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Very thankful uh that uh I know that that song and the scripture says where two or three are gathered together. There am I uh one, I'm thankful it's more than two or three that are gathered together today. We and yet we don't need the world's largest crowd. Because the most important one is him. And where he is, that's where we would desire to be. I'll admit, growing up in Texas, I'm thankful we needed a building with air conditioning and heating and out from the elements, and yet I trust that if we had no building, if we had no means of even having dinner on the ground, that we'd still be found gathering together because he is the reason that we have the blessedness to meet together. Because what we gather together is is not just for fellowship. We gain blessed fellowship with each other. We have that unison. We even sing songs about the unity of the body in Christ, and we desire to have uh that knowledge that we are brothers and sisters together, and we wish to share those experiences and the bonds of love with another, but it would all be meaningless. It would all have no meaning or purpose if it were not for the one that we gather together to meet with and to praise and to honor and to glorify today. And so, with that knowledge, let us let us continue in prayer that his name above all be lifted up. Uh and yet with with that blessed knowledge that he says that he would raise us up together with him. One of the most beautiful pictures, I think this is not what's on my mind today, but one of the most beautiful pictures that I think plays out in the scripture when you piece the scriptures together and you see the blessedness of the city of Zion. It's a walled city, protected on all sides, so that nothing that's out on the outside can get in. And it's a spiritual place that we have a blessed uh promise that when we get to that blessed seat with Christ, there will be nothing there. There will be nothing on the outside that has come in. Uh, we won't ever get to that moment where when we go through those gates of that walled city and walk that precious road up the mountain, and we can go into that blessed place uh of assembly with the Lord, and he gathers us together at his banqueting house, in his banqueting house, at his table, and that when we see the banner over that table being love itself, we'll never get there and find out something has desecrated that spot, or that there's something that has said, well, uh, you know, the the bounty cannot be found today, or has present prevented the Lord from assembling with us. Uh that will never happen. Uh, if I find myself without that blessing, it's because I'm not I'm not there with the rest of the people. Uh even though I might be in the assembly. Uh if you've ever had that experience, I'm sorry. Uh but I have had that experience where even in the midst of the congregation, uh, with tears of joy flowing from others' faces and the spirit uh flowing that I've been left out outside those walls that time. Uh but there is never the occasion where when the spirit calls us in, that something has ruined that spot. Because there is nothing that can enter in to defile the kingdom of God. Uh that's the blessedness of this position. Is that the same spirit and the same Christ that met with the assembly of the saints on the day of Pentecost, which is what's on my mind. That same spirit, it's the same spirit that calls us to the assembly today. It's the same Christ that meets with us today, and the same truth, and the same peace, and the same promise of deliverance. And so when we meet together today, it is in the same kingdom of God that the saints of old have met in, from the time that the church has met in spirit and in truth to the time that it will meet in that last day when we see when we see the Lord uh with our own face and in uh in the assembly before his throne. So let us pray together in that uh in that spirit. Um I did say that the day of Pentecost is what is uh is on my mind, but it's more along the lines of something that happened there and some and some things that were mentioned. But in leading up to that, I want to uh call out a scripture that might seem a little odd in this context, but I I trust it will become evident. In Genesis chapter one, and this is the creation week, which by the way, I believe that happened exactly as it was described here, which means I do believe 100% that there was light that was shining before there was a sun and the moon. And I think that there is a big important reason, and I think there's a key aspect of that we're gonna continue forward because there's a light shining now that's that's better than the sun and the moon. But we're gonna get to that in just a minute. But in the on the fourth day, it says, God said, Let there be light in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. So, does God need the moon and the sun in order to cast light? No, because he's already doing that. In the beginning, God uh said, let there be light, and there was light. He doesn't need the sun and the moon for light, but he gave the sun and the moon for a purpose. It was to measure time. The days, it was for signs, in other words, for uh natural signs and in some cases some spiritual signs that are given in the scripture. But in the natural speaking, we we measure, we know that the seasons are coming by the length of the days, the the where the sun is in the sky. Uh we know to plan uh for for growing crops uh without without knowing whether the rain is going to come or not, we know it's time to plant based off of the times and the seasons. And so there for times, for seasons, and for measurement of occasions. And these measurements of occasions are very important in the law. The law is given, in fact, the law is given many centuries after this occasion. Uh the law does not come in until the days of Moses, if you if you understand, if you read the history. But understand, but the the measurement of time, I don't want to dwell too much on that, but the measurement of time was for all, it was for us. It was not for God, it was for us. And it was for us to keep track of certain things. And then in the law, there were certain important things uh uh beyond just