Sunday, August 7, 2022 AM

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Sunnyside Baptist Church "Pentecost: The Last Days" Acts 2:14-21

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All right, good morning, everyone. It's good to be here worshiping the Lord together at Sunnyside this morning.
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We'll start out with a few announcements. First of all, it's good to be back in our regular Sunday school classes again. We want to thank again those teachers who taught over the summer, but now we're kind of back to normal.
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Hopefully that was a blessing to you this morning. Come back tonight for our evening service at 5 .30,
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regular time. There is an announcement in the bulletin, and this is in regards to this Wednesday and then throughout the rest of the month of August.
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We're not going to have a meal. We're going to take a little bit of time off from meals on Wednesdays, but there will be a devotion and prayer at 6 .30
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this Wednesday, so be sure and come for that. Tag will pick up for the kids again in the fall, so they'll get a little bit of a break as well.
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Looking ahead to Sunday, September 4th, that's going to be promotion Sunday for our
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Sunday school classes, particularly the kids' classes. So if you have kids, be in contact with their teachers and or potential teachers and let them know who maybe they need to expect on Sunday, September 4th.
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There'll be some kids moving around, likely. And then coming this fall, like I said, Wednesday night, tag resumes for the kids.
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All right, Jimmy Barnett, happy birthday.
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Today is Jimmy's birthday and it is also
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Jimmy and Kristen's anniversary, I believe, too. So that makes it convenient to remember, right?
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All right. One more announcement.
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Tomorrow, if you were unaware, our dear, dear brother, Ralph Bullard, they are going to be having the groundbreaking for the
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Ralph Bullard Training Facility at Christian Heritage Academy. It's tomorrow morning at 11 .30 a .m.,
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goes to about noon. But that's a way, if you are able to make it, it's going to be in the east parking lot of the gymnasium there on Sunny Lane and 29th
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Street, roughly. But we would love to have you out there if you're able to come honor him.
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Any other announcements this morning? All right. Our fighter verse for this week comes from the
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Psalms. We're continuing in Psalm 91, this is verses 9 and 10.
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Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High, who is my refuge.
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No evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent. We're going to have a time to quietly prepare our hearts for worship.
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And then after that, Dwight will come and open us in prayer. Father, what a blessing it is to be able to call you
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Father. That you brought us to yourself through your son, the
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Lord Jesus. Brought us to the new birth.
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Adopted us into your family. To be your children and to have an inheritance beyond all comprehension.
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How good you are to us. How you've so richly, richly blessed us through your son, the
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Lord Jesus. And we've come together this morning to worship you.
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To give you praise and honor and thanksgiving.
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To sing your praises. Help us to sing with a joyful heart.
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And I thank you for your word. How you've so blessed us with your word that's so readily available to us that we can be encouraged by it and blessed by it.
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And by your servants, those who teach us. For Michael who will preach your word to us this morning, may he preach in the power of your
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Holy Spirit. And may your words go forth and accomplish your righteous purpose and minister to us and help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of your son, the
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Lord Jesus. To nourish us and to feed us. How good you are to us.
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We thank you for your forgiveness. What a blessing it is to be forgiven and to know that we are in right relationship with you, reconciled to you, at peace with you.
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And at any time, through your son, the Lord Jesus, we can come into your presence with our burdens, our requests, and we can commune with you.
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As we worship, may we be a blessing to you. May you delight in your people this morning.
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In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand with me for our call to worship?
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We're reaching the end of Psalms chapter 78 this morning. So we'll be reading verses 69 to 72.
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Read with me together. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.
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He chose David his servant and took from him sheepfolds.
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From following the nursing ewes, he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people,
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Israel his inheritance. With upright heart, he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
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So if you would, turn to your Psalms for Worship hymnal, page 78J, and we'll sing verses 31 to 33.
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Like heights, he built his holy place, forever firm to keep.
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He, for his servant David, chose, took him from guarding sheep.
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From tending ewes, he brought him out to shepherd
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Jacob well. To care for his inheritance, he's chosen
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Israel. So with integrity of heart, in faithfully he fed.
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And with his understanding hands, he guided as he led.
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And if you wouldn't turn to your, well, no, actually, this song, there was a handout at the very back.
