Sunday, August 14, 2022 AM

All right, good morning everyone Come on in have a seat We are ready to start worship start with a few announcements this morning our evening service tonight at 530 come back for that Looking ahead to this

Wednesday again. We did this last week, and we'll do it for a few more Wednesdays But we're taking a break from Wednesday meals for the rest of August so there will not be a meal this

Wednesday But please come for a prayer at 630 and also be in prayer for the leaders of tag

They're kind of taking a little bit of time off and pray for them as they kind of Sort through and plan and ask the

Lord's direction on how they can do tag for the kids this fall Looking ahead a couple

Sundays in the future Communion in the morning service on August 28th, and then that same day

After the evening service truth group For the kids I was reminded we have still have two openings

If you would like to sign up to help with a meal for truth group for the months of August and September Don't worry about cost the church will reimburse you whatever the cost is for those meals for those kids

But again, they'll eat about anything just if you want to help out with those you can see

Kristen Barnett or Patti Heinz and and plan that out for them and Then looking ahead to Sunday September 4th

Sunday school promotion So if you have kids that are looking to move up to another Sunday school class be it just be in contact with their

Sunday school teachers and let them know what you intend to do All right also on Sunday August 28th.

We're gonna be having a wedding shower Yay wet wedding shower for Joel and Nicole Joel de

Forest and Nicole swords That's gonna be the 28th To 30.

I'm sorry 12 30 p .m. To 2 30 p .m. Here in the Fellowship Hall Their registry information is there in the bulletin and you can

RSVP for that shower to Brittany Goulet if you wouldn't mind All right

Oh one other announcement The church is about to pull the permit for the demolition of the big mission house

So this is your last call if you want to look through that mission house and get anything out of it

Please see Hannah Hamilton as soon as possible All right, any other announcements before we start worship this morning our fighter verse for this week

Again, we're in Psalm 91 We're looking at verses 11 through 13 Speaking of Christ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways on their hands

They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone You will tread on the lion and the adder the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot

We're gonna have a time of prayer asking the Lord to bless our time this morning and then after that We will have

Randy open us in prayer Father just thank you so much for the opportunity to meet again and to worship you.

I pray that you might calm our hearts and Just free us from thinking of anything of the events of this week

I just pray that you would just help us to focus on you and you alone

Thank you so much for Jesus And Thank you that Jesus is our high priest and that we can come to him

With anything and we thank you for the love that you have shown us And I pray that you would

Help us to be an instrument To show what true love is to others.

I Pray that we would speak the love in truth Father pray

For Michael as he comes and preaches your word to us today. I pray that our hearts will be receptive

And that we will hear and obey Your word I Pray for the songs that we sing this morning that we might truly worship you in our hearts

I Just thank you for your goodness to us And Courageous this week to share

Christ with others of our hope in him And we ask it in Jesus name, amen

You stand with me for our call to worship Starting chapter 79 this morning would turn to Psalm 79.

We'll be reading verses 1 through 4 That's also in your bulletin there we go read with me together.

Oh God the nations have come into your inheritance They have defiled your holy temple.

They have laid Jerusalem in ruins They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food

The flesh of your faithful to the beast of the earth They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem and there was no one to bury them

We have become a taunt to our neighbors mocked and derided by those around us

Our first song this morning is in your Psalms for worship hymnal page 79 a

We'll sing all four verses. Oh God to your inheritance Oh Oh Oh To all

Our regular hymnal we'll sing on page 64 all creatures of our

God and King Oh Oh Now Ye clouds that stand in the long

O praise Him, Alleluia Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice

Here like some evening find a voice O praise

Him, O praise Him Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia Thou flowing water, pure and clear

Make music for Thy Lord to hear Alleluia, Alleluia Thou words so masterful and bright

And in His hand both warmth and light O praise

Him, O praise Him Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia And are ye men of tender heart

Forgiving others take your part O singing

Alleluia Ye who long pain and sorrow bear

Praise God and on Him cast your care O praise

Him, O praise Him Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia All things their

Creator bless And worship Him in humbleness

O praise Him, Alleluia Praise, praise the

Father, praise the Son And praise the

Spirit three in one O praise Him, O praise

Him Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia Burning with His anger and in thick rising smoke

His lips are full of fury and His tongue is like a devouring fire. His breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept and gladness of heart as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the

Lord to the rock of Israel. And the Lord will cause His majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of His arm to be seen and furious anger and a flame of devouring fire with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones.

The Assyrians will be terror -stricken at the voice of the Lord when He strikes with His rod and every stroke of the appointed staff that the

Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with the brandished arm

He will fight with them for a burning place has long been prepared. Indeed for the

King it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide with fire and wood and abundance.

The breath of the Lord like a stream of sulfur kindles it. Would you please pray with me?

Father we are in awe of your word and your righteousness. Your holiness we praise and bless.

