ACTS I & II | The Spirit Poured Out | Acts 2:14-21 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

As we're singing that song about the holiness of God, I reminded of a young man around 20 years of age or so. His name was Isaiah. He had a open vision of the pre-incarnate Christ and what he saw him for all of his holiness in grander and splendor. And in the moment he saw the pre-incarnate Christ in all of his holiness, he saw himself for what he really was. Not righteous, but a sinner. And he saw his nation for what his nation really was, sinners. And as he just sat there in God's presence, grieving over his sinful nature, the sinful nature of his nation, God burned him in his lips and in his heart as a symbol of his redemption and sent him out to proclaim the word to a hostile generation. I just prayed in moments when we sing about the holiness of God, it would be beyond a song that we would get a glimpse of the grander and the magnitude if we can in our finite mind of his supreme characteristic which is his holiness. And we wouldn't be in his presence with arrogance and pride. We would not think that he is unworthy of us kneeling or bowing our face to the floor. We would not think that he's not unworthy of anything, but all of us in moments like that, in humility and lowliness. Sometimes, sometimes I wish that we didn't live in a country that had clocks. I hate it sometimes. Everything in America is like this, so heavily regimented that we can't even linger in God's presence because we got reservations to get to restaurants and you know, this whole country is like a mess. You know, this whole country just ran on a clock, everything. Sometimes I just wish in moments like that we could just stay there and then not be awkward to you and that we could just enjoy his presence so much. I mean, those moments are foretaste of glory divine and I'm going to speak for myself and then I'm going to get to God's word. I'm going to speak for me. This is me. I pray some of you get to where I have gotten but I am in place right now in my life. I'm going to say this over and over and over until someone, you just be inspired by this. I would rather be alone with Christ in my prayer room than on this platform. I would, I am so content just being alone with Christ and just sitting there and shedding tears there and let him wash my soul of my sinful nature there and I just plead there and I just, I can envision him sitting across the room from me and I just want to stay there. And I think because of the, because of the responsibilities of this world, I have to come out and I have to engage people and I have to engage family and I have to prepare sermons and I have to lead meetings and I have to go to the office and sometimes I just want to stay there. If that makes me awkward. I'm content to be misunderstood. That I'm, I'm, I'm growing in such an intimacy with him that I enjoy just being with him and nothing satisfied my soul. I'm talking too much right now. I'm like, my, my time is running out. No, I can't take my time because you got to get to your restaurant because mother's day and then you got another 2000 people coming behind you and 30 something minutes. Yeah. Somebody will fall asleep because they don't have spiritual stamina because they don't enjoy just sitting in this presence. This is awkward. But nobody's told us to just enjoy him. We enjoy men and we enjoy sermons, but we don't enjoy him. Like, like there's anything else in this life is going to be more satisfying to your soul. Not, not money, not a relationship, not a job, not, not your 401k going up to the right. Not an opportunity, not a platform, not a preaching moment. Not marriage, not a wedding. There was nothing we're going to experience in this life that's more satisfying to the soul. Then the intimate deep, abiding powerful presence. I'm talking too much. You can see, look, look behind you. See, it's counting down because of that is why we have no revival. That's America. A day is going to come when we're going to have a room big enough. I won't be chained to a clock. And I can do what I want. I pray a day come when we have a room big enough. Well, I don't have to be a slave to a clock and then all of us can fit in a room together. And I ain't got to worry about 2,000 people coming behind you. And we can sit in God's presence as long as we need to get up and hear proclamation and not be tired. I'm serious. I'm serious. I'm serious. Go to the president. This is an avenue. Yeah. This is an avenue. Yeah. One day. For now, we want to wish happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers and grandmothers and spiritual mothers. And we honor all of you who have given birth to children and spiritual children, whether you are biological children or children by the spirit. We honor every mother and grandmother and spiritual mother for your sacrifice, for your nurture, for your love, for your pain, for your suffering, for your enduring. We see you and we honor you in this room across America and around the world. And we want to also acknowledge those of you who for today, this day is not a day of joy. It is a day of pain and sadness because maybe your mother failed you. Maybe your mother abandoned you. Maybe you've never met your mom. And maybe today is a day that's very emotional for you. It's not a day of joy. And we want to pray for those of you who feel that pain, that today the God of all comfort will be near you. And you would feel his presence comforting you. And as he draws near you, maybe we will hand to you in this moment by the spirit, a key called grace, that you would forgive that mother who disappeared. You would forgive that mother who failed you. You would forgive that mother that was a crackhead. You would forgive that mother that did the best she can with what she had. And that maybe you would