We now turn to the word of God. The first few verses of scripture I want to read to you is from Isaiah 44, verses one through five. Isaiah 44, this is the word of God. But now hear, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. By the way, that's you and me. Thus says the Lord, who made you, who formed you from the womb, and will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun. Jeshurun is a kind of a special name for Jerusalem, a loving name. Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. for I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon your offspring and my blessings on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, I am the Lord's. Another will call on the name of Jacob and another will write on his hand, the Lord's. and name himself by the name of Israel. I will pour out my spirit, and he has poured out his spirit, and we have the history of that in Acts chapter two. We're not going to read all 41 verses, we'll be referring to that, but for now, just verses one through four of Acts chapter two. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Let's pray, shall we? Our Father, again, grant us your Holy Spirit that we might know what to say and think and how to live and bring glory to your name. Amen. Congregation, loved of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The outpouring of the Spirit, the magnificent work of God, It's prophesied in the Old Testament in Joel, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. In Isaiah, until the spirit poured out upon us from on high, I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring. Now, when you think of the word pouring, what do you think of? Last week, I think it was, we had pouring rain. Now, what do you think I meant by pouring rain? Maybe a little drip here and there? It came down in buckets, didn't it? Matter of fact, if I were to go outside and stand in the pouring rain, I'd be drenched in about five seconds. You know what pouring means, doesn't it? It means you're drenched. It's all over the place. It's flooding you. And here that word is used in reference to the coming of the spirit. I think of that as the flood. When the heavens were opened and the rain came pouring down and the floods came up, and everything was totally flooded, pouring. In Romans chapter five, verse five, it is referred to God's love. There it says God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So what does the Holy Spirit do? He gives to us and he opens the floodgates of heaven, opens our hearts, what does he do? pours love into our hearts. And you see, when we think of Pentecost, and we think of the work of the Holy Spirit, we think of that Holy Spirit as a person, not a force, not an energy, but a person. sometimes referred to as the third person of the Trinity. And often we think of the Holy Spirit as something which is a force, like in Star Wars. No, it's an individual, it's a person who literally opens the floodgates of heaven, opens their hearts, and it pours in. the love of God poured into our hearts. And you know, people of God, this is exactly what you and I must understand as we think about the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the emptying of heaven of the power, the love, the gracious power of God into the church. It's the fulfillment of what he has promised. Just a quick history, okay? You remember the beginning of history when Adam and Eve were created and they sinned, didn't they? And they were separated from God's love. It's as if they closed the gates. The love of God couldn't flow down into their hearts anymore because they closed the door. They yielded to Satan. But now, at that very beginning, what did God promise? I am going to open the dam. I am going to crush you, Satan. Now, what do you kids think of when you think of the word crush? You know, a few days ago, I was sitting in my chair, my recliner, you know, old folks like to recline, and I saw a bug on the carpet. My wife didn't do a good job vacuuming that day, I guess. Anyway, here's the bug. So what I do, I took my shoe and I, gosh, what happened to it? Dead. Stone dead. Now, this is what God promised. I am going to crush the power of Satan. That was promised at the very beginning. And as we follow the history of God's people throughout the Old Testament, we see that power of God crushing. power of Satan, not only crushing the power of Satan, but as you read the Old Testament, you see the grace of God delivering people from Pharaoh, that's a tremendous example of God's grace, set them free from slavery, and that's a picture of being set free from the power of hell and the power of Satan. Satan is not only crushed, but we are lifted up and blessed. Promised. Promised in the Old Testament. The time of Isaiah, the time was when the people of Judah were under the Assyrian slavery. There's a war in Judah, and there you have the terrible result of sin. Israel is deported. It is totally beaten by the kingdom of Assyria. And now Isaiah is in the kingdom of Judah. Judah is still there, but it also has that Assyrian threat to it. But then there's captivity and there's slavery. What does it say? Until the spirit is poured out on us from high. When righteousness abides in the field. What's righteousness? Righteousness is sinlessness. Where's that sinlessness come from? It comes from Christ, doesn't it? His righteousness, that righteousness is revealed. We learned all about Jesus, didn't we? How he came, why he came, God sent his son, why? for sin, whose sin, my sin, your sin, in order to make us righteous, to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. Life poured out. At the time of Joel as well, again, this was the time after the captivity, and the prophecy of Joel talks about an invasion of locusts, of grasshoppers, that are totally destroying the field, nothing but trouble, nothing but pain, nothing but misery. And good reason for that because, again, the people had sinned. But what does Joel promise? I will pour out my spirit. And what's gonna happen? Your old men shall see visions and dream dreams. Your young men and maidens will sing. There'll be a time of dancing and singing and rejoicing when everybody sees the power of God, the love of God poured out into the church. And how does the church respond to that? Hallelujah, right? Holy Spirit has come. He has poured out God's love in us, on us. What's the response? And so we have the history of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two. 50 days since the resurrection. 