Well, good evening and cordial greetings to all of you. How good it is to be with you again tonight. To sing with you and to have the privilege of opening the word of God together as we continue considering. That theme, what took place, what happened. At Pentecost, and this evening we come to a list of Particular things that I believe are supported by scripture.
Which took place at the day of Pentecost. We have spent some time with the Old Testament Foundation. from which the V Pentecost Day was prefigured and from which it grew. The New Testament. Um event, the historical record there in Acts chapter two.
looked last night at the sermon that was preached at Pentecost as Peter, with immense anointing from the Spirit of God, proclaimed the gospel of Christ and the fact that God approves of Christ and so must we. Tonight we go to things that were accomplished there. And beginning in Joel, you can open your Bibles to the prophet Joel, where we've read, we will look together at the words that Peter referenced in support. of his position. On that day of Pentecost.
Mind you, Peter had been Um Shall I say And I want to say it reverently and respectfully, he had been a lot of talk. He had boasted that he would never deny his Lord, that he would be true. And yet he did deny thrice, three times, even as Christ had told him that he would. Peter there was humble. He wept bitterly that night.
Having denied his Lord, And then was confronted there on the shore of Galilee with the thrice-repeated question from Christ, Lovest thou me? He continued with the apostles, evidently a leader among them simply by his. Here's personality and forthrightness. And on the day of Pentecost, any timidity that he may have had. about speaking for Christ was gone.
And that's one of the things that happened at Pentecost. The disciples were truly empowered. and those who had behaved like lambs became like lions in their courage. to speak the truth. And so Peter referenced the This Event, this portion of the prophet Joel, and that in itself shows us several things.
It would teach us that we can go to the Old Testament to find the root and foundation and origin of. The New Testament. The New Testament, which reaffirms and expounds What appeared in symbol often, in shadow, in type. in the Old Testament. It reveals to us that Peter had a knowledge of the Old Testament.
How many times in the past week have you made reference to something in Joel? And that's by no means stated as a fault finding, but just the fact we don't. I have the knowledge of the Old Testament prophets, perhaps, that we do of the New Testament epistles. Peter knew the Old Testament scriptures, and when he beheld what took place on the day of Pentecost, he knew right away: oh, this is what Joel was talking about. And let me tell everybody else as well.
and proceeded to preach on that day of Pentecost.
So we begin tonight in the book of Judges. Joel, and the first thing I would say that Pentecost was, I hope to tell you six things tonight, by the way, and then tomorrow night, the Title is What Else Happened at Pentecost, and we'll have six or eight more, God willing, tomorrow night. But tonight we'll just limit ourselves to six things that happened there. And the first of those things that happened at Pentecost was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. The prophecy of Joel was fulfilled.
Not in full. But in It's beginning there's no question. that it was a fulfillment of Joel's prophet and prophecy, and we have it from none less than the Spirit of God himself, who spoke through Peter on that occasion to say this is what Joel was speaking of.
Now Joel's prophecy is one of certain judgment. And it appears that A historical event in the experience of Israel had taken place, which Joel used as an illustration. of judgment to come. Let me make just a couple comments. I'm not don't mean to go off on a tangent here, but because of the approach I take to Joel this evening, I want to give a little bit broader bit of information.
The um The fact of the matter is that Scripture, every text of Scripture, has one and only one meaning. meaning. That is a fundamental principle. Of interpreting the Scripture in our Protestant tradition. And I hesitate to say Protestant tradition because it's more than a tradition, it is the exposition of the Word of God.
But the medieval church Prior to the Protestant Reformation, in the process of time had developed What is referred to as the fourfold sense of Scripture, the fourfold meaning of Scripture. And they taught that every Scripture text in the Bible. has four meanings in fact. First, of course, there is the literal meaning. Who could argue with that?
It means what it says. But then there's the spiritual meaning. which is a a deeper meaning. that uh is not necessarily stated in the literal account, but Certainly the literal account is symbolic of that spiritual principle. And then there is the third meaning, the analogical meaning.
which means there is a meaning to every scripture that is an analogy of spiritual things. And then there was the anagogical meaning. After Forty seven years in the ministry, I'm still not sure what that was, and I'm not sure that they were fully sure of it. But it had to do more with looking toward the future and suppositions based upon the text. Enough said about that.
The Protestant reformers saw that as I'm sure you see it. as totally confusing the Word of God. As soon as you have any meaning other than the literal. A meaning that is Mixed with human imagination and creativity to make a great interpretation. The literal falls into secondary place.
