Well, let me welcome you once again to this wonderful feast day of Pentecost. And the title of our study today is Peter and the 11 Stand Up. Peter and the 11 Stand Up. I'd like you to turn with me to Acts 2, if you will. We're going to begin reading in verse 1. Acts 2, beginning in verse 1, will stop at verse 16. I'm tempted to read all the way through, but in the interest of time, we won't do that.

But this passage will help us to set the scene this afternoon. And we're going to take a look at this wonderful sermon given to us by the Apostle Peter here. Acts 2, beginning in verse 1, on this great day of Pentecost. Acts 2, verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared two of them divided tongues as of fire, one set upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Verse 5, and there they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotonia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and parts of Libya, adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes. All these people here, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them speaking in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Others mocking, said, Now they're full of new wine. Verse 14, But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let it be known to you, and heed my words, for these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day.

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. So we'll stop there. On this great day of Pentecost again, we begin by looking at this wonderful sermon, given to us by the apostle Peter on Pentecost. Pentecost then. Here we are celebrating Pentecost today. And what's so dramatic about this sermon, I think, first to mention, is to realize that these words come from one who just a few weeks earlier, a matter of a few weeks earlier, had actually denied all knowledge of Jesus Christ. We know Peter stands here, but he actually stood just a few weeks ago prior to this as the classic denier.

Classic denier at a time of great need, we could say. We know he doesn't stand alone, though, if you read through the Gospel accounts, even though Peter may have been most notorious in how he denied Christ, all of his colleagues joined him.

Everyone, the Gospel writers, tell us everyone deserted Jesus and fled. So, one of the great aspects to note here in studying the New Testament is to somehow or another come to terms with the dramatic transformation that took place in these individuals in just a relatively short period of time. You know, Peter here, I don't know the man, all the way to men of Judea. Think of that incredible transformation, dramatic transformation in the followers of Jesus Christ, the standing up of Peter and the other disciples.

And often it's customary for us to say that the defining moment, the defining feature of their transformation is on the account of Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection. And because Jesus Christ died, and because he was raised from the dead, that everything changed from that point. Everything changed in God's people from that point forward. And that's true, but not fully true. Because I want to show you, let's turn for a moment to Luke's first book, the Gospel of Luke, Luke 24.

Let's turn there, if you will. Luke 24, before we get into the details of Peter's sermon, we want to look at the state of mind and remind ourselves of the state of mind that Christ's followers had after Christ's death and resurrection. And here in Luke 24, we're going to begin in verse 21. We're going to consider two of those followers here of Jesus Christ, their mindset. Remember here in Luke 24, two of the followers were making their way down the road here.

They meet up with Jesus Christ. Ironically, they don't recognize him as Jesus Christ, who they're speaking to. But in the course of the conversation, they tell Jesus just how their hopes were dashed, just all hopes lost. All dreams that we had, expectations were just buried there in that tomb.

When Jesus Christ was crucified. Now, Jesus speaks to these two disciples. Luke 24 verse 21, they said to them, they said to him, look at these words, but we were hoping, past tense, past tense there, we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since all these things happened. Let's stop there. So they had no hope. But by the time you get to verse 31, things begin to change, and you would think that some hope would begin to be revived here. Look at verse 31, because Christ opens their eyes. This should make a difference, shouldn't it? Verse 31, when their eyes were opened and they knew him, so they knew it was Christ, and he vanished from their sight, that should have instilled all hope back to them, right? Not quite, because if you go a little bit further down in Luke 24, those two same individuals, they go and they run to tell the other disciples what had just occurred in this encounter with Jesus. And the response is, fright and that they must have seen a ghost. Look at this, verse 36 and 37.

