What a Difference a Day Makes Part 3

Pastor Mike will be speaking on What a Difference a Day Makes Part 3. He will be reading out of Acts 2:1-13.

You’re not shaken by your circumstances. You’re not distraught or defeated by all that might be happening in America, but you are encouraged and you are resolved that more than ever the answer for our nation has nothing to do with the White House or the Congress, but it has everything to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome to the Hope Worth Having Radio program this week. This is Pastor Mike Sanders from the Open Door Church, and we’re continuing our study on what a difference a day makes. We’re in Acts chapter 2, and Acts chapter 2 is a very monumental chapter in the Bible, a significant day.

And so I want us to go ahead and get back into this study and let’s begin to learn together as we study what a difference a day makes. This morning I want you to turn your Bible to Acts chapter 2, and we’re going to continue our study that we have been going on for several weeks now.

What a difference a day makes. And as we come to Acts chapter 2, we’re reminded of this day of Pentecost. It was a day that would change the course of church history. And if you are familiar with the Scriptures, the Jews practiced this feast of the Pentecost.

It is a picture, if you will, of the pouring out of the Spirit of God, just like the feast of the first fruits was a picture of the resurrection of Christ. The Jewish people would have these feasts and they would celebrate, and they wanted to make sure that in their remembrance they taught the next generation.

God and His sovereignty chose that on this day of Pentecost, as the Jews were gathered in Jerusalem, He would pour out his spirit and that this would be the birthday of the church, that there was a new transition that was taking place from the Old Testament to the New Testament, from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, that there was something significant that was being manifested in a way that would send a strong message to all the Jews that God had sent a sign and that he had fulfilled that sign on the day of Pentecost.

And it made a huge difference that is still impactful today. As we have been studying this passage of Scripture in chapter 2, we’ve learned about the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence. We walked you through what all that significance meant.

Then we talked about the availability of the Holy Spirit’s power as we looked at the symbols of the power and made sure that we understood those sign gifts that have been given. But this morning I want to talk to you about the explanation of the Spirit’s permanence that is given by the Apostle Peter.

I’m down in verse 14. Before we get to verse 14, just for context purposes, remember that Luke, who is the author of the book of Acts, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, describes the reaction of the crowds.

As they are witnessing this incredible outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the people of God, we see in verse 6 of Acts chapter 2 that they certainly were bewildered and a little confused. Verse 6 says that when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in their own language.

We look at verse 7 and we note that they were amazed. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, look, are not all these who speak Galileans? Then we come down to verse 12. They are astonished and amazed again.

Verse 12 says they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, whatever could this mean? But then we also see that one of the reactions was that they were mocking. Verse 13 says others mockingly said they are full of new why.

When we come to verses 14 through 21 of this section of the chapter of the book of Acts, what we see is that the apostle Peter is going to stand up and explain the presence of the Spirit of God, the permanence of the Spirit of God within our hearts.

He wants folks to see that in their reaction, this is really what’s going on. Amazingly, just a short few weeks before all of this, Peter was cowardly running. He was afraid. He was afraid. not even willing to admit that he had been in the presence of the Savior, but God transformatively raised Peter up to be a leader in the church and to speak boldly and confidently for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter sets out to cite in this sermon three Old Testament passages to demonstrate the biblical basis for the events that were taking place at Pentecost. Today we’re going to look at one of those Old Testament passages.

We note that they had already said that these people were full of new wine, but Peter reminds them as we pick up in verse 14 that that’s not so. Peter standing up with the 11 raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only the third hour of the day, meaning it’s nine o ‘clock in the morning. They’re not already drunk, but this is 9 a.m. It begins to say in verse 16, that this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

So what we see Peter doing here is connecting the dots to help them see the fulfillment of prophecy unfolding before them. What you and I need to understand in this prophecy as we’ll analyze it this morning is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is a promise that is being fulfilled that was not only taught by Jesus but by the Old Testament prophets.

But I want you to see not only that it is on this special day, the day of Pentecost, that it is being fulfilled, but it is also a foretaste of a future fulfillment in the millennial kingdom at the coming of Christ.

So it’s easy to read this text, misunderstand it, and make improper application. So I want you to see it in detail. There are three things we learned from the apostle Peter through the prophecy of Joel.

There are three things that he explains to us first. He explains to us the Spirit of God. You’ll note again in verse 17, and it shall come to pass in the last days, says God that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And of my menservants and on my maidservants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they shall prophesy.

Again, the last days. Now many people would say, Pastor, we’re definitely living in the last days. I say, yeah, we’ve been for quite some time because the last days didn’t just begin in 2020, but the last days have been around since we saw the birth of the church.