And The The um Figurative, the imaginative, the human invention takes precedence. It's just the nature of human beings under the curse. And of course, as soon as you have any more than one meaning, You have no meaning at all. Because you can Confuse and obscure the whole thing.
Now, I say that. in order to get to this point. When I come to prophecies such as Joel gives in the Old Testament, there is one and only one meaning. And yet, there are multiple applications. And in Joel's case, the prophecy we look at today, I believe there is a Call it a layered fulfillment.
There was a fulfillment in the days that Joel was preaching it. But there would be further fulfillment in future times and fulfillment of the same thing multiple times, perhaps. in the form of judgment. upon unbelief. In other words, the judgments that fell upon unbelief prior to Christ's entrance into the world.
are judgments that will fall upon unbelief during this period that we live. and our judgments that will fall upon unbelief, in days to come. and for all eternity.
So, that there is a multiple application, a multiple-level judgment, and I think that's what we find in studying the prophet Joel and other of the Old Testament prophets.
Now The historical event. upon which Joel writes is this Evidently there had been a horrific plague. of locusts. You heard as Pastor read the passage. the description of the different Locusts, and it's believed each of those descriptions is a different phase of the insect's development.
The bottom line is this. When these locusts came flying into a country that was entirely agricultural in its economy, they consumed. everything in their path. There was no vegetation remaining. As they would come in in swarms so thickened that at times it would almost block out the sun.
They would come in with a voracious appetite as well. And when they were finished, there was nothing left. And the harvest for a whole year. would be gone. I don't think there's any way in our age that we can identify with that.
I remember thirty some years ago when I was pastoring in Spartanburg, South Carolina, There was quite a drought in the Midwest of our country. And Many of the farmers of the southeast, I understand, came together and sent an entire train load of hay. Across the country to the Midwest to those farmers whose livestock would die if they didn't have hay for the cattle to eat. In other words, we live in a large nation. where we've never had a plague that takes over the whole land.
We have transportation in this age and means to transport the bounty of one s region into another region that is languishing for supplies. And with that kind of a safety net type existence, We can't fathom what it would be in ancient Israel. where everyone is dependent upon agricultural productivity to suddenly have the infestation by swarms of locusts that eat everything. That's what Israel was suffering. And Joel the prophet.
Comes forth in his preaching, as is written in this book. To point out the judgment of God that will take everything to destruction. will come as well. This judgment of locusts is but one judgment which will repeat again. upon those who reject Jehovah?
And with that message, Joel decried the day of the Lord. A phrase that appears over and over in his prophecy: the day of the Lord, which will be a day of darkness and not light, a day of destruction, a day of want and need, a horrible time of judgment. And of course, the crying out about the day of the Lord is a cry for repentance. Turn to him. He can be gracious.
He is gracious. Repent. And on the day of Pentecost, When Peter referenced What Joel said. The people of Israel had indeed been through And we're going through an exceedingly Barren spiritual Judgment. The last prophet Israel had had Malachi had written 400 years ago.
This people, who from the time of the judges and from the time of Moses, had been receiving divine revelations through the prophets God gave, now for 400 years had been without any. ME word. It was a spiritual drought. The leaders of Israel's religion We're filled with the formalities of religion. but also filled with insincerity.
It was just Formality. The Pharisees had arisen with all of their rules. and with their rules were making slaves out of the people. They were in bondage. The land was spiritually fruitless.
And into that judgment, God sent. His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And to show the extent of the of the spiritual famine that they were in. They crucified Christ, the very Son of God. And yet God is merciful.
And on Pentecost, he sent the Spirit of God upon his apostles to do a great work. Joel in foretelling God's grace in the midst of judgment, His mercy when men do not deserve it. speaks of what Peter will see at Pentecost.
So there in verse 28, It shall come to pass that after such judgment that afterward I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. You see, there is a great and terrible day of the Lord to come.
And prior to that, he speaks here of judgments that will fall. And of blessings that will be poured out in the form of the Spirit of God. And what I believe I see here is what is a pattern I think in many of the prophets. That they are not revealing a timeline. But are revealing a reality of truth.
Yes, the Spirit will be poured out. He was at Pentecost. He is working even today. But the ultimate day of the Lord is yet to come. a future thing whereas It might be perceived that here Joel puts them together at the same time.
Not so. He speaks of the coming of the Spirit of God. Which took place at Pentecost and of the judgment yet to come. For you see, when the Writers of scripture will speak of the last days. I believe they are speaking Of that time which began at Pentecost.
