In this sermon, Pastor Bill Gallatin emphasizes the importance of having a deep love for Jesus and a hunger for the Bible. He admits to not being technologically savvy but finds solace and wisdom in the scriptures. Pastor Gallatin encourages the congregation to have a living relationship with Jesus and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He teaches from Acts chapter 2, highlighting the power and availability of salvation through Jesus Christ. The sermon concludes with a call to surrender to God and gladly follow Him in obedience.

This Bible study was recorded at Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes and was taught by Pastor Bill Gallatin. This evening we're in the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 1. We'll ask the Lord to crank it up to a hundred, and we'll crank up the air conditioning and even get more people to fellowship. Good to be together again in fellowship. Let's ask the Lord to bless His word and give us understanding. Heavenly Father, You have such gracious and wonderful things to share with us tonight through the Holy Spirit and through the beauty of Your word. We ask You, dear Father, to speak to our hearts. We pray that Your word will not fall to the ground, as Isaiah stated, and that each heart would be touched and encouraged and strengthened. We pray, dear Father, that You'd speak in such a way tonight that people would truly yield to You and not resist out of doubt or fear. That they'd realize how wonderful You are and how glorious it is to be a member of the true church, filled with Your Spirit, and having the confidence of our salvation through Jesus Christ, who gave His life and conquered death with the resurrection and is coming again. O Father, speak to our hearts and we pray that You'd be honored and glorified above all. In the name of Jesus, it is burned in our hearts in a wonderful way, in a living way continually, automatically, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the living relationship with our Savior. In His name we pray. Amen. Chapter 2 of the book of Acts. We'll try to get through this in an hour. There's so much in here and such a desire to branch off on so many wonderful things. You remember before the day of Pentecost, Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus very early in his ministry, some three and a half years earlier in that garden incident. In John chapter 3, he began to speak of the life and the Spirit and being born again. Now remember, he's talking to a man who believed in God and believed in the coming of the Messiah, but he hadn't been born again yet. He was under the system of the law, believing the Scriptures and still not born again and not understanding some of the things that Jesus was speaking about. And in verse 8, you remember he said, "...the Spirit blows where it wills, or lifts us, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from whence it cometh or where it goeth, and so is everyone that walks in the Spirit or is led by the Spirit." And so Jesus was beginning to show Nicodemus there was a brand new life coming because of His coming to the earth, a freedom from law and grace and rules and regulations, and a power that dwelled within now and a power that would fill us each time we had the need to live the Christian life, to walk in the Spirit. And now He had been telling the apostles to wait for the promise of the Father, to tarry in Jerusalem until you receive this power that you may be a witness. And again, as we shared before, He was telling them, "...you don't wait for the power or the baptism of the Holy Spirit that I've been speaking of simply to perform miracles and to speak in tongues. The issue is that you could be a witness." And that's the important thing for the Christian today, is to be a faithful witness to Jesus Christ, not a fool. Not someone who's going to give up. Not someone who's going to still try and call the shots and want to follow Christ under his own conditions. That's not a witness. In fact, that individual will suffer and strive and never quite get over the top in their experience in life, and never really come to know the hope of their calling or know what their calling is. It's an awful place to be in. So, it's a marvelous thing to experience the filling or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then be free to yield to the Lord, and then begin to walk in the Spirit and enjoy the Christian life. And truly be a witness whether things are good or bad. To be able to rejoice in all things, as Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5. What is the will of God concerning me? It's to rejoice in everything. To be thankful for everything. To be able to endure all things. To be able to bear up over everything or under everything through the power of that Holy Spirit. Now, in the Jewish law, it was compulsory for every Jewish male that lived within a radius of 20 miles of Jerusalem to keep the feast, principally three main feasts. There were four, if you count, tabernacles of Yom Kippur. But the main feasts were the Passover, then the Feast of the Unleavened Bread that would begin on the day at the ending of the Passover. That would be a Sabbath, and the next day began the Unleavened Bread. Then seven weeks, or seven sevens on the fiftieth day after that would be the Feast of Firstfruits that every Jew should keep. And then after that you'd have the Feast of Tabernacles, or Butz, or Tzakat. The fourth feast being Yom Kippur, the Great Day of Atonement. Fifty days after the Unleavened Bread. And that is the day, or Penta in the Greek, the Pentecost, the Day of Pentecost. And that's when the priest would take two loaves of bread, unite them together, wave the firstfruits after the winter wheat has all been harvested in June, the time of the firstfruits, waving before the Lord, all prefiguring Christ's resurrection being the firstfruits of the body of Christ, his body, or his bride, his church. And so on this particular day is the day that God picked to fulfill that type, or that prefiguring of the firstfruits, to pour out his Spirit and then grant something new, a new body. Jew and Gentile united together in one body, the church, by the Holy Spirit. So when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Remember in Acts chapter 115, about 120 gathered together after the resurrection, and he had informed them, said, Now tarry ye in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Father on high, until you are baptized with that fire, that Holy Spirit, that you may be a witness. And so about 120 of them were still together in that place. Now here is the interesting thing. Jesus had been speaking of that Spirit that would move involuntarily beyond even the thinking of the individual. It was concerning God's will that man doesn't control. In fact, the 120 did not even know what was going to happen. They were just being obedient to the Lord and received the blessing. And I think that's one of our greatest barriers, isn't it? We need to have everything explained and understood beforehand or we're not going to step or do anything. And so many of us miss the blessing because we simply don't step or wait in obedience on the Lord, trusting. We have