The last days have been around since Christ has been proclaiming his gospel that this is the final imminent times and days that God has set forth. And yes, would I say that perhaps it’s possible that we might be in the last of the last days?

Absolutely, I can see some of those things as I remind people that when we look at the signs of the times in the Bible, they do not refer to the rapture of the church, but they refer to the second coming of Christ.

But if we can already see the tea leaves of the signs of the second coming, how much more can we see and understand that we are living in some imminent times that could be very, very much true that the rapture of the church?

is upon us. I cannot make any guarantees. I cannot make any date. I cannot say that these things are specific. But what I can tell you is that as we study the scriptures, the wisdom of God helps us to know that we live in times and that it is essential that all of us be ready to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And whether he takes us by death or rapture, it doesn’t matter. All of us need to be in the right relationship with Christ, and we need to be ready to stand before God and certainly give an account of all that we have done for him whether it was useful or useless.

Thank God as believers that when we stand before Christ, our judgment of our sin has already been taken care of on the cross, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God, the penalty of sin, and he took that for us and by our faith in Christ, as we have turned away from our sin and we have turned to Christ by faith, then you and I know that we have received the forgiveness of God and the blessings of Christ, and we are now the children of God.

And when we stand before God, we don’t have to be afraid of whether he’s gonna let us in or he’s not gonna let us in. But rather because of Christ, you and I are granted entrance into the heavenly kingdom of God forever and ever.

And Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you, and that where I am there, you will be also. Can God’s people say amen? Oh, we can because of that great promise. But yet all of us will one day stand before God and even as believers, we will give an account of our life, not for our salvation, because that’s been settled at the cross, but we will give an account of what we have done for God has been useful or useless.

We will be rewarded accordingly. But what we understand as we are coming to our text this morning is the Bible tells us, these are the last days. And that we have been in the last days as the Spirit of God is being poured out.

This is the timeframe that Joel gives in his prophecy that the last days that God would pour out his spirit. And that is what is taking place. That’s what you and I are witnessing, a full demonstration of God transforming his people through the power of the Holy Spirit.

What is unique and what is important for us to grasp this morning is that in the Old Testament, the pouring of the Spirit or the filling of the Spirit upon the people of God was always just for moments and times, and it was just for particular people and it related to particular tasks and responsibilities.

But this transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant would be different from what Joel would declare and one of the signs that the Jewish people would know that God has transitioned from the Old to the New is that there would be the pouring out of the Spirit of God.

And that this pouring out of the Spirit would be upon all flesh. Would you just underscore that? Upon all flesh, obviously, not referring to every person, but referring to all kinds of people, referring to the fact that all those who believe in God, who trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior, would be granted the permanence of the Spirit in their life.

That the presence of God would be manifested through the Spirit of God. And as a believer, everything would be different, because now the Spirit of God is residing in them as a believer. This is a huge transition.

This is why we refer to this particular feeling of the Spirit as being something that is not only prophetic for what we are witnessing, but it’s also something to become in the final fulfillment. We’ll break that down better for you in this sense.

The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 11, that one day all Israel shall be saved. And one might wonder, how is it that all Israel will be saved? Does it mean that every person in Israel will be saved?

No, I don’t think that’s what it’s referring to. But again, it’s really a back to all kinds of people and Israel will be saved. That here we have these people, this nation collectively, will turn back to God, will recognize Christ as the Messiah, and that he is the Lord and Savior, and they will come back to God and give their lives fully to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And how will God do that? He will do it by the pouring of his Spirit upon all flesh in the nation of Israel. So it is something that we see manifested in the day of Pentecost, but it is something that will also finally culminate in the pouring out of the Spirit upon the nation of Israel as they receive Christ and recognize him as Lord and Savior.

The Bible tells us here in this text, as he qualifies what he means by on all flesh, he says, your soul is saved. your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your older men shall dream dreams, and your men servants.” Some translations put you, some of the slaves, your men slaves, and maidservants, he says, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy.

What is the point here? Is again that the pouring and the filling of the spirit are not limited, that the Spirit’s ministry and the Spirit’s dwelling and the Spirit’s gifts are not restricted by your social status.

It is not restricted by some particular position you might have in the kingdom of God. It is not restricted by your assignment from heaven or your tasks and responsibilities, but that God will pour out his spirit on all his people.

And that is something that you and I can witness even to this day. that as Christ is believed upon by sinners, as Christ is believed upon those who do not believe and now do believe as Christ works in their heart, that the Spirit of God is filling them and transforming them and is doing an eternal work in their heart.

The apostle helps us to understand this when he says in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, for by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we are all made to drink of one Spirit.

