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Once again, we come to the pinnacle of a worship service, where we have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the word of God. So, I would invite you to open the infallible record to Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two, and in a few minutes, we will look at verses 14 through 21 as we continue to go through these historical accounts of the early church verse by verse.

I constantly marvel at the Church of Jesus Christ at the Ecclesia, meaning “the called-out ones,” that glorious assembly that Christ has purchased with his own blood. I am amazed when I think of this glorious organism called the body of Christ. Scripture calls the church the "assembly of the saints." It's called "the bride of Christ," the church of the living God, the dwelling place of God. And, dear friends, my pulse quickens when I think of how this church, the body of Christ, is an unassailable fortress that has been empowered by the very spirit of God to proclaim and protect the truth, and to think that it is an earthly expression of a heavenly reality where God is glorified; and also we know biblically that this is the only institution that God has promised to not only build but also bless; and it is for that reason that ultimately the church, which sometimes seems to be down and out for the count, will triumph over all of its enemies; for Christ has said in Matthew 16 verse 18, "The gates of Hades will not overpower it." In other words, even the death of the saints cannot destroy the church. If you think about it, the blood of martyrs only strengthens it, causing it to grow all the more, and here in Acts two, my friends, the Spirit of God reveals to us the birth of this amazing body in this historical account, and it's very fitting that Peter would be the first official preacher whose sermon is here recorded, at least in part.

Now let me give you the context before we look at the text. Christ has ascended back into glory, and now the Holy Spirit has descended, and in a dramatic fashion. It was the week of feast, the feast of weeks, it was called Pentecost, and all of the Hebrew males were therefore required to gather in Jerusalem for this sacred festival, and the text tells us that they were from every nation under heaven. So God had called this grand assembly together by his providence, and suddenly they hear a deafening noise, it says, like a violent rushing wind, a noise that came down from heaven, and it reverberates primarily in this upper room, where 120 saints had assembled together, obediently waiting for what the Father had promised, namely the Holy Spirit. And in chapter two, verse three, we read that, "...there appeared to them tongues as a fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each of each one of them." So, in other words, suddenly the glorious presence of the Spirit of God visibly rests upon them, and among other things, he miraculously empowers them with an ability to speak, as the text says, "the mighty deeds of God" in languages that they had not previously known, and as a result, these devout Jews, and yet many of them apostate Jews, had gathered, and they had heard and seen all of this, and now they're amazed. God has gotten their undivided attention.

They knew this was all from God, but they had no idea what it meant. So, therefore, in verses 12 and 13, we read that, "...they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' But others were mocking and saying, 'They are full of sweet wine.'" Now the inspired apostle answers their question with the wisdom of God, and we see this beginning in verse 14; and we'll focus primarily this morning on verses 14 through 21 and examine the rest of his sermon in weeks to follow. Follow along as I read, beginning in verse 14 of Acts chapter two.

"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 your sons and your daughters 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."'"

This morning, I would draw your attention to three categories of divine truth that emerge from this text, all of which are worthy of our utmost consideration and praise. Very simply, we're going to look at the power, the preacher and the promise. First of all, let's focus on the power, namely the power of the Holy Spirit, and what will happen here that day, and ultimately what Peter is communicating to them.

First of all, I want you to notice, no longer do we do we see the disciples cowering in fear. No longer is Peter denying his Lord. No longer are they bickering over who's going to be first in the kingdom. No longer are they confused about the distinction between Christ the Lamb and Christ the King. We're going to see that no longer are they bewildered by the distinction between a spiritual kingdom and an earthly millennial kingdom that would one day be established when Jesus returned again. Oh, now they still had much to learn, especially with regard to the unity of the church - it's going to be hard for them to accept the idea that Gentiles are also going to be a part of this organism - but now, for the most part, we witness a newly empowered, newly illumined group of apostles, and for good reason. Now, the Holy Spirit of God is dwelling within them, and we witness the great power of the Spirit filling.