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And the reason why we've met today is to worship the Lord. So if you would sing, we're going to sing all four verses of Brethren We Have Met to Worship.
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Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the
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Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the
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Word? All is made and blessed, the
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Spirit of the Holy One comes down.
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Brethren, pray and holy banner will be showered.
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All around. Brethren, see poor sinners' fragile slumbering on the brink of woe.
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Death is coming, hell is moving. Can you bear to let them go?
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See our fathers and our mothers and our children sinking down.
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Brethren, pray and holy banner will be showered.
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All around. Sisters, will you join and help us?
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Moses' sister aided him. Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
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Tell them all about the Savior.
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Tell them that He will be found. Sisters, pray and holy banner will be showered.
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All around. Let us love our
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God supremely. Let us love each other too.
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Let us love and pray for sinners too.
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Our God makes all things new. Then He'll call us home to Heaven.
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At His table we'll sit down. Christ will gird
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Himself and serve us with sweet banner.
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All around. Good morning.
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Turn with me to Isaiah 30. We'll be reading verses 15 -26 and I'll be reading out of the
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ESV. For this said the
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Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
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But you were unwilling and you said, No, we will flee upon horses. Therefore you shall flee away and we will ride upon swift steeds.
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Therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one.
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At the threat of five you shall flee. Till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain.
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Like a signal on a hill. God waits to be gracious to you. And therefore
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He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
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For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem. You shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry.
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As soon as He hears it, He answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teacher will not hide himself any more.
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But your eyes shall see your teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying,
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This is the way, walk in it. When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold -plated metal images.
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You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, Be gone. And He will give rain for the seed.
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With which you sow the ground and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous.
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And that day your livestock will graze in large pastures. And the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
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And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water and the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
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Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days.
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And the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
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Please pray with me. Father, we are in humble awe of your majesty.
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We see that you may inflict the blow, but you also heal the wounds of your people.
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For those that fear you, Father, you are patient and waiting to be gracious to them.
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You're a God of justice seeking to have mercy upon your sons and daughters.
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Cause us to fear you in all of our ways. Cause us to look to your word all of our days.
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Father, give us clean hearts that we may hear your word rightly and enjoy you forever and ever.
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In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated.
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Our next song this morning is Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone.
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Amazing Grace How sweet the sound
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That saved a wretch like me
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I once was lost
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But now am found Was blind but now I see Was grace that taught
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My heart to fear And grace my fears relieved
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How precious did
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That grace appear How precious did That grace appear
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How I first believed My chains are gone
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I've been set free My God, my
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Savior Has ransomed me
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And like a flood His mercy reigns
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Unending love Amazing grace
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Lord has promised good to me
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His word my hope secures
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He will my shield And portion be
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As long as life endures
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My chains are gone I've been set free
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My God, my Savior Has ransomed me
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And like a flood His mercy reigns
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Unending love Amazing grace
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My chains are gone I've been set free
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My God, my Savior Has ransomed me
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And like a flood His mercy reigns
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Unending love Amazing grace
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The earth shall soon
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Dissolve like snow The sun forbear to shine
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My God who called me here below Will be forever mine
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Will be forever mine
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You are forever mine
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And our last song is
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Jesus is Mine Fade, fade, ye earthly joy
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Jesus is mine Stronger than fleeting hopes
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Jesus is mine
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Dark is the wilderness
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Earth has no resting place
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Jesus alone can bless
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Jesus is mine In days of fragile peace
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Jesus is mine Through tearful nights of grief
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Jesus is mine His voice commands the storm
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His presence stills my soul
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He will sustain my hope
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Jesus is mine
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Jesus is mine
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Jesus is mine When all else fails
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He still remains Jesus is mine
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When on that final day
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Jesus is mine
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Before His radiant face
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Jesus is mine
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Safe in His arms I'll cling
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Praising my Savior King Forever I'll sing
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Jesus is mine
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Jesus is mine
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Jesus is mine
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When all else fails He still remains
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Jesus is mine When all else fails
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He still remains Jesus is mine
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Compassions, your mercies, your loving -kindnesses, your faithfulness, from day to day, from age to age, you are the same.
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You are a good, perfect, generous, gracious Heavenly Father.