Now he’s not talking about a physical baptism, but here he’s talking about a spiritual baptism and the word baptism means simply to immerse and so what he is saying is that we are all immersed in the Spirit of God.

There is no distinction because of our responsibilities in the church or our roles in the kingdom of God, but rather we are all baptized into one body and it doesn’t matter who we are, Jews or Greeks, your ethnicity does not make a difference whether you’re slave or free, what your status in life is, we all drink as believers from one Spirit, hallelujah.

That is what is significant. That is why the day of Pentecost makes a huge difference in the life of the church. Now we can boldly declare to you that every believer is filled with the Spirit in that sense that the Spirit resides in them and what’s important for us to understand is that all of God’s work, we as the church, we as the people of God, all of God’s work in us and through us is simply done by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Because of these unusual times that we live in, it’s easy to get exasperated, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the task and the responsibilities of trying to get everything done. And I recognize that even in the church sometimes the number of those being engaged and involved has diminished a little bit because of all that we’re dealing with.

But let us be encouraged church, whether it’s in the Holy Spirit, whether it’s in the community, whether it’s through our local church or other paratroop ministries that we are engaged in, that through the power of the Spirit of God that lives within us, all of us have this promise, all of us have this capacity, all of us have this ability that we can fulfill what God has called us to do even in these uncertain times through the power of the Spirit of God.

I want you to hold on to that nugget. I want you to embrace that nugget. I’m gonna teach you a little bit more about that, but this prophecy is not only talking about the Spirit of God and its pouring out, but we are learning about the severity of God or we might say the judgment of God.

We come to verse 19 and we’ve already read verses 17 and 18. We see the fulfillment of the pouring out of the Spirit upon the people of God. The Bible tells us we already learned that they were rejoicing in God.

And we go back to verse 11. It says that we hear them speaking in our own tongues, the wonderful works of God. This fresh anointing of the Spirit of God in the people of God led them to praise God and to proclaim God and to proclaim His wonderful news to them.

And the people recognized that what they were doing, that this great work of God in the hearts of the people was energizing and mobilizing the people of God to give praise to the Lord. We come down to verse 19 and we see a transition from the Spirit of God to the severity of God.

And he says, I will show wonders in heaven above, signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Now we have to begin to look at this prophecy from Joel and we have to ask ourselves the question, is this really taking place? Did this really take place on the day of Pentecost? And obviously, when we look at what he has said in verse 9 we don’t see the blood and the fire and the vapor of smoke in chapter 2.

We don’t see the sun being turned into darkness, or the moon into blood. We don’t see these manifestations. Why is that? Because as I told you at the outset of this lesson this morning there is the current fulfillment in the acts on the day of Pentecost chapter 2, that we see that first part being fulfilled, but there is a foreshadowing of what is to come from Acts chapter 2 verse 18 to verse 19.

What we are seeing is that there is a church age that exists, and as the spirit has been poured out, it is the responsibility of the church to take the good news to the ends of the earth in the power of the spirit.

But verse 19 is referring to the coming of Jesus Christ, that second coming when the sun will be turned into darkness. changed into darkness. This is a phraseology that was often used by the prophets in the Old Testament as they were declaring the day of the Lord or the second coming of Christ when the Messiah would come and He would bring judgment upon the nations that have rejected Him and He will bring judgment upon Satan who will be bound for a thousand years and He’ll bring judgment upon the world that has rejected Him and refused to believe in Him.

What you are witnessing from verse 18 to verse 19 is a transition that is not always captured at first glance, but we understand that surely verse 19 and verse 20 are not being fulfilled currently in Acts chapter 2 but are to come in the future.

Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:10 that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. in which the heavens will pass away with a greater noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up in the constellations and the cosmos of the world.

And the heavens we see that God will use those as signs to declare the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The appearance of this unusual and unprecedented phenomenon in the heavens and in the earth is an indication that God is bringing his judgment.

Jesus has come the first time to be the Lamb of God. He has come to bring forgiveness, to bring grace, and that this is our moment, this is our time church. This is where we have to step up. We cannot retreat, we cannot isolate, we cannot be the people who are going to just be weary and well-doing, but rather we must step up in the power of the spirit, be bold and courageous, preach the message of Christ, get the good news out to the farthest ends of the earth that we can to make sure every home and every heart has heard about the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is our moment before verse 19 comes. We have to step up in huge ways as believers, as the body of Christ. What you are witnessing here is the final fulfillment of prophecy in the book of Joel that will take place at the end of the tribulation period and it will be prior to the glorious return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and there will wonder and there will be signs and we will be able to be a part of His great return.