let her go today in this moment for that unforgiveness is not keeping her in a prison. It's keeping you in a prison. And maybe this is the day grace gives you a key to unlock that prison and you let her go for her mistakes and you walk out of that prison. Maybe tonight will be the night you pillow your head and rest after years of holding her and unforgiveness in your heart. She's a human being like you and I, a sinner like you and I. So maybe we just say, man, we just let her go. We open the prison door called grace and we walk out called forgiveness. You move on into the future of the path of healing. And that's my prayer for some of you who maybe today is a day of emotional. I know if you brought your mother or grandmother, I know your mother, grandmother sitting in the room in the overflow. Watch me. You're curled up around the television to hear your mother's day message. She's not going to get one. What she is going to get is a message in the book of Acts. And I'm not against mother's day message. I just right now we just not going to let the calendar dictate anything to us. Right? So if you brought your mom, grandmom sitting around, shout out to you, mom or grandmom. You're not getting a mother's day message today, but you will get the Word of God. We are in a brand new series almost at the end of a series called Acts 1 and 2, in which we are walking through the first two chapters of Acts together as a church. Acts, a book of origin that records for us the formation of the Christian church and the first 30 years of its glorious history, written by a man named Luke, a doctor, a historian, a travel companion of the apostle Paul. He wrote for us all of the things that are recorded in the book of Acts, and we are journeying through the first two chapters together. Our text today is coming from Acts 2, verses 14 through 21. Like that baby crying out, Lord, I pray that we would cry out for you. Every guest, every digital disciple, even every unbeliever gathered under the sound of my voice. I pray like that baby cries, Lord, we will cry out for you all the more. We would desire you more than anything else in this life. We would abandon our idols and our idolatry and our high places and our altars. Has been set up, God, to every other God other than you, every lowercase G. Spirit of the Living God, we feel you in this moment. Move throughout this room, move throughout these overflows. Move across that camera and homes across America and around the world. Have your way today, Spirit of the Living God, through this vessel of clay. We ask in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon-coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen! And Amen! And Amen! Amen! Family, I think it's not strange that last week as we journeyed into the text about Pentecost Sunday, that the Holy Spirit took over two of three gatherings last week. And if you were in this room last week, then you did not see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And I was eight o'clock gathering and I was one o'clock gathering where we could not even preach the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit hijacked the entire gathering for himself. And we was in tears and we was on the floor and we was at the altar and we prayed and we hugged one another. I mean, it was a mighty outpouring of God's Spirit, eight o'clock in the morning, a mighty outpouring of God's Spirit. One o'clock in the afternoon. I only got an opportunity to preach last week's message once because the Holy Spirit took over the entire gathering, two of them. I don't think that happened by accident. We will always remember that in the day we came upon the text about Pentecost, the Holy Spirit flexed his muscle in the room. Right? And the reason he flexed his muscle in the room, because I want to remind you of what I said to you last week, you are, I am a part of the most powerful organism on the planet. That the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most powerful organism on the planet. There is no organism on the planet more powerful than the Lord Jesus Christ. More powerful than a Fortune 500 company, more powerful than a business. There is no gathering of people anywhere on the earth who are more powerful than the people of God. Not because we are perfect, but because at the center of the Christian church is the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, who has been forever united to the church. He is not united to corporate America. He is not united to politics. He is forever united to the people of God, united to the church. Wherever the church is, power is there. Wherever the church is, the Holy Spirit is there. If it is 10,000 of us or 10 of us in a room, wherever we show up, the power of the Holy Spirit show up. It could be two of us at Starbucks and the power of the Holy Spirit is there. You could show up by yourself on your job and the power of the Holy Spirit is there. You could be walking through Walmart by yourself and the power of the Holy Spirit is there. You could be in the back of the Uber or the Lyft and the power of the Holy Spirit is there. Wherever we are, we are powerful. Wherever you are, you are powerful. If you are saved, you are not normal. The Scripture calls you and pukes you, people. You are different on your job, different on social media, different in traffic. You are different wherever you show up because the power of the Holy Spirit is in you. You are black and powerful. You are white and powerful. You are Asian and powerful. You are Hispanic and powerful. You are mixed and powerful. It's like my wife, what are you? She's half black, half Asian, half Holy Spirit. Everybody is mixed. I'm telling you after today, everybody is mixed. And don't matter if you have no melanin or you crispy like me, everybody is mixed. We have black, half Holy Spirit, half