WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.160 We're going to spend some time this evening looking at Acts chapter two. 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.240 We began looking at that this morning, the first section. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:12.939 And so this evening we're mainly going to be focusing on the part from verse 14 until 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:19.900 verse 21, where Peter is responding to what the crowds were saying, having witnessed the 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:23.920 miracle of Pentecost. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:30.740 And one of the questions that the crowd were asking was, what does this mean? 00:00:30.740 --> 00:00:33.079 What are we to make of this miraculous event? 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:38.760 Remember the wind and the fire and particularly the other languages spoken, the disciples were 00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:44.680 miraculously given the ability to proclaim the gospel, to declare the mighty works of 00:00:44.680 --> 00:00:52.400 God in the languages of these different Jews and converts to Judaism. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.399 And of course, representing all the peoples of the earth and showing that message that 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:02.879 God speaks all these different languages that God wants to reach out to all these different 00:01:02.879 --> 00:01:04.359 peoples. 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:05.359 What does this mean? 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:11.640 I've entitled the talk this evening, Is There Life After Pentecost? 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.280 Not just life after death, but life after Pentecost. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:18.920 What does it mean for us as Christians that this event happened? 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:24.960 And the first thing that Peter does in this section here is that he has to answer what 00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:30.280 seems to be a particularly serious accusation, which is that at nine o'clock in the morning 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:34.840 on this Pentecost Sunday, the disciples had all had a lot to drink and the Galileans were 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:39.520 becoming quite rowdy and making a lot of noise. 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:43.240 And of course, Peter says, well, obviously this is not the case. 00:01:43.239 --> 00:01:49.039 And what he does to explain the events of Pentecost is to go back into the Old Testament 00:01:49.039 --> 00:01:52.799 and particularly to go back to the prophet Joel. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:54.959 Joel is one of the minor prophets. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:02:02.840 And Peter found in this particular prophecy, no doubt he knew that text well, a prediction 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.959 of the events of Pentecost. 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:12.000 And so he uses this Old Testament passage in this Old Testament prophecy to explain 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.400 what happened. 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.919 And I think it'd be useful just before we dive into this particular thing, just to think 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:23.240 about the book of Joel, maybe that's a book that you know well, or maybe not so well. 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.800 And just to think about why it is that Peter went here to look to think about Pentecost. 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:32.240 Now, if I say Joel, what's the immediate image that comes into your mind? 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.639 Is there something that comes into your mind straight away? 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:35.800 You can whisper it through your mask. 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:39.000 I won't be breaking the advice to say that. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:43.719 It's your immediate image that is associated with the book of Joel. 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:45.560 No? 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:46.560 Locusts. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.560 Okay? 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:56.120 So the book of Joel is sort of famous for this very graphic description of a locust plague. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.840 Now locust plague is actually, it's a natural phenomenon. 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.280 It's something that happens around the world, which is a huge quantity. 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:06.319 And I wouldn't be able to put a number on it of locusts concentrating in a particular 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.959 place and they literally eat up everything that's there. 00:03:09.959 --> 00:03:13.840 They completely destroy the harvest and everything that had happened. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:19.039 And this is something that had happened in, presumably in the southern kingdom, in the 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.840 kingdom where there was the temple, where there was the ruler who could trace his descendancy 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:25.280 through David. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.879 And in that kingdom, they'd experienced this locust plague. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:34.280 And it's described in graphic detail in this prophecy. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:38.520 And for Joel, this is a kind of picture of God's judgment. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.400 So God has allowed at least this particular event to happen. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:47.360 And he sees that as being God's judgment on the people. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.479 And what he does is he says that in the light of this judgment, in the light of experiencing 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.479 this hardship and these difficulties, and you could only imagine what it meant in those 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:03.400 times to not have a harvest, God's people need to humble themselves and pray so that 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:09.080 the right response experiencing this hardship, this natural phenomenon that would have had 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:15.759 really serious consequences is to humble themselves and to call on the Lord. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.680 And we'll come back to that phrase later on. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.560 There's a call upon the Lord. 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:24.680 So you can imagine maybe prayer meetings, people particularly seriously praying for God's 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.240 mercy. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.399 And Joel says that God will answer that prayer. 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:35.799 So that prayer for mercy, that prayer for God's answer, for blessing to follow judgment, 00:04:35.799 --> 00:04:42.399 that prayer will be answered before a future day of the Lord. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:45.739 And again, we'll come back to that expression later. 00:04:45.739 --> 00:04:49.639 So here are some of the things that are said in the prophecy of Joel, just to give us some 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:54.479 idea of what that whole book is about and why Peter particularly went here to explain 00:04:54.479 --> 00:04:56.719 the events of Pentecost. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:03.560 So God, for example, says, behold, I'm sending you grain, wine and oil and you will be satisfied. 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:06.040 So it's describing a new harvest. 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.840 It's describing blessing following this judgment of the Locust Plague. 00:05:10.840 --> 00:05:13.800 It says, he has given the early rain for your vindication. 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:20.320 He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain as before. 00:05:20.320 --> 00:05:24.760 It's unusual for us to think about that in this country, but rain in the Bible is always 00:05:24.760 --> 00:05:25.760 blessing. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:32.000 Okay, so for us living as we do in the north here, close to the sea, sometimes we feel 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.279 that we'd like to pray against rain. 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:38.000 In the Bible, almost always, people are praying for rain. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.759 Rain is blessing. 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:46.920 There's a story, possibly apocryphal, where a visiting pastor from Africa came behind 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:52.039 the pulpit in Charlotte Chapel and one Sunday sort of said, Lord, we just thank you for 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:54.240 all this rain. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.280 But that's what it means in the Bible. 00:05:56.280 --> 00:06:04.519 And this is described here is the blessing that God will pour out after this Locust Plague. 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:08.600 And then there's a phrase here, and I think this is a phrase that we can hold onto as 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:13.439 a promise that God gives in general, and particularly he gave at this time. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:20.560 And it says this, I will restore to you the years the Locusts have consumed. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:22.600 Can you hear what's being said there? 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.240 I will restore to you the years the Locusts have consumed. 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:32.400 So if you think of the Locust Plague and how many years of work that would have destroyed. 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:36.280 So for example, someone might have a farm and might have a field of crops that they'd 00:06:36.280 --> 00:06:40.840 been cultivating for many, many years, and the Locusts would have destroyed not just 00:06:40.840 --> 00:06:43.960 that particular harvest, but years of work. 00:06:43.960 --> 00:06:46.720 And there could have been other things as well. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:52.840 If we take this in a wider sense, we can think about how in our lives we can experience 00:06:52.840 --> 00:06:59.720 judgment and God's punishment and God's allowing particular things to happen in our lives. 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:04.080 And we could feel that we've lost all these years because of our sin and because of God's 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:05.440 judgment. 00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:11.400 And God gives this promise, I will restore to you the years the Locusts have consumed. 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:14.080 So as we turn to God, that God blesses us. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:18.079 And there's some way in which he even makes up for those years that we've lost before 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.639 receiving his blessing. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.479 So that's some of the background of this book of Joel. 00:07:23.479 --> 00:07:29.079 And I think you've got some idea now of why Peter went here to explain what happened on 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.399 the day of Pentecost. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:37.959 So let's just look here now at these verses, particularly now, verses 17 to 21. 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:41.279 Now these verses are more or less exactly what it says in Joel. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.919 So Peter is simply quoting an Old Testament prophet here and there. 00:07:44.919 --> 00:07:49.799 He might just emphasize something and repeat something, but effectively it's the same thing 00:07:49.799 --> 00:07:53.839 as Joel said all those years ago. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:58.079 And the first thing I want to particularly focus on, we can see in verse 17. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:04.879 And it says this, in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.719 on all flesh. 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:15.520 I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and 00:08:15.520 --> 00:08:20.120 your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:26.000 Even on my male servants and female servants in those days, I will pour out my spirit and 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.440 they shall prophesy. 00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:33.320 Now what is it that Peter wants to get across to those who are listening? 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.160 And the people who are listening, remember these aren't yet Christians. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.159 These are people who have experienced what's happened at Pentecost and want to know what 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:40.559 it's all about. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:47.719 Well, what's about is that of that group of 120 people praying, how many people in that 00:08:47.719 --> 00:08:52.639 group receive the Holy Spirit? 