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You have given us your Son, Jesus Christ. We know that with Him, you will freely give us all things.
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That you work all things together for the good of those who love you and who are called according to your purpose.
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We thank you that we may gather today in confidence, in hope, with thanksgiving, rejoicing in your truth, rejoicing in your
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Son, Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords who reigns even now from your right hand.
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And we give you thanks and we give you praise for sending forth your
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Holy Spirit to indwell your people to fill us that we may worship you in truth.
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Help us, we pray, this morning. Help us to hear your word, to respond.
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May our lives be the amen on earth of your will that has been declared from heaven.
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And we pray for these graces, looking to your Son, Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased.
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It's in his name that we pray. Amen. I invite you to open your
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Bibles and turn with me to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2 and we'll be reading verses 14 through 21 this morning.
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Acts chapter 2 verses 14 through 21. The long -awaited promised sign of the new covenant who is the
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Holy Spirit has come. That's where we are in the story.
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That's where we are today. Jesus at the last supper took the bread and broke it gave it to his apostles and said, take, eat, this is my body broken for you.
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He gave them the cup to drink from and said, take, drink, this is my blood that is shed for the new covenant for the remission of sins hereby signifying the nature of his death more than horrific physical suffering in direct connection to his substitutionary atonement on the cross suffering under the wrath of God for our sins.
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Jesus says, what I am doing is bringing about the new covenant. No longer would there be a line of priests one following after the other.
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Their tenures of service silenced by death. But there would be a great high priest who would live forever interceding for us in the true
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Holy of Holies the right hand of God. No longer would there be a train of animal sacrifices goat after goat bull after bull turtle dove after turtle dove lamb after lamb for Christ is the
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Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.
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And so in the new covenant we have God's faithfulness His promises
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His character His mercy and His grace expressed in a far superior fashion to the
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Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was good but it was the shadow of the substance and the substance has come.
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And so Jesus died upon the cross as the Lamb of God and He was raised from the dead the third day and then for forty days after His resurrection
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He spent time with His disciples and He educated them and He taught them and He showed them the meaning of all the scriptures in light of who
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He is showing Himself as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and told them that they were going to be
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His messengers to to all the nations of the earth that they would be proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to all the earth but before they were to go out they must wait to wait in Jerusalem for the promised gift of the
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Father the Holy Spirit they were to wait for the arrival of the Holy Spirit before they went out.
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Why? Jesus said He's brought about the New Covenant and throughout the scriptures the most important signifier of the
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New Covenant is the arrival of the Holy Spirit to anoint all the members of the
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New Covenant to bless all the members of the New Covenant to indwell all the members of the
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New Covenant that's the most significant change between the handful of prophets priests and kings anointed in the
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Old Testament in the Old Covenant and the remnant in the Old Covenant who were truly circumcised of heart which is the work of the
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Spirit in the New Covenant Christ is the anointed one the
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Messiah the anointed one He is the King of Kings He is the Great High Priest He is the
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Great Prophet and of His anointing we share as He sends forth
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His Holy Spirit that we would serve Him and so now it's not a question as it was in the
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Old Covenant of who is in Israel the question in the New Covenant is who is in Israel meaning
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Christ who is in Christ who is a part of Christ that's the question and so Jesus tells
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His Apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the arrival of the Holy Spirit and indeed they do and they pray and they seek the gift of the
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Father the Father the Holy Spirit and they prepare and they look for the needs amongst them and they apply the
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Word of God to their lives and they follow through in obedience and then the day of Pentecost comes and there are visual and oral signs the sound of the roar of the wind something like the roar of the wind comes rushing through the room something like tongues of fire come and rest upon the heads of the twelve apostles then they begin to speak in utterances languages that they had never learned but they begin to proclaim the mighty works of God in the languages in the heart languages in the tribal dialects of Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost they had grown up in a the people that are listed there at the beginning of Acts 2 grew up in disparate places from one end of the to the other of the
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Roman Empire two thousand miles wide one thousand miles from north to south men from every type of tribe and dialect in the