We thank you Father that we have Jesus Christ to call upon to petition at the throne that we may have our hearts cleansed, we may have our eyes averted from distractions and brought back to you and your word.

We know you make it clear to us and by your spirit Father this morning make it clear to our hearts what you have to say and what you have us to see.

We praise you and we thank you in Christ's name. Amen.

You may be seated. Our next song is in our regular hymn book page 350 "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus."

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how

I've proved Him o 'er and o 'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious

Jesus, oh for grace to trust

Him more. Oh how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust

His cleansing blood. Just in simple faith to plunge me, meet the healing, cleansing flood.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how

I've proved Him o 'er and o 'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious

Jesus, oh for grace to trust

Him more. Yes, it's sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease.

Just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust

Him, how I've proved Him o 'er and o 'er.

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust

Him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust

Him, precious Jesus, Savior, Friend.

And I know that He is with me, will be with me to the end.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust

Him, how I've proved Him o 'er and o 'er.

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust

Him more. And then our last song is

He Will Hold Me Fast. There was a handout in the back.

I hope you were able to get that. I fear my faith will fail,

Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail,

He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hope through life's fearful path.

For my love is oft to come, He must hold me fast.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast, for my

Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast, those

He saves are His delight. Christ will hold me fast, precious in His holy sight.

He will hold me fast, He'll not let my soul be lost.

His promises shall last, bought by Him at such a cost.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast,

He will hold me fast, for my

Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast, for my life

He bled and died. Christ will hold me fast, justice has been satisfied.

He will hold me fast, raised with Him to endless life.

He will hold me fast, till our faith is turned to sight, when

He comes at last.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast, for my

Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast,

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast, for my

Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast.

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day.

Thank you for gathering us together in this place. We thank you for the grace that you have shown to us by your

Spirit and in your Son. We thank you for the salvation that we have in Christ and pray that you would help us today to rejoice in your truth.

And I pray that you would accomplish your will in us, that we would, in our love of Christ and our following Christ, that we would be light in this world, salt in this earth, and that you would receive the glory for the advance of your kingdom.

Let me pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 2. We'll be reading verses 14 through 21 this morning.

Acts chapter 2, verses 14 through 21. As we continue our look at the very important day of Pentecost that is recorded here in this chapter, a day which

Jesus told his disciples to be patient and to wait for as their task to make disciples of all the nations, their task of being his witnesses of the good news of the kingdom in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth, that task should not begin until they had received the promise from the

Father, the promise which Jesus also gave to them, none other than the person of the

Holy Spirit, who would come and bless them, fill them, empower them, equip them for this monumental, most important task of declaring the glory of God in Christ Jesus, his person and work, until the knowledge of the glory of God would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

This was their great task, but they could not do it on their own. It is not of their power, not of their might, not of their will, not of their abilities, but all of God, his power, his glory, his grace.

And there are many promises in the Old Testament, given the bleak situation of Old Testament Israel, given the bleak situation of idolatrous, unjust, immoral, covenant -breaking

Israel, the promises from the prophets were twofold.

One, that God would judge these breakers of the Old Covenant, but that God would bring about something better, that God would not fail to keep his promises, but in fact, he would keep his promises through the

New Covenant, and they were to anticipate this good news arriving in later generations, but to be made manifest there in their land, there in their city, there upon their holy mountain, they would discover the true realities of the

New Covenant. And now we have come to that moment in time, when the

Old Testament said, even as the prophets of old said, the premier sign of the

New Covenant would be the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would come upon all the people in the

New Covenant, not just a remnant. The Holy Spirit would bless and empower and equip all the members of the

New Covenant, not merely kings or priests or prophets, but all flesh in the

New Covenant would be so blessed. And so it is on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit arrives in that special way, and there is the sound of the roar of wind, and it is the sight of the tongues of fire coming upon the heads of the apostles, and the apostles begin in their awful

Galilean accent, begin to preach and proclaim the riches of God, the manifest gospel of God in the languages that they had never learned, people began to wonder in amazement and scratch their heads, and some began to scoff and to scorn and begin to say, oh they're just drunk.

But then Peter will not let this mockery of this most important work to stand.

He will respond, and this is the response that he gives. He begins to preach here in Acts chapter 2.

If you will please stand with me, and we're going to read verses 14 through 21. This is the word of our

Lord Christ through his spirit by his servant Luke. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day, but this is what was spoken by the prophet

Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and all my men servants and all my maidservants,

I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the

Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Peter does not want his audience, he does not want his fellow

Jews gathered there from all quarters of the empire for this feast of firstfruits, this harvest feast that they called

Pentecost. He does not want his fellow Jews to miss out on the meaning of Pentecost, what has just occurred through irreverent speculation.

