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[0:00] All right, let's turn to the book of Acts. The book of Acts, remember Acts of the Apostles, as traditionally called. It used to be combined with Luke as in one book, and now it was split up when they wrote the canon.

[0:18] And it's more fittingly called Acts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the apostles. Our key verse, as we said, was Acts 1.8, I think the whole book is just going to be, it's just, it's God's promises fulfilled through the Holy Spirit acting in the believer.

[0:50] It's just the whole book is, I just keep coming back to that over and over. So, as far as the Holy Spirit, remember we said the promise given, the promise fulfilled, and the continued effect of the promise.

[1:01] The promise given is in the Gospels. Jesus promises, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter. That's in John 14. That he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.

[1:16] Because it sees him not, neither knows him, but you know him. For he dwells with you, and shall be in you. But the promise is then fulfilled in Acts, which we haven't quite got to, where the Holy Spirit will be given.

[1:29] And then the continued effect of the promise is that verse in Ephesians 5.18, but be filled continually, continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 89 times in the New Testament, 56 as a person, but 89 times in the book of Acts.

[1:51] And that's good. So, Father, thank you for your word. Holy Spirit, we are so thankful that you are with us. Thank you, Jesus, for doing what you said. You said to the apostles, I'm going to leave you, and it is more needful for you that I go.

[2:06] And for them, that was hard to understand. But you are one man. You are God in man form. I mean, one body, one person. And you can only be in that space you occupied.

[2:17] But when you left, you went to the right hand of the Father, and you shed forth the Holy Spirit. You sent that promise. And now each one of us has the experience of having all of you at all times. And I thank you for that.

[2:28] And just open your word. Speak to us the truths that you want us to see. Lord, we can't cover everything in your word. There's just so much. We could look at the same chapter every time we get together and clean new things.

[2:39] So what do you have for us tonight? What is it that you want to speak to us, Lord? Lord, we want you to not blow our minds with amazing new facts. I mean, that's great. But Lord, we want you to fill our hearts.

[2:52] And just thank you. And in Jesus' name, amen. So we'll just start again. We are in Luke, if you remember last time. And so we went a little ways into chapter 1. So let's just pick it up in verse 1 for a bit here.

[3:05] So Luke says, Remember, that was he sent them.

[3:21] He told them to go. He told them to preach. He told them to teach. And he told them to baptize. They were sent out to preach. They were to go and baptize and make disciples.

[3:32] That'd be teaching. He'd given them all those commandments. And yet he was told. We're going to find out to wait. To whom also the Holy Spirit showed, or Jesus showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

[3:51] So Jesus is talking to these guys constantly about, guys, the kingdom of God. This is what it's about, the kingdom. Remember, we're told, Paul tells us that the kingdom of God comes not by observation, for it's not in meat and drink, but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

[4:09] And so that's where we're living now. Are we in the kingdom? Well, we're not in the kingdom in the sense that Jesus is ruling on earth right now. But we're in the kingdom in the sense that God's kingdom is open to all to come and be a part of.

[4:21] And so when we enter into that kingdom, our citizenship is no longer here. We're seated in the heavenlies. We have all the benefits of being a citizen of that kingdom. But we're still in this world in occupied territory.

[4:32] We're like in the kingdom of God, but among the world, which is still in the control of the enemy. But Jesus is conquered. So we are like, we have the best opportunity to be victorious for the Lord because he's already done all the work.

[4:48] It's all over. We're in victory. And he's like, it's already a done deal. Every battle you fight, the outcome's already determined. It's like so backwards. The Christian life is so backwards from what we expect.

[5:01] Jesus says, you want a new life? Die to yourself. You know, he would take up his cross daily. You want victory? Fight a war that's already won. It's like, say what? And this is just kind of what we get to experience.

[5:12] And then he says, do you want blessings and you want promises and you want rewards? Well, you can't earn them. You just have to receive them from me. They're free. And it's just crazy. And so he says he's speaking to them of things pertaining to the kingdom.

[5:25] So it's going to make sense when they then say to him, are you going to now restore the kingdom? You know, they're like, whoo-hoo. Because he's been talking to them. But in verse four, being assembled together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the father.

[5:41] Which, saith he, you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. And the word truly is weird in there. Why doesn't it just say for John baptized with water?

[5:52] Why truly? Well, it's emphasizing that just as there's the fact that John did baptize with water, it is just as assured that you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It's an emphasizing type thing.

[6:04] But it's interesting because you have all of these promises, these commands to go, you have the promises that he would be with them, that they would do greater things than him. And then he says they'll wait for the promise of the father.

[6:16] Sometimes it seems like God's promises, like, contradict, maybe not contradict, but they overlap in weird ways. Where it's like, yes, God's promised this. But then his other promise comes in and says this.

[6:27] And it kind of seems to maybe not supersede, but overlays on top of it. And sometimes not in a way that's, you know, that I really like. Like, God puts a call on your life or God speaks things to your heart.

[6:38] And you're like, yes, Lord, let's go do it. He's like, yes, we're going to do that. But right now, wait, because I'm doing this different work. Because I've got other promises that need to take effect in your life first before I can then fully reveal the rest of this.

[6:50] And this is one of those times where he's just, the disciples are jazzed up. I think Jesus is just as excited. They're talking about things about the kingdom. He's like, yeah, but wait, wait till you receive this promise.

[7:03] And they're probably like, all right. Okay, we're ready. Give it to me. And when they were together, and when they were therefore come together in verse six, they asked him.

[7:14] It's like, okay, Lord, well, you said wait for the promise and it didn't come yet. We're talking about the kingdom. Oh, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Is this it? And he said unto them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father has put into his own power.

[7:29] But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Two different words for power. One is, has put in his own authority. So the father has the authority. It's not for us to know the things that the father has, has planned out, right?

[7:44] It's like with your kids. You know, they want to know every detail. It's like, you don't need to know every detail. We're going on vacation. It's all you need to know. Have your bags packed and be ready to go at this time. And the rest will just play out. You'll love it, really. But then there's this word, but you shall receive power.

[7:58] And that's ability. And that's that dunamis, that kind of like the innate ability that's just there. That's not our ability. It comes from the Holy Spirit. You shall receive ability after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

[8:11] And you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And so if you remember, we read in John that verse that said, he shall be with you and he shall be in you.

[8:23] Now we have here another, he shall be upon you, which is a difference. And we said it's enough for us to receive power for the current season. It's not for us to know what's the next season. It's just enough to know that God has supplied what we need, the ability now for this season.

[8:38] He knows when the next season starts. We don't, but he's got everything we need. And what's the danger? The danger is looking ahead to the next season and trying to figure out how God's going to supply or how we're going to supply or how we're going to have the resources we need for the next season.

[8:53] And God's still dealing with us in this season, offering us the grace and ability for this season. And our minds are in the next season. We're like, I don't know how you're going to do that, Lord. And we're missing what he's trying to do now.

[9:05] He knows when the next season is and you'll have everything we need at that time. And he says, you'll be witnesses. He says unto me. Martyrs. Not the idea of being put to death, but that their lives will be identified as this.

[9:19] They will be those who are identified as Jesus people. In Jerusalem? Cool. Judea? Got it. Samaria? Yeah, right. Jesus, you went into Samaria. Okay.

[9:30] Well, under the uttermost parts of the earth. They had no idea what that meant. In their minds, they're thinking like Jews. Yeah, there's the diaspora. The Jews scattered across the world.

