I'd invite you to look with me in Psalm 119. Psalm 119. We're going to read from verse 169. Psalm 176. Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord. Give me understanding according to thy word. Let my supplication come before thee, deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me my statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word for all thy commandments of righteousness. Let thine hand help me where I have chosen thy precepts. I have long judgments help me. I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant but I do not forget thy commandments. Our gracious Heavenly Fathers we come before you again in this hour of worship. I'm thankful that in reading He said, let my pride come near before thee, O Lord. Give me understanding according to thy word. It's true that we desire that for ourselves, and yet our hope is in what our Lord Jesus came and accomplished and fulfilled, worked out that perfect salvation in accord with your commandments and your precepts, your justice, one left undone. Him longing for that salvation that you gave him from all eternity, that law being his delight, is how we can stand today with this hope of being accepted in the beloved, accepted in him. That our eyes ever be upon that our time together be to the exclusive honor and glory of your son, in whose name I pray, amen. Let's take our bulletins and on the inside cover, we'll sing this hymn to the tune of Oh God, our help in ages past. We bless the name of Christ our King and of His glory sing. No other can to Him compare. Let us His praises bring. ♪ We see him high and lifted up ♪ ♪ The sovereign ruling all ♪ ♪ And thank him for his mighty grace ♪ ♪ That saved us from the fall ♪ ♪ We see God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ ♪ who came to earth and shed his blood, and for us victory won. We see the Lord, our righteousness, and find in him alone our hope, our peace, our life, our all, No boasting in our own. Amen, that's why we're here. That's the name of Christ our King. All right, Bob's going to come and read for us now from Galatians chapter 3. Good morning, Galatians chapter 3. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. This only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. Even as Abraham believed to God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. In the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathens, through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law and the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of man, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disanoeth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, and he saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. In this I say that the covenants that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was 430 years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise, wherefore then serveth the law. It was added because of the transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, barely righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, and that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after the faith is come, we are no longer under schoolmaster. For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye all are one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ, then ye are Abraham's seed, and errs according to the promise. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time to read your word, dear Lord. Please open our eyes to see Christ and Christ alone in these words, the promise fulfilled, dear Lord, sitting on the right hand of the Father. This morning we pray for those that are not with us, that are far away, dear Lord, that you may watch over them, comfort them, guide them, Let's take our inbooks and before the message sing hymn number six and sing this together. Come Thou Almighty King. Come Thou Almighty King, help us thy name to Father of glorious, for all victorious, come and reign over us, ancient of days. Come thou incarnate Word, gird on thy mighty sword, our prayer attend. ♪ Come and thy people bless ♪ ♪ And give thy work success ♪ ♪ Spirit of holiness on us descend ♪ ♪ Come holy comforter ♪ ♪ Thy sacred witness bear ♪ ♪ In this glad hour ♪ Thou whom almighty art, now rule in every heart, and e'er from us depart, Spirit of power, to the great one in three, eternal praises be and evermore. His sovereign majesty may we in glory sing, and to eternity love and adore. Amen. May we be seated. That's one of those hymns that's been there in our book that I've known, but we haven't sung it in a long while, but it certainly is a good prayer. of worship together. Let me invite you to look with me in Acts chapter one, once again, and my text today is taken from verse four down to verse eight. And I wanna speak with you on the baptism with the Spirit. Do you agree with me that this is a very popular subject today? I don't know over your life how many people that you know have asked you, have you been baptized with the spirit? And typically what they mean by that is some sort of second blessing that God gives after conversion. And it's usually an experience that is tied to what men call speaking in tongues, although we're given in Acts two, we're gonna see that when we get there. So this is an important subject, and I want us to prayerfully consider it together from the word. Is there today an ongoing baptism of the spirit that we're to seek as men do today? Many, many congregations around the world for an outpouring of the spirit like it was on the day of Pentecost. In fact, many congregations will put that in their name so