This is speculation that at nine o 'clock in the morning, the best explanation for these

Galileans preaching the magnificent works of God in languages that they had never learned, in the heart languages of these

Jews who had been gathered there from the four quarters of the empire, they think the best explanation of that is that they're drunk on new wine at nine o 'clock in the morning.

You ever notice that the speculations of man trying to explain away the works of God are always this foolish?

But it doesn't need to make sense for rebels against God to believe it. They just need to say something and hold to it.

And so Peter will not allow this irreverent speculation to remain unchallenged. And he says, this makes no sense.

I'll tell you what is actually going on. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's just the third hour of the day.

No. Notice what he says. This is what was spoken of by Joel the prophet.

Here's a far better explanation for what is going on in front of you. The manifest evidence of the arrival of the

Holy Spirit. Let me tell you what this is. This is God keeping His promises. This is the most rational, the best explanation for what's going on.

It's God keeping His promises. It's God at work. You're beholding the acts of the risen

Lord Jesus Christ in the sending forth of the Holy Spirit to be at work amongst

His people. And so what Peter is saying is, this evidence that the

Holy Spirit is at work amongst the likes of us, and you have a hard time explaining it, well, you don't have to explain it.

God has already said what it is. This is what Joel said it would be. Welcome to the last days.

For the arrival of the new covenant signals the end of the old.

With the new covenant, with the substance, with Christ being high priest, Christ Himself calling His own person and work superior to all of the old covenant, for as the substance is better than the shadow, so when the substance arrives, why cling to the shadows?

Because the new has come, old things are now passing away. The old is obsolete and ready to pass away.

And so Peter is saying, welcome to the last days of the old covenant. That's what's going on here.

And we looked at those expressions last week. And Peter says, this is, he quotes

Joel in verses 17 and 18, and we see a prophecy about prophecy, about the Holy Spirit coming upon not just a few, not just a select one or two, but upon sons and daughters and young men and old men and maidservants and menservants.

All the members of the new covenant empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit to do what it is that they're called to do.

The last days of the old covenant are triggered by the effusion of the Spirit, which is the sign of the new.

And then we have an oracle of judgment in verses 19 through 20.

As Joel is being quoted here, Joel chapter two, verses 30 through 31. I advised you this morning to keep your bookmark in Acts 2 and Joel 2.

We'll be flipping back and forth because this is very, very important. It is incredibly significant for our understanding of the scriptures that we pay attention to how the apostles of Jesus Christ, the writers of the

New Testament, those to whom Jesus revealed the meaning of the

Old Testament from Moses and the writings and the prophets, how they all testified of him, how he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, remove the veil from Moses that they may see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

They would read the scriptures with an unveiled heart and see the glory of Christ. It is important that we see how the

New Testament interprets the old in light of Jesus, that we may understand what it is all about.

So it's important that we see what is said in Joel 2 and how Peter preaches it in Acts 2.

We are helpfully instructed in this way. So when we look at Joel chapter 2, look at verses 30 and 31, you'll notice the similarity of verses 28 and 29 to Acts 2 verses 17 and 18, continuing on with Peter's quotation, verses 30 and 31.

Sounds exactly like Acts chapter 2 verses 19 and 20. 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 coming of the great and awesome day of the

Lord. The great and awesome day of the

Lord. Wonders, wonders before the coming.

This word before is not an expression of time, but of location. It is the expression which means in the presence of, before the very face of.

So in the presence of the day of the Lord, in the light of this great and awesome day of the

Lord where he is judging and setting things straight, he is going to do wonders and signs.

Look at the terminology of judgment here. We have wonders and signs, Peter says in Acts 2.

Wonders here in verse 30 of Joel chapter 2. What are these wonders and signs?

These are miracles with meaning. These are miracles with meaning. This is not some kind of accident in history.

This isn't some sort of random event. These are miracles with meaning. We see blood and fire and smoke.

We see references to the sun and moon. Things are happening, but this is the terminology of judgment.

So just after this proclamation about the new covenant, about the good of the new covenant, about the effusion of the

Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit amongst all the flesh of the new covenant, we then have an expression of judgment.

And I think the most important aspect of this terminology is the fact that God is the one in charge.

God is the one who is acting. Notice in verse 30 of Joel 2, and I will show wonders.

I will show wonders. Even as he says in verse 29, I will pour out my spirit.

He also says I will show wonders. God is the actor. He is the one who is doing this.

Also back in Acts chapter 2, the very same thing is said in verse 19.

I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath. It's interesting to me that the

Hebrew word for show, translated as show here, is Nathan. We get the word named

Nathan. It means give. And in the Greek, it's doso, which also means give. God is not saying,

I'm a tour guide. These things happened in accidents of history, and I'm going to give you a little tour and tell you my point of view on their significance.

No, he is actually giving. He is the one who is providing these signs and these wonders.

He is the one who is issuing them. It is God who is rendering judgment. It is God who is recompensing evil.

