The Spirit of God will make you happy. You cannot have Him in this old sour pickled religion. The second thing He will do is, give you understanding. Peter said, “This is that” because he received understanding. Peter was looking for a Christ to come and set up a literal kingdom. Peter had ideas in his mind about sitting on the right hand and on the left, but now he had understanding. This is a spiritual something that Jesus came to do. Did not Joel say: “In the last days it will come to pass I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (v.29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
Notice, Joel never prophesied about speaking in tongues! Then why did they speak in tongues? The situation merited it. There were devout men out of every nation under heaven gathered at Jerusalem. A different nationality called for a different dialect and the spirit of God gave the dialect so the same message could be preached. The Spirit of God will not cause us to speak in different languages when all speak the same. Peter said this is that which Joel spoke of. Peter kept on preaching that this marvelous light was for the Jews and he had his light “under a bushel”. God took him up on a rooftop. While He was working on Peter through a dream, a man sent a servant to him. This man, Cornelius had consecrated to God, time and again, and God said, “It is enough. I’m going to send someone up there to preach to that fellow. I’ll get Peter straightened out on the universality of the Gospel and at the same time bring truth to Cornelius.” So Peter had a vision of unclean things let down in a sheet and a voice said, “Peter, rise and eat.”
“No, Lord, I can’t do that. It is unclean.”
God said, “Don’t call unclean what I say is clean.”
God sent the man about this time. He told them where to go. God knows where we live. He went down to Cornelius and preached to him and his neighbors and household. Peter started to talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit fell on all of them and they began to praise God. Peter said, I perceive of a truth that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him.”
SPIRITUAL EARTHQUAKES
An earthquake in the Revelation is nothing more than a type, when earthly things “shake and quake”, under the power of God. When Peter stood up that day of Pentecost, 3000 houses that were built on the sand; fell and crumbled. And, that 3000, built on the rock. In four more days, 5000 houses, crumbled down. God, give us an earthquake here, when every earthly individual is shaken under the power of the Holy Spirit. There are only three earthquakes, recorded in the Revelation . Each happened when God poured out the Holy Ghost, afresh.
The first was recorded on the day of Pentecost, the second in 1880---the 11th chapter of the Revelation, verse 13, when He resurrected the two witnesses. And the last one is the day and age in which we’re living, previous to the second coming of Christ. He’s pouring out His Spirit afresh, and giving the church a baptism of the Holy Ghost and it’s bringing an earthquake. Once more the fire of God is in our midst. Once more, the lightning is flashing. God is giving us more light. The thunder is rolling and we’re getting understanding of the Old Testament, the light of the moon is as the light of the sun. Glory to God!
“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” There is where they prepared to sound. They were there when the fire was cast into the earth, and prepared themselves to sound. It takes breath to blow the trumpet. God sent the prophet to preach to them, but they were not alive until God breathed on them. And the Holy Ghost came with a rushing mighty wind and this breath of the Holy Ghost in our heart and life will cause us to blow the trumpet with a certain sound.
How do you blow it with a certain sound? Keep the same pressure on it all the time. Stay filled with the Holy Ghost. Paul in Eph. 4:14, “Be no more children tossed about with every wind of doctrine.” If we all blow the trumpet with the breath of God, or the Spirit of God we’ll all make the same sound.
SIGNS GIVEN
Matthew 24:30, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man.” I’m going to deal with that, but I want to say this for those who have not studied it. There’s a difference between the sign of Christ’s coming and His coming. If He were actually there, He wouldn’t need a sign. Some people cannot see this, but let me illustrate. When you go out on the highway and see a Coca Cola sign, why don’t you try to drink it? Because there’s as much difference between a Coca Cola sign and a bottle of Coca Cola as there is a difference between a sign of Christ’s coming and His coming.
One of the last signs is, “He shall send His angel with a great sound of a trumpet and gather together His elect from the four winds.” What do the four winds symbolize?---the many winds of doctrine. God’s elect are scattered here and there in many winds of doctrine.
He’s sending His trumpet with a certain sound. This is the great sound of the trumpet, and the seventh sound, and final sound. Luke writes the same thing. He says He’s going to gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth---back to Mt. Zion. [ The End ]