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Roman Empire these Jews who had been scattered long been scattered throughout the known world have now gathered into Jerusalem for the feast of the feast of the first fruits the feast of the harvest for Pentecost and they begin hearing the mighty works of God preached in the languages they know best how do they respond some of them are just in pure amazement how is this possible these men are obviously
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Galileans you can tell by their accent it is so strange to hear a
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Galilean speaking my tribal heart language how can this be others mocking said they are full of new wine full of new wine that's where we left off we talked about the fact that when the disciples heard
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Jesus talk about the preaching of his kingdom the preaching of the kingdom of God to all the nations promising them the
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Holy Spirit they rightly reflected upon the many Old Testament passages that promised the restoration of the kingdom to Israel in which the people of God those scattered were brought back together under the power of the
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Holy Spirit to the to the city of God to the mountain of God under the rule of the
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Son of David and everything that Jesus is saying to them is clicking and they're saying oh is it this time you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel and Jesus begins to build upon that and gives them an answer that is positive yes of course the kingdom is given to Israel Christ is
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Israel as it is said throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament that's where we left off at the end there's going to be a major conflict that runs through all the
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Book of Acts who are the people of God how does God deal with the world is it according to the
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Old Covenant or is it according to the New Covenant and in this mocking that we find in verse 13 of chapter 2 they are full of new wine we were reminded of the parable that Jesus told explaining why it was that so many were going to be rejecting his kingdom and rejecting his gospel he said you cannot put new wine into old wine skins you can't try to stuff the
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New Covenant into Old Covenant forms because the new wine will burst the old wine skins no you need to have new wine and new wine skins he really is bringing about something that is new but then he also said but those who have become drunk on the old wine prefer that and they will not drink the new and here it is a conflict that's going to be put on display throughout the book of Acts those who prefer the
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Old Covenant to the new those who would insist that the continued sacrifice of the animals and the blood of animals was to be retained that the priesthood in the physical temple in the physical
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Jerusalem was to be preferred to Jesus Christ who called himself the temple who said something greater than the temple has come so we have the conflict being set out in front of us here is a critical moment the
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Holy Spirit has arrived the primary signifier that the new covenant is in effect the Holy Spirit has shown up with these signs with these evidences and Peter begins to preach he begins to answer the unspoken question that lies behind those who are marveling and those who are criticizing and he begins to declare the gospel of the kingdom just as he had been instructed to declare the good news of the kingdom in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth here
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Peter begins to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to demonstrate the meaning of the new covenant we should not miss out on the meaning of Pentecost by irreverent speculation that is what the critics here were in danger of those who are mocking said they are full of new wine irreverent speculation they are going to miss out on the meaning of Pentecost so also anybody else even people today who take up the word of God and begin to read what happens here in Acts chapter 2 will miss out on the meaning of Pentecost through irreverent speculation this is what it must be avoided as we are looking at how
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Peter preaches the main idea of his sermon that is established very resolutely here in the first eight verses is this that the last days of the old covenant showcase the blessings of the new the last days of the old covenant showcase the blessings of the new let's stand together and let me read the word of God for us
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Acts chapter 2 beginning in verse 14 and I'll read through verse 21 this is the word of the
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Lord 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
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Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days says
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God that I will pour out of my spirit and all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams and on my men servants and on my maid servants
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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
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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
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Lord thanks be to God you may be seated at the very beginning here in Acts 2 verses 14 through 16 we see that Peter does not want this mockery to go unanswered this irreverent speculation that has been voiced amongst the crowd
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Peter is not going to let it lie he's not going to let it rest he's going to address it and he says men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem so he is he is preaching to all those who have gathered together the massive amount of people who have gathered together in Jerusalem for Pentecost and he says heed my words these men are not drunk it doesn't really even fit with the symptoms of drunkenness wherein communication is most definitely inhibited these men are not filled with physical spirits but with the
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Holy Spirit and they are speaking in languages that they have never learned before in all their days of growing up in Galilee they did not sit under tutors to speak the language of the
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Parthians and the Medes and the Elamites and the Mesopotamians and the Cappadocians and those of Pontus and Asia and Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt and the
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Liberians and the Cyrenians and Latin for that matter they did not grow up under these tutelages where they would have learned these languages but they spoke those languages by the power of the
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Holy Spirit so that these men from all over the empire of Rome of all the different nations they heard the
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Word of God the Gospel of the Kingdom the marvelous works of God being proclaimed to them in their heart languages.
