Turning your Bibles to page 9. That's an easy one to get to. Page 9 is your pew Bibles. And as Pastor David says, if you don't have a Bible of your own, you will not be stealing. If you take one of ours, we're one of the ways we love to spread the Word of God. Page 9, Genesis 11 and verses 1 through 9. So we're going back to a place in what we would know of today as the Middle East. Not exactly sure where it was, but it would be in that area. Now the whole Earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone and by two men for mortar, and then they said, come. Notice the focus on self here. Let us make bricks. and burned them thoroughly. They had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. And then they said, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built. And the Lord said, Behold, they're one people, and they have all one language. And this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down. This is how God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit deal with the self-centeredness of man. Let us go down. And there confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech. And so the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city, and therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Now you cannot but think about that section when we read in the book of Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 through 13. This is Pentecost Sunday. This is the celebration of the Lord from heaven sending the Spirit. What does that mean? Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 through 13 at least tells us the story itself. So when the day of Pentecost literally had fully come, interesting phrase, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, this was something that was just about ready to bloom and how it's going to bloom in all of its fullness, 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 a fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Of course, that's the Holy Spirit. Now, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all these who speak Galileans? How is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language, Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others, mocking, said, they are filled with new wine. And they may have been mocking, but they were telling the absolute truth. This is the new wine. It doesn't make you drunk, but it's the new wine of the gospel that comes by the Holy Spirit. The grass withers, and the flowers fade away. But the word of our God stands forever, to which you respond by saying, hallelujah, and thanks be to God. Let's, Lord, do what we've just sung for the sake of Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. You will probably want to use in your bulletin the pages 12 and 13 for your sermon notes. I'm going to stay very close to my notes today, not only to conserve time, but the topic is the meanings of Pentecost. And I dare say there are very, very few who really understand what Pentecost is about. And you probably met them. And I want you to be able to respond biblically to those things. So you will want, I'm sure, those pages. And then also, you are definitely going to want Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 to 12, which is in your hymnal, or rather in your bulletin. And that is on page 1,081. Pentecost Sunday. What does that mean? other than the fact that it's what we read about in Acts chapter 2. I want you to go back in time with me twice as we begin this morning. One's really easy to go back to, about five months ago, six months ago, on January 20th, 2025. And it was Inauguration Day for President Trump. And regardless of what you might think of President Trump, it was Inauguration Day for President Trump. And a very important lesson Now, our culture thinks in terms of its own response to things. And frankly, if people don't like it, they don't believe it, they don't want it, then they reject it. One problem with that is it's absolutely false. Most things are true, whether you believe them or not. In fact, all things that are true are true, whether you believe them or not. And so whether you believe it or not, on January 20th, 2025, there was an inauguration day for President Trump. And things have been different ever since. And what I want you to think about is Pentecost is Inauguration Day. Okay, but what does that mean? Well, you had an election day. We had a voting day a couple of months before that, and there was a victory that came, a very clear victory, and then there was a transition time of a couple of months, and then you came to inauguration day, where at the inauguration, the president assumed the power of his office. And from that point on, it began a new administration. Now, in a real sense, Christ assumed his office on the day of his ascension that we've celebrated, but the new administration would begin 10 days later at this event called Pentecost. So that's going back about five months. And you go back five months, we don't see that. We did see it then, but you don't see it now. But it's real. Now let's go back about 2,000 years to other events that happened, and they're real whether you believe them or not. And I want you to think of those great events that we have been remembering in the church