Clearly, that was part of the last days that Peter spoke of from Joel and The last days continue, we still live in them. These are the last days. And Peter proclaims What has happened on the day of Pentecost. Which the enemies of Christ are saying is simply the babbling of drunken men. Is not that at all.
It is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. I will pour out my spirit. The young men will see visions, will dream dreams, and indeed the apostles will do that very thing. And we will find the New Testament coming forth out of. this giving of the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost.
And so, We find that Joel's prophecy Is fulfilled in part on the day of Pentecost.
So, what happened at Pentecost?
Well, number one, The prophecy of Joel began to be fulfilled. in the pouring out of the Spirit of God. in the promises that God thus would visit with his people.
Now a second. Thing that happened there at Pentecost is suggested to us again in. This prophecy of Joel. For you notice there in verse thirty two, where it says Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. And Peter preached this at Pentecost.
This is the prophecy of Joel: whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I think we do well to pause and recognize that Second, for our numbering tonight. Pentecost was the introduction And the initiation of a new era in the history of God's people. The people of Israel perceived themselves to be the people of God. And indeed, they were favored by God.
God had chosen Abraham out of his pagan backgrounds. had made a covenant with him a covenant that extended to his seed, And it was promised to Abraham, In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed. And though there were non-Jews, non-seed of Abraham, that were received of God, certainly before the flood. Abel the first martyr for the gospel. He was one of God's own.
You find Noah in the ark. He was certainly one of God's own, was not Jewish. Enoch, Methuselah, the others, But with the covenant made with Abraham, there began to be the development of this Jewish people. Who are the vehicle by whom God will bring to all mankind His revelation of truth, ultimately in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? The writers of the Old Testament books were Jewish.
and the Jewish people understood that they were favored of God. For what other people? Had the Red Sea been divided to deliver them from their pursuing enemies. and then closed it upon those enemies to their destruction and Israel's deliverance. What other people when there was no means of producing their own food.
had been given manna for forty years in the wilderness. What other people had been given a land which they could enter living in houses they had not built and eating fruit from trees and vineyards they had not planted. What favor God had shown to the people of Israel And those are simply the temporal favors. To what other nation had God given one prophet, let alone an entire sequence of prophets that the people of Israel had throughout their national history? And it is understandable that they developed the thought Deliverance from our afflictions is for the Jewish people.
We are a favored people. And it was in that context that all of the New Testament Jewish people had come up and. By that time, the traditions of the people of Israel included the fact that Messiah comes for Israel and none other. And in fact, when Christ began his public ministry, John says he came into his own. which certainly signified the people of Israel.
And he told his disciples when he sent them forth: go not in the way of the Gentiles, but go first. to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And this was the understanding. that would have to be confronted in Acts chapter 15 in the New Testament church.
Now The fact of the matter is. That though God Focused on the people of Israel. with unparalleled favor throughout the Old Testament, physically and spiritually. Yet it was only in order that they might be Read. The receptacle of truth.
The source of truth. for all mankind. It's not to say that God had totally shut out all the nations of the world.
Some of you, perhaps I know Brother Steve today, and I did as well, read the book of Ruth, and I would encourage you to do that. Speaks of the barley harvest, and it was about the time of the day of Pentecost that the events of Ruth took place. Ruth's Daughter-in-law. rather Naomi's daughter-in-law, Ruth. recall was from Moab.
She was not a Jew. She was a descendant rather of one of Lot's illegitimate sons, slash grandsons coming out of that unspeakable scandal. of Lot's iniquity. There was Rahab the harlot, the Canaanite, She certainly was not Jewish, but God saved her, and these ladies are named in Hebrews 11 as the great family. faithful of old.
Jonah was sent to the city of Nineveh. A pagan city of Gentiles. And so there were certainly these I don't know want to call them overtures, but maybe that's the only word I've got. These overtures made to Gentile peoples in the Old Testament, but it was predominantly Jewish, and the Jews grasped that as being favored people of God. And yet, Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, There is a succession Repeated of the fact that the gospel will go to the Gentiles.
Let me read several of those to you. The first simply being. the promise to Abraham In thy seed shall all nations of the earth Be blessed. not just Israel. Psalm 22, David records for us.
His own afflictions, but the terminology clearly reaches beyond David's circumstance. and gives to us the most vivid description of crucifixion that we have anywhere hundreds of years before the Romans ever invented such a gruesome means of execution. And as that passage, Psalm 22, speaks about the piercing of the hands and the feet. The parting of the garments and casting lots for it. the sufferer being surrounded by dogs that would tear him.