Now, may I remind you a few things about the Spirit of God this morning, because we want to have this background as we see all of this unfold in what Peter is saying. You will recall that the Spirit of God does many things to us as believers. We are told in Scripture that he regenerates us. In other words, we're spiritual cadavers, we're spiritually dead. He brings us to spiritual life, so that we will place our faith in Christ. He empowers us with supernatural ministry abilities called spiritual gifts. We also know that he guarantees our salvation. He seals us for the day of redemption. He brings conviction of sin. He intercedes for us in prayer. He even restrains us from sin. He comforts us, unifies us together as a body. He even produces spiritual fruit in our lives, and so on and so forth. But there are three most noteworthy ministries of the Holy Spirit that we see manifested here in Peter, and in all of the saints since that time, and I believe these are especially unique to New Testament, New Covenant saints, as opposed to the way the Holy Spirit functioned in the lives of the Old Testament saints.

Now, all of what we are going to see that occurred here is really a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that I believe helped to signal the inauguration of the New Covenant that was of course first expressed by Jesus in the symbols of the Lord's Supper. You will recall in Luke 22:20 Jesus said, "This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant of My blood." Now, let me give you some important background that I think will prove helpful today, and in the weeks to come.

Remember, God's chosen people, the Jews, were given the Mosaic law - this Mosaic covenant - and they severely violated that covenant. They were unable to live up to the law, and so, as we read in the Old Testament, God promised to give a new covenant whereby he would provide forgiveness of sins and salvation, not only to individuals, but also to a future generation of ethnic Jews. And here in Acts two, we see the first installment of these new covenant promises extended to both Jews and Gentiles; so we're going to see here a sampling or a preview of what will ultimately come to fruition when the Lord returns again and establishes his earthly kingdom.

Now you will remember in Jeremiah 30 through 33 and also reiterated in Ezekiel 36 through 37 the new covenant promises that were prophesied, and they would include a sweeping array of blessings upon the nation of Israel promised to them in the midst of profound apostasy. And I believe, as a footnote, this is a further repudiation of replacement theology that would have us believe that somehow Israel's rejection of their Messiah resulted in a permanent forfeiture of all covenantal blessings, and that God decided instead to give those blessings to a group more deserving, namely the church. I believe that to be a grievous error; but prior to the ultimate outpouring of all of these blessings of the new covenant, we read in Scripture that God promised an unprecedented time of persecution upon the earth, especially persecution for Israel. It's called the time of Jacob's trouble, or Jacob's distress, and that would translate into the time of the great tribulation, just prior to the Lord's second coming, that I believe will be triggered by the great snatching away of the church - the rapture of the church - which could happen right now. This will be a time when God will use these judgments upon the earth to save a remnant of ethnic Jews; and in the new covenant there are many promises of restoration and reconciliation and great joy promises, even of a regathering of his covenant people back into their ancient land of Palestine, never again to be removed. We even see pieces of that happening now, do we not? All of which ultimately fulfills God's covenant promises to Abraham and David, and will find their ultimate convergence, if you will, in the millennial kingdom.

We read, for example, in Jeremiah 31 beginning in verse 31 "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt..." in other words, the Mosaic covenant, "...My covenant, which they broke, although I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord, 'but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares the Lord. 'I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares the Lord; 'For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more.'"

Now, beloved, here in Acts two, we see the initial beginnings of all of this, promises that will ultimately be fulfilled during the millennial kingdom. Ezekiel also speaks of the new covenant blessings in various places. For example, in Ezekiel 36 beginning with verse 26 we read what God says, "'Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.'" And again, dear friends, at Pentecost we see the initial activation of these glorious promises, sins forgiven, a new heart, a new spirit, and God himself placing his Spirit within us, causing us to walk in his statutes. And as he says we will be careful to observe his ordinances.

Folks, this is amazing. Amazing transforming power; the permanent indwelling of the Spirit of God, as prophesied in the New Covenant promises. And certainly this is available to all who have been born again, who have been united to Christ through repentant faith. Now this is a staggering thought to me. In fact, I cannot comprehend it. To think that the Holy Spirit empowers and unites us all together as a body of Christ, and we come from all over everywhere. I know, even in this church, about 90% of you are not from Tennessee. We come from all over the world, all different backgrounds. My heritage is from Scotland, primarily, and your heritage would be from, and the list could go on to cover virtually every part of the globe. And yet, the spirit of God empowers us and unites us. In fact, Jesus prayed for this to happen in John 17:22 he said to the Father, "'The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one.'" In other words, he's praying, "Father, allow these believers to partake in the glorious attributes and the essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit." And obviously his prayer was answered at Pentecost, because the Spirit now resides within us.

