Sunday Morning Worship Service June 7, 2020

Good morning in this beautiful, beautiful late spring day. Perfect weather again this week for an outdoor service. And it seems like maybe the gnats have subsided a little bit today. I don't know. Either that, I was concerned when I put this shirt on this morning that maybe it would attract the gnats.

Maybe it's repelled them. I don't know. Anyway, glad you're here today. On your handout that you picked up when you came in, just a couple of announcements. This Wednesday, we will continue the online midweek service.

But it probably will be the last time. We'll probably go to on-site midweek services in a couple of weeks. And we'll say more about that next Lord's Day. But this Wednesday night, 7 o 'clock, 7 to 730, we'll do the online.

Anybody that would like to come and sit during that time and maybe have a little bit of fellowship, that'd be fine. You could do that. Then two weeks from today, June 21, Gordon Taylor is going to be here.

And we'll have just that morning service on that day. Chris and I are going to finally get a little bit of a getaway for a few days. But we'll be back for Sunday. But look forward to Gordon Taylor being with us for that Lord's Day.

Last evening, we had a graduation open house for one of our young people who had graduated or actually gets her diploma this week from Sterling High School. And she's sitting all the way in the back. So she gets a long way to come to come up and get a gift from the church, Allison McCann.

So come on ahead, Allison. And Justin Hemmon also. He's not here, is he? OK, well, Kevin, come and get this for Justin. Would you come on ahead? We appreciate these young people and how God has blessed our church with them.

And it's been a blessing to watch them grow and develop through the years. And especially, I was looking at Allison's display last night at the different pictures. And the one that I remember from about 17 years ago.

So a lot has changed in the last 17 and 10 months. So Allison, and take this for Justin. Justin is out in the work world and has to work a lot of Sundays. So all right, we want to begin this morning with Psalm 104.

And verses 31 through 33 say, May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. We recognize that our God is a God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today the service is going to have a lot to do with the ministry of the Holy Spirit because we're looking at Acts chapter 2.

So we'll be singing first hymn this morning, Come Thou Almighty King, is a song that recognizes the Trinity. So Jim, come please and lead us in that opening song.

Come Thou Almighty King. All four verses together.

Prayer, Dan, would you please come and open our service in prayer this morning?

Appreciate Dan serving as one of our deacons. Dan, let's pray. Father, we do thank you for the beautiful day you've given to us to come to worship you, to lift up our voices to you, Father. We thank you for our health.

We thank you for our country. We thank you for your goodness to each and every one of us, Father. Now as we come today, help us, oh Father, to hear your word and apply it to our hearts and our lives. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

For our psalm reading this morning, we'll be looking at Psalm 143. Read verses seven through 12. Psalm 143, verses seven through 12. It's a song of David and he writes, hear me speedily, oh Lord, my spirit faileth.

Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Deliver me, oh Lord, from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, oh Lord, for thy name's sake.

For thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy, cut off mine enemies. And destroy all of them that afflict my soul. For I am thy servant. Lord, add his blessing to the reading of this psalm.

The next song that we're gonna sing on your song sheet is, the text is new to us. It's old text, old hymn text. I think you'll recognize the tune. The tune is a much more familiar one. So, but just to make sure, I'm gonna have Kelly play that tune for us.

And then Jim will come and lead us in that next hymn.

So let's sing it all together, all four verses.

Our missionary of the week is Jim Stroop.

Jim leads the Law and Grace Ministries regional director for that jail ministry and like churches that have not been able to meet for the last almost three months, until recently. Likewise, Jim has not been able to get into the jails to do his work of holding services and Bible studies and so forth.

But I understand that's changing this week, is that right? So pray for Jim as he and the chaplains are able to get back into the jails and to minister to those that they've missed for quite some time.

Hopefully a lot of them have done their time, been released, and yet pray for that ministry. And then also pray for the Shedders, Larry and Emily and their family have been serving in Bolivia. And you remember, maybe you remember, they've been trying to get back to the States.

Larry had this stroke a year and a half ago or so, and just not able to continue the demands of that ministry in Bolivia. So they had all these plans set to come back to the States and really just leave the field, find a new avenue.