[9:40] Sure, we'll go to the Jews. We'll tell all of your people, God, that Jesus is the fulfillment of this. They weren't thinking, you know, that this is Gentiles. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight.

[9:58] And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. So they're talking to Jesus. He's taken up.

[10:09] And they're just kind of, you know. I mean, if Jesus, if you see, they've seen Jesus come into a room and then kind of out of a room. So this is just a new thing.

[10:20] He goes up to heaven. And so they're like looking like, oh, he's probably going to come back. You know, he's went up. He's going to come back down. What's this thing Jesus is trying to teach us here? The other thing is, where are they?

[10:32] So they have gone, because it's going to tell us in verse 12, they returned then unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. Sabbath day is about three quarters of a mile.

[10:44] So they're back to the Mount of Olives. When was the last time they were on the Mount of Olives? That would have been when they forsook him. When they're at Gethsemane, when Judas comes and brings the whole mob and they all flee.

[10:58] And so there's this point. The last time they were here, as far as we know in scripture, was failure. They had forsaken him. I mean, this must have been a little bit of an awkward walk as they're heading towards Bethany, you know, out of Jerusalem.

[11:09] Maybe they think, hey, we're going to go visit Lazarus. Maybe we're going to, oh, we're stopping at the Mount of Olives. This is uncomfortable. And here, Jesus, then, what do they have? They have Jesus ascending.

[11:20] And then these two men, and they say, verse 11, which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as you have seen him go into heaven.

[11:34] And so the place of their failures become a place of promise. That Jesus has, after the resurrection, it makes all things new, right? And when we step into the new life and the resurrection life of Jesus, he takes our failures, and he turns them into places of future promises.

[11:48] A place where he says, I'm going to return. I'm going to return to here. I left from here. It's a place of my promise. I'm going to return, and I'm going to do something amazing here. The other thing is where it says, you men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven?

[12:04] The idea is not just like, they're like, huh, but they're steadfast. They are fixated on it. Nothing else is happening around them. They are just looking into heaven. And they're trying to see, well, where's this Jesus?

[12:15] We want this Jesus. And they're so focused, not in a bad, you know, you hear the term, you're so heavenly-minded, you're no earthly good. That's a stupid term. You need to be so heavenly-minded that you can be earthly good, right? But these guys, it wasn't the idea that, well, we want to be used by Jesus.

[12:29] This was more of a, well, where did you go in my life, Lord? I just can't see you. What's going on? Why did you leave? I don't understand this. Are you coming back? And I think there's a heart of, man, they love Jesus.

[12:40] This is all they've known. And there's this promise, but it hasn't been fulfilled. And to them, it just seems like something has vacated their lives. They have a promise. Jesus is going to come back.

[12:51] Wonderful. And it seems to be that they've kind of dismissed them in this. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians 4, 17. Put your finger there.

[13:06] 1 Thessalonians 4, and then we'll look at, we'll start in Revelation. 1. Just look at two verses real quick. 1 Thessalonians 4, our finger's there, and then we're in Revelation 1.

[13:28] John is giving the intro to Revelation. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be to you in peace from him which is, which was, which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne.

[13:40] Verse 5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.

[13:56] To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he comes with clouds. And every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.

[14:09] Even so, amen. So that's the second coming. The second coming of Jesus bodily to the earth is here described in Revelation. He comes with clouds. He said to them, In the same manner you see him go, so shall you see him return.

[14:24] Turn to 1 Thessalonians. Yeah, they're right. Verse 17. At the end of chapter 4, in verse 15, it says, Comfort one another with these words.

[15:08] So we have two times. We have Jesus coming in clouds where every eye will see him, and he will come to earth. Then this other time, Thessalonians, where it's specifically the church saying, We, which are alive, will meet him in the air, in the clouds.

[15:21] Two different times. Two different comings. You know, people say the second coming, the return of Christ. Well, Jesus is coming back two more times, in essence. You know, he comes not bodily to the earth. He'll come one more time bodily to the earth when he returns at the end of the seven years of the tribulation.

[15:38] But there is the rapture that happens where he says, Hey, this is your hope. We're not looking for a one world government. We're not looking for the man of sin. We're not looking for a beast.

[15:49] We're looking for Jesus. He says, This is your hope. I'm coming. When you see all these things come to pass, look up. For your redemption draws near. And here Paul is saying, Jesus is going to come, and he will receive you in the clouds.

[16:01] So back over in Acts, where he says to the church, specifically to these disciples, in the same manner, you shall see him. Now, are these disciples going to be alive when Jesus returns to the earth to see him?

[16:17] No, they wouldn't be. They'd be dead. They're dead. So unless there's a resurrection at that point, there'd have to be a resurrection before Jesus returns for them to be alive. So when he says to them, in the same manner, these men say, This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.

[16:41] So it's the promises to these men, is to these guys. And they will, because the dead in Christ will rise first. So they will see Jesus in the same manner, just as we will when we join them in the air.

[16:52] And so they then, this seems to be a dismissal for them in verse 12. They returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.

[17:04] All right, so now we're going to go into this section of chapter 2, the end of 1 and 2. And I think the thing that, you know, the theme we kind of want to see tonight, really, is we just, we take in the whole story and the narrative and trying to stay on track and understand what's happening and not get caught up in the weeds.

[17:23] But the theme seems to be that God's promises fulfilled lead to a deeper experience with the Lord.

[17:36] And so in chapter 1, we're going to see, we're going to see men acting and women acting, not in sin, they're never rebuked, but they're acting before the fulfillment of what God told them to expect.

[17:53] And they're acting like it's already been fulfilled. But when we see the fulfillment of God's promise, it leads to this deeper understanding of God, a deeper experience of God.

[18:03] It leads to the filling of the Spirit, and it leads to people acting in ability that's beyond themselves. And we're never going to see, after chapter 1, we're never going to see any of the apostles or any of the church act like this again.

[18:15] I think the Holy Spirit holds it up to us to say, here's one way to walk as a Christian, and here's another way. This is the way God wants us to live, but then there's this other way.

[18:28] And unfortunately, I think a lot of the church today and a lot of Christians end up defaulting back to this chapter 1 mode, which looks really good as we read through it. It's going to be like, this looks great.

[18:40] This seems like a great way to do things. But it's not God's heart for us. It's not the fulfillment of that promise. The Holy Spirit's been given now. We have full access to walk in all of God's promises. But if we're not walking in them, sure, we can act like we are, but we won't experience the fulfillment of them.

[18:57] So have we received all God's promises? Yes. You know, Romans tells us that if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. He tells us that you are not in the flesh, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you.

[19:12] Does God's Spirit dwell in you? Well, yes. So then, I'm not in the flesh. Wonderful. And then it says, if you live in the Spirit, great. I live in the Spirit. Then walk in the Spirit.

[19:23] So there's a contrast there. You can live in the Spirit without walking in the Spirit. I can live in the Spirit, but am I walking in it? And I think we're going to get a picture between those two, between chapter 1 and chapter 2.

[19:36] Could they walk in the Spirit in chapter 1? No. The Holy Spirit hadn't been given in that capacity yet. But we're going to see an example of what it looks like for those who are alive in the Spirit, because Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.

[19:48] But they're not walking in it, because God's promise was given, but it wasn't fulfilled yet. And they began to act upon or live like they were already walking in the fulfillment of that promise.

[20:04] So, verse 13. And when they were come, when they were come in, they went up into an upper room. Now, where was the upper room? I don't know. We're going to see later when the Holy Spirit comes on them, and then they all go out and begin speaking forth praises of God in different tongues that all these people are around and hear.