that you understand and know that that is their emphasis, that here, we're all about being baptized with the spirit. In fact, there is a religious congregation here in town, and if you've ever driven by and seen their sign, it says, on the sign and it has a dove on the cross as if the spirit were the one that had been crucified. Well, everything's wrong about that particular sign when you consider that it's not about the spirit. In fact, Christ said when the spirit, he would send it that he would not speak of himself unto us. But even in terms of baptism of the spirit, was this some sort of personal experience that the scriptures teach that now as some wondering whether they should be seeking it or not, what was the But here in Acts chapter one, we saw already how Luke, the writer here, is describing Christ's 40 days with his disciples before he ascended up into glory. And he was, in verse three we saw, showing himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days. and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So it's in this context that we read now in verse four when it says, and being assembled together with them. I trust and believe that when it speaks of being assembled together with them, this is the connection with what we saw back in Luke 24 before the Lord ascended up into glory. where he was assembled with them before he was taken up. And he blessed them, lifting up his hands, and then it came to pass that while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. So you can see the context here between Acts 1-4 and what we ended with in Luke 24. But while he was with them, and his final words to them were, and notice, commanded them, So very specifically letting them know here that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. So that's a clue already when we're reading about the baptism with the Spirit. It has something to do with what the Father had promised. And so to go and wait for this, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Notice, not many days hence. So here again is another clue that this baptism of the Spirit was to be something that should take place not many days hence. And as we read in Acts chapter two, we find that that's exactly what occurred. that not many days hence was actually 10 days from then. Because the 40 days that the Lord was with them since the cross, and then we know in Acts chapter two that the spirit was poured out on those gathered in Jerusalem on the day of the Passover. I mean the Pentecost, Penta means 50. 50 days after the Passover was the outpouring of the Spirit. And so it's very specific to what should take place there as they waited in Jerusalem. And it says in verse six, when they therefore were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Now, remember, The Lord is preparing to go into glory. And in their minds, they're still thinking, well, are you gonna leave Israel under this government, Roman suppression? What exactly are we to expect with regard to that? That's why they refer to restoring again the kingdom to Israel. The Lord has been talking to them in verse three about the kingdom of God. And again, this shows just how we don't really hear what The scriptures say unless the Lord opens our ears, and that's why the Lord said to them in verse seven, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. In other words, everything's gonna work out exactly as God's purposed it, but you, see in verse eight, ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. and he shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. So let's begin with this first question. What is the baptism of the spirit? Now you notice the scriptures here make a distinction between water baptism. The word baptism literally means immersion, to be immersed. So John truly immersed with water. I truly believe that had the translators, King James translators, been true to the original word, they would have translated it immersion. But guess what? They were sprinklers. They chose just to simply, so as not to offend any party, just put baptizo, which is a transliteration directly from the Greek, and leave the interpretation up to the reader. But if you go back and do a word study of the word baptism, rightly translated, it would be immersion. For John truly immersed with water, but ye shall be immersed with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. So already here we have an indication of what the Lord said should take place from beginning with back there in John's baptism what he began to preach and teach and what would be fulfilled not many days hence. What he's telling them is don't be surprised about what's about to take place because even John, though he came baptizing with water, announced what should take place. And there's where I'd have us to go back to Matthew chapter three. One of the problems that we have in reading the scriptures is we read them too quickly and we don't compare scripture with scripture. But notice, this was even announced as John preached repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in Matthew three and verse 11. He said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, means that when they identified with John's baptism in water, that immersion in water, And it's clear that it was in water because he baptized at the River Jordan, where there was plenty of water. People came to him. It was just a matter of sprinkling. You wouldn't need a large body of water. But this is where he came baptizing. But notice the distinction that John makes. He says, he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. And