Now, when they had said these things, so the two went and told the others, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, peace to you. But 37, verse 37, but they were terrified and frightened and supposed they had seen a spirit. So after his crucifixion and even after his resurrection, they hadn't put everything together, had they? Still didn't have all the pieces together. Hope stashed. You would think they would be somewhat revived. There's Jesus Christ standing in front of them. No, doubts and fears remained. And it becomes clear then, even in Acts chapter 1, even just before the events of Acts chapter 2 in Pentecost, that the pieces were still jumbled for them. So let's turn back to Acts chapter 1, if you will. Acts chapter 1, it's clear that the events surrounding Christ's death and resurrection, the fullness of those events, were only partly understood by the disciples. And it was clear that the disciples needed more instruction to get the whole picture clear. So Acts chapter 1 and verse 3 tells us that Jesus understood that more instruction was needed. Because Jesus just didn't simply die, be resurrected, ascend to the Father, and stay. No, he returns. Look at this. Acts 1 verse 3, to whom he also presented himself alive now. So he stays around after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and speaking the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So over a 40-day period, he appears to his followers, answers his questions, banishes their fears, addresses this whole ghost thing, and so on, taught them everything they needed to know, prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And the coming of the Holy Spirit was going to be for them the essential gift. Coming of the Holy Spirit was going to be the essential gift for them. So he prepares them for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and then and only then does he leave them. So after 40 days, only after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the pouring out of the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will see today that it's only then, at that moment, that they're honed in, that their focus, their vision becomes clear here. So the reason I bring this out is we mustn't think that the disciples somehow managed to get themselves together and put themselves in a position, a right kind of thinking, in a right kind of position, and then God responded by giving them the Holy Spirit. No, in fact, the pouring out of the gift of the Holy Spirit is what would bring forth the clarity. The gift to God's people, the clarity brought by the giving of the Holy Spirit, absolutely essential for them to have in order to have absolute clarity, to have a full understanding of all that has transpired in the plan of God, in the coming kingdom of God. Because right up to the last moment, even after all those 40 days of instruction, their expectations were still flawed.

That's the significance of the question in verse 6. Look at Acts 1 verse 6. We see that after this time, just before the events of the Pentecost, Acts 1 verse 6, when they had come together, they asked Him, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Incredible. Confusion right up to the very end. Confusion right up to the Pentecost event and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

So, but notice Jesus's response to this question. Are You going to at this time restore the kingdom? What's the question? Look at His answer. Look at His response. So they asked, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of God? And His response is going to establish for us how the kingdom will come.

This is directly tied to the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, and what it will accomplish in and through God's people as the means, then, for ushering in the kingdom of God. So verse 7 and 8, how will the kingdom come? And He said to them, It's not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So let's stop there. So the short answer is how the kingdom will come.

The kingdom comes through those empowered by the Holy Spirit who will then go forward and preach the gospel, the gospel of the coming kingdom of God. That's how the kingdom comes.

The kingdom comes through those empowered by the Holy Spirit.

That's the essential key element. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they will then, with the power of the Holy Spirit, have clarity to go forward, preach the gospel of the coming kingdom of God. And this fact was going to be a great help to them. Up to this point, they hadn't really grasped the words by Jesus Christ when He said, It's to your advantage that I leave. You remember He said that in the upper room. It's actually to your advantage that I leave. That would have been very difficult for them to understand. But now they'll be able to understand what Jesus was saying. So all the lack of clarity in their mind is resolved by the Holy Spirit. That's why you see the complete transformation of Peter. Complete transformation. I don't know Him. But men of Judea. So you think about how essential the Spirit is and how essential it is to be given in the ushering in of God's kingdom. In many ways, it is the essential element. It's one of the essential keys in God's plan of salvation. And thrusting forward the ushering in of the coming kingdom of God.

