Let's ask the Lord's blessing as we open up the Word of God. Our Lord, You have ordained the preaching of the Word as a primary means of convincing and converting sinners and of building up Your own people through faith and comfort unto salvation. And we believe that You do that by Your own Word read and preached. And now we ask, as we deal with the fascinating subject of Pentecost, that the very Spirit who was poured out on that day would come to us and be our great teacher and our great transformer. We pray in the wonderful name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus. Amen. Well, it's election year, and in the month of November, God willing, there will be a voting day, election day, and hopefully there will be a decisive victory for one candidate or another. And then between early November and about the middle of January, we have transition time, a transition team. that works with the newly elected president. That's about a two-month period. And then, on inauguration day, the new president takes the oath of office, and at that point, he assumes the power of that office for the next four years. It's the beginning of a new administration, and hopefully a good one. I want you to think with me, as we have been doing in the past several weeks, of the great events of what we call the church calendar. We think of the birth of Christ and Christmas, as we call it, his birth and his life, in which the Gospels give us, if you will, the candidate's biography in four perspectives. Those books give us the preparation of the King. King David's greater son, Jesus. And then there's Christ's death on what we call Good Friday, and that's a time of victory over the devil in which his power is disarmed, there's an atonement for sins, punishment is taken away for the Lord's people, Good Friday. And then resurrection, Easter Sunday, in which, as it were, there are three votes cast, the vote of the Father, the vote of the Son, and the vote of the Holy Spirit, and they're all working together so that Christ is raised from the dead as the one who is Son of God with power. There is no doubt Easter Sunday of this declaration that Jesus won. And then there's the transition. We talked about that during those 40 days of Christ's post-resurrection ministry. From Easter Sunday until the Ascension Day when he's taken up into glory, Jesus trains the eleven, would be the apostles and others. And you read about that in Acts chapter 1 and verses 2 and 3, until the day Jesus was taken up to glory, Ascension Day, after he'd given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them and to many others after his suffering. He showed many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. the reign of Christ by which he draws people to himself and leavens the world with the gospel. Well, on Ascension Day, as it were, the king moves to a new residence. He moves not to the White House, but he moves to glory itself, where he's preparing a place for his people. And then ten days later, On what would be a Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we read that the day of Pentecost had fully come, it had arrived, Pentecost was Inauguration Day, it was the beginning of a new administration of God in the world. Now, it's not going to make headlines that you'll read in the mainstream media. You have to understand it and learn about it by faith, by faith in what God says in His Word. But I assure you that what God says in His inerrant Word is far more dependable than what you'll get from any of the mainstream media. We're looking at Pentecost, Inauguration Day. You grasp that by faith. Remember, without faith, it's impossible to please God. But how should you grasp it by faith? We're going to do this in two parts. Number one, and rather quickly, what Pentecost most emphatically is not. And then second, as you can guess, what Pentecost most emphatically is. What Pentecost most emphatically is not. Pentecost is not something to be repeated. There are people that say every conversion of a sinner to Christ is a repeat of Pentecost. Well, Pentecost is no more repeatable than is the cross of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, or the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. You don't have repeated inaugurations of a president. And it's manifestly not the case that every conversion is a repetition of Pentecost, because as you read of the conversions, especially in the book of Acts, you don't read of tongues as a fire coming on people. You don't hear of mighty rushing winds, as we read about in Acts chapter 2. Believe me, if there were those things, you'd have recordings of them. and you'd have pictures of them, but we don't, because every conversion is not a repetition of Pentecost. Nor is Pentecost a model for every believer speaking in tongues. Now, without getting into a prolonged explanation of what tongues is, tongues was the giving of the Word of God in a foreign language. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 4, those who were filled with the Holy Spirit began to speak in other tongues, or in other languages is the word, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Now, if the Holy Spirit is giving them utterance, and the Holy Spirit is God, and He is, then what they were speaking was the Word of God in a foreign language. Now that the Scriptures are complete, we have a completed Old Testament and New Testament, You don't add to the Word of God in any way. All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God. Paul tells Timothy in his Profitable for Doctrine, Reproof, Correction, Instruction, and Righteousness that the man of God might be complete. thoroughly equipped unto every good work. That being the case, you don't add to the Word of God by new utterances of the Spirit in foreign languages or in our own language. And once again, that's manifestly not the case. Not everyone converted. in the book of Acts or in any place speaks in tongues, and even the apostle Paul would say, for that day when tongues was a gift that particularly showed that the kingdom of God was being taken away from Israel and given to other people of other nations, bringing forth the fruit of grace, Well, in those conversions in the book of Acts, and referred to elsewhere in the New Testament, you don't always hear a mention of tongues. So that's rather simply what Pentecost most emphatically is not. Not something to be repeated, not a model for every believer speaking in tongues. So what Pentecost most emphatically is, it is the inauguration of Jesus as King, and the beginning of a new administration that we call the Gospel Age, or the Kingdom of God, or if you want, the Kingdom of God with Power. Pentecost, most emphatically, is the inauguration of Jesus as King, and the beginning of a new administration, the Gospel Age, or the Kingdom of God with Power. Jesus, of course, announced The kingdom of God came with him as the king, but you don't see anything like the power in conversion during Jesus' ministry that you see beginning on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 were converted and later 5,000 were converted. Now, what does that new administration look like? And we'll see four things that are all opened up in the book of Acts and are developed further throughout the New Testament. What does that new administration, Kingdom of God with Power, the Gospel Age, what does it look like? Well, number one, by the Holy Spirit, Christ himself comes and dwells in his people. Every leader wants, if I could put it this way, his spirit to be in those whom he leads. The spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the New Deal or victory in World War II. The spirit of Harry Truman was give them hell, Harry. Or the spirit of Dwight Eisenhower, Ike, was a calm and peaceful decade that was tired of war. John Kennedy, the new frontier, Ronald Reagan, mourning in America. Donald Trump, make America great again. So that's the spirit of these leaders, and they want that spirit to be in those whom they lead. Now that spirit's never perfect, it never lasts, and their spirit is not truly in all the citizens. In this new administration, King Jesus, who's also Prophet Jesus and Priest Jesus, is truly in kingdom citizens by the Holy Spirit. They are filled with the Spirit, verse 4, in Acts chapter 2, which means what? Well, they're filled with God. In verse 3, these are tongues as a fire. It's fascinating. This is very much like the burning bush in the book of Exodus chapter 3. The bush burns. There's fire in it, but it's not consumed. The Shekinah glory, the fire that was in the tabernacle and the temple is now in individuals, and they're not consumed. The fire represents God himself, but more specifically, it's God in Christ who's represented. Think with me for a little bit about some of these enigmatic statements Jesus made. 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. Not speaking here about his coming for the 40 days after his resurrection. but his coming by the Holy Spirit, beginning on the day of Pentecost. John 14 and verses 26 and 27. The Father sends the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. And Jesus says, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. He takes the things of Jesus and declares them to us from within. John 15 and verse 26, Jesus says, he, the Spirit, will bear witness about me, and he develops that in chapter 16 and verses 14 and 15 of John, when Jesus says, he will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it unto you. The Holy Spirit is wrapped up in the Lord Jesus in terms of his ministry. And elsewhere in the New Testament, in Romans chapter 8 and verses 9 through 11, Paul can interchange the Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is in you, Christ who is in you. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the one who, as it were, brings Christ to us. And in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 17, the Apostle Paul says, Now the Lord, the Lord Jesus, is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Jesus is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not Jesus, and The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons and one God. But in terms of the economy of grace in this gospel age, this time in which the kingdom comes with power, the Holy Spirit's work is to bring Jesus to us. Let me give you a couple of illustrations that I think might help with this. Number one, the Holy Spirit's ministry is a spotlight ministry. Spotlights don't draw attention to themselves. They draw attention to the signs or to the billboards or to the stadiums or to the ball fields that the spotlights have their spotlight on. And on the day of Pentecost, when Peter preaches, beginning in the middle of chapter two, right to nearly the end of it, Peter is focusing on Jesus all the time. Jesus prophesied, Jesus who died, Jesus who rose, Jesus who reigned. There's an example of what we mean. The Holy Spirit was working in Peter to put the spotlight on Christ. And here's my favorite illustration. I find this very helpful. The Holy Spirit is the Secretary of State who represents King Jesus when our Secretary of State, now Mike Pompeo, is traveling the world. He is representing President Trump and President Trump's administration. And that's what the Holy Spirit does as he is sent from heaven. The Spirit, not the Pope, but the Holy Spirit is the true Vicar of Christ on earth. A vicar is one who acts in the place of another. And it's not the Pope who does that, representing Christ. It's the Holy Spirit who is the vicar of Christ on earth. And he brings real loyalty to the only perfect leader. Jesus puts his spirit in his people and we become loyal to that leader and we love him. So the first mark, first mark of the new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost, by the Holy Spirit, Christ comes and dwells in his people, lo, and he really means this, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Does your faith lay hold of that? You're meant to, and that's what that means. All right, second mark of this new administration, it's true progressivism. There is from the day of Pentecost, the inauguration of the kingdom of God with power, true progressivism, a progressive undoing of the curse on Babel. In Genesis 11 and verses one through nine, you have a fascinating account that you're all familiar with. of the Lord coming down and destroying this tower that people made that would make them like God, being able to do whatever they wanted in the world and being like God. And what does God do? He confuses the tongues. He confuses the languages. Now we come to Acts chapter 2 beginning at verse 5. As the people begin speaking in other tongues, languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance, we read, 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 are speaking Galileans? Well, how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language, Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, part of what we would know of today as the Middle East, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia? Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, that's Africa, and visitors from Rome, that's Europe, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues, our own languages, 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 you know they were? Not alcoholic wine, which is what was meant by what they said, but real new wine. Remember that the Lord Jesus spoke of new wine that was not to be put in old wineskins, and he makes new wine that's better than the other at the wedding of Cana. That new wine that they're filled with is Christ and the gospel. But for our purposes, those areas are mentioned in Acts chapter 2 represent the three major language groups in the Middle East and farther out in Asia and in Africa and in Europe that are also represented when you read carefully in Genesis chapter 11 verses 1 through 9. Those language groups are that began after the destruction of the Tower of Babel, from which Babylon comes, those confused tongues now become tongues that people hear in their own language, in which the substance is the Holy Spirit spotlight ministry, the wonderful works of God focused on the Lord Jesus. This is the beginning of the undoing of the curse on Babel. on Pentecost as the inauguration of this new kingdom of God with power. And it's also, as you would imagine, the inauguration of the Great Commission. Go make disciples of all nations. And representatives of all nations were in Jerusalem on this inauguration day as people from All nations, or at least many nations, will be represented at a president's inauguration, and they hear the gospel, and the Great Commission really begins to take off. I could put it this way. In the kingdom of God with power, we do have open borders. Now, there are entrance requirements. Those are faith in Christ, repentance from sin, and loyalty to the king and his kingdom. But the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, as you read in Acts chapter 2 and verse 17. And the kingdom of God does not have closed borders to any nation on earth, not an American church, not a Dutch church. not a Scottish church, or a Chinese church, or an African church, or a Russian church, or a South American church, a holy Catholic church. Catholic meaning universal people of every tongue and tribe and nation. That's the second mark of the new administration, the inauguration on the day of Pentecost. It begins to undo the curse on Babel, and that continues today. Well the third mark in this new administration is the equipping of the servants of Christ with the power to serve. Remember what Jesus has said shortly before he ascends up into heaven in Acts chapter 1 and verse 6. The apostles come together and they say, Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it's