Peter's Sermon at Pentecost - Part 2

If you would, take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, we all know that we have been on our break from our Wednesday night services and our programs over the holidays. And I did say this, it has been nice. And I've been hearing good testimonies from you in regards to those things. And I believe that it has been a much needed break. I know I talked about this earlier. It's all about rest, which is biblical and godly. But it is good to be back. And since it's been a while, since we've been in our study of the book of Acts, you may have lost track of where we are in our study.

I would encourage you maybe to go back a couple of messages. If you missed any, listen to those messages and get caught up. But we have finished our study of Acts chapter 2, verses 1 to 13, which is all about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and those early believers which took place on the day of Pentecost. Now I titled those messages, it was two of them, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then we moved into what took place after those great events on the day of Pentecost, starting from chapter 2, verse 14. We saw that there were quite a few things that were going on.

In verse 14 and 15, we saw that Peter defended what had happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Of course, this was in response to those Jews who were witnessing those supernatural, mysterious events. Then in verses 16 to 21, we saw Peter explain to the crowd what had happened. Simply he was explaining that all of those events were spoken of and prophesied in the Old Testament. I like how this is more simple than we know. In other words, Peter was basically saying, "What you're seeing and experiencing is biblical." Then in verses 22 to 36, we saw that Peter began to preach concerning all that was taking place.

Of course, he was preaching to these thousands of Jews who were gathered to where the Spirit had been poured out. Then in verses 37 to 47, we have the work of the Spirit through Peter's preaching so that about 3,000 souls were saved. As a result, the church was born and we see a description of the church after this great sermon and these great events. Now back on December the 11th, we covered verses 14 to 36. Tonight, we will look at a few things from those verses and then we will cover verses 37 to 41. We can say it like this. We're gonna finish up Peter's sermon here.

Now, that is a breakdown of these verses as well as a description of what happened in chapter two after the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. But I wanna offer a different description of these verses and these events. Here in chapter two, we have the first sermon recorded in the New Testament. You may not have thought about that, but that's what we have. Here in these events, we have the fulfillment of what the Old Testament said, what happened? When Peter explained these things, those Jews who certainly knew their Old Testament should have seen and understood these things.

But of course, it took the Holy Spirit of God to grant them the understanding of these things. Here we have the public emergence of Peter as a great leader in the work of the gospel there in Jerusalem. We know that he had already stepped forward as a leader among the believers while they were praying and waiting, but here he certainly stepped forward publicly. And then here we have a great harvest of souls. The text says about 3,000 souls were born into the kingdom and they were added to the church. And if you know the rest of chapter two, we see the great description of the church, which we will get to next week.

Now back on December the 11th, we covered verses 14 to 36. And I titled this Peter's sermon at Pentecost. That was a part one. And so we'll just continue with a part two. Now this is how I'm gonna approach the verses. I wanna briefly touch on Peter's defense and explanation. We covered that thoroughly last time we were here. Then I wanna revisit verses 22 to 36 where Peter was preaching. And then last I wanna divide the verses we have it covered and that's verses 37 to 41. I call that the second part of the sermon. So number one, we see Peter's defense of these things in verses 14 to 15.

Now quickly going back and seeing this will help us when we get into Peter's sermon a little deeper. But on the day of Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit had fallen on the apostles and those other early believers as they were gathered together, just like Jesus had commanded them to do. And as a part of the outpouring of the spirit, God used the sound of a mighty rushing wind to draw thousands of Jews to that place where these believers were staying. Of course, those Jews were in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost.

And although those believers were all Galileans, God enabled them to speak of the mighty works of God and the languages of those who were gathered from all over the world where Jews lived. If you go back and look, I think it was about 15 or so languages represented. And as a result of those miraculous and mysterious events, some of those Jews were genuinely curious and they asked what do these things mean, but there were some who were scoffing and accusing and they were accusing the believers of being drunk. So in response, Peter stepped forward very publicly along with the other apostles and he offered a defense.