calendar. And here you have, obviously the beginning, you have Christ's birth and his life. This is the preparation of a king, and those four Gospels are in a real sense kind of letting you know who this candidate is, who is going to win. The four Gospels give you the literature, the information that tells you about this king, even as we receive all kinds of literature, when there's going to be a national election. And then there's Christ's death and His resurrection, and they're two sides of the same coin of the victory of Christ. One is in His death, when He takes away the power of the devil to accuse by His own work on the cross. In fact, He even takes away the devil's power to slander. He takes away the devil's power to murder by His own death on the cross. He takes that, and then in His resurrection, There's not only a confirmation that that sacrifice is accepted, but the power comes to do those very things that he had accomplished. And there was no doubt. Now if you want votes, here they are. And it's interesting that the New Testament, speaking of Christ's resurrection, speaks in different places of the Father raising the Son. the Son raising Himself, and the Spirit raising the Son. Now, imagine those like votes. Those are the three votes that count, the only three votes. All three voted for Christ. He won, He was raised from the dead, and He is clearly the conqueror of death itself. Okay, so that would be like an election victory, so to speak. Then you have a transition period of 40 days. in Christ's life where he trains the 11 others. And what did he train them in? Well, if you look at Acts chapter 1, obviously right before Acts chapter 2, you have a little, just a vignette of the training that Christ gave of his disciples. as Luke is writing this as he wrote the gospel, he's writing to this disciple named Theophilus, and he's going to, he says, he presented himself, verse three, alive to the disciples after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days before he ascended and speaking about the Kingdom of God. So he is in every way showing, I am raised from the dead, that's why they were witnesses to that. And he speaks about this new administration that we'll hear about in a bit called the Kingdom of God. And then he ascends, and the king moves, as it were, to his new residence, to the White House, which is truly a White House, the place in glory where there's no spot. And then it's ten days later that you come to Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 and following, this account that we're going to go to in just a moment on Pentecost, That's inauguration day. That is the inauguration of a whole new administration and it begins that activity in all of the world. Jesus, we're told that Christ, do you believe this folks? He is making all things new. Now, what we want is to read in the newspaper or on the Internet that He did it last night. It doesn't work that way, folks. God takes His time in the world. But this is going to be the beginning of an administration in which He makes all things new. It's not going to make headlines. This is a matter of faith. You go back in a time machine to this, you can't see it, but we believe it, even as we believe. in the inauguration of President Trump on January 20th, 2025, there's effects of that administration that we see, and there's effects of this administration, and that's what we're going to cover in just a moment. So that's why we're talking about the language of Inauguration Day. And just two points, although the second one is much longer. Number one, what Pentecost most emphatically is not? Number two, what Pentecost most emphatically is not. And then, as you would imagine, number two, what Pentecost most emphatically is. And there's four things that I want to impress upon you for that, so you know where we're going with these things. Number one, what Pentecost most emphatically is not. It is not something to be repeated. Now historic Pentecostalism teaches that every conversion is essentially a repeat of Pentecost. Brothers and sisters, number one, if it were a repeat of Pentecost, and I want to be gracious here, but let's take that on. If it's a repeat of Pentecost at every conversion, there should be recordings of sounds like a mighty wind. How many of those have you heard? And number two, there should be videos of tongues as a fire. Notice the language in the text. There was a sound like a mighty rushing wind. And these divided tongues like fire appeared to them. Okay, if every conversion's a repetition of Pentecost, give me the videos and give me the audio recordings. And that silence is a response that has to be given. And here's the other thing. If you want to say that this is a repeat of Pentecost, And do you also agree that the Roman Catholic Mass is a repeat of the death of Christ? These are unique, unrepeatable things that have effects in all generations, to be sure. But this is not something that is going to be repeated. It's not a repeated inauguration. And manifestly, this is not the case. The second thing is what Pentecost most emphatically is not. It's not a model that teaches that everyone who believes in Christ must speak in tongues. And when our Pentecostal friends say, no it's not. If you'll read the book