not for you to know times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority. I wonder if all those who are predicting the dates for Christ's return have ever really read this. It's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father is fixed by His authority, when particularly His Son will return from glory, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And what's that power to be? And you will be my witnesses. You will be those who will speak of me and show me Doesn't simply say you will speak as my witnesses He says you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth You're going to be equipped with power to serve by Representing me. That's a witness Representing me in all the world folks The Holy Spirit's work is not about speculation, it's about evangelization. And that's especially true in ministers, those who are entrusted with the responsibility to bear witness of Christ by preaching Him and teaching Him in their official capacity as ministers. Note the boldness of the Apostle Peter preaching beginning in Acts chapter 2 and verse 14. This Peter who had denied Christ This now restored Peter is an empowered Peter. And he begins to preach, and he preaches with such boldness, with many other words at the end of that sermon. He bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. That's power. Peter is the model of what it is to receive power. when the Holy Spirit had come upon him." This is empowered Peter, and that's also true of all believers in Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle speaks about spiritual things. That's not Casper the Ghost kind of things. It's Holy Spirit things, specifically the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives, or what Paul will call literally the energies of the Spirit to serve in both the church and in the world. When a new administration comes to Washington, a new party takes over, Well, that whole Beltway area in Washington becomes repopulated by those who are serving in one way or the other in the new administration. Well, we have a new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost. Now, its headquarters are in heaven, but from heaven, the king sends his servants into all of the world to represent him in different ways. Missionaries, medical doctors who are Christians, teachers who are Christians, common citizens who are Christians who go into all the world. And remember that Acts begins in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, Judea, And then the gospel goes up to Samaria where there is an extension of Pentecost. And then to the uttermost parts of the earth was a further extension of Pentecost, not a repeat, but an extension to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10. So the Church is not a ghetto, it's a vanguard, empowered by the Spirit, going into all the world. This is the third mark of this new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost. People like you and me who are in Christ equipped as servants with power to serve, specifically being witnesses of Christ and to Christ in all the world. And here's the fourth mark that you see developed in the book of Acts. You see we're going through really the whole of the first two chapters, at least part one of chapter one and all of chapter two. The fourth mark is that Pentecost was the inauguration of a kingdom of real change. Every president promises change in his campaign and in his inaugural speech. And you know what happens. That's not true in the kingdom of King Jesus. In his years of public ministry, his campaign, if you will, he declared what he was going to do. And on the day of Pentecost, he begins real change by the Holy Spirit in this kingdom of God with power. Jesus is applying what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection. And you see the first fruits of that in Acts chapter 2 and verses 37 to 47. People are cut to the heart. And they say to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, What is the clarion call on the kingdom of God? Repent, turn away from your sins, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise, that is the promise of the Spirit, is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself by the Holy Spirit. and with many other words. He bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized. And there were added that day something you never saw during the public ministry of Jesus, some 3,000 souls. repentance, and baptism in the name of Jesus. And that's the emphasis. Forgiveness of sins doesn't come by baptism. It's a mark of forgiveness of sins, but it's the name of Jesus by whom forgiveness of sins comes. Baptism not a bumper sticker, baptism, and not a MAGA hat, but a mark that says, now I belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to me. And they receive God the Holy Spirit. Well, what is it to receive God the Holy Spirit? And notice it's whole families that receive that promise, even as in the Old Covenant, The Church of the Old Testament was made up of families, so the same in the New Covenant, in which the family is the basic unit of the Church. The promise of the Holy Spirit is to them. What's the evidence? People have received the Holy Spirit. They're made holy. They're made more and more like God in Christ. And then there's even more, because the Gospel's not individualistic. Notice that there's a commitment to the means of grace. Here's the beginning of a whole new community on the day of Pentecost. And they devoted themselves. They bent their schedules so as not to miss the apostles' teaching. The fellowship, and the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper, and the prayers, the stated times of prayer, and awe, or fear, came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done, not through all the believers, but through the apostles. authenticating. They were speaking the Word of God. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. That's not enforced communism. These people are so thrilled at what God has done in their lives. And they're part of a new community and a new family. They treated everybody as brothers and sisters. And day by day, attending the temple together where they met, and breaking bread in their homes, the Lord's Supper, and a common meal, they received their food with gladness and generousness of hearts, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And in that context of, you wanna know what real healthy church life is? That's it right here. And in the context of healthy church life, the Lord, the Lord Jesus, by the Spirit, added to their number, day by day, those who are being saved. The best evangelism program anywhere is healthy church life. Well, those are the marks of the new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost and that will continue until the end of human history And it's marked by real change, a whole new world. Wow, wow. What an inauguration day that was. Let's bring all of this together by asking, what should Pentecost mean to you? We're celebrating Pentecost Sunday after nearly two millennia Nearly 2,000 years after this inauguration day, what should Pentecost mean to you? Let me begin, before I answer the question, by asking you some heart-searching questions, the mark of the Gospel ministry. It doesn't go first to your head, it goes to your heart. because the gospel changes your heart and in that way changes your way of thinking. Do you share in the cross of Christ by faith? What do you mean by that? Let's use some hymns. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor content on all my pride. Can you say that? 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. Can you say that? See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did ere 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. Can you say that? Well, if so, you share in the cross of Christ by faith. Do you share in the resurrection of Christ by faith? Well, what does that mean? Once again, let's draw on Christian hymnody. 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. Can you say that? If so, you share in the resurrection of Christ by faith. Do you share in the ascension of Christ by faith? Once again, let's draw a classic Christian hymn to our help. 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 the church below. Lord, beyond my mortal sight, raise my heart to reach your height, there your face unclouded sea, find my heaven of heavens in thee." Can you say that? Well, if so, you share in the ascension of Christ by faith. And how is that demonstrated in your life? Once again, classic Christian hymnody, you will crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne. 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. Is that your song? Please don't speak to me saying, well, Jesus, I've let Him into my heart, and He's my personal Savior. Is He your Lord? Is he the one that you crown with your praises in all of your singing and in all of your thinking? Is he the one who calls the shots in your life? in the new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost, you share in that kingdom of God with power. That means that Christ himself is in you by the Holy Spirit. And you don't need to be embarrassed by the spirit of this leader in you. He is absolutely perfect. It's God in you. Wow! God in me by the Holy Spirit. You represent the many tongues and tribes and nations now united in Christ by the gospel. No closed borders. If there were, many of us would not be part of this kingdom. But borders open to Greeks and to Chinese people and to South Americans and to Americans and Australians. You get the point. No closed borders. And brothers and sisters, if you're part of that kingdom, you'll open your heart too. And you'll open your home. And you won't speak about the church as being your church. You'll be thrilled that people of every tongue and tribe and nation come to be with you and to hear the gospel. If you share in that new administration inaugurated on the day of Pentecost, you're a part of King Jesus seeing his work, that is the anguish of his soul and his body, satisfied. All of the Father's chosen ones, all for whom Christ died, They have Christ's work applied to them by the Holy Spirit. You are saved. You are changed. You are justified. You are adopted. And you are, by the Spirit, experiencing what glorification will be in the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. That's what Jesus came and lived and died and rose for. And if you're part of the kingdom, you share in that. And last but not least, you will