[20:19] Most likely, this is either adjacent to the temple or near the temple. And then when they went out, they went out into the courts of the temple. It stands to reason, because they were daily in prayer.

[20:30] We're going to find out in the temple courts. So they probably then just exited out into the courtyard around the temple and are praising God. And at this time of year, we've got Pentecost. Pentecost was the most highly attended feast because of the weather.

[20:44] It was easy for people to travel. So you have people from all over, as we're going to see. So very likely, there's 120 people. This is probably either adjacent to the temple precinct or courtyard or might even be a room there.

[20:59] It doesn't appear that it's way down in Jerusalem somewhere. And they were hanging out here. We know Judas and James, also Jesus's brother.

[21:24] And Judas is Jude. Jude. That was the writer of Jude of the New Testament. And you have the other James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

[21:35] And then you have this other James, which was the son of Alphaeus. I'm not sorry. And Judas, the brother of James. They would have been Mary's children and Joseph's. These all continued with one accord and prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and with his brethren.

[21:51] I think about that. It must have been really interesting to be like Jesus's mother and his brothers after the resurrection. And, you know, Jesus is appearing to them. And, you know, it just must have been really interesting.

[22:02] And I think for Mary, what was it like when the Holy Spirit came and filled her? She was filled with the Holy Spirit. And the understanding she had of her relationship with God and realizing what her part was in all that.

[22:13] That, like, thinking back to, like, you know, like, Sue can remember the births of all these children. I remember they were born and that they're here. But, like, the details around it, surrounding it.

[22:24] And then as they're growing up, little things. And I'm like, I don't remember which one that was. And just, you picture her thinking back, like, huh, when he was nine years old and he said that when I said this.

[22:35] And I was just like, this is a strange kid. You know, none of my other kids say these things. And then realizing all that God was doing. That must have been pretty wild. And his brethren didn't believe in him.

[22:46] They thought he was crazy. And yet, now after the resurrection, they've come around. And that's pretty cool. But there's already a work of the Spirit happening here. What did the apostles have never done this? Continued one accord and prayer and supplication.

[22:59] They haven't done anything with one accord. There's not been unity through the whole Gospel of Mark. Except that they were unified in their argument of thinking that they were each greater than the other.

[23:10] So there's already a work of the Spirit here. And what were they doing? Man, they were praying. They continued in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary and Jesus' brethren.

[23:21] This is a pretty... This is something you'd like to see today. Right? You'd like to see among the people you fellowship with. You'd like to see in the church. This is good stuff.

[23:33] I don't continue super long in prayer. Right? I continue to pray about things. But I don't know. The longest I've probably ever sat and prayed. When we were in Bible college on Monday mornings, we'd have to pray like the whole class.

[23:45] It'd be like prayer for two hours. It's, you know, and some people fall asleep and sometimes just sitting there and thinking, is this almost over? And sometimes you're praying on my own. You know, I probably prayed an hour or so at times.

[23:59] But to just continue in prayer. And I read about these people that are like... And I was reading about the Welsh Revival. And one of the places, one of the little churches that says, Yeah, we were praying and we continued in prayer and we did not sense the move of the Spirit until 4 a.m.

[24:13] There was a breakthrough and the Spirit came and moved among us and we all gave glory to God. And it was like they were praying from like 6 p.m. the night before until 4 a.m. Because they didn't yet sense that God had moved among them.

[24:25] And I was like, I can't quite understand that. I've never experienced that. I want to. I want the Lord to do that. But I think it's got to be a work of the Spirit. And I think that, you know, the Holy Spirit is working in them.

[24:35] Because Jesus told them, wait. They have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is saying, wait, wait, wait. As he's speaking within their hearts. And in those days, Peter stood up.

[24:46] Peter couldn't wait any longer. It's time to do something. And I think Peter's feeling it, right? He's like, Jesus has restored me. He said, feed my sheep. I got the Holy Spirit. He opened my mind to understand the word.

[24:56] And there's this scripture that's burning in my heart that I know. Oh, I just know what this is. And so Peter, in those days, stood up in the midst of the disciples. And said, wait a minute, guys.

[25:07] We're supposed to continue waiting. Let's just hold that thought. No. He should have waited, right? Jesus says, wait. Wait. After those days. Because what does he say? Not many days hence.

[25:23] So he needed to wait for those days to come. And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. Instead, the number of the names together, about 120.

[25:33] So it was a pretty big room. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

[25:46] For he was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry. That's quite a phrase. Judas obtained part of the ministry. That was Jesus's ministry and work on earth.

[25:57] And yet he was a traitor. And now this is parenthetical. Verse 18 and 19. Now this man, speaking of Judas, purchased a field with the reward of iniquity.

[26:09] And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto them, unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in the proper tongue, akeldama.

[26:20] That is to say, the field of blood. So Judas didn't purchase the field. He went back and he threw the money at the priest's feet and said, take your money back. And then he went out and hung himself. And then it seems like the idea was he's left hanging there until the rope broke and he was bloated and he hit the ground and, you know.

[26:38] And then the Pharisees must have then taken that blood money. And he couldn't do much with it under the law. And they purchased a field, most likely for, like, the poor to be buried in. But the interesting thing is, it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem.

[26:52] So there's a common knowledge that Jesus, the guy that was doing all the miracles, or the guy that was saying he was a Messiah, that Judas betrayed him. They knew who he was and they knew that he had hung himself.

[27:04] And it almost seems like everybody knew he hung himself and nobody was going to go and be identified with him or cut him down or anything until he just fell and popped. I'm sure we could draw some really strange spiritualization of that verse.

[27:17] That, you know, sin will make you pop, but then we're not going to. That's not what it's saying. It was called the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms.

[27:29] Now we're picking back up with Peter, who says that this scripture must needs be fulfilled. For it is written in the book of Psalms. Let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein.

[27:39] And his bishopric let another take, or his office. I looked up. We're not going to jump back to every Psalm. But that is Psalm 69, verse 25.

[27:52] And then the part that says, let his habitation be desolate and no man dwell therein. And the second part of that verse, his bishopric let another take, is Psalm 109.8. They're pretty obscure.

[28:03] And they're not even together. He pulls a piece from one and pulls one from another and says, this is what this is saying. Personally, I think this is amazing insight from Peter. That he's able to look at the scripture and the Holy Spirit's opened his mind.

[28:17] Jesus has opened his mind to understand this at the time he breathed on them, received the Holy Spirit. And he's able to just kind of pull it out and say, this is what this means. And this is what this means. I mean, I can teach through the word and be like, okay, I can see the flow.

[28:30] I can see the context and that this is what this is. You know, trusting the Holy Spirit to speak as we're reading. But to just grab a part of a verse and another part and be like, this is talking about Judas.

[28:43] This is pretty impressive. And so, verse 21, he then makes this conclusion. And so, he's making this conclusion and saying, hey, you know what?

[29:11] We need to appoint someone else because of the verse that said, Psalm 109, verse 8, that piece of it. Let his office, his bishopric, let another take.

[29:22] So, he draws this conclusion. That we need to put someone else in his place. Was that a right conclusion? I don't know. The interesting thing is they're going to choose these two guys.

[29:33] Verse 23, they appointed two. Let's just finish reading the chapter and then we'll talk about it. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was named Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, thou, Lord, which knows the hearts of all men, show whether of these two that was chosen.

[29:50] That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell. That he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots.

[30:01] And the lot fell upon Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles. It's a very interesting way. You're never going to see this again. What we're going to see is we're going to see multiple instances where it's going to say, and the Holy Spirit said, and the Holy Spirit spoke.