Peter tells us that we are now partakers of the divine nature of Christ. As I say, we now have the divine DNA. In fact, this was the great and glorious mystery that was revealed even to the Gentiles, as Paul said in Colossians 1:26, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Now we see these very things manifested in Peter and further discussed in other New Testament passages, but I want you to notice three new kinds of ministries that we see occurring here in New Testament saints, and again this should cause our hearts to race with exuberant joy, and our tongues to break forth in praise.

Again, a few more thoughts before we examine the text. First of all, something new is going on here. What we see, number one, is the Holy Spirit is revealing truth and illuminating the minds of the saints. We see this especially here in Peter. In fact, in First Corinthians 2:9, Paul says,

"'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.'

"For to us God revealed them hrough the Spirit."

And so now Peter gets it, he's got an understanding; the other apostles are going to have an understanding of all that God is up to. Peter is not only a recipient of this divine ability, as we all are in terms of illumination, but he was even inspired, and we should all rejoice in the benefit of the Spirit's revelation to us through the inspiration of the scriptures; but also the illumination that he gives us to be able to understand scripture, because as we know, according to verse 14 of Second Corinthians two, "A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." Meaning they lack any ability, they have no capacity to discern spiritual truth.

But not only do we see now the Holy Spirit being poured out in a way where he is revealing truth and illuminating truth in the minds and hearts of believers, but secondly, we see another ministry of the Spirit in that he exalts Christ to us and through us. Now this is something new. You will recall that in John 15, beginning in verse 26, Jesus made a promise, and he said, "'When the Helper comes,'" referring to the Holy Spirit, "'...whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.'" And we see this in a magnificent way, beginning now at Pentecost; the Holy Spirit speaking to and through those whom he has regenerated, those whom he has indwelt, now bearing witness of Christ to them and through them.

Later in John 16:13 Jesus promised, "'But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.'" What an amazing ministry of the Spirit of God in all of our lives. And in verse 14 it says that, "'He shall glorify Me, for He shall take of Mine and shall disclose it to you.'" In other words, Christ is saying, "I am the theme of Scripture, and the Spirit of God is going to disclose all of my glory to you through his word."

In First Corinthians 12:3, we learn that, "...no one can even say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit.'" In other words, no one can offer a true confession of Christ apart from the Spirit of God. And in Second Corinthians 3:18 we know that he causes us to be able to see the glory of Christ through scripture, as I read earlier in our time of communion. The text says, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." In other words, by the power of the Spirit of God dwelling within us. New covenant saints have nothing to obstruct their vision of the glory of Christ. We can see him as clearly as he would have us see him through scripture; and it is the Spirit of God, the author of scripture, that dwells within us that causes us to gaze upon Christ and thus become more conformed to his glorious image.

So there is a progressive transformation that occurs in the life of a believer. This is a wonderful thought, dear friends, because literally what he is saying is because of the Spirit of God that came at Pentecost, dwelling within us, he will help us gaze at the glory of Christ through scripture, and as that happens, we gradually become more Christ-like, which is the goal of the Christian life. In fact, in Galatians 5:16 we are told that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh, and so literally again we see that if we walk by the Spirit, if we are surrendering to him as he reveals himself to it to us in his word, he is going to take us where he wants us to go.

So, as a sign and as the first installment of the new covenant, we see the Holy Spirit's ministries now exploding on the scene. He's revealing truth, he's illuminating minds to be able to understand scripture. He is exalting Christ to those whom he indwells. And thirdly, we see that he nurtures, now, an intimate personal relationship with God.