It is God who is revealing the truth. These are miracles with meaning.

They are his works, and they mean what he means them to mean.

They come in context of, before the face of, the great and awesome day of the

Lord. This is a powerful day. This is a day that is, well, the

Greek word for awesome is, we get our word epiphany from, meaning I'm going to light it up.

That means two things. One, it's going to be very destructive and very informative. So the day of the

Lord is great, and it is awesome. It is full of meaning. It is God's action, and he is bringing it to pass.

Now look at the terminology for judgment being used. The terms for judgment, there are three terms for war.

Blood, fire, and vapor of smoke. We read in Acts 2 verse 19, the same language we find in Joel.

Blood, fire, and smoke. That's what happens when nations go to war.

That's what's happening right now in the Ukraine. It's blood, and it's fire, and it's smoke.

The awful devastation of war. And this is what is promised concerning the day of the

Lord. War is coming as part of what

God is doing in his great and awesome day. Also, we read about the moon being turned into blood and the sun being turned into darkness.

This is also terminology for warfare. These are the metaphors for defeat, for the end of government and authority.

Then you flip in your Bibles over to Isaiah 13. We'll take a look at a couple of passages there. In the original six days of creation, when

God created the world, he created everything in six days. And after he created light and divided the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness he called night.

Sometime after that, a few days later, he makes the sun and the moon and the stars.

And he says this greater light shall govern the day. The lesser light will govern the night.

And these stars that he put up into the heavens will be for times and seasons and years to govern the time in which we live.

So we will know what time it is based upon the beautiful and precise calendar that God has placed into the sky.

Nobody has ever exceeded the craftsmanship and the gears and the precision finery of what

God has made in the heavens. But these were said to govern. And after that, we find in the scriptures, the sun, moon, and stars being used as a metaphor for governing authorities.

Governing authorities that exist for a era of time. And so we read about situations where the sun and the moon and the stars fail.

The governing authorities fail. Their era of time is over.

There's a power failure. For example, let's go to Isaiah 13. Isaiah 13 in verse six begins this way.

Wail for the day of the Lord is at hand, which means it's about to take place.

Verse nine begins this way. Behold, the day of the Lord comes.

It's like you can see it on the horizon. Verse 10, for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light.

The sun will be darkened in its going forth and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

Sounds like there's going to be a power outage, right? That which God had placed in the heavens as a governing authority, governing authorities over time, suddenly will fail to do their job.

What does this mean? Verse 13 begins this way. Therefore, I will shake the heavens and the earth will move out of her place in the wrath of the

Lord of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. Here in Isaiah 13, we're hearing about the day of the

Lord. Whoa, whoa, the day of the Lord is at hand. Behold, the day of the Lord, you can see it, it comes.

And what will happen on the day of the Lord? The stars and the sun and the moon will fail to do what they're supposed to do.

It kind of sounds like the end of the world, doesn't it? What is this chapter about?

Verse one, the burden, another word, another translation, oracle, the burden against Babylon, which

Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. So this chapter talking about the day of the

Lord and the failure of sun, moon, and stars is about Babylon.

Which Babylon? You know, the one that got taken down by the Medes and the Persians. Verse 17, behold,

I will stir up the Medes against them who will not regard silver as for gold, they will not delight in it.

So Babylon went down many, many centuries ago. Millennia ago,

Babylon was destroyed in what is called the day of the

Lord. See, there's many, there's more than one day of the Lord. There was a day of the Lord for Edom, a day of the Lord for Babylon, a day of the

Lord for Egypt, a day of the Lord for Sodom and Gomorrah, and a day of the Lord here for Babylon.

And when the day of the Lord comes, guess what happens to the governing authorities who had presided over day and night, times and seasons and years in the empire of Babylon.

What happened to those governing authorities? Were they still in charge after the day of the Lord was done? They were not still in charge.

They were done, they were done with, they were moved aside, they had totally failed. And so you see, this is a metaphor for defeat, a metaphor for the end of a governing era.

These authorities are no longer in charge. This expression is used in many other locations, including the book of Joel, including in the

New Testament, the book of Matthew, and also here in the book of Acts. What we find here are terms for judgment, a not only divine intervention that God is the one who is doing it, but a devastating interruption.

There is a war that is going to happen in the context of the day of the Lord, and it's going to result in the overthrow of all manner of governing authorities.

That's what's being said. Now we've moved from Peter explaining the wonderful good news of the new covenant.

Hey, the Holy Spirit has arrived, and this is good news, and there's a big judgment coming.

Well, why is he saying that? Because he's simply quoting Joel, chapter two.

So let's consider the timing of this judgment. I don't know the last time you read through the book of Joel, but when you read through the book of Joel, you need to pay attention because in the same chapter, we're going to hear about more than one day of the

Lord. So we begin in chapter two, in verse one, "...Blow

the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the

Lord is coming, for it is at hand." And then this day of the

Lord, Joel is prophesying to his people who are breaking the covenant of God.

