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ON THE COLD MORNING OF 01/21/1855 WHEN I WAS BARELY 20 YEARS OLD AND PREACHING IN THE NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL IN LONDON TO A CROWD THAT NO LONGER FIT WITHIN ITS WALLS, I PREACHED THAT SERMON WHICH I LATER TITLED THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND THOSE WORDS CAUSED SCANDAL. SOME RESPECTABLE MEN OF LONDON'S RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, MEN WITH UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, MEN ACCUSTOMED TO COLD LITURGY AND DECOROUS SERMONS, COULD NOT BEAR WHAT THEY HEARD. THEY LEFT THE TEMPLE BEFORE IT ENDED, NOT DUE TO DOCTRINAL SCANDAL, NOT BECAUSE I SAID HERESY, BUT BECAUSE I SPOKE THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ETERNAL HOLY SPIRIT AND CONSEQUENTLY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. AND THAT TRUTH, THAT SIMPLE AND DEVASTATING TRUTH THAT ANY MAN WITH AN OPEN BIBLE CAN SEE, WAS TOO MUCH FOR MEN WHO HAD BUILT ENTIRE CAREERS PREACHING A DOMESTICATED, DECORATIVE, CEREMONIAL VERSION OF THAT DAY. BROTHER, LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY. BEFORE YOU FOLLOW WHAT YOUR PASTOR HAS TAUGHT YOU ABOUT PENTECOST, WHATEVER THE DENOMINATION OF YOUR CHURCH, BE IT PENTECOSTAL OR REFORMED, BE IT BAPTIST OR PRESBYTERIAN, IT IS INCOMPLETE IN THE BEST OF CASES AND COMPLETELY FALSE IN THE WORST. THEY DID NOT LIE TO YOU OUT OF MALICE; THEY LIED TO YOU BECAUSE THEY TOO WERE TAUGHT TO FEAR WHAT THAT DAY TRULY MEANS. AND I, CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON, PREACHER OF THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE FOR OVER 30 YEARS, WILL STRIP THAT TRUTH BARE FOR YOU TONIGHT, EVEN IF IT COSTS ME THE SAME AS IT COST ME IN 1855. THAT SOME PREFER TO LEAVE BEFORE I FINISH? STAY IF YOU HAVE COME THIS FAR. STAY UNTIL THE END, BECAUSE WHAT I HAVE TO TELL YOU WILL SHAKE YOUR ENTIRE READING OF THE BOOK OF ACTS AND WILL MAKE YOU LOOK AT THE DAY OF PENTECOST WITH EYES YOU YOURSELF WILL NOT RECOGNIZE WHEN THIS MESSAGE ENDS. BEFORE CONTINUING, I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING CRUCIAL RIGHT NOW. LEAVE YOUR LIKE ON THIS VIDEO BECAUSE EVERY LIKE TELLS YOUTUBE THAT THIS BIBLICAL MESSAGE FROM ECHOES OF THE REFORMATION NEEDS TO REACH MORE PEOPLE. AND WRITE THE WORD FIRE IN THE COMMENTS IF YOU ARE DETERMINED TO UNDERSTAND ONCE AND FOR ALL WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD POURED OUT THAT DAY. DO IT NOW. DON'T WAIT, BECAUSE WHAT FOLLOWS IS NOT PREACHED FROM MODERN PULPITS, AND THERE IS A REASON. MOST PREACHERS TODAY, AND I SAY THIS WITH PAIN, NOT CONTEMPT, WILL TALK TO YOU ABOUT PENTECOST AS IF IT WERE THE CHURCH'S BIRTHDAY. THEY WILL TELL YOU THAT THE CHURCH WAS BORN THAT DAY. THEY WILL TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE WIND, THE FIRE, THE TONGUES, THE 3,000 CONVERTS, AND THEY WILL CLOSE BY TELLING YOU IT IS A BEAUTIFUL, FOUNDATIONAL, MEMORIAL EVENT. OTHERS, THE PENTECOSTAL AND CHARISMATIC BROTHERS, WHOM I LOVE IN CHRIST, ALTHOUGH WE DIFFER GREATLY, WILL TAKE THE SAME PASSAGE AND USE IT AS A LAUNCHPAD FOR PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS, AS PROOF THAT YOU TOO SHOULD SPEAK IN TONGUES TODAY, AS EVIDENCE THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS PRIMARILY EXPERIENCE. BOTH READINGS, DEAR SOUL, ARE SADLY SHORT. BOTH ROB YOU OF SOMETHING. BOTH OVERLOOK WHAT THE TEXT IS TRULY SHOUTING IF YOU WERE TO PAUSE FOR A MOMENT TO LISTEN. AND THIS THAT FOLLOWS IS WHAT THEY ROBBED YOU OF. TO UNDERSTAND PENTECOST, YOU MUST FORGET EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT ABOUT PENTECOST. BECAUSE THE VERY WORD PENTECOST, FROM THE GREEK PENTECOSTE, WHICH SIMPLY MEANS THE FIFTIETH, WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN NAME. IT WAS NOT INVENTED TO CELEBRATE WHAT HAPPENED IN JERUSALEM IN THE YEAR 30 AD. IT WAS THE NAME THAT THE HELLENIZED JEWS, THOSE WHO SPOKE GREEK INSTEAD OF HEBREW, GAVE TO A FEAST THAT HAD ALREADY EXISTED FOR MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS. THE ORIGINAL HEBREW FEAST HAD ANOTHER NAME, A NAME THAT YOUR PASTOR PROBABLY NEVER UTTERED FROM THE PULPIT, A NAME THAT CHANGES THE ENTIRE READING OF THE BOOK OF ACTS. THAT FEAST WAS CALLED SHAVUOT, THE FEAST OF WEEKS. AND HERE, BROTHER, BIBLICAL REFORMED THEOLOGY HAS SEEN FOR CENTURIES AN ECHO THAT THE VERY CHRONOLOGY OF THE HEBREW CALENDAR INVITES US TO HEAR. THE LAW WAS GIVEN ON MOUNT SINAI IN THE THIRD MONTH AFTER THE EXODUS, AS EXODUS CHAPTER 19 TESTIFIES, THE SAME SACRED PERIOD IN WHICH PENTECOST WOULD LATER FALL. LATER RABBINIC TRADITION CONSECRATED THAT CONNECTION, CALLING SHAVUOT THE FEAST OF THE GIVING OF THE TORAH. AND ALTHOUGH THAT READING TOOK ITS MOST EXPLICIT FORM IN LATER CENTURIES, THE PURITANS AND THE ANCIENT REFORMED COMMENTATORS SAW IN THE DIVINE CALENDAR A SOVEREIGN PEDAGOGY: WHAT GOD DID AT SINAI PREFIGURED WHAT HE WOULD DO IN JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF THE POURING OUT OF THE SPIRIT. READ CAREFULLY, BECAUSE HERE THE VEIL BEGINS TO FADE. AT SINAI, THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL SAW THE DAY GOD GAVE THE TORAH TO MOSES ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP, THE DAY JEHOVAH DESCENDED IN FIRE UPON THE SUMMIT, WHEN THE GROUND SHOOK, WHEN THE ENTIRE PEOPLE AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVED THE THUNDER AND HEARD THE VOICE OF THE TRUMPET, THE DAY THE ETERNAL GOD GAVE HIS WRITTEN LAW WITH A DIVINE FINGER UPON TABLES OF STONE. THAT WAS THE SHADOW; PENTECOST WOULD BE THE SUBSTANCE. AND NOW, BROTHER, OPEN YOUR EYES. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS DOING THROUGH LUKE'S ACCOUNT. BECAUSE WHEN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF ACTS BEGINS BY SAYING, "AND WHEN THE DAY OF PENTECOST HAD COME," WHAT THE SPIRITUAL READER DISCOVERS UPON READING WITH EYES FORMED BY ALL SCRIPTURE IS THIS: THE SPIRIT DESCENDS PRECISELY IN THE SACRED PERIOD OF SINAI. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENTAL DETAIL OF THE CALENDAR. GOD DOES NOT POUR OUT HIS SPIRIT UPON THE CHURCH ON ANY DAY; HE POURS IT OUT PRECISELY IN THAT SACRED PERIOD. AND IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY, IF YOUR PASTOR NEVER EXPLAINED IT TO YOU, IF YOUR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER NEVER CONNECTED IT, IT IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT READ SPURGEON, THEY HAVE NOT READ THE PURITANS, THEY HAVE NOT READ THE ANCIENT REFORMED COMMENTATORS WHO KNEW HOW THE SACRED TEXT BREATHES. BUT I WILL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, AND I WILL TELL YOU PLAINLY: WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST WAS SINAI FULFILLED. WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT UPPER ROOM IN JERUSALEM WAS THE EXACT, CALCULATED, INTENTIONAL RESPONSE OF THE ETERNAL FATHER TO THE EVENT THAT FOR 1,500 YEARS ISRAEL HAD CELEBRATED WITHOUT FULLY UNDERSTANDING. AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SINAI AND CHRISTIAN PENTECOST IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SENTENCE OF DEATH AND THE PROMISE OF LIFE. ALLOW ME TO STOP YOU HERE FOR A MOMENT, BECAUSE WHAT I HAVE JUST SAID, THAT SINAI IS SENTENCE OF DEATH AND PENTECOST IS PROMISE OF LIFE, MAY SOUND STRANGE TO ONE WHO HAS READ THE OLD TESTAMENT AS AN INFERIOR BOOK, OR TO ONE WHO HAS BEEN TAUGHT IN THE MODERN CHARISMATIC SCHOOL THAT THE OLD TESTAMENT IS MERELY THE DISCARDABLE PREAMBLE TO THE NEW. THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM SAYING. THE LAW GIVEN AT SINAI IS HOLY, JUST, GOOD, SAYS THE APOSTLE PAUL. BUT THE LAW GIVEN AT SINAI, WITHOUT THE SPIRIT PROMISED AT PENTECOST, IS WHAT THE SAME APOSTLE CALLS IN HIS SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS "THE LETTER THAT KILLS." WHY? BECAUSE IT TELLS YOU WHAT YOU MUST DO, BUT IT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE POWER TO DO IT. IT SHOWS YOU THE REFLECTION OF GOD'S HOLINESS, BUT IT LEAVES YOU DEAD IN SIN CONTEMPLATING IT FROM AFAR. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT SINAI, BROTHER? THE PEOPLE TREMBLED. THE PEOPLE RETREATED. THE PEOPLE SAID TO MOSES, "YOU SPEAK WITH US, BUT LET NOT GOD SPEAK WITH US, LEST WE DIE." THE PEOPLE COULD NOT BEAR THE HOLY PRESENCE. THE LAW WAS GIVEN, YES, BUT THAT VERY NIGHT THE PEOPLE WERE ALREADY WILLING TO DANCE AROUND A GOLDEN CALF. AND WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY HAPPENED AFTERWARDS? THAT 3,000 MEN FELL DEAD BY THE SWORD OF THE LEVITES THAT DAY, BECAUSE THE LAW THAT SANCTIFIES THOSE WHO KEEP IT CONDEMNS THOSE WHO VIOLATE IT. AND THE PEOPLE, WITHOUT THE PROMISED SPIRIT, COULD ONLY VIOLATE IT. 3,000. REMEMBER THAT NUMBER. 3,000 FELL DEAD BY THE EDGE OF JUDGMENT IN THE DAYS OF THE GIVING OF THE LAW AT SINAI. AND 1,500 YEARS LATER, IN THE SAME SACRED PERIOD, WHAT HAPPENS IN JERUSALEM? 3,000 ARE CONVERTED. 3,000 RECEIVE LIFE. 3,000 PASS FROM DEATH TO LIFE IN THE WATER OF BAPTISM THAT VERY AFTERNOON. THE SYMMETRY IS NOT ACCIDENTAL; THE SYMMETRY IS DIVINE. WHERE THE LETTER OF THE LAW WITHOUT THE SPIRIT KILLED 3,000, THE SPIRIT POURED OUT UPON THE CHURCH GAVE LIFE TO 3,000. AND YOUR PASTOR EVER TOLD YOU THAT? YOUR TEACHER EVER SHOWED YOU THAT CORRESPONDENCE? IF NOT, DO NOT BLAME HIM, BUT UNDERSTAND NOW, AS YOU LISTEN TO ME, THAT THE BIBLE IS A FABRIC OF DIVINE THREADS WHERE NOTHING IS ACCIDENTAL, WHERE EVERY NUMBER, EVERY DATE, EVERY PLACE IS CHOSEN BY THE ETERNAL WISDOM OF THE FATHER FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. BUT THERE IS MORE, AND THIS, DEAR SOUL, IS WHERE MOST PREACHERS STOP. BUT I WILL NOT STOP HERE, BECAUSE THERE IS A SECOND ECHO IN PENTECOST THAT THE COMMON BELIEVER DOES NOT HEAR, AN ECHO MUCH OLDER THAN SINAI, AN ECHO THAT COMES FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE. I WILL TAKE YOU BY THE HAND. DO NOT BE AFRAID. GO BACK WITH ME IN YOUR MIND MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS BEFORE SINAI. WE ARE IN A PLAIN CALLED SHINAR IN THE HEART OF MESOPOTAMIA. IT IS THE TIME AFTER THE FLOOD. HUMANITY, WHICH THEN SPOKE ONE LANGUAGE, ONE SPEECH, SAYS MOSES IN GENESIS 11, HAS DECIDED TO BUILD A CITY AND A TOWER WHOSE SUMMIT REACHES THE HEAVENS. FOR WHAT? THE SACRED TEXT SAYS IT WITH A STUNNING CLARITY: "TO MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES, LEST WE BE SCATTERED OVER THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH." THE TOWER OF BABEL, BROTHER, WAS NOT JUST ARCHITECTURE; IT WAS REBELLION. IT WAS THE FIRST ORGANIZED HUMANISM IN HISTORY. IT WAS THE UNIFIED CRY OF FALLEN HUMANITY SAYING, "WE WILL ASCEND TO HEAVEN BY OUR OWN STRENGTH; WE WILL MAKE OURSELVES GODS WITHOUT GOD; WE WILL FOUND OUR OWN GLORY UPON THE CLAY OF OUR HANDS." AND WHAT DID GOD DO? HE CAME DOWN. THE TEXT SAYS SO: "THE LORD CAME DOWN TO SEE THE CITY AND THE TOWER." HE CAME DOWN AS IF ON A JUDICIAL VISIT AND CONFOUNDED THE LANGUAGES. HE SCATTERED HUMANITY. THE NATIONS WERE BORN FROM THAT DISPERSION. HUMANITY WAS DIVIDED, NOT ONLY BY