white, half Holy Spirit, half Asian, half Holy Spirit, half Indian, half Holy Spirit, half Hispanic, half Holy Spirit. Somebody say I'm mixed. Everybody is mixed after today. You are whatever you are and half Holy Spirit. And that wherever you are, you are never without help. For you have in Greek the paraclete. He's always with you to help you, guide you, speak to you, empower you, anoint you. You are always full of power and the help because the Holy Spirit lives in you. Like a light at the center of the church is the third person of the Godhead, the person of the Holy Spirit. So wherever the people of God are, on any city, any nation, any continent, we are a powerful people wherever we are. Where did that begin? That began with our text right here in Acts. Our text gives us the origin of the day the Holy Spirit was forever joined to the church. I want to reread to you Luke's account of that great day, that great moment when the Holy Spirit came from heaven after Christ was ascended to heaven and forever united himself to us, to you, to me, the people of God. Acts chapter 2, going back to verse 1, when the day of Pentecost arrived, Pentecost was the Jewish festival. It means 50. This festival happened 50 days after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ came, lived, died, rose, ascended. 50 days later, Pentecost was disfeast. They were all together in one room, 120 followers of Christ who stayed in the city waiting for the promise of the Spirit. And then suddenly while they were in that room, there came from heaven a sound like a mighty Russian wind which represents the presence of God and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. We taught this last week. And divided tongues like fire appeared in the room and came down and rested on all of them. And they began to speak as they were filled with the Spirit. They spoke in other tongues, meaning languages. As the Spirit gave them utterance that there was a divine miracle. The Holy Spirit came down like fiery tongues rested on their mouth, burned their hearts. There was a miracle of the mind. And because of the miracle of the mind, they all began to speak in other languages that they did not know. Galileans who was not trained in foreign languages by the power of the Spirit began to speak foreign languages they did not know. This is like the Holy Spirit coming upon me if I travel to Brazil and I start to speak in Portuguese by the power of the Spirit. This is you going to Mexico. The Spirit comes upon you and you begin to speak in Spanish by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes upon 120 disciples. They begin to speak in foreign languages. Verse 5. Now they were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. And at the sound of these men speaking 120 of them men and women, a multitude came together. And they will be wilderness because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished saying, are not these all Galileans? How is it that we hear each one of us in our own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia and Judea, Cappadocia and Pontius and Asia, Frigia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya belong in the Cyrene and visit us from Rome, both Jews and Prostalites. Cretans, which is the island and Arabians, we all hear them telling our own tongues the mighty works of God. So Luke records on a day of Pentecost, 120 disciples are baptized with the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, miracle of the mind, speaking in foreign languages, burst out of the room, 120 of them in the streets of Jerusalem, speaking in foreign languages. Jerusalem is packed with thousands of people because of the festival. They hear the sound of all of these languages, a large crowd of thousands of people gather around the first church. 120 of them, they are shocked. We hear them speaking the wonders of God in our own language and they are amazed. All are amazed, some are perplexed. They say, what does this mean? But others mock and said, these men are filled with new wine. So they hear the miracle. All are amazed. Hundreds in that crowd said, man, these Galileans, they must be drunk. All that babble coming out their mouth, they are full of new wine. And family, where we go next is Luke's recording of what happened on that day as a response to that moment. Verse 14, the first verse of our text. But Peter, standing with the 11, lifted up his voice and addressed them, stop. Notice who responded to the crowd. Peter, the same young man who followed Jesus for three and a half years and had a mouth that said, Lord, wherever you go, I will go. And I am prepared to die for you if you die. But when Christ is in a jam at the end of his life, he is being headed to be executed, let out of the Garden of Eden. Where is God? Where is Peter then? Peter now, this young man, afraid the Lord prophesied before this night is over, you will deny me three times. Peter thinks that is never going to happen. Peter now is in the street, he gets jammed up by a little girl in the street who hears his accent. He says, this man was with Jesus, I don't know him. He gets jammed up a second time. You was with Jesus, now I don't know him. We saw you. You was with that dude, they about to crucify. I don't know him. Three times Peter denies Jesus the night before he is crucified. Peter feels the guilt of that. He runs out of that city. Watch. He is so guilty in his heart because of his betrayal. He abandons the ministry, goes back to being a fisherman. He sees himself as unworthy to follow after Christ. But history tells us, Jesus, I love this part. After he is raised, finds Peter on a seashore. Walks up to him on the seashore of Galilee and looks him in his eyes. Peter, do you love me? He says, feed my lambs, which is a baby sheep. He talks about the little disciples first. That's why we should care about children's ministry and formation. We do all of this for adults. Nobody cares about those little kids. Peter, do you love me? Feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep? Adults. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep? He prophesied to him that you will be the pastor of the first church. Jesus never reminded Peter of his mistake. But what he does when he rolls up on Peter on the seashore, watch this word. He restores him. Back to fellowship, back to the ministry. Dust off your pain, your shame, and your hurt. We got work to do. We got a world to change. I only point this out in the text. The person who's talking first to remind every person under the sound of my voice, like me, who has made mistakes, who has failed God, who has fallen, who has had bad seasons and felt like you was unusable because of your mistakes. The devil is a liar. Come on, man. I want to remind somebody who feels crushed under the weight of self-condemnation and guilt and shame, or because of your past, you feel like God can't use somebody like you, or he can't use a boot from Queens, New York, a knucklehead from the street. No, but if God finds a humble and contrite heart, man, he can restore anybody. I said anybody. Listen to me. You have not out-send his grace. You have not out-send his grace. There is nothing you have done that is stronger than the blood. If your sin was stronger than the blood, the cross was not enough. But the cross is enough. And from the cross, he's able through grace to restore you back to fellowship again. It doesn't matter how far you have gone, how many mistakes you have made, or how much you condemn yourself, you have not out-send his grace. If he can restore Peter, he can restore you. I'm talking from my own pain. He restored me when I failed him early in my walk, when I let him down, when I felt when I turned away from him, he restored me. This ministry I have right now is called a second chance. That's why I don't play games. They can talk trash about me all they want. Don't know me. You know why I don't play games? This is called a second chance. And only a fool does not make good with a second chance. So Peter stands up. He is restored. But watch what else he does. He hears the mockery of the Spirit, and he chooses not to remain silent. Nothing. The reason this means nothing to you is because you are desensitized by the things you have seen in the paintings of the disciples. You have seen the disciples' painting with gray hair and long bands, and so you think he is a grown man. He should have courage. You have not read the Scriptures right. Jesus was 30 when he started his ministry. As a Jewish rabbi, the men he would have called would have been teenagers or 20-year-olds. That means Peter was a young man, probably no older than 21 or 22. In America, the number one fear in the country, death. The number two fear, public speaking. And yet there is a crowd, thousands of people, and this little boy. Not an old man, a young man hears the mockery of God and chooses not to remain silent. He says somebody must say something about this. And the Scripture says, But Peter means he refused to remain. He stood up to say something. I wish we had the spirit of Peter with fall on the church in America. Man, we suck. I don't care. We live in a culture and a generation that has no respect for God, no respect for the church, no respect for Jesus, and the people he sent here to be a witness for him, we have no courage at all. So we will not stand up, we will not say anything. We let people try. We won't post. We won't post a Scripture. We won't speak. We won't talk to the Uber driver. Come on, man, come on, man. The Lord ain't sending no angels down here to do that work. He sent the church down here to do that work. And we got to get fed up with ideologies and policies and everything that's trying to silence the church and change biblical laws and all these things. We got to care about that stuff. This is me saying you will not change the definition of marriage on my watch. I'll pray you out and vote you out. You will not let kids remain confused in gender and tell them they can mutilate themselves. I'll pray you out and vote you out. See, you don't want to hear that. Don't want to hear that. We're so soft. You will not be louder than me with your false religion when we serve the only true God. You will not have more discipline than me. You will not be more sold out than me. You will not be more passionate than me. How we got people served more false gods with more passion than the people of God who served the true and living God? Won't post. Won't vote right. Won't pray. Won't take a stand. Won't say anything. Won't say at the family bar, but you know, we will not. We will not remain silent. We will not. What you trying to protect? Look at me. We're trying to protect your reputation. You trying to protect your blood. You trying to protect things. Peter says in his letters, it's going to burn up anyway. Let me help some of you stop being cowards. Let me help unchain you from being addicted to approval of people. We're trying to protect things that's going to burn up anyway. Jesus. You think if I was trying to protect my platform, I would be preaching like this? I was preaching like this when I was on park benches 20-something years ago when nobody knew my name. I was standing on park benches preaching like this to two people standing in front of me. The platform only revealed who I always was. I'm going to protect it now by dumbing down the gospel to keep sinners comfortable in chairs. To protect myself from persecution and social media. I'm going to be quiet because I'm afraid. Some of you won't even put a scripture on your social media because you're worried about all the unbelievers who might feel offended that you posted about Jesus. Some of you need to be like, listen man, after today you might as well unfollow me now. Because I'm about to go crazy on my social media. You might as well unfollow me now. You might as well unfollow me now because from this day off it's going to be me and Christ on this social media feed. Sorry. It's going to be scriptures in the morning and devotions in the evening. And I'm testifying about what Jesus did last week. Girl, you change. Girl, you change. I don't like your social media. It used to be. What happened to you? You're not even the same person you used to be. I'm filled with the Holy Spirit now. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I'm filled with the Holy Spirit now. Somebody give him praise and then praise. Hallelujah God. Hallelujah. Of course I'm different. I'm filled with the Spirit. Why you don't because I'm filled? How come you because I'm filled? You stopped because I'm filled. You don't even talk like because I'm filled. You don't even go because I'm filled. Because I'm filled. Watch this. You see how we always on our feet just a moment ago? You know so dope about that? You see the text? Peter stood up with the 11. He did not stand up by himself. He stood up with... 11. This is me saying I'm shy when I was out there alone by myself. I'm at 20, 19 now. I got community now. They on fire now. I'm where I'm supposed to be now. We stand up together now. Man come on man. We stand up together now. One stand, all stand. We know we out here by ourselves. Ain't suffering by myself. Ain't standing for Jesus by myself. We got help now. That's not... Hey! Hey! One could chase a thousand. Two could put ten thousand of flight. Hey! Hey! We pray together. We read together. We fast together. We sacrifice together. We suffer together. We gather together. We ride together. Bad boys for life. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Whoo! Hey! Come on! Whoo! Hey! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎 You know how good it feels to be in a jam and black. I'm not in this jam by myself. To be battling medical issues in my own body and to see thousands of people praying for you. Say, man, we in this together. The leader stood up with the 11th. It's the power of community. It's demonic for us to think that we're going to make it by ourselves. Ain't nobody standing by themselves. We're standing on the shoulders of others and we're standing with others. It's the power of community. All being imperfect the church is. She is imperfect. She will hurt you every now and then. And she will upset you every now and then. You will have beef with people every now and then. You will get offended every now and then. We work through that. We come out on the other side with testimonies of stronger relationships as we watch this word continue to stand together.哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎 Como te llama? Ana, adonde eres? Miami, viven en Atlanta también. Gracias. Together. Together. Together. With my T-Corner. Now, can I proceed? Now listen to me carefully. You got stamina for me to finish? Now, Peter stands up with the 11. He refuses to be silent. He hears the mockery of Christ. What Luke records next from part B of the verse all the way to the end of this chapter, what he records next. What I'm about to read to you today and next week. Watch. Is the recording of the very first Christian sermon. Long before there was a Philip Anthony Mitchell. What we have right here is the first pastor. What we're about to read today and next week is the recording of the very first Christian sermon. The first 14 part B. Men of Judea. He preaches. And all who dwell in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you and give air to my words. Pay attention is what he's saying. See that? He says pay attention. I wasn't the first one to say to people pay attention. Peter said to them pay attention. For these people are not drunk as you suppose. Since it's only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joe. Stop right there. Notice the first thing the first pastor does when he sees the mockery. He opens up his sermon and the first thing he does is defense his church. Now you're not going to keep lying on my church. He says these men are not drunk. You're not going to keep lying on my church. You're not going to keep lying on my pastor. No, he defends his church. Man, you don't even know my pastor. You ain't even been in the room. This is you in the comments. You ain't going to keep calling my pastor a demon. Oh no. Ain't no demon telling people to read the scriptures for themselves. Ain't no demon telling people to wring out their sin. Ain't no demon challenging people to be holy. Ain't no demon telling people to be pure. Ain't no demon calling people to pray at access. Demons don't do that. Demons are not exulting Christ and walking people through the scriptures exegetically, expositorily, verse by verse, line by line, exulting Jesus and walking on platforms in humility. Demons don't do that. There's a whole Philopantin image that's full of a demon. Demons attack people God has raised up. They was doing that in the days of Jesus. They still do that today. The problem with the church is we don't have discernment. So we call good evil and evil good. You let false prophets roam and you crucified godly prophets. The first thing he did is defend his church. These men are not drunk. How could they be? It's nine o'clock in the morning. It's Pentecost. Jews did not get bent at 9 a.m. and they did not get bent on religious holidays. So Peter first defends his church. You better believe I'm going to defend mine. I'm going to stand up for 2018-2019. The global family. I'm going to say we are on mission for the spread of the gospel. We are serious about multiplying disciples. We are serious about prayer, presence, proclamation. We're going