They are not doing right, and Joel is saying, God is going to bring a day of judgment against you because of your covenant unfaithfulness.

And what will come about in that day? Verses 10 and 11 of chapter two. After describing all of the enemies that God is going to use to destroy and to conquer his people, verses 10 and 11, "...concerning

this army, the earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness.

The Lord gives voice before his army, for his camp is very great, for strong is the one who executes his word, for the day of the

Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it?" God used the armies of Babylon to bring his day against his covenant -breaking people, and they, well, there's a power outage.

Sun, moon, and stars go down. And that was the destruction of Jerusalem, and the people who live there were exiled and taken all throughout the

Babylonian Empire. Following that, there is, after this exile is commenced, there is then a promise of restoration, as we find throughout the

Old Testament, after the prophets declare that there is judgment against the people of God for their breaking the covenant.

He also promises that they will be regathered to Jerusalem, and their God would manifest the new covenant, and that there would be a restoration of the kingdom to Israel, wherein the people of God once again will live in the place of God, under the rule of God, under God's holy anointed one.

The son of David is usually how he is described. And we see these new covenant promises here in Joel.

After considering how devastating this judgment is, after calling the people and saying, after God's judgment, you need to repent, you need to return to the

Lord with all your heart. It's more important that you return to the Lord in your hearts than to return to the land. But after you return to the

Lord and repent, there is going to be this promise, verse 18, Joel 2, then the

Lord will be zealous for his land and pity his people. The Lord will answer and say to his people, behold,

I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them.

I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. This is new covenant promise, new wine promise.

Have you ever noticed how new wine keeps showing up with Jesus? His first public miracle where he's going to declare the kingdom of God and how things are different in the new covenant, he goes to a wedding in Cana.

You remember what happened at Cana? They ran out, oh no, they ran out of wine.

And Jesus' mother says, they ran out of wine. He says, what am

I supposed to do about it? Here's what he does about it. He goes outside where there are these massive clay pots full of water, not any old water.

This is the water that everybody would use as they went inside the house to ceremonially cleanse their hands, following Levitical custom.

And Jesus says, enough of that, let's make it new wine. Ever noticed that?

Later on, as he's explaining why people are not going to necessarily flock, why the Jews may not necessarily flock to his message, he says, it's very simple.

They're drunk on the old wine of the old covenant, and they don't desire the new wine of the new covenant.

What's the mockery here in Acts 2? Oh, they're drunk, they're full of new wine. Peter says, that reminds me of a passage.

How about Joel chapter 2, where the promise is that after the exile, after the judgment of God upon his people for breaking covenant with him, that he would gather them back together, he would bless them and restore them with new wine.

There it is again in verse 24 of Joel 2, the threshing floor shall be full of wheat and the vat shall overflow with new wine and oil.

Then we have this passage. Don't take this passage out of context, please. Verse 25.

So I'll restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust.

This is all from Joel 1. My great army which I sent among you, the metaphor of the Babylonian armies, and you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the

Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. Now look at this promise and I want you to lay hold of it and don't let go.

And my people shall never be put to shame.

Do you see it? Never put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.

Do you see it? What does God promise his people after their Babylonian exile that if when they repent that he will restore them, he will restore to them the years that the locust has eaten.

He's going to bless them and he's going to love them. And what is his promise? That never again would his people be put to shame.

Now we need to believe the Lord when he says that. I want you to take that at face value in the plain meaning of that text.

God says my people will never be put to shame. That becomes an all -important consideration especially as we move into the

New Testament and consider just who this promise is for.

Just following this promise in verses 26 and 27 we have what we have already seen the promise of the outpouring of the

Holy Spirit as the sign of the new covenant. And then we have after that, after the arrival of the new covenant, then there's another day of the

Lord. After the arrival of the Holy Spirit, look, there's another day of the Lord. After he said

I will never let my people be put to shame, he says there's another day of the Lord. 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 coming and awesome day of the

Lord. This is described a little bit later on verses one through three of Joel 3.

For behold in those days and at that time when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

The way of talking about the valley of judgment. And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people, my heritage,

Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up my land. They have cast lots for my people, have given a boy's payment for a harlot and sold a girl for wine they may drink.

A little bit farther ahead, verses 14 through 17. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the

Lord is near in the valley of decision. Look, the sun and moon will grow dark and the stars will diminish their brightness.

The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but the

Lord will be a shelter for his people and the children and the strength of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the

Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem, then Jerusalem shall be holy and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.

Now, let's go back over to Acts chapter 2, verse 16.

Peter says, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. Now, is

Peter taking Joel chapter 2 out of context? Is he just playing around and messing around with the book of Joel?

Is he taking a portion out of Joel and saying, oh, I like that. I'm going to use that for my present purposes.