GEOGRAPHY, NOT ONLY BY RACE, NOT ONLY BY CULTURE, BUT BY SOMETHING DEEPER: BY LANGUAGE ITSELF, BY SOUND. SINCE BABEL, NO MAN CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND THE MAN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BORDER. WE ARE STRANGERS TO EACH OTHER BECAUSE WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER. THAT IS THE WOUND OF BABEL, AND THAT WOUND HAS BEEN OPEN UPON HUMANITY FOR MORE THAN 4,000 YEARS. STAY WITH ME NOW, BECAUSE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I HAVE TO SAY IS YET TO COME. THAT DAY OF PENTECOST IN JERUSALEM, WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED UPON THE 120 GATHERED IN THE UPPER ROOM, AND WHEN THOSE GALILEAN FISHERMEN BEGAN TO SPEAK, AND THE MULTITUDE OF PILGRIMS COME FROM 15 REGIONS OF THE EMPIRE HEARD EACH ONE SPEAKING IN HIS OWN NATIVE DIALECT, WHAT HAPPENED WAS NOT A CHARISMATIC MANIFESTATION. IT WAS NOT A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE DELIGHT OF THE LISTENERS. WHAT HAPPENED WAS THE EXACT, DELIBERATE, CALCULATED INVERSION OF BABEL. WHAT GOD SCATTERED AT BABEL, GOD REUNITED AT PENTECOST. WHAT WAS CONFUSION AT BABEL WAS COMMUNICATION AT PENTECOST. WHAT WAS JUDGMENT AT BABEL WAS GRACE. BUT BEWARE, AND THIS IS WHAT FEW PREACHERS HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY: GOD DID NOT ANNUL THE DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES; HE DID NOT REUNITE HUMANITY UNDER A SINGLE LANGUAGE. HE DID SOMETHING INFINITELY MORE GLORIOUS: HE MADE THE GOSPEL ITSELF, THE SAME MESSAGE ABOUT THE SAME CRUCIFIED AND RISEN CHRIST, SOUND SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL HUMAN LANGUAGES. THE DIVERSITY REMAINED; THE UNITY WAS RESTORED IN CHRIST. THIS, BROTHER, IS THE DIVINE SIGNATURE OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. THIS IS THE TRINITY COMING DOWN INTO HISTORY. THIS IS THE GOSPEL SAYING, "I DO NOT DEMAND THAT YOU CEASE TO BE WHO YOU ARE TO COME TO ME; I REACH YOU IN THE LANGUAGE OF YOUR CRADLE, IN THE TONGUE YOUR MOTHER WHISPERED TO YOU WHEN YOU DID NOT YET UNDERSTAND WORDS, IN THE SOUND THAT IS MARKED IN YOUR SOUL FROM BEFORE MEMORY." THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST, AND FOR THAT REASON, AND ONLY FOR THAT REASON, COULD THE GOSPEL TRULY BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH, NOT BECAUSE MEN HAD TO LEARN HEBREW TO APPROACH GOD, BUT BECAUSE GOD, IN HIS INFINITE CONDESCENSION, DECIDED TO SPEAK IN EVERY HUMAN LANGUAGE TO REACH HIS OWN. NOW, AND THIS IS WHERE YOUR WORLD WILL TREMBLE, IF YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING ME ATTENTIVELY, I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT MODERN POPULAR THEOLOGY HAS CRUSHED UNDER LAYERS OF SENTIMENTALISM. THE GREEK WORD THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT USES FOR SPIRIT IS PNEUMA, AND PNEUMA LITERALLY MEANS WIND, BREATH, SPIRIT. BUT IN THE SEPTUAGINT, THE GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT THAT EVERY APOSTLE READ AND QUOTED, PNEUMA IS THE WORD USED TO TRANSLATE THE HEBREW RUACH. AND RUACH APPEARS IN THE SECOND VERSE OF THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE. READ WITH ME: "AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THE RUACH ELOHIM, WAS MOVING OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS." BROTHER, DO YOU SEE IT? THE SAME SPIRIT THAT HOVERED OVER THE PRIMORDIAL CHAOS WHEN ALL WAS FORMLESS AND VOID, THE SAME SPIRIT THAT GAVE THE BREATH OF LIFE TO ADAM FORMED FROM THE DUST, THE SAME SPIRIT THAT FILLED THE PROPHETS AND THE ARTISANS OF THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS, THE SAME SPIRIT THAT DESCENDED UPON JESUS AT THE JORDAN IN THE FORM OF A DOVE, THAT SAME SPIRIT, THAT VERY ETERNAL AND SOVEREIGN RUACH, WAS THE ONE THAT DESCENDED UPON THE 120 THAT DAY IN JERUSALEM. THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT BORN AT PENTECOST; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ETERNAL GOD. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS ALWAYS BEEN. WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST WAS HIS POURING OUT UPON THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, HIS PERMANENT DWELLING IN EVERY ELECT ONE, HIS INDELIBLE SEAL UPON EVERY REDEEMED ONE BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. AND HERE, OH DEAR SOUL, HERE IS THE POINT THAT MAKES MY HEART BURN AS I TELL IT TO YOU: IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST TONIGHT, IF CHRIST HAS EFFECTIVELY CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT, IF YOU HAVE BEEN WASHED BY HIS BLOOD AND CLOTHED WITH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, THEN THE SAME SPIRIT THAT MOVED OVER THE WATERS IN GENESIS LIVES IN YOU. NOT AN IMITATION, NOT A PARTICIPATION, BUT THE VERY SAME ETERNAL AND ALMIGHTY RUACH OF GOD. READ PAUL IN ROMANS 8: "IF THE SPIRIT OF HIM WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN YOU, HE WHO RAISED CHRIST JESUS FROM THE DEAD WILL ALSO GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU." DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE APOSTLE IS SAYING? THE SAME RESURRECTION POWER, THE SAME ETERNAL POWER, THE SAME DIVINE PERSON DWELLING IN YOU. AND STILL WE DARE TO LIVE LUKEWARMLY? STILL WE DARE TO WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITHOUT FALLING TO OUR KNEES IN AWE THAT THE ETERNAL GOD HAS MADE OUR BODIES A TEMPLE? AND IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SUBSCRIBED TO ECHOES OF THE REFORMATION, DO IT RIGHT NOW. ACTIVATE THE LITTLE BELL, BECAUSE EVERY WEEK I BRING DEEP TEACHINGS OF THE REFORMED FAITH THAT ARE TRANSFORMING THOUSANDS OF LIVES. DO NOT MISS WHAT IS COMING, BECAUSE NOW I AM GOING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE MOST MODERN CHARISMATIC PREACHERS CLOSE THIS VIDEO WITH INDIGNATION, AND THAT MOST MODERN REFORMED PEOPLE WILL PERHAPS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, FEEL PROFOUNDLY CONFRONTED. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FIRE. LUKE WRITES THAT TONGUES AS OF FIRE APPEARED, WHICH DIVIDED AND RESTED ON EACH OF THEM. HAVE YOU SEEN THE CAREFUL PRECISION OF THE TEXT? IT DOES NOT SAY THAT FIRE CAME; IT SAYS THAT TONGUES AS OF FIRE APPEARED. THE PREPOSITION IS THEOLOGICALLY PRECISE. LUKE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO THINK THAT MATERIAL FIRE, LIKE THAT OF A HEARTH, FIRE THAT BURNS AND CONSUMES, DESCENDED. HE WANTS YOU TO THINK OF ANOTHER FIRE: THE FIRE OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE FIRE APPEARS AS GOD'S PRESENCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? IN THE BURNING BUSH THAT BURNED WITHOUT BEING CONSUMED WHEN MOSES APPROACHED HOREB, IN THE PILLAR OF FIRE THAT GUIDED ISRAEL THROUGH THE WILDERNESS FOR 40 YEARS, AND AT MOUNT SINAI, WHERE THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN SMOKED BECAUSE JEHOVAH HAD DESCENDED UPON IT IN FIRE, AS EXODUS 19 STATES. DO YOU SEE IT AGAIN? SINAI. AGAIN THE DIVINE SIGNATURE. THE FIRE THAT AT SINAI COVERED THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN, AT PENTECOST DIVIDES AND RESTS UPON EACH HEAD. THERE, FIRE UPON THE MOUNTAIN, A CORPORATE, COMMUNAL FIRE UPON ALL THE PEOPLE FROM AFAR. HERE, FIRE UPON EACH INDIVIDUAL, A PERSONAL, INTIMATE FIRE UPON EACH ELECT ONE. THERE, THE PEOPLE COULD NOT APPROACH THE MOUNTAIN WITHOUT DYING. HERE, THE MOUNTAIN HAS COME TO DWELL WITHIN EACH BELIEVER. THERE, THE PRIESTS MEDIATED BETWEEN GOD AND THE PEOPLE. HERE, EVERY CHILD OF GOD IS A PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGH, AS PETER WRITES IN HIS FIRST EPISTLE. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SINAI AND PENTECOST, DEAR SOUL, IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WALL AND THE EMBRACE. IT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CLOSED VEIL OF THE TEMPLE, WHERE ONLY THE HIGH PRIEST ENTERED ONCE A YEAR TREMBLING, AND THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE TORN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AT THE EXACT MOMENT CHRIST EXPIRED ON THE CROSS. CHRIST TORE THE VEIL; PENTECOST POURED OUT THE SPIRIT, AND FROM THAT DAY ON, THE WAY TO THE FATHER IS OPEN FOR EVERY ELECT ONE BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. THIS IS THE THEOLOGY I PREACHED IN 1881 FROM THE PULPIT OF THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE IN THAT SERMON ON THE CHIEF OFFICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THIS IS THE THEOLOGY THAT THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF MY TIME, TOO COMFORTABLE WITH ITS CEREMONIALISM, TOO SATISFIED WITH ITS COLD LITURGIES, DID NOT WANT TO HEAR. AND THIS IS THE THEOLOGY THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE CHURCHES OF YOUR CENTURY, TOO ENTERTAINED WITH SPECTACLES AND MANIFESTATIONS, ALSO DO NOT WANT TO HEAR. PERHAPS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE NOW. I AM ABOUT TO MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE AGAIN, BECAUSE NOW WE MUST TALK ABOUT THE MAN WHO STOOD UP THAT DAY IN JERUSALEM BEFORE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. LET'S TALK ABOUT PETER. PETER, THE GALILEAN WITH CALLOUSED HANDS, PETER THE FISHERMAN OF THE SEA OF GALILEE, PETER THE MAN WHO JUST 50 DAYS EARLIER HAD BEEN SITTING BY A FIRE IN THE HIGH PRIEST'S COURTYARD, TREMBLING WITH FEAR, DENYING THREE TIMES THAT HE KNEW THE MAN WHO WAS BEING JUDGED INSIDE. PETER THE RECENT COWARD, PETER WHO AFTER THE DENIAL HAD WEEPED BITTERLY IN SOME DARK CORNER OF JERUSALEM BECAUSE THE ROOSTER HAD CROWED AND THE LORD'S EYES HAD PIERCED HIM. THAT SAME PETER, THAT ONE AND NO OTHER, WAS THE ONE WHO WAS NOW STANDING ON THE STEPS OF THE TEMPLE, PREACHING TO A CROWD ESTIMATED BETWEEN 5,000 AND 10,000 PEOPLE. AND OH, DEAR SOUL, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I AM GOING TO TELL YOU NOW, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING PROOFS OF THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN HUMAN HISTORY. PETER HAD NOT RECEIVED TRAINING. PETER WAS NOT A THEOLOGIAN. PETER HAD NOT STUDIED IN TARSUS AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL LIKE SAUL. PETER WAS A FISHERMAN WITH A NORTHERN ACCENT. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE GALILEAN ACCENT IN THE JERUSALEM OF THE FIRST CENTURY? THE RABBIS OF THE TALMUD RECORD IT WITH MOCKERY: THE GALILEAN CONFUSED THE GUTTURAL CONSONANTS; THE GALILEAN DID NOT KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE SACRED LANGUAGE OF THE TEMPLE CORRECTLY. IT WAS THE ACCENT OF THE PEASANT, OF THE MAN OF THE FIELD, OF ONE WHO NEVER BELONGED TO THE CIRCLES OF RELIGIOUS POWER. AND YET, PETER SPOKE. AND YET, PETER QUOTED THE PROPHET JOEL WITH AN AUTHORITY THAT NO RABBI IN JERUSALEM HAD ACHIEVED. AND YET, PETER QUOTED PSALM 16, APPLYING IT TO CHRIST WITH SUCH RIGOROUS, SUCH DEVASTATING EXEGESIS THAT 3,000 HEARTS WERE PIERCED THAT DAY. DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MEANS? IT MEANS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE TRUE PREACHER. IT MEANS THAT THE MEN MOST USED BY GOD ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE MOST LEARNED, NOR THE MOST ELOQUENT, NOR THE MOST RESPECTED. IT MEANS THAT THE POWER OF THE PULPIT IS NOT IN THE VOCAL CORDS OF THE ONE WHO PREACHES, BUT IN THE SOVEREIGN HAND OF THE SPIRIT WHO BLOWS WHERE HE WILL. I HAVE SEEN THE LORD USE WITH POWER THE SERMONS OF THE PREACHER WHO HAS ASCENDED THE PULPIT FEELING MOST UNWORTHY, MOST INADEQUATE FOR THE TASK, AND LEAVE STERILE THE SERMONS OF THE PREACHER FULL OF HIS OWN PREPARATION, SATISFIED WITH HIS RHETORICAL STRUCTURES. THIS, BROTHER, IS PENTECOST IN ACTION. THIS IS THE DOCTRINE THAT SEPARATES THE REFORMED GOSPEL FROM THE RELIGIOUS MORALISM OF ANY CENTURY. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. POWERFUL PREACHING IS OF THE LORD. THE NEW BIRTH IS THE MONERGISTIC SOVEREIGNTY OF THE ETERNAL HOLY SPIRIT. YOU DO NOT DECIDE TO BE BORN AGAIN ANY MORE THAN A CORPSE DECIDES TO BE RESURRECTED. YOU DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR REGENERATION ANY MORE THAN THE DUST OF THE EARTH CONTRIBUTED TO THE FORMATION OF ADAM. IT IS THE RUACH ELOHIM, THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT, THAT BLOWS WHERE HE WILL AND WHEN HE WILL AND UPON WHOM HE WILL. AND THOSE WHOM THE FATHER CHOSE FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, THOSE FOR WHOM THE SON SHED HIS BLOOD AT CALVARY, THOSE ARE THE ONES WHOM THE HOLY SPIRIT EFFECTIVELY REGENERATES AND BRINGS TO THE FLOCK OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION, WITHOUT WAITING FOR YOUR COOPERATION, WITHOUT NEGOTIATING WITH YOUR FALLEN WILL. THIS, DEAR SOUL, IS PENTECOST. THE REST ARE HUMAN FIREWORKS. WHAT I HAVE SAID SO FAR IS MILK; NOW I GIVE YOU MEAT. BECAUSE IF YOU DO NOT LEARN TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST AND WHAT MANY TODAY CALL PENTECOST, YOU WILL LIVE CONFUSED YOUR ENTIRE SPIRITUAL LIFE. ALLOW ME A PASTORAL WARNING. THERE ARE WELL-INTENTIONED MEN AND WOMEN, SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, WHO HAVE CONFUSED EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT. THEY HAVE CONFUSED THE COMMOTION OF THE ASSEMBLY WITH THE WIND OF THE UPPER ROOM. THEY HAVE CONFUSED THE LIGHTS AND SMOKES OF MODERN WORSHIP WITH THE FIRE THAT RESTED UPON EACH HEAD. AND I WARN YOU FROM THE PULPIT OF MY CONSCIENCE THAT THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT MEASURED BY THE TEARS YOU SHED IN A SERVICE, NOR BY THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS YOU EXPERIENCE, NOR BY THE EMOTIONAL INTENSITY YOU FEEL DURING A WELL-ORCHESTRATED HYMN. THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MEASURED BY THE FRUIT. AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, PAUL TELLS US IN GALATIANS, IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL. ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO OPEN YOUR EYES, FOR WITHOUT HIM YOU WILL SEE NOTHING. AND THEN EXAMINE YOURSELF, BROTHER. DO YOU HAVE TRUE LOVE, NOT FOR THE KIND, BUT FOR YOUR ENEMY? DO YOU HAVE PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING, EVEN WHEN THE WORLD AROUND YOU IS FALLING APART? DO YOU HAVE PATIENCE WITH THE FOOL, GENTLENESS IN THE FACE OF INSULT, SELF-CONTROL IN THE FACE OF YOUR APPETITES? IF NOT, AND HERE COMES THE BITTER PART, ALL THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES IN THE WORLD ARE NOT EVIDENCE THAT THE SPIRIT HAS REGENERATED YOU. THEY CAN BE MERELY HUMAN EMOTIONS MAGNIFIED BY A CHARGED ATMOSPHERE. BUT THE SPIRIT OF GOD, WHERE HE IS, TRANSFORMS. THE SPIRIT OF GOD, WHERE HE DWELLS, LEAVES TRACES. THE SPIRIT OF GOD, DEAR SOUL, DOES NOT WHISPER IN THE EAR OF THE UNBELIEVER, "ALL IS WELL." HE CONVICTS THE SINNER OF SIN, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF JUDGMENT, AS CHRIST HIMSELF PROMISED IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, CHAPTER 16. LISTEN TO ME, BECAUSE NOW COMES SOMETHING THAT WILL DISTURB YOU. IF AT THIS MOMENT YOU ARE SITTING SECURE IN YOUR SALVATION WITHOUT EVER HAVING EXAMINED IT, LUKE, IN VERSE 37 OF THE SECOND CHAPTER OF ACTS, WRITES THAT WHEN THE HEARERS HEARD PETER'S SERMON, THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART. THE GREEK WORD IS KATANEGEISAN. IT IS A WORD THAT EVOKES THE ACUTE PAIN OF A WOUNDED HEART. THE HOMILETIC IMAGE THAT BEST CAPTURES IT IS THAT OF A SWORD ENTERING BETWEEN THE RIBS. LUKE DID NOT WRITE, "THEY WERE IMPRESSED," "THEY WERE EMOTIONAL," "THEY WERE TOUCHED." HE WROTE THAT THEY WERE WOUNDED TO THE DEPTHS OF THEIR SOUL. WHY DID HE USE THIS WORD? THE SPIRIT INSPIRING LUKE, BECAUSE THE TRUE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONVERSION IS VIOLENT, IS SURGICAL, IS INVASIVE. THE SPIRIT DOES NOT CARESS THE SINNER'S HEART UNTIL HE GENTLY AGREES TO BELIEVE. THE SPIRIT BREAKS THE HEART OF STONE THAT THE PROPHET EZEKIEL ANNOUNCED: "I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH." AND HE PUTS IN A NEW, SENSITIVE, PALPITATING HEART, CAPABLE OF LOVING CHRIST. AND THAT IS WHY THE QUESTION THOSE 3,000 ASKED PETER WAS DESPERATE: "MEN, BROTHERS, WHAT SHALL WE DO?" IT WAS NOT A PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION; IT WAS THE CRY OF THE CONDEMNED MAN WHO HAS SEEN HELL OPEN AT HIS FEET AND THE CROSS EXTEND OVER THE ABYSS. HAVE YOU EVER ASKED THAT QUESTION, BROTHER? HAVE YOU REACHED THAT POINT WHERE THE WEIGHT OF YOUR OWN SIN CRUSHED YOU, WHERE GOD'S HOLINESS TERRIFIED YOU, WHERE THE ONLY QUESTION YOU COULD ARTICULATE WITH YOUR TREMBLING LIPS WAS, "WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?" IF