of Acts, most of the conversions, there's no speaking in tongues. What do you do with that? What are tongues? Tongues are not a private devotional language, folks. tongues is speaking the Word of God in a foreign language. And you see that, at least implicitly, in this text. They are all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. When the Spirit gives you utterance like this, that is the Word of God. But it was the Word of God in a foreign language. And you know, specifically, as you go down to verse 11, they were all telling in their own tongues, not some private devotional language, the mighty works of God. What does the Spirit declare in the Scriptures? The mighty works of God. So again, this is not the main purpose of the message. But I say this because you and I are bombarded with this. And we get on the defensive. What are you lacking that you don't have the experience of Pentecost and you worship? Well you don't have that experience either in your place, prove it. And why don't we speak carelessly about tongues? It's because we cherish the final authority of the Word of God. and you want to be gracious and firm, but brothers and sisters, that kind of very, very loose speaking about this event and what it means is something that we graciously should stand up against, not defensively, but just opening up what the Word of God says. All right, so that's what Pentecost most emphatically is not. What Pentecost most emphatically is, and here's the title of the sermon, not the meaning of Pentecost, but the meanings of Pentecost. It's the inauguration of Jesus as King and the beginning of a new administration that we call the Kingdom of God, or the Gospel Age, in which the Gospel's going into all of the world. But let's break that down, and we're going to do it in four parts. Number one, what Pentecost means? is that by the Holy Spirit, Christ himself comes and dwells in his people. And we should be saying, wow, to all of this. Now, these are things that we should be talking about that outstrip all of these false claims of our Pentecostal friends. And we shouldn't just be saying them, but wow, by the Holy Spirit, Christ himself comes and dwells in his people. Now, let's think again about analogy with a political situation. Every leader wants, and let me use spirit in a different way here, every leader wants his spirit to be in those that he leads. And that's why, especially with presidents, you have titles or attributes of their office. With Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it was the New Deal. That was the spirit of FDR's three and a half or three years plus in power. With Harry Truman, it was give him hell Harry, which was the way basically he made his name known. He was not afraid to go after his opponents and deal with them. That was the spirit of Harry Truman. With Dwight Eisenhower, it was calm and peace after war. That was the spirit he wanted in his people. With JFK, it was the new frontier. Or if you were Jackie Kennedy, it would be Camelot. With Ronald Reagan, mourning in America. mourning in America, they wanted that spirit to go. And of course with Donald Trump, mega, make America great again, right? And these themes, they may be good things, but they're not perfect things. And they are never ever things that last, right? But their spirit, because their spirit, the spirit of them, isn't truly in a citizenry. And please keep that in mind with the difference between politics in the external realm and what the Holy Spirit does internally. Political things can change outwardly, they can restrain iniquity, and that's good, that's a good thing. But they can't do what only the Holy Spirit can do and work in human hearts and change our motivation, okay? And so that's the difference. But anyway, in this new administration, King Jesus dwells in his people by the Holy Spirit. That's the spirit of the leader, he's the spirit himself, and he's the spirit of Christ. And so even as he's prophet and priest and king, he dwells by the Holy Spirit in his people. And there's so many, when they're filled with the spirit, what should you read? They're filled with the spirit of Christ himself. And just some of the texts that come to my mind. See, the spirit's work, folks, the spirit's work's not to draw attention to himself. It's a spotlight ministry. John 14 and verse 18, speaking of the Holy Spirit, or the Helper, who would be in his disciples, Jesus says, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Now, that doesn't mean when he comes back the last day, although he will, he's going to come by his Holy Spirit. Why does it say, I won't leave you as orphans, I'll come to you? Well, he comes as the spirit of adoption. Why the spirit of adoption? Jesus is the Son of God, and by the Holy Spirit you are declared to be a son, a child of God, in the Son of God. Ladies, don't think you're being discriminated against. Sonship here means a right to an inheritance, okay? And so profound meaning. John 14 and verse 26, the Father will send the Spirit in Jesus' name And Jesus said, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. See the spotlight ministry? His work is to tell you about Christ, even in the New Testament, which the Holy Spirit authored through the different writers. What