Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: Peter's connecting all the dots. Who Jesus is. He's the Jesus, the Messiah of the Psalmist David's prophecies, and this is helping the Jews connect the dots. Oh, this is the Messiah that we crucified. And Peter's making sense to these guys. This is all Peter talking about a large time frame from David all the way through the Church Age, even to the end times, the last days when Jesus would come in his second coming.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador, declaring how Peter revealed Jesus as the fulfillment of anticipated prophecy.

Guest (Male): The disciples and their fellow believers were gathered together in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit rushed upon them as a mighty wind. As Pastor Brett Meador reflects on the event unfolding, we'll gain important understanding what speaking in tongues and prophesying means from the powerful sermon of Peter that would lead many to Christ and launch the early church.

Brett Meador: We now come to this most important day here in Acts chapter 2. It’s the day of Pentecost, the first event that ever happened in the church of Jesus Christ. There’s just 120 people gathered that are going to become the church as the Holy Spirit comes down here in Acts chapter 2 and comes upon them. So, let’s just begin. Acts chapter 2, verse 1. It says, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

Now, what is Pentecost? Remember, we learned in verse 3 of chapter 1, Jesus resurrected and he was around these people for 40 days. More than 500 people saw him at one time. Then he was ascended into heaven. Then ten days after that is when the Pentecost happened. So Jesus was with them, then he ascends into heaven, and ten days later, after he told them to go wait in Jerusalem, this whole event happens.

It says there in verse 2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting.” So that means it wasn't just windy outside; it was in the house. “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Wow. Do you ever wonder what this looked like? Flames of fire over their heads? It’s interesting because fire is somewhat of a type of the Spirit. In the power of the Spirit, we see that in the Bible. But the Holy Spirit coming upon them here in Acts chapter 2 is the start of something new God is doing that he told them about. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

Now, what’s the point of all this? Why would Jesus tell them that you’re going to receive the Holy Spirit? He’s going to come upon you and you will receive dunamis power. Why? Not so the Holy Spirit can be showcased. “Wow, look at the Holy Spirit!” No. “Look at us, look at us!” Or, “Look at the Holy Ghost.” But do you recall what Jesus told us about the work of the Holy Spirit? “He will glorify me,” it says in John 14. In John 15, it says that. In John 16, “He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, the things he will speak. He shall glorify me. He shall receive of mine.”

One of the marks of a true Spirit-filled church is not, “Wow, they’ve got the Holy Ghost.” That’s not it. The mark of a true Spirit-filled church is that Jesus is glorified. The people are drawn to Jesus, not the people, not even the Holy Spirit, but to be drawn to Jesus. To be in a church where the Holy Spirit is truly moving, what you look for is Jesus being exalted.

But we’re going to see what is the purpose of this speaking in tongues. Why is this happening? Well, we’ll see. Let’s keep reading. Verse 5 says, “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came to gather and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, ‘Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?’”

“Parthians, and Medes, Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, 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 they were all amazed and were in doubt.

Their faith wasn't built. They were in doubt, saying one to another, “What meaneth this?” Others mocking and said, “These men are full of new wine.” They’ve been drinking. That’s the result of the speaking in tongues. Why? Because tongues was for them. Why the tongues? I think it was for the people, the 120 in the house there, to realize the Holy Spirit is upon us.

And the speaking in tongues was evidence for them to be built up and think, “This is it. The Lord is doing a work.” But it didn't save souls. It didn't bring in the unbelievers. They all thought these guys are getting a little tipsy. This is where now the word of prophecy comes in. It’s not Old Testament prophecy, but Peter’s going to give a word of edification, exhortation, and comfort. And he’s going to do it with the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is beautiful.

Here’s Peter stepping up. It says in verse 14, “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, ‘Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.’” That’s about 9:00 AM, by the way. “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

Would you mark that? This is really important. As we break down this big sermon that Peter’s going to give prophetically, because that should be the beginning to every response about questions about Christianity or how the church functions, what churches are supposed to do. We should be able to say, “It is written,” or that’s what Jesus said when he was attacked with temptation by Satan. Jesus said, “It is written.” Every single time, he quotes Scripture. He said, “It is written,” and Peter’s taking a page from Jesus’s manual and saying, “It is written.” But he says specifically, “This is that which was written or spoken by the prophet Joel.”