to do access. We're going to do crusades. We're going to do everything we can to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We understand that time is running out and we are end time church on mission for Jesus. Peter defended his church. The first thing he does, notice he's filled with the Spirit and he does not use his platform for miracles. He does not use his platform for himself. He does not go download an article from Google for his first sermon. He says these are the words that were spoken by the prophet Joel. So what the first pastor does of the first church is he takes the church to the what? Scriptures. This is a lesson for you and I that the church should be anchored in the Word of God. Not anchored in opinions, not anchored in man-made doctrines, not anchored in man-made dogger. The Word. The Word. This is why I disdain that we live in a country where we love entertainment. We love hearing sermons that make you feel fluffy and make you feel awesome, never convict you for sin, never walk you through the Scriptures. They put you at the center of every text, which is secular, humanistic doctrine. They make you think that God is a genie who exists for you, not you exist for him. So you never want to be confronted in sin, never want your toes stepped on. Don't bring your boyfriend to 2018-2019. He might get convicted. He might change. He might stop trying to have sex with you. He might start being a spiritual leader. They don't want no parts of that. I already know. You want to go down to compromise bedside Baptist church where you hear weak, whack sermons that never confront you in your sin. Peter uses his first platform. He's talking to an international audience of thousands of people. And he leads them to Joe. And look what he says. Men of Jerusalem and men of Judea. He's talking to an international audience. Well, who does he address first? Men of Jerusalem, men of Judea. He's addressing Orthodox Jews who know the Old Testament. He understands his audience that whenever you talk one to one, one to group, one to crowd, you need to understand your audience. So you know how to understand your message. Anytime you talk, just remember three M's are always being exchanged. Method, motive, message. Every time you communicate one to one, one to crowd, one to group, three M's are being exchanged. Method, motive, message. Your message when you talk should always be true. Your motive when you talk should always be pure. Your method should always be a way that is receivable. His message is about to be the Scriptures. His motive is he is defending the resurrection of Christ. His methodology is I'm going to take these Jews back to the Scriptures they know have memorized, submitted to. They should understand the Scriptures. And then look at the very first sermon. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel, verse 17. And in the last days, it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and my female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. So there is Peter in AD 33 taking these Orthodox Jews back to Joel, the prophet. Joel was a prophet who lived 800 years before Christ was born. And Joel lived during the days when the people of God, the people of Israel was in rebellion towards God. You remember him. It was through Joel that God said to his people, return to me. Wrench your heart and not your garment. And that in the Old Testament, Joel was one of the prophets who delivered one of the most important prophecies in the Old Testament. Pay attention. The number one prophecy in the Old Testament is the coming of Christ. The second greatest prophecy in the Old Testament perhaps is the coming of the spirit. Joel was prophesied in the coming of the spirit 800 years before Pentecost. That means the Jews have been anticipating this for hundreds of years. Peter pulls a text from the Old Testament to explain what they're hearing on Pentecost. These men are not drunk. Let me use the Scriptures to explain so that you will not be ignorant. He uses the Scripture to destroy their ignorance. He uses the Word to tear down the strongholds in their mind. So he preaches to them that what you're hearing now is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. This is man family. We've been waiting for this for hundreds of years and finally today it has come. This is what Joel said 800 years ago. The spirit now is being poured out on all humanity, on men, women, young, old. That's why they are prophesied and speaking. He is confirming what happened at Pentecost was prophesied in the Old Scriptures, which means the Scriptures can be trusted. Now, why was this prophecy so important? Listen to me. This prophecy was important because God was prophesying about the coming of the spirit to fix one of the greatest problems men ever had. 300 years after Joel, another prophet emerges named Ezekiel, who God uses to explain the problem of man and why he had to send the spirit. After you read this, you will be more thankful for the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 25, 300 years after Joel, 500 years before Christ, another man of God prophesied about the coming of the spirit. The difference with his prophecy, he tells us why the spirit was necessary. Verse 25, God speaks through Ezekiel says, I will sprinkle clean water upon you. Talking to his people, you and I, covenant people, Israel, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all of your idols. And I will cleanse you. Now watch the next two verses. And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. And I will, God says, put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you. And watch this word. Cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey all of my rules. Philip, I don't understand. Watch. I'm almost done. For thousands of years, we've seen the people of Israel