And then number two, we see Peter's explanation in verses 16 to 21. Here we have a long portion of scripture and we can clearly see that Peter quotes the Old Testament prophet Joel, specifically Joel two verses 28 to 32. And in our part one, I said that we see an immediate and a future application of these verses. But notice what we have here. All that took place at Pentecost was not a total fulfillment of Joel's prophecies. As a matter of fact, most of what is spoken of in Joel's prophecies did not take place at Pentecost. So notice what we have here.

What happened at Pentecost was a partial fulfillment of Joel's prophecy and these things and these prophecies also are also a glimpse or a foreshadowing of what will come in the last days. And notice what we need to learn right here. This use of Joel's prophecy here is what Bible scholars call an example of the law of double reference, an example of the law of double reference. This is real simple. This is when a Bible prophecy has a partial fulfillment in one time, but a complete fulfillment at a later time. So these events at Pentecost were spoken of in Joel's prophecy, but Joel's prophecy also speaks of events that are yet to come.

Now, before we move on, notice why this is important really for two reasons. First Peter was explaining to those Jews that these events that were taking place were thoroughly biblical. He was explaining that those events were not outside of the bounds of the Old Testament scriptures and by using the Old Testament to prove that these things were biblical, he was making a case to those Jews that all that was going on there was of God. So Peter's purpose and goal here was to convince them that God was at work so as to bring those listening Jews to saving faith in Christ.

And then second for us, notice how this validates the trustworthiness of God's Word. Let me repeat that. Notice how this validates the trustworthiness of God's Word. Now let me explain. Joel was one of the earliest of the Old Testament prophets to write. Scholars believe that he wrote in the late ninth century before Christ. So that means that these events at Pentecost were prophesied about and spoken of some eight or nine centuries before. So the point is this. What God's Word says is true. What God says will happen will happen. What God predicts will come to be. And the lesson for us here is this. God's Word is true. It is reliable.

It is trustworthy. Some of you need to hear that again. God's Word is true, reliable and trustworthy. And look, church, I am not completely sure how Joel's prophecy relates to eschatology or the end times and the opinions abound here. But these things will come to pass. Think about it. No matter your views of eschatology and how Joel fits into those views, the point I'm making is this. These things will come to pass. Why? Because God says so. And some of you need this more than you know. Because you may not see the truthfulness and the trustworthiness of God's Word as you should. You see? God's Word is true, reliable.

If God says so, then it is so. And some of you need to see this because you may not trust God's Word as you should. But then number three, Peter's sermon. I call this the first part of the sermon. Now here I want us to look at verses 22 to 24. Acts 2, 22 to 24. Notice what he says. Many of Israel, that would be Jews, hear these words. "Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God "with mighty works and wonders and signs "that God did through him in your midst. "As you yourselves know." This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

God raised him up loosening the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Now we did cover these verses thoroughly back on the 11th. But I want to touch on a few things here. Notice that the theme of this part of Peter's sermon is on the resurrection. But look at how these verses progress. In verse 22, Peter confronted these Jews with what they knew. He confronted them with the fact that they were not ignorant of all of the events concerning Jesus. They knew full well of all of the mighty works, wonders and signs that God did through Jesus. So Peter said that they knew about all these things.

And then he moved on to two mysteries, seeming contradictory facts. First he confronted them with what they did. In verse 23, he told them that they had indeed crucified and killed Jesus by the hands of lawless men. Of course the Jews did not physically crucify Jesus, but they pressed and forced the Romans into crucifying Jesus. Actually they worked hand in hand. But notice, it is clear that Peter held the Jews responsible for crucifying and killing Jesus because they had handed Jesus over to the Romans and pressed them into crucifying him. And then second, he emphasized to them that this was God's plan all along.

In verse 23, Peter said that these things were the predetermined plan of God. He said that although Jesus was crucified and killed by sinful men, by them, these things were, according to God's definite plan and foreknowledge. But notice that verse 24 reveals the main point of this part of Peter's message. I call this part one of the message. Look at verse 24, I'm gonna read it in the Amplified. But God raised him up, releasing him and bringing an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for him to be held in death's power.