And then the pandemic hit, and so they ended up getting stuck in Bolivia for the last three months and trying to get out. Well, they just found out a few days ago that a repatriation flight is leaving this Tuesday from Bolivia coming to the States, and they have a booking on that flight.

They've already traveled to Santa Cruz, the city from which they need to fly. So they asked us to pray, number one, that the flight actually does occur. They said things change all the time. And so pray that they are actually able to get that flight.

And then they, so they leave, supposed to leave Santa Cruz on Tuesday and end up arriving in Chicago on Wednesday. They also asked us to pray for just the stress and the emotions of this whole situation.

I don't think any of us can really appreciate what they're going through and having to leave the field and the circumstances under which they have to leave it and everything else. So pray for them, pray for their family, their children, some of their kids were born on the field and this is their life, this is their home.

So a challenging thing for them. And then continue to pray for Bob and Jerry as Bob waits test results on this biopsy. So let's look to the Lord in prayer, shall we? So our Father and our God, we are thankful today for the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

He is, in your word, called the Comforter or the Encourager or the Exhorter. He convicts, but he also comforts. He exhorts, but he also calms. He gives life and he brings the conviction of sin to bring about the glorious regeneration of the sinner.

We thank you for the work of the Spirit and that the Holy Spirit who dwells within us is here in our midst together today. And we pray that he would do his work in our hearts, in our lives, in our minds.

He would open our eyes to see the truth of your word, open our hearts to receive it, open our wills to obey it. Father, we do pray also for these folks who are in need today. We think of Larry and Emily and their family as they anticipate leaving the field of Bolivia on Tuesday.

Pray that the details would all fall into place. It would please you that they would make that flight and get back to the States. Father, I pray that you'd comfort their hearts. They're surely, surely grieving over this situation.

Those they're leaving behind also are grieving their departure. I pray for their children that they may be struggling with confusion and uncertainty and undoubtedly questions about the future. I just pray that you'd give them a peace of mind that only you can give.

And I pray for your spirit to give comfort to their hearts. I pray for Jim as he and the chaplains resume jail ministry this week. Pray that you would give them great wisdom and give them the words to speak to those that they come in contact with.

May it be a productive week in law and grace ministry this week. Also pray for Bob and Jerry. Continue to comfort their hearts and give grace and sustaining grace, especially as they wait, patience, as they wait for the outcome of this biopsy.

Father, for those who can't be here today because of physical affliction and infirmity, think of those who are shut in. For Sue Cherry, for Jerry Sailors, for Jeannie Ludwig, for Dean Kinnaman, and then also for Bob.

And just pray that those who can't get out to any kind of service, and think of Sue Cherry as well, who's not able to get out. I just pray that you would give them grace and sustain them as they are undoubtedly feeling a sense of loneliness in these days without being able to have visitors, and just give them grace for these days.

Father, thank you for the freedom that we have today to assemble together. Thank you for the beautiful day that it is, that we can rejoice in your glory, even as we are surrounded by the glory of the sunlight.

And the warmth of the sun reminds us also of the warmth of your love. We thank you for these gifts that you give to us. Bless the remainder of our service today, we pray. We commit it to you in Jesus' name.

We have scripture reading. Sorry, I didn't bring my cheat sheet with me that you have in front of you. The next song, the next hymn we're gonna sing, another hymn of the Holy Spirit, more recently written, but is a blessing to us.

Jim, please.

It's on the back of your packet there, Holy Spirit. It's a title, and we'll sing all three verses together. Holy Spirit. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Your Bibles, turn to Acts chapter two.

For our scripture reading this morning, Acts chapter two, wanna read verses one to 13. Luke is writing, recording the events on the day of Pentecost, and he writes, "'When the day of Pentecost was fully come, "'they were all with one accord in one place.

"'And suddenly there came a sound from heaven "'as of a rushing, mighty wind, "'and it filled all the house where they were sitting.'". Good timing on that breeze coming through, isn't it? "'And there appeared unto them cloven tongues "'like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

"'And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, "'and began to speak with other tongues "'as the Spirit gave them utterance. "'And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, "'devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

"'And when this was noised abroad, "'the multitude came together and were confounded "'because that every man heard them speak "'in his own language. "'And they were all amazed and marveled, "'saying one to another, "'Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?