[30:15] Peter, when he's up on the rooftop praying and the sheet is let down. And he says, not so, Lord. I've never let anything unclean touch my mouth. And he says, no, no, Peter. Don't call that unclean what I've cleansed.

[30:26] And then it says, and the Holy Spirit said to him. You know, because it said there's three men that knock on the door. The guy comes up and tells him, hey, there's three guys here looking for you. And the Holy Spirit says, says to him, go with them, nothing doubting.

[30:39] It says when Paul and Barnabas and the other elders at Antioch were praying, the Holy Spirit spoke to them and said, separate unto me, Paul and Barnabas, for the work of the ministry. That's what we're going to see going forward.

[30:51] We don't see this interesting thing that's playing out here. But what we're not going to see is God doesn't condemn it. He doesn't say this is wrong. This is sin. And later, if you remember with when the Grecian widows weren't being fed and they come to the apostles and they say, hey, appoint seven men to be servants, to be deacon, diakonesis or whatever.

[31:12] The deacons that can wait on them. You wish know the heart. It says they took the matter to the 12. It seemed good. They picked two guys out of 120. So Matthias is, why those two?

[31:23] And it's, you know, why not accepted? Why not? Scripture accepts him as one of the 12 that had continued since the baptism of John until now. And then when they say, Lord, you pick, make any choice you want between these two.

[31:36] And then they roll the dice. You know, if it's odd, it's Matthias. It's defeated. Even it's justice. And it comes out Matthias. And they're like, oh, praise the Lord. You know, it's kind of, you know, a little tongue in cheek. Like if you're in a prayer meeting and it's like you have a need and you're like, Lord, I need new shoes.

[31:50] Lord, I wear size 13. I like Nikes and I prefer them to be high tops. Lord, you provide. And then next week someone, you know, is like, hey, I got you some shoes. Like, praise God. You know, did the Lord provide?

[32:03] Well, I think there's a certain part of that you could say yes. But did God want so much more for you in that instance that you could have grown in your faith and seen him do a work?

[32:14] I think so. And I think that's where this is with these guys. Now, who is Matthias? We don't know. We never hear about him again in Acts other than what it says, the 12. But we can infer a few things from him.

[32:26] He was with the apostles from the start. It says from John's baptism on. So that means when Jesus went up into a mountain and prayed and then called the 12, Matthias didn't get picked.

[32:37] Out of all the guys that have continued with Jesus since the baptism of John, Matthias was there. So was justice. They weren't picked. You know, how do you feel about that? You know, Jesus, I love Jesus.

[32:48] We're following Jesus. 10, 11, 12. Oh, of course. You picked Judas instead of me. Way to go, Jesus.

[33:00] Right? So there's a humility about him. It didn't seem to bother him. He continued with Jesus till now. So there's this humility. He never put forth himself. There's a patience.

[33:11] He waited and he continued. And there's an endurance there that we also are supposed to have, right? What is this scripture? I can remember where it talks about having patience.

[33:21] But the idea is an endurance, a bearing up under and continuing in that situation. And so Matthias had that. He was patient. He didn't know if God would ever use him any different. And then here he is, finally the apostle.

[33:35] And you never hear about him again. And I was like, yes, finally been recognized. Now we're going to do things. You never hear of him again. But scripture doesn't condemn this.

[33:47] It doesn't put this down. But then chapter 2 is going to happen. We're never going to see this in chapter 1 again. And I think if you look at this, it sounds real good. Verse 14, they all continued with one accord and prayer and supplication.

[33:59] That is good. They prayed and said, Lord, pick one of these faithful men. Humility, patience, good character with Jesus all the way.

[34:10] Lord, these are good men. Choose one of them. Then they gave forth their lot. You know, they kind of, in the best way they could, determined what God's will was. And they went forward in that. I think we do that all the time in our own lives, in churches, you know, our church committees, our boards, or whatever.

[34:26] Are we hearing from the Lord? You know, where it says they continued in one accord in prayer. How long do we wait on the Lord? Are we willing to wait? Or is it we pray?

[34:37] Nothing really happened. And then we just go on. Or maybe I'll pray again. Nothing happened. And I go on. Are we assured that God has heard us? And then if he's not giving us a peace that says, I've answered your prayer, you can release this now and stop.

[34:55] Maybe we should just continue. And I don't mean just sit there and sit home and just keep praying. But are we continuing to bring that before the Lord like these guys? This seems like a really good way to determine God's will and to walk in God's will.

[35:06] But it is not. It is not what they were supposed to be doing. Peter, as Peter does, kind of open his mouth. But I think we're given this picture because this Peter, which is a lot different than the Peter that was in the Gospels, that was kind of just open mouth and say dumb things and get in trouble.

[35:25] This Peter was quoting scripture, but it's a totally different Peter than we see in chapter two. Chapter two, he just leaps off the page. The joy and the exaltation that's in Peter's voice.

[35:37] Just the fact that God has empowered him is totally different than this Peter that's like, men and brethren, you know, a motion for silence. The delegate from Jerusalem shall now, you know, very different Peter.

[35:51] Peter, I think the Holy Spirit purposely put it there so that we would not fall into the same trap, but that we would come short of all that God has for us.

[36:02] So chapter two, the big chapter. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come. So this would be 10 days after the ascension. And we know that because it says, I think, Corinthians, Jesus was 40 days with them after the resurrection.

[36:17] And we know when the resurrection was because we know when Passover was, it was three days later. And then, so we're 10 days after his ascension. Day nine, you're in the upper room, continuing steadfastly in prayer and supplication, waiting for this promise that Jesus has said, I will send them to you, the promise of the father.

[36:35] Don't leave Jerusalem. Day nine. And you're thinking, I have been here over a week and nothing has happened. Are all 100 still there? 120 still there? Are they down to 100?

[36:48] 70? 60? 50? How many are there? Have they left? I bet Thomas was still there. You know Thomas was there because that one time he wasn't when Jesus showed up and then he doubted. And the next time he was there, I don't think Jesus was really here.

[37:00] And Jesus showed up and was like, don't doubt. You know Thomas was like, I'm not moving until the promise comes. I don't care if I die here. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord and in one place.

[37:16] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And so here they're all here together, one accord, one place.

[37:27] They're sitting there. I don't know. You know, I saw a lot of people just sitting around and it seems like a waste of time. That's no other way to say it. They're sitting there for days, just sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

[37:41] But if you think about it, who are these people? They are people who walked with the God man, God becoming flesh on earth. They walked with a God. They saw that God die and come back to life.

[37:54] They were with a resurrected Jesus. They saw miracles. They saw him taken up into heaven. How can we question anything they do? You know, I mean, I don't have nearly the experiences they've had.

[38:06] And so they're sitting and they're just going to wait. They have every word of Jesus in their life that's always been fulfilled. They know this one will be no matter how long it takes. And there came a sound, not an actual wind, just the sound of a rushing mighty wind, you know, just like just filling the house.

[38:23] And I think it kind of probably woke him up was the idea. Like if they're kind of sitting there and like maybe they're praying and then it's kind of like, what is that? You know, there was no 747s back then.

[38:34] So it wasn't like a jet flying over. It was a sound. And it filled the house where they were sitting. The Holy Spirit is always worth waiting for. Always worth waiting for.

[38:44] The fulfillment of God's promises are worth waiting for. And they're always fulfilled by and through the Holy Spirit because he's the one now left, our comforter, the one who does the work. Always worth waiting for.

