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PentecostBy
Wayne Dailey, | |
And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and
it filled all the house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2 |
| Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost that day, and it wasn't long
before he was preaching to the multitude, reaching out to turn hearts around to
believing on Jesus. Acts 2:22,23 Ye men of FIRST THINGS
FIRST When you have done wrong there comes a point where you have to realize
your responsibility to stand up and face what you have done. If you want help, and you want God to be merciful
to you, the first thing to do is be open about it. Rather than trying to hide what you've done,
repent. Bring it to God and confess to
Him that you have done wrong. Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the
pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it. We have this message on the day of Pentecost, anointed of the Holy
Ghost, and taken right into the hearts of those who heard it. In hearing, they were going to have to face up
to what they had done and who they had done it to: the very Son of God.
Actually, indirectly, we were all involved in crucifying Jesus. It was our sins that were nailed to Him there on the cross. He suffered there for us, in our place, taking
the penalty for us. THE WORKING OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT Now, what we want to note in this message is the working of the Holy
Ghost. see Acts 2:25–27 For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw
the Lord always before My face, for He is on My right
hand, that I should not be moved. Peter went back to the Old Testament and the words of King David.
King David was not only a king, but was also
a true prophet of God. He had been told
many prophetic things from God. Here Peter uses David as an example: speaking of what David had said
concerning Christ. Acts 2:25–27 For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw
the Lord always before My face, for He is on My right hand, that I should not
be moved: therefore did My heart rejoice, and My tongue was glad; moreover also
My flesh shall rest in hope: because Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither
wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. What David was speaking here in this Psalm was actually the Holy
Ghost speaking through him, bearing witness of Jesus. Peter took the words that had been on the pages of Scripture for
centuries and freshly brought them out by the Holy Ghost. This psalm was so fitting because it was dealing
with the subject Peter was preaching about. It brought to bear upon the children of What David was speaking here in this psalm was actually the Holy
Ghost speaking through him, bearing witness of Jesus. All of us should understand the importance of a message that is given
from the Word of God. If people are going
to get saved, they are going to have to hear the truth from God’s Word. Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.
Peter is proving that this Jesus is the Messiah – and that He has
been raised from the dead and one day will sit upon the throne of David. Proving the resurrection was the important part
of what Peter was doing. We see that he
goes on, still wanting to speak to this end about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we
all are witnesses NOW IT'S GETTING
PERSONAL! This is something they were all familiar with. They had seen these things taking place because
they were with Jesus, and now they are His witnesses. Acts 2:33 Therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the
promise of the Holy Ghost, He
hath shed
forth this, which ye now see and
hear. Peter brings the message around to what was happening that day. Earlier in his message, some mocked and scoffed – so he took the
time to tell them this was that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and then
he went on to relate from the book of Joel what Pentecost was to bring – see Joel 2:28–32. Here he is using the Word of God again, showing how David spoke of
Jesus – and how God exalted Him on high –
see Psalm 16. Understand this: God highly exalted His Son in lifting Him up from
the earth, setting Him at His right hand, and giving Him a name above every name
that is named. Know that Jesus Christ still
has that place in heaven where He sits at Father’s right hand. From there He has His place; He has His reign.
Acts 2:34,35 For
David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, Until I make Thy
foes Thy footstool. Notice how the Word ties this together. This was prophetic, referring to Christ being
one day brought up to where He would be seated at the right hand of God. David is not ascended up into heaven, but he said, the Lord said
unto my Lord. There are many prophetic things in the Scripture which you have to
take the time to put together. When you
do, they begin to make a lot of sense. The Holy Spirit anointed and inspired Peter to preach these events.
These things would convince many of their
error in taking part in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, and in their failure
to receive Him as their Lord and Saviour. THE POWER OF
THE WORD OF GOD Bear this in mind: these words were meant to be used; and, thus,
were inspired. When you think about the
working of the Holy Spirit be sure that nothing is overlooked. Of all of those words that were said, not one
word ever slipped, not one ever fell to the ground unfulfilled. And not one word that the prophets spoke will fall to the ground.
Not one word that is written in the Scriptures
concerning Jesus will fall to the ground. None of those words inspired of God will fall
to the ground unfulfilled. There's something amazing about all that! There's something very great about all of that!
My, the power of the Word of God! The Word of God is established, forever settled
in heaven – Ps 119:89. The
things that are written therein, even before the foundation of the world, these
things are the plan and purpose of God. It was at work here on the day of Pentecost,
bringing forth these Old Testament Scriptures that were just meant for this occasion.
Yes, this day these Scriptures would have
great power to bring forth God’s plan. The Word of God can have a great affect upon lives. It can affect a whole crowd of people . . . or it can affect a few. Yes, God's Word has power to convince and convict.
Now, to bear witness of what happened just the other day is one thing
– but bearing witness generations before something takes place? That is quite another thing. So, we look to say that God's Word bore witness of these events.
And the witness of God in the Scriptures is weighty,
as is the witness of the apostles who saw these things. I suppose, if we had been standing there as Jews and gone through
this, we would have been feeling something right about now! Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Now there is a great statement made in this verse of Scripture: Jesus
was made both Lord and Christ. Both? Yes, the same
Jesus whom they crucified is both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked
in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,
what shall we do? Whenever you find a crowd coming to this point, you’ll know they’re
going to get saved. The Holy Spirit took
the Word and used it to deal with them – this is what pricked their hearts. They
felt conviction deep inside, convinced that Peter was telling them the truth.