notice, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Now you can fast forward to Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost as they were gathered there that when the spirit was poured out. Again, where was Christ when that spirit was poured out? Because here it says, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. He shall immerse you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. As those that were subject to this pouring out of the Spirit there on the day of Pentecost, they spoke in languages. And that's the meaning of the word tongue. You know, today people say, well, they're speaking in tongue. It either means they're using this tongue, which is a member of our body to speak, or they're speaking in a language. And it's clear from Acts chapter two that it was in languages that those that had come from these other countries to Jerusalem for the Passover and had remained over for Pentecost, the feast of Pentecost, they were hearing these Galileans who had never been outside the country speaking in tongues in languages from these other countries. And what does the scripture say? They were speaking the wonderful words of God. God has never said anything wonderful other than He's pronounced His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was not only by the Spirit, it says, and with fire. There were tons of fire that were visible on the heads of each of these that were speaking. That was that they might know that this was that of which Christ had spoken. And so you can see the connection here between John truly baptized with water, that word truly means that his water baptism, what was pronounced in that baptism. which was nothing more than an identification with this Christ who should come, live, die, and rise again. That's why it's by immersion. You can't picture death by sprinkling. If someone dies, you don't just take a little dirt and throw it on their head and say, okay, they're buried. That entering into the water, being buried in that water, and then coming forth again is a picture of the work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to accomplish. And how do we know that that work was accomplished to the satisfaction of God the Father? Well, the pouring out of the spirit. Even Christ said to his disciples that it was needful that he go away in his death. Else, he said, the spirit cannot come. The reason that the spirit was poured out was because it was an indication that Christ had actually finished the work. and it's difficult to preach on this portion and not give away what's in Acts 2. But we're gonna get to it. In Acts 2, when Peter stood up to explain what had taken place, he explained it based upon the prophecies of the Old Testament. That the Spirit of God would be poured out, it says, upon all flesh. That doesn't mean on every single person in the world, but all flesh, all kinds of flesh. Jew and Gentile. They were there present in Jerusalem when this spirit was poured out. And Peter very specifically says in Acts 2.16, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. You know what I wrote next to that verse, fulfilled. If this is that which was spoken, that means it's done. But what was declared by it? Peter did not stand up. on the day of Pentecost and start telling people now, just as you've seen the Spirit poured out, something that you can have in your personal life if you'll just believe. He wasn't preaching speaking in tongues as a result of this pouring out of the Spirit. What was he preaching? Again, what's the connection with what John the Baptist was announcing in that water baptism that he preached and what took place. Notice in Acts chapter two, in verse 32, we'll begin there. This is the grand conclusion, and this is what I want you to see that the baptism of the spirit is all about. That event that took place back there on the day of Pentecost, announced here by our Lord before he ascended into glory. This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which ye now see and hear. He has shed forth this, what? The baptism of the Spirit, with the Spirit. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he said himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Where's Christ now? He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, having completed the work. Until I make thy foes thy footstool. You realize that there's one of two ways that God is making the foes or the enemies of Christ his footstool, either in grace or in judgment. In grace, we have to say we were enemies. But by the same spirit that was poured out, now working within the heart, bringing us to bow, and we gladly owned it, if we're nothing but his footstool. In other words, upon whom his feet rest. That's what you did with servants. You placed your feet upon their neck. those who were otherwise enemies, and they willingly bow. They shall be willing in the day of his power. So either by grace or judgment, but either way, it's the Lord doing his work. But here's the grand conclusion in verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Well, that's what the baptism with the Spirit is all about. It's all about Christ Lord. It's all about who he is and why he came and what he accomplished and where he is now. And the pouring out is proof that he reigns. No assurance, Peter said, that God hath made that same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and Christ. When you got people running around today saying, well, we gotta make Christ Lord, that's not what the scriptures say. Quote on this verse, now you're too late. God has already made him to be Lord and Christ. And that