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Don't you just love how even today the church in following Jesus we are still laboring to get the
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Gospel of Jesus Christ the Word of the Lord into the heart languages of the tribes.
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Why do we do that? Why have we supported missionaries in the
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Ivory Coast to translate the Bible into the tribal dialect of the Palika people?
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Look at the heart of God. Look what he desires. Look how he loves the tribes.
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Look how he delights in making sure that his Word is given to people of all these various dialects.
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Praise the Lord. What a gift. What a blessing.
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What a sign. And so Peter says he doesn't want this to be demeaned he does not want this to be mocked he does not want this to be to be set aside as some sort of strange phenomenon that you can just forget about the next day or perhaps make a joke about later and dismiss.
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No, he says these men are not drunk it is only the third hour of the day. This is a chiding word to those who would think that to be so.
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It's nine o 'clock in the morning of course they're not drunk. Why would you think that?
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But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. In this way
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Peter is patterning his response like that of his Lord. Wherein his opponents would see something he did or hear something that he said and they would they would mockingly criticize him or try to say something scandalous about him and then he would show them the faultiness of their thinking and then point them to the
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Word of God. Peter does the very same thing in this text. Now I want us to pay close attention to what
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Peter says here. Look at the Word of God. When the Holy Spirit arrives in that special way at Pentecost it is obvious to all that something has happened.
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The meaning of it is not clear. Peter is expressing the meaning of it.
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He says what you are witnessing what you are observing is nothing less than what was prophesied by Joel.
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The arrival of the Holy Spirit was prophesied by Joel. Let's see what
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Joel said. Verse 17 and 18 And it shall come to pass in the last days says
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God that I will pour out of my spirit and all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams and on my maidservants
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I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy
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Peter says the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost fulfills the prophecy from Joel meaning welcome to the last days.
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Do you see what he says? He says the fact that the
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Holy Spirit has shown up in this way fulfills the prophecy of Joel these are the last days.
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The last days spoken of by Christ a great deal
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Peter preaches about the last days here in the book of Acts we can read a lot about the last days as we read through the epistles of Paul I went and surveyed them just recently even
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James and Jude talk about the last days Peter talks about the last days whoever the author of Hebrews is probably
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Paul talks about the last days and John and his epistles talks about the last days and you know what they say every single one of them every single one of them say that they were living in the last days the last hour the end of the world had come upon them they say the end of the ages had come upon them what do they mean were they wrong maybe they were wrong maybe there are errors in the
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Bible no not true they were writing under the inspiration of the
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Holy Spirit born along by the Holy Spirit every word that they put down was superintended with the truth of God there was no error there infallible inerrant the very words of God maybe they were confused no what does it mean when
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John says these are the last hours this is the last hour what does it mean when Paul says these are the last days they were writing to their audience who lived in places like Corinth and in Ephesus they were writing to people who were living in their time and they were saying look folks we are in the last days now perhaps perhaps the last days of 2000 years ago are still the last days of today but I don't think that's the plainest reading of the text
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I think we have to import a whole lot more read what they mean by the last days they're not talking about the end of planet earth they're not talking about a resurrection of all of the dead that when they begin to talk about the last days and the end of the age and so on a great majority of the time they're talking about the end of the old covenant they're talking about the end of the old covenant and that's what's going on in this text now they also proclaim that Jesus Christ will return from heaven bodily and he will raise the dead and he will reign forever and ever there is a great judgment that's to come but they also spend a great deal of time talking about the end of the old covenant the last days of the old covenant because the arrival new covenant has come you see the arrival of the new covenant means you don't need the old covenant anymore does that make sense when the new shows up and it's better than the old and it fulfills the old you don't need the old anymore that the arrival of the new signals the end of the old that's what's going on here
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Jesus told many parables about this the new shows up the old resents it but the old passes away under judgment and the new remains that summarizes many of the parables that Jesus tells this is good news that the new covenant has come and as good news must be proclaimed to those who were in the old covenant these
