Congregation, this morning again we have the tremendous privilege of reading from the word of our God. And this morning's scripture reading is from Acts chapter 2. We read the verses 1 through 6 and then verses 21 through 47. Acts 2 verses 1 through 6 and 21 through 47. What we are about to hear is the word of the living God. Let us listen together. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven or divided tongues like as a 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. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. Now we move down to verse 21. And in the passage that we're passing over, some people mock saying that the disciples are drunk, but Simon Peter stands up and he explains that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. And he concludes this part of his sermon with verse 21. And that's where we continue reading. And it shall come to pass that whosoever call shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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 you yourselves also know him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 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. 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. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being the right. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which he now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit down on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus. Whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent 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 promises unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words that he testify and exhort, saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there 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 common. and sold their possessions and goods and part of 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 that 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. And the text for this morning's sermon is from the passage we read, Acts 2 and verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. So far, the reading of Holy Scripture, may God add his blessing to the reading of his word for his glory and for the good of his people. Dear congregation, one week has passed since Pentecost Sunday. On Pentecost, we remembered that seven weeks had passed since Easter Sunday, the day that we remember Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Ten days had passed since Easter until the Thursday that we remember that Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven. And in this season of Pentecost, it is right that we should look back to the day that the ascended Lord poured out the Holy Spirit on his church nearly 2000 years ago. More recently, back in the year 1906, a new church was founded in Los Angeles. This group met three times a day, seven days a week for three years. And during their meeting, they focused on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of speaking in tongues as an evidence of having received the Holy Spirit. We speak of denominations with this emphasis as Pentecostal churches, and we describe people both in the Roman Catholic and in the Protestant churches who focus on these gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, laying their hands on people and performing miracles. We speak of those kind of people in various churches as charismatics. Already from the beginning of their development as a movement, these Pentecostal churches came out of a tradition that spoke of a second blessing. They thought of the first blessing as being converted and the second blessing, they believed, was being totally, totally sanctified in a single experience. Instead of happening when God's child reaches glory, these groups said that this second blessing, this complete sanctification occurred in a one time immediate process during a believer's life. Now, since this group already believed in a second blessing, they added a third blessing, the addition of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, this is something that you can keep in mind when you talk to acquaintances who are Pentecostals or Charismatics. People in these kinds of denominations desire something more than God has promised in his word. Perhaps you say, Since we don't believe that the special gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, doing healings, are given to the church today, we always look back to Pentecost. But what is there for us in the events of Pentecost as Free Reform Church of Pompton Plains? Well, fellow believers, each week we confess, I believe in the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostals don't have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. God has promised to give his spirit to every believer. He gathers his people into a single church, Christ's body throughout the world. What a privilege it is to be part of a local church as a believer who's indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If you are such a person, you are part of a living growing body of brothers and sisters who received the same Holy Spirit. The church is the place where God continues to work. What an exciting place it is to be. This morning we will focus on the results of Pentecost as we find them in Acts 2 and verse 42. There we read And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Learn with me from the text about being a Pentecostal church as our theme being a Pentecostal church. Acts 2 verse 42 gives important directions about church life in view of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Remember, congregation, the Pentecost was over and the New Testament church was going on with their daily lives. The text reveals that the church was characterized by four things. Now, children, this means that there were four things that made the church different from the people around them. Now, if two people, two unbelievers were talking together, Perhaps they met each other in a market in Jerusalem. One might say, there's a new religion in Jerusalem. There's a group of people and this is what they're doing. That man or woman would then list the four things or characteristics that set this group apart, that distinguish them from their culture, their society. And there's one more thing to keep in mind as we consider what the church was doing. These four activities