is what is math. Christ sovereignly showing that he reigns and from that throne now he has sent forth his spirit upon all flesh. In other words, upon Jew and Gentile. Because his people that he redeemed are from every tribe, nation, and tongue. And we can be assured then that he is indeed Lord, exactly as he said he is. In Matthew chapter three and verse 12, We see again God's sovereignty in Christ here. John said whose fan is in his hand. That's a winnowing fan. We may not understand this in our culture. When you see fan you might think of some electrical fan you plug in and it blows. Or a fan just to kind of keep people cool. But here the fan is in the context of a winnowing floor. Growing up in Africa, we saw this every day. They'd bring in the rice from the field, they would store it, and then when it came time to prepare the meal, the ladies would get that rice out in its raw form, and they'd put it in a mortar, and they began to pound it, and then they'd take it and literally dump the mortar over into a winnowing fan, and they would go away a distance, and you would see them just tossing this up in the air, and the chaff blowing the blown away in the wind. It'd actually land over here and then they'd come back and put that back in the mortar and pound some more until that rice was pure. Can you imagine? We'd go to the marketplace and we'd buy that bag of rice already prepared and there's machines to do it. But imagine, I mean, it could be a subject for divorce if a husband sat down to eat at night and there's morsels of wheat, of chaff in there. and the wife didn't quite get it all clean, how important was that window? And that's the description here, whose fan is in his hand. He will thoroughly purge his floor. In other words, when it's all out there together, it all looks the same. But who is separating out who's the Lord's and who's isn't? It's the Lord. It says, and gather his wheat into the garden. When you think about the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out. What was Pentecost all about? It was the celebration of the very first fruits of the field being brought in. It coincided with the harvest. So when they cut down the field, they were bringing in the fruit of that field and they were waving it before the Lord under the Old Testament. That's the wave offering that they did before the Lord. that took place on the day of Pentecost. You see how all of this coincided with the work of Christ? The Passover being him, the Passover lamb who shed his blood and the bringing in, the wheat brought into the garden. This is the Lord separating out those that are his. But how does he do it? By this very same spirit that he poured out there at the beginning. who is still at work in this world. And if we're the Lord's, that means he by his spirit is calling us unto himself. So when that spirit was poured out, it was an indication that everything that Christ came to accomplish, he accomplished. And now he's sitting in glory and he's separating out the wheat from the chaff. He said, what about the chaff? What about those that aren't his? Well, it says very specifically, burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Do you realize, if we are the Lord's, just how precious and vital this is to be considered one of his? Because we didn't decide whether we're wheat or chaff. It was the Lord that did it. Salvation is his work from beginning to end. And the pouring out of the spirit, exactly as Christ said should happen, has taken place. And therefore I will tell you, this is not a personal experience that now we're to seek. You see what that says? If there is still something left undone in this matter of salvation, and this is where left to ourselves, we'll always be deceived because that's the thinking of this flesh. Christ laid the foundation, he did the work, but now there's something else I need in order to make sure that That's why they call it the full gospel. Whenever you see that on a name, the full gospel church, what it means is you got your gospel, but you don't have a full gospel until, and now they're adding that experience. I don't care what it is. If you take Christ's work and even add man's will to it, it could be something as simple as man's decision. Decisional regeneration is what it's called. Christ did the work, but now it won't be effectual unless you believe Well, I will tell you that that's part of that chaff that has to be burned. And to say that there's anything left undone denies the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's a very serious matter when you consider it. So that's why when people come to me and say, have you heard about or have you experienced? I'll tell you, the only experience I want is that of the Lord Jesus Christ and taught me my need of him, showed me my lost estate and turned my eyes to him alone. That is all that I seek. So that's the baptism of the spirit, that outpouring of the spirit. We'll come back to it in Acts 2, it'll be more fully developed. But the key there is not many days hence. You can't take what took place there and now try to repeat it. It'd be like taking the work of Christ and crucifying him again, saying, well, we need this again. It was done once for all, and this baptism with the Spirit was done once for all, the outpouring of the Spirit. But the second question that I want us to see here is what is the significance of this baptism of the Spirit historically? Now, coming back to our text in Acts chapter one, And verses six and seven, you can see that even the disciples at this particular point, and it would be the same with us, they still