They felt convicted about what they had done
in being a partaker of the crucifixion. Peter was anointed with the right message for the right time. It wasn't a dry bones message, something he thought
up. No! It wasn’t a dry bones message; it was an anointed
message given of the Holy Ghost. It was a message where the Holy Ghost was thoroughly in charge –
where the Holy Ghost worked with the preacher, worked with the messenger, worked
with the Word, brought it all together, and caused it to affect the lives of those
who heard it. Notice that they didn't get up and leave, feeling they had heard
enough. No! This wasn’t one of those times. It was a time where they all were crying out:
What shall we do? REPENTANCE: THE
FIRST STEP I think there is a good point here: the preaching of repentance ought
to bring a message of what God would expect one to do, and how they should respond.
They knew they were guilty: they knew they
had been partakers – and, yet, God was gracious to make a way for them to repent,
a way for them to escape from the snare they were in. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. . You know, repent is a
good, strong Bible word; but we don't always fully understand what it means. To repent is to change one’s
mind: to stop doing what we were doing – and turn to go God’s way. But, understand this: on whose terms does one get right with God?
On God's terms? Or ours? Know that it must be on God’s terms, or not at
all: you're sorry for your sins, and are looking for God to forgive you. If God forgives you, then He is granting you
repentance, and letting your repentance stand with Him. These men are having a change of mind about Jesus. They're pricked in their hearts about the message
they've heard and are seeing now that they were wrong: What should we do? They need an answer, and God wants them to have that answer. They cried out in sincerity, and He tells them
what to do. Peter is saying, you've got to totally commit your life to Jesus, accepting Him as your
Saviour. You've got to be serious about this – so your sins can be blotted out . . . But baptized? Is that really necessary? see Matthew 28:19. The test is on right here! If they're going to repent – then they're going to be baptized . . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
. . . A further blessing. If they repent and are baptized in His name,
then God will also give them the Holy Ghost. This is a promise – if they repent. It was important that day, then, that they would
repent. Acts 2:39,40 For the promise is unto
you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call. And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from
this untoward generation. Peter didn't just stop preaching at that point. He had more to say. He went on to tell them about the promise of
the Holy Spirit: and then, with many other words, he testified and exhorted them,
saying, Save yourself from this untoward generation. This was saying that that generation wasn’t heading in the right
direction. They were heading the wrong
way. They were not going toward God, not
going toward heaven, not going toward the ways of God. But when they were given a chance to make those things right what
did they do about it? Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were
baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls. Here's a case of true repentance! We saw the command to repent, saw the need to
repent, and now we see the fruit of repentance – based upon the fact that they
were going to have to turn and look upon Jesus, and believe on Him. A GREAT OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY GHOST Look at how much the Holy Ghost would accomplish in His first day
being down here in His full manner of coming into the world for this great work.
Oh, God stir us with the Holy Spirit! Can you say Amen? God bring more of that power and that anointing
upon everybody! Not just upon one or two.
Let the church all be anointed of the Holy
Ghost! That He would be working in and
through every believer! Everyone having something to do with the Gospel
and spreading the Word of God! We all should bear in mind that God desires to pour out His Spirit
upon all flesh! All those that repented
– they all came. Surely, as they were all
then baptized in water, I believe that they all were also filled with the Holy
Ghost. If God comes by and pours His Spirit out upon all flesh, who is going
to be left out? Who is He not going to
fill, not going to work in and through? There were a large number of believers that day who were brought
in. A multitude of about three thousand
souls! If we want anointing, it's going to require of us that we're full
of the Holy Ghost. If we don't do anything
about pressing our way to enter in and receive what God has, we will go along
and go along and go along – and still be as dry as a bone! But if we want anointing it's going to require
of us that we're full of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit worked through this message and drew these people's
hearts, dealing with them to repent. When Peter finished preaching, they were feeling
what he preached. They were realizing and
knowing in their hearts that they were wrong. And, when he told them what to do, they did it. Thank God, about three thousand were added unto
the Lord that day. Now, this was in connection with the outpouring of the Spirit of
God. THE BUILDING
OF A CHURCH God sure knows how to build the church doesn't He?
And a new church is being built here. You talk about a pioneer preacher! I wish we could get Peter to come by and hold
a revival for us! But then, would we want
him to? I don't know about that! Would we really want him to? He might get some of you to cry out, What must
I do? Holy Ghost, if there is something we need to do, let us know! If there is something we need to take a hold
of, let us know, that we will come to the place where we'll do it! Now, we can't just sit around and not do anything. We won't get anything accomplished that way,
for soul winning is a work and a labor. I think God is pleased with men and women wanting to go out and work
in the streets to reach souls. I think
God is pleased with that. And I believe
that this is a time when those who are willing to go out and preach will find
the anointing of the Holy Ghost getting stronger and stronger in their lives.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Let's all do what we are called to do. Let's do our part. Do you know anyone who knows how to preach? Do you know anyone who knows how to witness?
Do you know anyone who knows that there are a
lot of souls to reach? Anyone who knows
that if the Gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost? Is there someone who will pick their light up
and shine it on the lost so they can get saved? It was quite a day of Pentecost when you get the whole message together,
wasn't it? It was more than just an upper
room experience. It went much further than
that. I'd have loved to have been there to see and hear those wonderful
things! Such as speaking in tongues, in the languages of that day, the wonderful works of
God. Let’s not be satisfied where we are today. Let’s reach out for more of the power and anointing
of the Holy Spirit – that souls may be reached with the
Gospel. |