Jesus came the first time as a lamb but He is coming the second time as a king and the Bible tells us He will rule and He will reign on this earth. I know that many of us are justice warriors and we want all the wrongs of this world to be turned to ends made right, but I tell you that no matter how hard we try, I’m not trying to discourage you, but I’m just trying to help you understand the big picture that we will never be able to right all the wrongs in this world.

It’ll only come when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ comes and He will finally bring true justice to this world. He will finally bring true peace to this world. He will finally rule in a way that brings glory and honor to Him.

I need to drop a note to you. I need to help you in your faith so that you don’t get discouraged. Though we are American citizens, we must recognize that we have a greater and a higher calling and that is the citizenship to the kingdom of God.

And what we are more interested in than in the advancement of America is that we are interested in the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And what we want to see no matter what happens to countries and continents and political figures and political systems, what we want to see more than anything is for people to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Can God’s people say amen? Now I know that you might feel when a pastor says those kinds of things and somehow he’s unpatriotic, no, no, totally taken me out of context. Totally. We love America. We’re grateful to live in a country that’s free.

We are honored to be able to stand in this pulpit and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without oppression or persecution. And to that end, we desire and long for it to continue. But we also recognize that our God is sovereign.

And if he chooses a different path, no matter what, the mission and the assignment will not change for the Open Door Church. Whatever that means and how it works itself out, it’s up to the Lord. But we are going to stay on mission for the Lord Jesus Christ and keep proclaiming the Word of God.

But what you need to know is that there is a globalism coming and that there is a one world government and a one world currency that is coming and a one world religion that is coming. You need to know that everything is aligning together as the satanic demonic forces would like it to be.

But even though it might seem very discouraging and defeating, you and I should be super encouraged because what we are witnessing is everything coming together in such a beautiful way that it is going to lead to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth.

Now take your Bible and back up with me to Matthew 24. Don’t lose Acts chapter two because we are coming back but I just want to take you to Matthew chapter 24. They were asking Jesus, when are you coming?

And he laid out for them, these are the things that will happen before I come. And we get a snippet of that in verse 29 of chapter 24. Jesus says immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

That will be an awesome day. That is what Joel is talking about in verse 19 and verse 20. That’s why I wanted you to understand that when the Son of Man comes, he brings judgment. We as the people of God will come back riding on white horses.

I hope you’re getting your horse practice riding in gear. That you’re doing a good job. That you’re really excited about what God is doing. That you’re not rattled. You’re not shaken as the apostle Paul said to the believers.

You’re not shaken by your circumstances. You’re not distraught or defeated by all that might be happening in America, but you are encouraged and you are resolved that more than ever the answer for our nation has nothing to do with the White House or the Congress, but it has everything to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That the good news of Christ is what every person needs to hear. As you are articulating in these conversations that you are having with others, you are making sure that you are explaining the good news that is found in Jesus Christ, and that you do not have to be afraid, and you do not have to be set back, and you do not have to be weary and ready to give up, but that you can stand up in a powerful way through the filling of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the good news, which leads me to the next thing that we see in the prophecy of Joel, which is what is referred to as the salvation of God.

We have witnessed the Spirit of God being poured out, the severity of God upon the nations who have rejected him, but now in verse 21 we see the salvation, that Joel the prophet, that Peter really wants to get this message out, and he says, It’s significant because unfortunately with the Jewish nation, they had become inclusive and secluded from the Gentile nations and really wanted to kind of just limit the good news of God.

But now through the pouring of the Spirit, and it is not limited to this pouring of the Spirit, whether it’s male or female, this pouring of the Spirit, whether it is different statuses in life, educated or uneducated, doesn’t matter who you are, the Spirit of God is filling all those who believe in Christ, and now this salvation that is to be proclaimed throughout the land is a salvation that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be what church?

Amen. Whoever. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be what church? the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is good news of all ages. This is the message from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

This is the transition. This is what we must take within our hearts and in our minds and we must share because God has given us a universal invitation to salvation and the reason that we’re not just concerned about America and we are and we’re doing everything we can to win as many people as we can to the Lord Jesus Christ but we are concerned about every nation on this planet and we’re concerned about every person on this planet and it doesn’t matter within our hearts who they might be, what they may have done or where they may have come from.

We believe that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The second chapter of Acts marks a turning point in the history of God’s kingdom. Of course, it is the day of Pentecost. Millions of people have gathered in Jerusalem, and the Spirit of God has fallen upon His people.

And now the Gospel is being shared, and thousands are coming to Christ. It is the birthday of the Church, and God is using it in a profound way to launch His program of reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope. Worth having.