the day-to-day activity of what we have to deal with. There were some important things that were measured or were put into the law to pay attention to that were that were measured by the sun and the moon and the stars, that they would know when to do certain things. And one of those the greatest events was the the annual atoning sacrifice that happened on the uh 14th day of the first month, or the Passover was the uh the atoning sacrifice was another month, but the Passover was uh the 14th day of the first month of the year, and that was measured by the moons and the sun. And that was that was given for them to have these these these uh identifications of when these things would happen. And then there's a prophecy given by God in Joel chapter 2. Joel is right after Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah. Joel. Joel chapter 2. Now, this comes in the middle of some prophecy that God has given Joel that is against the captors of Israel. And there's a lot of important things to say about that, but but for the sake of time, I'm gonna kind of jump on down to the focus of what my thoughts are this morning. In Joel chapter 2, I'm gonna pick up just right before it in verse 25. Oh, let me let me pick up actually in verse. There's a lot here. Um verses 21 through 25 and 26 is basically the Lord telling Israel that he will restore their captivity and there will be times of plenty. However, it's not just the restoration of Israel out of their captivity, of the Assyrian and the Babylonian captivities, and then back to Israel. It's also foreshadowing a greater time where there will be a time of no captivity. You realize there since the kingdom of God, since the church was established in a very visible way by God, there is no power on earth that can take and capture the kingdom of God. There is no way for any kingdom to take that. They may put us in prison, but they can't put the kingdom of God in prison. There, there's no way for them to ever hold captive, and especially since our entrance into the kingdom of God does not require us to go to a place or to a location at a season or at a time, but it is all it is always available. What is the minimum requirement? Where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst of them. There is nothing that can separate us from assembling together as the saints of God. There is no power or authority on earth that can stop the kingdom of God. And so there, there we are now in the day that there is no more captivity. The captivity of the people of God has been turned in a very real sense of even just the the worship of God. But primarily, ultimately, the captivity of the people of God had been turned by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that we know our sins have been paid for, and that we know we are free by the truth of God. Now, that being said, I want to pick up in verse, let's pick up in verse 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else, and my people shall never be ashamed. Now I want to I just I want to start with that verse because of what we just heard and read and made mention too is that one of the promises of God is that he will never leave us and that we will always have access to him. And it says that my people will never be ashamed. Now that I want to just say this about that phrase. Very often in modern actually, we live in a modern culture where there is no shame. But shame itself carries with it more than just the thought of I did something and boy, now I feel embarrassed about it. Uh, you know, either either because it seemed foolish or because it was wrong to do. Uh that's that's that is part of the meaning of the word ashamed, but it's not the only meaning. It also means when you've made a promise or what and that promise was not uh was not lived up to. Uh one of the bit the examples I go to very often in this regard is we find in Hebrews where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and then they sought a city who hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So what is it that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were looking forward to? A city who hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And it says, for this cause, and let me let me try and read this. This should be in Hebrews chapter 11. If I'm remembering right. Verse 14 kind of carries, it kind of joins you into that promise. But in verse six uh fifteen, and truly, or sixteen, but now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. Now, God will never be ashamed because he did something wrong or embarrassing, but here is the point of God not being ashamed is that he made a promise and he fulfills his promises. It says, wherefore God is not ashamed to be God their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. So what what what is what is the result there? When Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob got to where God is, guess what there was? There was a city prepared for them. There was a place prepared for them. That's why God, uh that's why Christ could could easily tell uh those Sadducees that that disputed even there being a resurrection. Uh talking about uh for he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for he's not God uh the God of the dead, but of the living. That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob uh are alive today in the presence of God, and he hath prepared for them a city. He that he was not ashamed, he did not get there. Uh or Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not show up uh and present themselves before God and say, Okay, Lord, where's what where's that promise? And God did not say, Well, you know, you just caught me unawares. You know, I just wasn't ready for you yet. That's not what happened. He said, Come, reside with me, dwell with me, uh, because I prepared the city for you. And I'm not saying that that's the final preparation, I believe there's a greater preparation in that that has been prepared for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and for you as well. Uh, but when you go to be with God, there will be a place for you because he prepared it for you. In fact, Christ went to prepare the place for you. Now, and I believe that place was prepared before Christ did