[0:00] Let us turn now to the chapter we read in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2.
[0:19] We may read the verse at the beginning of the chapter. But when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[0:29] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven and so on. The account that we have in this chapter of the great event which is referred to as Pentecost, the sermon that was preached on that day, and the effect that the sermon had upon those who heard it.
[1:01] We are looking at Sabbath evenings at this book of the Acts of the Apostles, which gives us a detailed account of the great movement that began on that day of Pentecost, the movement that was to change the course of this world's history.
[1:26] That account is written by Luke, who writes to a man who was probably a Roman citizen, a man called Theophilus. And the book is a sequel to the first book that he wrote to him, the book that is now called The Gospel of Christ According to Luke.
[1:43] And at the beginning of this book, the book of Acts, we know that Luke is, as it were, tying up a few loose ends, as it were. He recalls what he had told Theophilus about the life and the ministry and the work and the sufferings and the death of Jesus Christ.
[1:58] Then he proceeds to tell them about the resurrection and to give a detailed account of the ascension. And after that, we have a detailed account of a very interesting event that took place immediately after the ascension, when they returned to Jerusalem and were praying in the temple.
[2:15] In those days, Peter decided that it was better for them to appoint someone to the vacancy that was caused in the apostolate, in the discipleship, through the death, through the suicide of Judas Iscariot.
[2:29] And the interesting thing about that, as you read the end of chapter 1, is that the references in Psalms 79 and 109 are clearly true, Judas Iscariot.
[2:41] And you know how they proceeded to elect Matthias to the vacancy through the drawing of lots. Now, there are many people who are of the opinion that Peter was wrong in taking the initiative that early that he should have waited for the man who in the subsequent history of the church was obviously meant to fill the vacancy, namely the Apostle Paul.
[3:11] Because as far as we know, there is no word whatsoever of Matthias after this event. And when in the book of Revelation, the book speaks of the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 stones, and the names of the 12 apostles, there are many who are of the opinion that the 12th name is Paul and ought to be Paul and not Matthias.
[3:34] In any case, we move on from that to this great event that is now recorded for us in Acts chapter 2. And I want tonight to look at this event with you and its consequences and answer several questions.
[3:51] First of all, what happened? Then secondly, when did it happen? Thirdly, where did it happen? And fourthly, how did this happen?
[4:02] Now, we live in a day when the events of Pentecost are of tremendous importance and consequence, not just because of their historical nature, not just because of the fact that it was a great event which took place one day and has tremendous consequence for the Christian church, but because there are many people worshipping the Lord tonight throughout the world.
[4:28] I don't think there's any such group in Stornow, in the Isle of Lewis. As far as I know, there isn't. But there are many groups in the world tonight who are worshipping and who call themselves, as you probably very well know, Pentecostalists.
[4:44] Now, the teaching that is associated with what is referred to as Neo-Pentecostalism is very important, if I may say so, to the young people here tonight, you who, in the course of time, will leave this island.
[4:57] And some of you already left and come in contact with this. You will discover that this teaching is having a tremendous impact upon the world at large.
[5:10] There are some who maintain that Pentecostalism is the fastest growing, apart from Islam, the fastest growing religious movement in the world today. So when you read Acts chapter 2 and the story of Pentecost, don't turn away from it.
[5:23] It has tremendous importance for you and for me tonight, tremendous consequences. What happened then at the day of Pentecost? Well, what happened was this, that very simply, the Holy Spirit came.
[5:39] Now, of course, some may say, was not the Holy Spirit in the world before? And the answer to that question is yes.
[5:51] Of course he was in the world before. The Bible that you and I have, for example, is the product of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who moved men to write the Bible.
[6:02] Some of these men were living hundreds of years before the day of Pentecost. As a matter of fact, Peter, the day he preached, referred to one of them called Joel, who hundreds of years before Pentecost prophesied that Pentecost would come.