YOU HAVE NOT REACHED THAT POINT, IF YOU HAVE NEVER TREMBLED BEFORE THE THRICE-HOLY GOD, THEN PLEAD WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW YOU THE TRUTH OF YOUR OWN CONDITION BEFORE GOD, AND CAREFULLY EXAMINE YOUR PROFESSION OF FAITH. BECAUSE PETER'S ANSWER TO THOSE 3,000 WAS AS PRECISE AS THE QUESTION: "REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED." REPENTANCE, METANOIA IN GREEK, MEANS A RADICAL CHANGE OF MIND AND DISPOSITION. WHERE THE SPIRIT TRULY WORKS, IT TRANSLATES INTO A CHANGE OF DIRECTION AND LIFE. IT IS NOT FEELING SORRY FOR MISTAKES; IT IS TURNING YOUR BACK ON SIN TO RUN TO CHRIST WITH ALL THE STRENGTH THE SPIRIT GIVES YOU. WITHOUT REPENTANCE, THERE IS NO REGENERATION. AND WHERE THE SPIRIT REGENERATES, THERE IS REPENTANCE. DO NOT LEAVE NOW, DEAR SOUL. THE MEDICINE IS BITTER, BUT IT WILL HEAL YOU. I WANT YOU TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED THAT AFTERNOON, BECAUSE FEW PREACHERS PAUSE AT THIS DETAIL. PETER FINISHED HIS SERMON. 3,000 PEOPLE WERE PIERCED IN THEIR HEARTS. AND THEN CAME THE LOGISTICAL PROBLEM: WHERE WERE 3,000 PEOPLE BAPTIZED IN A SINGLE AFTERNOON IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM? THERE WAS NO JORDAN RIVER NEARBY; THERE WAS NO SEA OF GALILEE AT HAND. WHERE THEN, BROTHER, LISTEN HERE IS THE DETAIL THAT FEW PREACHERS EXPLAIN TO YOU: THAT AFTERNOON OF PENTECOST, AROUND THE SOUTHERN WALL OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM, THERE WERE DOZENS OF STONE POOLS EXCAVATED IN THE LIVING ROCK. THE HEBREWS CALLED THEM MIKVAOT, PLURAL OF MIKVE. THEY WERE RITUAL BATHS OF PURIFICATION THAT ANY TRAVELER FAMILIAR WITH JERUSALEM IN THE FIRST CENTURY HAD SEEN WITH THEIR OWN EYES. EVERY PERSON WHO WAS TO ENTER THE TEMPLE PRECINCT HAD TO IMMERSE THEMSELVES FIRST IN A MIKVAH TO BE CEREMONIALLY PURIFIED. THOSE POOLS HAD A PARTICULAR ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTIC: THEY HAD STEPS THAT DESCENDED ON ONE SIDE AND ASCENDED ON THE OTHER. THEY SYMBOLIZED THAT THE WORSHIPPER ENTERED IMPURE AND CAME OUT CLEAN, ENTERED DEAD AND CAME OUT ALIVE, ENTERED OLD AND CAME OUT NEW. BROTHER, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THAT AFTERNOON OF PENTECOST, AS THE SUN SET UPON THE LIMESTONE OF JERUSALEM, AS THE SCENTS OF TEMPLE INCENSE STILL FLOATED IN THE AIR, THE MIKVAOT OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT WERE USED FOR SOMETHING THAT NO JEWISH RABBI COULD HAVE PREDICTED. 3,000 CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND PROBABLY SOME GENTILE PROSELYTES AMONG THEM, DESCENDED INTO THOSE WATERS, NOT TO PURIFY THEMSELVES TO ENTER THE TEMPLE, BUT CONFESSING THAT THE TRUE TEMPLE, THE ONE WHOSE BODY HAD BEEN DESTROYED AND RAISED IN THREE DAYS, WAS JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE CRUCIFIED ONE. EACH ONE ENTERED FROM ONE SIDE OF THE WATER BEING WHAT THEY HAD BEEN ALL THEIR LIVES; EACH ONE CAME OUT FROM THE OTHER BEING A NEW CREATURE. "THE OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW," WRITES PAUL IN HIS SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS. THIS IS PENTECOST. THIS, OH DEAR SOUL, IS WHAT YOUR PASTOR FORGOT TO TELL YOU. AND NOW, BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT LET ME FINISH THIS SERMON WITHOUT DRIVING ONE MORE TRUTH INTO YOUR HEART, I WANT YOU TO SEE WHAT THOSE 3,000 BAPTIZED PEOPLE DID THE NEXT DAY. LUKE RECORDS IT WITH A SIMPLICITY THAT MAKES ONE TREMBLE: "AND THEY CONTINUED STEADFASTLY IN THE APOSTLES' DOCTRINE AND FELLOWSHIP, IN THE BREAKING OF BREAD, AND IN PRAYERS." FOUR PILLARS. FOUR SIMPLE AND ETERNAL PILLARS UPON WHICH THE EARLY CHURCH WAS SUSTAINED, AND FOUR PILLARS UPON WHICH EVERY GENUINE CHURCH MUST BE SUSTAINED UNTIL THE DAY CHRIST RETURNS IN GLORY. THE DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTLES, NOT THE OPINIONS OF THE FASHIONABLE FAVORITE SPEAKER, NOT THE VISIONS OF THE LATEST SELF-PROCLAIMED PROPHET. THE APOSTOLIC DOCTRINE THAT THE APOSTLES RECEIVED FROM CHRIST HIMSELF AND WHICH IS DEPOSITED IN THE SCRIPTURES. FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER, MUTUAL CARE, ASSISTANCE TO THE NEEDY, SUFFERING TOGETHER, REJOICING TOGETHER IN A BROTHERHOOD MEASURED IN BLOOD SHED FOR BROTHERS WHEN NECESSARY. THE BREAKING OF BREAD, THE LORD'S TABLE, WHERE WE PROCLAIM HIS DEATH UNTIL HE COMES, WHERE WE REMEMBER THAT WE ARE ONE BODY BECAUSE WE PARTICIPATE IN THE ONE BREAD. AND PRAYERS, NOT MECHANICALLY RECITED PRAYERS, BUT THE CRY OF THE REDEEMED SOUL WHO KNOWS THAT WITHOUT THE FATHER'S PRESENCE, NOTHING CAN BE DONE. BROTHER, EXAMINE YOURSELF, AND IN DOING SO, PLEAD WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW YOU THE TRUTH OF YOUR OWN CONDITION BEFORE GOD. DOES YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE RESEMBLE THIS DESCRIPTION? DO YOU PERSEVERE IN DOCTRINE, IN FELLOWSHIP, AT THE TABLE, IN PRAYER? OR HAVE YOU BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH A MODERN VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY THAT CONSISTS OF ATTENDING A 90-MINUTE SUNDAY SERVICE, LISTENING TO A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE, SINGING THREE SONGS WITH LIGHT EFFECTS, AND GOING HOME UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY, WITH NO MORE CONNECTION TO YOUR BROTHERS IN CHRIST THAN A GREETING IN THE ATRIUM? IF THAT IS YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE, I TELL YOU WITH ALL THE WEIGHT OF MY CONSCIENCE BEFORE THE THRICE-HOLY GOD, IT IS NOT PENTECOST. IT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY. IT