the preparation on promise of the preparation of Christ. Because Christ did not have to go to heaven to prepare, he had to go to the cross to prepare the place for you. And on promise of that, we find that Christ, that God was not ashamed to be called their God. So, his is when it says here, my people shall never be ashamed. That means that we will never act on the promises of God and find out that the promises of God don't live up to the promise. Uh, we can always live up to the we always know the promises of God live up to what God promised them to be. His people will never be ashamed. Now, continue on. And I shall come, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Now, when it says things like all flesh, some discernment here, some rightly dividing the word of truth, it doesn't mean animal, beasts, crickets, fish, all all, all matter. Neither does it mean every single person. It means there's coming a day, in the day of Joel, Joel is saying, the Lord is telling me, there's coming a day where it's not going to matter whether you're Jew or Gentile. It's not going to matter that that you are not of the lineage of Abraham, because it's not according to whether you're of the natural lineage of Abraham, it's whether you have the same faith as Abraham had. Therefore, we can be called sons of Abraham because we have the same faith that Abraham had. By the way, there are others that had Abraham's faith before Abraham came along. But Abraham is held up as this picture because why? Before there was the law, before there was any other word of worship or any other means of way of worshiping God, he simply believed God. That's what it was. He there was something in him, there was something that was born of God in him. And when he believed God, it showed that he was born of God. And therefore, anyone, he says, There's coming the day that anyone that that that that that's in that same position, my spirit will be poured out upon all flesh. It's no longer going to be just the Jew that has the blessing to approach unto God. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and upon all also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in that days will I pour out my my spirit. In other words, it's not just whether you're Jew or Gentile, it doesn't matter what your status in life is. It doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor, a bondman, or uh, a rich man. It doesn't matter whether you're you're a son or a daughter or old or young. This is all alike. This promise is to everyone of mine. This is the same access to this promise, the same spirit that will be poured out upon them. It's not gonna be one spirit to one, a different spirit to another. It will be the same spirit, and that spirit is the spirit of God, not not some other uh not some other spirit. And it says, and uh uh, and I will show new I will, verse 30, and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. Now, I I I want to get sidetracked on that. I I really do. I want to I want to uh mention about the the uh even under the law uh that we see signs and pictures of blood as in the Passover blood uh and their uh aspects of fire and the pillars of smoke. And if uh I I cannot read this without thinking about the fiery, cloudy pillar that led the uh Israelites through uh uh through uh through all of their wanderings. It was supposed if it had done the way uh it was supposed to have done, it would have just led them through the wilderness and to Canaan's land. But guess what? They didn't want to go into Canaan's land the first time, but guess what? The cloudy, fiery pillar still led them through. And guess what that cloudy, fiery pillar was? It was the the manifestation that God was with them, and it led them until they made it into Canaan's land. He says, and the sun, but but here Joel is giving them something that's about to happen or will happen in the future, not that happened before. He said, There's wonders in heaven that will be shown, blood and smoke, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. Now, when it says great and terrible, that's not something to be fearful of. When it's terrible there means something that is just so big that that that it can make you tremble, uh or it can make you feel small, it can make you realize your insignificance. If you've ever been uh if you've ever been near a large animal and you really didn't realize how big that animal was until you're right next to it and you realize, wow, this thing could step on me and kill me, or something along that line. That's a terrible moment. It's not because you're you necessarily should be fearful, but it's something that is tremendous in comparison. Uh very, very light. We use the word awful in a similar way, and it and it should have a similar sense. Uh, we use it now because we think something awful is something to be shunned, but that's not what the word means. It means full of awe, something that should make you stand there and just simply be silent in wonder at how wondrous it is. Well, that's the kind of meaning this here. This is not a day to be dreaded, this is a day to look forward to and anticipate the wonders of that day, is what Joel is saying. He says, and uh, and in particular, remember what he says the sun will be turned, will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible. And then let me finish the prophecy. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant who the Lord shall call. Now there are those who use this prophecy and similar prophecies in the scripture to portray, oh, before the end of time, and I can't tell you that it won't happen before the end of time because I haven't been there yet. But I think this scripture is very clear. In fact, Peter makes it abundantly clear. This day has already happened. And this day having already happened means we're not talking about a natural darkening of the sun and the moon, although there was a day that happened. But it's not talking about the this prophecy, it's not talking about some great awful day of tribulation where the sky is going to be blacked out. But what he is talking about is what was, let me ask this question, what was the whole purpose of the sun and the moon? It was to measure times and signs and seasons. Well, what if, let me ask you this question. What if you had an appointment? It was a very important appointment. It was set out months ahead. What are you gonna do in those times between now and that appointment? You're gonna measure the months and the weeks and the days, and the closer you get to it, the closer you're gonna be measuring that time. What happens though when you've come to your appointment? Do you measure time anymore? What's the point of measuring the time to an appointment that's already happened? You see, the law and the prophets were given until John. Since that time, the kingdom of heaven is preached. And there is but one measure of time in the kingdom of God. And it is that we are in the last days. We are in the last days shining by the light of Christ. He is the light of the kingdom. I know, I am a hundred percent convinced that uh when you get to see, when you get to glory, when you go right now, if we were to pass, and certainly in the day of the resurrection, he is the light of heaven. He is there, there is no other, and you're not gonna have to be told, you're not gonna look around and say, Well, you know what, where is Christ? All you gotta do is look to the light. Uh there are two things, by the way, minimum two things, by which you're gonna know who Christ is, and by the way, neither one of them are scars on his body. The two things you're gonna know immediately who Christ is is his glory and his voice. You will cause the sheep know his voice, and you will know the glory of God. You will know who he is, and no one's gonna have to tell you, no one's gonna have to convince you, there's not gonna be a doubt. Uh, when you see him for he is, and when you hear his call, you know who he is. And I am 100% convinced uh that the saints that are in his presence now are in the the light and the glory of God. And when we are raised uh in his fashion and his likeness, we will we will shine in the glory of God forever. But guess what? The kingdom of God is lit by his light forever now. When you are getting when you have granted entrance into the kingdom of God, when, as I described earlier, uh when you uh by the way, the the direction is always up uh toward Christ. When you go through those gates and you go up that road, and up that road you enter into his house, and in his house you go up into his upper chamber, and when you are brought to his table and you are called up to be with him against what is lighting you at that time, it is Christ! And Christ is always the light of the kingdom of God when you are illuminated, when you have revelation by the Spirit of God, guess what? You are seeing the light of Christ, he is always the light of his kingdom, he is the brilliance, he is the revelation, he is what light and illuminates us on our way. There is no need for the sun, there is no need for the moon, there is no need for the law, they have been darkened, they have been completed, uh, there is no more types and shadows for us to follow. We follow in the light. And there is no darkness, and there is no setting, there is no time of his, there's not a season where, okay, we're about to go into the season where there is no Christ, and so we let's prepare for the darkness. There is no nothing like that because it is now one eternal day. Now, it naturally speaking, we don't see that yet. Naturally speaking, there's the days and the months, and we still use the natural sun and the natural moon for that purpose. But I want to turn to the day of Pentecost in uh Acts chapter 2, and we're gonna see what Peter has to say about it and what the circumstances of it are. And if you if you remember what happens on this day, it probably won't be a surprise to you, but chapter 2 of uh, by the way, chapter 1 of Acts uh mentions the the the ascension of the Lord, the last time he set foot on earth, naturally speaking, and as far as I read it, he'll never set foot on earth again. He's gonna call us up to be with him in the air, and so shall we ever be in this Lord. This earth, this earth, at the very least, is going to burn with fire, and he will never set foot on this one again. He doesn't have to, he doesn't need to, it's not uh it it served its purpose at that point of the day of the resurrection. But when he ascended, he gave his disciples the command, but ye shall the admonition, the the I won't say warning, he gave them the information, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. So there's there's it's not that the Holy Ghost doesn't exist, and it doesn't even mean that the Holy Ghost is not leading them, but there's some work that has yet to be done where the Holy Ghost is manifest and set upon them in the way that they are to go from that point forward. The day of Pentecost comes, 50 days after the day of the uh or the observance of the um the uh Passover, and verse chapter 2, verse 1, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. So they were gathered together. I think that's a beautiful picture. All the disciples are gathered together. Now, there there may be some fear, there may be some some hope and anticipation. It doesn't say what drove them to all be in the same place at the same time, other than at the very least, the observance of the day of Pentecost. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven. So, where were the signs going to be found as far as Joel was concerned? Signs and wonders in heaven. But that's also where the spirit comes from. There came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sick. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. I I I I can't read that without also thinking about Isaiah. And then if you go back, I believe it's Isaiah chapter 9, where it talks about in the day that King Uzziah died, I saw also the war the Lord, and his glory filled the temple, and he saw the glory of God, and he said, I uh I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. And then the Lord had uh the angel or had the spirit, an angel take a fire from off the altar and it and touch the lips of Isaiah. And from that moment, Isaiah felt like he had the authority and the power to speak in the name of God. Well, these this is the very same situation. Here is the Lord anointing these men to speak in his name. Now, I'm not saying they haven't spoken in his name, but this is with power. This is with authority, this is with the with the anointing unction of the Holy Ghost. This is God saying, this is the church coming into its fullness. Uh the Lord has already established the church. This is the church going out and stepping forward in the first steps in a way that has never stopped since this day. This is the Lord saying the church has come to a day of maturity. Uh, not not simply not because it simply finally figured out what was going on, but the day had come where the the the kingdom of God would be seen among all manner of men. Now it starts in Jerusalem and it starts among Jews, but it starts in a way that shows that the power of God and that the promise of God is going to be to all people, just like he said it would. Just like he said in Joel and in other places. But he says that they began to speak, and you're familiar with, I trust you're familiar with this account. And the Spirit gave them utterance. Uh uh Verse 4, let me back up. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, that does not mean they were speaking gibberish. It doesn't mean that they were just making noises. The word tongues of the scripture means languages. And it means that they were able to speak languages they didn't know. Now I don't know what that's like, but they were they they having never, for example, I'm not saying that happened here, but for example, with the utterance that God gave them, they were able to speak Greek if they had never known Greek before. They were able to speak German if they had never known German before. But more importantly, I think it plays out in the way that it plays out, it's more than just them being able to speak it themselves. It's that when they spoke it, they spoke what could be understood. And there's a reason why I think that's exactly how it played out. That's still, by the way, how the Spirit of God moves in the preaching. It is not that the man preaching always knows what to say. But what God could do, it could turn what the man says into what you need to hear. And that's still the same Spirit of God with the same translating power that happened on this day. Now, when uh there were they they 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. Now they're still Jews, but they're out of every nation. So here's the Lord saying, This is the beginning. This is how this is going to play out. I'll bring in the Jews, I'll bring in Gentiles. In fact, the same one who speaks today is the same one who first baptizes a Gentile into the church. But here we see this playing out by the Lord fulfilling it first in Jerusalem and yet doing it in such a way that it manifests it's going to be into all nations. Out of every nation, uh out of every nation under heaven. Now, when this was noise abroad, in other words, this started happening wherever the disciples were, and then people started to hear something going on, and people started to congregate together to uh to hear what and to see what was happening. With this noise 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? And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born. I'll just take it again to today in the in the terms of the preaching of the gospel. First and foremost, there is no preaching without the Spirit of God being involved. There may be a good talk, there may be scriptures read, there may be things that are worth being said that to listen to, but there is no preaching unless the Spirit of God is in it. And it has to be on both ends. It has to be on the man that's speaking, and it has to be on the hearer that's hearing. And here's the beauty of it. It doesn't matter who the man is, it doesn't matter what his status in life is, it doesn't matter whether he comes from the same background as you. It doesn't matter whether he even has the same shared experiences as you have. What matters is when the man is blessed to speak by the Spirit of God. And when you are blessed to hear by the Spirit of God, you are hearing the Spirit of God speak. And maybe not in an audible sense, but you receive the word uh that is being delivered, and the understanding is opened up to you. And that's the beauty of what's happening. Is that here's some just here's some Galilean fishermen who's speaking to men of all manner of lives, and they're hearing the word of God. And what is the word of God that they're hearing? It says here in just a minute. What is it that is declared that is opened up to them? And uh let me let me get to that point here. Let me get to that phrase, and uh, how hear we, every man, our own tongue wherein we were born, and then it lists all the all of the uh the the represent uh all the at least some of the nations and states that were represented there. And I'm not gonna take the time to read them all, uh, but in verse uh verse 10 it concludes, it says, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, but by the way, uh not even natural-born Jews, but those that were brought in to Judaism, uh, Creeks and Arabians. Verse 11, we do hear them speak in our tongues. The wonderful works of God. That is what's opened up to their understanding. What they're hearing is not the works of Moses and the works of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They're not hearing about uh the wonderful works of David, but they're not hearing the works of uh of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. What they're hearing is the wonderful works of God, they're hearing it with their own ears and believing it and receiving it and hearing it and understanding, perhaps for the first time ever, that God does his word in heaven and in earth. They're hearing, perhaps, for the first time the same kind of message that Nebuchadnezzar received the hard way. That God doeth his will among the army of heaven, among the inhabitants of earth, and none can stay his hand or saying to him, What doest thou? And they're receiving it from fishermen from Galilee, and these that are hearing and receiving is having an effect on some of them. Now, some are hearing what's going on, however, and they're not understanding. In fact, they're not receiving. Now, I don't want to speak to their eternal status, but at the very least, they're