So it's with this understanding that the kingdom comes through the preaching of the gospel by those empowered by the Holy Spirit. It's that with that understanding, it shouldn't be a surprise then that the first dramatic impact of the pouring out of the Spirit is the standing up and the preaching of Peter and the other 11. That's the first dramatic impact of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. God's disciples stand and they begin to preach. And so what we see is that Peter, on this day of Pentecost, after this dramatic outpouring of God's Spirit, he stands up and it's almost as if the cloudiness is removed. And I know there's so many of you here that have experienced this. It's almost as if, and of course this is scriptural, you know, the blinds are lifted from our eyes. All of a sudden we have clarity. We're able to put the whole picture together. This is what was occurring to Peter in the other 11. And he begins to give witness to all that he had seen, all that he experienced with Jesus Christ now was flooding back into his memory. God was bringing remembrance of all the things. God began to bring remembrance of all the Old Testament scriptures we're going to see. He's been again to see, oh, the prophet said this and this prophet said that. And now I know who they were pointing to. Clarity began to come. And I know there's so many of you here that have had this. You're reading your Bible so many years. You're reading the same scriptures, and it's as if you had blinders on. And then one day the Holy Spirit begins to work with you. Same scriptures you read. Aha! I see it. That's the transformation here.

And we see this clearly in this sermon of Acts chapter 2. We see the Holy Spirit had unlocked the truth, giving him clarity to the scriptures, bringing everything into focus. And so Acts chapter 2, Peter's example, makes this clear. And we can look at this sermon, and it can kind of give us a blueprint on how we as a church and on how we as individuals should now move forward. You're empowered with the same Holy Spirit that Peter was in the 11th. We can have some kind of...we can look at this sermon and garner certain beautiful aspects from it. One thing you'll notice right off the bat here, and is a good call out to us, as we want to stand and stand in a totally different way starting today, is that we don't stand to share our brightest thoughts. You know, we don't share to stand up to give our brightest ideas. We stand and stand with this. We stand and let the Bible speak for itself. It's one of the major examples we see here in Peter. This is what we're going to pull out today, one of the major examples for us. But before we get there, of course, verse 15. Let's kind of get into this sermon now. Verse 15, we'll just pass by this briefly. Peter addresses the question of drunkenness here.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose. You know, it's only the third hour of the day.

I don't know if the question was given in jest. It's almost as if his answer is given in jest. No, they're not drunk. It's only nine o'clock, you know. Now, if it was three o'clock, that might be different. You know, you might have an argument there. I think he understood the ridiculousness of the question. He almost just, you know, dismisses it with kind of a jest there. But you'll notice again in verse 16 what he does. He immediately turns them to the Bible. This is what he does. This is a great call out for us. Verse 16, But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. So this was his scripture. This is what he had access to then, the Old Testament scriptures. If you have an authorized version, you'll see that it says, This is that which Joel spoke about. This, which you see that it just happened, Peter says, was that which Joel spoke about. It can help center our thinking here. Peter's making sure to get his listeners, you know, he's got their attention, making sure to get them into the Bible as quickly as possible here. And he begins to explain the present events of the Pentecost on that day in light of how they fit perfectly and harmoniously with that which was written in the past. Great technique here. And he says, This is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel. What the prophets were writing, he's essentially saying, you know, that the prophets were like writing and they were almost on their tiptoes, you know, trying, wondering, trying to see who's going to fulfill all these things that I'm writing? How's this going to happen? You know, they couldn't see it. And Peter, actually in 1 Peter 1, verse 12, we won't turn there, but 1 Peter 1 verse 12, Peter even says that the angels desired to see and to look into these things. So the prophets were trying to figure out, you know, how is all this going to be fulfilled? The angels are looking down from heaven, as it were, trying to unscramble it all, the story and how the story of salvation is going to come about. Peter stands such clarity, no need for any more inquiry, he says, because Jesus, Jesus is now here. He is the fulfillment of all that you've read about in the past. The prophet Joel, along with all the others, predicted this great outpouring of the Spirit. In the last days, he says in verse 17, it shall come to pass in the last days that God says, God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Though again, Peter says this is actually the fulfillment of what the prophet had said. The last days, we know what the last days are, the last days were ushered in by Jesus Christ at his first coming. They will come to an end at his return. Though these are the last days, we're in the last days, the time from Christ coming to Christ's return, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people there. This is what's taking place.