Is he ignoring the rest of the meaning of the book of Joel? Is he taking up the promises of God and saying, these are being fulfilled before your very eyes?

But is he doing that in a way that contradicts the rest of the book of Joel? Is the Holy Spirit inspiring

Peter in preaching and Luke and recording this inerrant word? Is the Holy Spirit messing around with scripture and interpreting it wrongly?

We have to say no. Thus, as a people of faith, we have to believe what it is that we read.

This is what was the prophet Joel spoke of. Welcome to the last days.

The last days of what? The last days of the old covenant. Why does it come to an end? Because there's going to be a judgment. The judgment is going to bring it to an end.

And distinctive in the book of Joel is a contrast. There's a mountain of deliverance that is revealed wherein

God is saying, come to the Mount Zion, come to Jerusalem. There'll be deliverance there.

But there's a valley of decision in which all manner of nations are going to be judged and destroyed.

So what's the timing of the judgment? Well, there was a day of the Lord where the people went into exile. There's the arrival of the new covenant where they're being gathered back into the

Lord's mountain. And there's another day of the Lord where in all manner of judgment occurs. This makes a lot of sense when you read

Matthew 21 through 24, where the arrival of the new covenant signals the last days of the old as Jesus comes and parades into Jerusalem and declares the kingdom of heaven.

And he begins to preach and tell parables about how the old is going to be judged, but then there's something new.

The old stewards are gone, but there'll be new. The old people are moved out of the way, but here's the new.

The old city is removed, but here's the new. And he keeps on telling the same story over and over again in various fashions.

And this makes sense. The last days of the old covenant showcase the blessings of the new because when the new arrives, it signals the end of the old covenant.

Well, what's the truth of this judgment? It's God who's acting here.

It's God who's acting here. It's his sovereignty. It's been his plan.

He's declared this is going to happen time and again. Nobody is going to be able to frustrate his plans.

It's by his power. Nobody can say, what is it you have done and turn his hand aside. It's in his holiness.

He is judging those who are unfaithful, not only his unfaithful covenant breakers, the breakers of the old covenant, but also judging the nations who he will bring against them.

And all manner of death and destruction is about to take place. Blood and fire and smoke.

Sun and moon overthrown. He acts in his sovereignty.

He acts by his power. He acts in his holiness, and he acts for his glory. Have you noticed that every time we look at a moment of judgment in the scriptures, and as we think of the great day of judgment that is yet to come, what is the common denominator?

What is a common denominator? Judgment always exposes the truth of a matter based on the standard of God.

His refining fire always shows what is dross and what is gold.

His light always exposes that which is corrupt and that which is right. And every time we see the day of the

Lord occur throughout biblical history time and again, a sifting occurs where God says, this is what is true.

That's the way the judgment of God works. And it's always his triumph. It's his day.

It's the day of the Lord, not man's day. It's the day of the Lord. He's the one who is in charge of it.

And he brings it about, and it magnificently, it undeniably ushers in his will, manifests his victory.

So it is in accord with the promise of the new covenant. The new covenant was brought about by the victory of Christ.

His death and his resurrection. Exclamation point, his ascension.

This is why the Holy Spirit has shown up in the way that he has because of Christ's victory, Christ's triumph, which is also why this judgment's about to take place.

How soon? Should they be worried? Peter continues his sermon, and we'll look at this in future opportunities, as the

Lord wills. He continues by reminding his audience that they should be concerned about blood, fire, and smoke, and sun and moon failing.

Why is that? Because they were guilty of the blood of the Lord Jesus. Because they were the ones who put

Christ, the Son of God, on the cross and had him murdered by the hands of the Romans.

So they ought to be concerned. And he preaches to them that they had betrayed the Lord of glory.

And do you know how the people responded to Peter? They were cut to the heart.

And they cried out. And they said, What should we do?

How can we be saved? And do you know what Peter tells them? Look at verse 40.

And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

Why just that perverse generation? I think our generation is pretty perverted. Why that perverse generation?

He didn't say, Be saved from perverse man. He said, Be saved from this perverse generation.

Why? Because that generation was slated for judgment according to the word of Jesus Christ. Blood and fire and smoke.

Sun and moon failing. Let's consider this promise of salvation.

In the face of God's promised wrath, the need for salvation is made all the more clear.

Look what it said. Peter says, Here's the promise of Joel about the arrival of the

Holy Spirit. Here's the promise of Joel of the coming judgment. The arrival of the new signals the end of the old. But here's the good news.

Verse 21, It shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I heard an awful story one time.

You may have noticed I don't let many other people up into the pulpit.

I'm glad to have Joe and Ken and any of our elders up in the pulpit, and maybe one or two of our missionaries, but I got burned so many times in my past letting missionaries up in the pulpit.

