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Turn in your Bibles to the Book 
of Acts. Acts chapter 2. No, I won't be 
continuing Pastor Butler's preaching through the Book of Acts. He is able and fit for doing 
that. We're going to backtrack though 
and consider a passage that he's already preached on from a bit 
of a different vantage point this morning, which I'll explain 
after we read it, but just a note of Backdrop here remember that 
Christ in his earthly ministry prior to his crucifixion resurrection 
and ascension had promised that he would build his church and 
the gates of hell would not prevail against it. When we come to the 
book of Acts, the ascended, now ascended Christ Jesus, is empowering 
and invigorating his church and his messengers to go about the 
task of the Christ-blessed process of building that church. It is 
Christ who builds it through the ministrations of his earthly 
ambassadors and his earthly heralds. And so the backdrop that we have 
here is that promise of Christ. We have the promise of the sending 
of the Spirit. You'll remember as well in Christ's 
earthly ministry, he promised that he would send his Spirit 
so that the disciples, so that the apostles would have the means 
and the spiritual wherewithal to go about proclaiming the good 
tidings of Jesus Christ. And as well, he then sends those 
ministers themselves. He promised, behold, I send you 
prophets, wise men, and scribes. He sends, after empowering his 
ministers and promising to build his church, he sends them out 
into the world to go about proclaiming the riches and the excellencies 
of Christ. And here in Acts chapter 2, the 
portion of the text we're going to be concerned with is verses 
22 to 43. And just a brief introduction 
here, we have in verses 22 to 24 a sermonic prologue. That 
simply means something of an introduction to the sermon at 
large. The Apostle Peter, beginning 
here, men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, and 
then encapsulating the death and resurrection message that 
is at the core of Christianity. In verses 25 to 35, then, we 
have the sermonic expansion and explanation. It's an opening 
up of verses 22 to 24, what follows in 25 to 35, an expansion and 
an explanation of this crucified one, of this resurrected one, 
what that means and what is the scriptural undergirding for the 
completion and the perfection of that promise. In verse 36 
we have the cutting application, the apostle Peter bringing to 
bear the sins of the people upon the message of this Christ. We 
have the audience response in verse 37. We have the summons 
and the promise in verses 38 to 39. the summary of divine 
building in 40 to 43. And when we get to that particular 
point, we'll notice here that isn't it a wonderful thing that 
the building of the church doesn't occur by the sweat of men. Mind you, the sweat of men is 
engaged in the building of the church, but it is a divine building. Christ had promised that he would 
build his church, and when we come to the narrative account 
in the book of Acts of the building of that church, we find that 
it is God who adds to the church daily those who are being saved. 
We can rest upon the divine promise that he will build his church. 
Well, let's begin reading then in verse 22. We'll read to verse 
43, and then we'll have a look at a number of things. Acts 2, 
beginning in verse 22. Once again, the Word of God. him being delivered by the determined 
purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless 
hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, 
having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that 
he should be held by it. For David says concerning him, 
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right 
hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced 
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also will 
rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will 
you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known 
to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy 
in your presence. Men and brethren, let me speak 
freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and 
buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being 
a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him 
that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would 
raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this 
spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul 
was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This 
Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, 
being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from 
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this 
which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into 
the heavens, but he says himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit 
at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and 
Christ. Now when they heard this, they 
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the 
apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said 
to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to 
you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many 
as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he 
testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse 
generation. Then those who gladly received 
his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added 
to them. And they continued steadfastly 
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of 
bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, 
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Amen. Well, let us pray. God, we thank 
you for this time now in the preaching of your word. We do 
pray that you would help us in this act of worship, be with 
the preacher. We pray that you would help me, 
Lord God, to preach accurately and to preach with precision 
your word. We do pray for those who hear 
that you would instruct them, that you would equip them, We 
pray, Lord, by your spirit your saints would leave this place 
equipped and strengthened for a week to live for your glory's 
sake. And we pray, Lord God, that by preaching and by spirit 
you would bring forth dead sinners to life this morning, knowing 
that with you all things are possible. We pray that you would 
bring dead sinners to life in Christ Jesus the Lord, that many 
more tongues might confess that Jesus is Christ, to the glory 
of God the Father. And we do pray that in this act 
and in the rest of this worship this morning, you would help 
us to worship you in spirit and in truth, that you would once 
again receive all honor and praise. We pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, I mentioned that we'd take 
a little bit of a different angle with regards to this passage. 
What I want to do is look at the benefactions of the ascended 
Christ. We confess a number of things 
regarding Christ. We confess him as very God. We confess him as very man. We confess him as one Christ. We confess him as the only mediator 
between God and man. We confess him as the one who 
has alone effected salvation for all his elect. There are 
a number of things regarding his person and regarding his 
work that we do confess, but we also want to not forget to 
confess his benefactions. That simply means the gifts that 
he gives to us. You've perhaps heard the language 
before, benefactor, beneficiary. A benefactor, kids, if I was 
to give you candy, if I had a bunch of candy, that I was willing 
to give. I would be a benefactor, one 
who is giving good things. You would be the beneficiaries. 