Now, in the Old Testament, this was something very foreign. Remember, in the Old Testament, God was utterly unapproachable. No one could come into his presence. There was a veil that separated the people from their God in the Holy of Holies, and even where the presence of God would hover between the cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant. There was a separation called The Mercy Seat. Below, in the Ark, were the tablets of stone -  the law that had been violated - and no one, because of that, could enter into the presence of God where the Shekinah hovered, apart from the shedding of the blood on the mercy seat. But now, because of Christ, that's all taken away, and so now the veil has been rent. Now we have access into the throne room of God. The final atonement has been made. The merciful and faithful high priest became the propitiation of the sins of the people, thus satisfying the wrath of God, as the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter two and verse 17. Therefore, according to Hebrews 4:16 we can, "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

Now, friends, this was unheard of in the Old Testament. Such intimacy with God was unthinkable prior to this; but beloved, because of what Christ has done, because of what has happened with the New Covenant and with the Spirit of God dwelling within us, we no longer fear God with some kind of a terrifying angst. That is all over, but now we approach Him as our heavenly Father.

In fact, Paul tells us in Romans eight, beginning in verse 14, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." And he goes on to say that we, "...have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out 'Abba! Father!'" It's as if we can cry out Papa, Daddy. You see the intimacy there that has been nurtured by the Spirit of God. The text goes on to say, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ." O child of God, never, never lose the wonder of the intimacy that we can have, knowing that we, by the power of the Spirit, can have a personal relationship with the living God; that we can have an intimate communion with the God of glory, the lover of our souls.

Now, I bring these truths to your attention, not only to have you observe these divine ministries of the Holy Spirit here in this text, but also I hope to stir your hearts with jubilant praise for all that the Holy Spirit does in us and through us.

Now, with this background, we can certainly see the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but secondly, let's look at the preacher. Verses 14 and 16, "But Peter, taking his stand with the 11, 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 then he proceeds to immerse them in the truths of scripture. We'll look at that in a moment, but first I want you to notice something.

I want you to notice that it is the Holy Spirit that has drawn the crowd. He has drawn the very ones that he wants to be there to hear this message at the very time that he desired for them to be there. There's no media blitz, there's no celebrities to draw the crowd, no drama team, no musical extravaganza, no ancient version of some kind of a multimedia presentation. I also want you to notice that God used the method of preaching to reveal truth to those who would listen; by the way, the same method that was used in the Old Testament. Upon occasions, I have opportunity to speak to other pastors, especially some other young pastors, and recently I had that opportunity. Some of the young pastors were very frustrated with their churches. They were trying all of the new methods that are so popular today, depending heavily upon music and drama and multimedia presentations to somehow attract a crowd and all other manner of things, and some of them reacted in a kind way, but in a curious way, to my plea to them not to abandon the preaching of the word of God. And one of them asked in a little group, and I wrote it down, so I would get it right, because I thought it was interesting, he said, "Sir, why do you believe that preaching is the best way to reach your audience?" And I said to him, "Well, first of all, it's not my responsibility to reach my audience, that's God's role, that's God's job. My responsibility is to preach the word, it's very clear. And secondly, I don't really consider the people my audience, they're not here to hear me, they're here to hear from God, they're not assembled together as spectators, the people that come are in one of two categories, they are either sinners under the condemnation of a holy God, desperately need in need of saving truth, or they are saints who are longing to see the glory of Christ and be equipped to serve Him, one of those two categories. But to answer your question, yes, I preach, and I believe preaching is the proper method, not because it is popular, but because it is biblical."

All through the New Testament, all through the Old Testament, we see preaching and teaching. In fact, in Matthew 4:17 we read that the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, the text says, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Certainly, he had not learned of the new seeker-sensitive techniques. I reminded some of these pastors of something that we have on our website, and may I just quote this to you biblically: "Our responsibility is to provide a compassionate atmosphere where hearts will either be divinely softened or hardened by the bold proclamation of the glorious gospel of Christ. The center of gravity around which our services, here at Calvary Bible Church orbit, is the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (First Corinthians 1:21). Since this was the model and mandate of Christ and his apostles, the very pinnacle of our worship service is expository preaching, where the God-intended meaning of a text is carefully conveyed and passionately applied to the contemporary issues of life. Nothing else can nourish our souls, bring us into conformity with our precious Savior, and bring glory to God, like the unleashing of truth through the faithful preaching of His word." End quote.

And so, as we look at this text, we see that not only was the method that of preaching, but also the message was also the same as it was in the Old Testament, and that is: it was the public proclamation of the word of God. And again, despite such blatant violations of the seeker-sensitive principles of pragmatism, so popular in our neo-evangelical culture today, it's interesting that according to verse 37 Peter's preaching resulted in the people having been "pierced to the heart," it says, causing them to ask what they should do to be saved. Verse 41 says, "...they were added that day about 3000 souls."

