred tongue, and you're hearing those words that when you understand those words, because God has so graciously interpreted into your heart in your own language what is said. Peter's telling them hey, you can't put this into your own category because what you're witnessing here is an event that was foretold years and years and years ago. As a matter of fact Peter was going to quote how long ago it was because he's going to quote one of the most powerful prophecies in Scripture; that is, powerful for those who believe the scripture. Because what we're going to look at more clearly is that it's a very controversial passage of Scripture because there are people who just don't believe this passage of Scripture. They will tell you in all certain ways that it doesn't even exist. But it does because it says it does. And now, we'll get into that. Peter says, "16 But this is". Now generally speaking when people wrote in Greek some of the writers of the New Testament when it was a simple sentence that used the verb to be, sometimes they did not even put the verb to be in there. They would just automatically assume that it was there. Peter makes sure that it is there. Oh, excuse me; Luke makes sure in recording Peter's sermon that it is there. Because Peter says "this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." Whew, let's go to the prophet Joel and get it straight from the individual before we quote Peter because there's a little bit of difference. You're going to hear that in a second. There's a little bit of difference in the prophecy only because we've got the quotation of Peter that is recorded in Greek but he was speaking something that was recorded in Hebrew.

Starting in Joel Chapter 2, everybody knows all about this one that is from the Pentecostal world, and certainly being Pentecostal it's one of those passages of Scripture that people preach on a lot in Pentecostal churches, although in some of the sermons that I have preached I cannot ever remember preaching on this. I can't say that I never have, but I don't ever remember preaching on it. I've got a fairly good memory. Starting in verse 28, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. That is Joel's passage 28-32 in Chapter 2.

Let's go back to Acts Chapter 2 and let's see what exactly Peter quotes. "And it shall come to pass in the last days." Notice the phrase "in the last days". That is the word back in Joel that was afterward, same word, basically it is establishing time frame. "That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh." So when does this time frame start? Well that should actually be a no brainer. Because here we are reading Acts Chapter 2, and it started in Acts Chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. Keep in mind, because this is critical and vital and of importance, because this passage of Scripture sets the tone for all the rest of Peter's sermon. And it reverberates down through the centuries, as we will see a little bit later, perhaps in another tape. The issue is that it begins on the day of Pentecost, where some of the mockers are saying, "Now, wait a minute these guys are all drunk," but what is happening is that Joel prophesied of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is what Peter says this is that is happening. However, remember back just a short time frame before this, we looked at the fact that Jesus said that you were to wait in Jerusalem until you were endued with power from on high. And that power was for us because we're going to be witnesses everywhere throughout the world. The power and empowerment to be able to handle and do the Will of God, which was the great commission, that's the reason for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The purpose was to confirm with signs and wonders the truth of who God is. Some people just can't come to God unless they see a miracle. And many people, when they see a miracle, they're not going to come to God anyway because they're going to mock at it. But God covers all the bases. God keeps it simple for those that want it simple. God provides a miracle for those that need to see a miracle. God covers all the bases and on this particular day, Peter, bold as a lion, stands up among a whole bunch of people, later on we're going to see that 3,000 of them are committed to Jesus Christ that day.

Peter boldly standing up amongst even these mockers says, "Look, this is what Joel prophesied." Jesus called it the Promise of the Father. So we can clearly make that connection that what Joel prophesied, what John the Baptist said was going to happen, that Jesus would come who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire, those events are all the same thing here. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the same thing as the Promise of the Father. Peter says, "this is", and then it's "I will pour out my spirit on all flesh." Well not all flesh gets the gift of the Holy Spirit, because we have a lot of people running around today that do not have the gift of the Holy Spirit. And we've already gone over that, as happened in Acts Chapter 2 verses 1-4. We've already looked at those issues. So I don't want to get back into those. Go back and re-listen to them, and study that section of Scripture. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit falling. It's falling upon men and women, the 120 that were in the upper room. The 120 were looking like they were drunk, they were falling out. All strange things to the people that had gathered because they heard the sound of heaven. They saw these things happening, and Peter is now proclaiming that this is what was prophesied by Joel. So the connection is clear! What Jesus said to do, wait for the power, and the prophecy of Joel is the same thing. And what's going to happen as a result? As a result of the prophecy of Joel being there in this point in time beginning, this prophecy is the empowerment to do the commission. The signs and wonders are the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit working through those that have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. One cannot do by the power of the Holy Spirit what the Spirit calls according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 the gift of tongues. One cannot do that (give a tongue), unless they have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or the promise of the Father, whichever term you want to use. Peter calls it the gift.