The New American Standard says, and God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for him to be held by its power. Now get this, just as the Jews knew of the death of Jesus, they knew of the resurrection as well. And Peter's point in preaching the resurrection was this. He was declaring that Jesus was indeed alive, which was major, which was a major theme of all of the apostolic preaching. And we're gonna see that all throughout the book of Acts. Now there's a lesson for us right here. We must always preach Christ in our preaching. We must always preach Christ crucified in our preaching.

We must always preach Christ crucified and raised again in our preaching. We must always preach that Christ ascended in our preaching. You see, we preach Christ, we preach Christ crucified, raised and ascended. And get this church, the message of Christ, crucified, resurrected and ascended is at the heart of the gospel. And to go back a little in the verses, we must always make personal application of the gospel to the lost. That means that we must proclaim the gospel, yes. We proclaim the facts of the gospel, yes. But we make personal application and we explain the consequences of the gospel.

Peter did this when he said, "You." You, you crucified and killed Jesus. You see? And see, when we make personal application of the gospel, we look at someone and we say, "You are a sinner." We don't just declare the sinfulness of man, generally, no. Specifically, we say, "You are a sinner." And then we explain the personal responsibility of the crucifixion. And what I mean by that is, those Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus and so are people today.

We look at people and we say, "You are a sinner "and it is your sin that put Christ on the cross." And then we preach the great grace of the gospel, the fact that men and women can come to faith by Christ through faith. And then we preach the great responsibility of expressing repentance and faith. Not only do we call sinners to see their sinfulness and the fact that they are guilty of putting Christ on the cross and that grace is available through the gospel, we preach the fact that sinners are responsible to repent and trust in faith. Sinners have a responsibility to act in repentance and faith.

And then we declare the wonderful and the awful consequences of a person's choices in the gospel. If someone receives Christ, what are the wonderful consequences? Forgiveness, grace, a home in heaven one day. But the awful consequences are this, that if someone rejects the gospel and there were some Jews that day who did, they face death and eternal punishment. Now let's continue in this first part of Peter's sermon and in the verses 25 to 36. And here we get into verses that we did not cover in our part one. So let's read these verses. Verse 25 to 36.

For David says concerning, I saw the Lord always before me for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also would dwell in hope for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy ones see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that's King David, that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ that he was not abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he, that's the spirit, was poured out this. He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, "The Lord is at my right hand.

"Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies "a footstool." Now earlier in verse 24, Peter clearly stated that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. We read that. And he said that it was God who raised him up because it was impossible for death and the agony of death and the clutches of death to keep a hold of him. Here in these verses, we have more teaching and explanation concerning the resurrection which is the main point of this first part of the message. And notice, first Peter gives David's prophecy. It's in verses 25 to 28.

Here Peter is quoting Psalm 16 verses one to verses eight to 11, which is attributed to King David and it is considered to be a Messianic Psalm, which is about the Messiah. But here in these verses Psalm 16, eight to 11, David wrote prophetically about the promised Messiah's life, death, resurrection and glorification. And we know that he was writing about Jesus. You see that? And notice that David was in his saying exactly what Peter said in verse 24. But really I have that backwards. It's the other way around. Peter was saying exactly what David said.

He said that God would not leave Jesus in Hades or the grave and that he would not allow his Holy One to see corruption. This means that God the Father would not leave his son in this state of death and that his body would not be allowed to decay. And second, Peter gives an explanation in verses 29 to 31. And notice how Peter declares with great confidence what these things meant for David. In verse 29, he says with confidence that David was not speaking about himself. The patriarch David died and his body did see corruption. So David could not have been speaking about himself.

And he goes on to say that when David wrote as he did, he was writing as a prophet. And that he knew that God had sworn to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne forever. And he went on to say that David saw and spoke of the promised Messiah and that God would not abandon his son to death in Hades and that he would be raised. Then third, Peter gives God's exaltation in verses 32 to 35. Now here Peter moves on from explaining David's prophecy to giving not just an explanation, but into giving God's explanation.