Well, we have examined the power of the Spirit of God and witnessed the preacher, but let's go to the heart of the message. Let's look at the promise. Thirdly, the promise, and here Peter answers their question. Remember the question in verse 12, "What does this mean?" The Holy Spirit has made them hungry for the truth, and now he's going to feed them, and so the Holy Spirit takes his preacher to the prophet Joel. Now, a very fair question would be, why go to Joel? And the answer is, and I want you to get this, he wants to give them the big picture of God saving purposes for his covenant people, Israel, because in Joel and many other prophecies, you will find a sweeping panorama of the new covenant from Pentecost to the Messiah's return and the glorious establishment of the millennial kingdom to follow.

Now you've got to understand this, folks, so bear with me for just a moment. The Old Testament predicted that Messiah would come and establish his kingdom, but what was very unclear to the Old Testament saints is that this would involve two comings separated by many years. We know he came the first time, and now 2000 years later we're waiting for his second coming. And it's interesting that in the Old Testament the Messiah was promised to come first of all, in humility, as the Lamb of God, one that would come to suffer and die for the sins of those who believe. We read this, for example, in Isaiah 53. Now we know that that occurred at his first coming; but also, in the Old Testament there were the promises that the Messiah would come in great glory as the triumphant King - the king of Kings - that he would come and conquer his enemies and conquer the enemies of his covenant people and establish a glorious earthly kingdom. This is a theme that fills the Old Testament as well as many places in the New. Aand this is going to be fulfilled when he comes again at his second coming. So, these Jews now were asking, "What does all of this mean?  This manifestation of the divine presence and the miracle of tongues, what is going on here?" And so the spirit of God takes them to Joel chapter two verses 28 through 32 and we see this recorded here in Acts chapter two, beginning in verse 17.

Notice he says, verse 17, "'"And it shall be in the last days," God says.'" Now, remember, the last days is always a reference to that period of time from Messiah's first coming, and it will last all through the millennial kingdom. So we're living in the last days now. So again he says, "'"And it shall be in the last days that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind."'" Now, beloved, it's obvious that that did not happen at Pentecost. His Spirit was not poured out on all mankind, but only a few believers, because remember now Pentecost is only a preview or a sample of what will ultimately happen when Christ establishes his millennial kingdom. At that time, everyone who enters into the kingdom after his second coming will be believers, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 and 25. Therefore, at that time he will pour forth of his Spirit upon all mankind.

But he goes on in verse 17, and he says, "'"And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."'" Now again, this was only partially fulfilled at Pentecost, and even now in the church age, in the early church, certainly the Spirit of God did raise up prophets. In fact, we read, for example, in Ephesians chapter two, beginning in verse 19, that we are all, "...fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." So, what we learn there in that text is that this foundation was the divine revelation proclaimed and interpreted by New Testament apostles and prophets. Prophets in the New Testament were specially gifted and commissioned men within local churches who would occasionally speak practical, and even at times, direct revelation from God to the church. We read this in Acts 11, for example, or sometimes they would expound upon previous apostolic revelation, as we see in Acts 13:1. But their unique function was to clearly articulate the word of God to the fledgling first century church in the years preceding the completed New Testament canon. And because their role is confined - confined to the foundation, as we read here in Ephesians two - there is an indication that their unique role was limited to that seminal and formative period of church history when God specially provided gifted men to be a spokesman. And then after the canon was completed, as we read, for example, in Jude three, and the foundation had been laid, there was no longer a need for apostles and prophets. Therefore, God terminated these offices, and, according to Ephesians 4:11, he replaced them with evangelists and pastor teachers.