[6:18] And it came exactly as he said. And he had said that through the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit was in the world moving men to write the way they did, moving men to speak the way they did, to preach the way they did.
[6:32] The Holy Spirit was in the world converting men and women, converting the lives of Manasseh, moving the men like Enoch and Abraham. Who converted Abraham?
[6:43] Who was the great moving principle in the life of Abraham but the Holy Spirit? Of course the Holy Spirit was in the world before Pentecost. What then do you mean? What then do we mean when we say what happened in Pentecost was this, that the Holy Spirit came into the world?
[7:02] Well, what we mean by this is this, that the Holy Spirit came in a visible way, in a wonderful way. He came in a miraculous way, in the same way, for example, as Jesus came into this world.
[7:20] You see, who was born in Bethlehem? It was God in our nature. But God was always in this world. But you see, God had a coming into the world in a wonderful way, in a miraculous way.
[7:34] In the same way, the Holy Spirit came into the world at Pentecost. He came in a visible way. His presence was seen, felt, recognized.
[7:46] He came into the world. And that's what it's meant. Now, then we read that He came at this particular time, at Pentecost.
[8:02] Now, the meaning of the word Pentecost is very simply the 50th day. 50. Day 50. This was one of the Jewish festivals which took place at the beginning of wheat harvest 50 days after the Passover.
[8:25] Now, we know that Jesus was killed at the Passover. And therefore, Pentecost took place 50 days after the death of Jesus.
[8:39] And we also know that He was in this world for 40 days. Remember? After the resurrection of Christ, He was in this world for 40 days, appearing occasionally to the disciples.
[8:53] Then He ascended to heaven. We read that, we studied that last week. So, what we have here is this. A period of 10 days elapsed between the ascension of Jesus to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
[9:07] Now, that's important because when Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His disciples, you go and wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit. And what were they doing these 10 days?
[9:20] They were in the temple praying, meeting together in the upper room, praying. What do you think they were praying for? Well, one thing is absolutely certain that they were praying for the fulfillment of the promise that the Spirit would come.
[9:36] So, the Spirit came in answer to prayer. And He came 10 days after they began praying for His coming.
[9:47] For 10 days there was silence. You know, if you can picture yourself tonight in the shoes of the 11 disciples and those other Christian friends who were with them, just pick yourself.
[9:58] Meeting there in that upper room in Jerusalem, afraid of the Jews whose enmity was let loose against the Christian church, knowing that Jesus had promised the Spirit would come, praying for this coming that He had promised.
[10:13] You consider yourself day after day going by, no sign of His coming. Silence. How would you feel? Would you be afraid? Maybe you would be.
[10:25] But then all of a sudden, that which we were praying for came. I often think in connection with the, though we don't hear about it so much now, when the first astronauts were going out into space and they were coming back into, back to earth.
[10:49] Remember when people used with bated breath to sit round their television sets as this great event was relayed live into many homes. The astronauts coming back to earth, they were in contact, always in contact with base, with Houston.
[11:09] And then, as they entered the earth's atmosphere, contact was broken and people waited with bated breath.
[11:21] wondering if they were going to come through. And then, the crackling on the airwaves, the astronauts again in touch with base.
[11:33] They were on the way and they were safe. I often think about that with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus told them, wait in Jerusalem and they waited and for ten days silence.
[11:47] And then on the tenth day it came. what came? Well, three things happened.
[11:57] Or four things rather. We read here that suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like yours of 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.
[12:18] Four things happened that day. There was an audible manifestation of power. They heard the sound as of a mighty rushing wind and then there was a visible manifestation of power.
[12:33] There appeared on each one of them a turn like fire and then there was an inward experience of power.
[12:46] They were filled with the Holy Ghost and finally there was an outward manifestation of power. They began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
[12:58] Now look at these four things because these things are tremendously important. Tremendously important. There was an audible manifestation of power.