I don't have any candy, by the way, so if anybody is coming 
up to me afterwards, I'm sorry, I don't have any candy. You receiving 
the candy, you're the beneficiary of these good things. And these 
good things, we can call them benefactions. It's not a very 
common word, but that's simply the word I use, the benefactions 
of the ascended Christ. Gifts that he gives to his people 
now having been crucified, having been resurrected, having now 
been ascended. What does he pour out upon? What 
does he give to his church? What good things of the bounty 
of the exalted Redeemer do come forth? to the Church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We're going to notice three things, 
and I'll explain these terms as we move along. But the three 
things we're going to look at are these. First, his charismatic 
benefactions. Secondly, his soteriological 
benefactions. And thirdly, his ecclesiastical 
benefactions. A lot of syllables there, but 
we'll define them as we move along. First off, then, his charismatic 
benefactions. This simply means kids, and this 
simply means adults. His gifts relating to the preaching 
of the gospel. If you ever hear the word kerygma, 
sometimes you might read it if you're reading a commentary, 
you're reading a book on theology or something, you might read 
the term kerygma. That simply means a pattern of 
apostolic preaching. Here in the book of Acts, the 
kerygma, or the pattern of apostolic preaching, is that the preachers 
bring to bear that the promised Christ of the Old Testament is 
this Jesus Christ whom you crucified. And they hinge to that message 
certain applications and certain things. And so his charismatic 
benefactions, that simply means the gifts of the ascended Christ 
that pertain to preaching. We would introduce this section 
by these words, the Lord Jesus, very God and very man, yet one 
Christ, once crucified, now resurrected and ascended, gives to his creation 
and church the gift of the proclamation of the gospel. That is the benefaction, 
one of the benefactions that Christ gives to His creation 
and church, the proclamation of His gospel. First off, under this head, the 
gift of preachers. This isn't to be a self-serving 
sub-point. You know, this isn't the point 
where the preacher puffs out his chest and says, aren't we 
a gift to creation in the church? But in a sense, a preacher is 
a gift to creation in the church by Christ. Not in some sort of 
puffed up or stuffy sort of way, but in the manner by which God 
was pleased to ordain the proclamation of his message concerning his 
dear son. The preacher is the means, the 
tool, the instrument given by God for such proclamation. On this day, a preacher stood 
up to preach and he is prototypical for all who follow. Peter stands 
up on this day and he begins to preach in verse 22. In fact, 
he is began to preach prior in his explanation with regards 
to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. But the sermon, the pointed 
sermon in a sense begins now in verse 22, men of Israel hear 
these words. Preacher stood up on this day 
and he's prototypical for all who follow boldness by grace 
here in the Apostle Peter. We see that Peter stands up as 
a preacher to a multitude here and he is empowered by God to 
proclaim the message that God would have for these people on 
this day. And remember, this has been, 
we have had cause to recognize this and reflect on this before, 
but isn't it an amazing thing here that we have Peter standing 
up and preaching and speaking these words. Men of Israel hear 
these words. Recall what Peter was or who 
Peter was 50 days ago. From the vantage point of this 
day of preaching, 50 days ago, Peter was thrice denying his 
Lord before the patio interrogations of wicked persons. Before one 
patio interrogation of a servant girl, he was denying his Lord. But we see here, 50 days later, 
what's going on. Peter is standing up with vigor, 
and he's standing up with courage, proclaiming the Christ of glorious 
truth. It's an amazing thing. Do you 
remember why, how it is that Peter is standing up on this 
day? With what strength he is now standing before this multitude 
and preaching? Remember that before his denial, 
Christ had said, Satan has sought to sift you like wheat, but I 
have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. And when 
you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. It's another glorious 
thing. We have a Christ that prays for 
us. Brothers and sisters, we have a Christ that intercedes 
for us and prays for us. You have perhaps stumbled in 
your walk with Christ. You've perhaps stumbled in your 
walk as a Christian. And the guilt pours in. The guilt 
starts to pour in because you've sinned. You've had a good season 
where things were going well, but sin has come and you've stumbled. 