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:54.679 All of them. 00:08:54.679 --> 00:09:00.079 So what he's emphasizing is that God says, and this is his promise, I will pour out my 00:09:00.079 --> 00:09:04.559 spirit on all flesh. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.359 So we could imagine, for example, that God at this moment could have poured out his Holy 00:09:08.359 --> 00:09:12.399 Spirit on the 11 surviving apostles. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.399 But he does more than that. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.439 We could imagine that God would have chosen all of the men who are present, so this would 00:09:18.439 --> 00:09:24.039 have been the disciples and the brothers of Jesus and other disciples who weren't apostles. 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:26.639 They would have all received the Holy Spirit. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.439 All of the men. 00:09:28.439 --> 00:09:30.199 But God does more than that. 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:34.800 Look at it says, your sons and your daughters. 00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:41.440 We could imagine that God would have chosen the senior, mature, the authoritative people 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:45.759 in that group, the older generation that they surely people would listen to. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:50.960 But it says that it's not just the old men who will dream dreams, and that could be translated 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.800 the elders. 00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:55.640 So those the office bearers possibly even. 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:01.679 But it says your young and your old and the expressions about visions and dreams are presumably 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:07.840 simply another way of talking about prophesying. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.559 And it's not just the well off that when we might call the professionals, the wealthy, 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.279 but it's also the servants. 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:21.159 Of course, we're all God servants, but possibly the explanation, the word here in verse 18 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:24.759 might be describing someone's economic situation that they're not lords. 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:29.439 They're not free people, but they're under authority, their servants of someone else. 00:10:29.439 --> 00:10:34.759 All these different categories of people, all of them together and individually receive 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:36.159 the Holy Spirit. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.200 And that's the first thing that Peter wants to get across. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.159 That's what Pentecost means. 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:47.240 The Holy Spirit is now for each individual for all of these different categories of people 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.559 for all for all flesh. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.200 The blessing of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:56.320 If you remember on the day of Pentecost, when the fire came down, and that was a unique 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:00.960 event that as far as I know has not been repeated in the history of the church, but the fire 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:06.840 descended and rested on each of the people individually, each of the 120 who were present. 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:14.560 I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and they will prophesy and they will prophesy. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:22.559 So Peter is describing this speech from the 120 present as being prophecy. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:27.239 Now we can't cover all the prophecy involves and I'm only going to focus on one particular 00:11:27.239 --> 00:11:28.479 aspect. 00:11:28.479 --> 00:11:34.399 But what Peter is saying is that this is going to happen by all of the 120. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.719 The list of places and languages is greater than 11. 00:11:37.719 --> 00:11:43.319 So it certainly wasn't only the apostles who were speaking and they will prophesy. 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:49.080 All of the people who received the Holy Spirit were in that sense able to proclaim God's 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:54.320 word and for people to hear and understand. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:58.000 As we go on in the book of Acts, we see that's exactly what happens. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:02.960 For example, in chapter four, there's a prayer meeting in Jerusalem in this same group of 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.360 people which is obviously much bigger now. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:09.160 And they pray and it says this, and when they prayed, the place in which they were gathered 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:14.360 together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:18.079 the word of God with boldness. 00:12:18.079 --> 00:12:24.519 And then possibly even more amazing in chapter eight, there's an event where the church experiences 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:29.799 a major persecution and it says this, they were all scattered throughout the regions 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:34.319 of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:41.360 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word and they will prophesy. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.240 And this is saying something which is very important that while there's a place obviously 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:50.280 for the ministry of the word and for those who are apostles and those who are ministers 00:12:50.280 --> 00:12:55.680 and those who are evangelists, actually the most effective way in which the Christian 00:12:55.680 --> 00:13:01.080 faith is communicated is by, if you like, small individuals. 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:04.520 This has been described as mission from below. 00:13:04.520 --> 00:13:09.240 And that's true if we were to take a straw pole of all the people present. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:14.320 I'm sure that many of us, most of us, became Christians through the witness of a simple 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:20.420 individual who wasn't a minister, who wasn't a pastor, who wasn't standing behind a pulpit. 00:13:20.420 --> 00:13:23.320 That is how we became Christians. 