[13:09] The room was filled with this and the way it could be translated is there was a terrific noise. They all heard it. As a matter of fact, it is maintained that people in the light of the context of people outside the room heard it.
[13:26] A tremendous burst of sound. A gale of wind, you know, that this isn't surprising in this part of the world where on many occasions you hear the tremendous force of a gale force wind.
[13:49] You hear it in the room in which you are sitting in and you are made aware of it. And this is what happened the day the Spirit came. There was what you might call an upheaval and it came from heaven.
[14:02] That was the first thing. And then there was this visible manifestation of power. The cloven tongues of fire sitting upon each one of them.
[14:15] People saw this. There was something resting on these men. And remember this is the Holy Spirit that came. The power of the Spirit, the appearance of the Spirit, and then the inward experience of power.
[14:32] They were filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, in the course of time, not tonight, we may have occasion to refer to this.
[14:43] This is an important term nowadays as well, filled with the Spirit. Now, whatever it means, it means this, that as a result of what happened that day, the disciples received tremendous knowledge and understanding and insight into the truth.
[14:57] they were transformed men by this infilling of the Holy Spirit. They got light upon the truth that they never had before, an understanding they never had.
[15:10] People who were timid before and rather hesitant and very defective in an understanding of what Jesus was saying in the world were transformed and they went out into an unbelieving world with this emphasis.
[15:26] This is what the Bible says. The very first sermon that they preached as a result of the infilling of the Spirit was full of the scriptures and all the time they were pointing people to the scriptures.
[15:38] Look, this is what the Bible means. And this is what the Holy Spirit does when he comes into the heart and the life of an individual. When he fills your mind and your understanding, he gives you an understanding of the word and you see things in the word you never saw in your life before.
[15:54] That is one reason why you and I should seek always to be filled with the Spirit that it may transform us. And then fourthly, there was this outward manifestation or evidence of power.
[16:11] They all spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Speaking with tongues.
[16:21] words, some people have left this island and I know some of them and you know some of them as well. Some people have left this island brought up in the great teachings of the Christian faith.
[16:40] I've gone off and I've come in contact with other emphases in the Bible and have returned home claiming, for example, to have spoken with tongues.
[16:56] Now it may be that there are people in this church tonight who claim to have had that experience. I don't know. There may be. But for a minute here tonight, let's have a look at what this means.
[17:08] They all spoke with tongues or with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, very often what you will hear people saying about speaking with tongues is this, that it is someone, have you ever heard people speak with tongues?
[17:23] Well, I haven't. I've tried to, but I've never heard it, except in some of these programs that you see sometimes on television where the so-called Spirit-filled churches are portrayed.
[17:37] But I'm told that the claim is that when people speak with tongues, that they speak in a language which no one knows, the only person who's able to know or understand what is being said is an interpreter who then stands up and explains to the people what this person has said in this unknown tongue.
[17:58] Well, let me say something to you. Whatever happened at Pentecost, that didn't happen. That wasn't what happened. Because all the thousands of people who were gathered together at Pentecost that day to hear the apostles, to hear Peter, and to hear the rest, all the thousands, three thousand of them were converted, but there were many more, all these thousands, made this observation.
[18:23] We hear these men speak the wonderful works of God in our own language. You see, they didn't speak in a language which was unknown to everyone present.
[18:37] They spoke in the known languages of the day. They weren't known to them, but they were known to the people who heard them. And if I were you, I wouldn't go too far, my friend, with the emphasis that some people lay upon mature Christian experience, that you'd better get to know what it is to speak in tongues, first of all.
[19:05] There was a congregation once in the history of this world who laid that emphasis upon their members, and the apostle Paul to write to them, to remonstrate with them, and to remind them that there were more important factors in the Christian faith than speaking in tongues.
[19:22] And he accused the Corinthian church of bringing the cause of Christ into disrepute, because he said, if a stranger walks in through the doors of your church meetings, and he hears all this gibberish, he will come to the conclusion that you're mad.