And it will be brought to fulfillment by the completion of the work of Jesus Christ. Verse 17 again, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. In other words, I will pour out my Spirit on all peoples. So let's ask, what does that mean? I'm going to pour out my Spirit onto all flesh, under all people. Does that mean everyone? Does that mean everyone irrespective of their inner readiness? Irrespective of their relationship with God? Does it mean everyone will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? No. It doesn't mean all people at this time, everywhere, irrespective of their inner readiness. No, it rather means everyone irrespective of their outward status. That's what it means. I'm going to pour out my Spirit on all people. Not all people, everyone, but all people, all kinds of people. That was very evident on that first day of Pentecost, as I struggled through those names, you know, and did quite well, by the way. There was all kinds of people there. God's Spirit is poured out on all kinds of people today, isn't it? All people, everyone, irrespective of their outward status. So I'm going to pour out my Spirit on all people. Jews, Gentiles, males, females, old people, young people, servants, masters. That's the significance of what's taking place here. Dramatic shift from what had gone before. Absolutely a dramatic shift. This was a new event in God's plan of salvation. There was a new ushering in of the coming kingdom of God, and God was going to use all kinds of people in ushering in the kingdom. I'm going to give everyone my spirit, and everyone is going to be distinct and unique in their experience, and they're going to be able to witness of me and these different perspectives, and we're going to have just this outpouring of God's people, and they're going to go out and help me usher in my kingdom. That's the beauty of Pentecost. It really is.

Dramatic shift. The second part here, verse 17 and 18, emphasizes this. Your sons, 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, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. So he's making it clear as a result of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, these things will occur. This is a defining moment. Men, sons, daughters, young, old, maid servants, man servants, will have access to God, have access to knowing me, truly knowing who I am, have a relationship with me. We know that if you go back in the Old Testament, of course, God worked with certain men and women entrusted with his Holy Spirit, entrusted to see special visions and in dreams, given special dreams. But what Peter is essentially saying is all that was unique to certain individuals, wasn't it? Of the Old Testament. But now God is pouring out his flesh in a much greater scale here. It's no longer going to be the peculiar experience of certain men and women. Now the awareness of God will be available on a much greater scale. And I'm going to grant to all my people, irregardless of their outward status, I'm going to grant to those men and women true knowledge of me. It's not setting aside the place of teachers. We all have our role in the body. But what he's saying here is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will bring the the Word of God home to the people of God. Everyone can understand my word that I pour my Spirit into so that they might have the knowledge of me and my son. And when you think of prophecy here, we don't have to shy away from that word. In a sense, we all have the ability of prophecy, don't we? Because the Holy Spirit has given us clarity in understanding all the prophecy that's been given to us. We have clarity. We have understanding. So we can look here. You can prophesy. I can prophesy. We can give clarity to what God's Word is because we've been empowered by the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit.

Verse 19 and 20, concerning the signs and the blood and the fire and the sun and the moon and so on. Verse 19, I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire, vapor of smoke. Verse 20, and the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. You can prophesy this. You understand this. We, of course, know the Holy Spirit has given us all understanding of what would be convoluted language. But we can understand this apocalyptic language, can't we? By the power of the Holy Spirit, these cataclysmic events will occur before the day of the Lord, before the return of Jesus Christ. We can prophesy this truth, and we should. We should. Now, whether or not those that were listening had the fullness of Peter's words, maybe they did.

The Holy Spirit could have given them understanding beyond what their natural ability would be. Most of them would have been able to have some understanding of this because they would be able to say, Peter, I kind of know what you're talking about because seven weeks ago we saw some of this. When Christ died, you had some of these cataclysmic events occur. The sun was turned to darkness, earthquake, and so on. They would have experienced some of these things at Christ's death. They had some reference to Peter's words. I think Peter's getting to the main point of this sermon here, one of the main points in verse 21. Verse 21, And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So Peter stands, he says, listen, between the coming of the Spirit, which you now see and hear, and you witness, this is on the first day of Pentecost, between that and the reappearing of Jesus Christ, that glorious day of the Lord, there's a long corridor, if you will, and it's a corridor of opportunity. An opportunity has been given to God's people to fulfill the command to go into all the world, preach the gospel. Remember, the kingdom comes by the preaching of the gospel, by men and women. Men and women empowered by the Holy Spirit. That's how the kingdom will be ushered in.