The only people that are the flesh that get the Holy Spirit poured out on them are believers. Unbelievers aren't going to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit because they're not born again. There's no possibility for an unbeliever to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There's no possibility for an unbeliever. Now unbelievers, as we saw in the Old Testament and we have seen some in the New Testament in a couple of cases, there have been times when an unbeliever was used by God. That's true. But it was not a constancy, it was not as if they were born again, and ministers of the gospel. They were in particular cases a one-time case; for example, the high priest at the time that Jesus was crucified, Caiaphas. And John recorded that he prophesied that it was expedient for one man to die. Well that was a prophecy and it was recorded in Scripture by John the apostle, but Caiaphas was far from being born again and he was far from being the individual that you would call a prophet. He wasn't born again. He wasn't in a right relationship with God. He was none of those things. He was a thief and a murderer, an extortioner, and he wanted to build up his little kingdom. As a matter of fact if you get really deep into study you'll find out that God knew ____ through Sadducees. And the majority of Sadducees didn't even believe in the gift of God. They didn't believe in spirits. They didn't believe in the resurrection. Matter of fact, they didn't believe much at all. Just basically the first five books of the Old Testament was all that they would talk about. That's it. So this that is happening where the Holy Spirit says, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy." This passage only applies to believers who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Listen, I don't want to be critical but the average Joe Blow that has been taught that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are gone, over with, ended when John the apostle died, that person doesn't believe that the Holy Spirit is for today. That person has no possibility of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit because they don't believe. So when it's talking about being poured out on all flesh, when it's talking about these things happening to individuals, it's only going to happen to those people that actually are believers. And even those people who are believers sometimes it takes time. I know for myself it was 2 years after I committed my life to Jesus Christ. It wasn't until April of 1982 that I received the gift of the Holy Spirit as prophesied here by Joel. And even then it took years of prayer and study and walking with the Lord and learning his voice, it took years before even any of the gifts started to manifest. It takes time. God doesn't just put somebody into a position and use them, "Oh, you're saved today, ok you're preaching tomorrow." It doesn't happen that way. God doesn't do that. Things take time. And so what we're going to see here is that the 120 that are in the upper room on the day of Pentecost they had been with Jesus from the very beginning. We know that from Acts Chapter 1 because of the selecting of the apostle Mathias. They went meticulously according to Scripture and used God's Will and then they selected Mathias based on what God had ordained. We know there were 120 in the very beginning. These people spent 3 ½ years with Jesus. These people on the day of Pentecost were ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, because they were all obedient, they were all in one accord, they were all desiring. So when the Holy Spirit was beginning to pour out upon these people the issue becomes very clear, only those desiring and hungering in the Will of God receive. So that person that's in that church that is being taught the Holy Spirit is dead or gone or changed or doesn't do things that way, they're not going to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit because they're not hungering or thirsty. Matter of fact, Luke recorded back in Luke, I believe it's Chapter 11, we have to ask for the gift. Ask of the Father. If you ask of Him for the Holy Spirit will he give you a stone or an egg or you know any of those kinds of things, a snake or a scorpion or anything like that? No, God gives you based on your heart and integrity and love, He gives you what you ask for because He's a loving God.

So now look at what's going to happen. He says, "I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke." These signs, I want you to think about these signs! "The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And, now notice this, all these signs are going to happen! Now when you study out and find out when these signs happen he says they happen just before the great and awesome day of the Lord. Before the Lord actually appears in the sky, before the Jews that are remaining after they went through the tribulation, before those Jews look up at Him whom they pierced in repentance and mourning, before that happens these things are going to happen and you're going to find out this is the beginning of the sixth seal. You're going to look after you study this out, but look at what the Joel prophecy is all about: because here we have the end-time frame, He's going to pour out His Spirit. It begins on the day of Pentecost, but look at when it ends. "And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved." During this entire time frame before the Lord comes, before the Lord appears in the sky to call forth his bride, his Holy Bride the church which the church consists of all believers, and when the Jew repents, at that moment they become part of the church. They become a part of all believers. And Jesus calls us all to be with Him at the end of the tribulation! From the beginning of Pentecost till the end of the tribulation anybody who comes to Jesus His way, calls upon the name of the Lord, comes with a humble heart in repentance, anybody is eligible because of repentance, because of the genuineness of their heart. Anybody that comes to the Lord during that time frame, from the day of Pentecost until when Jesus returns, anybody in that time frame can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of Joel, the prophecy that Peter is quoting here from Joel.