[19:38] and you remember that. If you ever come in contact with people who insist on you, insist that you ought to seek this gift, you remember that the Bible doesn't exhort you to seek it at all.
[19:58] They spoke in the known languages of the day, as the Spirit enabled them. And many of the people present that day anyway were Jews, who were well acquainted with the Greek and the Aramaic tongue that the disciples all used.
[20:13] Of course, that will not suggest that they spoke in either Greek or Aramaic. But it's possible that some spoke in that tongue, and that tongue was known to all the devout Jews anyway.
[20:27] It was the language, or they were the languages of the Jew. But this Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in the tongues that all the people read of in verses 9 to 11 were able to understand from every area of what was then referred to as the known world.
[20:52] All these different languages were used by the apostles miraculously as the Holy Spirit enabled them. And there was only two other occasions on which they were used by the apostles.
[21:06] And as I see in a minute, the tongues were always used for one purpose and one purpose only, to draw the attention of the multitude so that the gospel would be preached unto them.
[21:24] And nowhere in the Bible are you exhorted to seek the gift of tongues so that people will consider you as an advanced Christian, as a Christian who has been raised to a particular plane of Christian experience.
[21:37] Nowhere in all the Bible is tongue-speaking spoken to in that connection, but always in this connection, for the purpose of communicating intelligibly the gospel to the audience who are gathered.
[21:53] God, there's no point in you coming to me and engaging in worship with me and entering into a language in your worship that I haven't the foggiest idea of what you're speaking about.
[22:09] It won't benefit me one little bit. We are to worship together in the language that we all understand. And that was what happened that day.
[22:22] They were given tongues that they might communicate the gospel to an unbelieving world. Now remember that. Tongue speaking were assigned to an unbelieving audience to bring them together with this question, what are these people talking about?
[22:40] So that when they're brought together, the people who talk, talk intelligibly the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what leads us now, that leads me to consider with you now, secondly, that very thing.
[22:56] These miraculous signs were given to the disciples so that the people would gather, as it were incredulously, and see, what does this mean? You see these thousands of people, the upper room, by the way, in which the disciples made, was probably in the vicinity of the temple.
[23:10] And the indications here are that the people who are in the vicinity of the temple heard the sound, and it was reported. it. You know the way excited on Lucas, when you hear a blast, people run to see what's wrong.
[23:25] And some people run, heard these apostles speaking in these languages. And the noise, this was reported, and this drew a tremendous crowd.
[23:40] It is probable that this took place in the precincts of the temple, because Peter obviously spoke to a crowd of thousands. There may be up to a thousand people here tonight.
[23:52] Well, my friend, you consider that the day of Pentecost, there were at least three, four, five, six times this number. There's no church that I know of in Britain that would hold that number.
[24:04] There was no church in Jerusalem that held them. They were gathered, probably in the precincts of the temple, and Peter stood up, and he preached. But, you know, he didn't preach before some people had made some comments.
[24:18] Thousands gathered, and they said, have you heard? Have you heard about these men? So they came, and others had to look at them, or listen to them, and they said, oh, the explanation, that is easy. They're drunk. They're drunk.
[24:30] And so, Peter, first of all, deals with the skeptics. And he says to men and brethren, he says, these men that you're looking at here, they're not drunk. This is just the third hour of the day.
[24:41] In other words, the third hour of the Jewish day was nine o'clock in the morning. The Jewish day began at six, and the third hour was nine o'clock. Now, he says, it's not possible for these men to be drunk.
[24:53] But, you know, there are some people who will advance any excuse except the acceptance of that miracle that's taken place. You know, I remember once when I was preparing the sermon, I remembered, it came back to me so clearly, years and years ago, while home here in Holiday and Lewis, there was a religious movement in one part of the island.
[25:15] And there were one or two people who were converted at a very early age, they were teenagers, very young people. And I remember once someone making this comment about them.