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Jews who have been gathered in from every quarter of the Roman Empire why are they scattered because they have been scattered by the judgment of God in exile what's the only way for them to get out of exile they have to come back to God through Christ the new covenant has come verse 13 of Hebrews 8 says in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete the new covenant has made the old obsolete now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away the new covenant showed up which means the old covenant is obsolete and is ready to pass away the arrival of the new has signaled the end of the old in very much the same way that David was anointed king while Saul was still anointed king and Saul rightly understood that the anointing of David meant his days were numbered it was the end of Saul's line because David had been anointed and the same thing is going on here in this particular moment
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I am stressing this because I don't think it's possible to understand the book of Acts in a profitable way unless we understand what is going on in this exchange between the new covenant and the old covenant for example in verse 17 and 18 it says and I shall and it shall come to pass in the last days says
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God that I will pour out of my spirit and 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 maid servants
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I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy now it is the right instinct of God fearing people of Christians to take up the word of God and say look this is what the word of God says that's the way it's got to be and this is where we have so much confusion in our day about charismatic gifts this is descriptive of the last days before the end of the old covenant after the inauguration of the new this is descriptive prophecy from Joel about what it's going to be like in the last days of the old covenant but when people read this they say well this must be this must be prescriptive for all
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Christians living today if you're told you're living in the last days because China is mean right and three months ago you're living in the last days because Russia is mean right okay if you're told all the time that you're living in the last days of planet earth because of the news cycle and then you read that in the last days that the spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh and everybody needs to be prophesying well
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I don't think I'm prophesying I don't think I'm a prophet and someone's going to come to you and say you don't believe in the full gospel do you come to our full gospel church everybody prophesies everybody speaks in tongues everybody has all the gifts of the
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Holy Spirit you see how confusing that can be this is descriptive of what was going on in the last days of the old covenant after the inauguration of the new in the book of Joel and we can turn back there in the book of Joel chapter one involves the declaration of God's judgment upon his own people for their covenant unfaithfulness there is a call to mourn the great disaster that is about to befall them and then there's an expression from the prophet of his angst at seeing and expecting all of this disaster to befall and he prays and cries out to the
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Lord in his anguish in chapter two there is a declaration of the coming day of the
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Lord which will be about the destruction of his covenant breaking people but then there's also a call to repent and to return to the
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Lord which of course was promised that they would do after they were punished after they were taken away into exile when the people were taken away from Jerusalem into exile in 586
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B .C. the prophets declared to them the hope of a new covenant to come that they would be regathered to Jerusalem and there that God would reveal to them a new covenant the
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Messiah would come the Holy Spirit would be given and the kingdom would be restored to Israel and this very same promise begins in Joel chapter two in around verses eighteen through twenty seven
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I'm going to read the first part and the last part from it verse eighteen of Joel two then the
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Lord will be zealous for his people and pity his people the Lord will answer and say to his people behold
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I will send you grain and new wine and oil and you will be satisfied by them
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I will no longer make your approach among the nations similar themes continue verse twenty four the threshing floor shall be full of wheat the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil now this is this is interesting to me because the complaint from the skeptics on the day of Pentecost at the signifiers of the
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Holy Spirit being present was that these apostles must be drunk they must be filled with new wine and Peter says not that kind of new wine but there it is the promise of new wine in the new covenant what kind of new wine is this really talking about Peter clarifies it even as the prophet
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Joel clarifies it it's the arrival of the Holy Spirit verse twenty eight it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions and also on my menservants and on my maidservants
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I will pour out my spirit in those days meaning after the judgment upon the covenant breakers that exiled them away after that will come a new covenant in which the
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Holy Spirit will be given to God's people following that there's going to be another day of the
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Lord another judgment which clarifies who the people of God are that's what
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Joel was talking about and that's what Peter is talking about Peter hears the skeptics say they're full of new wine this jogs his memory about the prophet
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Joel talking about new wine and here we are in the context of Joel promise of new wine and the arrival of the
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Holy Spirit they're complaining and saying they're full of new wine and Peter says no let's talk about the Holy Spirit the
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Holy Spirit has shown up just like it was said in the prophet Joel now if somebody is looking for a cardboard fulfillment of the prophet
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Joel they will note as they read through verses 17 and 18 that all that had happened was that the apostles spoke in languages that they had never learned and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to these people in their heart language they were definitely not the sons and daughters of their audience prophesying did you notice that?