Know that there is a Christ who prays for you. There is a Christ 
who sits at the right hand of the Father on high, and he prays 
for you. He said to Peter, I have prayed 
for you that your faith would not fail. When you've returned 
to me, strengthen your brethren. And the preacher stands up on 
this day, and he does strengthen his brethren. What an amazing 
turn it is from, I do not know this Jesus of Nazareth, to men 
of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, and he goes on to 
proclaim his glorious Christ. It's an amazing thing that the 
Peter, who cowered before the patio interrogations of a servant 
girl, can stand up and say, therefore, let all the house of Israel know 
assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both 
Lord and Christ. Whenever we read this passage 
in Acts, we ought to marvel at the amazing grace of God. That's 
an application that's easy for the preacher, but it's an application 
that so often comes across in the pages of Holy Scripture, 
having turned Peter from that denier to a great and vigorous 
proclaimer of the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ. But notice that the risen Christ, 
the risen and exalted Christ, has gifted his creation in church, 
in this case, with preachers. You can turn with me to keep 
our minds active and to keep our fingers moving to the book 
of Ephesians for a moment, just to see that this ascension or 
the gift of good things, the gift of preachers seen connected 
to the ascension of Jesus Christ. Christ has been crucified. Christ 
has been resurrected. He's now being ascended. So what 
does he do? Notice in Ephesians chapter four, 
beginning in verse seven, This marks, by the way, the transition 
from the theological to the practical in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. 
He has preached rich theology, and now he gets to the implications 
of it. But in the midst of this, he 
remarks concerning Christ, his ascension, and the giving of 
gifts. Notice in verse 7 of Ephesians 4, but to each one of us, grace 
was given according to the measure of Christ's gift, his benefactions. Therefore, he says, when he ascended 
on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now skip 
past the parenthetical for a moment to notice verse 11. And he gave 
himself some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, 
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, 
for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so we have here this gifting, 
this giving, these benefactions linked to the ascension of Jesus 
Christ. Isn't it a wonderful thing? Christ 
Jesus, upon the heels of his ascension, does not just stop 
in his mediatorial work and say, OK, I've done my thing now. Now 
I leave you. I leave the church to do your 
own thing without my beneficence and without my ongoing activity 
as the one stationed at the right hand of God. No. He continues 
to work, he continues to do, he continues to engage in his 
mediatorial activity for the good of his church. And here 
we see that preachers are given as gifts to men. There are many 
applications that come from this, but one of the things that we 
ought to see in this is do you pray for your preacher? On the morning before Jim Butler 
comes into the pulpit to preach, at some point, maybe the night 
before, certainly in the morning leading up to it, do you pray 
for the preacher? Because preachers don't come into this pulpit, 
and good preachers, preachers of Christ, true preachers of 
the gospel, don't enter into a pulpit with a chest puffed 
and with an arrogance. There are always knees knocking 
and nerves rambling in a preacher of the gospel. It's a very difficult 
thing. I think I've used this illustration 
before. If I was just coming up here, if a preacher was just 
coming up here and just, or excuse me, not a preacher, but if I 
just came up here and this was a different context and perhaps 
we all worked for Skittles. And I was giving a lecture on 
why they changed the green Skittle to a different flavor. I still 
don't know why they did that. But if I was just giving you 
a lecture on Skittles, the subject matter wouldn't be all that important. It wouldn't be of an eternal 
significance. It would simply be a lecture on why I switched 
flavors from whatever it was to whatever it is now. It's not 
as nice as it is now, but you get the point. If I was just 
a marketing representative for Skittles giving you a lecture 
on the new green flavor, it probably wouldn't be all that engaging. 
You as employees of Skittles might need to know these things, 
but there wouldn't be a whole weight upon the shoulders of 
the person speaking about a green Skittle. It wouldn't be a laborious 
thing. It wouldn't be a heavy thing. 
But when it comes, as we now land back upon sacred things, 
when it comes to sacred things, When it comes to the stuff of 
the Bible, when it comes to eternal things, the things of the written 
word concerning God and His redemption for men, it's a heavy topic, 
it's a heavy task. You have the devil, the assailing 
devil, seeking to steal away confidence. You have the world 
and its allurements seeking to distract. You have the flesh 
that remains, the flesh that lusts after the spirit, seeking 
to battle you away from preaching the word of God. Do you pray 
for your preachers? Preachers go into the pulpit 
and they rest upon God. They rest upon the triune God 
who gives mightily for the act of preaching. But they also rely 
upon a praying congregation. That is the providential means 
where you enter in with the ordainment of God in the instrumentation 
of preachers given by Christ as a gift to proclaim the riches 
and the excellencies of Christ. And so do you pray for your preachers. Secondly, under his charismatic 
benefactions, which simply means, again, the gifts relating to 
the preaching of the gospel, we have the gift of preaching. 
You might say, okay, well, what's different there? Well, there 
is a difference. God has given us preachers for the proclamation 
of his gospel, but he's also given us the act of preaching, 
wherein the preacher engages in that heavy task of proclamation. And here, Peter, on this day, 
it was preaching that was needful. And this is the enduring pattern 
for the history of Christianity. On this day, Peter stands up 
and he preaches. He preaches a message concerning 
Christ, His riches and His excellencies for the growth of the church 
and for the good of the church. God, or rather Christ, in His 
ascended reality has benefacted preaching to the church for her 
good. It's been said before by Jim 
more than myself that there were many other media available to 
the church. There were many other media. 