[25:27] Oh, he said, yeah, they're being influenced by so and so up in that village. You see, any explanation except the fact that God is at work will do for some people.
[25:40] You heard of someone who's converted. I'm sure that you were writing with an explanation. Oh, well, yes, he was finding life a bit too difficult. Or maybe he was getting a bit on in years, wasn't he? Maybe it was the influence of the home, that person's very young and said their parents are very religious and of course it's been drummed into them and they became Christians.
[25:59] The Bible was rammed down the throat from the time they could talk. That's the explanation, you see. If they're not drunk, they're mad, they're daft, they're stupid, they're drooped, there's always something.
[26:11] Anything except that God is at work. So Peter deals with these men and he says, look, he says, they're not drunk. It's only three o'clock, it's only nine o'clock in the morning.
[26:22] What is the significance of that? I'll tell you. It was a Jewish festival, a great Jewish feast day and drink wasn't available at a Jewish festival and they knew it.
[26:32] And even if drink were available, the Jews didn't drink till they had their meat at night. They only ate bread in the morning. They knew that. So he throws that back in their face.
[26:45] It's only nine o'clock and you know it. He says, you want to know what's happened? And then he preached. And he preached a sermon the likes of which this world has never seen, has never heard, the likes of it has seen such effects.
[27:01] You remember what Jesus said to the disciples of the word? I tell you, he says, when I go, you will do more wonderful things than I did. And Jesus was never the means, through even the sermon on the mouth, of converting three thousand.
[27:19] He preached a great sermon in Capernaum, three thousand converted, hundreds turned away from him. Precious apostle Peter, and he preaches in the name of Christ.
[27:29] And just as Christ said, happened, you will do greater things than I have done. And what did he do? Well, this is what he did. He took his Bible, he opened it, and he referred to three passages in Joel, Psalm 16, and Psalm 110.
[27:50] And he showed them three things from these three passages. First of all, he said this, according to Joel, the Holy Spirit would come, and he has come.
[28:03] According to Psalm 16, Jesus would rise from the dead, and he has risen from the dead. According to Psalm 110, Jesus would ascend up on high and sit at the right hand of God, and he has ascended up on high.
[28:20] And look at these three things that he speaks about. The coming of the Spirit, the resurrection of Jesus, and the ascension of Jesus. And is there a connection between the two or three of them?
[28:31] Of course there is. Of course there is. The life, and the death, and the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus secured the Holy Spirit for this lost world.
[28:47] He came into the world to die that we might be blessed. What with? With the Holy Spirit. He rose as a pledge that the Spirit would come. He ascended, and he told them the moment he left, I'm going, but I will send them.
[29:03] These are the three great pillars of the Christian faith. The death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus as the ground on which the Holy Spirit was purchased, and as a result of which the Holy Spirit has come.
[29:25] And that was the first of a sermon that day, biblically based. He had nothing but the Bible. No, nothing but the Bible.
[29:36] And you, who are here tonight, have been brought up on a diet of biblical teaching from the day that you came to this church at the very first.
[29:47] church. You have never heard anything else but a biblical thrust, or rather the gospel presented to you from a biblical point of view, and with its biblical thrust.
[30:01] You've been immersed in the word of God. Time and time and time again, you have heard it said as the prophets of old said to their own people, thus saints, saith the Lord.
[30:16] And there is no other message that the Christian church has been given to proclaim. And you look at this man, representing the apostolate, stands up in the face of thousands who are unbelievers and who are ignorant, many of whom are not only sceptical, but actually bitterly hostile to the Christian faith.
[30:44] And he stands up in their presence. And what does he do? He does nothing but proclaim a message. Not a thing. Not a thing. And he uses no textbook, but the word of God.
[31:02] And he shows clearly from that word what the word means. Now this is what Jesus meant when he said to them the night before he was betrayed. When the Holy Spirit is come, he will lead you into all the truth.