10 days since the ascension of Jesus Christ. The place is Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the location of God's temple. That's where God had his throne. From there he ministered to his people. But a special name for Jerusalem is Jeshurun. Now, you husbands have special names for your wives. You don't call them Susie or Mary or something like that. You have Honey or Sweetheart. Well, you think of Jerusalem's name, his pet name is Sweetheart. I love you. Jeshurun, Zion. The time is Pentecost. Pentecost in the Old Testament was the Feast of Weeks. It was the second of three festivals. to which every Jewish man was called to attend. Matter of fact, God calls the people to worship back in the Old Testament. He said all the Jews must come to worship at the temple three times a year. Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Booths. Now this was the second of those required feasts. So here you have already in the Old Testament, God calling the people to worship. Everybody is supposed to come and worship. So here again, this day, Jerusalem, God's beloved, God's sweetheart, the church is God's sweetheart, remember? They all come together, they obey God's call. You know, when God reveals his glory and his power, he doesn't do that in secret. He wants everybody to know, come to church, a call to worship. That's what happens. It's Pentecost. How did he come? Well, the Bible says, the disciples were all in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them, and rested on each one of them. What would that remind all those people that came to Jerusalem? Mount Sinai, smoking mountain, under the fire. This was a theophany, a revelation of Jesus Christ, a revelation of God's power. You couldn't mistake it. Fire. The apostles now became on fire. You know, Jesus had said to them at the ascension, I want you to be my witnesses, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But don't do it now. Wait till the Spirit comes upon you. And now we have the Spirit coming upon as fire. They're fired up. And that fire must be seen. And God reveals his glory, his power, now through these apostles, through these pastors. These men are pastors. They're pastors on fire. They're not pastors. Fired with the Holy Spirit. Can you almost see Peter? He's going to be the one who's taking charge here. Does he stand up and say, okay, you guys, you haven't been very good. I think you ought to repent. No. He's involved, he loves these brothers of his who have come to Jerusalem to worship. He desires that they too be filled with the love of God. He desires that they too come to know him, so he's on fire. He's not casual, he's insistent, he's emotional. You've gotta believe on fire. The power of God is revealed as the Holy Spirit comes. Because you know full well it is not Peter who is going to be the source of the fire. It's the Holy Spirit that must then fire up through Peter in the hearts of the congregation that they too may catch the fire. You know, we as parents wanna set your kids on fire. Doesn't sound very good, doesn't it? Set your kids on fire. But it's the fire of the Holy Spirit. We want the Holy Spirit to work in you. And your parents have to fire you up too. Even as we as parents need to be fired up. And you know, that's why God called you to worship. That's why you're here this morning, isn't it? Because you wanted to be fired up for the gospel power. magnificent works of God. All right, there you have the worship service. From heaven comes a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind. And they began to speak in other languages. I counted them, 15 different languages. Now who were these guys who were on fire with the love of God whom the Holy Spirit had filled and through whom now they were, they were now the mediaries of the Holy Spirit. Who were these guys? Were they seminary professors? You know, really, they could tell you all the theological nuances of the Bible. No, they were Galileans. Now, Galileans were not known for being very smart. Wasn't fair, because I'm sure that they were as smart as anybody else, but they had no respect. Who are these guys? How come we hear them speaking in all these languages? They're listed in verses seven through 11. Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Gea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Jews, Cretans, and Arabians. What is this? What's going on? They're proclaiming the mighty works of God. In that language, I can understand. And here, we see that the Holy Spirit now is to be poured out in all nations. Before this, it was pretty much limited to Israel and Judah. But now, you and I become involved in the audience, in the congregation. And you say, well, what's going on? Well, then Peter begins to preach. Now, there are some people who think, oh, these guys are nuts. I mean, we see this fire, and we see them, all these foreign languages, maybe they're insane. Well, that simply doesn't make sense, does it? Does a crazy person speak 15 different languages fluently? Does he? You think that's reasonable? Now, these guys are not insane. Well, Peter says it's too early to be drunk. It was only about nine in the morning, and I guess nobody got drunk that early in the morning. No, these are now men, pastors, filled with the Holy Spirit. Matter of fact, Peter says, this is what was prophesied in the Old Testament by the prophet Joel. This is a revelation of the mighty works of God. You know, these