delivered from Egypt. Man, serve God, run away from God. Serve God, run away from God. And then you crucify them when you read the Old Testament. How could a people that saw bread fall from heaven, cloud leaving them by day, fire by night, signs, wonders and miracles, water from a rock. You say to yourself, if I was there, there's no way I would have not believed in God. The devil is a lie. We'd be looking at them in the Old Testament like how could these people not obey? Right. So let me help you. Let's take you back to before you were saved when the Holy Spirit wasn't there. And then what? Let's go back to when you wasn't saved. And then here's the command, be holy. See, you missed that. I want you to think what it would be like to try to serve God, obey his commands, be holy, pray fast, be faithful without the Holy Spirit. Let me talk for me. Form an uplifting, not possible. There's no way. Just go check my, I'll post some pictures. Go check my life before I was saved. No way I'm praying, fasting, being faithful. Look what I was doing to women. Look what I was doing in the street. Look how I was wallowing out. You think if somebody rolled up on me and said, serve God faithfully, I could have did that faithfully without help? Why do you read devotionals today? Why do you open the Bible? Why do you pray? Why do you cry? Why do you hear the words holy as we're singing that and you fall down in your week? Why? Because now you have help. God took his spirit and he put himself. He put himself in you and because he's in you, he causes you to want to obey. He causes you to want to pray. He causes you to cry. He causes you to want to gather. He causes you to want to give. He causes you to want to serve. The Holy Spirit is the one causing you to listen to me right now. How was you going to serve a holy God in a sinful body without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? So God is looking at people for thousands of years who can't obey him. He says, I'm going to fix this. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to take myself and put myself in them. So Joel explains the outpouring of the spirit. And then last thing is he uses a text. This is so profound. He pulls a text from the Old Testament that explains what happened on Pentecost, but explains what's going to happen in the end. Why? Because he says, Joel said in the last days, God said, I will pour out my spirit. Philip, I don't get it. The last days began at Pentecost. A clock was started at Pentecost. Joel said, when the spirit is poured out, you have entered into the last days. That means when you hear me saying time is running out, you should take that more serious. Why? Because if the last days began 2026 years ago, how much time do we think you have left now? I am telling you, not because of something I saw on Google, I'm telling you because of what I read, that we are living in the last days. This is the final iteration of God's plan of redemption, the church age. This age will give way to the return of Christ. The age that you and I are living in right now, sitting in this room, will give way to the return of Christ. This is the end. This is the church age. After this age is the millennial kingdom of Christ. We are living in the end. This ain't some scared-tacked eschatology. This is what the Scripture says, in the last days the spirit will be poured out. The Holy Spirit has been poured out. A clock was started. We are living in the last days. Hold that. We're living in the last days. He uses a text to explain what has happened on Pentecost. He uses a text to explain why they need to be serious. The last part of his sermon, verse 19. God says, wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. When fire, vapor of smoke, and the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. In the same text that Joe prophesied, the coming of the spirit was the same text, Joe prophesied what the end is. The preacher, I don't get it. The text shows the beginning of the church age and the end of the church age. All prophecy, all coming to pass as you and I are talking right now. While people are playing a church in America, playing conference, playing this, while we are playing around, we are living in biblical prophecy. We are in the middle of the beginning of the church age and the end of the church age. I think we're at the very end. I think we're living in the last seconds of the church age. I look at politics. I look at what governments are doing around the world. I look at what's happening in China and in Russia. I'm looking at what's happening in the news. I'm looking at all the global headlines. I see them reading right on the page of the Bible and we are aware to say we don't have that much time left. We're living near the end of the church age. It's time out for wax sermons. It's time out for just messages we download from Google. It's time out for playing church. It's time out for living like a sinner all week and then fooling people on Sunday. It's time out for not doing this for real. It's time out for not having a prayer life, not ringing out your sin from your heart, not pursuing holiness, not reconciling broken relationships, not being faithful. It's time out for that. Though nobody being a fourth quarter of a game down by 10, act like they have all this time to score. If they were talking about the last days in the first century, how much more urgent is it right now? Do you not understand that every biblical prophecy needed for Christ to crack the sky is happening right now all around you? I mean, you and I could be living in the generation where Jesus cracks the sky. People said that thousands of years ago, it's very real right now. I mean, you've heard language like this before, family. You forgot? I just spent three years walking you through the book of Matthew and it was in the book