[31:19] He will receive of mine and show it unto you. And this is what we mean when we say that the Old Testament is full of Christ. There are some people who say they don't need the Old Testament.
[31:32] Ah, my friend, whatever Christ is, you need that. And the Old Testament is full of the Lord. Look at Psalm 16. You can study that when you go home tonight.
[31:44] From verse 7, we sang them here tonight. And here Peter said, you know, he says, David wasn't speaking about himself at all there. He was speaking the spirit of prophecy about Jesus.
[31:55] And David knew that Jesus was going to rise from the dead. David wrote Psalm 110. He wasn't speaking about himself at all at the beginning of Psalm 110.
[32:06] He was speaking about Jesus and the spirit of prophecy. David knew that Jesus would go up to heaven and that he would be ascended. And I tell you, says Peter, this Jesus, Christ has made Lord.
[32:21] And this Lord has sent forth this Holy Spirit that you now see. And he appeals to them. I know, he says, that you know these things.
[32:34] And that becomes the appeal as well in the preaching of the gospel. Ah, you know, there may be many skeptics in the church in Storna we hear tonight. There may be many people who are able to write off this conversion and that conversion.
[32:48] Explain away this wonderful happening and the next one. Ah, my friend, yes, you may try it. But you know, you know, that these things are true.
[32:59] You can't deny the evidence of your eyes. You can't deny them. And there's something else that he did in the sermon. He brought together God's place in the death of Christ and their place in the death of Christ.
[33:19] He may now viscerally hear these words and I just refer to this in the passing as I leave it and come on to the third and last point. This 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.
[33:31] Him being delivered by the determinate counsel for knowledge of God, ye have taken by wicked hands, have crucified. Now, what's he saying here?
[33:44] Well, he's saying two very wonderful things. He's saying, first of all, that as the New Testament tells us, God was in Christ. In other words, what happened to Jesus in the death of Christ, the sufferings in the death of Christ, happened because God had determined that this would happen.
[34:09] God was in Christ. This was the doing of the Lord and wondrous in our eyes. But at the same time, there's this to be said about the death of Jesus.
[34:23] He was put to death by men. You see, there is these two strands that always run as as well as parallel lines. The sovereignty of God in the death of Jesus and the responsibility of man.
[34:39] You see, what Peter was saying and what I'm trying to say is this. Though it was God who determined that Christ should die, it was you and I who were responsible for the death of Jesus.
[34:55] He was put to death by the hands of wicked men. And remember this. This sermon was preached in Jerusalem.
[35:08] Standing there in front of Peter were men, women probably, who had an involvement in the death of Jesus. There is no doubt that there were people there of whom Luke himself said in the gospel, sitting down, they watched him there.
[35:27] There were some people present at Jerusalem who had seen, no doubt, the death of Christ. Some people who were actually and actively involved in it. And it reminds them of this, the Christ who was sent by God to die at Calvary was put to death by you.
[35:46] What's he saying? He's reminding them of their sin. What sin? The sin of rejection of Christ.
[35:57] Away with this man, we will not have him. And this is what the gospel does, you see. It brings God's remedy and you ruin before your eyes. God has provided the remedy of salvation in Christ.
[36:09] But what have you and I done with the Christ of God, we have rejected him just as the Jews did in his own day. He came to us and he's been coming to you in the gospel year after year after year.
[36:22] And the sin that you are guilty of tonight is the sin of rejection. This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
[36:35] We will not have this man to be king over us. What have you been saying in an unconverted state under the gospel for year after year after year? What have you been saying?
[36:46] What is your reaction to this Christ? How have you responded? In the same way, this Christ you have taken and you have rejected.
[36:58] The Bible reminds you of your sin, just as it reminds you of salvation, salvation is meaningless apart from sin.