had their thoughts as to what should be. Their minds and hearts were still settled on the fact that there would come a time somehow that the kingdom of Israel would be restored. And this was something that was on their minds even while Christ was with them during his lifetime. They were arguing as to who would be first in the kingdom. In fact, one of the, a couple of the disciples' mother came and asked the Lord that, that when you come in your kingdom, they wanted one son to sit on the right hand and one to sit on the left. They were all thinking still in terms of a physical kingdom. that would restore Israel to promise. And I will tell you, that's still the thinking today, that somehow there's still some aspect of this that still is not fulfilled and that we await. Well, what did the Lord say about that? Because they, in essence, were asking, would the Lord now break that Roman yoke from off their necks and establish His kingdom? When the Lord said He was going away, He didn't say when He was coming again. It's been over 2,000 years. But people still look over to Israel as if something is there as the key or the sign of Christ coming again. But the Lord said there's no sign that will be given other than that the Son's gonna appear. And that's gonna be it. So even here, as they ask this question, here the Lord in verse four is telling them not to depart but wait for the promise of the Father. That's what should be uppermost in our minds. Has this promise been given? Yes. If you look in John chapter 14 and verse 16. So this is the significance of the baptism of the spirit historically. And that it has been fulfilled. We're not to look for anything else as yet coming with regard to the baptism of the spirit. And our Lord spoke of this to his disciples. You can see In John 14, in verse 15, he said, if you love me, keep my commandments. What are the commandments of Christ, by the way? He said, keep my commandments. A lot of people think, well, that means going back to the 10 commandments. No, to keep his commandments is to abide in him, to rest in him, believe on him, look to him. Those are fulfilling Christ's commandments. Don't get your eyes off of me on anything that takes place. Do we do that? It's only by the Spirit of God, because you and I both know that this flesh left to ourselves would be looking right and left, up and down, inside, outside, comparing ourselves one with another, weighing our own thoughts and heart and trying to figure out, am I the Lord's or am I not? No. Keep my commandments, look to me. And here's what he says in verse 16. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter. one like unto myself. And that word comforter is the word advocate. Who needs an advocate? It's a person that's guilty, that now needs a defense before God. Well, who is our advocate? He said, I'll give you another advocate that he may abide with you forever. So again, this outpouring of the spirit of God on the day of Pentecost was a once for all act, which demonstrated that Christ's work was finished and now the spirit was brought forth as was promised. Now he says, I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter. And then another portion of scripture as we read, it's Christ who poured out this spirit. What we're seeing here is the beautiful harmony between father, son, and spirit with regard to those Christ came to save. I don't know about you, but that's a great comfort to me. Regardless of what this flesh tells me, my salvation is in this God, the Father having chosen, the Son having redeemed, and now the Spirit given to ensure that all those that He has redeemed and that God has justified remain with Him forever. I like that word, that He may abide with you forever. Even, it says there in verse 17, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive. So that tells me right there, this is not the world asking for the spirit of truth and somehow now God answering by giving the spirit. No, we wouldn't even know what to ask, left to ourselves. The world cannot receive this spirit. The world can deal with time and visual and physical, but spiritual things, Understanding the true work of Christ and his glory and how the Father has saved the people through his Son, that's not something the world can receive. Because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. It's interesting that even before the Spirit was poured out, Christ says he dwelleth with you. That's true, the Spirit was in the world. He was even in those in the Old Testament. The Spirit of Christ in them. So this pouring out of the Spirit wasn't for regeneration. The pouring out of the Spirit was for confirmation that exactly what Christ said he came to do, he had finished the work. And you comfortless. I will not leave you, actually the word means orphans. Because as Christ is getting ready to ascend into glory, you can imagine these disciples thinking, what now? Does Christ have to be physically present to be present with his people? Well, I'm looking around the room here, I don't see Christ physically present, but I trust he is by his spirit. And how do we know that? That spirit was poured out. there on the day of Pentecost and continues to be at work in this world. Proving in the hearts of those that Christ has redeemed and God has justified his glory in his person. He has not left his own comfortless. And I love this part, I will come to you. It's not us coming to him, it's him coming to us. It's him drawing us. How do I know that I'm one of these for whom he paid the debt. He says he'll not leave them orphans. He's not gonna leave them out there fatherless, not knowing who is their heavenly father. He will come to them. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more. That's talking about when he would, not just his death, but his ascension. But ye see me because I live, ye shall live also. So as that spirit was poured out, he says at that day, he shall know that I am his father, and you and me, and I and you, and that day. That's what Peter was declaring at that day. So that's the historic significance of the baptism of the spirit and his connection with the death of Christ and the work that he came to accomplish. It is the confirmation, it is the affirmation that exactly what Christ said, he has done. We don't need to doubt. Well, that leaves us then with the third, basically, somewhat answer. But as in all cases in teaching, you say what you're gonna say, and you say it, and you say what you said. How, in case this is still not clear, how is the baptism of the Spirit, how was it fulfilled? How was it to be fulfilled? Well, come back here to Acts chapter one and verse eight. Ye shall receive power. And boy, do people love that. But here it's power in the hands of Christ. It's not in our power. Like you see men going around today, they're laying hands on the heads of somebody or making a sign of the cross and acting as if they have the power to give or withhold the Holy Spirit. When it says ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, that word power can also be translated authority. By what authority would Christ now send these disciples out into the world to preach a message which was to those then present a mockery? Because you have to remember, we're only 40 days removed He's not made himself known publicly to anybody. He is revealing himself to these particularly who are his. And then he's ascending into glory, never more to be seen. And so you can imagine as these disciples go out to declare now this Christ crucified, how they would have mocked him. You mean that one that we saw crucified and they buried and no one can find his body? That's the one you're saying is this one in whom salvation is? I mentioned it in the first hour and I'll repeat it here because it's so impressive in my own heart. We get used to hearing that salvation's in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when you stop and consider what that really means is that this one who came in the flesh of Jewish descent in the flesh. A man that went around doing miracles, yes, but then they took and actually crucified on a cross. And he died and they took his body off the cross. And after three days and three nights, he rose again and ascended into glory. When you pull back and think about the fact that we're saying that all of our salvation is in that person in that world. how unbelievable it sounds to the natural ear. The heart, so depraved, would say there has to be something more. You see, we still have in us the spirit of Adam and Eve, where that tree of life was not enough, that their eyes were taken off of that tree onto the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And I will tell you, that tree of knowledge of good and evil represents all of false religion, Because it was false then, it's false now. And yet there are people that still look to that tree and see something good in it, of that fruit to partake. Even when they change religions, they're just jumping from one tree branch to the next. They're still flitting around on the wrong tree. That's what's wrong with it. And yet, here we are now, planted, if you will, or the fruit of that tree planted of life, that tree of life representing Christ, which tree God has planted, he planted in his death. And now he's bringing forth fruit to the glory of the Father, those that Christ came and redeemed. But to the world, it's like, I've had several say to me, that's putting all your eggs in one basket. Well, thankfully, salvation's not eggs in a basket. These eggs are fragile, aren't they? I watch people when they're buying eggs, they lift that lid. They don't want one cracked egg. They see one, what they do, they put it back for somebody else to pick up. They're going for one that didn't crack. That's what eggs are, they're fragile. I'm thankful to tell you, this is not about eggs in the basket. This is about holy resting in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he accomplished. And how do you do that? But man, it's impossible. I'll tell you, for a while I was just like these others, a little bit off the tree of life, a little bit off the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Am I learning enough? Am I avoiding enough? That's the knowledge of good and evil. Oh yeah, but the tree of life over here, the Lord takes you from all of that and just plants you by his spirit in Christ. Therein is that assurance that indeed who he is and what he says he accomplished. So you can see why it was necessary coming back to my text here in verse eight, that they received this power, that they received this authority. Notice, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. So again, it comes back to what is this baptism with the spirit? It was specifically tied to what took place on the day of Pentecost. They were not to do anything. That's different from the world today too, they will rush out there and tell everybody, no, He told them, go wait. Don't say anything until the Spirit has been put upon you. Now the Spirit of God was already in them, that's why there's a distinction. They would not have been able to come to Christ had it not been for the Spirit of Christ in them. But now was the authority that