is it? It's taking the things of Christ and opening them up to you, as Pastor David is doing, preaching on Ephesians. John 15 and verse 26, Jesus says, He will bear witness about Me. Spotlight ministry, telling you about Jesus. John 16 and verses 14 and 15, He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. Now, folks, when When you have constant talk of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and you don't hear much, if anything, about Christ, there is something radically wrong. because the Spirit's work is precisely to open up the things of Christ, and to lead you to them, and to get you to cherish them. And it's even interesting, without going into more detail than we should, notice how Christ and the Spirit are linked together in so many places in the New Testament. In Romans 8 and verses 9 through 11, Paul says, if the Spirit, he speaks of the Spirit of God in you, And he speaks of the Spirit of Christ in you. Why? Well, Jesus is God, the Spirit indwells you, and therefore by the Spirit Christ indwells you. And then in what is a kind of a challenging text to understand, 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is speaking about the ministry of the new covenant which Christ has inaugurated, which Christ has fulfilled. And he's speaking about the Spirit who writes these things in our hearts, and at the very end he says, now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Now, the Holy Spirit is not Jesus. But the point is, their works are so united in the New Covenant that Paul can say, now the Lord is the Spirit. The Spirit doesn't focus on himself, he focuses on Christ. Now my favorite illustration, I've used it, but it fits so well. President Trump has a Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Now why does he have a Secretary of State? He can't be everywhere. Sometimes when you see the amount of work he does it almost seems like he is, but he can't be. And so his Secretary of State, especially in matters of state, represents the president. That's why it's such an important position. And so that when Secretary of State Rubio is there, it is as if President Trump is there. And the way he, not just what he communicates, but the way he communicates, the way he lives, is all understood as representing the president. That's exactly what the work of the Holy Spirit is. So I can't, we're going to come back to this in the application, but first meaning of Pentecost is that Christ himself comes by the Spirit. Do you believe this? I am with you always to the end of the age. How? By the Holy Spirit. And that's why in Revelation, the seven spirits who are before the throne, it's designed to represent his work, representing Christ in all the world. Okay, number two here. The word progressive, as it's very frequently used in our culture, excuse the expression, it's another bastardization of the English language. Moving back to barbarianism is not progressivism. But there's a true progressivism here. The true progressivism with Pentecost, in which the administration of the kingdom of God is inaugurated, is that there is a progressive undoing of the curse of Babel that we read about. Now that's what you see in Acts 2 beginning at verse 5. They're in Jerusalem, and the Pentecost, the Spirit has come and is demonstrated in those on whom the Spirit came at that time. And they each hear a person speak in his own language. And there's a technical discussion, well, is the change really in the speaking, which I think it was, or was it in the hearing? I don't know. But the point is they hear the wonderful works of God in their own language. And there's a reference to all different nations. And even as in Genesis 11, you have division into Shem and Ham and Japheth. Shem, basically Semites, Ham, the nation of Africa, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the Gentiles. We have that reference here with Judea and Asia and Egypt and these other places. But the point is, all these nations, that were divided with Babel now each hear the wonderful works of God in their own language, verse 11. And when they say, are these people drunk? No, it's new wine. It's part of the new wine of the gospel in which the truth of the gospel is meant to come to all of the nations and give them that great joy in the Lord. So this is the beginning It is just the beginning of the undoing of the curse of Babel. Or if you want to put it this way, it's in the Belmont Stakes yesterday, this is the opening gate, the opening gate of the Great Commission. Why? Go make disciples of all the nations. These are representatives, practically speaking, of all the nations that are here, at least those that were available to come to Jerusalem at the time, and they're hearing the work of God in their own language. Now, this folks is a true immigration policy. Now you're going to find out a little bit later, in one sense it's open borders, in another sense it's not. It's a true immigration policy, notice it's people of all nations, But it has entrance requirements. And this is important for church life. Because increasingly, either churches don't have any membership, or they don't have any standards for membership. That kind of open borders are out, okay? What are the entrance requirements for the