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the text says your sons and your daughters shall prophesy Peter is saying what you've just seen here fulfills the prophecy of Joel and what
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Joel said was that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy now somebody in the audience if they're looking for kind of cardboard cut out fulfillment is going to be saying
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Peter sorry this passage is not fulfilled because my son and my daughter are not here and they are not prophesying so again the question is
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Peter in error has the Holy Spirit inspired Peter in a wrong way why is
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Peter saying that the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom in languages that had never been learned by these apostles fulfills
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Joel chapter 2 verses 8 verses 28 and following where are the sons and the daughters prophesying were there any old men right there in front of this audience that had dreamed a dream who had a vision how is it that Joel 2 prophecy is being fulfilled on this day we have to think about what the answer is to that the answer comes because it is in the last days that God pours out his spirit on all flesh again a term which if you decide to press the limits to it includes animals that is not the promise of the new covenant the promise of the new covenant from Jeremiah from Isaiah from Ezekiel is simply this that all the people in the new covenant all the flesh in the new covenant would receive the
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Holy Spirit unlike the old covenant and when you have country bumpkin
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Galileans with their thick annoying accents declaring the gospel in languages they had never learned it's an indicator that the
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Holy Spirit has come upon every single last member of this new covenant no matter their status otherwise it is not a handful of prophets, priests, and kings that are especially anointed for special tasks but every single last member of the new covenant all flesh even little even the girls and the boys the sons and the daughters the old men the menservants the maidservants those who are slaves everybody in the new covenant receives the
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Holy Spirit that is how Joel chapter 2 verse 28 and following is being fulfilled
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Peter is saying you're amazed that us Galileans are proclaiming the gospel to you in languages you've never heard listen this is the fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 we know we're not much we know we're not qualified we know that we're not the kinds of people that you would look for for God to work through in a special way but this is the fulfillment of what happens in the last days the arrival of the new covenant and the
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Holy Spirit signals the end of the old covenant meaning we're in the last Peter is saying we are in the last days and the last days of the old covenant showcase the blessings of the new what is the proper response to this well
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I think first of all it's simply embracing the supremacy of Christ there is such a fascination among people about wanting to go back to the shadows a fascination with going back and replaying out the feasts going back to old covenant dietary laws and cleanliness laws such a fascination with going back into into living lives of of legalism of engaging in types of holiness that Christ has not prescribed in the days of Peter this is especially strong especially strong temptation when the gospel is beginning to be preached and Jews from every walk of life from all over the empire are turning away from any kind of self -righteousness any kind of expression of the corrupted preaching of Judaism in their day and they're turning to the
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Lord they're turning to Christ they're no longer going to the temple to sacrifice they're no longer going through the feast days they're coming to Christ and the temptation was to turn back and to go back to the old ways to go back to the sacrifices to go back to the feast to go back to the ceremonial wash pots which by the way
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Jesus filled with new wine we have to pay attention to the temptation here of going back to the shadows or going to something else other than Christ what is being declared is embrace the new wine you're drunk on the old covenant wine you don't want the new wine but here it is embrace the supremacy of Christ in the new covenant now
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I will say a practical expression of this is when we read the prophecy of Joel let us be clear when we read that sons and daughters shall prophesy young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams and men servants and maid servants prophesy as the
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Holy Spirit is poured out upon them we read about that in the book of Acts we read about that in the letters of Paul we read about those things an amazing time but we also read about warnings and cautions from the apostles about those who would lead people astray and often leading people astray happened in the context of chaos which is why we have 1
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Corinthians 14 which lays out an orderly understanding of these spiritual gifts I think it's worth acknowledging that as the whole tenor of this is to embrace the supremacy of Christ in the new covenant that if somehow somebody thinks that prophetic blessing is disorderly and chaotic and often untrue are you following me people are claiming that they have prophetic gifts and they are chaotic and they are false in their prophetic utterances that is not superior to the old covenant the whole idea is that the new covenant is superior to the old so if the prophetic ministry that people seem to think that they have in this new covenant era is how they prophesy is chaotic and untrue that is not superior to the old covenant that is inferior secondly we need to understand the unique dynamics of this period we've talked about how
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Acts is probably the second most abused book in the New Testament I don't want this passage to be used by anyone to beat you over the head this is good news this is encouraging news this is not some sort of standard that you fail to measure up to alright this is the blessing of Christ through his
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Holy Spirit when we read it shall come to pass in the last days 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 my maid servants
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I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy that is descriptive of many different blessings of the
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Holy Spirit's ministry in the last days of the old covenant after the beginning of the new that is descriptive it is not prescriptive for every last member of the new covenant to prophesy this is indicating that all kinds of people in the new covenant are going to be blessed in a variety of ways it is not prescriptive in demanding that everybody be the exact same
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I want you to walk through some scriptures about this because this has been used this has been used to abuse pastorally people from all kinds of church traditions first of all in 1
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Peter chapter 4 verses 10 -11 we rejoice in the provision of our
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Lord to do the work that he has called us to do 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 10 -11 as each one has received a gift minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God it is not the uniform grace of God it is the manifold grace of God do you see that?