not hearing the same thing. They're hearing the same words, but they're not receiving it. Because it almost immediately says, and they were all amazed. Now this was this was this was something to behold, but here's some. They were all amazed and were in doubt, saying to another, what meaneth this? What is going on? Others walking. He said, These men are all new line. These men are drunk. These people are babbling. You know, and that's still the same way today. You can preach the mighty works of God. And what will the world say? You're a babbler. You're drunk. You're foolish. In fact, it was it was the words of God through the apostle said it pleased God to uh to save those that believe through the foolishness of preaching. And there is salvation in believing. It is not eternal salvation, but there is salvation. That's what God promised Israel in Joel. It was not eternal deliverance. God would do that. What God promised the people of God in Joel is deliverance from the nations, deliverance from this world, deliverance in harmony and in walking with him. What God promised was companionship while they walked. And so it is that that here mocking. There were those that that saw what was going on. Now, obviously, even this doesn't it the logical part of me gets so irritated because this doesn't even make sense to make this accusation. How could they be drunk and talking and other people hearing it in their own tongues? That even that accusation doesn't make sense. But neither does the world's accusation. They can look at the evidence and come to different conclusions, but guess what? They don't, one, they don't want to. And two, if you're blind to it, you'll never see it. If you're deaf to it, you'll never hear it. But what is the scripture for? Who is the scripture for? Who is the truth for? They that have ears to hear. Let them hear. It doesn't mean that you have to. And here's the point, and here's a point I don't know that I've ever tried to bring out before. These men did not come with the intent to understand and hear the mighty works of God. But they did. Because they were assembled together where it was preached. That means you don't even have to go in with the intent to be blessed, to get the blessing. But what you do have to do is have the ears opened and the understanding opened too. Now, Peter standing up and the boldness of Peter. Peter's bold. Sometimes in the wrong way, but here it serves him well. Because now, not only is he has the boldness of Peter, he has the unction of the Holy Ghost, the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. In other words, he said, they haven't even had time for that yet. As if that were even necessary to say. But he says, but but that's not even that's not even the answer. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. All you that heard Joel read in the synagogues over the years, and you've wondered what it meant for the sun to go dark and the moon to go blood, and there for there to be signs and wonders in heaven, and the Lord the Spirit, and send his spirit among all flesh. It's happening right now. Why? Because the law and the prophet has been fulfilled. The measurement of the signs and the wonders that were necessary under the law by the appointing of the sun and the moon and the stars and the anticipation of the fulfillment of all things. It's done! The mighty works of God. We no longer wait for it to be done. It has been done by Jesus Christ. It has been done on the cross. I believe there's more than one reason why uh there was darkness on the day that Jesus Christ. I believe there was an aspect of the fulfillment of the prophecies of God as well as uh the significance of the moment that was transpiring. But understand, uh the the law and the prophets were until John, not until the day of the last day uh that will ever happen upon the face of this earth. Those those those types and pictures, the shadows, uh, the things that were foretold, the prophecies were all fulfilled in the day of Jesus Christ. And when Christ, a son of Christ, uh was hanging on the cross and uh bore the weight and the burden of sin for all of his people when he put away sin forever. The sin debt is paid for when he says it is finished. That message is what is proclaimed through the through through the mysterious tongue of the Holy Ghost that with the with the with the declared with the declared word of God says it is finished. And the Spirit opens up that understanding to your heart and it tells you guess what? That is for you! It is finished for you! That work is done for you, and there is no more guilt for God when that voice. Enters your heart, and the truth is from up. There is no more looking at times and seasons or sacrifices under the law. You see only the finished work of Christ. And that's what the church has been founded on, and it's what the rock of the church is. It is the finished work of God, the wonderful, mighty works of God. And it came to pass, but this is what was spoken of by the prophet, and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord. The what? The last days. And you guess what? We're still in the last days, and we will be in the last days until the very last day of the last days, and then there will be no more days. Except for one. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Doesn't matter whether you're male or female, bond or free. Doesn't matter. The Lord's promises are to all his children. By the way, that's also why we don't restrict. One, I'm very thankful. We honor the assembly of the saints. We're young and old together are under the same voice and the same preaching. Your sons or your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaids I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. By the way, prophesy doesn't just mean telling the future. We often think about that as the only meaning, but prophesy truly means bring to understanding. Now it could be bringing to understanding something that hasn't happened yet, and that's what the Old Testament prophecies are. In fact, the prophecies that are still yet to happen, as in the day of the resurrection, we have understanding on it. We have prophecy on it, but we it hasn't happened yet. But prophecy isn't just about what hasn't happened, it can also be the explanation of what has happened. And therefore, the explanation of the finished work of Christ is called prophecy. So if you have the gift of explaining what's happened, that's the gift of prophecy. It says, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. And by the way, the manifest presence of God is still manifest in the presence of his people today. I don't want to get too much more sidetracked. Not that they're sidetracked, but I need to move on. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, the law and the prophets having been fulfilled, or as as I'll uh I won't take the time to turn and read it, but if you go into Hebrews chapter 7, talking about Melchizedek, Jesus Christ being called a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, there's a phrase in there. For the law can make nothing perfect. Now, that's true in the sense of there is no sacrifice in the law because that could take away sin. That's true. It's also true that the law would never bring anything to completion or to maturity either. Because why? It was meant to last forever until the coming of Christ. Guess what brought perfection? Both in the sense of sinless perfection, but also in the sense of completion. Christ did. Once Christ came, the law was complete. There is no more sacrifice for sin. Why? Because Christ just said we don't have to anymore? No, there's no point in it. Because the sin sacrifice, the sin sacrifice, has been made by Jesus Christ Himself. And so, uh by the way, the rest of that verse, for the law could make nothing perfect but the bringing in the better hope dead. There is something that brings about uh the point of completion, and that is the better hope, Jesus Christ. Which, by the way, better hope just simply means better expectation. A hope is not a wish, it is the expectation. We have the earnest of our inheritance and the expectation of Christ. And that's a better thing because it always points to completion in Him rather than the law. Now, let me move on. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord, and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You realize there was a point in time where we would have been forbidden to even enter into the camp. That's one reason why Christ suffered without the camp. He went to where his people are. He couldn't wait for us to come to him because we couldn't ever come to him. He went to where his people are and took care of the situation. But we as Gentiles, we as non-Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob descendants, there was a time when we would have been forbidden to even go into the camp. Women too. There was an area where women were allowed, but they could not go in. And do you know, even for those that could go in, unless you were a priest, you could go in no further. And guess who was suffered to go into the holiest of holies? Only one. Just one. And do you know where God was? In the holiest of holies. One! There was one that was allowed to meet with God under the law. Not so in the day of Christ. All are called, all are in the wicked, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Young, old, as I mentioned before, young, old, bond-free, male, female, doesn't matter, rich, poor. And anyone who has the desire to go to God, guess what? You have the right to go to God. And what does it say? Well, you know what? It's too bad you came too late in life. Because, you know, if you had come earlier, you could have had some deliverance. But you're just too close to the end now. You might as well just forget. That's not what it says. Boy, you've just done too much bad in your life. Can't forget. Can't forget. Can't forgive. Sorry, you just messed up too much. You can't come to me. That's not what it says. You're the wrong gender. You're female. I don't listen to women. That's not what it says. You're too simple. You can't understand the doctrines of grace and eternal redemption and predestination until you understand the deep doctrines of God. You can't come to me. That's not what it says. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Can just anybody call upon the name of the Lord? No. You actually have to be able to call upon the name of the Lord. But guess what? It says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that means you've already been redeemed of God. Now you can be delivered in hope and in consolation in God. Do you know the I hesitate to say this because I probably shouldn't say this in this way. It doesn't even mean that you have to join the church. But guess what? If you have this, you ought to join the church. That's the point of joining the church. The join of the church is not how you gain access to God, but guess what? You get closer. You can be in Israel by crossing the gates. And you're you're you're in Israel. Or let me back up. You can get into Jerusalem by crossing the gates, and you're in Jerusalem. But where's the Lord? He's up in his house. Now you can get closer to the Lord by going up the hill and going right outside his house. Boy, I'm out right outside the house of the Lord. I'm in a better position. And you are. But where's the Lord? He's in his upper chamber. So you can go into the upper chamber, you can press in closer. And you can say, I am in the upper chamber. I am as close to the Lord as I've ever been. But he's sitting at the banqueting house, at the banqueting table. He says, Come and seat. And guess what? When you go even closer, you gain more and more access. And there's only one place. Now you've already gotten consolation. You're already redeemed. So why press even closer? Because where the banqueting house is, that's where you get to sit and dine with the Lord. Why wouldn't we? Why? Having access to God, where once upon a time, in the worship that God had given Israel, only one could meet with God. Here, the Lord says, we're two or gathered together in the midst of that. We have access to God directly wherever we may meet together in spirit and in truth. Why not? Go and press in even closer to sit with him. And then, because where you sit with him, you get to realize that the banner over you is the love of God that he had with you from the foundation of the world. Pressing in gets you closer and closer and closer to where you don't just know about him, you know him. You can smell his fragrance, you can feel his embrace, the kiss on your cheek, as he tells you how much he loves you, is only found in the close relationship with him. And what he's saying is, guess what? In the kingdom of God is to whomever shall call upon my name. Now that was something even Peter had to learn to truly realize later. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs. Those are the signs and wonders that were taught about in the Joel. Which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him be delivered by the determinate counsel and firm knowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Now I know the Lord submitted himself to it, but the apostle Peter is highlighting our culpability in it. Christ came to deal with something, and that was our sin. Now I might not have been there in the day that they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. But I would have said just the same thing. Because that is nature. By the way, that's also my only hope. That was the only hope I have is that Christ be crucified for me. There's part of me that hates that. There's part of me that just wishes I could have been sinless to begin with. But I can't. I was sinner by nature, and I am a sinner by practice. I cannot but hope in the crucifixion of Christ for any peace. But here's the point Christ came to be crucified for us. And I'll close with this these next two verses. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. For David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, and I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope. Now there's more to it than that. I hope I've tried to I hope in this attempt try to understand and open up understanding that the law and the prophets being fulfilled, that the law, the obedience under the law and the worship under the law having been come, having brought to completion, that the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, when Christ came, it said, Here he is, and then walks out the door. We should never seek the schoolmaster again. Why? When the object of the schoolmaster is right there. Now, does that mean we don't get caught up in ourselves and trying to go back under principles or thoughts under the law? No, that's why that's why the scripture's given us for not to follow under legalistic things. I'm gonna truly close with this thought. Immediately after that, there's something that happened. We saw that there were some that were mocking. It didn't even reach them. Of the ones it reached, there was a pricking in their heart. Something bothered them. And they they knew what Peter was saying was true. The Spirit told them it was true. And it bothered them to the point that they thought they said, What are we gonna do about this? There's in other words, it it was it's like a doorbell or a phone. It's not a question that's being asked of you, it's an alarm signal that demands attention. When it says talking about the answer of a good conscience toward God, it's not God saying, Well, what about your good conscience? It's this good conscience with feeling, with sensation, with desire to serve God and with guilt and understanding that we are sinners before God. And that the the conscience says, What do I do about this? God gave us something to do about it, to acknowledge it. Men and brethren, what shall we do? What was the answer of Apostle Peter? Be baptized for the remission of sins. Not to gain it, but because you have it. You have the mighty works of God have remitted your sin. Here's what you can do about it. Acknowledge it. That's what joining the church is. It's not the gaining of the remission of sin, it is the acknowledgement of the remission of sin. And in acknowledging it, guess what they had after that? Fellowship with one another and with the Lord. And that's what the that's the beauty of what we have, and I'll admit, even today. I get so complacent. I forget the blessing that is all. There were countless numbers, I don't know how many millions of people before the Lord was a monster. Even those that have never heard the gospel preached and yet had a burden in their hearts because they were born of God, that had a desire to serve God and not know how, I forget how spoiled I am. Not only can be raised in a time where I have access to the truth, but actually being raised in the people that preach the truth.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:56

I know I don't deserve it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:58

And yet, the blessing that's in the church is the same blessing. I said I was gonna close, and I write about 10 minutes late. I will just mention this one last thing. If you remember there's a girl that's more game, about some workers in the field. There's some workers who started working in the field and rising in the sun. And then there were some other workers that were hired in the mid-morning. And some that are hired in the noonday sun. And there were some that were hired right before the day was over. And when the day was done, they all got the same day. The ones that went through the heat of the day, they felt slighted.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:42

They said, we we bore the heat of the day. Don't we get a little bit more? Here's the thing. When what you get is the blessing of God, it's still the best thing you could possibly get. It wasn't that they were short-changed, it's that everyone got the best thing that they could get. And that's what the blessing of the church is.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:06

Doesn't matter whether it's early or late in life, whether you were uh and the disciples in the first day or you joined the church right before the Lord returns.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:16

It doesn't matter what aspect you put it, it's the same blessing of the same spirit, of the same presence of Christ, of the same comfort, and of the same joy that is for all of his people, regardless of who we are.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:30

Because we're his. And I'm gonna stop right here. Is there a song we can sing? Extend the right hand if I'll change.