The time frame for the outpouring, I've heard all sorts of weird wackiness from when John the apostle died, so did the Holy Spirit; I've heard wackiness that the Holy Spirit has changed, He's become a different guy, that HE does things differently; and of course the pretribbers will say well it's the Holy Spirit that's holding back everything so when the church is gone the Holy Spirit is not any longer holding back anything. And so then the tribulation gets turned and all those things make a mockery of what Peter's saying here. I've even heard people say well, the gift of the Holy Spirit won't start being poured out until the church is gone. None of those things make any sense at all according to these Scriptures. And we need to stay focused on the Scriptures. We need to stay in what is written and not anything else. The Scriptures are the Scriptures. And if God wanted speculation, if He wanted man's opinion, He would have said, "Well I'm not going to give you my Word. I'll just let you think about it. Whatever you decide to do, do. Whatever you want to believe, believe." God doesn't do it that way! God saw fit to prophesy and give us some specifics about His Word, His heart, His desire for people. Peter sees this on the day of Pentecost and he does stand up and he does proclaim and he does show and he does tie in and some people have said in the past from different people's denominations that man has made, that the book of Acts is no good for establishing anything because it's only history. Well excuse me, but it is God's Word and it is written and Peter is quoting what's happening so apparently Peter is telling and teaching these people in this sermon what they're seeing. He's teaching them exactly what is going on and in these last days, God is going to pour out His Spirit upon on flesh, all believers who desire to have the Holy Spirit. God doesn't play games.

Look at verse 22. It says, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it." Now we get into a lot of things here and I don't want to go real deep into this, just kind of scan over it quickly. This is what it says. Later on in Acts Chapter 10 Jesus or Peter quotes saying that Jesus did these things because of the anointing by the Holy Spirit. Because when Jesus walked the earth He didn't walk in His deity. He was God, but he didn't walk as God on the earth. And that's a hard thing for some people to understand. Jesus was made of flesh and blood. Yes it was perfect flesh and yes it had the blood of the Father and yes He is God, but He was Man. When He was with His father Joseph, His earthly father, when He was in the carpenter's shop, He skinned his hand while cutting a piece of wood just like anybody else would. All of these things happened around Jesus. He was a man. Yet God chose through this Man to do the same thing that He does with all other people if they desire to allow God to do it. The anointing and power of God works through man, when man allows and aligns himself with God. Jesus nailed that flesh to the tree for the sole purpose of paying for our sins because His flesh was perfect, His blood was perfect, His blood was deity. He is God and only God can pay for our sins. God designed along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the counsel room of His chambers before He even laid out the creation process, He knew and determined that there would need be a person to die. But God raised Him from the dead. Now, in the next tape we're going to see that David foresaw this. David knew this. And that's what Peter's now going to quote and we'll get into that on the next tape. But keep in mind what we're looking at here. This is a great sermon, a great sermon. Peter is laying out all the information. And if Peter can use this as a teaching topic a person able to use the events of the day to teach with why can't we? Why can't we just let the Scriptures say what they say? The Holy Spirit began to fall on the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit doesn't stop being poured out until He returns. The Holy Spirit is not going to change. From that time frame that is the promise of the Father. That's the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's going to happen in that time frame and whoever calls on the name of the Lord they will be saved. That's why we're witnesses. We're empowered to be witnesses for the glory of God to do the commission. That's why Jesus died. That's why Jesus rose again from the dead. That's why Jesus pre-determined before even creation because of God's foreknowledge, because of the Father's foreknowledge, because of the Son's desire for his people. They decided that Jesus would die.