We turn in God's holy word to Acts chapter 2. We read the whole chapter, Acts chapter 2. The text is verses 33 through 36, the last part of Peter's sermon. But we read the whole chapter first. Acts chapter 2. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own language wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others, mocking, said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Amen of Israel. Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up. having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should behold of it. For David speaketh concerning him, quoting from Psalm 16 at length, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope. because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ, the Messiah, to sit on his throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 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 hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, Psalm 110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward, this crooked generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and the fellowship, that's the idea, and the fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord, Jesus Christ, added to the church daily such as should be saved." So far we read God's holy and infallible word. The text is verses 33 through 36. This is the last part of Peter's sermon. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which he now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, today is Pentecost Sunday. The word Pentecost literally means 50. And today we call Pentecost Sunday because today marks 50 days after Jesus arose from the dead. Today marks 50 days from when we celebrated Easter Sunday. And we call today Pentecost Sunday and we commemorate today as Pentecost because it was 50 days after Jesus arose from the dead that he poured out his Holy Spirit upon the church. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. We looked at that ten days ago from the book of Daniel. Fifty days after his resurrection, Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit upon the church. Now another reason we call it Pentecost is because this event of Jesus pouring out the Holy Spirit upon the church took place on the same day as the Old Testament feast called Pentecost. That's why there were so many Jews from all different parts of the Roman Empire in Jerusalem on this particular day. The Jews had come to Jerusalem, devout Jews out of every nation had come to observe the Old Testament feast of Pentecost. Not Christians, but Jews. This feast is also called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest. And what's so striking when you look at the history is this. In the Old Testament, on the calendar, it went like this. First, you have the Passover feast. where you have the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. That was the first feast of the year. Then, three days later, you had the feast of first fruits, which was when the first gleanings of the harvest were dedicated to the Lord in the temple. Then, 50 days after, you had the Feast of Pentecost, when the first of the finished labors of the harvest were enjoyed, when the bread would actually be baked, and loaves of bread would be dedicated to the Lord, and that's when you started to enjoy the finished labors of the last seven weeks of harvesting. Now what you have in the history of Jesus' life is this. His death took place on the Feast of Passover, because He is the Passover Lamb who is slain for the sins of the people. Then three days later, on Easter Sunday, you have Jesus fulfilling the Feast of Firstfruits, because He's the firstfruits of the resurrection, the firstfruits of God's people. enjoying salvation and being raised from the dead. He's the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits. And then, 50 days later, you have Jesus pouring out His Holy Spirit on the church, on the Feast of Pentecost. And that's the fulfillment of the Old Testament Feast as well, because now we begin to enjoy the finished labors of Jesus. He finishes labors on the cross, and now we begin to enjoy those finished labors with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. All these Old Testament feasts established 1500 years ago during the days of Moses are now perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Isn't that astonishing? Just stand back and notice that. What another overwhelmingly clear evidence of the sovereignty of God and the truth of the gospel. Nothing happens by chance. All of this is ordered according to God's eternal decree and it carries out in time, it's executed in time perfectly. It's amazing. And so the point right now is the reason we call it Pentecost is because it's also the fulfillment of the feast, the Old Testament feast of Pentecost. Now the significance of Pentecost Sunday is that through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church, the church is now brought to spiritual maturity. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the first enjoyment of the finished labors of Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the church is brought to spiritual maturity. Now to be clear, Pentecost does not mark the birth of the church or the beginning of the church. Some people, many people will teach you that. Baptists will teach you that, that Pentecost marks the birth of the church. No, the church was there throughout the whole Old Testament. But what the case is, is this, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that church, which was a child in the Old Testament, is now brought to spiritual maturity. Jesus is bringing his people into the New Covenant, a higher, a renovated covenant, having greater blessings, greater joys. Jesus is bringing his people from the Old Testament into the New Testament, the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. And that's clearly worth commemorating and celebrating. What we also have on Pentecost Sunday is this. We