"'How here we every man in our own tongue "'were in we were born, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, "'and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, "'and Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, "'Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, "'and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, "'and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, "'Cretes and Arabians.

"'We do hear them speak in our own tongues "'the wonderful works of God. "'And they were all amazed. "'And they were all amazed and were in doubt, "'saying one to another, "'What does this mean?'. "'Others, mocking, said, "'These men are full of new wine.'".

Brief prayer together. Our Father and our God, I pray as we look at this fulfillment of a period of waiting, that we would be blessed and encouraged by the work and ministry of the gift that you've given, the Holy Spirit.

This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, it was in 1967, and my mom and dad had promised us about a month beforehand that we were going to go on another camping trip. Now, in previous years, we'd done some camping, but it was in these pop-up campers.

You know, those are cool. Those are fun to camp in. But they told us this was gonna be special. We were going to get a real camping trailer, not one of the pop-up things. We weren't gonna sleep in tents.

And it was gonna be a self-camping, you know what a camping trailer is. So, now, a nine-year-old boy, my younger brother, my older brother, we were pretty excited about the possibility of going camping again, looking forward to this promise of this trip, and the anticipation, looking for it, waiting for it.

The day is getting closer, and we're putting things, getting things together, all the camping gear, and getting our stuff packed and ready for that day. Our folks just bought a brand-new 1967 Buick LeSabre.

Beautiful car, maroon with a white hard top, burgundy interior. And this car had a lot of muscle. It was gonna be plenty of muscle to tow this trailer. So, the day before, my dad took the brand-new car to the camp, the facility where we rented the trailer, from which we rented the trailer, got a hitch put on the back of that thing, the car, and hitched up the camper and brought it home.

And that night, we loaded up the camper. The next morning, we put all the last-minute stuff in the trunk and in the camper, and we're ready to go. And boy, the excitement, you could just taste it, right?

The excitement, the promise was finally being fulfilled. The waiting was about to be over. And we all piled in the car, and with great enthusiasm and excitement, didn't even get a chance, didn't even get a chance to start fighting in the backseat of the car.

Didn't even have a chance to do that yet. And pulled out of the driveway of our house, and as the back of the car and the camper went over the little hill of the drive to go out into the street, the weight of the camper on that bumper and the hitch on that bumper literally tore that bumper right off the back of that brand-new car.

So, we pulled out onto Herrick Avenue, just dragging the bumper and the trailer behind us, pulled out onto Herrick Avenue in Wellington, Ohio, and parked the car off to the side. And Dad gets out and looks at it to assess the situation, and he says, well, no camping trip this year.

And that was the end of it, just like that. I don't remember much that happened after that. I just remember the waiting, the anticipation, and when the waiting was finally over, terrible disappointment.

Well, in Acts chapter one, verse four, the Lord Jesus told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of God, the promise of the Spirit that he would give. And he says it's not gonna be very many days from now.

Didn't know how long it was gonna be. Jesus didn't specify to them, just said it's not gonna be very long. So, go and wait. So, here they are in this period of waiting. They went and waited. And can you imagine the pent-up anticipation?

You know, what is this gonna be like? What is no disappointment? There is no letdown. Instead, the Lord God gives his Spirit and powerful, amazing impact results. Notice here in verse one, how the heaven, and he had told them to go back to Jerusalem and to wait.

We read back in chapter one that that's exactly what they did. That in verse 12, they returned to Jerusalem. And then it says, who all was together. And in verse 14, it says, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.

So, that unity that existed right after the Ascension, when they got together in this place, it continued day after day after day. And here, on the day of Pentecost, 10 days later, the unity still is holding the people together, these followers of Jesus together, and they wait patiently.

And they are promises that have no specific. There are three different festivals in Leviticus 23, verse five. On the 14th day of the first month is the Lord's Passover. Now, that should cause you to perk up a little bit.

Passover, wait a minute. Passover hasn't been too long ago, has it? When was Jesus crucified? After the Passover meal, remember that? His disciples, they had the last supper. The last supper was a Passover meal.

Now, there was actually two different ways that Passover was celebrated. The Galilean Jews celebrated it on one day, and the Jews from Jerusalem and Judea celebrated it the next day. That's why the crucifixion took place also on Passover day.