to have it all figured out in advance. We never get the blessing. It's not just trusting and knowing that a Father in Heaven loves us so much, He's not going to allow you to be harmed simply because you don't understand. You're just being obedient. And that's one of the most difficult things to learn to do, is to step in obedience without understanding, knowing that God's promised to bless if I will be obedient. Abraham was obedient and he was so blessed with God. Something that would go against the grain of the natural mind and the human emotions, but he didn't understand it completely and he didn't argue with God. I know so many Christians that are always arguing secretly, internally with God. They know what the Scripture has said to them. I've done it myself. I know what the Scripture has said to my heart, but I don't understand it completely and I don't want to yield. I don't want to do it this way, Lord. And so I begin to hold out, but I miss out on the blessing. These people had no idea. They were just given a promise of God and the blessing came. There may be somebody here tonight that you're still holding out. You're not, because you don't simply understand it. You see, when we deify our own intellect, that's the trouble. I deify my intellect and say, I'm going to figure this thing out and I'm going to know exactly what it means or I'm not going to trust. That's not faith. God honors faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord. That's what the writer of the book of Hebrews said. Faith is saying, Lord, I believe what the Bible says that you've declared about yourself that you're my loving Heavenly Father, that you'll never leave me nor forsake me. You're going to keep me. You will provide for me. You'll let no harm come to me if I put my trust in you. And that's what pleases God so much. You know, love doubted is a very horrible thing, isn't it? Have you ever had someone doubt you when you say you love them and you get exasperated? What do I have to do to prove to you that I love you? And sometimes it's so exasperating, isn't it? And you're doing your best and yet they still don't believe you. Well, you see, just think of God. He loves you so much. And he's written a record, a personal love letter to you to declare unto you that he'll never let any harm come to you. That he'll provide for you eternally, take care of you and watch over you. And you can trust him when he directs you. And no good thing will he withhold from you when you walk uprightly. He will not allow that evil day to overtake you. As he wrote through David, surely goodness and mercy followeth me all the days of my life. And I will fear no evil. You don't have to worry about what's behind. You don't have to keep looking over your shoulder, worried about if the decision you made is going to work out, that God's going to let something get you or harm you. Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all of the days of your life, God says. And so, that's really a difficult thing for many of us, isn't it? To get to the point where you say, Lord, I don't have to understand anymore. I'm just going to be obedient and step because I know you love me. I trust you. You've been so faithful to me over the years. Even when I've deserved more difficult times, you've been faithful to me. Even when I haven't deserved deliverance or your rescue, you've been so good to me. Lord, I trust you. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. Notice, a wind didn't come, but the sound of a wind. Very important to know that. Some members of the church tried to make it seem like, you know, a tornado came into the room and everybody flew all over the place. And so they justified Pentecost for a lot of their fleshy actions in their meetings. But it was a sound that came, not a wind. And it came from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting. And nobody was knocked out of their chairs. Not one person. That always amazes me that maybe God, again, didn't quite have a handle on what the real outpouring of the Spirit should do to people. On the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the history of the universe, and the only time it was ever done, it's never going to be repeated like that until at the end of the age when it's poured out on Israel, that their eyes would be opened to the second coming of Jesus Christ and who He is. I find it quite interesting. I find another thing that's very interesting. The word rushing there literally means to bear up and keep from falling. And the word right there, mighty, is violent. Now, have you ever been in a strong wind? When I was in the Marine Corps back in the fifties, I had to guard a great big building in a hurricane from looters. And they put me in the building during the hurricane. But before it hit, we could feel the winds building up down there in North Carolina where I was stationed. And I'll never forget this. The wind was picking up to such a degree, it was so powerful, that you could actually lay into it and not fall down. It was bearing you up. It was so powerful, hitting us in the faces, that you could just let go without any muscle strain whatsoever, and just fall forward, and it bore us up. It kept us from falling. And that's exactly what the Spirit of God is. It's to help you stand, not to knock you down. And it literally means in the Greek to bear you up and keep you from falling. I know many, many people that are Christian, and because they aren't baptized in the Holy Spirit, they keep falling. The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord filling us and filling the church like that, uniting Jew and Gentile alike together in one homogenous, beautiful unit, the body of Christ, the church, is to keep people from falling. It was a mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. I don't know if you remember, but in Genesis chapter 2, a very interesting thing took place. You remember, it says in verse 7 of Genesis chapter 2, that God formed man out of the dust of the earth. Here, God just reached down like the potter that he depicts himself so often in the Old Testament, took a handful of dirt. That's what we are. I'm just looking at some good-looking dirt bags here. I mean, we think so highly of ourselves, and we're nothing but dirt. It's amazing how great we think we are, and we look in that mirror, you know, and, man, I think, you know, I got so bad for my age, and God says, you're just nothing but dirt, Bill. Don't think too highly of yourself. But God just molds and shapes, you know, the body atom, the first atom, and is lying there lifeless with all the same chemistry, the same chemicals in atom of the dirt that you and I have. We're just nothing but dirt, only it was rearranged. Different configuration, different balances of the very same chemicals and chemistry that dirt is made of. You too. But, you see, that disproves evolution. Atom would still be lying there, and it would probably dry out by now and be blown all over the earth somewhere, washed down the stream with the rain. But, see, God breathed into him. It says, and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the interesting thing is, when Adam was breathed into, it says, in the Hebrew, God leaned over and blew powerfully with a mighty blast as though you took bellows into his nostrils. A mighty, powerful blast. And gave Adam life. He lived. Now, the last Adam is Jesus Christ. He didn't suffer a second death. He's the son from heaven. But he's been given a bride. And it's interesting, Adam was put to sleep. His side was opened. He was put into a deep sleep. Death. And when that took place, that's when Eve was brought forth. Jesus Christ was put into death. Actually died on the cross with his side open. The last Adam. And he lives. But his bride is Eve, the church. And God on Pentecost, just as he breathed life into Adam in Genesis chapter 2, breathed powerfully life into the woman, Eve, the church. The heavenly Adam, the last Adam, is to have a bride. And it's the body of Christ. And Jesus, you see, after he gave his life, God breathed on Pentecost. And the church came to life. The bride of Christ came to life. Filled with the Spirit. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each one. So just little dancing flames of fire over each head of the individuals as they were filled with the Spirit. They see something new. They've gone from law, trying to please God under the law. Now the church has been formed. The bride of Christ has been formed. And God breathed life into Eve just as he breathed life into Adam in Genesis. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Every one of them. And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Not on their own. They were motivated, initiated by the filling of the Holy Spirit. And they spoke. And that word tongues is glossolalia, or in different languages other than their own. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation on earth. Now, knowing the law required every Jew that lived within a radius of 20 miles to attend Jerusalem, plus many of the Jews from all the surrounding nations. And they're listed here. Their backgrounds and their different nations. You had easily well over a million people in Jerusalem from all over the world practicing Jews to be faithful to God. They're in Jerusalem on Pentecost to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits when God did this. Now, remember, you have believers already in the midst. And so you've got Jews from all over the world that are looking for Messiah, looking for the promises of the Old Testament prophets. And you've got a million or more gathered with their families, close to three million people. That's what the ranks of Jerusalem would swell to during the feast days. From all over the world. And here's the opportunity of God to use this small band of people, this new formation, this new body of believers, the church filled with the Spirit, to begin to magnify the Lord and speak the truth of the Lord under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all these people and to do mighty signs and wonders in front of them all that they've been looking for and hearing about. And nothing is more exciting to receive a miracle from God or a sign or a wonder when you're not expecting it. What a blessing it is. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because every man heard them speak in his own language. Now, the individuals that were speaking in tongues, as God sent out the 120, as they were all noised about and heard this, you see, they weren't understanding what they were saying. They were just praising God as they were baptized. But the individuals that were around that were non-believers were hearing the mighty works of God in their language and it amazed them. It caught their attention. They were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? In other words, aren't these the people that live just in the surrounding area of Jerusalem and some of these people are from Africa, from Greece? You had every known type of Jew there from Hellenist backgrounds to the Falasha Jews of Africa and how here we every man in our own tongue when we were born. In other words, now they were hearing not only their language but in their dialect. Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia Persia and Pamphylia in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And so the Scripture is its own best commentary. Immediately tells us that when someone is given the gift of tongues, it is to speak the wonderful works of God. Paul, you remember, tells us and clearly teaches because the Corinthian church was using the gift wrongly, misunderstanding the gift, enamored with it when it was the least of the gifts but it drew attention to the individual that used it in the meetings and they were going around and much like today in many circles saying that God had given them a message for the church. Well, Paul clearly corrects that in 1st Transient. 1st Transient chapter 14. In fact, he spends a whole chapter on it. The purpose of the gift of tongues. We do know that it bypasses the intellect in the Romans chapter 8 that Paul teaches that many times we're given situations that I don't quite know how to pray. I can pray in the Spirit or I can pray with my understanding. I'm told that I can build myself up praying in the Spirit. But I also pray with my understanding. And the Spirit knows how to pray beyond my understanding. And I think that's why many, many people struggle with the gift of tongues and receiving it by faith is that because they don't allow their intellect to get out of the way and accept it by faith. They have to understand everything they're doing or they don't accept it. And see, the gift of tongues bypasses the intellect. For we know not how to pray as we ought but the Spirit itself bears witness and then begins to intercede for us and enable us to pray to God and cry out to God. But notice what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14 concerning the gift of tongues. And by the way, there's nowhere in the Bible that says it ceased during the Apostolic Age. It continues even to this day. Remember, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit began in the last days fulfilling Joel's prophecy and it's not going to cease this outpouring or this filling until the second coming of Jesus Christ. Notice Paul says in verse 1 of chapter 14, follow after Agape love which is translated charity and desire spiritual gifts but rather that you may prophesy or teach the word of God. Enable people to understand the word of God. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men. I've been around certain Christians and I've seen some of the things that they do in their ignorance even on television as though they're talking to one another in their tongues giving each other a message from God. The Bible plainly states that when you speak in tongues you do not speak unto men but unto God. For no man understandeth him albeit the Spirit he speaketh in mysteries. Look at verse 3 and 4. For he that prophesyeth speaketh unto men to edification to exhortation and comfort. That's how you can judge a prophecy. Is it really from the Lord or has it got me feeling condemned and frightened? If it's true prophecy from the Lord it will edify you or build you up. It will encourage you, exhort you and it will comfort you. Very easy to test prophecy. But then Paul again to correct the Corinthians and their misuse of tongues. And that's what I see. You see so much imbalance in the church today. So many people taking extreme positions against. You have the extreme positions on the glossolalia or the speaking in tongues the wrong way. Then you have the reaction of people swinging way out here want nothing to do with it and they do everything they can to teach against it in the church because they're afraid of it. They'll even go as far as to blame it on the devil. I'd be very careful about that because it's a gift that God gives and I wouldn't think that any gift that God gives to the church is something to be shoved aside. But notice verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 14. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifyeth himself. But he that prophesieth edifyeth the church. Now what am I doing when I speak in tongues? Look at verse 17. For thou verily givest thanks well but the others not edified. The gift of tongues is given to me to bypass my intellect to give up perfect praise and thanksgiving and to declare the wonderful works of God. And it's for my personal edification and that's why the writer in Jude says that you build yourself up praying in the Holy Ghost. It strengthens you. It's not God giving a message to man. And so when they heard everybody speaking in tongues it did amaze them. It bypassed the intellect. These people didn't know these languages or even have those dialects and that's what amazed everybody because they were Galileans. It'd be like everybody here all of a sudden just picking up and speaking a second language in the perfect dialect of that individual from that country even though you've never been taught it or raised in that family. That's the gift that God gives. Remember, He's the one who designed all the languages anyhow and gave them to the human race at the Tower of Babel when He judged everyone. But you see, just as He separated people in their intellect and their languages for thousands of years He's bringing everybody together in the Spirit in salvation through Jesus Christ forming the church. The unity of the church. But now notice as they're praising God giving thanks to God edifying themselves notice what it says. They all heard them in verse 11 back in Acts 2 declare the wonderful works of God. That's the purpose of tongues. And they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another What meaneth this? Others mocking said These men are full of new wine. So they began to mock it. Now, that's the fulfillment of prophecy. Turn to Isaiah chapter 28 because God did say He was going to do something like this through Isaiah. And God declared that they would not receive it. Many of the multitudes would not receive it. And even though there was a tremendous response to Peter's preaching on that day it was a very small percentage when you compare the amount of the Jews that were in Jerusalem for the Passover. And this very verse was fulfilled by their mocking and wondering what it was. Look at verse 11 and 12 Isaiah speaking. And Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 14 to verify the gift of tongues to the Christian church as he corrects them in their misuse of the gift. Look at verse 11 and 12 of Isaiah 28 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people to whom he said this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest. Man, when you are filled with the Spirit of God and you begin to walk in the Spirit it's a beautiful rest that you begin to walk into and experience the finished work of Jesus Christ in your life. No longer the energy of the flesh self-effort it's being done now by the Spirit and you enter into this beautiful rest. But then notice what he goes on to say And this is the refreshing yet they would not hear. In other words, multitudes of the people even though they hear the gift would not receive it not hear it they just hear stammering lips. Isaiah predicted it. Now look at the reaction to many of the people when they heard these people declaring the mighty works of God in their prayer language. They were all amazed and they were in doubt exactly as Isaiah said. They were not hearing it. Even though the refreshing was there the opportunity to believe and to receive by faith saying one to another what mean of this? Others mocking said these men are full of new life and usually when you do have a lot of joy in the Lord you will be mocked by the unbeliever or they will call you a fanatic or some kind of a crazy person if you express your love openly to Christ. They always say now there are certain limitations here you don't want to get too fanatic and go overboard. Why not? If the heathen can sit in 20 degrees in Buffalo drunk and paint themselves like who knows what screaming and yelling for three hours in a blizzard drinking beer and everybody thinks oh, they are sports fans like normal Americans. No one seems to, you know a dog pounding Cleveland when they go when they have the Cleveland brothers but when a Christian expresses joy and delight they think oh my God, he is weird. Isn't it amazing? What did Peter say? Now, they are asking what is this? And Peter immediately says look at the beauty and the perfection of knowing the scripture. Here again, here is this Galilean fisherman who didn't have an education. The Pharisees mocked him, you remember and mocked him later. He stands up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said unto them you men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and hearken unto my words for these are not drunken as you suppose seeing it is but the third hour of the day it is only 9 a.m. in the morning. And you see when someone is filled with the Spirit what is the fruit of the Spirit? Self-control not out of control. Now, a drunk is out of control but not someone filled with the Spirit. That is why Paul said be ye filled with the Spirit. Be ye being filled with the Spirit not wine. When someone feels overflowing with the Spirit it gives him self-control. Now, I have seen people claim to be filled with the Spirit and be out of control but they aren't filled with the Holy Spirit. They may not know it and my heart goes out to them and you can't make them receive the truth but the fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control. So, when someone is absolutely filled and empowered from on high like on Pentecost and filled with the Spirit they don't act like a drunk. They become the most perfect balanced human being that has ever walked this earth the way Jesus Christ was. You remember Jesus Christ was filled with the Spirit in his water baptism and he didn't act crazy at all. He was under absolute control. And so, Peter is going to tell them what it really is. They are not drunk. They haven't been drinking. They don't have those problems where they have to get half in the bag nine o'clock in the morning because their life is miserable. They know Jesus Christ. They have met the Lord. They have been filled with the power of God and that is why they are a witness. They have been noticed. They are a witness. And they are not ashamed of Christ. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. Immediately. And here is this fisherman from Galilee that knows his Bible. Not a seminary graduate. Not a Pharisee. He hasn't been to the school of the prophets. He was just a fisherman working his, you know what off earning a living in Galilee. Didn't have a good education. Handpicked by Jesus. And he knew the Bible. He read his Bible. Read the scriptures. You see, you want to be used by God? Don't just read the Bible at certain times. Get into the Word of God and he will see that you mean business and he will start to open doors and begin to use you. And don't just read the Bible when you are preparing to teach somebody something. Have personal devotions. That is what God is really watching. You see, a ministry can suffer. I can suffer if I don't have personal devotions and love to learn of the Lord and commune with Him daily. If I just opened up my Bible and was trying to study for Thursday or Sunday there would be no Calvary Chapel. God wouldn't honor it. Then it's just a job. It's just a business. But when you really are studying the Word of God like the Apostle Peter God says, I'm going to use that man. I'll use that woman. And the Spirit of God brings all these things out of recall and immediately says, you want an answer for what's going on in your life? I can show you in the scriptures. And you know something? This is my advice. You don't have to pay heed to it. But I don't care what your supernatural experience is. If it isn't backed up by the scriptures I wouldn't accept it. Because the Hindus have supernatural experiences. The Mormons. The Baha'is. The Buddhists. They all have some kind of a supernatural experience. And you know something? You begin to accept them you've got to accept them all. How do you draw the line if you can't verify it with the Word of God? So I don't care how great or sensational the experience is if you can't back it up with the Word of God it's not worth even considering. For your own good. Don't allow Satan to deceive you. Peter immediately said, you want to know what this is? He goes right to the scriptures and he quotes Joel chapter 2 when Joel prophesied when the last days would begin in the last days that he would pour out his Spirit. And Peter does not give a teaching on the gift of tongues. Whenever there's a supernatural experience it's always to open the door to preach the cross. Christ crucified. Christ risen. Christ the Savior. And that's why God honored his message so powerfully. He didn't feel that he had to give an explanation for tongues. He ignored it completely and it's interesting Joel never even mentioned that tongues would be the sign. Isaiah prophesied that. They aren't even in Joel's prophecy. This is what is happening. It shall come to pass in the last days. So right away, Peter's saying, you are in the last days. The last days have started. You remember in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 the writer of Hebrews says, God who in sundry times spoke to us in various manners by the prophets of the Old Testament has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. The last days began with Jesus Christ's advent. Hebrews 9.26 tells us that Jesus Christ signaled the end of the world. We are at the end of the last two days of time. Now you know why Satan uses evolution so powerfully to keep people ignorant that we are in the last days. Peter said in Psalm 90 verse 4 states that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. Creation took place 4,000 B.C. Jesus Christ came at 4,000. That was two days or 2,000 years ago. We're at the end of the sixth day. If you have evolution, you see, that destroys the second coming. That destroys the nearness of the coming of Jesus Christ. It just knocks out the last days. And that's why Satan loves evolution to keep people in awareness that we are in the last days biblically and chronologically. Joel said in the last days I'll pour out my spirit. It was prophesied by the prophets in the Old Testament. Pentecost has been proven. We have the record of it. So we are in the last days. When did Pentecost take place? 2,000 years ago. Give or take 30, 40, 50 or a day or two. We are so close. It is so exciting to know that we are in the last days and to be ready and to be watching. What did Joel say? Peter quotes him emphatically. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. That's exactly what was going on. Notice he didn't say one thing about tongues because that wasn't the issue. That was just a manifestation that came forth as they were so overwhelmed and filled with the spirit they just began to offer up perfect praise because the spirit of God bypassed their intellect united with their spirit and they're offering up perfect praise and declaring the wonderful works of God and those around them heard it. Exactly as the Bible predicted. But it's the outpouring. It's the fulfillment of Joel. So you're asking about what this is? It's the fulfillment of Joel. And then he goes on to say and he describes the first advent and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs in the earth beneath. Speaking of the wonderful things that took place at the first advent, look at the wonders in the heavens. Look at the star that directed the three wise men from Babylon all the way to Jerusalem and then disappeared. The angelic host, millions of angels appeared over the shepherds in the fields. Marvelous signs in the heavens. And look at the signs on the earth through Jesus Christ raising people from the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, multiplying the loaves and the fishes. Messiah had come. Joel's prophecy began. The last days began and the signs from heaven and the wonders and the things on the earth began with Jesus Christ. It's going to continue all the way to the end and then Joel leaves all the way to the end of the age to the second advent and he describes the tribulation period. Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord come. So not only does he start with the last days but the outpouring of Pentecost is going to continue to the end of the age of grace and the coming of the Lord after the tribulation period. So he gives the signs before, the wonderful signs from heaven, the star, the declaration of the virgin birth, those that saw that star, the multitudes that heard the angelic host singing and declaring the birth of Christ and then the very apostles who saw Jesus Christ ascend right into heaven into the cloud of the Father Shekinah and go back to glory. All those things took place exactly as Joel prophesied. They saw it. And the wonders and the signs on earth, Christ's ministry. And then it leads all the way to cover the whole age of grace the whole two days before the second coming. And they described the tribulation. You can be filled with the Spirit tonight. Pentecost is taking place. Never again is that going to have to take place. Never again do you see anywhere in the book of Acts any of the people gathering together, waiting on it, because it's not necessary. Now you receive the baptism and the filling of the Spirit by faith as Jesus taught in Luke 11. All you have to do is ask and receive by faith. It's been poured out. Now, I don't know about you, but I believe like Moody said years ago, I leak a lot. I need many fillings. And there have been many, many, many times when I've just sat before the Lord and said, Lord, I need a fresh filling. And man, He's there. He just pours out His Spirit. Jesus said, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. I will send the Spirit to you. He will abide with you forever. You can be filled with the Spirit. You ask and you receive by faith. You may speak in tongues. You may have some of the other powerful gifts begin to manifest in your life. But just step out by faith. And nothing initiates it and triggers my faith more than reading the Word of God on a steady basis, reading and desiring to know Christ and commune with Jesus Christ and learn of Him and be changed and conformed into His image. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of the Lord. Studying and knowing the Word of God. And it shall come to pass that whoever is called Bill or John or Nancy and Barbara, if they call the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Sorry about the rest of you. Isn't that wonderful to know that it's whosoever? Now, some groups may try to leave somebody out, but not Jesus. It's whosoever. Whoever you are, wherever you're from, wherever you've done, how heinous and black the sin, how corrupt, perverted, if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. He will forgive you. If you ask Christ to come in your heart because He wanted the cross for your sin, for my sin, and now He lives forever to forgive, to give eternal life. Whoever, whosoever, shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so, Peter, this ridiculed fisherman from Galilee, knows his Bible. Knows Joel and quotes it. In a situation where people needed to be instructed, the Spirit of God brought it to him. He said, You're asking what this is? It's the fulfillment of Joel. The last days are here. Peter knew it. Now, we can declare unto you that we are at the end of the last days. You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, among you, by miracles, and now I believe this touches on verse 19 again, wonders and signs. The very thing that was prophesied, Jesus did it. And if you look at the life of Jesus, if you'll take the time, you will find every miracle, every supernatural act that Jesus performed in the New Testament, in His ministry, is found in the Old Testament that is prophesied by the prophets, that when Jehovah God comes, He will do that. If you'll just take the time. It is one of the most wonderful things to begin to see where it's prophesied in the Psalms, or in Samuel, or in Kings, or in Jeremiah, or Isaiah, some prophecy concerning the Lord. I am the Lord. There's none other beside me. I am God the Savior. Beside me, there's no other Savior. Then He declares what He'll do when He comes, and here Jesus Christ starts doing it all when He comes. Tremendous faith builder. Tremendous dude to know the Trinity when you're up against the Mormons or the Jehovah Witnesses, or some of the cults. To share in love, to open their eyes. The triune God. That there's no contradiction in the Bible. And we don't need any other books. No added books. You've got the whole counsel of God, Genesis to the Revelation, that the Spirit of God wrote through the prophets to you and I. So, you men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, amen, approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Peter's preaching now, man. And again, he doesn't think they need a lesson on tongues. He doesn't even touch on it. See, again, he realizes the importance. Remember, he experienced the transfiguration. Remember, he got enamored with the supernatural. Man, I just saw Elijah and Moses in glory. Man, they're alive. Let's build booths. Let's just stay here, man. This will be the greatest retreat until the Lord comes. We're staying here. We're not going back to our jobs. What's the Lord say? First of all, Moses and Elijah disappear. And the clouds, the Shekinah cloud of God the Father overshadows them again. And all they see now is Jesus said, This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him. He's the one you hear now. He's the one. He's center stage now. And so, see, he sees that. He knows that. He remembers that. And so he says, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and claimed. Gee, I wonder if you heard anybody's feelings. I wonder how someone might have reacted. There's no love in that apostle to say nasty things like that. You, by your wicked hands, have crucified. Again, he's letting you know, you guys did it, you know. Now, one of the horrible tragedies of the church have bypassed and not realized the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. That God planned this. And one of the curses of Christianity in the church is the terrible persecution that much of the church has placed upon the Jews. And you can see why many of the Jews today do not trust Christians. Because some of the greatest persecution of the Jews is by so-called Christians who call the Jews the Christ killers and blame the death of Jesus upon the Jews. And they simply are ignorant to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God and the rest of the scriptures that state that before the foundation of the world that was planned by Jesus Christ and God the Father said He would go to the cross because they knew Adam would sin. That God had determined to go to the cross before Adam was even created. And again, it's ignorance of the scriptures to blame it on the Jews. Yes, they were the instruments at that given time. But who was the government of the world? What was controlling it? And what could have stopped the crucifixion? A man named Pontius Pilate that represented Rome and the Gentiles. So, the Gentiles are just as responsible. But what really? Who is responsible for the death and the crucifixion of the Jews? Bill Gallatin and every one of you. It's the sin of the world. John said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Isaiah said, The iniquity of us all was laid upon Him. It's my iniquity. There'd be no going to the cross if God didn't want to redeem us. We who can't redeem ourselves. The sinner can't redeem himself. But God became man and visited this earth and man rejected their God just as man does today. So, it's so wrong to blame the Jews. It's our sin. Your sin. My sin. The Roman government. The Gentile powers of the world. Not just the Jews. Mankind. And yet God willingly, as it says in Hebrews, with joy, He looked forward to that day that it might bring redemption to us. You see, we are finite and it's hard for us to grasp it. We can experience it. To grasp it. That God would love us so much. That God would love you so much. And yet, have people believe the lie of Satan who discredits God and God's love for people. And to walk away doubting and rejecting God's offer of redemption through Jesus Christ. Doubting His love. And He knew all along we'd need a Savior. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it should not be possible they should behold another. For David speaketh concerning Him. Now notice, now he quotes the Psalms. Again, this fisherman is just rolling out of them. In other words, he didn't love his job more than Jesus Christ. You can see that he had his life adjusted. When it came need to bring it out, man, the Scriptures came out of this man. I saw it. 