It yet comes Toward the end of the psalm. to a very positive note. And one of the statements made there is all the ends of the earth shall remember And turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him. The promise of indeed A gospel reaching beyond simply the people of Israel. Psalm 72 verse 17, His name shall endure forever.
His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him blessed. Isaiah 42 in verse 1, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
I, the LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand. and will keep thee. and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light. For the Gentiles. Isaiah 49.
And he said Is it a light thing that I should be my servant? to raise up the tribes of Jacob. and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles. that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Again, Isaiah 49, thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles. Isaiah 54, For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles. And so what you see there is repeatedly among the prophets, there was that call that The gospel, the deliverance of Jehovah, would be extended to the Gentiles.
Now, this is what Joel also proclaims In those words, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. Not just Jews. But whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be delivered. And Peter repeats that on the day of Pentecost. And mind you, on the day of Pentecost, Jerusalem is filled.
With those pilgrims who have made their pilgrimage on one of the three great feast days when the males are required to assemble, and the list of the locations they are from is given from all over the world. It mentions Jews, it mentions proselytes, non-Jews who have come into the Jewish faith, and there they are all gathered in Jerusalem, and they hear the great events of the apostles preaching in languages they've never studied. And Peter says, This is what Joel spoke of. I'll pour out my spirit, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In other words, Pentecostal was And opening officially and publicly unto all the Gentile nations as well, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It was The initiation of a new era. in the history of God's people. No longer will stand the idea that Messiah is for Jews alone. except among unbelieving Jews. But now The door is clearly, publicly, officially opened, not by Peter, but by the Spirit of God.
to whosoever Yeah.
Now let me make just a comment. about that. statement whosoever will. I believe with all of my heart that the Bible teaches very clearly That God has chosen a people for Himself. that there are those who are the elect.
of God. And more than once in my ministry experience, I have faced those who. have objected to that truth. And their objection includes the statement The Bible says whosoever will may come. Have any of you had that objection thrown your direction?
And in doing so, They imagine that whosoever will means something that it doesn't mean. If it only said, whosoever may come, That would mean anybody and everybody. But it doesn't say whosoever. Wherever you find the word whosoever in the scripture, it is coupled to a modifier. Whosoever Will.
Whosoever is Willing. That's what it is saying. It's saying, whosoever is willing may come. And who is willing to come?
Well, Paul informs us in Romans there is none. that seeketh after God. And the writer of the Psalm says, My people, or thy people, shall be made willing in the day of thy power. God makes one willing to come. And whosoever is willing Let him come.
And as I've said to the congregation that I pastored for 30 years, Whosoever will means this. It means anyone who is willing. It means everyone who is willing It means only one. Who is willing? That's the meaning.
of whosoever will. And it has nothing to do to undermine the fact that God brings an unwilling person into willingness by his own grace. And Peter is making the point on this day of Pentecost when Jews and Gentiles alike are there in Jerusalem. It's not just a Jewish thing. Whosoever will May come.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Shall B Saved. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Only one who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Call upon the name of the Lord. and be saved. That is the message. of Peter's proclamation that day.
So, what have we noted? Pentecost is a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. And Joel's prophecy brings us into the fact that the gospel is for whosoever Will. And that is a concept publicized and proclaimed At Pentecost, the that had not been among the people of Israel in general general. And so Pentecost thereby was the initiation of a new era.
In the history of God's people, whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. A third thing that took place at Pentecost. Pentecost was the fulfillment of Christ's promise. To send the Holy Spirit. Christ had made this promise in various ways among his apostles.
We mentioned yesterday, I believe, That passage in John 7. Where Christ on the great feast day called loudly, if any man thirst, let him come and drink. And John adds in parentheses the explanation that he was speaking there of the Spirit of God. Christ spoke then to his disciples in John 14 after he told them that he was going away, that he would be leaving them. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of God.
Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. And then Christ continued that teaching in that 14th chapter of John, the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said to you. Christ will be gone, but that makes no difference. He will send the Comforter, the Spirit of God, who will bring to their remembrance the things that Christ has spoken.
And this is how the apostles could write the New Testament epistles and clearly articulate the meaning of the things Christ had spoken, the Spirit of God. was with them and in them. among them. teaching them. and leading them as they spoke and wrote the Scriptures.
In John 15, Jesus said to them, But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. And so on this day of Pentecost, the Spirit is there to testify of Christ, and the apostles also bore witness there as they stood and preached the gospel in the languages they had never studied. Pentecost was the fulfillment Of Christ's promise to send the Spirit. Other texts could be cited.