kingdom of God? Number one, faith in Christ. Just trusting in Christ as he's made known in the scriptures. Number two, repentance from sin. is technically repentance is ongoing. I am a repenting person. I'm turning from sin in my life. And number three is loyalty to Christ as King and loyalty to His kingdom. And when the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, notice as you go on, the declaration is clearly, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Now, in this sense, there are open borders, or more properly, no national restrictions in the kingdom of God. It's not an American church. You say, well, big deal, I know that. Really? Many missions have failed. because missionaries think by importing their so-called American principles to another country, they're bringing the gospel. No, we're not. America's a very imperfect nation. I wouldn't want to be in any other one, any other nation. But it's not an American church, not a Dutch church, not a Scottish church, and not a black church, not a white church, not a female church, not a male church. It's the church of every tongue and tribe and nation, and it is a holy Catholic church, universal church. The church, folks, is not the order of Hibernians. for one nationality only. It's not the Lodge of Elks, it's not the Masonic Lodge. It's church, people of every tongue and tribe and nation that come together and they experience this, what begins here, the beginning of the undoing of the curse of Babel. Number three, This is this new administration that is inaugurated at this point. And it is the equipping of servants with the power to serve. That's what the Holy Spirit does along with these other Christ in us, undoing of the curse of Babel. It's the equipping of his servants with power to serve. Now that's what Jesus is getting at in Acts 1 and verses 6 through 8. So they come together, and the disciples have gotten it. Sort of. Jesus has been speaking to them about the kingdom of God. And they say, Lord, when are you going to come and squash our enemies? They still haven't quite gotten it at that point. And so in Acts 1, they come together and say, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Come on, Lord. Isn't it time to make us the ones that are vanquishing our enemies, the Romans? Isn't it time now? And he said to them, message for all ages, it's not for you to know times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority. But here's the response I give you. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And, of course, that is true at conversion. The Holy Spirit does come upon us. He fills us as He works in us and unites us with Christ. And He continues to fill us when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses. You'll be witnesses of me in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the end of the earth. That's the outline of the book of Acts. begins in Jerusalem, and then it goes to the region of Judea, and then Acts 10 out to Samaria, and then it goes to the uttermost parts of the earth. Okay, that's the outline of the book. So it's the equipping of servants with power to serve, not to speculate, but to evangelize. And you see this in Peter. Isn't this fascinating? You marvel at the Holy Spirit. They had 11 of these men that would be apostles. And you really don't read much about too many of them, but you sure do read a lot about Peter. And Peter's the one who says, Lord, I'm never going to deny you. And then Peter denies the Lord. And Peter is in remorse, and Jesus wants to be sure that Peter isn't neglected when they go to Galilee. And He says, come meet Me in Galilee. Oh, and don't forget Peter. Peter, the one that denied Him. And then, of all the disciples that He decides to pick to give His charge that is to be given to all those who are shepherds of the flock, who does He give it to but Peter? And He says, you love Me? Feed My flock. And it's on the day of Pentecost that this denier of Christ is given the privilege of preaching the first sermon in this new administration. Folks, that's grace that is greater than all of our sins. And Peter preaches, and he preaches boldly, the gospel of Christ. He is empowered in Acts 2, and in verse 40, as you read, he, with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. That's true especially of ministers, of those who preach the gospel. But it's true of all of you. In 1 Corinthians 12, when Paul has three chapters speaking about spirituals, spirituals isn't warm and fuzzy, spirituals is of the Spirit. And so he speaks in 1 Corinthians 12 about spiritual things and he speaks of them literally as energies of the spirit. The energy to exercise, and it takes energy, to exercise hospitality. The energy to give yourself for the good of other people in love. The energy to teach, the energy to preach, the energy to govern. It takes energy to serve in any administration. And those things come from the Holy Spirit. That's why they're called the energies of the Spirit. It's the equipping of all the servants with the power of Christ. And again, let me use the political analogy, which is fascinating. You have a new administration. Are you aware of the number of people that moved out of the Beltway area in Washington over the last several