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 or the grave. Many places in the Old Testament it's the word Hebrew, Sheol, and it also refers to the grave. In the Greek it's translated Hades, which is translated hell. And neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. You remember in Romans chapter 14, verse 9, it speaks of the death of Christ. That Christ was crucified. He died. He rose to go to the Father. And then it says He revived. It does not say He descended. He was crucified. He died. He rose. Remember on the day that He rose, He said, I have not yet ascended to my Father. He told the feet from the cross, this day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. And He rose. And then the third statement that Paul brings out in Romans 14, verse 9, and He revived. In other words, then He came back from the Father after He had entered the holy place as the sacrifice, as the scapegoat, the perfect Lamb of God with His own shed blood and His own garments that He was going to return in, that John saw Him returning in with the blood of His own sacrifice in Revelation 19. It says then He revived His body and He came out of the tomb. He died. He rose. He revived. Death couldn't hold Him because He was that perfect sacrifice without spot, without sin. Again, I remind everybody, stop and think, where would we be if God raised one of the sacrificed animals from the dead in the Old Testament? That would have been it for us. That means He would have accepted one of those sacrifices if He had raised it from the dead. Not one animal sacrifice was ever raised from the dead in the Old Testament. Couldn't be because it wasn't perfect. It was a substitute. It was a prefiguring of the perfect Lamb who would come without spot or blemish, taking our sin upon Himself and conquering death, conquering the power of Satan to hold us. He had no right. And now God accepts you because of His risen Son, Jesus Christ. He sees you perfect because the blood of Christ is upon your life if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior. Thou hast made me to know the ways of life, or made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried in his sepulcher and is with us unto this day. You can visit the sepulcher of David today when you go to Jerusalem. Now notice, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, not only was David a king, but now the Bible reveals that he was a prophet. He was prophesying concerning Jesus Christ. Peter is saying, David is still buried, but when he prophesied and spoke this in Psalm 16, he and the Spirit were speaking of Messiah that would come out of his loins, Jesus Christ. He was prophesying of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Psalm 16. Because he wasn't speaking of himself, he's still in the grave, and he knew that. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. And seeing this before, in other words, he saw it, he understood it, and he prophesied concerning it. Jesus Christ was known to David. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus... Notice here, he's just rolling out, he's preaching what took place. The purpose of Pentecost was to preach about the death and the resurrection of Christ. Nothing else. Not the gift of the Spirit. Even though they are valid and they are in the church today and everyone should be seeking them for their own personal life, that you may be a witness. But notice what the power of the Spirit did for Peter. He didn't feel he had to speak out loud in tongues to prove to people he had it. He preached. He knew Scripture. He drew from the wealth and the depth of the knowledge of the Old Testament in his own soul, it was hidden in his heart. And that was the witness. This Jesus had God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, Jesus being the firstfruits received the Holy Ghost. Jesus himself, when he went in to be water-baptized, it showed the example of this all. The Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove and immediately he was sent into the wilderness and tested by Satan. And remember, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and he defeated Satan by drawing on the knowledge of God, not by speaking in tongues. When Jesus was baptized in the Spirit, he was driven into the wilderness, a confrontation with the devil, alone with Satan, and he defeated Satan by knowing the Word of God. And it was all out of the Old Testament. That's how you can defeat Satan, by knowing the Word of God. By being able to quote the Word of God and identifying every situation you're in because you have the Word of God hidden in your heart and then it puts Satan on the run. All you have to do is have that Scripture brought to you by the Spirit of God and Satan has to depart. And that's why Christians fall. Because they're not reading their Bibles and getting the Word of God hidden in their heart and Satan attacks the areas that they're ignorant of and down they go. He takes them captive. He deceives them. You remember Peter, before he was baptized in the Holy Ghost, denied the Lord. You'll find out now, since he's been baptized in the Holy Spirit, later on in the book of Acts, we'll find that he was beaten, thrown in jail, and after he was beaten some more, he got up and he went to the Bible study, the home group, and he said, I'm just praying that he's counted. He was so thankful that he was found worthy to be beaten. Now, before the baptism, this guy, he was a chameleon. Remember, he fit in with the crowd. He went to the party and you couldn't tell he was a believer. He picked up the lingo that quick to fit in. He wanted to stay at the party and he denied his Lord. He fit in with the crowd. That usually happens with a person. They're saved. They think they can withstand the temptation. They go to the wrong place. They aren't baptized in the Holy Spirit and pretty soon they're part of the crowd and they're denying their Lord. In the very spot they're in. Just like Peter. And then Satan really comes in and condemns them. And yet Jesus looks and sucks love and forgiveness. That's why he said, Hey, you tarry in Jerusalem. You tarry in that area you're at. You make sure you're baptized in the Holy Ghost. And since Pentecost, now you can just receive it by faith. Don't pretend you have it if you don't. Make sure you have it. And God says, You can have it. You receive it. By faith. I'm so glad it to you. And so, this promise that was given to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this which now you see and hear. This outpouring of the Spirit. Jesus is poured out to us as he promised in John 14. I will not leave you comfortless. I will send the Spirit to you. Remember, three experiences of the Holy Spirit. The inexperience, the power experienced with you, and the happy upon you. Three experiences. And he goes on to say, For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord sent unto my... Now he quotes Psalm 110. Man, he's all over the place. Joel chapter 2, Psalm 16. Now Psalm 110. This fisherman knows the Bible. He may not know mathematics or science. He may not