[38:56] And there appeared unto them, clove in tongues like as a fire as it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

[39:08] Why fire? You know, in John 4 and chapter 7, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as rivers of living water gushing out of you.

[39:18] And he says to them at one point, you don't understand this right now. And the scripture then gives a little parentheses. It says, because he spake to them of the Holy Spirit that had not yet been given. So why isn't this water? You know, like maybe a big bucket and then a ladle given to each of them or maybe like water dumping out on them.

[39:34] I was thinking about it. I was thinking more like air. Breathe on them. Maybe air. Well, if you had a bucket of water, a big five gallon bucket, and I gave you a cup and you a cup and you a cup, what happens to the bucket that I have?

[39:46] It gets less. And how much do you have? Do you have all of it? You only got a part of it. But fire, if I have a little bit of fire and I give you a little bit of fire, do I have any less fire? No, it's the same.

[39:59] And does your fire stay the same size? It can only be what I gave you. No, it can grow as limitless capacity to that fire. The only thing that affects the growth of the fire is there stuff for the fire to burn.

[40:12] Is there something to be consumed? And so God gives the same Holy Spirit to each of us. And the pillar of fire, the way it says that the tongue appeared unto them, cloven tongues of fire that sat upon each of them, it's almost like it's separated.

[40:27] So it'd be like a pillar of fire and then it's separated to each of them. And these are good, well-brought-up Jewish homeschooled kids. I'm sure they're homeschooled. And, right, they're going to see a pillar of fire.

[40:38] What are they going to think? The pillar of fire from the wilderness. God's presence over the tabernacle, leading our ancestors in the wilderness. God's presence represented. And then it just splits.

[40:49] And each one of them has a fire, the symbol of fire sitting upon their heads. And each one of us had the same Holy Spirit. And we can give that same Holy Spirit. We can, through witnessing to others and sharing with them, through encouraging brothers and sisters to be filled with the Spirit, we can take that little spark, right, and it can become a roaring fire.

[41:08] All that, the only difference and the only qualifier is what is there to burn. So how much does the Holy Spirit have of each of us? How much is going to be consumed? I can look at Natty and be like, man, I wish I had as much fire as that.

[41:23] You know, I could look at Henry and think, man, I wonder how, you know, how he got like that. Well, the only difference is I'm not giving God enough to consume. You know, I'm not giving the Holy Spirit enough of my life.

[41:35] That just blew my mind when I was like, why fire? And I thought, anything else, any other substance is going to diminish, but fire doesn't. Fire is like, as far as I know, I'm sure there's some other subatomic substance or whatever, that within nature, fire is like the only substance that will just continue to increase and is never decreased by handing it off.

[41:57] And then you think of where Jesus said, a smoking flax I won't put out, a bruise reed I won't break. So smoking flax is like, what is there? Well, there's a little spark and you know, and a little spark can start a forest fire, right?

[42:09] If you just give it something to burn. So let's give them our lives to burn for our God is a consuming fire. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

[42:23] That, unfortunately, so often is the emphasis and the focus. Whoa, God gave them other tongues. They're going to go out and start speaking. There's 120 of them potentially. There's all these people and they're all hearing them. But the first part's missed.

[42:34] They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. That's the material part. God filled them with his Spirit. Can you imagine what it was like at that moment? They had experienced three years of Jesus. It was amazing and wonderful.

[42:45] And then they never experienced anything like this. The other thing is the filling of the Holy Spirit always results in speaking. It always results with proclaiming. It always results with a speaking forth of God's truth, his word, his praises.

[43:01] We're supposed to be witnesses. That's what the Holy Spirit will do. So always results in a greater ability to speak forth the things of God. Maybe not in a context of street witnessing or evangelizing or preaching or whatever.

[43:16] But it will loose your tongue as we see what it's going to do here with these guys. As the Spirit gave them utterance, they spoke with other tongues. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven.

[43:30] This is only possible because of Rome. Rome at this time rules the world. Rome had built all the cities, I mean, and the streets. Rome had brought all these people under one nation.

[43:40] The Jews hated Rome. So many nations hated Rome. And yet God set this up perfectly. At this specific time, Rome was unified. And so that every nation, the Jews were there.

[43:52] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and went confounded. Because every man heard them speak in his own language. Last time everyone spoke in one language.

[44:04] Remember when that was? When the whole world could speak in one language? Kitty, when was the whole world speaking in one language? Right, at Babel. Good job. The whole world spoke in one language.

[44:17] And God had to change their languages because of the wickedness that they were able to accomplish. And here now, you see, on this side of the cross, this side of resurrection, you see how God, the resurrection and the new life of Christ, through the promises of the Holy Spirit, it turns even sin backwards.

[44:36] And they were confounded. Because the everyman heard them speak in his own language. Well, were they just running through Jerusalem? No, I think they were in the temple. Because there was devout men.

[44:47] It was Pentecost. It was the feasts. And these guys were praying. And they were at the only place they knew to go for that. That was the temple. And so here, they're all just kind of rushing out into the temple just to worship God in the place, in the house of God, where they're used to doing that.

[45:02] And they're all just crying out and worshiping God. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? So Galileans had a weird, I believe it was, I read a commentary, it said they had a certain softness to their speech.

[45:18] They weren't very, like, clear and constant. They were kind of, like, mumbly and a little soft in their speech. Probably southern. Right? Because remember when Peter is in Caiaphas' courtyard there in his house, and the one person says, I know you are a Galilean.

[45:37] You know, I know you're with Jesus. Your speech gives you away. And he's like, I am not. So they had a certain, you know, they're hicks, all right? They're from Galilee. Are not all these which speak Galileans?

[45:47] And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born? And Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene and strangers of Rome and Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians.

[46:09] We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And that's like, you know, you can kind of see on this very crude map. There's Jerusalem.

[46:20] And then you've got Rome way over here. Media, Elam, Arabia, Egypt, Libya. And then Asia. Not like Asia like we think of it. It was Phrygia, Pamphylia, Pontus.

[46:30] And so they all are in Jerusalem, all here for this Feast of Pentecost. And they are hearing every single one. The common language was Greek.

[46:41] Everybody spoke Greek. But they're hearing. So some dude coming from like, you know, media is like, whoa, he's speaking Median. I can't believe it.

[46:51] I've never heard that anyone in Jerusalem speak that before. How do we all hear them speaking our language? And they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, what does this mean?

[47:03] It means the new covenant. It means the new covenant is here in force, is what it means. Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine. Bro, these dudes are sloshed.

[47:15] They are drunk, is what it is. But Peter, standing up with the eleven. And so here it singles out. You got all the 120 or however many are left there. And then here, Peter, him and the eleven.

[47:28] You kind of picture them kind of coming together almost like, was I speaking another language? I was just praising God. That was coming out of my mouth as a different language? Oh, okay.

[47:39] All right. I thought it was just some kind of, you know, worshiping God language. And you kind of picture the eleven, you know, Peter and the twelve, Matthias, the other eleven, coming together like, what do you think this is? And then Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice.

[47:54] This was not Peter's voice. This was the Holy Spirit speaking through that voice. This Peter is completely different from chapter one. Lifting up his voice and said unto them, and I'm just going to kind of, I want to read through a, and not stop, but a bunch of his sermon.

[48:10] Because I want to get through it. And it's, I just want it to impact as we read it. And picture this Peter. Peter who denied Jesus, who had a hard time receiving restoration from Jesus.

[48:21] Peter who had just, what he thought, done a really good thing. And had the committee vote in Matthias. Yes, this Peter's just experienced something totally different in his walk.