But anyway, the point is that on Passover, Jesus was crucified. And I would remind you that Paul tells us that Christ is our Passover lamb. He says in 1 Corinthians 5, 7, that Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.

So the death of Christ on that crucifixion day was the death of the ultimate Passover lamb. All right, now look at verse six in Leviticus 23, verse six. The next feast is the feast of unleavened bread.

And this was held on the Passover, the day after Passover Sabbath. And in the Jewish calendar and practice, that occurred on Sunday after Passover every year until A .D. 70. The feast of unleavened bread held on the Sunday after Passover.

Christ was crucified as our Passover lamb. What happened on the Sunday after Passover, the feast of unleavened bread day? What happened? Up from the grave, he arose. He arose. Now if you look at verse 10, the last part of verse 10 tells us that this feast of unleavened bread involved the offering of the firstfruits of a grain offering.

He says, when you come into the land which I give you, you shall reap the harvest thereof, and then shall you bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest. So on this feast of unleavened bread, they were supposed to bring the firstfruits of the harvest.

Christ, I remind you, is the firstfruits of them that slept, 1 Corinthians 15, 20 tells us. Christ is our Passover lamb. Celebration or feast number one. Christ is the firstfruits of them that slept. Celebration number two, feast number two.

But then down in verses 15 and 16, it says, and you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, that is that feast of unleavened bread, you shall count seven Sabbaths shall be complete.

Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number 50 days, and you shall offer a new meal or food offering unto the Lord. That 50 days later is the feast of Pentecost, which takes us to Acts chapter two.

So you see, I want you to see how in the Lord establishing and God establishing these feasts in Leviticus chapter 23, he was creating a picture, a timetable, now it wasn't a timetable that was understood by the disciples while they were waiting.

In other words, when the Lord ascended and he said, wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit to come, not many days hence, they didn't put it all together and say, okay, well, we've had Passover and we've had the feast of unleavened bread, so the gift is going to come on the day of Pentecost.

No, but when the day of Pentecost was fully come, that third festival, the feast of Pentecost, on that day, the gift of the Holy Spirit was given. Now, did you notice in Leviticus 23 when we read about that day, that Pentecost festival, that there was also to be offered another firstfruits offering, right?

What does that have to do with the Holy Spirit? I just remind you that Paul tells us in Romans 8 .23 that the Holy Spirit is the firstfruits of our inheritance. We have received the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit.

So there is, on this day when the waiting is finally over, there is a fulfillment, there is an accomplishment of the divine sovereign Lord fulfilling His promise according to His divine timetable. The point of this is that God sent His Spirit according to the Leviticus 23 pattern, according to His design, to His plan, and not because of any activity of man.

God, the sovereign gift giver, finally fulfills His promise on the day that the waiting is over. And He fulfills this promise to His people in verse one, but He does so to powerfully equip His people for service.

And this comes out in verses two through four. And He does so by sending some very graphic, powerful indicators of that equipping for service. So in verse two, we read that suddenly, Acts chapter two, verse two, suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

So God in His giving of this gift of the Spirit sends with Him an overwhelming sound of wind. There is significance to that because throughout the scriptures, wind represents the Spirit of God. The word wind itself is the word spirit, or pneuma, from which we get the word spirit, Holy Spirit.

The wind represents the Spirit of God, and we see this all the way back in the book, in the beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis. Chapter one, second verse. The Spirit of God hovered over the face of the earth.

And that word spirit is the Hebrew word for wind or breath. The Spirit of God hovered over the creation in that raw power as creation is coming together. But the Spirit of God, as wind, also communicates powerful, life-giving qualities.

You remember the vision that Ezekiel had in Ezekiel 37? The vision of the valley of dry bones, remember that? Ezekiel was taken to this valley, and he looks out over this valley, and he just sees thousands and thousands of bones, human bones, skeletal bones, scattered abroad.

And he says, what is the significance of this? The Lord says, do you see what the significance of this is? He says, no, what is this all about? He says, speak, speak to the bones. Ezekiel preaches to the bones.

And as he speaks, the bones start rattling, and they start coming together. And that's the basis of that Negro spiritual, where the ankle bone's connected to that one. That one, you remember that one?