I think that's the proper word. There were multiple mediums available 
for the church to engage in for the communication of a message. 
But it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached 
to save those who believe. You see here, Peter standing 
up, he doesn't engage in a juggling act. He doesn't engage in song. He doesn't engage in theater. He doesn't engage in anything 
save for the preaching of the word. And this is a gift given 
by the ascended Christ here. And it's not simply preaching 
merely, but it is the reality of it and the content of it. 
See, it's not just speaking words. It's not just Peter standing 
up and speaking words to this gathered assembly, but rather 
there is a content to his preaching. And isn't the content rich? Men 
of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested 
by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through 
him in your midst, as you yourselves also know him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom 
God raised up." You see, it's not just the speaking of words 
that is the gift of preaching. It is the reality of preaching 
to be sure, but it's the content as well. And here Peter stands 
up and he preaches He proclaims the glories and the riches of 
Jesus Christ. On this day, it was preaching 
that was needful. And this is the enduring pattern 
in the history of Christianity. Today, it is preaching that is 
needful. Today it is preaching that is needful for the salvation 
of sinners. I think it is the case in many 
corners of the professing church that if preaching isn't working, 
then we need to try something else, a pragmatic approach to 
Christianity. If preaching isn't working, then 
we need to try some other medium. We need to introduce, perhaps 
we shrink the preaching down to 10 minutes. and we introduce 
other things because the church just isn't growing. It has been 
preaching that God has always been pleased to use for the growth 
of the church. The church may go through many 
seasons of ebbing and flowing throughout the years, but it 
has always been and it will always be preaching that God uses for 
that enduring pattern to grow his church throughout the ages. You can turn with me for a moment 
to Galatians. Chapter 3. To see something with respect 
to media, that is, mediums used for communication, and the preaching 
of the Word. It's an interesting passage here 
in Galatians 3. We understand the situation in 
Galatia, where it is geographically, relative to where Christ ministered, 
and Consider the preaching of the word notice at the rate at 
the beginning of Galatians chapter 3 beginning in verse 1 Oh foolish 
Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the 
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed 
among you as crucified And let me just read that one more time 
because Galatia is hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem. They 
never saw the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh foolish Galatians, who has 
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose 
eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. You see, when the preaching of 
the word is delivered as it ought to be delivered, when a minister 
of the gospel stands up in a pulpit and proclaims the word of God, 
in this case, when a minister of the gospel stands up before 
a congregation and preaches Jesus Christ, it is as if Christ is 
clearly portrayed before our eyes as crucified. See, we don't 
need visual media, we don't need theater. Through the preaching 
of the word, the gospel of Jesus Christ is as if it is unfolding 
before our own eyes. Calvin preached these words on 
this particular notion and he's talking about the vanity of symbols 
and emblems and pictures in a church. He says, Paul declares, speaking 
of Galatians 3.1, Paul declares that by the true preaching of 
the gospel, Christ is portrayed and in a manner crucified before 
our eyes. Of what use then were the erection 
in churches of so many crosses of wood and stone, silver and 
gold, if this doctrine were faithfully and honestly preached? Christ 
died that he might bear our curse upon the tree, that he might 
expiate our sins by the sacrifice of his body, wash them in his 
blood, and in short, reconcile us to God the Father. From this 
one doctrine, the people would learn more from a thousand crosses 
of wood and stone. As for crosses of gold and silver, 
it may be true that the avaricious give their eyes and minds to 
them more eagerly than to any heavenly instructor." What he's 
saying there is that, you know, The eyes of the avaricious, the 
eyes of those eager for visual things, give their eyes and their 
minds more to crosses, to pictures, to crosses of gold and silver, 
wood and stone, than to heavenly instructors, than to preachers. 
And the preaching of the word, from this one doctrine, the preaching 
of the gospel, the people would learn more than from a thousand 
crosses of wood and stone. And so, the gift of preachers 
and the gift of preaching. One of the things we ought to 
consider here, one of the things we ought to bring into mind is, 
do you give for the preaching? And I don't mean of your own 
good things. I mean your time and your focus and your attention. 
As we said before, it's not an easy task. It is a task that 
the preacher ought to be able to engage in. Any dumb preacher ought to be 
able to get up into a pulpit and stand up and proclaim the 
word of God to a particular measure of precision and accuracy so 
that the people get something out of it. But do you give to 
the preaching? That is your time and your focus 
and your attention. I'm not sure what the saying 
exactly is, but the preacher is to preach, but the people 
are reciprocally supposed to hear. In other words, you can 
get a preacher that's eager to come into the pulpit and to preach, 
but if you don't have people eager to come into the pews to 
hear the Word of God preached, then the preaching exercise can 
be a vanity. Oh sure, if there are zero eager 
people out there and the preacher is preaching, he's done his job. 