be witnesses of Jesus with power, given by the Holy Spirit. That's what it is to share in the Holy Spirit and to share in the day of Pentecost, not repeated but applied to all of the Lord's people. Friends, do people see Jesus in you? If the Spirit of Jesus is in you, shouldn't they? Do people smell Jesus when they're with you? In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verses 15 and 16, that's the way the Apostle Paul speaks. He says, we are an aroma of Christ. We're a fragrance of Christ. Are you a fragrance, an aroma, or an odor? Do people smell Jesus when they're with you? Do people hear Jesus from you? I mean, if the Spirit is declaring Jesus to you and making Him known to you, won't you be declaring Him to others? Do people touch Jesus when they touch you? Social distancing is not our standard over the word of God. Greet the brethren with a holy kiss. Now, it's not going to be a holy kiss if you have COVID-19 and you start kissing everybody. But you're healthy, and you're not making lip contact where saliva goes. A peck on the cheek. Greet the brethren with a holy kiss. That trumps social distancing. And it's a way of giving the kiss of Jesus' love to others. Well, if people see Jesus in you, and people smell Jesus when they're with you, and people hear Jesus from you, and people touch Jesus when they touch you, or you touch Jesus when you touch them, your part of that utterly remarkable, amazing new administration that was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost. Oh, and there aren't going to be any more elections in the kingdom of God. Jesus is the king. And that kingdom is going to endure from generation to generation. And it will fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. And that kingdom, inaugurated on the day of Pentecost, will never, ever, ever, ever end. Until after Jesus has come back and all of his elect are saved and reveling, he delivers that kingdom up to God the Father. And for all eternity, God will be all in all. Oh Lord, haste that day. Let's pray together. Our Lord, we pray for the extension of your kingdom in all of the world. We pray for all of the nations, asking that the kingdoms of this world would more and more become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Cause your kingdom to come as the kingdom of the devil is more and more defeated, the kingdom of grace is more and more furthered, and the kingdom of glory hastened. We pray for your persecuted people, for the persecuted church in so many countries of the world. Cause your people, cause your churches to be faithful, even faithful unto death when necessary. But Lord, might you give relief. Make Saul's who persecute into Paul's who praise. For our own nation, we pray for all in authority over us, for wisdom as they balance concerns about the general welfare and health with the need we have to get back to work. Give wisdom for all who are on the front lines. Give them energy, give them protection, give them dedication, and especially for those on the front lines who are representing that love of Christ that laid down its life for its friends, grant very special blessing to them, we praise. We ask, our Lord, we are so disturbed by the destructive violence that has ravaged cities in our country in past days. Lord, quell that, we pray. bring true justice by those who are vested with the authority to restrain evil and not to promote it. and give repentance and revival in our land. Our God, we are grieved that even with almost three months of a present distress, we see little repentance, we see little revival. But Lord, many of us are devoted to united prayer that you do exactly that, and we will give you no rest until you establish your Jerusalem and make her a praise in the earth, and make it full of praise in the earth. Do that work, beginning with your professed people and in their churches. We pray for our region, metropolitan New York, especially the Orthodox Presbyterian churches of that region, in Hamden, Connecticut, Mount Vernon, New York, in Fresh Meadows, Queens, in Franklin Square, in Syosset, and in Bohemia. and in Deer Park, where the haven is. Lord, bring your blessing upon us and upon all others seeking to faithfully minister the gospel. And for the haven. Lord, please let us soon resume corporate worship, not with a limitation of ten people. Lord, we want to follow wise sanitation procedures and hygienic procedures, but Lord, forsaking, not forsaking, the assembling of ourselves together means the whole body and we pray that you would grant that soon. Give us, we pray, a facility of our own, and we pray, our Lord, that you would give us commitment to use that facility to bring the gospel to others. And more than anything else, oh Lord, we need the Holy Spirit who was poured out on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit so that we show Christ, so that we are an aroma of Christ, so that we are the voice of Christ and so that we show in practical deeds of mercy and love the compassion of Christ. Lord, apply Pentecost to us and all those who hear this, to your glory. And now, our Lord, we unite our hearts and our voices in the words the Lord Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. And all together we confirm our desire to be heard by saying amen.