were not something that everyone just started, but quickly lost interest in. The text says they continued steadfastly in these four things. Now, this is a good translation, congregation. The word used in the original gives the idea of continuing in a course of action, persisting, being busy with. being faithful to, being attached to, being devoted to something. Even this introduction shows that the Holy Spirit was at work in the early New Testament church. Besides a failure to focus on the Bible and to submit to the Bible, Isn't it true that the broader church of our day is lacking in the grace of steadfast continuing? Whether it is a new revelation, a new prophecy, a new perspective, a new purpose, a new technique, the church is dominated by the desire for change, for something new. And the broader church of our day is characterized by a failure to continue steadfastly. After you have learned about the things that characterized the New Testament church and the way that they continued in them, is there someone you know who needs to hear about the biblical way to be a Pentecostal church? Will you take the opportunity to share with them about these four characteristics of a Pentecostal church? Notice firstly with me, congregation, that a biblical Pentecostal church stays together. A biblical Pentecostal church stays together. We read, the church continued steadfastly and fellowship. Now, fellowship is one of those words that are difficult to define and easy to get wrong. Fellowship is not a warm, fuzzy feeling that you get when the music is beautiful and the lighting is right. Fellowship is the experience of the communion of saints. It is the realization that here is a brother Here is a sister who trusts in the same Savior as I do. We love the same Lord. We seek the same goals and we want God to be glorified and sinners to be saved. I admire people like that. I respect people like that. I love those kind of people. Those are the kind of people I want to be with. I have unity with those kind of people. And if you are such a person and you know the joy of unity as church, you know that you're walking on the same road, you're heading in the same direction, you're carrying the burdens of the people that you have fellowship with, you're helping them along. Before we move on, there's something that you need to be clear on about fellowship. Fellowship is based on unity, not uniformity. This is so important that it's worth repeating. Dear ones, fellowship is based on unity, not uniformity. You don't have to be the same as someone in order to be one with them. Think of the different characteristics of the disciples of our Lord, how they argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven and how they had to learn to love each other. Again, you don't have to be the same as someone else in order to order to have fellowship with them. Anyone who says this forgets that God made people differently. We have different appearances. We have different characteristics. We enjoy different activities. And think for a moment about God's church in glory congregation, for she shall be one. There will be complete, perfect, eternal unity. Yet there will be diversity. There will be people from every tribe, tongue and nation in this glorious heavenly church. There will be unity. and diversity. And so we also are called to strive for unity as a biblical Pentecostal church on earth today. If strangers come, people who might look different than you, perhaps people who are dressed differently than you are, Are you doing your utmost to make those visiting strangers feel welcome here? Let's learn from the Bible what direction we should be heading in as church, and let's resolve as individuals and resolve together to walk in that direction together. God delights in the unity of his church. Think of the words of Psalm 133, verse one. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. This is an exclamation congregation. In a world where there is conflict between nations and people and there are sinful divisions within churches and among churches. People who live in loving fellowship stand out for all the right reasons. Praise God, when this is the case, when unity prevails, yet continued fellowship takes continued work. But as we look back at this early New Testament church, as we see them continuing in fellowship, we can see that the Holy Spirit empowered the church to continue in fellowship. And this new community of believers worked to continue in fellowship. The text for this Pentecost season sermon is all about what believers can do with the Holy Spirit helping them. But perhaps you ask, where does continued fellowship come from? This is a most important question if you are to If you are to continue in fellowship and grow in fellowship. Real, true, lasting fellowship comes from the ascended Savior, Jesus Christ. Here we have the answer to Christ's prayer that the church may be one. Christ is the source of continued unity in his church. For we are unified in him, He is the head of the church throughout the earth and the church on earth is his body. Listen to what Paul says about this unity in Christ in Romans 12, 4 and 5. For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and every one member one of another. Brothers and sisters, let your unity be founded on unity in Christ and your common relationship to him. This unity is based on spiritual life. It is unity in the truth. It is as sure and certain as God saving work. It is a living, giving, loving, peaceable spirit that strives for unity and continued fellowship. This unity continues because it is founded on Christ and it comes from Christ. I conclude this first point on staying together or fellowship with a call to continue in fellowship from 1 John 4, 7 and 8. The apostle says, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. We have seen that the New Testament church stayed together, they continued steadfastly in fellowship. And notice, secondly with me, that they prayed together. This New Testament post-Pentecost church prayed together. They continued steadfastly in prayer, our text says. Think about how Acts tells us about several times that the early church prayed together. Think of what happens in Acts chapter three. As the children's song says, Peter and John went to pray. They met a lame man on the way. The church prayed numerous