men from Judea were good guys. They were Christians. They believed. They came to the call to worship. They didn't say, oh no, I've got other things to do. I've got to get a big dinner ready for my grandkids, or I have to go to that game, or I have to go there and do that. No, they came to church. They responded to the call. They were Christians. But what did they expect? Well, they would expect to go to the temple and hear the mighty works of God. The priests and the Levites would recount to them Sinai, the deliverance from Egypt, and they would be thankful for having been delivered. But now, it's these Galileans that are proclaiming the mighty works of God. And what is the content of the mighty works of God? They preach Christ. Say, you men, you know Jesus? He did mighty works, didn't he? You know that. You were here. Passover, many of you were here 40 days ago, 50 days ago, when he's crucified. And what were you doing? Jesus, he was Testified. God witnessed that Jesus was his son. You saw his miracles. You heard about his raising of the dead. Lazarus' raising of the dead was public knowledge. Testimony, testimony. He is the Christ. He is the son of God. He is the power of God. He is sent there to save you. He was sent to you for sin. And what did you do with him? Oh, wait a minute, Pastor. That's not very diplomatic. You can't accuse these good people of sin, can you? As a matter of fact, shouldn't pastors not mention sin? That's not a very popular subject. Well, Peter didn't hesitate. He says, you're sinners. I can prove it. You committed the worst sin possible. You crucified the Christ. Purposely. You have your Bible open in verse, oh, about 30, where it talks about David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, that's Jesus, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up. Easter, hear about that, the resurrection? of which we are witnesses. We saw him. I saw him. All these men with me, at least many of these men with me saw him as well. I can prove to you that this Jesus, about whom you've heard a lot, who did all these miracles, whom you killed, the third day, he rose again. And he is exalted at the right hand of God. He is king. You have killed your savior. You are sinners. You have rejected him. Well, how do you feel about that? Well, at least you can say, well, I didn't do it. I wasn't there. But then you can think, why did Jesus have to die? My sin. My sin. That's why he died. God destroyed him that I might live. And I haven't loved him. Matter of fact, every time I sin, I reject him. That's true, isn't it? You kids know that. Every time you sin, you make a wall between you and your mom and dad. That's a problem. You've rejected their advice. You've rejected their leading. Now, what do they do? You have broken the covenant. Terrible. What's their situation? You men of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus, whom you crucified, is Lord. He is the Christ. And you know, congregation, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts you and me of sin. That's why pastors have to preach sin. You're sinners, admit it, okay? He rejected the leading of the Lord. God requires perfection and holiness. You're not holy. What can be done? Notice how these men respond. In verse 37. Brothers, what shall we do? What can we do? Anything we can do? Well, by yourself, no. You can't take away sin, because sin, once committed, sticks to you. You can't just wish it away. You can't just say, I'm sorry, and expect God to forget it. He doesn't forget it. He can't forget it. He's just. Every sin must be paid for with death, and God can't forget it. Well, you and I have sinned. These men have sinned. What now can we do? And here, you see, is the power and the gospel of the Holy Spirit. Peter says, repent. What does it mean to repent? It means to admit that you're a sinner. Yes, I have sinned, Lord. I'm sorry for my sin. and don't just repent, but be baptized. What does it mean to be baptized? It means to turn to Christ for forgiveness. Baptism is done with water, and water signifies the washing away of sin. Visibly confess your sin and come and have your sins forgiven by the blood of Christ. That's what baptism signifies. And when you do that, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You will be empowered. Then the wall between you and God be broken, and the Spirit which is poured into the church will pour into my heart, pour into your heart, and give you that joy and that peace, that assurance of eternal life, that glory. Love can never end. The gift of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, the promise is for you and for your children. Pentecost, what a morning. The opening of heaven, power of God entering the church, opening the hearts, equipping pastors, calling people to worship, being convicted of sin, being convicted of salvation, being pointed to Jesus Christ, and being forgiven. Congregation, that now is the mighty work of God in the church. The mighty work of God in your heart, the mighty work of God in my heart. What happened? That day, they were added 3,000 souls. 3,000. One sermon, 3,000 souls. Power of the Holy Spirit. And how about right now? Is the Holy Spirit still active? Still being poured into the church? Poured into my heart? You and I respond with faith. We have sinned. Oh Lord, be merciful. And I tell you as a pastor, you're forgiven. And now the power is in you. And now the power is for you to express an obedience and a love to each other and to those around you. Praise God. All blessings flow. Amen. Our Father, we want to thank you for the power of your Spirit, and we pray, O God, that you will fill us with that power, that we might be assured of the fact that we are alive forever in you. We have confessed our sin. And we have come to you for salvation, and you have forgiven. And now, oh Father, accept our service as we seek to serve you according to your will. Forgive our sin. Accept our thanksgiving. In Jesus' name, amen.