know how to work a computer, but he knows Jesus. And God's using him. I'd rather be that way, wouldn't you? It doesn't bother me not to fit in anymore. It doesn't even interest me. All the latest gadgets and stuff and things and the stuff you see on television. I can't even relate anymore. I don't even know how to work my VCR. Rosemary has to do it. I don't even know how to fix the clock. Whenever we have a power outage, that doggone thing on the TV goes blank. And I have to call Rosemary or Scott or Jeff to get to it. I don't know how to work it. I know how to turn it on and change channels. That's about it. And beyond that, I'm just a simpleton. Believe me. But I know one thing. I love Jesus, or I can't get enough of the Bible in me. And I discern things a lot quicker than I used to. I see things a lot quicker than I used to. It's not because of a computer in my house. It's the Bible that I hold in my lap. And they do the same thing for you. Because I'm not a very intelligent guy. But boy, Jesus is intelligent. And His Spirit, remember, describes His Spirit as wonderful. A wonderful Counselor. It's mighty. It's powerful. That's the Spirit that's poured out. It's available to each one of you. It's described in Isaiah 9.6. The perfection of the Holy Spirit. The mind of Christ. So now he quotes Psalm 110. For David's not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. The Second Coming. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. You see, there were some people listening. But like Isaiah said, many of them would not receive. They'd refuse it. They just, you know, they just blotted out. That makes sense to me. I don't want this. But there were many that were pricked in their heart. And they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized. And that's interesting. Have a change of mind and a change of heart toward Jesus Christ and be baptized. Now he's talking water baptism here. Now remember, here's an important thing. Many of these Jews were already dedicated in their religion as infants. That was a custom of the Jew to take the newborn babies and dedicate them to the devil. Mary and Joseph did it with Jesus. A dedication rite. But now that you're older and you've been born again, no matter what your infant dedication may have been, now repent, change your thinking and get water baptized. And these were all Jews that were raised in the Old Testament system looking for the coming of Messiah, How can an infant repent and be baptized? It's nothing, you see, but a church tradition. It's not biblical. And a lot of people think they're baptized because they were sprinkled as a baby. It's nothing but infant dedication. It's not even biblical. And so he's speaking to adults that saw this phenomenon that now if you're born again and you've got a new life in Christ, you change your thinking toward Jesus. Give your life to Him for the forgiveness of sins and be water baptized. Even Jesus was dedicated as a child. He went into that Jordan River to show us the way, the truth, and the life. As an adult, He was water baptized to glorify God. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and your children. Just think what our obedience will do to our children. I've seen it happen to my children. And to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call, it's available to all if they choose to be obedient. It's a promise. And with many other words, did He testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Don't put it off any longer. Change your thinking. Change your direction concerning Jesus Christ. And now look at those that did have a heart for the Lord and they that gladly received His word. You know, my heart goes out to people who have to struggle with the will of God. Struggle being obedient to God. It's a wonderful thing. I gladly, I gladly yield to the Lord. I gladly follow the Lord. I gladly want more of Jesus. I gladly want Jesus to challenge me in other areas of life, whatever I need to deny. Is there anything else, Lord, you want me to let go of? Lord, I want You to take me totally. Everything Jesus. I gladly love the challenge. It's the faith that gladly received His word. We're baptized. What's the big deal? The people that wrestle with God over things, I don't think they really experience the joy of their salvation, the love of the Lord, the excitement of Jesus. The Christian life. So then they that gladly received His word were baptized. And the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Pretty good message. On the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And notice, yeah, what is this? And so what did He do? He really doesn't go way off into the baptism of the Holy Spirit, does He? They say, what is this that we've seen? And He quotes Joel, Psalm 16, Psalm 110, it's all about Jesus. And 3,000 people respond. I think in some churches they get more excited about 3,000 people being knocked on the floor. And they miss it entirely. They miss it entirely. Hey, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is wonderful. The gifts of the Spirit are wonderful. But I'll tell you something even greater. The fruit of the Spirit. I want the power of God from on high to keep me from falling. Not to knock me down. The wind came to hold them up and keep them from falling. That's what Jesus does. And if you get filled with the Spirit, He will keep you from falling. And He'll bring those Scriptures to your heart. And you'll be able to identify and discern every situation you're in in life. And it's such a marvelous protection. Shall we all stand? Next week, we're going to look at the divine order of the church. And the first miracle of the church. Oh, wait a minute. We can't. Next week is communion. It's the first of the month, isn't it? Well, maybe we'll do it. We'll just... We'll see. The book of Acts is exciting. Of course, everything is exciting, isn't it? Heavenly Father, how we thank you that we can have our own filling of the Spirit because of Pentecost. And Lord, we thank you that the last days have started and your Spirit is continually being poured out and will culminate in that last outpouring on the nation Israel to open their eyes concerning the Antichrist and the coming of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that our eyes have been opened. And we thank you, dear Lord, that whoever by faith here tonight would open their heart to Jesus Christ and His giving His life on the cross, shedding His blood for their sin, rising again to give eternal life. If someone will put their faith in Jesus Christ tonight, they'll have eternal life. Lord, whoever that individual is, draw them into the kingdom, Lord, with your cords of love. And Lord, whoever desires and needs to be filled with the Spirit, grant them the faith, Lord, now to ask and to receive by faith that filling that they might be witnesses unto Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. May the Lord richly bless you as you continue to study His word. If you'd like more information about study tapes by Pastor Bill Gallatin, please write for our free catalog or call 716-398-3550. Our address is Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes, 1777 Route 332, Farmington, New York, 14425.