IS NOT WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD PRODUCES WHERE HE TRULY DESCENDS. IF WHAT I HAVE SAID HAS DISTURBED YOU, GOOD. BUT WHAT FOLLOWS WILL SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF WHAT YOU BELIEVED. ALLOW ME TO RETURN TO THE IMAGE OF FIRE. WHEN THOSE TONGUES AS OF FIRE DIVIDED AND RESTED UPON EACH OF THE 120, THERE WAS NO SELECTION, NO DISCRIMINATION. MARY, THE MOTHER OF OUR LORD, RECEIVED THE TONGUE OF FIRE UPON HER HEAD. PETER RECEIVED IT. JOHN RECEIVED IT. THE WOMEN WHO HAD FOLLOWED JESUS FROM GALILEE, MARY MAGDALENE, SALOME, THE OTHER MARYS, RECEIVED IT. THE BROTHERS OF THE LORD, JAMES AND JUDAS, WHO DURING CHRIST'S EARTHLY MINISTRY HAD NOT BELIEVED IN HIM BUT HAD CONVERTED AFTER THE RESURRECTION, RECEIVED IT. ALL OF THEM, EACH ONE, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF GENDER, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF AGE, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF SOCIAL ORIGIN, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF CULTURE. AND HERE, BROTHER, IS A TRUTH THAT THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH HAS STRUGGLED FOR CENTURIES TO SUPPRESS: IN THE NEW COVENANT, EVERY REGENERATED BELIEVER IS A PRIEST. PETER WRITES IN HIS FIRST EPISTLE: "YOU ARE A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FORGED BY GOD." THERE IS NO SEPARATE CLERICAL CLASS THAT HAS SPECIAL ACCESS TO GOD. THERE IS NO SPECIAL MEDIATION BETWEEN THE COMMON BELIEVER AND THE FATHER. CHRIST IS OUR ONLY MEDIATOR, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS INDISCRIMINATELY IN EVERY ELECT ONE. THIS WAS WHAT THE REFORMATION OF THE 16TH CENTURY RECOVERED AFTER 1,000 YEARS OF MEDIEVAL OBSCURANTISM. THIS WAS WHAT LUTHER, CALVIN, KNOX, AND THE PURITANS DEFENDED WITH THEIR LIVES. AND THIS IS WHAT MODERN CLERICALISM, IN ITS MANY FORMS, BE IT ROMAN CATHOLIC, PENTECOSTAL CELEBRITY, OR REFORMED ACADEMICISM, CONTINUES TO TRY TO ERASE FROM THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE COMMON BELIEVER. YOU, BROTHER, IF YOU HAVE BEEN WASHED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, ARE A PRIEST. YOU DO NOT NEED A HUMAN INTERMEDIARY TO APPROACH THE THRONE OF GRACE. YOU HAVE A BETTER HIGH PRIEST THAN AARON, SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF MAJESTY ON HIGH, INTERCEDING FOR YOU WITH HIS OWN WOUNDS AS EVIDENCE. YOU THINK YOU HAVE HEARD THE WORST? NOT YET. WHAT COMES NOW IS WHAT CHANGES EVERYTHING. I WANT TO FINISH THIS SERMON BY BRINGING YOU TO A POINT THAT FEW PREACHERS HAVE THE COURAGE TO TOUCH. WHY DID GOD POUR OUT HIS HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST AND NOT BEFORE? WHY DID HE WAIT UNTIL THAT SPECIFIC DAY, IN THAT SPECIFIC CITY, UPON THOSE SPECIFIC 120? THE ANSWER, DEAR SOUL, IS NOT A HISTORICAL ACCIDENT. THE ANSWER HAS TO DO WITH A FACT THAT PRECEDED PENTECOST BY 50 DAYS: THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. PENTECOST COULD ONLY OCCUR AFTER CHRIST ASCENDED TO HEAVEN. WHY? BECAUSE, AS CHRIST HIMSELF SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, CHAPTER 16: "IT IS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE THAT I GO AWAY, FOR IF I DO NOT GO AWAY, THE COMFORTER WILL NOT COME TO YOU." THE HOLY SPIRIT COULD NOT BE POURED OUT UPON THE CHURCH UNTIL THE GLORIFIED AND EXALTED CHRIST SENT HIM FROM THE CELESTIAL THRONE. CHRIST, AFTER DYING FOR OUR SINS, AFTER RESURRECTING ON THE THIRD DAY, AFTER APPEARING TO MORE THAN 500 BROTHERS AT ONCE, AFTER ASCENDING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES BEFORE THE ASTONISHED EYES OF THE APOSTLES, RECEIVED THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT FROM THE FATHER AND POURED HIM OUT UPON THE CHURCH. PENTECOST IS THE CELESTIAL SIGNATURE THAT CHRIST IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER. PENTECOST IS THE HISTORICAL, VERIFIABLE, DATABLE PROOF THAT THE SON OF GOD HAS CONSUMMATED HIS WORK AND NOW REIGNS AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. PENTECOST IS NOT JUST AN ECCLESIASTICAL EVENT; IT IS THE PUBLIC CORONATION OF THE RISEN CHRIST. AND THEREFORE, BROTHER, EVERY TIME A SOUL IS REGENERATED TODAY, EVERY TIME A SINNER IS BROUGHT TO THE FEET OF THE CROSS, EVERY TIME A HEART OF STONE IS TRANSFORMED INTO A HEART OF FLESH, WHAT IS HAPPENING IS THE CONTINUATION OF PENTECOST. IT IS THE SPIRIT, SENT BY THE ENTHRONED CHRIST, WORKING HIS SOVEREIGN WORK AMONG MEN. THE CHURCH DOES NOT LIVE BY HISTORICAL INERTIA; THE CHURCH LIVES BY THE CONTINUOUS POURING OUT OF THE SPIRIT UPON THOSE WHOM THE FATHER GAVE TO THE SON FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. I WANT TO CONFRONT YOU WITH SOMETHING PERSONAL BEFORE I CLOSE. I REMEMBER AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, ON A WINTER NIGHT IN 1862, A YOUNG WOMAN CAME TO ME AFTER THE SERVICE. SHE HAD FROZEN HANDS AND REDDENED EYES. SHE WAS THE WIFE OF A WEAVER FROM THE SLUMS OF EAST LONDON, ONE OF THOSE MEN WHO WASTED THEIR LUNGS IN SILK WORKSHOPS WHERE THE DUST OF FIBERS AND THE SMOKE OF COAL NEVER SETTLED. SHE SAID TO ME, "PASTOR, MY HUSBAND IS DYING OF CONSUMPTION. BEFORE HE ENTERS THE FACT THAT HE WILL NOT GET UP, HE NEEDS TO HEAR THE GOSPEL, BUT HE DOES NOT WANT TO COME TO CHURCH. HE SAYS IT IS WOMEN'S BUSINESS." THAT NIGHT I WENT WITH HER TO BEDNALL GREEN, ONE OF THE MOST MISERABLE SLUMS IN EAST LONDON. I CLIMBED THE ROTTEN WOODEN STAIRS OF A TENEMENT BUILDING, ENTERED A ROOM WHERE A DEMACRATED MAN WAS COUGHING BLOOD ONTO A DIRTY SHEET, AND I SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT THE CHRIST OF THE PUBLICANS, ABOUT THE CHRIST OF THE THIEF ON THE CROSS, ABOUT THE CHRIST WHO JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY WHO BELIEVES. THAT MAN LISTENED. THAT MAN CRIED. THAT MAN GRABBED MY HAND WITH THE LITTLE STRENGTH HE HAD LEFT AND WHISPERED, "IS IT FOR ME TOO? FOR ME?" I SAID YES, AND PROMISED TO RETURN THE NEXT MORNING TO CONTINUE SPEAKING TO HIM. I DID NOT RETURN IN TIME; HE DIED THAT VERY EARLY MORNING. BUT BEFORE HE DIED, ACCORDING TO HIS WIFE, HE REPEATED ALOUD AND WITH UNEXPLAINABLE PEACE THE WORDS OF PSALM 23: "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT." BROTHER, THAT, THAT IS PENTECOST. THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT BLOWING WHERE HE WILL, UPON WHOM HE WILL, WHEN HE WILL. NOT ONLY IN THE UPPER ROOM OF JERUSALEM, NOT ONLY UPON THE 120, BUT UPON THE DYING WEAVER OF EAST LONDON, UPON THE SOUL YOU HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR FOR 30 YEARS WITHOUT SEEING A RESPONSE, UPON THE PRODIGAL SON YOU BELIEVE IS LOST FOREVER. THE SAME SPIRIT OF BIBLICAL PENTECOST IS ALIVE, CONTINUES TO WORK, CONTINUES TO REGENERATE, AND NO ONE, NOT THE MOST HARDENED, NOT THE MOST DISTANT, IS BEYOND HIS SOVEREIGN REACH, IF THE FATHER HAS CHOSEN HIM FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. AND THIS BRINGS ME TO THE CONCLUSION OF THIS MESSAGE, BECAUSE YOU WHO ARE LISTENING TO THIS RIGHT NOW, IN ANY CORNER OF THE WORLD WHERE YOU ARE, AT ANY HOUR OF THE DAY OR NIGHT, MUST KNOW THAT THE PENTECOST OF ACTS TWO WAS NOT AN ISOLATED EVENT OF THE PAST TO BE REMEMBERED ANNUALLY WITH COLD LITURGIES. PENTECOST IS THE INAUGURATION OF THE ERA OF THE SPIRIT, AN ERA THAT HAS NOT YET ENDED AND WILL NOT END UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. YOU LIVE, BROTHER, IN THE ERA OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. YOU LIVE IN THE TIME WHEN GOD HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR ANY MAN, ANY WOMAN, ANY CHILD FROM ANY NATION, ANY LANGUAGE, ANY COLOR, TO BE MADE A SON OF THE MOST HIGH IF THEY PLACE THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. YOU LIVE IN THE ERA OF THE HARVEST OF THE NATIONS, THE ERA PROMISED TO ABRAHAM WHEN GOD SAID TO HIM, "IN YOU SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED." BUT THIS ERA HAS AN END, AND THAT END IS COMING SWIFTLY. THEREFORE, I IMPLORE YOU TONIGHT WITH THE SAME URGENCY WITH WHICH PETER IMPLORED THOSE 3,000 ON THE STEPS OF THE TEMPLE: EXAMINE YOURSELF. HAVE YOU BEEN REACHED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT? HAVE YOU BEEN CUT TO THE HEART BY THE SERMON OF THE CROSS? HAVE YOU ABANDONED SIN AND RUN TO CHRIST? IF NOT, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT SERVICE. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU FEEL WORTHY. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL ALL YOUR DOUBTS ARE RESOLVED. IF GOD, THE SPIRIT, IS SPEAKING TO YOU TONIGHT, IF THERE IS A TREMOR IN YOUR HEART THAT YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN, IF THERE IS SOMETHING AWAKENING WITHIN YOU AS YOU LISTEN TO THESE WORDS, THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT BLOWING UPON YOUR DRY BONES. DO NOT QUENCH IT. GO TO CHRIST NOW. DO NOT LOOK AT ME. DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PASTOR. DO NOT LOOK AT ANY PREACHER, WITH OR WITHOUT A GESTURE. LOOK AT CHRIST. FALL AT HIS FEET. CONFESS YOUR SIN. ASK HIM TO GIVE YOU THE NEW HEART THAT THE PROPHET PROMISED. AND REST IN THE FACT THAT THE SAME SPIRIT THAT HOVERED OVER THE WATERS IN GENESIS, THE SAME SPIRIT THAT DESCENDED UPON JESUS AT THE JORDAN, THE SAME SPIRIT THAT RESTED UPON THE 120 AT PENTECOST, THAT SAME ETERNAL AND SOVEREIGN SPIRIT CAN REGENERATE YOU TONIGHT, IF THE FATHER SO DISPOSED IT FROM ETERNITY. LET US BOW OUR HEADS. ETERNAL FATHER, GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WE BLESS YOU FOR THE DAY OF PENTECOST. WE BLESS YOU BECAUSE YOU SENT YOUR HOLY SPIRIT UPON THE NEWLY BORN CHURCH, AND BECAUSE THAT SPIRIT CONTINUES TODAY TO REGENERATE, CALL, JUSTIFY, AND SANCTIFY YOUR OWN. WE PLEAD WITH YOU FOR EVERY SOUL LISTENING TONIGHT. IF THERE ARE HERE, AND I KNOW THERE ARE, THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED THEMSELVES TO BE CHRISTIANS FOR YEARS WITHOUT EVER HAVING BEEN PIERCED BY THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WITHOUT EVER HAVING EXPERIENCED THE PROFOUND CONVICTION OF SIN THAT PRECEDES TRUE CONVERSION, HAVE MERCY ON THEM. MAY THE WIND OF PENTECOST BLOW UPON THEIR DRY BONES AND RAISE THEM TO NEW LIFE. AND FOR YOUR OWN, OH GOD, FOR THOSE WHOM YOU HAVE BOUGHT WITH THE BLOOD OF YOUR SON, MAY THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE IMMENSITY OF THE SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN THEM DRIVE THEM TO HOLINESS, TO OBEDIENCE, TO ZEAL FOR YOUR GLORY. MAY WE NOT BE CONTENT WITH SPIRITUAL SCRAPS WHILE WE HAVE AVAILABLE THE OCEANS OF YOUR FULNESS. IN THE NAME OF CHRIST OUR LORD, AMEN. SUBSCRIBE TO ECHOES OF THE REFORMATION IF THIS MESSAGE IMPACTED YOUR LIFE. LEAVE YOUR COMMENT TELLING US HOW GOD SPOKE TO YOU TODAY. SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THIS WORD, AND REMEMBER, WHERE THE LAW WITHOUT THE SPIRIT KILLED 3,000, THE SPIRIT POURED OUT GAVE LIFE TO 3,000. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SINAI AND PENTECOST. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE GOSPEL. IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, AMEN.