God's Spirit has been given so that we might do that.

And in order that we might do it in the confidence that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Now, keep in mind, they were still thinking in Jewish terms, many of them. They were thinking of Jerusalem. They were just a short time from saying, you remember, well, are you now, at this time, going to restore the kingdom of God in Jerusalem? It was just a short period of time. So this was their thinking at that time. So this was a mind-stretching notion that what has happened is going to mean that all kinds of people are going to come in trust to Jesus Christ, come to God the Father, that God's way of salvation will be opened up to everyone. This was a mind-stretching notion. And the promises He makes here is to whoever calls upon the name of the Lord. He makes the promise to individuals that they respond to His calling individually. They can then experience a saving relationship with God. Of course, many pulpits, many churches, they make a circus out of this, really. I've witnessed it on TV. Some of you, prior to your calling, witnessed it in person. You know, somehow or another, you're supposed to sign a card or raise your hand, come kneel down in front, run around twice around the building, whatever it might be. Simply call upon the Lord, simply say those words, Jesus, you're my Savior, and that's it. That's all that's required. That teaching is unfortunate, isn't it? And we pray and look forward to those who have been taught incorrectly, but one day they will come to know the fullness of what Peter is preaching here. Because you want to tell those people, wait a minute, you want to tell those that are teaching that belief and that understanding, wait a minute, who's doing the calling here? Are they calling and converting themselves? Or does God call and convert? That's the question. Fact is, God calls. God draws the individual, of course. He pricks the hearts and minds of the man and woman whom he wants to call in this first harvest. That's God's prerogative. God brings the person to the point of even wanting to have a relationship with him and brings them to the point of even having the ability to work out their own salvation. God does that. In fact, Peter addresses that a little bit further down in his sermon. If you allow your eyes just to go down to verse 39 for a moment. In verse 39, Peter explains in verse 39, the promises to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. You see that, okay? So, and maybe that term, a far off, means a far off in relationship to God, you know.

God calls those, brings them from being a far off to being close to him.

So, God does the calling here. As many as the Lord our God will call. So, God does the calling. We could say that the echo comes from our heart, couldn't we? There is a response, and there is a responsibility, and there's a response of those to whom God calls. And in how we echo that calling, we're going to see the depth of that response here in just a moment, the nature of that response. We're going to get that a little bit later in Peter's sermon. But we know that until the Lord speaks into our lives, the gospel is irrelevant to us. We know that. There was a day in my life, I was a far off. I had no interest in a relationship with God, but then everything changed. I know that happened in your life, too.

It remained locked to us, blurry until God's Spirit begins to work in our lives. So the story we know of the crucifixion is nonsense to the natural thinking of man until the Holy Spirit unlocks it. It unlocks it in them. It unlocks it in us, that we can go forward preaching the gospel to usher in the kingdom of God. Now, it's almost as if, though, going back up there to verse 21, once Peter has made this statement about salvation, quoting from Joel in the Old Testament, speaking about God's role in saving mankind, it's at this moment that he proceeds to lay down some facts about Jesus Christ. Having mentioned our salvation, he now is going to explain how that salvation is even made possible to us and who has made that salvation possible to us. In other words, he's anticipating the question, how does this saving thing work? How does salvation work? Where do we start to ensure that our hearts are prepared to respond to that which is revealed? Do you know? Do you know? Do I know? Well, we respond. We start by responding to what the Holy Spirit has now opened to us. It starts with not I or me or my, but it starts with Him. And we know who the Him is. Of course, it's Jesus Christ. So if anyone asks you about salvation, about His saving grace, about your relationship with God, where you are in the process and in your working of salvation, never start in the first person. Never start in the first person. I'm tempted to do that often. I find myself doing that in error. Always start with He. And that's what Peter does here. Verse 22 through 24. Where does Peter start? Verse 22 and 24 through 24. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus. You see where he starts. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know Him, still focused on Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, have been put to death, and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. Let's stop there. So it starts with Jesus Christ. The possibility of our salvation sits upon the foundation of what Jesus Christ has done for you and I. Very important. That's where He begins. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus.