months? Why? Well, it's a new administration. And people are going to be out of jobs. And so they move out of the Beltway. And you have many, many, many others who represent the administration who are moving in to the Beltway. And of course, there's other areas too, but especially there. Why? Well, their work is going to be to see the spirit of, the theme of, the goal of the new administration to be brought to bear in various areas. And that's what mission work is, folks. Christ now reigns from heaven, and because Babel's being undone, What does he do? He sends his laborers into all different areas. That's why Acts, or the New Testament, is really quite different in so many ways than other contemporary books. You know, in the great epics you might read about different areas, but when you read about stories about individuals, in most cases they were very localized. They didn't travel that much. But the New Testament is full of the journeys of the apostles, they're full of the travelings of God's people representing the churches. I mean, it's really remarkable. Why is that? In this new administration, I'll use the word missionaries in a general sense here, Christ is sending his missionaries into all the world to do what? by the energy of the Holy Spirit to see in the realm of science, in the realm of medicine, in the realm of law, in the realm of education, in the realm of ministry, in the realm of the arts or whatever, to see the Lordship of Christ represented in every single area of life. Why? He's making all things new. Fascinating. And why is that? Because of Pentecost, the energies of the Holy Spirit that are given to all people. And then the last is this, and it all leads up to it. This is the beginning of the administration of a kingdom of real change. Every president promises change in his inaugural speech, and of course you know what happens, because no president is omnipotent, and as ideal as he might be, there's really a limit to what he can do. Jesus, if you will, has one big, beautiful plan of redemption. And there's not opposing parties, and there's not even division in his own party, because he has all authority in heaven and on earth, and he's going to bring about real change, and he does. He does bring about real change in individuals by the spirit Jesus is applying what was accomplished in his work. We speak of the application, the accomplishment of redemption and the application of it by the Holy Spirit. He is now applying what he accomplished. That's why he's called the first fruits, his campaign promise. I will save my people from their sins. No other person can say that, but he does. It's inauguration day, Christ ascends into heaven, and His administration begins. And what happens? 3,000 people come to faith in Christ that day. Again, go back to the time machine, that really happened. And probably more, because it speaks of men here. And it's always interesting when I think of my Baptist friends in immersion. I wonder how on earth you would immerse 3,000 people in one day. I mean, that's kind of an aside here. But 3,000 people, and then 5,000. That's real change. It's exactly what Jesus' name means. He will save His people from their sins. And there is repentance, as we read, and baptism. You see those first fruits in Acts 2 and verses 37. So it's just not me. What happens when Peter preaches, they're caught to the heart. And they say to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? This is the work of the Holy Spirit, convicting them. He'll convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. And that's the focus, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children. And brothers and sisters, that's the promise of the Holy Spirit. The promise, and we can get into all the specifics, even if our children aren't following the Lord. I assure you, you bring the Word of God to bear on your family, albeit very imperfectly, because we're imperfect. God is fulfilling this promise. in His own way. It comes from Isaiah, who says that the Word that's in you will be in your children, and the Spirit that's in you will be in your children. And so it's the promise of the Holy Spirit for you and for your children, and for all — that's all you and your children — who are far off, everyone whom the Lord God calls to Himself. And He continues to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves, from this crooked generation. And here's change. Those who received this word were baptized and were added that day about 3,000 souls. Politicians have bumper stickers and they have hats. Baptism is a ring. Baptism is a ring in which the Lord says, you're mine. That's why when they repent and they turn away from themselves, they are baptized into the name of God. Why? They have a new name on them. Now again, I don't, I don't want to divert too much. This is one of your challenges with an older minister who's been around the block. Brothers and sisters, I've got to confess to you that I struggle deeply with churches and with brothers that I love who deny the validity of the baptism of a Presbyterian church or a Reformed church because we baptize infants, our households. I resent that. And if people tell you if you've been baptized as an infant, you need to be baptized again, you should resent