[48:32] A new man becoming new. Even new again. He lifted up his voice and said, you men of Judea and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words.

[48:45] For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it's but the third hour of the day. So this is unreasonable to think that. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.

[49:01] And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And your young men shall see visions. And your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit.

[49:13] And they shall prophesy. The most unlikely of people. Handmaids, servants, prophesying. Speaking forth God's truth. And I'll show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath.

[49:28] Blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

[49:42] And so Peter is bringing into existence here. He's speaking the truth that the last days are here. And that the next thing in succession on the clock of God's prophetic calendar will be that the sun will be darkened, the moon turned to blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord has come.

[50:02] But then verse 21. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And it's almost like the Lord is like, man, I want to drag that part out as long as I can.

[50:12] And so we've been 2,000 plus years before that great and notable day of the Lord has come. The sun's not been darkened. The moon's not been turned to blood. There's not been vapor and fire and smoke because the Lord is still going, whosoever shall call on me shall be saved.

[50:25] I want more, more to be saved. Just a few more. And Peter had no idea what he was saying here. That whosoever, he was going to find out later when he goes to the Gentiles, what that will mean.

[50:39] You men of Israel, verse 22, hear you these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. The word literally means to be pointed out. A man pointed out by God. Among you, he was pointed out by miracles and wonders and signs.

[50:53] Nicodemus comes. And one of the other, later on, one of the Pharisees or one of the scribes says, we know that you come from God. For no man can do these works except he be from God.

[51:06] And God did in the midst of you, using those to point out that Jesus was from God. As you yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

[51:20] Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. That word loosed is dismissed. It's just dismissed.

[51:32] Death. For David speaks concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad.

[51:46] Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou will not leave my soul in hell. Neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And that would be where he says, I foresaw the Lord, that's Psalm 16.

[51:58] And then because thou will not leave my soul in hell. That is Psalm chapter 13. Again, he's pulling from two different Psalms. We will see this as we go through Acts.

[52:11] The resurrection many times to the Jews is presented through Psalms, through David. Peter does this and Paul does this. I never saw this before until going through this. Like, huh, they use David and the words of David to prove the resurrection, that it was prophesied to the Jews.

[52:26] They always go back to David. Verse 27, because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption, decay. That was made known unto me, the ways of life.

[52:40] Thou shall make me full of joy with thy countenance. I love that. God's face is not an angry face. God's face, his countenance is one that makes us full of joy. If you ever think you're looking at God's face and it's angry, well, most likely we've put a mask over it.

[52:54] You know, God's looking at us and we kind of slip up our mask. I knew it. He's angry at me because of our own presuppositions or whatever we've learned through, you know, through the growing up in the church or through religion or what our parents taught us or the culture was just within us that we should be, um, merit based.

[53:12] We do it with each other and with our kids. Well, you scratch my back. I scratch yours. And God just says, I'll scratch everybody's back. Doesn't matter what you do to me. And that thou shall make me full of joy with thy countenance.

[53:25] Are you getting this though? This is not Peter. I mean, look at the word he puts, the way he structures some of this. Um, verse 23, him being delivered by the terminant counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken him by wicked hands of crucified and slain whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible.

[53:41] He should be holding of it. That sounds nothing like the guy from chapter one, who's like, in those days, Peter stood up and said, Hey, men and brethren, this scripture must needs to be fulfilled. You know, this doesn't sound at all like Peter or the pedal, Peter from the gospels.

[53:57] Um, verse 29, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch, David, that he's both dead and buried and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

[54:07] Peter, Peter couldn't think through anything. And here he's logically putting this progression of thought and argument together. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruits of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.

[54:26] He's saying with such confidence and maturity that guys, God prophesied through David, that Jesus would be raised up to sit on his throne. There is no doubt here. This isn't, well, you know, I think this verse means this.

[54:38] Remember when Jesus, they said to him, the people said, we have never heard a man like this for he speaks with authority. This guy, he says like he knows what he's talking about. The Pharisees didn't do that.

[54:48] The, the, the priests and scribes, they didn't teach with authority. They always had a, a way out. Well, I don't know. Maybe. And the man, the church has cut itself off at the knees because it doesn't speak with the authority of God's word anymore.

[55:03] It speaks with the authority of culture. It speaks with the authority of whatever the latest politics is or, or science or something. It doesn't speak with the authority of God's word. God's word is the authority.

[55:13] Always. It doesn't change. And here Peter's presenting this. Verse 31. He's seeing this before David seeing this as a prophet being revealed this to, uh, to him by God.

[55:26] He's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell. Neither his flesh did see corruption. He wasn't left in the place of the dead, nor was he seeing decay.

[55:41] There was nothing. Death on the cross detracted nothing from Jesus. You know, there was nothing taken from him. First of all, everything was given, but he didn't lose anything.

[55:53] He gained everything. And anything that it constrains him even still, because he still has a body and will for all of eternity is nothing that was taken from him. It was something that he gave out of his own willing heart.

[56:06] There was no decay. Hell could not hold him. This Jesus has God raised up. Where have we are all witnesses and they all know it. He already said, you know it guys, you know, this, there's been infallible proofs.

[56:18] Um, and this same Jesus were witnesses of. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the father, the promise of the Holy spirit, he has shed forth this, which you now seen here.

[56:32] That's a cool verse. We know in Hebrews, it tells us, um, where it says, uh, wherefore laying aside every weight and sin that does so easily beset us, uh, let us run with patience.

[56:42] That word endurance, patience, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finish of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

[56:54] And so here we have Jesus at the right hand. Um, Zachariah, uh, speaks of him sitting at his right hand. And then Hebrews again, and Hebrews seven does.

[57:05] We won't look at all of those, but what is he doing there? Well, he ever lives to make intercession for us. Hebrews seven says that that's why he's there. Zachariah. I think it's Zachariah.

[57:15] That is when one of the point times, yeah, Satan comes to accuse, um, Jerubba bull or whoever the governor was that was trying to rebuild Jerusalem at that time.

[57:27] It says, Satan came to accuse him, um, to the throne. And so there's Jesus ever living to make insert intercession for us. There's the enemy accusing and Jesus on the right hand. But this is cool.

[57:37] Cause it says he being, he being by the right hand of God, exalted and having received of the father, the promise of the Holy spirit, you see Jesus kind of like ascending to heaven and, and God's kind of there, like with the gift box or whatever, the Holy spirit.

[57:50] And Jesus kind of comes and he's just hands it to him. And he's like, yes, you know, I don't know if he sat up there for 10 days and then dumped it out. So it would be at Pentecost or if it was like, that's when God gave it to the father, gave it to him and then he dumped it out.

[58:04] Either way, you know, Jesus was just, he, he had that and he was like, yes. And he shed forth this, which you now see in here. Peter's recognizing that he's recognizing that the promise of the father given way back in the gospels, when Jesus said, it's more needful that I go to you, that the comforter could come.

[58:24] This has been given, handed to Jesus, Jesus pours out the Holy spirit. And the Holy spirit is a person, right? He's kind of like, almost like released.

[58:34] It was like, just as, as Jesus was sent to earth by the father, Jesus now sends the Holy spirit to us. for David, verse 34 is not ascended into the heavens, but he has, but saith himself, the Lord sent unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes, thy footstools.