And He begins to then explain, who is Jesus?

He was a man, He says. He was a man. He stepped on this earth from the right hand of God. A fully man, presumably confronting those. There were all these heresies out there at this time. Some believe that Jesus Christ wasn't really a man. So Peter is educating here. The identity of Jesus Christ, He came into history as we know it, was a man. He begins with the humanity of Jesus Christ. He's a wonderful man. Consider how powerful He was. He was a wonderful example, a perfect example.

Then He goes on to say, consider Jesus as the Son of God, as coming from the right hand of God. Verse 22, the second half of verse 22, attested by God. So He was a man. Now, let me tell you about His, the Son of God. He was also the Son of God, attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, signs, which God did through Him in your myths, as you yourselves also know. So He doesn't enumerate the wonders, the signs. They knew it. They knew Lazarus stood up from death. They knew that man had been let down from the roof, ends up running out, running back home. You know, they knew the blind saw, the lame walked. Nicodemus, actually, the religious individual in his encounter with Jesus Christ, said, we know that you're a teacher sent from God because no one can do the miracles that you do.

But Peter's saying, this is how Peter starts. This is a good template for us. We're now witnessing. We're filled with the Holy Spirit so we can go out individually as a church. Begin here. Peter starts with the life of Jesus Christ. He then moves on to his death. Peter explains that the death of Jesus Christ here in verse 23 and 24, it was God's foreknowledge. It was man's wickedness. Look at this, verse 23 and 24. Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. So he was delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it wasn't possible that he should be held by it. I'm going to not go down this rabbit hole, but this can keep you up at night. This is one of the classic places in Acts and throughout Scripture where human responsibility is held up next to, side by side, divine sovereignty. You know, foreknowledge of God, the lawless hands of God, of man, the lawless hands of God set side by side, the foreknowledge of God. The Bible doesn't just address these issues. They frequently put some side by side, doesn't it? But Peter's saying that the death of Jesus Christ, what he's wanting to get across is this wasn't some emergency measure thought up by God in response to the fall of man. No, he was delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. And the fact of God's foreknowledge doesn't lessen the guilt of those responsible. Still culpable. We're still culpable. But Peter doesn't pull any punches here. We know the cross, the crucifixion, foolishness to men. It is the power of God to those who believe. Foolishness to men, the power of God to those who believe.

And Peter does not move from speaking about Christ's life and skip over his death. The peculiar thing here is, as we go and as we're asked about the hope that lies in us, we have these opportunities and we're praying for these opportunities. Bring someone in my path, Father, that I might through the power of your Holy Spirit give them your word. You know, as we do this and as we go forward, we go forward with Peter's template of a sermon, we go to men and women who think it's foolish. No doubt. And it's becoming more and more foolish to the generations as they come. But we go forward believing that God will take this message that we proclaim, foolish as it is to the minds of men and women, go forward with it, believing God will bring it home to their hearts in such a way to call them and to convict them of their sin. Bring about their conversion. And I don't know about you, but I'm tempted to always skip this part about Christ's death. Personally, I find it much easier to say, you know, the great thing about the gospel is that there's wonderful purpose, there's wonderful peace in your life, there's significance, aren't you attracted to all these things? And all that's true. And you get to that. We should get to that for sure. But we may be starting in the wrong place. This has really hit my mind in that it's the offensive part that actually draws them. It's what drew me. When I knew that I had this special calling from a very young age, from birth, and I was trampling on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with what I was doing, that offensiveness to myself is what drew me.