So Peter is quoting from Joel chapter 2, verses 28 through 32. Verse 17: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Again, the prophecy is not being like a prophet of Old Testament, but a word of prophecy. Young men, it says here, the Spirit will come upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, giving words of edification, exhortation, and comfort.

This is really important. It also says that your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Now you say, “Brett, that’s going to happen in the last days.” Yes. But do you know in some contexts of the Bible, this is important as a Bible reader, that sometimes the last days in the Bible includes the Church Age of dispensationalism, starting right here. So this is Peter saying, “This is where this is all starting. The beginning of the last days is right here.”

You say, “Brett, that doesn't work because it’s been 2,000 years since Peter said that. How can he call that the last days?” It is the last days. Remember what Peter said about that when he was talking about prophecy? He said a day with the Lord shall be as a thousand years, and a thousand years with the Lord shall be like a day. It's only been a couple days. We're in the last days. I believe this is technically the term the Bible says.

The Church Age is part of the last days. Now, there’s other language the Bible does, the day of the Lord. That’s more like what we would say, maybe the last days, the way we picture it, or the end of time or the end of the age. There’s some different language the Bible uses, but sometimes that idea of last days includes the Church Age. Are you guys with me on that? So if somebody says, “Are we living in the last days?” and you say, “Absolutely, yes,” and somebody says, “No, we’re not. That’s what they’ve been saying forever,” you can show them right here. Peter was saying we’re living in the last days right here. So I'm just trying to give a little context to this. I think this is all important language.

Well, what do you do with dreams and visions? Question: does God use visions and dreams today? Yes, as we are living in those last days Peter’s talking about. So how do you know? Is a dream of the Lord or is it just the pizza that you had the night before? I think sometimes you have to say, “Oh, I had a weird dream,” and it doesn't mean anything.

But have you ever had a dream that sort of stuck with you harder than another dream, or it just seemed more significant somehow? That’s the one you have to pray about, say, “Lord, were you wanting to show me something? Were you trying to speak something into my life? Were you giving me a dream that actually is something that comes by the Holy Spirit?” Usually if that dream was from the Lord, he’ll confirm it by actually making something happen that will confirm it. You’re like, “That was from the Lord. Somehow the Lord was preparing my heart for what actually happened.” And you can confirm it that way.

Another thing, if the dream is telling you to do something contrary to what the Word says, you know that’s the pizza. If you’re having a dream or a vision that you see, it’s got to be congruent with Scripture. That’s a good litmus test. Dreams and visions in the Bible always synced up with what God was doing and was clearly all about. There was never a vision or dream in the Bible that went contrary to God’s will. That’s important, unless it was from Satan.

I think, for example, when Saul consulted with the witch at Endor and spoke to Samuel, he saw a vision of Samuel. There’s a huge debate. Was that really Samuel? I think it was directly from the evil one and he saw a vision, but it wasn't from God. There’s examples of that in the Bible.

By the way, verse 18. It says, “And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” I love this one because, again, prophecy, remember, Paul said that’s way better than the tongues thing, prophecy. And I love this because some people would say, “Well, 1 Timothy chapter 2 tells women to be silent in the church.” Well, what does that mean? That they can't say a word in the church?

No. What 1 Timothy chapter 2 is saying is that women should not usurp authority over men in the area of teaching the Bible. And it really has to do with are you an elder or a pastor. And at Athey Creek, in a very unpopular world today, we believe that only men are given to the ministry of eldership and pastoring, like a senior pastor or a pastor role, shepherding the flock. That’s a men role the Bible tells us. And it’s really clear. All you have to do is read 1 Timothy chapter 2 and don’t play with it and tweak it.

But I love it here because this clarifies: yes, women can speak in the church, and obviously they did. “My handmaidens, I will pour out in those days my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” And there’s another reason I love this. I’ve found that women tend to be—and some people will say that’s misogynistic to say men and women are different—I think they are different.