He's been empowered by God to proclaim in that ordained means 
of proclamation. But if no one is out there eager 
to receive the Word of God preached, then it can be, in a sense, vanity. And as we come in each and every 
Lord's Day, as we do come in each and every Lord's Day, we 
ought to be eager to hear, we ought to be ready to hear, and 
we ought to give ear as the preaching is carried out by the preacher. 
There is the gift of preachers, there is the gift of preaching, 
and we ought to recognize in this there ought to be a particular 
recognition. I've already said that the preacher 
doesn't enter the pulpit puffed up. He certainly ought not to 
do so. But there is a certain recognition 
with respect to preaching that we ought to recognize and that 
it ought to help us as we prepare ourselves to come in to hear 
preaching on the Lord's day. Some things that we ought to 
consider are the stuff of 2 Corinthians 4. You don't need to turn there, 
but if you have quick fingers, you can do so. Notice in 2 Corinthians 
4, beginning at verse 4. Excuse me, beginning at verse 
5. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and 
ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God 
who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone 
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He doesn't stop there, though. 
But just for a moment, notice the power that is behind your 
salvation, the power that is behind salvation, generally speaking. You catch that in verse 6, where 
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who 
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You get the 
connection there that the same power, the very power that called 
creation into existence, the very power that commanded light 
to shine out of the darkness and to shine into the darkness, 
the very power that created the heavens and the earth and all 
things that are in them in the space of six days and all very 
good is the same power that calls dead sinners to life in Jesus 
Christ. It's an amazing power that pictures 
man's need, his desperate need, his deadness in trespasses and 
sins. And it pictures the glorious 
God of heaven and earth, who with creative power makes a sinner 
his own by immense and glorious almighty power. But notice as 
we move on or as we read on with respect to preachers, verse seven, 
but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence 
of the power may be of God and not of us. So, to inform your 
prayer and to inform your preparation for preaching, and to qualify 
the fact that preachers are a gift to creation and to the church, 
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence 
of the power may be of God and not of us. Pray for your preachers 
and pray for the preaching. And thirdly, under his charismatic 
benefactions, again, the gifts relating to the preaching of 
the gospel, we simply have the fact of the gift of the Spirit 
for preaching. This is something that also ought 
to populate your prayers. Even in the midst, if you're 
called to in the middle of preaching, the preacher relies upon the 
Spirit of God for the proclamation of the Word. I've mentioned before, 
it is a heavy task coming into a pulpit to try to preach the 
Word of God. And the preacher relies upon 
the Spirit of God for power and for much assurance. And even 
as the preacher is going about the act of preaching, as the 
preacher is up here, hopefully not rambling, but bringing to 
bear the Word of God upon your souls, You pray for the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit. Lord, give him the spirit that 
he may continue in the act of preaching. The gift of the Spirit 
for preaching. Finding our way back to Acts 
2. On this day, the preacher and the preaching relied upon 
the Spirit of Christ. And today, preachers with the 
same preaching stand in the same reliance. I want you to notice 
something back in Acts chapter 2, the passage that we're considering 
as something of a point of departure for looking at his benefactions, 
though they all come from this particular passage. But notice, 
on this day, at verse 33, therefore, being exalted to the right hand 
of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the 
Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here. the 
gift of the Spirit for preaching. We ought not to presume upon 
the Spirit as something that Steve prayed at the closing of 
our prayer meeting. We don't presume upon the Spirit. 
We pray for the Spirit, that the Spirit might come with power 
and much assurance, helping the preacher and helping along the 
task of preaching. And here we read that He, that 
is Christ, the giver of benefactions, He poured out this which you 
now see and hear. I want to I want us to appreciate 
this scene for a moment. Remember that only 50 days ago, 
this Christ was crucified upon Calvary's cross. 50 days ago, this same audience 
called out, let him be crucified. Crucify this Christ, crucify 
him, give us Barabbas. They cried out for blood. They 
called out for blood. They saw this Christ, that Peter 
is now preaching, crucified upon Calvary's cross. 50 days later, 
Peter is saying that that Christ whom you crucified is now pouring 
out this which you now see in here. What an amazing thing and 
what a victorious Christ. They thought they silenced him. 
They thought that they brought him to a point of darkness and 
silence by crucifying him and putting him to death. We don't 
need to hear any longer this Jesus Christ preaching to us. 