based upon His finished work they should go forth into the world, and it says to begin in Jerusalem. And you can look at a map here as this is described, and in all Judea, and then in Samaria, and then the outermost part of the earth. One of the beautiful patterns that we're gonna find as we go through the book of Acts is to see the unfolding of God's purpose exactly in this order. There are three times, and the Book of Acts covers a history over a period of 40 years, but right on up to the destruction of Jerusalem, pretty much all was decapitated somewhere around AD 68, and then in AD 70, the Lord sent the Roman armies and destroyed Jerusalem. But if you look at the pattern in the Book of Acts, three times, there was an outpouring of the Spirit like on the day of Pentecost. And you say, well, why three? I thought you said that the baptism of the Spirit was once for all. Well, again, it's an affirmation of the person and work of Christ as these went forth to preach the gospel. Remember, they didn't have the New Testament yet. So everything they were preaching was the Old Testament showing how it was fulfilled in Christ. but it was to be exactly in the order that God himself determined. And so when you read through the book of Acts, the first outpouring of the spirit we find in Acts chapter two that we're gonna study, that was in Jerusalem. And then you'll read in Acts chapter eight through 10, the outpouring of the spirit in Samaria, Jerusalem and all Judea, that's surrounding Jerusalem. That's what took place in Acts two. In Acts 8 through 10, that's when the Lord sent Peter up there to Corneas, remember that? And as he spake to them of Christ, the spirit was poured out upon Corneas and his family. And when Peter got back to Jerusalem, and the elders in Jerusalem were complaining, how is it Peter, you being a Jew, could actually go into the house of a Gentile? If you look over in Acts chapter 11, The explanation that he gave there, in Acts chapter 11, he's describing in verse 15 what took place. He said, and as I began to speak, notice, the Holy Ghost fell on them. But what does he say? As on us at the beginning. What beginning? Acts 2.4. So by what authority did Peter have to go preach this message to a Gentile, a Roman, there in Samaria? By the authority of the Spirit. The same Spirit that was poured out on us, now is poured out upon him. And you can see in verse 16, then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but he should be baptized with the Holy Ghost. It's in that context. For as much then as God gave them the life gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? And when they heard these things, verse 18, they held their peace and glorified God saying, then have God also to the Gentiles granted repentance and life. It was to show that all flesh, the same spirit had been poured out. It was for the Gentile as well as the Jew. There in Samaria, And then the next outpouring is in Acts 19 when he gets up there to Ephesus, the uttermost parts of the earth. What was the Lord doing but showing that he was opening this gospel to the world exactly in the order that he had purposed? They weren't running Helter Skelter all over trying to get people saved. No, it was according to the power that the spirit gave. And what's of interest to me is that Other than those three manifestations all related to that outpouring of the Spirit there at Pentecost, there's no more mention of any outpouring of the Spirit ever in Scripture. That's it. Now men, like they do, they try to recreate the Pentecost experience and they try to make things happen, but I'm telling you that this was done that we might know that all that Christ had promised has been fulfilled. And that is the same spirit that grants his witnesses that authority to go forth and to preach this gospel. Now, there's no other frontier, if you will, to be conquered. Began in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts And that's the pattern of the book of Acts. From Acts chapter two all the way to chapter eight, everything was being dealt with in Jerusalem. You say, well, what happened in chapter eight? God sent a persecution, scattered everybody abroad. That's where he began to now cause that this witness go forth into these other areas, Samaria, and then ultimately into the uttermost parts of the earth. This work is his. what it is that he has accomplished, purpose of the captains of the spirit, again, coming back to Peter's message, is that we might know that I'm assured God has made this same Jesus who we have crucified, he paid my sin debt, my sin put him on that cross, but made him both Lord and Christ. All right, let's take our hymn books and we'll sing one final hymn. Hymn number 172, let's stand and sing this together, 172. O Word of God incarnate, O wisdom from on high. O Word of God incarnate, O wisdom from on high. O truth unchanged, unchanging, our dark sky. We praise thee for the radiance that from the high lord page. A lantern to our footsteps shines on from age to age. The church from her dear master received the gift divine, and still that light she lifted for all the earth to shine. It is the golden casket where gems of truth are stored. It is the hemlock picture of Christ the living Word. It floated like a banner before God's host on high. It shineth like a beacon out of the darkly world. It is the chard and compass that o'er life's surging sea. Mid mists and rocks and quicksands till guides old prides O make thy church, dear Savior, a lamp of purest gold, to bear before the nations thy true life as of old. All right, have a good rest of the day. you