times in the book of Acts, they prayed before the election of Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle. The church gathered the 120 disciples gathered together, men and women together, praying between the ascension of the Lord and the time when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on his church. And think of how the early church encountered persecution. What did they do in acts for they prayed and God answered by shaking the building where they were to let these believers know that he had heard their prayer. Also, think of the emergency prayer meeting, which happened when Peter was imprisoned. James had already been killed. And in answer to that prayer, The angel released Peter from prison, even though he was chained between a group of Roman soldiers. As we look back to the early New Testament church, we can see what reason the early church had to pray together. They were a small new religion where the other religious groups banded together against this new competitor. Think of how the Pharisees and the Sadducees joined together as they pursued charges against Stephen and they made him a martyr. And later, the Roman state would turn against Christianity and across the empire, sporadically over a period of 270 years or so, persecutions would rage. Even though there were 3000 converts on Pentecost, many of these people were visitors to Jerusalem and they had to leave and return to their homes. When the members in Jerusalem looked at their present situation and when they look to the future, they must have felt small and vulnerable. What reason the New Testament church had to pray? This small, insignificant group of believers in Jerusalem continued in prayer. And God answered their prayers. God prospered the gospel cause in Jerusalem. The apostles were witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. Isn't it true, congregation, that sometimes we might think of North America as the center of world Christianity? Most of us have Dutch ancestry. And when we think of European history and Dutch history, we think of Europe in general and Holland in particular as the center of Christianity, at least in terms of its past. Yet, according to Jesus and his classification, Places as different as Holland and Pompton Plains, New Jersey, are the uttermost parts of the earth. Just thinking about the spread of the gospel and the triumph of the gospel around the world, what encouragement there is to pray for the church. Now, as we turn from the global picture to the local picture, what reason there is to pray for this local church that you are a part of. There are additional duties for your consistory since you are a vacant congregation. If Paul needed the prayers of the churches, so your consistory needs your prayers. Brothers and sisters, please pray for them. And notice, secondly, is we consider the local situation You are not the only vacant congregation in the denomination. And for you to receive a pastor from another congregation means that this man would then have to leave his present church to serve you. Now, please understand, I don't blame you for this. It's right that you should seek a pastor to minister here. This is part of God's ordained order for his church. But I mention this because there's a need for pastors in the denomination. Humanly speaking, several of the pastors who are serving the congregations will not continue for much longer. They're getting older. There is a need for more students for the ministry. Will you commit to pray either personally or as a group for men to serve vacant congregations in our federation and also in other faithful churches. And for you, dear brothers in the Lord, in view of your gifts, your opportunities and your desires, have you considered whether God is calling you to the gospel ministry Have you made this a matter of continuing steadfast prayer? Though Christ was no longer present in his body, the earthly Christians knew that in his Godhead, he was always with him, with them. In their troubles, in their struggles, in their difficulties, they looked to Christ in prayer. They prayed not because it was a traditional thing for Christians to do, but because they needed help from their ascended Lord. They looked to the Lord and he answered their prayers. They were not put to shame. The New Testament Church steadfastly continued in prayer. Will you, as members of the Free Reform Church of Pompton Plains, And as members of other churches follow their godly example. Not only did the New Testament church stay together and pray together, but thirdly, they remembered together. You notice thirdly, that the New Testament church remembered together. Again, the text says they continued steadfastly in breaking of bread. Perhaps you ask, what does this remembering have to do with breaking bread? The believers ate together. Breaking bread is connected to the activities of the church in the text. Not only did the church eat some meals together as a symbol of their unity, as an extension of their fellowship, but they also steadfastly continued to break bread from house to house. Since they lived in times of uncertainty and persecution, they took advantage of every opportunity to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. This is what our text means when it says they continued steadfastly in breaking of bread. They ate the bread and they drank the wine and they thought of the broken body and the shed blood of their Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for sinners. They remembered his sacrifice together. Think of it, congregation. If ever the church might have been tempted to look for new revelations, new experiences, it might have been in this time when the Holy Spirit was especially evident. Yet it was in this time that the church looked back to Christ's work and they lived out of his plan for the church, for the present. Perhaps you think, I wish we could celebrate the Lord's Supper more, more often. Well, John Calvin wanted to celebrate communion every week, too, but this is a battle that he didn't win. Remember that this was a unique time of special blessing for an infant church. Jesus had ascended into heaven and the church enjoyed a temporary time of respite before the persecution came. In the days when the church was scattered, the believers may have gone many days without the opportunity to