He says that this Jesus that they certainly knew of, remember verse 22, God raised him up and that they were witnesses of these things. He says that God had raised him up and he was exalted to the right hand, the very right hand of God. And having been raised up and exalted to the right hand of God, he has poured out the Holy Spirit that they were seeing, hearing, and even experiencing. Then he returns to David's prophecy in verses 34 to 35. But this time he is referencing a different prophecy. He was and he is referencing Psalm 10, Psalm 110.

And again, here in Psalm 110, David was predicting that God would exalt his promised Messiah and that God would exalt him to his very right hand. And then fourth, Peter ends with their responsibility. Here in verse 36, we have what I call the end of the first part of the sermon. Look at verse 36 and notice how he transitions from explanation to responsibility. He says, "Let all of the house of Israel, "therefore know for certain that God has made him," that's Jesus, "both Lord and Christ," that would be Messiah, "this Jesus whom you crucified." Now notice how personal Peter was getting. He directly addressed the Jews in the nation of Israel.

You see that? William McDonald says that this announcement was coming crashing down on the Jewish people. I like that. McDonald says that this announcement and all that he was preaching and saying, it was coming crashing down on them. And here he does two things. Notice that he emphatically exalts Jesus. He declares to them that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ and he leaves no room for doubt. This word phrase, no for certain. It comes from a word in the original which speaks of that which cannot be debated or doubted. And notice that he clearly and directly applies the gospel again.

He says, "This Jesus whom you crucified." Again, he was pressing home their guilt and responsibility in all of these things and he was pressing them in their need for saving faith in Christ Jesus. So notice what we have here. A lot of verses and a lot of material. Really we have quite a lot in the first part of this sermon but I want us to see two things before we move into part two. Notice that Peter emphasizes two things here. The theme of this sermon is the resurrection of Jesus. In this first part of the sermon, the resurrection of Jesus. First he emphasizes the surety of these things. The surety of these things.

From the Old Testament scriptures of Psalm 16 and Psalm 110, Peter was emphasizing that all that took place with Jesus was spoken of centuries before in and through the Old Testament prophets. Now what was Peter's point? He was showing them that this was spoken of by God. This was biblical. These things weren't random. Second, he emphasizes the responsibility of these things. More than once he used the personal pronoun you saying that this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and you killed by the hands of lawless men. And what was Peter's purpose in that?

Personally applying the gospel to them personally, his purpose was bringing them to saving faith. Now an application, we need to make sure that we see two things, just like that original audience. First, we need to see and understand that the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, everything that happened was foretold. Not a plan B, all a part of God's plan. And then second, our personal responsibility in the gospel. If we have not savingly trusted in Christ, we are personally responsible here. Then number four, I'm calling this Peter's second part and Peter's sermon are the part two of the sermon. Let's read verses 37 to 41. 37 to 41.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 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 will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit "for the promise is for you and for your children "and for all who are far off, "everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized and they were added that day about 3,000 souls.

Now just like in the first part of this sermon, there is a theme. Here we have a theme of Peter's call in the results. Now there are several things I want us to see. First, we see the convicting power of the spirit. That would be the Holy Spirit in verse 37. Here we see that after Peter concluded his sermon by pressing them into their personal responsibilities, the Holy Spirit did what Peter could not do.

The verse says, "When they heard this," that's a reference to Peter's sermon, "that they were cut to the heart." And this phrase, "Cut to the heart," the new American says, "Pierce to the heart." This comes from a word in the original, which means to cut, to pierce, even to stab. And this speaks of the sudden and the unseen and the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit of God in their hearts, minds, souls, and lives.

John MacArthur says, and I'm quoting, "Stunned by their inability to evade the indictment "that they were guilty of heinous behavior before God, "they were overcome by grief and remorse." Now I agree with that, but I think more needs to be said here. They were overcome by grief and remorse, but this was not worldly grief and remorse, but godly grief and remorse. Second Corinthians 7.10 says, "For godly grief produces a repentance "that leads to salvation without regret. "Whereas worldly grief," some translations say sorrow, "worldly grief or sorrow produces death." And that is what they had here.