But little did they know that according to the promise of the 
Holy Scriptures, he would be raised the third day, he would 
ascend to the right hand of the majesty on high, and he would 
send forth, he would pour out the spirit for the proclamation 
of the gospel, a gospel that concerns him, a gospel that would 
go forth victorious to the uttermost parts of the earth. It's an amazing 
scene. This preacher is saying that 
the one we crucified has poured out this power, and by this power, 
the proclamation of this message is going forth? Absolutely. The 
one you crucified has been ascended. God raised him up, set him at 
his right hand, And he now proclaims the riches and the excellencies 
of so glorious a message. The gift of the Spirit for the 
preaching. Well, secondly then, and moving 
along a little bit quicker now, let's look at his soteriological 
benefactions. Again, many syllables there, 
but what that simply means, kids, is his gift of salvation. Soteriology 
simply means the study of salvation, and we already know what benefactions 
are, those are gifts. His saving gifts, his gifts of 
salvation, the Lord Jesus, very God and very man, yet one Christ, 
once crucified, now resurrected and ascended, gives to his people 
those redemptive benefits, one, by his obedience unto cross-death 
vocation. He gives his people salvation. We see that here in this passage. 
Notice what we find, first of all. Well, first, under this 
point, the gift of salvation comprehended in effectual calling. Notice what we have in verse 
37. Now, when they heard this, that 
is, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and 
Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. and said to Peter and the rest 
of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Make no mistake 
that that is an evidence of one of two cuttings to the heart 
that occur in Holy Scripture. This is evidence of the motion 
and the moving of God in effectual calling. where God by His Spirit 
brings forth His people from the deadness and darkness of 
sin to life and light in Christ Jesus the Lord. This is an instance 
of that. Just for a comparison, turn with 
me for a moment to Acts 7. There are two ways in which a 
message cuts to the heart in the Holy Scriptures. One of the 
ways we find in Acts chapter 7 Notice notice here in the in 
the preaching of Stephen at Acts 7 verse 51 you stiff-necked and 
uncircumcised in heart and ears you always resist the Holy Spirit 
as your fathers did so to you which of the prophets did your 
fathers not persecute and they killed those who foretold the 
coming of the just one of whom you have now have become the 
betrayers and murderers and who have received the law by the 
direction of angels and have not kept it." Now notice, when 
they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. Stop for 
a moment. So we have in both instances 
this cutting to the heart. A message is preached, the message 
of Jesus Christ is preached, and there is this cutting to 
the heart. But notice here as we read on, 
and they gnashed at him with their teeth. That is a cutting 
to the heart, which in the unregenerate heart leads to the gnashing of 
teeth. They were angry, they were mad, 
they were venomous, they were about to bring murderous anger 
upon Stephen. Now, coming back to Acts chapter 
2, notice again at verse 37, now when they heard this, they 
were cut to the heart, But in this case, it's not a gnashing 
of teeth. In this case, it's not a murderous and an angry 
response, but much rather, and said to Peter and the rest of 
the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Here we have 
an evidence of that soteriological benefaction, simply the gift 
of salvation that the ascended Christ gives to his people. These were cut to the heart and 
they cry out, men and brethren, what shall we do? Notice as we 
move down to verse 41, then those who gladly received his word 
were baptized and that day about 3000 souls were added to them. The gift of salvation comprehended 
in effectual calling on this day, souls were brought from 
darkness to light, from deadness to life through the gift of preaching 
and by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this continues in 
our own day. You see, we may be cessationists 
when it comes to the revelatory gifts of the Spirit, but we confess 
with great vigor the fact that God continually, by His power, 
by His amazing grace, brings forth dead sinners to life in 
Jesus Christ. In that, we are continuationists. We confess the mighty power of 
God, that mighty power which is the same as his creative power 
in calling forth all things that exist, that power that brings 
forth a dead sinner to life. Brethren, I think we ought to 
look back upon our own Christianity, our own salvation, as often as 
we can. You reflect upon the the fact 
that there was a time where you were dead in your trespasses 
and sins That's what the scripture says of us. We were dead in our 
trespasses and in our sins It is a good thing to reflect back 
on the fact that you were once dead in your trespasses and sins 
in fact turn with me to Ephesians for a moment because this gives 
us a good picture of what we once were it calls upon a sinner 
to reflect, calls upon the Christian to reflect upon that previous 
state of affairs. Notice in Ephesians 2 at verse 
1, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins 
in which you once walked according to the course of this world and 
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also 
we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature 
children of wrath, just as the others." You see the weight of 
the state, the severity and the gravity of the state of affairs 
outside of Christ? There's a threefold reality here 
that we find. We find the devil, the world, 
and the flesh all referenced to here. The prince of the power 
of the air, the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. And we 
all once conducted ourselves fulfilling the desires of the 
flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath just 
as the others. There's a trifold opposition, 
a trifold reality rather with regards to the sinner that is 
dead and trespasses and sins. There might be a threefold enemy 
that we rail against now, but we have the power and the grace 
of God on our side. Prior to that, there was a threefold 
friend. It was a threefold friend. We 
were of our father, the devil, the desires of the father we 
wanted to do. We enjoyed engaging in the lusts 
of our flesh, and we enjoyed the allurements of the world. 
This was the threefold reality prior to being brought forth 
by amazing grace. I think if we reflect as often 
as we can in a wholesome exercise upon the whole of the pit from 
which we were digged, to use the language of Spurgeon, and 
the rock whence we were hewn, we will all the more appreciate 
the amazing and victorious grace of Almighty God. On that day, 
moving back to Acts 2, on that day, a multitude of sinners, 
were brought from darkness to light, from deadness to life, 
through the gift of preaching and by the power of the Holy 
Spirit, and this continues to our day. We ought to pray for 
that. We ought to pray daily for it, but certainly on the 
Lord's Day, this is something we ought to pray for, that that 
continuing activity of Almighty God might be witnessed to during 
the course of the worship service. is there are some who enter in 
these two doors outside of Christ in unbelief, in the darkness 
of sin, dead in their trespasses and in their sins. And we ought 
to pray that the God of powerful creation, who is also the God 
of powerful redemption, would bring forth dead sinners to life 
in Christ. Is that your prayer on a Lord's 
Day morning? Is that your prayer on the eve 
prior to the Lord's day? But is that your prayer that 
God would save? It ought to be our prayer. These 
are the things that ought to populate our prayers, that God, 
by His amazing grace, would bring forth dead sinners to life. On 
this day, we see it by this preacher and by this preaching and by 
the Spirit, sinners brought forth, asking men and brethren, what 
shall we do? And then the Lord adding them to the church. 3,000 
souls were added to them. Secondly, we also see the gift 
of salvation seen in the forgiveness of sins. Peter preaches in verse 
38, then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you 
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins 
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift 
of salvation comprehended in the forgiveness of sins. This 
is always a statement that a preacher uses guardedly, but is there 
anything greater than the forgiveness of sins? to reflect upon that 
glorious truth. Brethren, this is something that's 
repeated often from the pulpit. This isn't revolutionary stuff. 
If you are in Christ, you have the forgiveness of sins. What 
a glorious thing. If you peruse the diary of your 
memory, to again use the language of Spurgeon, you peruse the diary 
of your memory, there you will see the witnesses of your guilt 
faithfully recording their names. but we have the reality that 
Christ has dealt the death blow to that guilt. Christ has dealt 
the death blow to that weight upon us, and we no longer have 
that handwriting which is against us, but rather Christ has nailed 
it to the cross. In fact, that's the glorious 
language of the forgiveness of sins in the book of Colossians. In Colossians chapter 2, we have 
that wonderful language that was the reality of this day when 
Peter was proclaiming richly the things of Christ. Notice 
in Colossians 2 at verse 13 and you being dead. Here's that language 
again and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision 
of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven 
you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements 
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken 
it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." You reflect 
upon the cross often. Hopefully it's not a Sunday only 
thing where our minds are drawn to a reflection upon the cross 
That every day you reflect upon this reality that we have the 
forgiveness of sins by virtue of so glorious across death We 
have the handwriting of requirements that was against us cast away 
from us because it's been nailed to the cross Christ having dealt 
the death blow to the condemnation, to the guilt, and to the power 
of sin. What a glorious reality this 
is. You know, rightly, Pastor Butler remarks that hymn very 
frequently from the pulpit. Have you ever noticed how that 
hymn, My Sin, O the Bliss of this Glorious Thought, have you 
ever thought about how the hymnist interrupts himself in that hymn? 
I've always had this idea that he's writing the lyrics to this 
hymn And he was going to write something, I don't know if this 
happened, but he was going to write something else, but he 
stops to consider the weight and the glory of the forgiveness 
of sins. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. He 
interrupts himself. My sin, oh, the bliss of this 
glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole 
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. 
Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. He calls upon his 
own soul to praise the Lord. That's what we ought to do each 
and every day. Call upon our souls to praise 
the Lord for so great a thought that my sins have been nailed 
to the cross. What a glorious thing. And here 
on this day, a multitude of sinners were forgiven by virtue of the 
perfect work of the Savior Jesus Christ. And this same forgiveness 
is available today. Have you believed on the Lord 
Jesus Christ? If you're here this morning and 
you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, praise God. You 
can sing along with the hymn writer, my sin, oh, the bliss 
of this glorious thought. If you're here today and you 
have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to know 
that you are dead in your trespasses and in your sins. There's a terrifying 
statement that we'll briefly look at tonight in the sermon 
tonight in John 8, 24, where Christ says, if you do not believe 
that I am, you will die in your sins. You need to understand 
the weight of that statement. If you do not believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins. That doesn't simply 
mean that you'll die in the act of sinning, but you'll die with 
the condemnation, the weighty and the horrible condemnation 
of sin resting upon you. The wrath, the holiness, the 
righteousness, the justice of God in condemning sinners will 
rest upon you if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
so forgiveness, the forgiveness that these enjoyed is available 
today. Have you believed on the Lord 
Jesus Christ? Know that the weight is so great that nothing, not 
yourself, not anyone else, not any doing, not your own dying 
can take it away, the weight of the guilt and condemnation 
and power of sin. But there is only one who can 
take that away. And it is this Christ whom Peter 
proclaimed. It is this Jesus Christ who Peter 
proclaimed. Just in closing, we can't make 
it to his ecclesiastical benefactions because the preacher would break 
the unwritten covenant made with his people, but a couple things 
in closing. Do you thank God for your salvation? On this day, Christ poured out 
soteriological benefactions. Christ poured out saving gifts 
upon people on this day of Pentecost. Peter preached. Peter was the 
preacher. He preached the message by the 
power of the Spirit, and the Lord God Almighty, the risen 
Christ even, gave the gift of salvation. You By virtue, though 
you're removed however many hundreds of years from that glorious day 
of proclamation, you have been likewise the blessed undeserved 
beneficiaries of salvation by so glorious a Christ, and do 
you thank God for your salvation. Is that something that as well 
populates your prayers? Do you go to God in prayer? Thank 
you, Lord God Almighty, for bringing me forth from the deadness of 
sin to life in Christ. I was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. Is that your prayer? You go about 
your days not thanking God for your salvation. What a glorious 
place that we're in, to be found in Christ, not having our own 
righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through 
faith in Christ, that righteousness which comes from God through 
faith in Christ. Do you thank God for so glorious 
a gift and do you pray for the dispensation of this gift? We've 
already noted that a wholesome use of the word dispensation 
here. Do you pray for the giving of the gift? Do you pray that 
God would pour out that benefaction upon his people? Do you pray 
for your young ones, for the old in our midst, for every man 
and woman, boy and girl, who comes within the context of this 
church, who is outside of Christ? Do you pray, Lord, bring them 
forth from the darkness of sin to life in Christ? That is another 
thing, that is, yes, to populate our prayers, that God, in His 
gloriously appointed and accepted time, would bring forth dead 
sinners to life in Christ. Might that always be our prayer? 
And brethren, Hopefully one thing that we confess, in addition 
to all those glorious things about Christ himself, are the 
benefactions that he pours out upon his people. Those things 
that he pours out upon his church would have been the creed for 
the church, the building of the church, the unity of the church, 
the interest the church has in her Savior and the gathering 
of the church, the sacraments of the church. Christ gives us 
so many benefactions, so many gifts. We are to avail of them. We are to enjoy them. We are 
to pray them in. We are to pray that God, that 
the ascended Christ even, would give to his church strength and 
vigor as she goes forth in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
generation. And we ought to pray daily that 
for our young, for our old, for our middle-aged, that the ascended 
Christ would pour forth the blessing and benefaction of the Spirit 
to raise dead sinners to life, that we would populate these 
pews with more lips that would raise up to God, singing, Hallelujah, 
what a Savior. Might that always be our prayer, 
and might that be our prayer now as we close. Heavenly Father, 
we do pray for your word. We pray for your word to go forth. 
We pray, Lord God, that the ascended Christ would pour forth his benefactions 
upon this creation in his church. We would ask, Lord God, that 
you would do that mighty act of salvation even in our place 
this morning. By the proclamation of the word 
and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you would bring forth 
dead sinners to life. We long to hear of this throughout 
the world, Lord God, that many more sinners are brought forth 
as redeemed ones, who confess with newly redeemed lips the 
glories of Jesus Christ. Might you do that mighty act 
of salvation on those who are caught up, dead in their trespasses 
and sins. Might you do that mighty act 
of salvation, bringing them forth to much praise by the Spirit, 
by the power of the Spirit, with much assurance. Might you go 
with us now as we go about doing our various things. We pray that 
you would help us to live in light of so glorious a gospel. 
We pray that you would help us to conduct ourselves in a manner 
worthy of the gospel of Christ. We would ask God that you would 
help us as we go into this upcoming week as well. Might we do those 
things that are wholesome in your sight. Might we adorn the 
gospel of Jesus Christ in our workplaces and where in our homes 
and wherever you may find us. And we pray that we would bring 
honor and that we would bring glory to you. Go with us now, 
we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Well, 
you can stand with me. We're going to sing the doxology. 
We'll stand and sing the doxology before we close with the benediction 
and go our way. Praise God from whom all blessings 
flow. Praise him, all creatures, dearly 
known. Praise him above ye heavenly 
host. Praise God and Son and Holy Ghost. Now to him who is able to keep 
you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence 
of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone 
is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now 
and forever. Amen. Please be seated. We'll 
have a brief time of prayer. When the piano's finished, you're 
dismissed.