celebrate the Lord's Supper. When they fled for their lives to foreign cities, they could look back first to the times that they ate the Lord's Supper in Jerusalem. And when they thought of the bread and the wine, they would remember the body and blood of the Lord. We thought about the early New Testament church, how they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread and the celebration of the Lord's Supper. They remembered together. But what about you, congregation? Are you making the most of every opportunity to celebrate the Lord's Supper? Do you think of the reading of the form as an old tradition to put up with? The boring part to endure before you get to the Lord's Supper, or do you give all your attention to the reading of the form? Do you take the opportunity to learn from the form about the Lord's Supper? Or during the week prior to the celebration of the Lord's Supper, do you take the opportunity to learn from other helpful books written about the Lord's Supper? Could it be, dear believer, that you benefit so little from the Lord's Supper because you prepare so little. Could it be that the coldness of your heart continues even after you return to your pew from the table because you have not first come with that cold heart, you've not come to the Lord with your cold heart, that he might revive it? Are you seeking special blessings from the Lord as you prepare for special services like the Lord's Supper? Before we move on, if you think back to our scripture reading, did you notice several references to baptism in the passage we read? When the converts asked Simon Peter what they should do, he told them to repent of their sin and be baptized. In verse 41, we learn that all who received the gospel word and believed it were baptized. Congregation, think for a moment about the connection between Jesus' words and the actions of the early church. Just before his ascension, Jesus instructed his disciples in Mark 16, 15 and 16. There he says, Go ye into all the world. and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. Jesus instructed that the believers were to be baptized and by extension, their children were to be baptized as well, because the promises of God's covenant came to each one of them, too. When Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, remember that he said, do this in remembrance of me. Notice what's going on here in our text passage congregation, the early church does what Jesus commands her to do. Those early believers didn't invent any extra sacraments or ceremonies, they didn't say, We feel especially spiritual and close to God when we do this new sacrament that we came up with. No congregation. These early Christians were devoted to Jesus commands. Jesus ordained two sacraments and his followers held to two sacraments. And here we can see a principle practiced by the early church, which was brought to a prominent position by the reformers and the Presbyterian churches. Like the early church, these Protestant churches believed that the church must worship in the way that God directs in his word. And what God does not command is forbidden. How important it is that we know what directions God has given us in his word. Parents among us, what attitude do you have toward God's word? Do you submit to what the Bible says about what we are to do as church? Are you reflecting a positive attitude about what is biblical in church life and practice? Are you grieving, not gossiping over what is wrong in church life and the lives of other members of the church? We've been considering being a Pentecostal church in light of Acts 2, verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in breaking of bread and in prayers. We've seen three results of the Holy Spirit empowering his church and working within his church. A Pentecostal church in the biblical sense of the word is a church that stays together. Praise together and remembers together. Before you rush off and get busy implementing this technique from the early New Testament church, it's essential that you remember something that I said before. The Holy Spirit gave the desire. He gave the power and God's people worked. If this sermon will be of any benefit to you as a church, it's essential that you attempt to implement God's program for his church in God's way. If you try to implement these steps for a Pentecostal church, but you try to do them in your own strength, they will become the next new idea, the latest, greatest program until someone else comes up with something new and you give that new program a try. If you will continue to be a faithful Pentecostal church, each of you needs to be a spirit filled member of this local church or of the local churches where God has placed you. As you seek to follow God's word in church life, how necessary it is that you look to Christ as you work. Without him, human programs and plans may look successful, but ultimately they will fail. Perhaps you ask, Besides having the Holy Spirit within us, what else did this early church do? And the answer is our fourth point. They learned together. The early New Testament church learned together. We read the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. Besides the Holy Spirit's presence and blessing, this point was the secret to their success as a church. Although the Apostles' doctrine is the first characteristic mentioned in the text, I've kept it for last because it's the most important part of the text. What does it mean that the church continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine? It means that the early church followed the leadership of the apostles and faithfully held onto their teachings. But what were their special teachings that benefited the church so much? If we didn't have the book of Acts, we would think that it must have been something new, revolutionary, exciting, something that no one could come up with. After all, this was a special time in church history. But we do have the book of Acts and we have the epistles, the letters of the apostles. Paul, James, Peter and John wrote to the churches. Do you know what Peter did in our text chapter when people mocked and said that the disciples were drunk? Peter preached the gospel. You can see this, especially in Acts 2, 32 and 33. where they summarize this gospel sermon for us. There, Peter said, this Jesus have 