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if anyone speaks let him speak as the oracles of God if anyone ministers let him do it as with the ability which
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God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever
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Amen just a basic observation the manifold grace of God equips us by his spirit to do different things some people speak and should do so by the power of God some people serve and they should do so by the power of God not everybody is exactly the same further observation may be made from 1
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Corinthians chapter 12 in describing the various gifting to the Holy Spirit that not everybody has the exact same gift right so any movement trying to say that you have to have all of these gifts otherwise you don't have the spirit are false teachers and preaching a false gospel there's a manifold grace of God it is the free grace of God and now we need to take a look at Ephesians chapter 4 this is where again to answer these questions we don't need to be drawing upon traditions you'll be reading the text in Ephesians chapter 4 beginning in verse 7 but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men because Christ is ascended because he is supreme therefore we have what we need in him now this he ascended what does it mean that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things now listen to this how he gifts how he supplies for the church and he himself gave some to be apostles and some prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers it's not all all all it's some some some some not everybody has the same giftings from the
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Lord but they're all for the same purpose for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
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Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ now we've already talked about why it was that they replaced
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Judas Iscariot with Matthias and the importance of the apostles as a foundation for the church a ministry of the apostles which spanned the last days of the old covenant until the old until the old covenant ended in A .D.
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70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple a foundation so back up to Ephesians 2 verse 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and what does it say prophets a few passages later
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Christ gave apostles and prophets to his church to edify them and build them up back here we read hey the apostles and the prophets are a foundation for the church
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Christ being the chief cornerstone so what is the text saying the text is saying that in Christ making provision for his church him being the cornerstone gives apostles and prophets to help lay the foundation of his church and we also read that apostles and prophets are not the same thing as pastors and teachers there's a distinction they're not the same thing when we go and read in 1
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Corinthians 14 verses 29 -40 there are instructions to the prophets when the prophets have a word no more than two or three each in order and all the other prophets who are present are to give judgment about whether or not those prophets are being correct 1
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Thessalonians 4 5 says not to despise prophecy but to hold onto what is good and despise what is wrong what's going on here first of all we notice that there is a standard by which the prophets were to minister whether or not their prophecy was accurate to the word of God to the authority of Christ they couldn't just say whatever they wanted to say also we see that they are a foundation a ministry a foundation ministry for the church we also find that descriptions given about prophets are not the same thing as pastors so where did all the prophets go right where did the prophets go in the last days the prophets sprung up and they were used by Christ for the establishment of his church last days of the old covenant are done been done for a long time and in fact in Daniel chapter 9 in the description of what happens in the last days we are told that prophecy comes to an end with the last days in Daniel chapter 9 in verse 24 we've been through this on Sunday morning 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity to bring an everlasting righteousness new covenant to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy in the last days where the new covenant was established before the end of the old covenant all that happened every last bit of it happened including the sealing up of vision and prophecy we've taken the time to go through this because I want us to be as clear as we can according to the word of God that the prophets were good
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Christ used them as a foundation ministry for the church there were rules that they were to follow and that when they finished their ministry like the apostles they're done and that's a good thing
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Christ did a good job so anybody today who would take this passage and say everybody is going to be running around prophesying are not reading what's going on in the context of the arrival of the new and the end of the old the last days of the old covenant showcase the blessings of the new the primary blessing that's being shown here to us that we may rejoice in is the fact that the