[37:12] And that leads me to consider here with you the third thing that we have, the outcome of the sermon. When they heard these things, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
[37:31] Now there was here a work of conviction and I just throw it hurriedly to a close for you. The sermon was powerfully efficacious in their minds and in their conscience and in their heart.
[37:50] Ah, you know, my friend, this is what the gospel does when it's preached in power, this is what we need today. You know, there isn't a minister who ascends as pulpit steps, but a minister who would give anything to see the power of God operating through the world.
[38:07] If you only knew the difficulty of preaching the gospel to people week after week after week and wondering if there's any evidence of power at all in the truth that has been proclaimed or accompanying the truth proclaimed.
[38:23] And when there is power accompanying, do you know what happens? It convinces the mind and the heart. You know, they were pricked in their heart. Something snapped, something snapped inside them.
[38:35] Something made contact with them and broke the surface, broke the hardness of their heart, penetrated through the crust of unbelief and rebellion that was in their mind and their heart.
[38:47] What happened was this, they became aware of sin. You know how Paul put it, when I was converted, he said, what happened was this, sin revived. Sin came to life in my mind and in my heart and in my conscience.
[39:01] I saw what I never saw before. I became aware of this awful thing called sin. Like the psalmist said, my sin I ever see.
[39:14] And it may be the case that people are brought alive through unawareness of one sin. They become conscious of this awful sin in their life. And that sin is accompanied by a thousand other things.
[39:29] Their deeds, the well of iniquity from within, from which all these things flow, awaken them, make them afraid. And they cry out with these men, what shall I do, what shall we do?
[39:43] They were brought to the point where they recognized that they weren't saved and they weren't capable of being saved in any other way, but through faith and God or faith and Christ as Peter made that clear to them.
[40:00] They became aware that they needed to be saved. And that implied a conviction of need, a conviction of danger, a conviction that they couldn't save themselves.
[40:10] Now, I've heard it said that in our day, when there are so many so-called claims of conversion, that there seems to be an awful lack in the experience of some people that is referred to as the conviction of sin.
[40:31] And you know this, I partly accept and agree with the observation. I think it's a tremendously wrong emphasis in evangelism to continue to harp on this theme that Jesus will give you peace, that Jesus will give you rest, that he will give you contentment and so on, that he will make you happy.
[40:55] I've no doubt that all these things are true, I know that they're true. But the only person that Jesus does that for is a sinner. and you will never avail yourself of a saviour, till you recognise your sin, till you recognise your sin.
[41:11] But then another question follows from that, what depth of conviction do I need? You know that some of the old people, and not only the old people, but you've heard maybe people say, as I've heard people say, that in conversion when they were convicted, they felt as though they were being shaken above hell itself.
[41:28] Do you need that depth of conviction? No, you don't. But you need to be convicted that you're a sinner, that you need a saviour, and that you cannot save yourself.
[41:43] You need to be convicted that you must be saved. And the misery of your condition is this, as a convicted sinner, that much though you may know that you need a saviour, you don't know how you're going to get a saviour.
[41:59] And that's the misery of our condition. I'm a sinner like you here tonight, and the gospel makes plain to me that there's a saviour for sinners. It also makes plain to me that his power alone will enable me to believe.
[42:15] And that is what Peter said to these men when they cried out, what shall we do? Peter said, repent, be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus, for the remission of your sins.
[42:28] receive the promise, and be filled, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He exhorted them, he expounded, he appealed to them, be saved, verse 40, be saved from this evil generation.
[42:44] In other words, come away from this world and life of sin. Cut yourself off from the service and from the sphere of sin.
[42:55] that's repentance. A sinner repents, how does he do it? He does it by turning away from his sin, and by turning to the God who can save him from his sin.
[43:07] It's not enough to become interested in religion. Are you listening to me? You who are here tonight, as a young person showing an interest in the Christian faith, I plead with you, get more than an interest in the Christian faith, get more than an interest in the church and in Christian people.