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, he hath shed forth this which he now see and hear. When we read that the early church held on to the apostles doctrine, we should imagine that they heard the New Testament in sermon form before it was written down. They heard about Jesus Christ, whose work was planned by God in eternity past. Think how Peter spoke of the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Some of the people who heard Peter's sermon on Pentecost Sunday handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. They were among the crowd who cried, crucify him. However, the story didn't end with Jesus crucifixion. Peter went on to tell his congregation that three days after Jesus death, God raised him from the dead and 40 days after his resurrection, God took him up into heaven. This ascended Lord Jesus Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on his church on earth so that the gospel would go to every part of the world. And when we think of this new, exciting time in church history, isn't it true that we're tempted to think that the Holy Spirit would reveal wonderful, new, exciting truths that would mobilize the church and shake the world? But this is not the case. Jesus tells his disciples what the Holy Spirit would do. Please turn to John 16, the verses 13 and 14, where we can read about that work of the Holy Spirit together. The Gospel of John, chapter 16, the verses 13 and 14. There Jesus says, John 16, 13, Albeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is totally focused on lifting up Jesus Christ and his work. As soon as any group separates the Holy Spirit from Jesus, as well as the eternal plan of God the Father, they're bound to run into trouble. Remember that the triune God has a single purpose, not three different plans. God the Father planned the saving work that Jesus would do. Jesus was born into this world to do this work, and the Holy Spirit was poured out in the church and given to everyone who believes in Jesus in order to apply the benefits of Jesus saving work. This all centers on Jesus Christ, and it is all directed to God's glory. God is not three different persons with three different agendas. God is one in his being and one in his purpose. This is what the Bible says about God. Do you believe it? What does it mean to be a Pentecostal church in the year 2008? First, it means that you stay together You do everything in your power to let brotherly love continue. If you have a concern, a disagreement with anyone, you go in a loving, giving, tender spirit to be reconciled to that brother or sister. Second, you pray together. You pray in this place during worship services and you pray for the church in your homes. Third, you remember together. The sacraments are times to cherish, not just to sit through. You look from the water of baptism and the bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper to the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ given to save sinners and to wash them from their sins. Remember, marvel and rejoice Fourthly, you continue in the apostles doctrine as we have it in scripture. You hold to both testaments from the creation of the universe in six days to the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of time, and you cry in your soul, Come Lord Jesus. That's what it means to be a Pentecostal church in 2008 in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. As you hear about these four aspects of the early New Testament church, do you think I can do that? Or do you pray, come Holy Spirit, give me those attitudes, give me more of that loving spirit, please give me a love for thy people, a love for Jesus, a love for thy word. What reason you have Dear believer, to keep looking to Christ as you seek to be faithful. Are there sins in your lives as individuals that grieve the Holy Spirit? Could it be? That you have been working in your own strength, using your own methods to try to be successful as a church. If Christ is our groom and we are his bride, why do we think all is well when we have been living without him? Dear fellow believers, how each of us needs to come to Christ again and again for cleansing, for forgiveness for our sin. A truly Pentecostal church is a Christ-centered church and a blood-washed church. She is a Christ-like church, for just as Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, so it is God's will that His church should also be full of the Holy Spirit. And it is by means of the Holy Spirit given to each believer that each one of God's people is being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, the spirit filled Savior. Isn't there a reason for encouragement in your personal struggles and perhaps even your church struggles? For you have received the Holy Spirit as an individual believer. Are you drawing from the resources that Jesus gave you when he saved you? What if someone here says, I believe that all of those points come from the text, but I don't know about those feelings, those attitudes that you're talking about. Well, friend. I will tell you what the apostles, what the apostles would say if they were here today. They would say something like this. This same Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven, is going to come again as the judge of all people. But before he returns, he commands all people everywhere to repent. That means that if you don't believe in Jesus, you must turn from your sin and run for your life to the Savior, the refuge for sinners. He commands you to repent. Besides breaking with your sin, God calls you to come in faith, to look to the Savior who was crucified for sinners. God doesn't say, look to Christ, Go on your way and try to do a better job. Try to live better. Try to do more. No, congregation, that is not the message of Scripture. Jesus is a complete savior for great sinners. He offers total salvation. He saves completely. As Spurgeon said so often, there's life in a look to the crucified one. If you come to Him, He will have mercy on you. He will forgive your sins and pour out His Holy Spirit on you so that it would be Pentecost in your soul too. When you know His saving power, you will tell us about it, won't you? So that we also can praise the Lord with you and so that you can join with us as we fulfill our Lord's command to be a Pentecostal Church, all to the glory of God. Amen.