Pentecost (Part C)

Cannot have all that we can have race and we could have it flow through us. But if you want grace to flow through get this straight going to have to face who you are or not you going to have the face who God is and let him be God. It's going to take work. Nobody is just what you know that's just it just position know it's not as spiritual thing. Grace is not carnal, it is not natural. Not this grace.

This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of acts. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Pentecost is the title of Pastor Rick's message and today he'll continue teaching acts chapter 2 is got a go to death and the resurrection and the ascension and then Pentecost divided tongues, plural fire sink multiple tongues from one God. That's the idea is one source thereof. There are not many ways to heaven. For example, there's one where all roads lead to Rome, but not all of them lead to heaven. Only one in heaven and that is Jesus Christ. The way the truth and the life.

Like it or not, take it or leave it fact, Jack. That's how it is well when we look at the book of Kings, we talking about fire right now and there. Eliza has this rule with the false prophets of bowel and*and Eliza says them you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Yahweh and the God who answers by fire. He is God. This auto settlement. You would think that when they saw this happen on now, they would've converted their lives would've been spared. Sort of a microcosm of judgment you should know you, you see the truth. You either convert or judgment.

Of course, because Elijah then had the people slay the false prophets, which ended up being a contract out on his life.

Well, not really a contract with an eating anyway. The God who answers by fire the tongue again distinctly human.

The fire is completely divine God working with with people both can be hijacked in this sense heresy a person uses the tongue to spread to spread their heresy.

False fire they dab in the Bible beginning of the lesson there in the book of Leviticus chapter 10, there can be those who say I feel such a heat on my heart I know was a spirit and be totally off base from Scripture.

Well you go.

Follow your heart when you die, you can go answer to your chest.

As for me I want what the Lord wants, and I said to takes everything I've got to come close and without his mercy. I never make it. God was not in the wind with Eliza when Eliza does run from the you know the death threats. He finally gets to the wilderness and he's hiding in an God is ministering to Elijah on one hand is correcting him on another hand, so he's this it's almost cute. I would want to trade places cute with Eliza but it was almost in the sense God says I alright I'm going to Best Buy and of course it was the wind and God was on the window was the earthquake and I was on the earthquake in the fire and I was on the fire that still small voice and then a God of course after getting Eliza's head back in the game.

He says that God did not know not care Metro acceptable Eliza by the way you said I you the only one following me I got 7011 bow the knee and so this is quite a God doesn't later down in the in the interaction. He doesn't get to it right away.

I would've been impatient.

I would want to get that right away. Anyway, it's not an entertaining story is that they could be it.

It's a can be entertaining. It is a story, but it is true, and it is available, albeit not as sensational necessarily so. These emblems of the tongue divided the tongues divided in the fire supernatural indicators of divine activity just God supernaturally saying I'm here and you cannot duplicate this you cannot believe what you are and go home and show your children. Let me show you what happened to me today in the tongues of fire reappear over your head in the way you did not happen.

This is peculiar to this moment.

The wind that first announce the coming of the spirit. The wind pushes in the fire purges. These things belong to the emblem. If you take the wind in the form of oxygen and you take fire in the form of acetylene. For example, or propane and you you regulate them together and you push them out together. You have a porch missing will borrow 5000° hot and that's what you used to cut steel and am so looking at this you know the wind in the fire. You've got a lot of heat and this is intentional.

I want the presence of the Holy Spirit. I want the fire and I want him to use my mouth and James of course goes the other direction. Warning about the tongue being hijacked.

As I mentioned earlier, and how easy it is for Christian folk good Christian people to mess up everything with the Snyder snarky little comment and it happens too much. Told never done it myself, but I've heard about you people messing up anyway. That got us. I would be of angels were entrusted with the gospel right but sinners are entrusted with the gospel.

And so we are in it together and largely we go through life spiritually, feeling alone. A lot of times feeling that God is seen on never leaving for nor for sake me, but he must be way down the block because I don't sense his presence yet. By faith we overcome help. Without this fire preaching would be man-made. That's the connection between the tongue and the fire without the fire. The tongue is just the tongue is nothing more to it. With this fire. This is something special. So much so when God wanted to grab Moses attention the first time Bill announce NAI or Sinai.

If you pronounce prefer that pronunciation.

He engulfed the bush with a flame did not destroy the bush fire is often used to depict the holy presence and his purifying work. We know Isaiah chapter 6 now this is Isaiah in the year, King Uzziah died, I saw the ladies. I was king for 55, 52 years I might be off a little bit wanted to set a five or two to get going. I had three thinks right was 52 years and I was good K and he died and I left a void in the heart of the prophet in the kingdom and at that time, God manifest himself to the prophet Isaiah and his eyes a lot high and lifted up train of his robe. We we know the story and then goddesses who shall I send. I want to volunteer to send out the preach Isaiah raises hand and I encourage you… The world thing is don't ever volunteer that is not God's thing our God volunteered to come here for us and he expects us to volunteer to be used by him based on what he did by coming here. I say okay when you get Isaiah 6. Right now, then after he says although this is how you treat a pastor.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live cold. I would've been a little nervous at this point, hoping he'd stop on time. For instance, anyway having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, not now.