But one of the things I so appreciate about women, I think women have, perhaps, a better sensitivity to the things of the Holy Spirit than men do. I think men, we kind of shut it down, “Oh, that’s nonsense,” and we don’t like the illogical idea of the Holy Spirit speaking something through us. And so we shut it down and we do what the Bible forbids. It says, “Quench not the Spirit.” I think women tend to have a heart more open to that, and the reason I say that is I’ve just observed that over the 40 years of ministry that I’ve been doing. I just am so thankful for that in the women of the church. And this is what Peter’s saying. He’s saying, “Guess what? Women are going to be able to, in those last days, on my servants—the men—but also my handmaids—the women—I will pour out in those days my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” I just think it’s a powerful thing. Church would be poorer without that.

Verse 19: “And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and 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 that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Did you sense that he shifted in his time frame a little bit there?

Yes, he moved from the time that we’re calling the last days, the Church Age, into the day of the Lord, which is speaking of the rapture of the church, the tribulation period, and the second coming of Christ. And even during the tribulation period, I love the grace of God. Verse 21: “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Even in the tribulation, there’ll be an opportunity for people to come to Christ.

Now, he gets to the main crux of his sermon right here in verse 22. And the points are pretty simple. Let’s just break this down. Verse 22: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man 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.” So he’s starting to say, point number one, you all saw it. You guys saw the miracles that Jesus did, which was proof that he was something more than just a man.

Verse 23: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” So he’s talking to all of them, because we’re all guilty of the death, but he’s also got a bunch of those Jewish leaders there who were part of the crucifixion. He said, “You crucified Jesus on the cross.” He’s calling them out on that.

Then verse 24: “Whom God hath raised up,” resurrected, “having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” So death could not hold Jesus down. That’s what he’s saying. By the way, don’t you love the simplicity of the gospel? Peter’s already said it. Jesus lived a perfect life, did miracles, but it was God’s plan that Jesus would die. And because of you, Jesus did die, but he rose again.

Right there’s the gospel. And any one of you can preach that. Do you understand that? You all can preach this. Peter did. This was what Peter said. But he goes on in verse 25. Now, this is where it gets a little more esoteric, and I’m just kind of holy proud of Peter on this because he’s becoming quite the Bible teacher. How’s he doing this? By the Holy Spirit.

Check it out. Verse 25: “For David speaketh concerning him, ‘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, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast 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, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.”

Now, you say, what in the world did he just say? Well, he’s quoting a Psalm of David, Psalm 16, verses 8 through 11. Psalm 16, it’s an amazing Psalm that has to do with David speaking of his descendant, the son of David that was coming and prophesied, the Messiah. And David speaking a prophetic word about the Messiah and his relationship. And it really gets down to Jesus is not going to see corruption like David did. David said, “I’m going to die, kick the bucket, and then they’re going to bury me and my bones are going to stay in the sarcophagus. But I’m going to be down in the grave or in Hades.”

But it says here, did you see verse 27, “But thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.” Does anybody know, what is hell here? Abraham’s bosom. David did not go to hell and burn in hell. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying my soul was left in Hades, which was, remember, half of it’s Abraham’s bosom? Remember Luke chapter 16? And the other half is paradise. One is Hades, one is paradise. One is like the pleasant place, and the other is where the rich man went. Lazarus was in paradise with Abraham. This is important.

And this is what David’s talking about. He says, “I’m going to do the normal process of going into Hades, paradise.” But verse 27, “Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One,” the Messiah, “to see corruption.” That means your body decaying in the grave. That’s exactly right. He’s prophetically saying Jesus, when he dies, the Messiah’s not going to—his body’s not going to decay in the tomb. Jesus’s body didn't see corruption.

And this is Peter saying this heavy doctrine, teaching about what happened after Jesus died, descended first and then ascended to heaven. Question, where do you suppose Peter got all this information? Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, but also we know that Jesus taught them in the 40 days he was resurrected. I wonder if he just sat and said, “Here’s what just happened.” I mean, it could be right from Jesus’s mouth, but it also could be the Holy Spirit.

So verse 30: “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had 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,” that’s David realizing that from his ancestry the Messiah would come. “And,” verse 31, “he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” Speaking of Jesus raising up.