it. Why? In baptism, even when it's baptized, even when it's baptism by someone that we would disagree with, but it's a minister of some sort with the intention of baptizing. Okay, we don't put our focus on the one who administers the baptism, but what it means. That's a challenging question. But you're baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Christ, he puts his ring on you and says, you are mine. And parents, that's the way we raise our children. Now, if they rebel against that, well, that's their sin. The name of God has legitimately been put on them. Someone comes to you and says, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need a baptism that represents what you've done, that you've come to the Lord Jesus Christ, that represents your faith, your repentance. With all due respect, they're telling you to take off the wedding ring of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and put on a wedding ring with your name on it. And that, brothers and sisters, again, correct me if I'm open to be corrected, but the denial of the validity of the baptism of a legitimate church is very, very serious. Anyway, here they're baptized, the ring of Christ is put on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit, who's to make them holy, and thus they're committed to the means of grace, and that's 2 verses 42 through 47. They are devoted to the Apostles' doctrine, the breaking of bread, and the fellowship, and the prayers, and those are the marks. of a new administration on the day of Pentecost. You see it all here. You see Christ is indwelling, his people by the Spirit. Curse of Babel is being undone. People are gifted and graced and devoted to him. They serve one another. You see that. And then in that, each one of them is really changed. They're new people and you read about that at the end. Now let me, in the minutes that we have left, What should Pentecost mean to you? Okay, now we've taken our Pentecostal friends to task. Well, let's ask the question for ourselves. What should Pentecost mean to you? You go back two millennia. It's the beginning of the administration of the kingdom of God. And it is the one who is going to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace by the blood of the cross. Fascinating. But what should Pentecost mean to you? Let me ask you, Peter preaches and the people are struck in the heart, remember, remember, Political slogans can affect you externally. The spirit of a politician can affect you externally. The Holy Spirit changes you internally. They're cut to the heart. Let me ask you some heart-striking questions. Do you share in the cross of Christ by faith? Faith in Christ. I come to Christ and all he did and all he is, they're mine. Okay. Do you share in the cross of Christ by faith? And you say, well, pastor, what does that mean? And here's where our hymns can help us so much. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain, I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God all the vain things that charm me most. I sacrifice them to his blood. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingle down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown, Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small? Love, so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Is that you? That's the change the Gospel does. If Christ is worth anything, He's worth everything to you. And a second question that's designed to go to our own hearts. Do you share in the resurrection of Christ by faith? You come to Christ and that life from the dead, that's yours. And you say, well, what does that mean? I know that my Redeemer lives. Glory. Hallelujah. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! Glory! Hallelujah! He lives! He lives! Who once was dead! Glory! Hallelujah! He lives, my everlasting Head! Glory! Hallelujah! He lives to bless me with His love! Glory! Hallelujah! He lives to plead for me above! Glory! Hallelujah! He lives, all glory to his name, glory, hallelujah. He lives, my Jesus, still the same, glory, hallelujah. Shout on, pray on, we're gaining ground, glory, hallelujah. The dead's alive and the lost is found, glory, hallelujah. Is that you? That's what the gospel does. It makes new living creatures from those who are dead. Do you share in the ascension of Christ by faith? I come to Christ. All that he has is his mind. Do you share in the ascension of Christ by faith? Hail the day that sees him rise to his throne above the skies. Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, enters now the highest heaven. There for him high triumph waits. Lift your heads, eternal gates. He has conquered death and sin. Take the king of glory in. See, he lifts his hands above. See, he shows the Prince of love. Hark, his gracious lips bestow blessings on his church below. Lord, beyond my mortal sight, raise my heart to reach your height. There, your face, unclouded sea, find my heaven of heaven in thee. Hallelujah. Is that you? That's the change that this new administration brings. And then, last but not least among the questions that are there, is this demonstrated in your life if you serve him as your king? Crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon his throne, and hark how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake my soul and sing of him who died for me, and I hail him as my matchless king through all eternity. Has Jesus done that? See, that's a whole lot different than saying, I really got excited when I was at our one-hour service today. Well, I hope you did. But see, Christ changed you. He makes all things new. That in that case, you're sharing in this new administration. Christ himself is in you by the Holy Spirit, and you represent. Isn't this great? You represent the many tongues and tribes and nations now united to Christ by grace through faith. Isn't that beautiful? People should see in the church what they're never going to see in the United Nations. You're a part of King Jesus seeing his works, his anguish of soul and body satisfied. Because he died for you and suffered for you. He gives himself for you. And he will keep you forever and ever. Part of the new administration. And you will be witnesses to Christ. You have to. Folks, if he indwells you, And he's made you part of a new community, and he gives you gifts and graces. Aren't you going to tell people about him? In fact, even more, if he's in you, won't you show him to others? Do people see... Now we're talking real seriously about ourselves as a church, okay? You know, not first the church, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, teaching Reformed doctrine every week, that's what makes us different. Or a church that wants to show Christ to the world. Because we're different. Because he makes others different. Do people see Jesus in you? If he's in you, they should see him, right? Do people smell Jesus when they're with you? We are an aroma, a fragrance, not an odor, a fragrance of Christ. Now to the dying, it's a fragrance of death, but it's life. It was interesting with, I won't mention the names, but a couple of people who are hoping to come into church membership here were greatly impacted by one of our members because of the joy that she always showed in her Christian life and the fact that even in adversity she had a confidence and a power in a person far greater than she was. Wow. Do people smell Jesus when they're with you? Do people hear Jesus when you speak with them. If he's in you and he's animating, among other things, the way you speak, that doesn't mean tongues, but if the Spirit's declaring Jesus to you, aren't you going to declare him to others? And do people touch Jesus when they touch you? Social distancing. Now, when you're sick, okay, I get it. When you're sick or you can be prone to get sick from others, okay, sixth commandment, you shall not kill, you stay away from people. Greeting the brethren with a holy kiss is not solely social distancing. You know what that is? That's God creating a forever family in the world. And no political government can do it, no other. administration can do it, but Christ does. And that inauguration of his going into heaven and ascending that began to show itself in the new administration in Pentecost. Yeah, yeah. Jesus really is making all things new. And you trust in Christ and you are part of that new administration And there's no more elections in that kingdom. It's going to happen in this life, but no more, no more in that one. It's a kingdom. And don't you love this? It doesn't pass after four or eight years. It endures from generation to generation. And it's never going to be marginalized. It's going to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. And it will never, ever, ever, ever end. And you will be a part of it. That's why Jesus says, those who believe in me have, he really means it, everlasting life. to which your response is, to God be the glory, both now and evermore. Let's pray. Lord, thank you that in the past months, we have been able to focus on events, in the case of Christmas, we don't know when exactly Christ was born, but these other days we can determine, and our Lord, whether it be Good Friday, or so-called Easter Sunday, or Ascension Day, or Pentecost Sunday, Our Lord, we're thankful that we are celebrating those things that really do change the world. And Lord, they're matters of faith. They're not the things we're going to read about in the New York Times or in Fox News or in any other news outlet, although they may refer at points to the Christian church. But the scriptures open these up to us, and they let us know that this kingdom is from glory to glory, just as by the Lord, the Spirit, We pray that we would never grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. We pray that you would keep on filling us with the Holy Spirit. We pray that we would continue to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. We pray that we would continue to show the graces of the Spirit. And we pray that we, by the Spirit, by His energies, that we would serve Him with all that is in us. And Lord, teach us that you don't have to be a preacher to be serving you. That rather, whatever talents, whatever skills, whatever burdens we have, whatever interests we have, consecrate them to Christ. And by the Spirit, you will multiply and use them beyond anything we can imagine. So Lord, hear us, and as we love to pray, don't do what we ask, do beyond anything we could ask or think. For Jesus' sake, amen. Amen.