[58:52] therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

[59:03] The word assuredly there, kind of has within it the meaning also of safely, that this is a safe bet. This is a very safe thing you can believe in guys. You can know assuredly, you can put weight on this, that God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

[59:19] Earlier, Peter said to them, which God, in verse 22, where he said, that he did many signs among you, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know.

[59:31] And here again, over here, you know, he puts it to them, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Different Peter than chapter one. Chapter one is kind of like, well, men, brethren, I think this would be a good idea.

[59:42] Don't you? And here it's Peter in authority, confidence, in power, in truth, and in love, in grace, is extending to them, the grace of God.

[59:54] This is not to condemn them. This is to do exactly what's going to happen. The Holy Spirit is pricking their hearts. You know, I work with guys that are just in construction, and sometimes I just stand there and look at them and think, they have no clue.

[60:08] If I started to talk to them about the things of God, it'd be like, you know, talking a different language. And so I pray for them and pray that God would turn their hearts. But I pray, I pray God, open their hearts, bring hard times in their life, bring suffering, bring things that will awaken them to the fact that they need Jesus.

[60:24] You don't know you need a Savior until you need to be saved from something. And if life is just, yeah, it's great, everything's wonderful, you know, it doesn't need to be necessarily external hardships, like just maybe their mind to realize.

[60:35] You know, I pray that God will open their eyes, that they would see their end, where they're headed. They're headed for hell, that they would see that, and that God would open their eyes to that. So Peter, the Holy Spirit's using Peter to do that.

[60:46] He's presenting the truth, but he presents the truth in such a way that it doesn't release man from their responsibilities. It puts the responsibilities squarely on them for their sin, but it gives a remedy, and that's grace.

[61:01] Now when they heard this, verse 37, they were pricked in their hearts. And they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?

[61:14] This is huge for Jews. They have waited for the Messiah. The Holy Spirit, through the words of Peter, has just convinced them, pricked their hearts, that they murdered Messiah.

[61:25] You know, that's not, it's not a really good book title. The day I murdered Messiah. And they don't know what to do. And 1 Peter 3.15 is that verse we all know where Peter says, be ready to give every man an answer for the hope that is in you.

[61:43] That your speech be always seasoned with grace, sprinkled with salt. And so here Peter, he's probably when he's writing 1 Peter, he's thinking back to this. Be ready to give an answer. Peter, what do we do?

[61:55] I don't know. I've only ever had one person in my life respond to sharing the gospel. Yes, I want to be saved. That blew my mind. We would go out street missing all, you know, in Bible college.

[62:06] And no one ever wanted to get saved. You know, not with me anyway. I just did, that wasn't my calling and gift. I would present the truth. I had one kid and I didn't know what to do. I was like, I had never got past sharing the gospel to someone receiving the gospel.

[62:19] I'm like, ah, but pray, pray, let's pray. Um, and so Peter, here he is. Did Peter think this out ahead of time? Did he have his Romans road or his ABCs of salvation?

[62:31] No. He's just like, ah, in the flow though. What was he? Chapter two. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And Peter said unto them, repent, be baptized.

[62:43] Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He's like, guys, you can have it too, you know, but repent, change your thinking, repent of your sin, identify with Jesus.

[62:55] And yes, your sin, remission is to send back. I love that. I've been thinking of that because redemption turns back sin and the fall and corruption.

[63:06] And it works backwards. It works backwards into our life and redeems the fallen things. It works backwards into our nature and begins to conform it into Christ. For the promise, the promise of God fulfilled.

[63:19] The promise is unto you, to your children. And again, he didn't know what he was saying here. And to all that are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. With many other words.

[63:31] Note that because I've heard people teach, Peter used just this short sermon and they were all saved. Well, it says many other words. We're just giving a snapshot of it.

[63:42] But with many other words, did he testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Save yourselves. Was it specifically pointing out that generation? You know, my generation was okay, but this one's bad.

[63:55] No, not at all. He's just saying the world that we're in now has nothing redeemable about it. And it'll only drag you down. They are the ones who crucified Christ. Then they, that gladly received his word, were baptized.

[64:09] baptized. That's a hard thing. First Corinthians 12, three that says that no man says that Jesus is Lord except by the spirit of God. So it's only the Holy Spirit that allows us to say Jesus is Lord.

[64:22] That can confess him. But it's a hard thing sometimes to gladly receive the words of Jesus because they're so contrary to my nature and to my expectations. And this is where if we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit.

[64:35] I think we, that's why we need the word. We need to be able to hold it in front of us and go, God, it said in verse 28, you shall make me full of joy with your countenance. So that means when I see your face, it brings joy.

[64:46] I don't feel that right now. I feel like your face is scary to me. I feel like it's condemning me. I feel like it has expectations on me. But I know your word says opposite of that. So that means I'm not gladly receiving your words.

[64:58] I'm receiving something else, you know, and then I can say, you know, Holy Spirit, can you teach me all things? Can you bring all things to my remembrance? Can you show me these things that I have wrong? And I take that thought captive.

[65:09] And then God, just as he does here, he remission, he sends it back. He turns it backwards on itself and begins to work life into it. And the same day, there were added unto them about 3,000 souls.

[65:27] Now that's a big Bible study. 3,000 people. We're going to blow through this next section, but we'll probably come back to verse 42 through 47.

[65:40] And then Acts 3 is really short, but we're going to definitely sit in Acts 3 a little because there's a lot of spiritual application with Peter and John and that lame man. And I definitely want to come back again and look a little bit at 42 through 47.

[65:54] But it is the model of the church. It is the model of what church should be. It's the model of our relationship should be among each other, of what fellowship should be. But there added 3,000 souls, and they, the 3,000 souls, continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

[66:15] What doctrine? Like, if you knew Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, James, Thaddeus, and all of these guys for the last three years, and then you just kind of came up, you weren't here for this whole big thing, right?

[66:28] Let's say you were in Jericho visiting your aunt. And then you come back and, you know, your friend has become a believer through this experience. And you're like, what's going on, man?

[66:39] And he's like, oh, you know, it's great. Jesus is Messiah. And now we're just, you know, these apostles, they're teaching and we're just following their teaching. And if you knew them, you'd be like, what?

[66:50] Those 12 guys, what are they going to teach you? How to be like, ornery? How to fight with one another? Those guys don't know anything. It's what doctrine? Well, Jesus had built into them three years of doctrine.

[67:05] Three years. And they couldn't grasp it. They couldn't understand it. They didn't have the ability to retain it. And then the Holy Spirit comes and all of a sudden it's like, boom. So, read your Bibles. Read them.

[67:16] And they're like, I don't really understand that. Who cares? Read it. God's building in. He's building in. He's building in. And there will be a day that the Holy Spirit will put a few things together. Take a piece of a verse and a piece of a verse. He'll put it together in the person's life in front of you.

[67:28] It'll come out. You'll be like, I must be pretty smart. No, you're going to be like, whoa. That was the Lord. You know, that was the Lord who gave me that scripture. I don't necessarily memorize scripture.

[67:41] It's just, the Lord brings, sticks it in there. It's just how I am. So I always have to read King James because I'm used to the cadence and that's how I'll remember scripture. And it just kind of comes out at times. I used to not want to say anything.

[67:52] Like I'd be talking to someone or we'd be at church and I'd think of a scripture and I'd think that is so arrogant if I say that. I'd be like, oh, Mr. Holy Man trying to tell me a verse. Thank you. You know, and the Lord kind of reproved me one day and was like, who do you think is giving you that?

[68:04] Satan? You know, you think it's the flesh? If I'm giving you a word, speak it out and let it do what it does. And it's like, okay. So, you know, it's kind of a little joke in our house with our family and my kids.