[43:27] Get away from the sin that envelops your life, from the sin of unbelief that invades your heart. Cut yourself away from the things that would take you away from Christ.
[43:40] That's always repentance. And I say this, that this emphasis on conviction may be missing in present evangelism, because we want things to be easy.
[43:52] And I tell you that repentance isn't easy for anybody. It involves that you leave the thing that you're so attached to, that you give up the service of the thing that has so much dominated your life.
[44:06] And I appeal to you, repent as Peter appealed, give up, give over, give away these things. And come, that's implied here, come to the one who can save.
[44:25] Repent. Be baptized. These were people who were brought up in Jewry. They didn't know what Christian baptism was. And baptism for them was going to be a token, a public profession, an admission that they had given up what had been so much their lives before and had become now a part of another movement.
[44:49] baptism, in other words, was a witness to an unbelieving world, that they had given up that world and were on the side of another.
[45:01] This is what Christian witness does. And this is what the gospel demands of you. My friend, it's not enough to be a secret disciple. It's not enough to harbor the hope inwardly that you're one of them.
[45:14] But you don't want to show this outwardly. You have to. The gospel demands it. Witness on the side of Christ. And then thirdly, this receive remission of sins.
[45:28] If you want your sins forgiven, get away from them. Get away from them. And come as a sinner who needs salvation to the one who can forgive sin.
[45:39] There is salvation in no other name but in Jesus Christ. It's not the Bible. It's not Christian fellowship. It's not youth fellowships or Christian gatherings. It's Christ and Christ and Christ alone who can save.
[45:55] This is where forgiveness is available through faith in the Lord Jesus. That's the other thing. And then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit to empower you.
[46:06] Maybe you're afraid tonight. Oh well, if I give up these things, that's the demand and they come between me and the Lord. What's going to fill my life? What's going to take over from these things?
[46:17] Receive the Holy Spirit in all his blessed fullness, in all his efficacy and he will direct your path and receive him as one who is promised.
[46:32] And this promise comes to everyone. Every Pentecostal baptized, every one of you. No exception. You see the full gospel. There's a Pentecostal branch that is called the full gospel church.
[46:47] Every other church must have something missing when they're the full gospel church. I don't know what they have that others don't. But here's the full gospel.
[47:01] It is salvation offered to everyone who comes. There's no one here tonight but a sinner. No one. No one here tonight but one who needs a savior.
[47:13] No one. What you need, my friend, is the conviction that you need. And then come as a convinced sinner to the one who can save.
[47:26] Save yourself from this evil world. The world can give you nothing but sin and darkness and despair. Be saved by another from this world and come to him.
[47:43] When they heard that, they gladly received his word and were baptized. And that same day, they were added to the church 3,000 souls.
[48:01] Think of that. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine 3,000 people hearing this kind of things that Peter was talking about? And believing it, receiving the word.
[48:13] Gladly. This is the exercise of faith. People rejoice in the truth. They begin to understand what they never understood before. They say to them, is this what I've been missing all my life? Isn't this wonderful?
[48:24] And I'll receive this. Gladly receive it. And gladly witness to it. 3,000 of them. Ah, perhaps you're saying, ah, well, if I thought that 300 people storming me tonight would come to Christ, I would come with them.
[48:47] My friend, you're not asked to come with 300. You're asked to come on your own, yourself. And I tell you this, you will come not with 300, nor with 3,000, or with 3 million, but with an innumerable company of believers.
[49:09] Ah, how wonderful to think tonight. In Lewis, Skye, Scotland, Britain, throughout the world, there are thousands and thousands and thousands who receive the word, the word, gladly.
[49:29] Are you with them? Knowing that this is offered to you anew, are you going to receive it?
[49:40] Cut yourself off from the sin that has brought despair into your life. Come to receive the only one through whom you can be saved.
[49:52] For whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God shall be saved. family. Father see you as one as announced con a tomorrow