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:27.400 And if we think about the missionary history of the Christian church, the same thing is 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:31.360 true that while there have been great missionaries and there have been great works that have 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:37.799 been done, the most effective way in which the gospel has spread has been through traders 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.480 and travelers and sailors and prisoners. 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:47.279 These are the sort of people who find themselves in close contact with non-Christians and in 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:52.199 a situation where they can share the gospel and that can be received. 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:58.200 For example, the church in Ethiopia, which obviously still exists, traces its beginning 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:04.560 to two brothers who got lost on their ship and there was a shipwreck and these two brothers 00:14:04.560 --> 00:14:09.080 ended up on land in Ethiopia and it was through that event that they were able to share the 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:14.120 gospel and Ethiopia was able to become Christian. 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:20.440 The church in Bulgaria, which also still exists, traces its origin to a, I believe it was 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:27.720 a monk who was a prisoner in Bulgaria and he prayed for the ruler who was called Boris 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:30.760 and the ruler of Bulgaria became a Christian. 00:14:30.760 --> 00:14:36.080 And that story is repeated again and again and again that it's precisely what's promised 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.720 here at Pentecost that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to all these different categories 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:45.060 of people together and individually and they will prophesy. 00:14:45.060 --> 00:14:49.720 They will speak God's word in a language that people understand and that is the way in which 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.680 the gospel will spread. 00:14:52.680 --> 00:14:55.920 And so just as we come to the end of this first point, I'd like to think, well for you 00:14:55.920 --> 00:15:00.519 to think and for myself to think about what this means in our circumstances, what it means 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:05.840 that each of us has received the Holy Spirit and that we're called in our particular context 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:10.160 to declare God's word to those people who are around us. 00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:15.680 That it's not just 11 people on that Pentecost Sunday who were preaching, but it was 120 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:21.399 and we can just think of the hundreds of millions of Christians who are now able to proclaim 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:26.079 the gospel across the world in all sorts of different settings. 00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:30.879 So the first thing that we see from this prophecy that Peter's referring to is this 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.879 promise, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:43.759 Here's a second thing and we see this second thing particularly in verses 19 and 20, verses 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:49.559 19 and 20 in this Book of Acts chapter 2. 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:54.399 It says this, I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:01.840 and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:06.960 before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.960 Now what's that got to do with the day of Pentecost? 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.480 It looks very like the sort of things that Jesus said about the end of the world. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:21.960 When Jesus was speaking about his return in glory, Jesus describes events that we will 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.320 recognize when they happen, but we cannot predict what they'd look like now. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.920 But those events precede his second coming. 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:34.280 Jesus refers to them in other places as the birth pains, the birth pains that precede 00:16:34.280 --> 00:16:36.840 the second coming of Jesus. 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:42.360 And the reason that Peter refers to that here is that the gift of the Spirit is the sign 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:48.200 that we, since Pentecost as Christians have been living in this final period of world 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:53.800 history, the last days, this is the time that we're living in. 00:16:53.800 --> 00:16:58.040 Because the Holy Spirit has been given, that's the sign. 00:16:58.040 --> 00:17:02.519 And I think we need to think about as Christians, what does it mean if we say that we're living 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:03.639 in the last days? 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:06.720 How does that affect how we live as Christians? 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.360 Maybe it feels a little bit like science fiction. 00:17:09.360 --> 00:17:12.400 It's just difficult to get your head around it. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:16.160 And maybe we feel we should just not think about it too much and just get on with the 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:20.319 everyday business of living as Christians. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:27.680 But actually, it's right and helpful for us to focus and to have a clear sense of expectation. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.519 I guess the obvious analogy would be someone preparing to get married. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:36.160 Now, there are things that they would do that they would, before getting married, that they 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.000 might do anyway. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:44.920 But there's always that expectation of a really important event, a joyful event in the future. 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:51.040 And actually, that helps that person to concentrate all that they do in the light of this future 00:17:51.040 --> 00:17:52.040 event. 00:17:52.040 --> 00:17:58.519 And that for us is the second coming of Jesus, which is described here as the great and magnificent 00:17:58.519 --> 00:17:59.519 day. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.920 The great is the big day, the huge day. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.560 And magnificent is the day of epiphany, the day of revelation. 00:18:07.560 --> 00:18:09.720 That is what we're living in the light of. 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.039 That is what we're looking forward to. 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:16.800 I think it would be true to say, actually, that's the biggest issue that we face as Christians. 00:18:16.800 --> 00:18:21.000 All the different other issues are subsumed under this fact that we as Christians are 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:27.000 expecting this day, which is also described as a wedding day, the day when Jesus comes 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.720 back. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:35.160 So we shouldn't live life unduly comfortable just with the way things are now, living as 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:42.519 if there wasn't that day in the future, sort of falling asleep, spiritually, if you like. 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.440 And there's stuff to get on with. 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:48.240 We can't, by our own actions, hasten the day of Jesus' return. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:53.039 But we can be doing the things that we need to be doing because we know it's happening. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:58.839 A few weeks ago on a Sunday morning, we were looking at a passage from Jeremiah chapter 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:01.200 29, which is from the Old Testament. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:07.559 And it's describing how a group of God's people found themselves in exile. 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:10.399 They found themselves in another part of the world. 00:19:10.399 --> 00:19:11.720 And that was God's plan. 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.799 That was what God had allowed in their history, that they were living in Babylon. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.960 They were living far away from their homeland. 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.960 And it's interesting to hear the advice that's given to those people, which we could apply 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:29.240 to ourselves as Christians, because in a sense we're living in this exile, waiting 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:34.880 some time in the future for this return to our homeland when Jesus returns. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.840 And this is the advice that's given in Jeremiah chapter 29. 00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:41.039 Build houses and live in them. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.600 Plant gardens and eat their produce. 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:46.200 Take wives and have sons and daughters. 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.920 Take wives to your sons and give your daughters in marriage. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.200 That they may bear sons and daughters. 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:55.200 Multiply there and do not decrease. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:00.320 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on 00:20:00.320 --> 00:20:03.080 its behalf for its welfare. 00:20:03.080 --> 00:20:04.920 You will find your welfare. 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:08.160 And those are words to us as Christians, because we're in this exile. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.640 We know there's that moment when we'll return and we will be in the presence of God when 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.039 Jesus returns. 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:19.600 But now we've got to focus on getting on with life as it is to live and do what God calls 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.399 us to do. 00:20:22.399 --> 00:20:27.359 In a completely different context, there was a time when the apostle Paul thought that 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.879 possibly he might be executed. 00:20:29.879 --> 00:20:32.480 He was in prison in Rome for the first time. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.919 And in the letter to the Philippians, he discusses his thoughts about whether it's better for 00:20:36.919 --> 00:20:42.679 him as a Christian to die sooner or to stay alive on earth. 00:20:42.679 --> 00:20:44.279 And this is what the apostle Paul says. 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:48.519 Now I realize the apostle Paul is quite a high standard for us to be reaching for. 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.039 So this is what the apostle Paul says to us. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:57.440 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.960 That means fruitful labor for me. 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:05.639 In other words, as God extends our life as the time of Jesus' return hasn't yet happened, 00:21:05.639 --> 00:21:07.639 it means that we've got things to do. 00:21:07.639 --> 00:21:12.160 It means that we're to live in the light of his coming and understand what that job is 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.359 that we need to do. 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:18.959 So God says this second thing here, I will show wonders in the heavens above, that the 00:21:18.959 --> 00:21:24.079 gift of the Holy Spirit tells us that you and I are living in the final times, in the 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.000 times before the return of Jesus Christ. 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.759 We don't know whether that's going to be very soon or whether that could be a long way off, 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:34.399 but we're living in the anticipation of Jesus' return. 00:21:34.399 --> 00:21:38.079 And I'd like to quote someone who wrote a long time ago, someone called Augustine. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.799 He wrote at the end of the fourth century, the start of the fifth century. 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:45.319 And he's got a great quote which I think captures what it means for us as Christians 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:48.359 to wait for the second coming of Christ. 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:50.799 So these are the words of Augustine. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:22:00.720 He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms that it's far off. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:08.200 Nor is it he who says it's near, but rather he who whether it be far off or near awaits 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:14.360 it with sincere faith, steadfast hope and fervent love. 00:22:14.360 --> 00:22:18.840 I really like that quote because it just focuses on what it means to wait for Jesus to come 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:19.840 back. 00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:23.120 It doesn't mean that we know it's going to be five minutes from now or that we're speculating 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:27.160 it'll be thousands of years from now, but we're actually actively waiting. 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:30.160 We're doing what we should be doing to wait. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:35.080 Awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope and fervent love. 00:22:35.080 --> 00:22:37.200 So that's the second thing I want you to focus on. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.160 What Peter focuses on here is what's the meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.039 And the second thing that it means is that we live in this last time and we as Christians 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:52.000 need to learn to live with that deadline or that event, that wedding date in the calendar 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:58.440 in the future and live in that expectation and what that involves. 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:02.519 There's a third thing as well and that's in verse 21. 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:09.240 So verse 21 talks about a third thing which the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost means 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:13.879 for the people who are listening and means for us as Christians. 00:23:13.879 --> 00:23:19.119 So verse 21 says this, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.839 of the Lord shall be saved. 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.200 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:31.359 Let's just spend a few minutes just thinking about what Peter's saying when he says that. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:37.399 Now in its original context when Joel said it, it's saying that if you heed this summons 00:23:37.399 --> 00:23:44.839 to pray to God having experienced the judgment of the locus plague, if you pray to God, God 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:50.959 will answer that prayer and you will escape any future judgment that may come. 00:23:50.959 --> 00:23:52.519 God will save you in that sense. 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:54.679 That was the original meaning. 00:23:54.679 --> 00:23:58.039 And Peter's applying that to us as Christians. 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:02.119 And when it says calls on the name of the Lord, it's actually describing that first 00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:08.159 time that someone prays to receive the salvation that God gives in Jesus Christ. 00:24:08.159 --> 00:24:13.000 You can use any words to say it, but that calling out to God is a prayer that God has 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.159 promised to answer. 00:24:15.159 --> 00:24:21.399 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:24:21.399 --> 00:24:22.399 Everyone. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:28.200 And we want just to think about what everyone means and how far as a church, how far we've 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:29.480 got with everyone. 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:36.040 Well, it obviously means not just Jews, not just Jews, but also non-Jews, Gentiles, not 00:24:36.040 --> 00:24:38.759 just Hebrew speakers. 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:44.920 We could add in not just speakers of languages traditionally associated with Christianity, 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:52.400 not just the chosen few, not just those from religious families, not just those who were 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:58.560 brought up as Christians, not just those from traditionally Christian nations, but also not 00:24:58.560 --> 00:25:03.320 just those who fit, not just those who look like all the other people who are already 00:25:03.320 --> 00:25:05.080 in church. 00:25:05.080 --> 00:25:09.840 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:14.900 And this is a thought that the Apostle Paul repeats in Romans chapter 10. 00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:17.880 Jesus is what Paul says, and then he comes to this same verse. 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:23.120 He says this, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart 00:25:23.120 --> 00:25:28.120 that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:25:28.120 --> 00:25:36.200 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:39.640 his riches on all who call on him. 00:25:39.640 --> 00:25:45.240 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:50.360 Through a set of circumstances recently, I've got to know an Algerian who lives in Edinburgh. 00:25:50.360 --> 00:25:55.440 He used to work as a doctor, he now does another business, and we've started a debate. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:00.080 It turns out he's a quite convinced devout Muslim, and I'm a Christian. 00:26:00.080 --> 00:26:03.000 And in this debate, it's working out really well. 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.800 He wants me to read particular surah from the Quran, and I read them, and I give my thoughts 00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:08.800 on that. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:14.000 I have found, I've asked advice, a good translation of the Bible into Arabic, and I say, would 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.960 you like to read this particular verse or chapter? 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.359 And we've been having this great discussion. 00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:24.919 Now my Algerian friend would probably be in the category of the people that you'd think, 00:26:24.919 --> 00:26:28.200 well, really, that's not the sort of person who becomes a Christian. 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:29.879 He's from the wrong country. 00:26:29.879 --> 00:26:34.159 He's already part of a different religion, and he's not particularly focused on changing 00:26:34.159 --> 00:26:35.159 that religion. 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:39.120 He's really convinced that Islam is true. 00:26:39.120 --> 00:26:41.759 But then we come to this verse. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.720 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.880 Now we don't know how things are going to turn out, but there's no reason biblically 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:56.400 why my Algerian friend couldn't in time come to believe in the Lord Jesus as his savior. 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:01.440 We've even discussed the word Lord, and whether the Quran could use this word to refer to 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:02.440 Jesus. 