The shin bone's connected to the knee bone, and then, yeah, okay. So those bones, the muscles are reattached to the bones, and the flesh is put on these, as these bones all come together and form people again, and the flesh is put back on these skeletons, but they're still all lifeless.

And then God says to Ezekiel, preach to them again. And as he speaks, the wind, the breath of God, the spirit of God comes into these lifeless bodies, corpses, and gives life to these lifeless bodies.

So when we see this picture here, this imagery here in Acts chapter two, of God fulfilling his promise, the wait is finally over, and this great, overwhelming, rushing wind comes in the accompaniment of this gift, the wind itself communicates the nature of the gift that is given.

It is, indeed, the spirit of God. So he sends this overwhelming sound of wind, but then he also sends, in verses three and four, an overpowering sign of tongues. And notice there are two different kinds of tongues here.

One is an image, and one is a verbal expression. There are the fiery tongues in verse three. Says, there appeared unto them these cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. Once again, like the wind, representing the spirit of God, the gift that has been given, these fiery tongues that descend and sit upon each of the disciples also represents the spirit of God in several different facets of the spirit's work and ministry.

One of those facets is the spirit's purifying work. Remember Isaiah's vision in Isaiah chapter six, in his calling, he saw the Lord high and lifted up on his throne, and the angelic beings are declaring holy, holy, holy, and then it just causes Isaiah to tremble and recognize his own unholiness, his own sinfulness.

And he says, woe in me, woe is me, for I am undone. And then what he says is, I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell among a people of unclean lips. And then you know what happens? What happens next? One of the angels goes and takes coal from off of the fire, the fire, and takes that coal and touches it to the lips of Isaiah the prophet, purifying his unclean lips.

So here the Holy Spirit of God comes as tongues of fire upon each of these disciples, these followers of Christ, signifying the purifying work that the Holy Spirit does. And those tongues came and sat upon them.

That indicates the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. Do you know Jesus as your Savior? You've trusted Christ as your Savior. Well, that moment that you trusted Christ and you came to faith in Christ, you were immediately indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and here's the thing, you have been ever since.

The Holy Spirit came and sat upon you, indwelt you, and he has been indwelling you ever since. That's one of the works and ministries of the Holy Spirit. And then it says at the beginning of verse four, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This indicates the controlling power of the Spirit of God. There's a distinction between the filling of the Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit. You understand that, right?

The baptism of the Spirit is a one-time occurrence. The baptism of the Spirit is what happens to you when you come to faith in Christ. You are baptized by the Spirit of God into the body of Christ. You can read of that in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13.

We are all, every person who is a true believer in Christ, we are all baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ, into one body. That's the baptism of the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit has more to do with the controlling work of the Spirit of God, which ebbs and flows, if you will.

It's his control in your life. In the book of Acts, the filling of the Spirit is also, almost always accompanied with some particular act of service related to the proclamation of the gospel. For example, in chapter four, verse eight, it occurs a couple times in chapter four.

In verse eight, we read, it says, "'Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, "'said unto them, you rulers of the people "'and elders of Israel,' and he goes on to speak. And in verse 31, Acts 4, 31, it says, "'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken "'where they were assembled together, "'and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,' "'Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God "'with boldness.'".

And so when you read about the filling of the Spirit, think about the fact that what's going on, even like we read in Ephesians chapter four, be filled with the Spirit, be controlled by the Spirit. It has to do with the controlling work of the Spirit of God.

And then in the last part of verse four, it says, "'They were filled with the Spirit of God, "'and they began to speak with other tongues "'as the Spirit gave them utterance.'". So the fiery tongues refer or speak of the Holy Spirit's ministry of equipping God's people for service.

The Spirit of God comes in the form of these cloven tongues, and they began to speak. They began to speak. So God sends the overpowering sign of the fiery tongues in verses three and four, and then he also sends the overpowering sign of the verbal tongues of the last part of verse four and following.

The verbal tongues. It says, "'They spoke with other tongues "'as the Spirit gave them utterance.'". Now, this verbal tongues that occurs here in Acts 2 occurs three times of significance. Here in Acts 2, and in each time, it's connected to the preaching of the gospel.

Here, the disciples who have had this, whose wait has been fulfilled, waiting has been over, the promise has come. The Spirit comes upon them. They speak with these other tongues, proclaiming the gospel to Jews in Jerusalem.