of Matthew. Your Lord and mine, Jesus talked about his own return. You remember what he said in Matthew chapter 24 verse 29? You remember what Jesus prophesied immediately after the tribulation of those days? That's what's coming next, the tribulation period. Many antichrist signs of seven-year peace treaty with Israel, which means if the antichrist is going to come, Israel must be in conflict. If the antichrist is going to come, people must be hating Israel. You think it's an accident? There is an increase of hatred for Israel? You think that's my accident? You think that's an accident that Israel is in war? Somebody is going to hear this and call me a Christian nationalist and say, all this, you know what? That is foolish people that don't read the Scriptures. The Scriptures tells when the antichrist comes to power, he signs a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. There is no need for a peace treaty if Israel is not in conflict. He protects Israel for three and a half years before he breaks that treaty. There's no need to protect the nation if everybody does not hate them. They're going to persecute me until I'm gone, and then they're going to be searching for YouTube for my sermons. When all hell breaks loose in the United States, the same people that call me a false prophet are going to be searching for my sermons on YouTube, trying to figure out what's going on. We've been preaching this truth to you right now while you don't listen. Let those who have ears to ear hear and eyes to see he. Let them see. The global headlines is prophesying we're in the end. Jesus said immediately after the days of the tribulation is darkened. The sun will be darkened. The moon will not give us light. The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man. When Jesus breaks the clouds, there will be no more arguments about theology, no more argument about who is God, no more arguments between Muslims and Christians and Buddhists and Hindus and Jews. When Jesus cracks the sky, all of our theology will be agreed. Everybody will know that Christ is king. Some will mourn. Others will celebrate. There will be no more difference in theology when the sky opens up. We all will know who was real and who was not. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, the firstborn of the dead riding in upon the clouds. How with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four corners, from one end of heaven to the other. That is when he cracks the sky, everybody's fate is sealed. No more second chance, no purgatory. If he cracks the sky five years from now, everybody's fate is sealed. No second chance, no purgatory. I wish he come on a Sunday to separate the real from the fake. And because this is coming, because we're living in the last days, what is the only right response to what is happening right now? The only right response is the last verse of the text, Acts chapter 2 and verse 21. The only right response is the last verse of the text. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And his family right now, if you're not a follower of Christ, the wisest thing you would do with your life right now was calling on the name of the Lord. Not trying to become a member of this church, not trying to mask that with good behavior and morality. The wisest thing anybody watching me right now can do right now as time is running out. The wisest thing you could do right now was call on the name of the Lord. Confess your sin, tell him you're a sinner, ask him to forgive you for your sin, surrender your life to him, receive the Holy Spirit, run after Christ with all of your heart. That is the only hope for humanity, not church services, regeneration. The only hope for the unbeliever is salvation. The only hope for the world is salvation. The only hope for those outside of Christ is salvation. This is why family. I哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎 Is this not the hour for the church to be on mission? For us together to work together for the spread of the gospel and the multiplying disciples? Is this not the hour for us to say, you know what, enough is enough? There's a loss and dying world out there, and we have the light, all of us, reflecting from Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to win as many people as possible for the sky opens up. May we be a church on mission for Christ and put away all of our foolishness and all of our ancillary ambitions and rally together around what he gave us to do. Spread the gospel, make disciples, be a witness, hear me, hear me, time is running out. And so Father, I pray right now over the unbeliever first, that they will tremble under the weight of the gospel and hurl themselves at the foot of the cross, confessing their sin, and surrendering themselves right now to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And I pray for the brothers and sisters under the sound of my voice, the global family of 2019, the global family of the church, that there will be revival, there will be an awakening, our eyes will be open, our hearts will be burned, we would recognize we're living in the last days and the final seconds of the church age, and it would affect the way that we pray, the way that we talk, the way that we move, the way that we live, the way that we spend our money, the way that we do relationships, disciple our children, the way that we show up, the way that we serve, the way that we sacrifice, the way that we suffer and suffer well. May we be men and women on fire in our mouths and our hearts and on mission for the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that over us right now when the mighty and the majestic and the mattress name of our soon-coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ, now would everybody take the roof off and give God praise in this house right now.