The last one I'll cite is that one that we noted yesterday, I believe, as Jesus was to ascend into heaven. He said to the disciples, Ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Samaria and in Judea and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. That was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. A fourth item that took place at Pentecost It affirmed that the Apostles were indeed God's spokesman. They spoke with authority.
And their speaking was effectual. You look at the landscape of the population at that time of the world. Who was speaking of Christ? With 3,000 people. Repenting and turning and believing.
Who was speaking of Christ? In languages they had never studied. Where could such a phenomenon be found? Only in Jerusalem and only among the apostles. You recall, we mentioned earlier in this series that miracles were given in order to authenticate God's spokesman.
In order to identify who the spokesman of God truly was. That was taking place at Pentecost. None could argue with the fact. That the apostles were preaching in languages they had never studied, and that 3,000 people were transformed and baptized that day. Pentecost indeed.
Affirmed. The Apostles' authority. As the spokesmen of God, and they would go forth then not only to preach the gospel, but to write the epistles of the New Testament with authority. And an evident anointing from God that they indeed were. Writing good.
God breathed truth. fruits. The Word of God. And fifth, I would make the point. That Pentecost assured the disciples That God was with them.
It transformed them. With the power that would ultimately give us the New Testament. The disciples the day before Pentecost and the day after Pentecost appeared to be very different men. Pentecost changed them. The Spirit of God coming upon them.
Made them indeed New creatures.
So that apostles who had been timid and cowardly. Are found in chapter three standing up and doing mighty things. Peter and John go into the temple at the hour of prayer, and there is laid at the gate to the temple a man who's been lame for forty years. who is carried there each day in order that he might beg in order to get a little bit of money to try to keep alive. And Peter stops and looks at him.
And says, Silver and gold have I none. But such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And Peter took him by the hand, and he rose and walked. leaped.
going into the temple. And the whole crowd in the temple Who has walked past him how many times in the past days and years, and know him to be the beggar that was sitting there at the gate of the temple, see him leaping for joy and praising God. Where did this come from? With these disciples, they're not afraid now to make themselves conspicuous and to stand forth and to say such a thing as Peter said.
Now you or I could never say that, could we? Faith healers pretend to say it. But Peter could with confidence say In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk, knowing that the healing would come. The Spirit of God was upon him. He had been transformed.
And that day of Pentecost was a transforming of the disciples of Christ. Into the stalwarts of truth that they became and are remembered for. John Gill the Great. expositor of Scripture before the days of Spurgeon, wrote that the apostles became more knowing and had a greater understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel, and were more qualified to preach it to people of all nations and languages. through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
on the day of Pentecost. Peter Now understood What Joel was talking about as he had never understood it before, Peter now sees what's happening. And instead of doubting or wondering, his immediate thought is. This is what the Word of God said. And his whole take on life.
seems to be completely transformed. A New View.
Well, finally. for this evening. Number six, I would say that Pentecost was the affirmation that Jesus was now Glorified. And indeed, Peter references that in his sermon, that he is now at the right hand of God. John The Apostle John wrote about this in his Gospel.
In John chapter seven and verse thirty seven, where Jesus cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me As the Scripture sa hath said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this Spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And you see what John is saying there.
The Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified, which means when Jesus is glorified, the Holy Ghost will be given. And therefore, the giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost signified Christ is now in glory. He is now glorified. And so we find The Pentecostal. should be viewed by by God's people.
is far more than simply Tongues. And as I mentioned to you, I think in the beginning of this series on the Lord's Day. I think one of the signs of the superficiality of the modern church. is that when they hear the word Pentecost, Immediately and exclusively, it seems, the only thought is tongues.
Well, I trust that we have seen and that I've made clear this evening six. things other than tongues. that Pentecost is And I trust that tomorrow night we might see Eight more. I hope you'll be here. Shall we bow together as we pray?
Our God and our Father in heaven. We give thanks that the Spirit of God, our Comforter, has come. That he endued the apostles with that power. to preach on the day of Pentecost so that the gospel from Jerusalem That day went forth. with the many pilgrims back to their homeland.
and ultimately to the uttermost parts of the earth. We thank you for The enduing with power of the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
so that they would go forth and by the Spirit of God's inspiration write the very Word of God, from which we read and preach and upon which we feed to night. O Lord, grant to us a deeper understanding. of what has been done for our souls by the Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. And may we go forth invigorated and fortified in the things of God, Hearing these great things that were done for your glory and our good on that day. And may there be a revival such as was given at Pentecost even In our day, And may it begin.
in each of our hearts. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