have another very clear witness that Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and Christ. And that's really what the Apostle Peter emphasizes in his sermon in Acts chapter 2. That's the main theme of his sermon. Jesus is doing this. Jesus, whom you with wicked hands have crucified and slain, He's the explanation for everything you're seeing and everything you're hearing. Jesus is sitting enthroned at God's right hand in heaven, and Jesus as Lord and Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So this morning, in our commemoration of Pentecost, we're going to focus on this last part of Peter's sermon, which is really the climax of Peter's sermon. So in the second point of the sermon we're kind of going to do a review of the whole sermon and walk through how Peter's sermon develops. We take as our theme, the exalted Jesus shedding forth his spirit. We look at three things. First, the wonderful event the shedding forth of the Holy Spirit, second, the sermonic significance, and third, briefly, the powerful blessings. First, let's look at that wonderful event. Verse 33 captures it. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He, Jesus, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. And Peter is making a reference to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Just before this sermon, you have the 120 disciples in the upper room or in a room in Jerusalem, and you have three remarkable signs taking place. There's the sound as of a mighty rushing wind, a very loud sound so that even all Jerusalem can hear this sound of a mighty rushing wind. Second, there were cloven tongues as a fire, cloven, divided tongues as a fire appearing on the heads of each of the apostles. And then as the disciples came out of the room onto the streets of Jerusalem, they started speaking to everyone they met in that person's native language. And Peter, coming to the end of his sermon, says, what you are seeing that sound of a mighty rushing wind, what you are hearing, people speaking to you, Galileans speaking to you in your own native language, that's the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Well, in order to understand this event, we first need to ask and answer the question, who is the Holy Spirit? And there are a few ways we can answer that. Who is the Holy Spirit? First, some general things to get our bearings straight. First, the Holy Spirit is God, because the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. That's where we need to start. The Holy Spirit is God. He is true and co-eternal God with the Father and the Son. He's the third person of the Trinity. As such, He is uncreated, infinite, eternal, and almighty, co-equal and co-essential with the Father and the Son, to be worshipped with the Father and the Son. Second, He is the third person of the Trinity. He is a person. He is one who says, I. We don't refer to the Holy Spirit as a mere force. The Holy Spirit, we should not just picture as a mere liquid that can be poured out, although that's the language here. He's poured out. He's shed forth. But the Holy Spirit is a person. He is one who says, I. We refer to Him as He, not it. He is the one who teaches us God's Word. He is the one who leads us into the truth. He is the one who can be grieved. He is the one who speaks. He is the one who can be lied to. He is the one who can be obeyed because He is a person. And then third, He is the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit. He is not the Father. He is not the Son. He is the Spirit. That doesn't just mean that He is a Spirit. The Father is a Spirit. The Son is a Spirit. But the third person is the Spirit within the Trinity. That's His personal property. He is the breath. The Father is the Father. The Son is the Son. And the Spirit is the breath within the Trinity. The Father is the one who speaks the Word. The Son is the Word that is spoken, and the Holy Spirit is the breath by which that Word is spoken. The Father begets the Son, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit is the breath of love that proceeds from Father to Son and from Son to Father. He is the breath of life, the breath of fellowship within the Trinity. And as the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit, He is the one who devotes the Father to the Son, and He is the one who devotes the Son to the Father. He is the Holy Spirit. Now those things are basic. We should know these things. This is who He is. But when we look at the text, there's more, more specific things that are said about the Holy Spirit. First of all, in the text, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the promise. Notice that in verse 30. Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost. The idea is this. Having received of the Father the promise Which is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the promise. And Peter points that out earlier in his sermon when he quotes from Joel chapter 2. He says, Joel chapter 2 gives us the promise. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. That's the promise. In Isaiah 44 verse 3, you have a very similar idea, another reference to the Holy Spirit as the promise. Isaiah 44 verse 3, for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon dry grounds, ground, I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring. That's another very clear reference to the Holy Spirit as the promise. And Jeremiah 31, verse 31, you have a similar idea where Jeremiah speaks of the new covenant. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the days that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, not according to that covenant, but a new covenant. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts." That's the promise. It's a promise of the Holy Spirit. How will God write His law upon our hearts? By His Spirit. Now in Acts chapter 1 and chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the promise as well. Acts chapter 1 verse 4. The second part of Acts 1 verse 4, Jesus tells his disciples, he says, wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. I spoke to you about the promise. Acts 2 verse 39, another reference, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off. Who is that promise? What is that promise? That promise is the Holy Spirit. So that also is who the Holy Spirit is. He's the promise. And then the second thing we need to point out from the text, more specifically, is that He is the promise whom Jesus has received of His Father. Notice that at the beginning of verse 33. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise, in His ascension into heaven, Jesus not only was exalted to God's right hand, but he was also given the Holy Spirit. Now let me be clear here. We're talking about Jesus the man, Jesus of Nazareth. who came in our flesh, who is our head and our mediator. He is the one who ascended into heaven and who sits at God's right hand. He, the man, Jesus, was given the Holy Spirit. And so what you now have is this. Think of Jesus. Just as Jesus can be understood from two points of view, he is the second person of the Trinity, We speak of Him as God, as the second person of the Trinity, and we can also speak of Him as the man, Jesus of Nazareth. We speak of Jesus from those two points of view, second person of the Trinity and the incarnate Son of God, the Son of the Triune God. So now, with Jesus' ascension into heaven, you have the same kind of thing with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit we can speak of as the third person of the Trinity, but now we can also speak of the Holy Spirit as specifically the Spirit of Christ. the Spirit as He's given to Jesus Christ. He always remains, He ever is, the third person of the Trinity, but now He's also the Spirit of Christ. Think, for example, of what Jesus says in John 7, verse 39. Jesus is preaching near the end of His earthly ministry and He says, John 7, 37 and 38, He says, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And then in verse 39, we read in parentheses, this is the inspired explanation, but this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet. He was not yet. because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And what that passage is teaching us is that Jesus needed to ascend into heaven. He first needed to be glorified and then there in heaven he could receive the Holy Spirit. And having received the Holy Spirit, he could now, in a special way, send forth that Spirit upon his people. That's what's happening on Pentecost. That's what's happening in the text. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He, Jesus, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. So Jesus ascended into heaven, He was seated at God's right hand, And as we saw 10 days ago on Ascension Day, Jesus was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people and nation and languages should serve Him. But not only was He given a kingdom, but He was given the power by which He could rule that kingdom, by which He could gather people into that kingdom. He was given the ability to rule that kingdom. He was given the Holy Spirit. And now receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus, by His Holy Spirit, goes to work from heaven, gathering people into His kingdom, building His kingdom, bringing people under His rule. That's what the kingdom is, right? The kingdom of God is within you. The rule of Jesus Christ by His Spirit. His Spirit. Because Jesus, when He ascended into heaven, received the Holy Spirit as His Spirit. Now I think all of this is very helpful. very necessary to know if we're going to understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was present. Of course He was present. He was the one regenerating God's people. He was the one leading God's people into the truth, preserving God's people, bringing them God's salvation. God's people in the Old Testament were saved the same way that we're saved today, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, by the operation of the Holy Spirit renewing us. It's the same thing by the sweet, irresistible operation of the Holy Spirit, but there's a difference too. And we can put it this way. In the Old Testament, there were deficiencies in how the Holy Spirit could operate. The Holy Spirit was limited in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit flowed to God's people just like a little trickle of water flowing from the tap. A trickle of water upon dry ground. In the Old Testament, there were limits. For one example, just think of how in the Old Testament you actually had to go to the prophet if you wanted to know the Word of the Lord. You had to go to those special offices. There were prophets, priests, and kings. Not everyone was a prophet. Not everyone was a priest. Not everyone was a king. Only certain men. specially set apart by God, anointed with oil, anointed with the Holy Spirit, only they were given a special measure of the Holy Spirit to carry out their work. And as I said, if someone else wanted to know God's Word, well, you have to go to the prophets. There were limits. In the Old Testament, God's people were spiritually immature. They were children, and they were dealt with accordingly. And all of this was the case because they had the Holy Spirit in only a small measure. And why was the Holy Spirit given in only such a small measure? He could only be given in such a small measure because the Holy Spirit wasn't yet earned for God's people. You see, the Holy Spirit is a rich blessing that God pours out upon his people. But that blessing, this blessing too, can only be given to us on the basis of Jesus' death and his perfect righteousness, his atoning death. Jesus first needs to die on the cross, make a full satisfaction for the sins of God's people, before he can give them such an abundant life. The fullness of life that the Holy Spirit gives us first needed to be earned for us. Now God's people in the Old Testament did have the Holy Spirit, but that was because God was always looking ahead to what Jesus was going to do for his people. The Holy Spirit was given in advance, you might say, looking ahead to what Jesus would do. But it was exactly for that same reason that the Holy Spirit was only given in a limited supply. And it was also to teach the people the work still had to be done. You're still looking ahead to the Messiah. He hasn't done the work yet. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit could be given only in such a limited supply to God's people because giving the Holy Spirit to the church was not so much the work of God as it was the direct work of Christ, the servant of God. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the church was part of the work that God gave Christ, the Messiah, to do. And in the Old Testament, Christ himself had not yet received the Holy Spirit. For Christ himself had not yet come to earn the Holy Spirit for his people as a blessing for them. This is also why after his resurrection Jesus needed to leave his disciples and leave this earth and ascend to heaven. Because only in his ascension, taking his place at God's right hand, having finished the work that he was given to do, only then could he receive the Holy Spirit without measure and then use that Holy Spirit to rule the kingdom that God gave him at God's right hand. And so now here in Acts 2 verse 33, what Peter is saying is this, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again from the dead, has ascended into heaven, is seated at God's right hand, and that same Jesus, whom you crucified 53 days ago, that same Jesus is right now from heaven doing this work, shedding forth this, the Holy Spirit and His blessings and His power, which you now see and hear. That's what's going on here. What you see and hear this morning, this is what the Old Testament saints were longing for. This is what the Old Testament scriptures were promising God's people. And it's all being done right now by Jesus at God's right hand. Jesus, whom God has made both Lord and Christ. So that's the wonderful event of Jesus shedding forth His Spirit. He pours out His Spirit upon the church. And what I should point out is that that language of shedding forth in verse 33, it's the exact same word that's used back in verse 17 when Peter's quoting from the prophecy of Joel and he uses the language of being poured out. He's shed forth, he's poured out, it's the same word, same idea. And it emphasizes an abundance. The Holy Spirit is no longer coming to God's people as a trickle of water. No, but the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon God's people like the water that's flowing forth from Niagara Falls. An abundance. That's the difference. One main difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the Holy Spirit in much greater abundance. You know, on this Pentecost Sunday, It's good to be reminded of that because we so often take these things for granted, don't we? Let us be thankful today that God has given us this blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't just regenerate us, but he gives us such an abundance so that we ourselves have an anointing. We ourselves are prophets, priests, and kings, and we ourselves have God's law written in our hearts, and we run Accordingly in the way of God's Word. What a blessing this is for us to live as adults. What a responsibility for us too. No longer acting as children, living as adults. This is the wonderful event of Pentecost. This is one of the great blessings of living in the New Testament. Now what I want to do is look at what Peter says in the context of the rest of his sermon. I want us to really appreciate what Peter is saying here and how Peter makes his argument. So I want us to see the sermonic significance of Peter's words because here we come to the climax of Peter's sermon. What we need to understand is that Peter's not just focused on explaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That's been our focus so far in the sermon, but that's not Peter's main focus. Peter's main focus is this. Jesus. Jesus, who was crucified 53 days ago, whom nearly all the Jews have rejected, Jesus is both Lord and Christ. That's fundamental. That's what the people so desperately need to see. That's the theme of Peter's sermon. Peter's emphasizing this is not something we are doing. This is something Jesus of Nazareth is doing. Remember the context. There have been great, powerful signs of the Holy Spirit. The people are speaking in foreign languages. And now some people are scoffing and saying, these people are drunk. And so Peter, moved by the Holy Spirit, stands up and preaches. He says, no, these people are not drunk. This is the fulfillment of prophecy. This is the fulfillment of your own Jewish scriptures. And all of this is the work of Jesus. Peter says, verses 22 and 23, he says, He men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you. Peter says, you all know. that Jesus was a man approved of God. There's no denying it. All His miracles and wonders and signs testify it. You may want to deny it in unbelief, but you can't deny it. You know it's true. Even the Roman centurion, a Gentile, at the foot of the cross had to say, truly, this was the Son of God. You all know it. Now this man, approved by God, you have taken, and by wicked hands you have crucified and slain." But you know what? God raised Jesus from the dead. And we all know that God raised Jesus from the dead. Look, all of us here, 120 disciples, we are all witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. We're all witnesses. And now for you Jews, don't let this be a stumbling block to you. Don't let Jesus' death and his death on the cross be a stumbling block to you. You may think, how could the Messiah have died? If he's the Messiah, the elect of God, how could he die? Well, my fellow Jews, don't you know your own scriptures? Don't you know the prophecy of Psalm 16? Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Now let me speak freely to you Jews. We all know that David died and he is buried. He did not rise again from the dead. His sepulcher is still with us today. But this was prophecy. Psalm 16, this is a description of your Messiah. Your own scriptures prophesy that the Christ should die and then rise again. I tell you, that's exactly what happened to Jesus of Nazareth. The man approved of God among you, he's the one who died and rose again. And then Peter says, not only did he die and rise again, but he ascended into heaven. Because you might say to me right now, well if he rose again from the dead, where is he? How come we don't see him? Don't you know your own scriptures? Psalm 110. Jesus, as David writes, Psalm 110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. Jesus isn't roaming somewhere on the earth. Jesus has ascended into heaven at God's right hand. As your scriptures say, the Messiah would ascend and go to God's right hand. That's what happened to Jesus. He has ascended into heaven. He's taken a seat at God's right hand. He's exalted above all, and he has been given power from on high. He's been given the Holy Spirit. I wonder if Peter could even have brought forth Daniel chapter seven, right? We looked at that 10 days ago. The Son of Man ascending to the Ancient of Days, and he's given glory and power and honor that all people and nations and languages should serve him. That's your scriptures. That's what Jesus fulfilled. And it is this Jesus who so perfectly fulfills the scriptures, who's also continuing to fulfill the scriptures by what he's doing this morning in Jerusalem, by the outpouring of his Holy Spirit. He is the one shedding forth this, that ye now see and hear. Isn't that beautiful, beloved? And you might say, well, It's because Peter's filled with the Holy Spirit. He himself has received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that he now sees all these things, right? Acts chapter one, will you now restore the kingdom of God at this time? They still don't see it. Now with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, boom, boom, boom, Old Testament prophecy, Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled, and the Jews are gonna see it too, many of them, 3,000 of them. It's amazing. But what's the conclusion? The conclusion is, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, let every house in Israel know for sure, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. That's the point. That's what everyone here this morning needs to come to terms with. Jesus of Nazareth, born of the Virgin Mary, who was crucified on the cross. He is the Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the inspired scriptures. He is the one like the son of man who's ascended to the ancient of days. He is Lord, given all power and honor and authority over heaven and earth. He is Lord of lords and he is King of kings and he is Lord of his church. He is David's Lord. The Lord said unto my Lord, he is David's Lord and he is our Lord by grace. He is Lord and He is Christ. That means He is the Messiah. You Catechism students know that. The word Christ, it's a title. It means anointed one. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. He is the Messiah for whom the Jews were looking. And the Jews rejected Him as the Messiah. That's why He was crucified, because He said He was the Messiah, and they rejected Him. But lo and behold, even His crucifixion shows that He's the Messiah. His resurrection shows that He's the Messiah. His ascension into heaven shows that He's the Messiah. And right now, where is that Messiah? He's at God's right hand, exalted, pouring out His Holy Spirit upon the church, fulfilling the Scriptures. And He is God. He is Lord and He is Christ and He is God. This is what it all comes down to. He is Emmanuel, God with us. All these Old Testament passages, you know who the Messiah would be. You know fully man, fully God, perfectly righteous. That's Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Lord, our righteousness. He is the Prince of Peace. And what's the conclusion? Everyone must bow before Him. Everyone must repent of their sins and turn to Him and believe Him to be the Son of God and believe on Him as the Messiah, the only Savior from sin. And that's Peter's point. You were the ones who crucified Him. Beloved, can you imagine the kind of horror that people in Peter's audience must have felt as their eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit and now they came to terms with what they had done to the Christ only 53 days earlier. Not only had they perhaps been there in the crowd chanting, crucify Him, crucify Him, but it was their whole attitude throughout Jesus' earthly ministry. their general indifference towards Jesus. They showed what they thought about him. They rejected him. He is the man approved of God among you by all these miracles. He is the one who now sits enthroned at God's right hand. He is the one who has power to wreak vengeance upon all his enemies. Can you imagine the horror that must have filled them? No wonder they cried out, men and brethren, What shall we do? Could there be hope for such sinners as these people? Who had shown themselves so clearly to be the enemies of the Christ? Well, yes, there is hope. There is hope because the Lord is full of compassion. And the Lord is the one who delights in mercy. He is the long-suffering Savior who saves sinners. That's who He came to save. Not the self-righteous. He came to save sinners such as you and I are. So what does Peter say? He says, repent. Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Repent, you who see Jesus as the Christ, repent. Turn from your sins and trust in Him as the Messiah, as the Lord your righteousness, as the Prince of Peace who brings peace to God's people. And trust in Him as the only Redeemer from sin. And save yourselves from this untoward generation, this crooked, perverse, self-righteous generation. That's how Peter preached. That was Holy Spirit filled preaching. And through that preaching, 3,000 souls were added to the church. Isn't that amazing? The event of Pentecost is so astonishing in many different ways. We give the Lord praise for his marvelous works. And now we go further and we ask, what are the blessings of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? What are the blessings? Well first, the blessing is this, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we see the scriptures being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That's exactly part of the significance of this whole event. I think if there are any here this morning who feel weak in the faith and they question whether Jesus is the Messiah and they question their Christian faith, look at these passages. May the Lord open your eyes to see it and have your faith strengthened. Point after point after point. You cannot explain this as man's work or as man's word. It's God's word and it's God's work. The Holy Spirit stirs up Peter to preach this sermon and the Holy Spirit uses the sermon to open the eyes of God's people. May he use this sermon this morning for the same thing. So that God's people were able to see so beautifully how the Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled in Jesus, who is the Christ. Without the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God's people just didn't see things so clearly. Peter's own preaching is different because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That's the first blessing. Second, the blessing is this, and to put it more generally, Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God's people are brought into a more mature relationship with God. We're more and more united to Christ. We're bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh through the Holy Spirit. Yes, we understand Jesus went to heaven. He, in his human flesh, left us and went to heaven. But by his spirit, he is still with us. And he is now even with us in a more intimate, more beneficial way, he said it himself, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but when I depart, I will send him unto you. And then Jesus also said, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you. And that's how he came to us, in a poured out measure, coming to us by his Holy Spirit. And so by the outpouring of His Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Jesus came to His people and we're brought into a more mature, more intimate relationship with God. The Old Testament saints were only looking ahead for it. The prophets, priests, and kings, they must have tasted it and understood it to a degree, but they wanted all the people to enjoy it too. Remember Moses with those two servants of his who were filled with the Spirit and Moses says, We're not that all of the nation of Israel filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what we have in the New Testament. And then third, the blessing is this. By the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened. We are given power from on high. Not only to know the Scriptures more intimately, but to live unto God more devotedly. As Jesus himself said, Acts 1 verse 4, ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come unto you. Acts 1 verse 8, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you. And that's what we have. We are prophets, priests, and kings. We have power, spiritual power. and we are given power to live holy lives unto God as prophets, priests, and kings devoted to the Lord. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He devotes God's people to the Lord. Congregation, we rejoice this morning as we are reminded again that we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is your reality as members of the body and bride of Jesus Christ, as members of the New Testament church. You have power from on high. So now how should you use that power? How do we honor the Christ? How should we honor Jesus, who is both Lord and Christ? Repent. Repent. Whatever sin you're walking in, may the preaching this morning and the whole Sabbath day cause you to see the wretchedness of your sin. You must not walk in that way. Repent and turn unto Christ, who is the Lord and the Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, live lives devoted to the Lord. As prophets, as priests, as kings, speak God's word, bring God's word to bear upon your own life as prophets. Be a priest, lay down your life as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord. And as a king, rule yourself and fight against sin, knowing the victory you already have through your King, Jesus Christ. Third, be a witness. Ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. both in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Be a witness of who Jesus is as Lord and as Christ. Be a witness to each other in your marriages. Be a witness to your children of who Jesus of Nazareth is as the Messiah, as your Lord. And by your life, show others who the King is that you serve and who He is as the King whom you love. Be a witness. That's really what they did in Acts chapter two. That's the joyous privilege and the calling that we also have as God's people today. May the Lord give us His Holy Spirit in rich abundance that we might do these things to His glory, to the glory of Jesus, our Lord, our Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, Thou dost shower blessing upon blessing, so that we sing with new meaning. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Lord, fill us with Thy Spirit. Strengthen us, that we might repent we might devote ourselves unto thee, and that we might be witnesses to each other and to others of who Jesus is as our Lord and our Christ. To the glory of thy holy and exalted name, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.