Some things only God can do.

Steve Brown:
Some things only God can do. Let’s talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
That was Steve Brown. He doesn’t want to be your guru and he’s not trying to be your mother. He just opens the Bible and gives you the simple truth that will make you free. Steve’s a lifelong broadcaster, author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at the second chapter of the book of Acts. And if you were listening yesterday, you know, I didn’t teach much. I simply read the Scripture. That’s a long chapter, and I didn’t finish with it. And I’m going to read the last part of that chapter today. And then we’re going to pose the question. And the question is this, is Pentecost, reproducible? The short answer is, no, it’s not. And I’ll explain when we get there, but if you were listening yesterday, we were reading that second chapter of the book of Acts, which is the record of the tongues of fire and the rush of the wind and the sermon preached by Peter. And he wasn’t very nice when he was preaching this sermon. And then following on that, now when they had heard, I’m starting at the 37th verse, and I’ll read to the end of the chapter.

Now when they had heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” and Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children and to all that are afar off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from a crooked generation.” so those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3000 souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and prayer.

Now I’m going to stop there, because I’m going to spend some separate time beginning at the 43rd verse on the view, the Biblical view of brotherhood, but we’ve got miles and miles to go, before we get to the latter part of that second chapter of Acts. Is Pentecost, reproducible? Well, you need to know that it’s not reproducible. And, that’s because I’ve read all the books that say that it is. And when I finished the books that say that it is reproducible, if we’re committed enough, if we have a heart for God enough, if we studied the Scriptures enough, if we have enough seasons of prayer and we cry out to God, then God will say, okay, I’m going to do it again. It doesn’t work that way. I wish it did. And I want you to know, I’ve tried to make it work that way. I don’t think a single day in my life passes, that I don’t pray for revival and awakening in America. I mean, things are so very bad. I heard Bill Bright, my late friend say one time that in America, things were so bad, that the wisest and most gifted leaders didn’t know what to do, but he said.

If we had an awakening. If we had a revival, another Pentecost, then we could pick out 10 people in a phone book and they could deal with these problems. In fact, (he would smile) a child could lead us.

I think that’s true. And I think if we knew how to reproduce it, we would do it, because things are really bad. In America, we’re so divided, and so hateful, and so self-righteous, and so elitist, and so bringing destruction on so many important institutions, that it’s really scary. In America, things that we thought were good and right and righteous are now called evil. In America, people who knew the way and walked in it have walked out of that way and are making obscene gestures to the way, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t want to get political here and I’m not going to do that, because Jesus is more important than my political views, but we have trouble in this nation and it’s not right or left or conservative or liberal. It is autonomy, as we have severed our relationship with God, understanding that he is at the heart of how we should define ourselves as we move in that direction. We’re lost in the darkness. And the only thing left is self-righteousness, it’s saying to others you’re wrong and I’m right. And not only that, I’m good and you’re evil and we’re seeing that every place all over this country, and I don’t see any hope, frankly. I really don’t. When you look at what’s being taught in our schools, fighting racism with more racism. When you see the change in the moral structure of where we’ve been. Now, I’m not making a brief for America, the great and how wonderful we were then. And an old guy is saying, let’s go back to the old days. Things have been bad, but at least then we knew it. We were doing evil things then, but at least then we knew it. We were not good, but at least then we knew it, because we knew the difference and we don’t know the difference anymore. And so, and so we tear down our statues, we destroy our history. We rewrite the history to fit our own agenda and our own narrative. And I understand that, when you don’t have God, everything’s permissible. When God is no longer worshiped as the true God, you’ve got a serious problem. You’re walking in the darkness and there is no light. There is nothing to guide you. There’s no meaning. There’s no hope. There’s no reality. We’re in trouble, guys. We really are. As you know, I’m quite political. I’ve said on a number of occasions, I’m so conservative, I think Rush Limbaugh was a communist. And I, and I, and I’m kidding when I say those kinds of things, but I want you to know this is not a political statement. This is a theological and Biblical statement, without God we’re lost. And if something doesn’t happen and God doesn’t do something, then there’s no hope. There really is no hope. And so in the mornings, when I pray for revival and awakening, I say, God, break us, break us. And bring us to repentance and bring us to you. It is so bad, there’s no hope, if you don’t do that. That’s one of the reasons, and by the way, I spent a seminar, I taught at the Cove a couple of years ago on the coming awakening and people thought I was crazy. I said that God was going to do it again, that we could expect that sort of thing. That God was going to pour out his Spirit on our nation. And there were a lot of people at that seminar. I love going up there. That’s one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. And I go most every year and teach a seminar there just because the food is so good and the people are so wonderful. If you haven’t discovered the Cove, you ought to Google it and go there. But I did a seminar, I spent four long sessions on great awakenings and on revival and why God was going to do it again. And that’s where my hope is, ladies and gentlemen, it really is. Some people at the Cove during that seminar thought I was crazy, but I said, the reason I think God is going to do something, is that if he doesn’t, there’s no hope. Alcoholics Anonymous say that a drunk won’t get sober till he hits the bottom. Well, a nation won’t get a revival until it hits the bottom. And folks, we’re just about there. And so I believe, and everywhere I go, I hear leaders and Christians who love Christ with all their hearts say I’m praying for revival. And I believe that God is getting ready to do something. I believe that’s true. And I see signs of it. I see it in young people, believe it or not. I see it in churches that are beginning to stir and the wind is beginning to blow. I see it at the lostness of people, who are looking for meaning. I see it in the church that Jesus loves as we come to the very end of ourselves. Listen, folks, our programs don’t work anymore. Our evangelism has burned in ashes. Our building programs have drained us dry. Our committees are boring and empty, and God is bringing us to the end of ourselves, so that our leaders will say when asked, what are we to do, they’re to say, I don’t have the foggiest. Let’s repent. And run to him. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
What an encouraging word. That was Steve Brown, continuing to read from and teach us from Acts 2. Such good stuff, and there’s more to discover tomorrow. Please join us then. So, let me ask you something. Do you sin? Do you feel guilty about it? Do you feel like you bring shame on Christ? If so, I have some good news for you. It’s all about grace and you are a new creature in Christ. It’s not an issue of reading the Bible more, praying more, witnessing more, being more accountable. It’s not an issue of voting or dressing or behaving in a certain way. It is already, who you are, a new creation in Christ as described in II Corinthians 5. If you want to learn more about this topic, please check out a sermon we offer for free on CD. It’s called Owner’s Manual for the New Creation. Get your copy right now, by calling 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for the CD. If you’d like to mail your request, send it to

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