Now, in the millennial kingdom, back to the text here, in the millennial kingdom, he will once again raise up spirit-empowered prophets, giving them divine revelation to communicate to all of his subjects. The scripture doesn't tell us much more about that, other than that will occur. He says in verse 18 here in Acts two, "'"Even upon My bond slaves, both men and women, I will in those days,"'" referring to the millennial kingdom, "'"...pour forth of My spirit, and they shall prophesy."'" And again, we only have a sample of this here at Pentecost. Now you must also remember that it is very common in biblical prophecies for certain aspects to be fulfilled in the immediate future, with the rest to be fulfilled many years later. We see this in many, many prophecies, and often there is no indication as to the extent of the valley of time in between the first fulfillment and the ultimate fulfillment later to come. Think of it this way, it's like two great mountain peaks seen from a distance, and if you've ever seen them, if you've ever driven, for example, from the east to the west, and you start moving towards Denver, suddenly you will see these great Rocky Mountains emerge, and many times they will all look as one, but in fact there are some that are in front of others. In reality, for example, there can be two peaks separated by a very long valley. And you must understand the Old Testament prophets saw the peaks of Messiah's humiliation and glorification as one giant mountain peak; they were unable to see the valley of time in between. The valley of time, which would be the church age that we're living in now. And likewise in Joel's prophecy, if we were to go and study that book God predicted terrible judgments of locusts and drought upon his rebellious people, all of which was fulfilled in that immediate future as promised. But those historical facts, you must understand, those historical plagues that occurred, were also meant to paint a vivid picture of a future eschatological day of the Lord, when God would far exceed the calamity that they experienced in those days, and pour out his wrath upon the earth, and ultimately bring his people to himself. So Joel's prophecy continues to explain for these Jewish questioners at Pentecost that what you are witnessing, you men, what you're witnessing now, Peter is saying is really a preview of the judgment to come, and ultimately, he's giving them a call to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Joel's prophecy goes on to describe the cataclysmic events that will immediately precede the Lord's second coming. Notice in verses 19 and 20, he says, "'"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."'" The day of the Lord in this context is a specific reference to the second coming of Christ. Moreover, the specific catastrophic events that Joel describes are detailed in Jesus' prophecies concerning that horrific day of unprecedented judgment that will occur upon the earth just before he returns. We read about that, for example, in Matthew 24 and 25 and even in the book of Revelation.

So, my friends, the day of the Lord, when it comes, it will be a day that is conspicuously his. Nobody will miss it. It will happen really at the end of the great tribulation, and he will go forth as the Lord of hosts to intervene on behalf of the Jewish remnant. We read of this in Zechariah 12 verse eight, "In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David. And the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them." Beloved, in that day the king of Kings and lord of Lords, who was of the house and of the lineage of David, will conquer his enemies as well as all of the enemies of his covenant people. Remember now the church has been snatched away. And why will the Lord show such mercy and deliverance to his people?  It's very simple, because he has promised to do so. They are his elect, his chosen people. Even as we are in the church age, and during this time of unprecedented calamity, we know that they will see their crucified Messiah, and because of the effusion of the Spirit of God upon them - something that we're seeing now in terms of an initial partial fulfillment at Pentecost - because of that filling of the Spirit of God, that Jewish remnant will see that it is indeed the Lord Jesus Christ that is preserving them in the midst of such calamity, "in the midst of the great and glorious day" of God's wrath upon the earth. Zechariah 12 and verse 10 says that "At that time I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." Beloved, you must remember that it is always the Spirit of grace - that one who imparts divine favor - that illumines the darkened minds of sinners, that they might be able to see the glorious light of the truth of who Christ really is; and this will occur when the Lord comes again. It is the Spirit of grace that produces supplication, causing hard-hearted sinners to repent and to believe and to plead for the mercy that the Lord will give them.

And in that day, dear friends, in their grief and in their sin, as they think of their past rejection of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the text says they will mourn. In the Hebrew, it means to literally strike the breast in agony of soul, with deep grief, and with wailing. In fact, this whole concept became popular with the death wail of the Egyptians during the 10th plague that God poured out upon the Egyptians. This is what's going to happen someday. Why? Because the Spirit of God is at work, because he began to work in a special way at Pentecost, and Peter is telling these Jewish men, "This is a sampling of what's going to happen, and you need to be ready. You need to repent and believe in Christ."

And I must add, while it may be expressed in different ways, such a deep contrition and brokenness of heart will always accompany true repentance. It is only the hypocrite that will claim that they know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet have no brokenness over their sin. It's only the hypocrite who refuses to mourn over their sin, who refuses to seek after righteousness and hunger and thirst for righteousness. So, what a promise they are given in the midst of this judgment that Peter is describing, coming from the prophet Joel.