And drew me to truly reach out to Him for the first time. And then, of course, I discovered all the benefits, the purpose, the attractiveness of this life, and how wonderful it is. But it was the offensiveness, the offensive part of the gospel, if I can respectfully put it that way. The crucifixion is offensive. It's ugly. But it's actually what draws. Often when men and women are confronted with the event of the crucifixion, they can see the wonder of God's amazing love.

By the way, isn't this a wonderful sermon? Not mine, Peter's. There's so much here, and there's so much that in preparing, you throw out, there's just not enough time. But continuing here, we see Peter once again makes use of the Bible. Such a great example to us. He goes back to biblical exposition. This is what Peter does. I've tried to incorporate this into my teaching. If you have the privilege of speaking, incorporate it into your speaking biblical exposition. This is our example here, our approach. Turn them to Scripture, this template. Say, this is what was prophesied then. Work that into your verbiage. Let me tell you about the identity of Christ. Let me tell you about his life. Let me tell you about his death. Again, this sermon is a wonderful help to us. But once again, he goes to biblical exposition. This time, turning to David, verses 25 through 29. Peter says, verse 25 through 29, for David says, concerning him. It's concerning the Lord. So this is David, so he's quoting.

Oh, he's going to quote David here in a moment. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades. This is the quote from David, nor will he allow that your Holy One to see corruption. Verse 28, you have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy in your presence. Then verse 29, "...men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David," Peter says, "...that he's both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day." Let's stop there. So again, Peter stands and says, this is that which David spoke of. So I told you what Joel said. Now I'm telling you what David spoke of. Ultimately, just like the prophecy of Joel, David writing in the Psalms was ultimately pointing to the fulfillment which you see and you hear now. Peter says, and it can be found in one Jesus Christ. Peter stands, addresses his own people. He's able to explain to him. David was actually speaking about Jesus Christ. He's able to say those Psalms which you're so familiar with. They were actually a description of Jesus Christ. Peter tells him that David was a prophet, that knew God had promised an oath, that God would place one of his descendants on the throne. Verse 30 through 36, verse 30 through 36, Peter continues here speaking of David. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God has shown with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, so his air, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne. Peter's explaining all this to him. He, David, for seeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God, has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. And then Peter quotes the Psalms here. Verse 34, Because of the fact, Peter says, we can go and look in David's tomb, and we will find his bones there. Surely David wasn't referring to himself. In fact, David wasn't referring to himself. He was actually given the ability to see what was lying ahead. He's speaking of the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Amazing technique here. Powered by the Holy Spirit, you just see this clarity. I'm telling you that this is why I say the giving of the Holy Spirit was one of the key elements in bringing all clarity to Peter and the disciples. They were able to put it all together, and they were given this supernatural understanding of the Scriptures, what was happening then, and how it relates today. And we can have that supernatural knowledge and revelation, each of us. Pray for it. Give me special understanding, Father, of the Scripture, so I can be a better servant of yours. I find sometimes my memory is so bad. I won't have you raise hands. I'm sure I would get a lot of hands. I'll be talking to someone, and a Scripture will hit my mind. I'm like, where is that? And I'll remember it about three hours after the occasion. Or someone will ask me something, and I won't have a good answer. I kind of stumble through it about the hope that lies in me. Later on, I'll think of the most brilliant thing I could have said.

And if that happens, that's okay. Sometimes that's purpose. Sometimes God gives us those moments to make us see how helpless we are. Because He wants us to draw. He gives us those moments where we think, oh, I could have done so much better. And God wants to say, that's okay. Get on your knees. Ask me for special revelation. Ask me for special understanding in the Scripture. Ask me for immediate quickness of mind. And I'll give it to you. And I'll even bring the situations in front of you. Why would God ever bring someone in your path? Why would God bring someone in the path of an individual who's not praying and seeking it? If I'm God and someone I look down at a son or a daughter's praying for those things, man, I'm going to use Him. I'm going to use her to put people in His path. I'm going to give Him or her a greater sphere of influence. You might think your sphere of influence is very small. You know, well, do what you can with that sphere of influence. Do what you can with that. And now the way God works is He will increase that sphere of influence because you're doing it work.