So Peter’s explaining this. And where do you think Peter got this idea? He may have got the idea—do you remember when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees there in Matthew chapter 22, verses 41 through 46, where they were saying, “How do you claim to be God in the flesh?” And he said, “Well, why did David call his descendant Lord?” Remember that whole discussion? Peter’s using the same logic of Jesus and he’s borrowing it from Jesus from the Old Testament Scripture. That’s where David called his descendant his Lord. In Jewish culture, that would never happen unless he really was the Lord, and that is Jesus the son of David.

And it goes on in verse 32, “This Jesus hath 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,” that’s the rushing wind thing that happened a little bit ago, “he hath shed forth this, which you now see and hear.” This is what you’re seeing. “Before David ascended into the heavens, but he said to himself, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.’”

See, Peter’s connecting all the dots. Who Jesus is. He’s the Jesus, the Messiah of the Psalmist David’s prophecies. And this is helping the Jews connect the dots. “Oh, this is the Messiah that we crucified.” And Peter’s making sense to these guys. Question, when will Jesus make his foes his footstool? The second coming. So this is all Peter talking about a large time frame from David all the way through the Church Age, even to the end times, the last days when Jesus would come in his second coming.

Verse 36: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” He’s saying Jesus is God, one and the same. Now verse 37, this is great. “Now when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’”

Peter’s got them right where he wants them. They heard the truth by the power of the Spirit, he preaches this sermon, and all of them are like, “Okay, what do we do now?” Guess what? It’s already been done. What do we do? Well, he explains beautifully. Verse 38: “Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent,’” that means change your mind, “‘and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,’” that’s Gentiles, “‘even as many as the Lord our God shall call.’”

Peter’s saying, guess what, there’s tons of people going to come to Christ, and even the Gentiles are going to come. So as many as the Lord our God shall call, that’s who's going to come. Verse 40: “And with many other words he did testify and exhort, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this untoward generation.’” Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. Was it tongues that made them accept Christ? No. What was it? The word of God, the preaching, the prophecy part, the speaking the word of edification, exhortation, and comfort. That’s what made people saved.

And they were baptized the same day. It says, “and the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador draws an end to an informative study with the closing verses of Acts chapter 2 from today's word, telling of the formation of the church that continues growing today by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I hope you'll stick around as Pastor Brett will be back in a moment to close in prayer.

But first, let me tell you a little bit more about Brett Meador. He's the senior pastor of Athey Creek Church, just outside of Portland, Oregon. Brett's been the pastor of Athey Creek for 30 years. We invite you to listen each day for more. If you missed any portion of our study, you can find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. You can also watch full video messages from him by going to todayswordradio.com.

I also want to mention that in addition to the main Athey Creek campus in West Linn, Oregon, we also have locations in Hillsboro and McMinnville. For more information, go to todayswordradio.com and click on the link 'Locations'. Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link 'Locations'. We'll now conclude today's study. Here again is Pastor Brett Meador with a brief word of prayer.

Brett Meador: Well, Lord, I pray that your word would just percolate in our hearts and our minds, and just these amazing words that Peter spoke that were so powerful by your Spirit: the gospel, the people getting to that place where they knew they needed to be saved, and just the idea of repentance, that they change and be baptized and be saved.

Lord, I pray that that would be true of anyone who hears the good news of the gospel, that they’d hear it, that you’d use us to preach it. Lord, if anyone is yet to repent of their sins and be saved, would you just lovingly tap them on the shoulder even right now and let them know their need? The same need these men had where they finally got to that place, “What do we do?” I pray that these, your people, that all of us would just repent. It doesn't mean we have to be perfect, Lord, you tell us that, but you tell us that we have to repent and that means we’re perfectly forgiven for all of our sins when you save us.

So, Lord, would that happen? Change hearts. May these hearts confess that Jesus is Lord and that they would believe in their heart that he died on the cross for their sins and rose from the grave, that men might be saved. So we go our way, thanking you for this time in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Pastor Brett Meador closing our time here on Today's Word. And that's all the time we have. Next time, Pastor Brett will continue in the book of Acts, and we'll see the apostles Peter and John offer a crippled man something far greater than silver or gold. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.