He's now he can't touch them with the doing, putting them on my lips see you know these little things in the Scripture right here taken with the tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth with it said, behold this is, this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged so were talking about fire as the emblem also for purging the purifying work of God.

Here the prophet Isaiah, his mouth, his lips the tongue the whole thing is being dealt with by God using the seraphim in Isaiah's vision prepping him for ministry. And then God sends him out to preach and his message is not a happy seeker friendly message and in you know, my point is this, it is not seeker friendly to withhold the entire gospel from people.

It is not seeker friendly to skirt around telling people your your center and if you don't fix it you going to go to hell, and the only way you can fix it is by accepting the fix and this is the good news bad news is that you opt out, then God will lock you out and that's not what we want so back to this, it says here in verse three will most done here and I got a bunch ways go up fix this one set on each of them, none were missed number left out. We cannot have all the gifts but we can have all the grace and we can have it flow through us.

But if you want grace to flow through you. Get this straight. You're going to have to face who you are and who you are not going to have to face who God is and let him be God. It's going to take work.

Nobody is just what you know, this distant disposition know it's not this is a spiritual thing. Grace is not carnal, it is not natural. Not this grace. This is spiritual grace. This is balancing the faith. This is the platform the launchpad for all the virtues of this not the only one I mean you know there's other ingredients like faith and truth in love, and even hope is hope without hope. When we fail, what would we hope in to recover from, or how to recover. This is a new experience for these apostles with Derek at what's going on here. They are being see if I sold.

So when you're preaching the gospel and believe you can say they were baptized in the spirit he probably lost them, but if you say they were immersed in the spirit baptism means you immersing someone. It's it's not a trickle loser. This is why John whenever we see him baptizing his Lotta water.

There, it's when the Ethiopian eunuch said to Philip that there there is what will stop us, and they went down into the water. There are exceptions. I mean I mean I would want to baptize an Eskimo enough you know fishing hole through the ice that would be bad.

Someone is sick. There are exceptions because it just that the symbol is the symbol symptoms and emblem that has had a child with Ransom anyway. This now if you laugh even after he left all the jokes to me. Don't just take the ones you like fake it. If you have to anyway. Makes me feel good about myself.

The mission that the apostles had is the mission that we have theirs and ours in the world is to make Jesus known by the tongue you don't mind the gospel didn't mind anything mining should be outlawed.

They just won't mind their own business and but the tongue of praise, the tongue of prayer, the tongue of Scripture the tongue of Cincinnati. I I believe we want our students to get a we want them to be a students but not if they going to be a student without sense. We don't need that we don't need him a bunch of smart dumb people.

We need them to be smart and sensible at the same time and when that that doesn't happen you get this current administration, and several of the others. We just had, that is not political, that is fact just boy nobody can be that stupid. And that's not at the same time and expect to be applauded anyway supercharged by truth in love verse four and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance what people have the capacity to be filled with God's spirit to the point of overflow to be immersed in the spirit of God. They were already believers, we don't have time to go to John chapter 20 verses 21 and two, 23, we don't have time to go. There were Jesus said to them again. Peace to you as a father has sent me, I also send you that he will send receive the Holy Spirit and and this is so they were already saved but yet they had to have this third experience with the Holy Spirit. The first one was being drawn to Christ.

The second one was being recipients of the spirit and the third experience is now to overflow. I baptize you with water unto repentance. John said he was coming after me is mighty and I mightier than I the sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire to be get a little numb when we hear these Christian words too many times he will baptize you. He will immerse you and and that's what we want. It is the promise of the father. It is given not to show off but to witness Christ would have to run through these acts chapter 1 verse eight. You will be witnesses to me. John chapter 15 verse 26 but when the Holy Spirit comes the helper whom I shall send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father. He will testify of me is very centered on Christ. John 1613, when he the spirit of truth is, he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come, he will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. This is the Godhead in operation we could stay on that we can show you I have the, the spirit and the father and the son are all doing the same things from the Scripture. But that's not what we are. So the early days of the apostles characterized by miracles. This is one of we cannot all perform miracles but we can all speak the truth. We can all speak the truth in Christ we can all be immersed in the spirit of God and have this witness, where we glorify we testify and we speak, not on our authority, but on his. The Holy Spirit takes deposition.

How much more for us and he began to speak with other tongues, it says and began to speak with other tongues, not by the force of the word. The sword, but of the tongue were not by might, by power, by my spirit says the Lord is long, spread with the sword and it is maintained the same way this just it, how it is is not is not a disparaging statement for them they be honored to hear this loyalty to Islam is forced under the threat of death, where is Christianity loyalty to crisis maintain by spiritual truth, faith and love. Here is maintained. Peter said, speaking of believers who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. We are kept not at gunpoint by the power of God for salvation. The tongue is for speaking the truth mission of the church. Those who worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 424 and the Spirit gave them utterance.

That means the ability at the bottom of verse four would God given and God driven balls perplexes the Gentiles the Galatians is having begun in the spirit he now being made perfect in the flesh. What's your problem. We see this happen all the time in the church trusting God.

God blessing them when all of a sudden got put on the wing gimmicks brought in to get the people in the church now my job that is that is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring people into a church and to push them out and and it is not a human thing verse five and there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Most of the mandatory fees, the member migrating onto Jerusalem and the temple, devout men, they were serious about their faith, from every nation under heaven. The Diaspora, when the Jews were brought into Babylonia. Next stop exile over 500 years before these events once they were emancipated.

Many of them decided not to go back to Jerusalem so Ezra Nehemiah when they go back to Jerusalem and will have a lot of people with a lot of the Jews had become very competent commercial skills and they spread throughout the Gentile world and they built for themselves or on our unofficial commercial empire of financial successes. Well, they were still devout and they were still when the temple was rebuilt, they would come to Jerusalem and that's were reading about verse six and when this sound occurred, the multitudes came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. God uses sound to draw the multitude of the window.

Verse two is not referring to. They heard them speaking in tongues.

He heard the wind. That's what stirred them. The apostles were already in mode of prayer and praise. Again, events moving fast, faster than how they're narrated to us, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Bottom of verse six. God does not need software to overrule language barriers verse seven and they were all amazed marble saying one another look, are not all these who speak Galileans yeah they Galileans were considered hillbillies by many of the Jews, especially the Jerusalem type Peter you know your your Galilean accent trays you think they could pick it up and they thought you're one of them.

The gospel message it. It amuses unbelievers unto salvation. If we it is very possible for that.

Anyway, the cosmopolitan Jews noticing that these unsophisticated users. Speaking very sophisticated leave verse eight and how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born again that Galilean dialect their understanding them in the Persian language. For example, I guess it's Farsi some dialect thereof for millennium if if God had anything to say. He said it to a Jew if God spoke to men. He spoke in Hebrew, mostly almost entirely beginning on this day at Pentecost.

God begins to speak, and Gentile languages. God is about reaching Gentiles and Jews. So for the past 2000 years old or more. If a Jew mostly wants to know about the glorious God of the New Testament and the Old Testament as a rule, they must go to a Gentile or use Gentile materials that's going to change when the two witnesses from Revelation chapter 11, and hundred 44.

That's all go back to the Jews. God knows what he's doing.

This is not anti-Semitic and is not pro-or anti-Gentile. This this is it's the story is there verse nine Parthians that would be Persians. I ran needs.

Ella might supposedly Mesopotamia, Judea, Tokyo, Pontus, and Asia Q Pontus and Asia, in modern-day Turkey.

Ella Meiser, Southwestern, Iran, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt. Verse 10 parts of Libya of these sections here west of Egypt. Proselytes of the Gentile converts to Judaism. Some will be converted to Christ who have another step such as the Ethiopian unit verse 11 Cretans and Arabs we hear them speaking in our own tongues. Wonderful works of God. The different tongues given to the church.

In this sense different from the tongues given later. This is interpretation. This speaking that Galilean speaking people hearing them in their language.

It is a miracle through the tall Cretans and Arabs from Crete. The Arabs are surrounding areas such as Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Jews coming from these places to Jerusalem.

We hear them speaking in our own tongues.

Not one incident in Scripture is instruction given to man from God through tongues tongues is exclusive to man addressing God and and in and it is praise is not a teaching so for someone to stand up and speak in tongues and someone to give an interpretation of sake thus saith the Lord that that that is wrong. It is always praise and it does not overrule rudely another gift.

So if with the gift of teaching is in operation. The gift of tongues is not, but in an interrupt what is being taught.

Did I say that with a little attitude because I feel it right. I remember church management guy would get up the same time every Sunday interrupt people still wondering what happened what happened to that guy. I'm not telling you but anyway verse 12, so they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another. What could this mean the crypto nonpregnant non-Christians even asked the church anymore.

What's going on. What is it mean were we to lukewarm about our faith is something missing were not exciting them.

I'm leaving out a lot of stuff and it's your fault because you got places to go. Verse 13 others mocking said there full of new wine is the world's theories and philosophies that guesswork about spiritual things is always wrong. They can build empires they can do phenomenal things with carnal things, but spiritual things is the difference between natural speculation and divine revelation. You either are guessing about God and like this guy going to be wrong or is going to be revealed to the Holy Spirit which will this all the time. We have except to say Peter was preaching with an anointing talk next verse, and deal with this this remark move you've been listening to cross reference radio daily radio ministry pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast.

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