This is what Peter's doing. Peter now has his spheres broadened. He's able to stand up in front of this big group, give the hope, bring clarity to the minds of men and women. Well, as we begin to work to a conclusion, one final thing to notice, and I'll just say a word or two on it. We want to finally notice the appeal that comes at the end of Peter's sermon. It's an appeal here, verse 37. Now, when they had heard this, all this sermon, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? So you'll notice what's interesting here is that the appeal comes from the listeners. Did you notice that? This is not an appeal from the preacher. We're used to appeals from the preacher. We're used to someone coming up here that they speak and then they get to the point where they say, therefore, they make an appeal to the ears that are listening. You know, well, here the appeal is made from the people to the preacher. Ah, that this, that this is our pattern. This is what we want right here. As we preach, as we share in the ways that we can, that we're enabled in this way, that this is the response that we get. Where we, enabled by the Holy Spirit, are able to teach the gospel, turn them to the truth of Scripture with a renewed clarity in our own minds, a renewed deliverability, sharpness of mind, that the overwhelming response that we would hear is, well, then what should I do? Can you imagine how, not prideful, it's not ourselves, but just how full you would be, is if you were sharing something, some of this Scripture with someone, and they say, well, what should I do? What should I do? Ah, that's the response we want. That's the response we want. We should pray for this response, because then, as we get this response, we'll be ushering in the kingdom of God. Someone up here making an appeal, using all kinds of strategies, gimmicks, you know, the real indication of God's work is when the heart of the person spoken to ultimately responds in this way. And they can respond to us, but we want them to ultimately respond to God in this way. What should I do? You know, and we can be a disciple of God leading them to God. What am I supposed to do? And of course, it is that point that we give the answer of what they need to do. What shall we do? Here's the echo from the heart of the call from God. Verse 38 and 39, when Peter said to them, then Peter said to them, then Peter said to them, Repent! Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises to you, to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. You know, tell them change of heart, change of mind, change of direction. See, this is when you get to share some of your experience. I find if you use this this template, at some point you do need to share, this is how I came to this understanding of changing, changing direction. But sometimes I want to lead with that versus leading with the other. There's kind of an order here. This would be a great moment to say, well, you asked me what you should do. Let me tell you what I did. I had to turn directions. I had to begin to put off that old woman, that old man.

I had to respond to the calling. It seems like God's calling you. Let me tell you how I responded to the calling.

All of it's wrapped up in the process of salvation and powering of God's Spirit, made available by baptism, laying on hands, receiving of the forgiveness of sin, the receiving of the Holy Spirit. God will forgive you. He'll fill you. He'll give you a clean page. He will come to dwell in you through His power. You will start the process of becoming a new man or new woman. That's what we're able to say. And it's a wonderful story, isn't it? The story of the Gospel is a wonderful story. I hope each of us lead today empowered with a renewed gusto for it. What an exciting day. What an exciting thing has been poured out to each of us. Well, you go on to read, and there are many other words. It says that Peter testified and exhorted in this first Pentecost. Luke did his best to give us the highlights, I'm sure. Those that were accepted, we would go on to read, will be baptized. Some 3,000 were added to their number that day. 3,000. That's our example. I wonder if we should raise our expectations.

Maybe so. Raise our expectations. It's not us. It's the Holy Spirit working through us today. Well, what a sermon. Let's take these words from this first Pentecost, allow them to give us a renewed understanding, renewed energy, fulfill this day in all that it represents. May God's Holy Spirit transform us, empower us to stand up. Stand up just like Peter and the 11. Stand up to all this day. The great day of Pentecost represents.