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:06.880 No, that's only a word that you could refer to God. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:11.600 So let's just think about in our own circumstances how far we've got with everyone. 00:27:11.600 --> 00:27:17.759 Who else is it that hasn't yet had an opportunity to call on the name of the Lord? 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.039 If you like, who's missing? 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:24.680 As we look around church, does this look like the society that we live in? 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:26.960 Are there people and categories of people? 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:27.960 Are there races? 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:31.680 Are there languages that are simply unrepresented in church? 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.519 But they're represented in society. 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:40.600 This verse says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:45.360 In our Russian church, which we were part of for 15 years, the missing demographic was 00:27:45.360 --> 00:27:48.120 men aged 55 and older. 00:27:48.120 --> 00:27:50.000 They were absent from church. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.400 And there are particular reasons why that particular demographic was not represented. 00:27:55.400 --> 00:28:00.640 I think in this country, as I've applied to different places to serve as pastor, very 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:05.120 often in the churches in the United Kingdom, just at this moment in time, there's a gap. 00:28:05.120 --> 00:28:07.000 See if you can guess where it's going to be. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:12.440 There's a gap in the church from about the age 12 until about the age of 30. 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:20.320 And increasingly, there are very few and sometimes no members at all in that huge age range. 00:28:20.320 --> 00:28:24.800 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:28:24.800 --> 00:28:29.240 And I think that's a challenge for us just to say, well, who's missing? 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:34.440 And to pray, to pray that this promise of God will be fulfilled in the lives of people, 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.120 to know that God's call goes out to everyone. 00:28:38.120 --> 00:28:42.160 And there's no biblical reason why these groups should be missing. 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:47.640 We can't second guess God's election, but we can preach the gospel and believe that 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:50.799 God can call people to faith. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:54.799 So anyway, that's what we've looked at in this chapter here. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:55.799 These events happened. 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:57.880 There were witnesses who saw them. 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:00.000 They asked the question, what does it mean? 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:01.680 And Peter gave his answer. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.840 He goes on, of course, to preach the gospel. 00:29:03.840 --> 00:29:06.800 But here he gives the answer about Pentecost. 00:29:06.800 --> 00:29:11.960 What is the meaning of Pentecost for those people and for us as Christians? 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:13.560 And there are at least three things that we can say. 00:29:13.560 --> 00:29:20.800 The first thing is that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh, on each individual 00:29:20.800 --> 00:29:21.960 person. 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:27.840 And as Christians, we've received the Holy Spirit and part of that experience is also 00:29:27.840 --> 00:29:34.360 to see how we as individual Christians can proclaim God's mighty works to those around 00:29:34.360 --> 00:29:37.680 us in a language and in a way they can understand. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:42.720 The second thing is to realize that the gift of the Holy Spirit means that you and I, and 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:47.720 I need to emphasize since Pentecost, not since yesterday, but since Pentecost have been living 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:50.000 in this final time. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.240 And we should learn as Christians, what does it mean to live in the final time, the end 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:56.319 time, the last days? 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.640 And then thirdly, this promise which is to us, to each of the people in this room this 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:07.279 evening, but it's a promise to the world, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:08.720 will be saved. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:09.720 Amen. 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:16.559 Let's pray together. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:21.200 Father God, we give you thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you that He is the 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:25.480 Lord of all people without distinction. 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:34.119 In some languages, His name is already associated with the title of Lord or Herra or Tenir or 00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:40.159 Gasporge or any number of different other ways of talking about Him. 00:30:40.159 --> 00:30:44.799 But there are other languages where that's barely pronounced, where it seems wrong to 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:48.159 us, associate Jesus with the name Lord. 00:30:48.159 --> 00:30:55.399 And we pray for all the different people for whom that is just something they can't contemplate. 00:30:55.399 --> 00:31:00.319 And we thank you Lord that you haven't finished the work that still the church is on the earth, 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:01.799 the Holy Spirit has been poured out. 00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:05.159 And we pray for the work of bringing in all the different nations. 00:31:05.159 --> 00:31:11.039 We thank you for the promise that you give to each person, that as we call out to you 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:16.000 through the Lord Jesus Christ that we can experience salvation, we can experience the 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:22.200 blessing of the Holy Spirit and life eternal and forgiveness of our sins. 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:24.519 And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. 00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:42.519 Amen.