We read of this again, speaking of tongues, in Acts 10, verse 46, where the gospel has come to Gentiles in Israel. Remember, that's related to the conversion of Cornelius, the Gentile, a Gentile in Israel.

But then in chapter 19, verse six, again, they speak in tongues, but now the speaking in tongues is to proclaim the gospel that is global, beyond Israel. The point is this, that the Spirit of God uses this gift, gives this gift of the speaking in tongues in these three different occasions to express the communication of the gospel in further expansive ways.

First to the Jews in Jerusalem, then to Gentiles in Israel, and then to all the world, the gospel is to be proclaimed. One thing we should note about these tongues that occur here, and in chapter 10, as well as in chapter 16, is that they are known languages.

They're foreign to the speaker, but they're known to the hearer. Let me show you this, look at verse six. It says, and then it says, noised abroad, the multitude came together, and they were confounded.

They were like scratching their heads. What in the world is going on here? Because that every man heard them speak in his own language. It's also in verse eight. They asked the question, how do we hear every man in our own language wherein we were born?

So it's as if, okay, here we are, English-speaking people, and most of us are probably not bilingual, definitely not fluently bilingual, most of us. I'm not. I know ein bisschen Deutsch, and poquito Español, even less Español than Deutsch.

But this gift, if it had been given to me this morning, and there were 20 of the people here today were Hispanic people, and it would be as if I got up here, and I started to speak, and I have my notes all written in English, and I have my Bible written in English, but as I'm reading my Bible, and as I'm communicating my notes, I'm thinking English, and it's coming out Español.

That's this gift that's going on here. The Holy Spirit gives them. They're known languages. And the target, the focus of this gift that the Spirit of God gives, the focus, the target of this gift is unconverted individuals, and especially Israel.

We know this because of what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14, 21, that tongues are not given as a gift or assigned to believers, but to unbelievers, and they are especially assigned to Israel, to the Jewish people.

They target unbelievers. And here's another fascinating thing about this gift of tongues, as it's given on this day of Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit. It actually symbolizes a reversal of the curse.

Here's what I mean by that. In Genesis chapter 10, we are given a catalog of the nations, if you will. It's a list of all the different kinds, all the different, I don't want to say nationalities, because they weren't nations, but all the different people groups in Genesis chapter 10.

And what comes next in Genesis 11, do you remember? It's the story of the Tower of Babel. And you remember that story, right? These people, all these different people groups. All had descended from Adam and Eve, and then from Noah and his wife and sons, but you had all these different people groups throughout this time.

And they all spoke one language. They all came together and said, let's build us a tower up to heaven. We can get to heaven ourselves. We don't need God. We'll make a name for ourselves. And they were all one.

And what was the result of that? God sent the curse of scattered people and divided languages, that people couldn't communicate with each other anymore. And off they went in their people groups that could speak the same language together, and they went and built their own individual civilizations, and then that's the way the world ended up being populated.

And it still is this way today, where there are peoples all over the world, different languages and so on and so forth. So what happened on Acts chapter two, on the day of Pentecost? God the Spirit comes and he gives these gifts to the disciples as they preach, and as they preach the gospel, as they speak the word, everyone is hearing the word in their own language, and the word is uniting all of these disparate languages, these disparate people groups.

There's a message in that. And the message is that the gospel, the gospel is for the whole world, and it is only the gospel that can unify those of all different disparate people groups, different languages and all the rest of that.

That's another important thing to keep in mind in this crazy, confused time in which we're living, isn't it? It's terrible division, terrible division. You see the division going on in the streets of our cities, where you have the law enforcement officers on one side and you have the protesters on the other side.

There is that kind of division, especially when things get out of hand. But here's another fascinating thing about that division. Look within the cluster of the protester groups, right? There's not even unanimity in the protester groups.

You've got some that are wanting to overthrow and want anarchy and they want to destroy and tear down, but you've got others that want to kind of build things, bring things together and build up, and it is never going to work.

Why? Because the unity is not centered in the gospel. The unity is centered in the works, the efforts of man, and it never comes to fruition. It can never bring, man will never be able to bring the unity and the peace by himself that he wants to bring.