[68:17] Like, oh, you know, what does it say when you text dad, you know, with a problem, you're going to get back a scripture and I'm praying for you. It's like, sometimes we just want someone to listen and dad's always like, oh, I'll pray for you and here's a verse.

[68:32] Take two of these and call me in the morning. And he's like, I don't know, that's how I'm wired. I'm not really good with counseling. It's like, if it's not in the word, I don't got anything, you know?

[68:42] And so like, the Lord brings scriptures to mind and it's like, hey, this seems to apply to your situation. Let's pray and ask God to do that. And so you see that happening here.

[68:54] Their doctrine, their teaching, they must have been blowing their own minds as the Holy Spirit is bringing things out. You know, as they're coming, new believers. Well, so what does that mean, you know, John, that the Holy Spirit's with me?

[69:06] What does that mean? And John's saying, what that means is that you can trust him to lead your life and he's gonna, you know, when you go to act in the flesh, the Lord's gonna be there to give you an alternative and not just to choose something different, but he'll do that in you and through you.

[69:19] So seek him and wait on him. And in fellowship, breaking of bread and in prayer, it's that simple, that simple. Stay in the word, be taught in sound doctrine.

[69:30] Timothy, Paul tells him over and over and over, sound doctrine, Timothy, sound doctrine. Is it in the word? Can it be found in the word? Was it, you know, taught by Jesus in the gospels, seen in the book of Acts and expounded on the epistles?

[69:44] It's doctrine. You can find it. Do you see a picture of that in the Old Testament? And you can see it then through in the New Testament. It's doctrine. If it's not, you know, if it's like, well, I can pray to angels and angels will come and do, no, you can't.

[69:57] It's not anywhere in scripture anybody's praying to angels. Are angels helpers? Yes. Do we pray to them? No. Fellowship. Man, that's one we don't do today. We just don't.

[70:08] There's just such a lack of that. COVID really knocked that hard. So easy to stream. So easy to just be okay, thinking I'm okay. And scripture says that as we see the day approaching, the day of Christ coming back, when he's going to come in those clouds, we should be gathering together all the more.

[70:24] And then Hebrews says, why? So we can edify one another in love, that we can be built up. Without each other, we lack. There's a certain lacking. Breaking of bread, that can be either communion or food or just eating together.

[70:37] I think it's both. But communion, remembering the Lord, and prayer. That's one. I think you'll find in most churches, there's fellowship, breaking of bread, and doctrine. But the prayer part, again, I know that's one from my life the Lord's been challenging me, just like, how much do I sit with him and just pray?

[70:52] I always feel like, well, I should probably be reading, probably studying. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. Now, the specific, the apostles, it doesn't say all of them.

[71:02] It says many signs and wonders. I mean, they will. We'll see others doing it. But there's definitely God is doing forth. He's definitely identifying these particular men. He's going to single some out that are going to be writing scripture, that they are the ones disseminating doctrine.

[71:18] Not everyone who's filled with the Spirit is meant to write the Bible. And all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need.

[71:31] And they continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. They did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all people.

[71:44] And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. I've heard it knocked a lot, this section, that, well, that was an experiment, you know, all trying to live communally. It didn't work. And then you can see why later Paul had to go and bring, you know, help to Jerusalem because they didn't have any food or money because they sold everything.

[72:02] It was a really dumb idea. Well, there's a couple things you've got to remember there. We're going to find out later there's a great famine. There's a famine at Jerusalem. You also have where as soon as you identify with Christ, you're cut off from society.

[72:13] If you got kicked out of your church, if I got kicked out of my church, that'd be pretty sad. You know, my daughter's marrying the pastor's son. That'd be awkward to get kicked out of the church. But I could always go find another one, right? Well, I'm just going to go to another one, whatever.

[72:24] It wasn't that way back then. This was woven into the fabric of society, the synagogues and the temple. So if you were identifying as Christ, you were kicked out of your family, you were kicked out of business, you were kicked out of society, you didn't have anything.

[72:37] So what are they doing? They're supporting one another. They have 3,000 souls that continued there. I'm sure some left, but they continued. Later, they're going to get like another 2,000 or 5,000, I can't remember, are going to get saved.

[72:49] I think it's 5,000 more. There's a lot of people saved and a lot of people staying in Jerusalem, a lot of people that have been cut off from society now as well. And so what are they doing?

[73:00] They're saying, hey, do you have a need? I'll help you out. We've got all things in common. And there's a oneness here, a desire to be together as much as possible. They were like daily in the temple.

[73:12] Why the temple? Well, imagine what the temple meant to them now, the fulfillment of this. And so this, I think, is a really good thing.

[73:22] This is how it should be. I think our hearts should be there. All things are common, not just like I can walk in your house and take something or you should sell your car because I want money or something like that, but that we have a willingness and a oneness among ourselves.

[73:35] There's just a heart here that is so beautiful. And it all comes out of verse 42, that they're just steadfastly in these things. If we are in the word, if we're in prayer and we're in fellowship, then the rest just flows from that.

[73:50] Praising God and having favor, the word there is charis, it's grace, our same word for grace, and having grace with all the people. And may God give us grace with all the people.

[74:01] And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Sue reminds me a lot that God can take care of his church. He's able to. It's not my job.

[74:14] God's able to do it. And God's able to add to his church or detract from it. What's our job? Just to do what verse 42 said. Continue steadfastly. Continue steadfastly. And that was a lot and it's late and I didn't mean to take so long.

[74:28] So what do we take from that? Well, I think we take from it that God has a fulfillment of his promise in our life. The same thing. This Holy Spirit's here to fill us with his spirit. That's the material point.

[74:40] Are we filled with the spirit? Then God will work out what that looks like. But are we walking in God's fulfilled promises? Or are we coming short of them? I'm reading my Bible. I'm praying.

[74:51] I'm around Christians. And I'm okay. I'm just going to live my American life. Or are we stopping and saying, I'm waiting on the Lord to be led and directed by the spirit.

[75:01] And so God's promises fulfilled bring about a fulfilling in our life of the Holy Spirit. And the cat's meowing. So.

[75:13] Jesus, we thank you. We love you. Just thank you as we go through this, Lord. What a change, Lord, in Peter. Lord, what an amazing life. Crashing and burning.

[75:24] Thinking he was at the peak with you. I'm never going to deny you. I'm with Jesus. And just crashing and burning. Everything gone. Than being restored by you.

[75:35] Back in the ministry. Back among those, your followers. Waiting on your promise. And thinking, oh, we got to do something here. And Lord, I think you looked on that.

[75:45] I think you just smiled. The same Peter. And you're the same Jesus. Just a little different circumstances. And I think you just still looked at him and said, oh, Peter. Simon, Simon.

[75:57] How I love you. And you never condemned, Lord. And then, but you had so much more. And I know you have so much more for my life and all our lives, Lord. I pray we'd walk in all the fullnesses of your promise, Lord.

[76:08] That we would not come short of it. That we would not let a little bit of fruit and a little bit of seeing you move and work satisfy us, Lord. But that we would be hungry to be steadfastly, to be daily in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayer.

[76:27] And Lord, I just specifically ask that you would stir up your people, Lord, in these last days, Lord, to just desire to be like those men on the Mount of Olives. They didn't want to go anywhere. Their Jesus had just gone to heaven and they were going to stand there until they grew into trees, just staring up into heaven.

[76:41] They loved you and they just wanted to be with you. Do that in our hearts, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[76:52]  Amen. Amen. Amen.