Maybe you've experienced that. I don't know. I had one guy get up and tell a story that he thought was just wonderful about how a missionary in deepest, darkest

South America was just wandering around and yelling out the name Jesus. Because if a native heard that foreign word that they had no idea what it meant, but intoned the very same syllables of Jesus, then according to this verse they would be saved.

That's not what this means. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This word This word means to call upon in behalf of one's own self.

To call upon the name of the Lord, and he clarifies who the Lord is. The Lord that Joe preaches, the

Lord that Peter preaches, and it's none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It means to call upon the

Lord as your helper. To call upon the Lord as your witness.

To call upon the Lord as your advocate. To make your appeal the

Lord Himself. Why would you need to do that? Joel has said it many a time.

The day of the Lord. Who can stand? Behold the day of the Lord. Who can stand?

Only those who call upon the name of the Lord. Who call upon the person and work of Jesus Christ to be their advocate, their standing in light of God's holy judgment.

That's what it means to call upon the name of the Lord. To call upon the name of the Lord means that He's my only hope, my only reason, my only advocate, my only standing before God on the day of judgment is

Christ. His person and His work. That's it. That's all I've got.

Call upon the name of the Lord. Appeal to Him only. As the hymn says, none but Jesus, none but Jesus, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good.

There is one name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved, and that is the name of Jesus Christ.

One mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the

Lamb of God. Our only appeal. Well, look at the promise.

Look at the breadth of the promise. Whoever calls upon the name of the

Lord shall be saved. All without distinction.

Peter says, you want to know how Galileans are full of the Holy Spirit? Because it's whoever calls upon the name of the

Lord. I'm preaching to you that you're from thousands of miles away, and you've just now come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, but you weren't born here, you don't have status here, but guess what?

Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Promises of the Old Testament are in the gathering of God's people back in the

New Covenant. They bring the nations with them. They bring the Gentiles with them. Why? Because it's whoever shall call upon the name of the

Lord. No matter what kind of Jew you are. No matter what kind of Gentile you are. The New Covenant blessed promise is whoever calls upon the name of the

Lord. All without distinction. Look, menservants and maidservants. Look, old men and young men.

Look, all kinds of people. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. Here is the promise.

Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Not the righteous. Not the righteous.

Not the righteous. Sinners Christ came to call. And He does call.

Go back over to Joel 2. Verse 32, And it shall come to pass that whoever calls in the name of the

Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the

Lord has said among the remnant whom the Lord calls. Called upon the name of the

Lord because the Lord is the one who calls. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved for it is the Lord who calls out

His remnant. The only possible confidence that we have that the gospel is truly indeed for whoever and is not a meritocracy and based on the smartest, the best located, the strength of will, heritage.

The only confidence that we have that indeed the gospel is indeed for whoever is that the

Lord Himself calls. This is what we're going to see time and again in the book of Acts.

But in Acts 13 is a good example. Verse 47. Verse 47,

Acts 13, For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, the nations.

What was the instructions? Be witnesses of Christ and declare the good news of the kingdom in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

That was the instructions. Proclaim the gospel to whoever, right? I have set you as a light to the

Gentiles, the nations, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.

Who is that? You go back to Isaiah 49 verse 6. You find out that was spoken of the Messiah, of Christ.

He is a light to the nations, salvation to the ends of the earth. Now look at verse 48. Now when the

Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

That's the only confidence that we have. That the gospel goes to whoever, wherever, whenever, is the absolute sovereignty of God in getting his word to the impossible places that we would never go and could never go.

Complain if you will. But the many of the innumerable multitude, Revelation 7, a multitude of the redeemed that no man could possibly count, too many that we can even count.

Well, we're not going to be complaining, are we? They say salvation belongs to God and to the

Lamb who's on the throne. So, the calling. Whoever calls, 100 % true.

Not the righteous and the one who calls. Do not a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is that you would feel your need of him.

This he gives you. This he gives you. This he gives you. Tis the Spirit's rising beam.

Salvation is all of grace. Now, the direction. Notice the direction. What does it say in Acts 2?

Look, there's a coming day of the Lord. It's an awful day of the Lord. It's a great day of the Lord. And it's going to be blood and fire and smoke.

And the sun will be turned to darkness. The moon should be turned to darkness. So, where will you go? Where will you run to to be saved?

Where will you go to be delivered? Especially with this generation being slated for judgment.

This perverse generation being slated for judgment. Where are they going to go for deliverance? Peter says, go to the

Lord. Call upon the name of the Lord. Run to the Lord. Doesn't Joel say the same thing? And Joel says more.

On the name of the Lord, whoever calls in the name of the Lord shall be saved. They shall be delivered. Explanation four.

In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there shall be deliverance. As the

Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls. Hang on a second. Didn't Jesus inform his followers to get out of Zion?

To get out of Jerusalem? Because of the coming judgment? Didn't he say that? When you see

Jerusalem surrounded by armies, leave Judea. Didn't he say, if you're going to be delivered from the judgment that comes upon this perverse generation, you've got to get out?

Don't go hide in the city, but leave? Didn't he say that? What is Peter doing quoting a passage that is telling people to go run into Jerusalem and run to Zion?

And find deliverance there. How in the world does that work? I'm glad you asked.

Peter is interpreting Joel 2 correctly in that Christ is the mediator of a new covenant.

A new covenant. Jerusalem and Zion where they stood at the moment where Peter was preaching his

Pentecost sermon was Jerusalem and Zion of the old covenant. Which was obsolete and ready to pass away.

But Peter is preaching the Lord, the mediator of the new covenant. Who is

Lord of Mount Zion and Jerusalem to this very day. A Mount Zion and a Jerusalem which has not passed away.

Which can never be shaken. And indeed, all who come to Christ come to this

Mount Zion and come to this Jerusalem. This is the promise of Hebrews 12. If you come to Jesus, Hebrews 12 says you have come to Zion.

You have come to Jerusalem. And indeed, when you come here, you are of the Lord. You are the

Lord's child. You are of the people of God. And guess what? Everybody who is in the new Jerusalem and everybody who is in Mount Zion shall never, ever be put to shame.

And nothing impure and alien has ever come into Christ's Jerusalem and Christ's Zion.

Don't look to the earthly Jerusalem. Don't look to the earthly Mount Zion.

Because there, the people of the old covenant were indeed once again put to shame.

Joel says, never again will my people be put to shame. That's how you know that the

Jerusalem in question and the people in question are those of the new covenant. Because the people of the old covenant and the

Jerusalem of the old covenant were once again put to shame. And the Gentiles and the nations rule over it.

And they are still in shame to this day. So you know where the promises of God are fulfilled according to the scriptures.

They are fulfilled in Christ. All of the promises of God are, yes, in Christ. 2

Corinthians 1 .20. So that's where we look for the fulfillment of the promise that the people of God will never be put to shame again.

Jerusalem will never fall, never be overrun by anything alien or sinful again. Forever holy because we're forever holy in Christ.

This is a true offer of deliverance. It shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the

Lord shall be saved. Saved. Deliverance. What is this deliverance that we have in Christ?

It is deliverance from the damnation of a holy God. A righteous damnation of a holy God. It is salvation because in Christ, who is our righteousness, we have an advocate before the

Father who pleads his own work, his own merits, and his own blood in our place and for our sake.

So that we will never again know the judgment, the condemnation, and the wrath of God. It is salvation.

It is deliverance from disaster. Not from suffering. I say from disaster.

You know what the difference is? Christians will suffer for Christ and with Christ and in Christ.

But it will never be a disaster. For God works all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

It's never a disaster when Christians suffer. What a disaster is, is when somebody loves sin, embraces sin, wallows in sin, suffering the consequences of their sin, sinfully blames other things, and is so ensnared in sin that their life is one disaster after another.

And we've got to stop saying that these people have been saved by Jesus, by the way. Are you hearing me?

Stop saying that people who are caught in the throes and the disasters of sin, decade upon decade, are people who have been saved by Jesus.

Quit lying about our Lord. That's not his salvation. His salvation gets pretty clear pretty fast.

He does come to save sinners. He does redeem us. He does get us out of the pit. But he doesn't leave us in disaster, okay?

There's real deliverance in Christ. And there's real deliverance from despair. Christians, we always, always, always, always have hope in Christ.

He is risen from the dead. He's at the right hand of the Father. He's going to return. We have hope.

Christians, we are delivered from despair in Christ. We're also delivered from deception. We do not have to be tossed to and fro by every wind of new doctrine, by every new statement on TV, by every new edict from the state.

We do not have to bow to deception. We have the light of Jesus Christ. And when we take up His word, by His light, who

He is, we can see whatever goes on around us in the light of His truth.

We do not have to remain in deception. We are delivered from deception in Christ.

The question really comes down to, if you want Jesus, do you want Christ? A lot of people don't.

They prefer their sin. They prefer their disaster. Ultimately, they embrace their damnation.

But the promise is, whoever will do homage to the Son, and find refuge in Him, will be blessed.

Let's pray. Father, I thank You for the time You've given us in Your word. I thank You for the promise of salvation, that it is so free, and so large, and so sure.

We thank You that You are good in all that You do. We pray that You would help us to continue to praise

You and to worship You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Would you stand with me for our song of interdiction?

We're to boast in the Lord all the day long. So, let's sing together,

To God be the glory, great things He has done. Page 66. To God be the glory, great things

He has done. So loved He the world that He gave us

His Son, Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,

And opened the life in that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear

His voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice.

O come to the Father, through Jesus the

Son, And give Him the glory, great things

He has done. May the love of the

Father, and the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. We are dismissed.