But as we read on in Peter's sermon, we see not only the partial fulfillment of these great prophecies, but also the promise of future deliverance. Notice in verse 21 he gives us a summary, here he says, "'"And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."'" Now, don't you know, this was wonderful news for those Jewish men that day, and other Gentiles who were listening to Peter, for certainly all of them would want to do anything they could to avoid the wrath of God that would someday come, described in Joel's prophecy. And then Peter goes on to exalt the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that they rejected in his sermon.

Now, beloved, in closing this morning, don't miss the astounding realities that occurred at Pentecost. Don't lose the context here. I fear that too often the exclusive focus is on tongues and the baptism of the Spirit and that type of thing. Beloved, there is something going on here that that that is of far greater significance than all of that. These men weren't inquiring about those issues, you see. Remember again, the tongues that occurred was a sign of divine judgment on unbelieving Israel for the hardness of their heart; something that had been predicted hundreds of years before in Isaiah 28:11 where God says, "Indeed I will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue." These tongues were a sign of the temporary displacement of Israel, signaling the transition from Israel being God's witness people to the church, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. This unified body, again, even a sign of divine blessing. And God's prophetic word, here, is being fulfilled; because what he is saying is, "Because you have refused to believe the truth, because you crucified your Messiah, Israel is being temporarily displaced as the custodians of divine truth, and that role is now being transferred to the Gentile church, and also no longer can man approach God through the Levitical system of the old covenant, but now through a new and a living way, the new covenant provided by Jesus Christ, whom you crucified."  So Peter is saying, "Nevertheless, in spite of your temporary displacement, grace is offered to you even today, and someday the salvation we see that has come to a few here on this day of Pentecost will be given to many after the terrible day of the Lord is concluded. Then all Israel will be saved."

Oh dear friends, what triumph. God says this so clearly in Jeremiah 33 there we read, "Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them," referring to Israel, "and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth, and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me, and by which they have transgressed against Me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do for them, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it." He goes on to say, in verse 14, "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth, and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety, and this is the name by which she shall be called. The Lord is our righteousness.'"

Zechariah even promises us in chapter two verse five that Jerusalem will be filled with millennial glory, won't that be a day? When you look at Jerusalem today and see all of the turmoil, think of what God has promised. There in Zechariah two five. God says, "'For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.'" And in verse eight he goes on to say, how he will utterly destroy all of the nations that have molested Israel, that have plundered her all through these years, because they have touched the apple of his eye. He says, "For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of My eye, Jehovah of hosts." It's like all those people that have been sticking their finger in my eye, I will repay. And in chapter eight, verse 13 of Zechariah, we read even that Messiah himself will build the temple, and he will bear the glory in the temple, the majesty and the honor and the beauty of Christ will be there. In that text we read that he shall sit and rule as a king upon his throne, and he shall "be a priest upon his throne, and the council of peace shall be between them both."

Beloved, may I challenge you this morning to join with all of those, even at Pentecost, who marveled at what God was up to. May I challenge you to think about all of the glorious promises that are ours, especially the fulfillment of that promise of the Spirit of God that now dwells within all of us who trust Christ as Savior, and how we can all look forward to that marvelous day, yet future, when our Savior and Lord will reign in glory, even as Habakkuk has promised, "a day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, even as the waters cover the sea." May these great truths, my friends, motivate you to live for the glory and the honor of Christ.  Well, next week we will continue to learn more of what the Spirit of God had to say through His servant Peter. Let's pray together.

Father, our hearts are filled with great joy as we reflect upon these promises. Thank you for these truths and all that they mean to us, who know and love you. And Lord, for those who have been here today, or those who are listening to my voice, those who find themselves perturbed, bored, indifferent, or perhaps even angry, Lord, such is an indication that they do not know you as Savior, and I pray that somehow the truth of the gospel will penetrate their heart, so that the truths that you would have them know will transform them. I pray that today will be the day that they will be saved, that they will experience the miracle of the new birth, and Lord, for all of us that know and love you. Thank you for the truth of your word. May we be motivated by it, and may we bear much fruit for your glory. For it's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen.