Caleb’s Inheritance | Sunday, May 28, 2023

Amen. Thank you very much, Anthony. Praise the Lord! Good morning, Cross Connection Church. It is so good to see you all here this morning. It is a blessing to be with you. I was gone for the last ten days; I wasn't here last week, and I am just blessed to be back with all of you. I am also very thankful to Pastor Garrett for covering the Scriptures last week. We have been studying through the Book of Joshua, and before I left, I asked Garrett to cover Joshua chapters 11 through 13. He was very kind to actually get through all of that, so I am very grateful for Pastor Garrett.

Last Sunday, I was in Paris teaching at Calvary Chapel Paris, which is in France, not Paris, California. I was speaking at my friend Mike Dente's church. He has been pastoring Calvary Chapel in Paris since the early 2000s and has been serving the Lord there for a long time. Just before that, I was in Germany at Calvary Chapel in Northwest Germany, a place called Siegen. Every year in May, they have a large conference gathering of Christian leaders and believers from all over Western Europe. Calvary Chapel Siegen is a very large church, probably one of the largest in all of Western Europe, with about 1,800 people attending. They have a great work there, and about 400 Christian leaders from all over Western Europe came together for the conference. I was there with Pastor David Guzik, a good friend of mine with whom I serve in Enduring Word Ministries. It was a real blessing to be there, so thank you for allowing me the privilege to go back and speak in Europe.

Today is an important day, which we will talk about in a moment. Not just because tomorrow is a holiday in our nation, but I do want to mention that tomorrow is Memorial Day. Since the Revolutionary War, we have had nearly 650,000 American servicemen and women who have died in combat. We just sang a song about the freedom that we have in the Lord, and we also have wonderful privileges and freedoms here in our nation, such as being able to gather together as the people of God to lift our voices in worship, to worship God through song and His Word. Much of those rights, privileges, and freedoms have been given to us by those who have paid the ultimate price.

As we celebrate Memorial Day, as you gather together with friends and family for a barbecue—perhaps you noticed the smell of barbecue as you arrived on campus today—remember the significance of this day.

Tomorrow, as you have time off from school and work, take some time to remember and be grateful to God for those who have paid the ultimate price. Amen.

Today is also an important day in the life and history of the church, which we are going to discuss. Normally, I would ask you to open your Bibles, and we would get right into the Scriptures. However, we are going to do things a little differently today because we have some special things going on. Before we get into the Bible together, I want to announce a couple of other things.

Many of you know that a couple of months ago, back in March, I had the great privilege to travel with some good friends of mine: Pastor David Guzik from Enduring Word, Pastor Lance Ralston, who pastors Calvary Chapel in Oxnard, California, and Pastor Chuck Musalwhite, who pastors a Calvary Chapel Church in Lompoc, California. We went to Saudi Arabia to climb to the top of what is believed to be the most likely site for Mount Sinai.

Tomorrow at noon, we are releasing about an hour-long video on enduringword.com/Sinai. It will also be available on YouTube and features a lot of the video we took. My friend Lance Ralston spent many hours in May putting that together into a video that launches tomorrow at noon. The reason we are launching it at a specific time is that David, Lance, Chuck, and I will be online on YouTube to chat with people as it releases. You can watch it anytime in the afternoon tomorrow, but if you're available and want to see it, that would be at enduringword.com/Sinai.

Additionally, next Sunday, we will be starting a summer series of teaching here at the church. For the first half of this year, we have been going through the Book of Joshua. However, we normally put our series on hold in the summer and study something different. This summer, we will be studying the Old Testament Book of Daniel. This would be a great opportunity for you to invite interested friends or family members to come to church as we delve into the Book of Daniel.

Over the course of 13 weeks, we will go through the 12 chapters of Daniel. I know that for some of you who have been around church for a while, hearing the Book of Daniel gives you a tingly sensation, like "Ooh, Daniel!" I understand that there are some very interesting prophetic utterances in the Book of Daniel, but I also want to make it very clear that although we will cover those things, we will also talk about some other aspects.

My primary purpose in going through the Book of Daniel is to equip and prepare you for what I believe is coming to us in our nation. The Book of Daniel was written about a time and about an individual, as well as a group of individuals, who found themselves in a culture that was against them and opposed them. They were called upon to be salt and light in a culture that opposed them. You and I are increasingly living in a culture that opposes us, our worldview, and our faith. We need to know how we are to stand strong in the midst of that, to be salt and light in the midst of it.

A very great Bible teacher and a long-serving pastor in our nation, Tim Keller, passed away recently. He pastored a church in New York called Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and God used him in a mighty way to minister in that area. After he passed away, I was reading some of his notes from the Book of Daniel. One of the things he said in a study he gave on the Book of Daniel a number of years ago really stuck out to me and is important for us to consider. He said that if you are going to be a light in a culture that is increasingly opposing your worldview, you need to recognize three things: you are going to be salt in that culture, you are going to be light in that culture, and the third thing you will experience is that you will be hurt in that culture.

These are the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew Chapter 5, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. He said you will experience opposition and persecution as you stand as salt and light in an increasingly dark culture that opposes your worldview. We need to be ready for that because I think that is what we are facing in our culture.

The inclination of a lot of people in the midst of that is to say, "Well, I'm just going to escape. I'm going to go find a red state somewhere." However, you cannot escape this. I have had the unique privilege in my life to live in Europe at two different times. First, when I was a child, I lived in England for a period of time. Then, in my early twenties, I lived in Germany for a year, teaching at a Bible school there. I can tell you, having lived and traveled throughout Western Europe and having been there just last week, that they are probably 50 years ahead of us in this cultural movement.

Where we're going, I've seen it, and your worldview will be increasingly in opposition to the worldview of the world around you. So, just recognize that this is the case.

Now, we have a very clear example of this, as this week marks the beginning of a new month: the month of June. June in our culture has become a kind of bastion for a different worldview. I'm sure you have gotten the memo and seen what has happened in our culture. June has come to be known, not just in the United States but in the West—North America and Western Europe—as Pride Month.

I do believe we are called to understand that we live in a world that is opposed to our worldview. There are certain things we tolerate; we put up with them. However, this has reached a point in our culture where it feels like we are being force-fed a certain worldview. In the midst of that, I want to say that you still have a voice, and you still have rights and freedoms.

One of the rights and freedoms that I want to encourage you to consider—though you may have already done so—is that, yes, the culture is moving very fast in a way that is opposed to your worldview. However, you have a very loud vote with how you use your money. You can use that very strategically, as people have in our culture. We live in a capitalistic society, and you can choose what you use your money for and which establishments you patronize.

You do have the ability to say, "No, I'm opting out." In the midst of this Pride Month, I would just say you can opt out. One of the ways you can do this is very clear. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, was writing to a group of people who lived in a world just like yours. In fact, some Bible teachers have suggested that First and Second Corinthians could have been called First and Second Californians, and I think that’s true.

He says, "When I wrote to you in a previous letter, I told you not to keep company with those who are immoral." Now, that doesn't mean you can just cut yourself off from everybody. Paul says that if you did, you would have to leave the world, and you can't do that.

Every single one of the Fortune 500 companies in our nation is pro-Pride Month, and they are doing this because they feel the pressure to do so. If they don't, then they will face consequences.

Assaulted by those who have this certain worldview, it is important to recognize that all of them are doing that. If I said you need to opt out of all those companies, that would be impossible; you could not live. However, you can be strategic in who you target.

I want to encourage you to be strategic in your choices. For the month of June, just opt out of one target company and do so for a month. They will feel it; they already are. They have lost billions in shareholder value at the moment. This is a way that you can silently say you are voting in opposition to this, and they will feel it in a huge way. My family is doing this for at least the next month, and maybe more. I can assure you they will feel it.

Now, it is novel to say this, but it is counter-cultural today. Pride is sin. Everybody has understood that for thousands of years. The Book of Proverbs says there are seven things that God hates, and the first one mentioned is pride. If you are going to exalt that as your most important value, it is in opposition to the character and nature of God. Recognize that.

What is striking to me is that the symbol used for this whole statement is a co-opting of a Biblical symbol, which is very important. If you go back to the Book of Genesis, chapters 6 through 9, you will find the story of the flood of Noah, where God brought judgment upon a sinful world through a flood. At the end of that, God made a covenant, which we refer to as the Noahic Covenant—the Covenant of God with Noah and all humanity. God promised humanity a very great promise that we should rejoice in: He said, "I will never again destroy the world with a flood." Thank God for that! He also said, "Here’s the sign of my covenant: I will set my bow in the heavens," referring to the rainbow.

Interesting, you may not know this, but in the original language, when we read of the bow in the heavens, it literally refers to a war bow. What is a war bow? Well, you understand archery terms; a bow is in the form of a bow and arrow. How is it a symbol of peace? Because of this: what way is that bow pointing? It's pointing to the heavens. What it is, is a picture of God. It says, "I no longer have my bow pointed at you in judgment; I am putting it away in peace."

That which God is saying is, "I am going to have peace towards you in this area." However, this is now being used as a weapon of war against God. This is an assault on God, and I can assure you, you don't want to fight against God. You will lose. You will lose. So, just something to think about: you can opt out, and your opting out will say something. I want to encourage you to do so and encourage those who have the same worldview that you do to do the same. Through the month of June, just say, "Hey, just opt out. Identify a target and opt out."

All right, with that, would you take out your Bibles and open them to the Old Testament? That's the first two-thirds of your Bible, to the sixth book of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Those are the first five books. The sixth book is Joshua. As I said, Pastor Garrett graciously made it through chapters 11, 12, and 13 of Joshua last week, so if you would open to chapter 14.

As you're opening there, a little bit of history for context: the story that we find ourselves in here in the Book of Joshua is that the children of Israel have been led into the land of Canaan to take possession of the land that God had promised to them four centuries prior to their father, Abraham. The father of the Jewish people is this man, Abraham, and God said to him and his descendants, "Abraham, I am going to give this land, the land of Canaan. Look to the north, to the south, to the east, and the west. Everywhere that you see this land, I am giving to you and your descendants. Look at the stars of the heavens; as numerous as the stars of heaven, these are the descendants that I am going to give to you, and I am going to give you this land."

Hundreds of years pass, and now the children of Israel have been brought out of Egypt under Moses. You can read that story in Exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea. They come to Mount Sinai, where God establishes His covenant with them.

They set out from Mount Sinai to go to the Promised Land. That's the story of Exodus and the story of Numbers. In Numbers Chapter 13, they reached the border of the Promised Land in a place called Kadesh Barnea. When they arrived there, Moses sent twelve spies to scout the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. They were there for forty days, and then they returned to Moses and the children of Israel to share what they had seen.

All twelve spies agreed that the land God had given to them was beautiful. It flowed with milk and honey; it was a great land. However, ten of those twelve spies told the people that although the land was good, there were giants in the land and stronghold cities that they could not overcome. They claimed they had no ability or power by themselves to conquer these giants. The giants were so big that, in their own eyes, they felt like grasshoppers before them. These ten spies discouraged the hearts of the people of Israel as they stood at the border of the Promised Land.

There were, however, two spies who had a different perspective. The first was a man named Caleb. Caleb said to the people, "Yes, there are giants in the land, but they will be like bread for us. Our God has given the land to us; we just have to go in and take it." His associate, Joshua, who this book is named after, agreed, saying that God would give them the land and that they needed to enter it.

Unfortunately, the people of Israel did not listen to the minority report of Joshua and Caleb but instead heeded the majority report of the ten spies. They wept that night, and as a result of their unbelief, they did not enter the Promised Land. Instead, they wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years as a punishment.

Finally, at the end of those thirty-eight years, we reach the story we have been studying this year, where Joshua leads the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Over the past several weeks, we have seen the conquest of Jericho and the conquest of Ai. Pastor Garrett discussed the conquest of various kings and nations in chapters 11 through 13. Now, after a number of years—sometimes when we turn a page in the Bible, we actually advance many years into the future—it has been about seven years of conquests. They have now come to a point where they have begun to truly take hold of the land, and we find this in Joshua chapter...

Look at verse 6, Joshua 14:6. Then the children of Judah, the tribe of Judah, came to Joshua in Gilgal. That's where they were based; their base of operations was in this place called Gilgal. Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to Joshua, "You know the word which the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me when we were in Kadesh Barnea."

He says, "Hey Joshua, you remember? It's been 45 years ago. You and I were there in Kadesh Barnea, and we said to the people, the children of Israel, 'We can go into the land; we can take it. God will be with us.' You remember that? Moses, the man of God, spoke about us when we were there. I was 40 years old, Joshua. I was a young man. I like to think that I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.

Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot, Caleb, has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you wholly followed the Lord my God.' Would you highlight, underline, or put a star next to that? Because you wholly followed the Lord my God.

Now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these 45 years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now here I am this day, 85 years old. Check this out: as yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.

How many of you at 85 want to be able to say that? Now therefore, give me this mountain! At 85 years old, he says, "Give me this mountain, Joshua, which the Lord spoke to me in that day. For you heard in that day how the Anakim, the giants, were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out."

The Lord said, and Joshua blessed Caleb. He gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. The name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-Arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

It's a beautiful story here, a fulfillment of everything coming full circle, if you will, from that time 45 years prior when Caleb was just a young 40-year-old. He and Joshua went in and spied out the land for 40 days. He came back and said, "The land is ours; we need to take it. God has given it to us." For 38 more years, he wandered with his brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles, watching them fall in the wilderness because of their unbelief. The entire time, he remembered Hebron. He remembered the land and what God had promised him.

Now, after they have begun to take the land, he comes back to Joshua and says, "Listen, that's my inheritance. I want it." Joshua responds, "Go take it; it's yours." What we have here is Caleb's inheritance granted by God through Joshua.

I want to springboard from that to why this day is important. This day reminds us of our inheritance that God has granted to us in Jesus, which is guaranteed to us by the Holy Spirit. See, Joshua's inheritance was granted to him by God through Joshua, and your inheritance is granted to you by God through Jesus, guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

What is that inheritance? It is the inheritance of the Kingdom of God. It shall be yours—the Kingdom and its King. You will have Him and His Kingdom entirely. That's why we, the Church, for two thousand years have prayed, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." That's what we're looking forward to: the fulfillment of the inheritance, which is guaranteed to us by the Holy Spirit.

What does that mean, that it's guaranteed to us by the Holy Spirit? Well, if you have your Bibles, would you turn to near the end of your Bible?

To a little book called Ephesians, right after Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, we find the Apostle Paul speaking to a group of Christians who lived in a place called Ephesus. He writes this in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13: "In Him, Jesus, you Christians also trusted. You have put your trust and your faith in Him after you heard the word of the truth of the Gospel of your salvation."

So here today, if you are a believer in Jesus, you have trusted in Him. You became a believer in Jesus and trusted in Him after you heard the Gospel. In whom, in Jesus, also having believed and trusted, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption, when you are able to take hold of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.

Paul says that the Holy Spirit has been given to you as a Christian after you heard the Gospel and after you trusted in Jesus. God has given you the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, and that is the guarantee of the future possession, the redemption. One day, you will redeem the King and His kingdom in whole. Right now, you have it in part. He has given you the guarantee, or another way of saying it is that He has given you the down payment, the assurance that that will be yours.

This leads us to an important day in history because today is the Jewish feast of Pentecost. You may say, "Well, I'm not Jewish." Well, neither am I, but this day is still important to us. Why is it important? In the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, chapter 23, God tells His people, the Jewish people, that they are to have seven annual feasts. There will be three in the spring: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread—remember that unleavened bread—and the Feast of First Fruits. Those spring feasts always are...

Right around our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, we remember that Jesus was crucified on Passover and rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. These feasts, which the children of Israel were called upon to remember and observe every single year, pointed forward to the coming of Jesus, who is the unleavened sacrifice, the Passover Lamb who died for us without sin. Unleavened sin and leaven are connected in the Scriptures, particularly with yeast. He was also the firstfruits from the dead.

The three spring feasts point to Jesus in His first coming. Many people believe that the fall feasts, which include the Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Booths, may relate to His second coming. I think there is probably some value in believing that they are connected to that. However, in between these is what we call the summer feast. There is one feast called the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 23.

The Feast of Weeks occurs 49 days plus one, which is where we get the idea of Pentecost, connected to the concept of 50. Fifty days after the resurrection, which means Easter was 50 days ago, we celebrate the Feast of Weeks. What did they do at the Feast of Weeks? If you go back and read Leviticus chapter 23, you will discover that they went to God's Tabernacle or His Temple and brought an offering to God. This offering was very interesting: it consisted of two wheat loaves of bread.

This timing is significant because it is right at the end of the wheat harvest. Over the last 49 days, they had been cultivating and taking care of their wheat harvest, and now they had harvested it. They would appear before God and bring an offering of two wheat loaves. Here’s the amazing thing: in Leviticus, it says they brought these loaves with leaven. What is that all about? Back at Passover, 50 days before, they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. But now, 50 days later, they bring an offering of two wheat loaves to God, and these loaves contain leaven. I want to suggest to you that this has everything to do with you.

Because you are probably like me, a goyum, a Gentile with leaven, you see that this is connected to the nations— you and me. What we have at the Feast of Weeks is this prediction, if you will, in this feast that God instituted through Moses in Leviticus chapter 23. It reveals what God was doing in His plan for all peoples. His aim was not to win and select one group of people, the Jewish people, although He did select them to be His people. Through them, all of the nations of the world would be blessed. That's what He said to Abraham back in Genesis chapter 12: "I’m selecting you and your people and this place so that you can reach all people in all places, the leavened peoples of the nations, so that you can bring them to me as an offering—the loaves of these leavened peoples."

So, what's that got to do with us at Pentecost? I went to Germany to speak at a conference that always happens 40 days after Easter. You see, Germans and many people throughout Western Europe celebrate a holiday that has to do with Christianity, which you probably know nothing about. In Germany, it has a very funny name: Christihimmelfahrt. It's a funny name when you're driving on the Autobahn in Germany, which I enjoy doing. About every mile, there's this thing like we have called an exit, but it says Ausfahrt. "Fahrt" is the German word for "to go," so this is the outgoing, if you will, the exit. Christihimmelfahrt means "Christ's Heaven exit."

That's the Ascension. Jesus ascended into heaven ten days before Pentecost. Two Thursdays ago was the Ascension of Jesus. Before He ascended into heaven, He gathered with His disciples. This was 40 days after His resurrection, and He said, "You stay in Jerusalem. Remain in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father is given." You can find it at the end of Luke's Gospel. In fact, I'll read it to you. It says in Luke chapter 24, verse 49.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry, wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

Now, you may not know this, but the Gospel of Luke is part one of a two-part story. The sequel is the Book of Acts. They were written by the same author. Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. In Acts chapter 1, we read this: just before His ascension, Jesus commanded His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, "You have heard from Me." For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:4).

Jesus is with His disciples, and He is about to ascend into heaven. He has been with them for 40 days after His resurrection, proving to them that He has risen bodily from the dead. He says, "Listen, you need to wait here in Jerusalem. I've given you a commission." In Matthew 28, He said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:18-19).

In Mark's Gospel, chapter 16, verse 15, He says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." In Luke 24, He says to His disciples, "This message of repentance is to be preached in all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." But then He says, "Before you go, wait until you receive the promise of the Father. The Holy Spirit is going to be poured out upon you. I've given you a mission, and now I'm going to empower you for that mission, so wait for the empowering to fulfill this mission."

Now, here is the amazing thing: Jesus's earliest disciples have been given a mission and have been promised the empowering of the Holy Spirit to fulfill this mission. How do they respond to this? Let me read this to you because it is striking to me. Jesus says to them, "John baptized with water, but you shall be..."

Baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. The very next verse says, "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'" What is that? It is the problem that all of us face when confronted with the mission, the commission that Jesus gives to His disciples, to you and me. We are easily distracted. It's like that dog in the movie "Up" who sees a squirrel. This is us; we get so distracted by end-time stuff.

That's why when I say we're going to study through Daniel, somebody goes, "Ooh, Daniel! Yes, 70 weeks of Daniel!" But I say, "Hold on, hold on. God has a mission, and He wants us to keep our eyes on the mission." We keep getting distracted. They say, "But what about the end times, Jesus?" That's what they asked right there: "Will You now restore the kingdom of Israel?"

He said to them, "It is not for you to know." Note this in your hearts and in your minds: it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put under His own authority. But you—this is what I want you to be about—Jesus says, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Jewish territory, Judea, still Jewish territory, Samaria, slightly less Jewish territory, and to the ends of the earth, Gentile territory." Why? Because God wants you to bring an offering of the Gentiles to Him.

"But wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high."

So, in Acts chapter 2, it says this. If I can get to the right book, Acts 2. You can turn there if you'd like as well. Verse 1: "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, this day in history, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." They were all gathered, the early followers of Jesus, in one place. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them divided tongues as of fire that sat upon each of them, and they were filled with...

The Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. At that time, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and they were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. They were speaking in diverse languages, but they heard them speaking in their own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? They are from the region of Galilee. How is it that we hear each one of them in our own language in which we were born, our heart language?"

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and all parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"

What we have here is a miraculous overturning of something that happened as a judgment in the Book of Genesis, chapter 11. In Genesis chapter 11, the people of the world united themselves in opposition to God's purpose and plan, disobeying His command to go into all the world, fill the Earth, and subdue it. They said, "No, we'll gather together and we'll make a name for ourselves." That is called pride. God judged them by confusing their languages, and they dispersed.

What we have here is the overturning of Babel. God is bringing the nations back together in one through Christ, that they might be given as an offering, leavened as they may be, to God. So they all heard in their own languages the wonderful works of God as these men were baptized by the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues.

What we have here in Acts chapter 2, which happened on this day in history, the day of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, possibly occurred in the year 33 A.D. when Jesus was crucified, buried, raised, and ascended. This happened in 33 A.D.

Which means this is 1990 years ago today. What is this? Well, it is the story of three very important things that happened. The three very important things that happened here in this passage are: number one, the blessing of the Holy Spirit; number two, the birth of the church; and number three, the baptism of the first converts.

The blessing of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of a prophecy that God spoke through the prophet Joel, which Peter mentions in that passage in Acts chapter 2. He talks about Joel chapter 2, where God said, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." We have the blessing of the Holy Spirit here in Acts 2, just as Jesus had said: "You wait in Jerusalem, and I will give my Spirit; it shall be poured out upon you." The blessing of the Holy Spirit brings about the birth of the church, which means today is the 1990th birthday of the church. Happy birthday, Church!

After this group of people was birthed, this new group of people in Christ, the body of Christ, the church, these new converts were baptized. In fact, if you read the passage of Scripture, you discover that on that day, three thousand were baptized. This is very interesting because it connects us back to a previous day in history at Mount Sinai. On that same day, a group of people in opposition to God idolatrously worshiped a golden calf, and on that day, three thousand were killed. But now, on this day, three thousand are saved. It is the overturning of what happened at the golden calf incident, the overturning of Babel, the overturning of that event, as now the outpouring of the Spirit comes. God is doing a new work as He seeks to bring His good news to all nations.

Jesus said, "I want you to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I want you to make disciples of all nations." But before you do, you need the Holy Spirit. So, we have here the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church, and then we have the baptism of these new believers. That is why today we are having a celebration here across Connection Church. That is why, when you came here today, you smelled the sweet-smelling aroma of smoke rising. We're going to have a barbecue today.

We celebrate today because we are a bunch of leavened Gentiles, and we have a lot of pork. Rise, kill, and eat! We have other things as well, so don't worry. Following the service in just a little bit, we want to invite you to celebrate with us. This is a day of celebration, a day 1,990 years ago when God began to do His work among the Gentiles. You are the fruit of that.

Today, we lift up an offering to the Lord of a couple of leavened loaves. Hello, leaven! That's us. We are going to celebrate the birth of the Church today. We even have birthday cake! Let them eat cake, which sounds good because I was in Paris last week. Just to clarify, I mean Paris, France, not Paris, California.

We are going to have a barbecue together because, on that day, 3,000 were baptized. The first converts to Christianity were baptized on that day, and we are going to have a baptism today. If you have never been baptized, I want to encourage you: this is the day! There could not be a better day than this. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

I will explain more fully when we get outside what baptism is and why we do it. In part, it is in fulfillment of the command that Jesus gave us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which is what we are going to do today.

In the time that remains, I want to talk for a moment about the blessing of the Holy Spirit. As I said in Ephesians chapter 1, it states that the Holy Spirit has been given to you who have trusted in Christ after you heard the gospel, as a down payment or guarantee of what God will in the future give to you as the fullness of your inheritance.

So, God has given you, if you're a Christian today, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When you believed in Christ, He baptized you with His Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you if you're a Christian. What does that mean? What does that do for us now?

I don't have a lot of time, but I want to talk about seven things quickly. I can talk pretty quickly, so we'll get through it. Here are seven things that the Holy Spirit brings to you and to me who have trusted in Jesus Christ.

Number one: the Holy Spirit brings to us and gives us gifts. You can read about these more fully in First Corinthians chapters 12 through 14. God gives to us by His Holy Spirit.

Certain gifts include words of knowledge, words of wisdom, healing, faith, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. There are all kinds of different things about these gifts. I could spend weeks discussing them, and I have before, but I don't have enough time to talk about all of them today.

Simply put, when the Holy Spirit came into your life, He gave you gifts as He wills. He has gifted you to use those gifts for His service in the world. So, first, the Holy Spirit gives gifts to His church.

Second, the Holy Spirit brings sanctification into my life and yours. He purifies us—body, soul, and spirit; our heads and our hearts; our lives. The Holy Spirit purges, purifies, and cleanses us from all the wickedness of our flesh. He removes, if you will, the leaven from our lives. This process doesn't happen all at once, but it occurs over time. God begins to sanctify and cleanse us, purifying us from the influences and attachments of this world, as well as from the influences and attachments of the enemy.

So, the Holy Spirit gives us gifts. Number two, the Holy Spirit sanctifies and makes clean.

Number three, the Holy Spirit brings boldness. I think we need this today. We are hearing the threats of a culture that is increasingly opposed to the things we believe and hold dear. They say, "You keep quiet. You keep it in your own private life. You keep it within the walls of the church building. You don't need to bring it out; keep it your own personalized and privatized thing." But God says, "No, I want you to be a light shining in the darkness."

We need the Spirit's boldness. The earliest Christians were threatened, probably more than we have been threatened and maybe more than we ever will be. They prayed in Acts 4:31, and God gave them boldness by His Holy Spirit.

So, the Holy Spirit gives us gifts, sanctifies and cleanses us, and brings boldness. Fourth, and this is close and similar to boldness but different, He gives power. Oftentimes, that power manifests in miraculous, extraordinary things that God does.

Does God, by His Holy Spirit, sometimes bring healing? Sometimes it's some other extraordinary sign. God gives power; He gives gifts, sanctifies, brings boldness, and inspires us to look into and dig into God's Word to get to know Him more fully. He inspires us to have a curiosity of faith.

The Holy Spirit gives us divine wisdom and direction. Jesus said, "When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, and He will teach you all things." The prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21, that the Spirit of God would be like a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it." You see, Mandalorian got this whole "this is the way" thing from Isaiah; we've had it much longer. The Holy Spirit gives direction, gifts, sanctifies, brings boldness, gives power, inspires interest, and provides divine wisdom and direction.

Seventh and finally, and this is very important, the Holy Spirit causes you and me to bear much fruit. Jesus, in John chapter 15, in the context of talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, says, "Abide in Me, and I in you. I am the vine, and you are the branches. Abide in Me, and I in you, and you will bear much fruit." It is God's desire that you and I would bear much fruit.

What kind of fruit? Well, in Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit. He lists nine things there: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. I want to suggest to you that just as we need boldness at this time in an increasingly counter-cultural environment, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thousands of years ago in Babylon, we need to be those who bear the fruit of the Spirit.

The world around you and me needs to see in us the abundance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. All of these qualities are very much lacking in America.

Culture in 2023 raises some important questions. Do you see a lot of patience in this culture? Do you see a lot of goodness? How about self-control? We don't see a lot of that.

But here's the thing: your neighbors, your co-workers, your family members, and your friends need to see in you joy, peace, kindness, and patience. All of these things are essential, but the greatest of these is love. Jesus said they will know that you are His disciples by the love that you have for one another.

I've been researching this quite a bit, especially as I am doing doctoral work at a seminary in Kentucky. My focus of research has to do with apologetics, and the Fruit of the Spirit fits into this. We need to be those who are able to give an answer for the hope that we have within us, with meekness and fear. This is what Peter says to the church in First Peter, chapter 3, verse 15: "Always be ready to give an answer."

The word "reason" in the original language is "apologia," from which we get our idea of apologetics. You need to be able to defend your faith and your trust in Jesus when people inquire of you. However, I don't think they will ever inquire of you if you don't have love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, and self-control. If you don't have these qualities, no one is going to see anything different about you.

But if these things are in you and abound, you will not be fruitless. So, Holy Spirit, we need you to fill us again and produce in us an abundance of fruit. I couldn't think of a better day to talk about this than today, because this is the day when we celebrate the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church, and the baptism of the first converts to Christ. It happened very likely, if you go by the traditional time, 1,990 years ago today, plus or minus a couple of years.

On this day, when the loaves of leavened wheat bread are offered to God as an offering, here are your people.

From every tribe and nation, tongue, here are your people. In a moment, I'm going to close, and we have a great barbecue feast to celebrate with one another, to rejoice in the good things that God has done over the last 1990 years. We are celebrating the birth of the church.

For those of you who have not been baptized, why have you not been baptized? Today's the day! Let's stand and close in prayer.

God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that as we look at the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, there is a cohesive story of what You are doing in this world. It connects all the way back to the feasts that You called the children of Israel to observe. These things point forward to You and to this time.

You have a calling and a work for every single one of us standing here today. You've commissioned us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God, You've called us to preach the gospel to every creature. You've called us to preach a hard message of repentance, turning to You in faith and belief.

God, we need boldness by Your Holy Spirit. We need Your empowering. We need boldness, God, to be able to stand as lights in a dark world that increasingly imposes the view that we have of who You are and what You've called us to. God, help us. Help us to stand. Pour out a fresh and anew upon Your church, we pray.

We thank You for the great work that You have done over the last nearly 2,000 years, and we pray that until You come again, we would occupy, that we would be busy about Your work, always looking for Your return, but always ready to do the work that You've called us to, as we are gifted, enabled, and empowered to do so by Your Holy Spirit.

Praise You, Jesus! We rejoice in You today, and we worship You now. In Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning, Cross Connection!

Pastor Garrett and I want to welcome you to our church this morning. We're so glad that you could be with us to live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. Today is the church's birthday; it's Pentecost Sunday. I'm glad that you are here, and I hope that you can stay after the second service. We're going to be having our barbecue and baptism, so if you're a first service person, we'd love for you to come back after the second service and join us for that.

Of course, for the second service, right after you're all done, go grab some delicious food with us and enjoy celebrating the church's birthday.

A couple of announcements for you: really, the most important one is that VBS is right around the corner. It's our Vacation Bible School, and that's coming up June 19th through the 23rd. You can sign up at events.ccchurch.com. We want you to sign up not only for elementary age kids but also if you want to help on any of those days during VBS. We are really looking for some adult helpers and some youth helpers. So again, you can sign up as a helper at the same place, events.ccchurch.com. I hope that you can be part of it; it's going to be a great time.