The piercing and the stabbing work of the Spirit produced a godly grief and a godly sorrow. And we know that to be the case because we do see that they did repent and savingly believe. Now there's a point of application here, folks. A true work of the Spirit of God that brings people to faith in Christ always begins with this grief, this stabbing, this piercing, we call it convicting work of the Spirit, whereby people come to the place that they understand their guilt before God and their sin and sinfulness, you see? And then second, we see Peter's appeal to those who were convicted in verses 38 to 39.

After they ask brothers what shall we do, Peter then called them to do two things. First he called them to repent, which would include acknowledging their sin and their guilt and taking sides with God against themselves. That's what repentance is. Taking sides with God against self in regards to sin and sinfulness. Second he called them to be baptized, which was a part of the mandate that Jesus had given them in the Great Commission. Now before we move on, we need to clear up any misconception or error here. Peter was not. He is not teaching any kind of salvation by works through baptism.

That cannot be the case because that would violate of the Scripture. I ran across a list that William Macdonald offers here. Some of you have his material and you'll see that if you do some study. I really put it all on in my own words, but he offers an explanation here. He says that this cannot relate to salvation because first many New Testament passages teach that salvation is by faith and faith alone. John 1.12, John 3.16, 3.36, 6.47, and John 3.31 in Romans 10.9, all teach that salvation is by faith and faith alone. Second, Jesus gave the thief on the cross assurance of his salvation and he was never baptized.

We'll see that in Luke 23.43. Third, Jesus never baptized anyone, but yet there were many people that he pronounced were truly saved. And then fourth, Paul was thankful that he baptized a few of the Corinthian believers. And if you know what he says there, he says he didn't remember who he baptized. And if baptism was necessary for salvation, then Paul would have never spoken of baptism in such a way. Now there's a lesson here. The lesson is this. If your interpretation of one verse or one portion of scripture contradicts other scripture, well, your interpretation is wrong. The Bible never contradicts itself.

The Bible always interprets itself, but notice something else. Not only did Peter call them to repentance and faith and to their responsibility to be baptized, he assured them that they would receive the Holy Spirit and he assured them that salvation was promised for the Jew and the Gentile. Verse 39 says, "For the promise is for you "and for your children." Who is he speaking of? These were Jews. He's speaking of their Jewish descendants, their brothers and sisters in Judaism. "For the promise is for you and for you and your children "and for all who are far off." Who are those who are far off? The Gentiles.

"Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And notice that is the work of God, the sovereign work of God in salvation. No man comes to faith in Christ. Jew or Gentile unless God calls them. Then we see in verse 40 that Luke references more of what Peter preached. Of course he doesn't record it. Simply Luke tells us that Peter continued to preach evangelistically just as he had done before. He continued to preach Savior sales from this crooked generation. And then third, the culmination of all these things. We see the great harvest of souls into the church in verse 41.

Here we see the God sized results of these things as a result of Peter's preaching and as a result of the spirit's work about 3,000 received Peter's words and they were baptized and they were added to the church. And notice here the church at Jerusalem was born. Of course it began with the original 120 believers. They were gathered there waiting and praying but with a sudden birth of about 3,000 of those Jews who had gathered there on the day of Pentecost they were brought into the kingdom of God and the church was born. So notice what we have in verses 37 to 41. The results of Peter's sermon. The results of the spirit's work.

As a result of the spirit's convicting work after preaching his sermon, Peter called these Jews who cried out to repent and to savingly believe and he called them to the first step in Christian obedience baptism. Let me pause here. The first step in Christian obedience is baptism. I've known believers, true believers who came to faith in Christ and they missed that first step of baptism and truthfully they were walking and have been can be walking in disobedience by not being baptized but notice the church at Jerusalem was born. Now some questions I want you to ponder over. Were these 3,000 or so souls saved because of Peter's preaching? Yes.

Were these 3,000 or so souls saved because of the piercing cutting work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and minds and lives? Yes. Who is responsible for the declaration of the gospel in man's responsibilities to the gospel? Well, men and men. Who is responsible for the birthing of lost sinners into the kingdom? God, the Holy Spirit. What am I trying to show you? I'm showing you our responsibility and God's sovereign work here. Sometimes it's hard to see which is which. It really is.

We could easily say, well, they came to faith because of Peter's preaching and they did but we can easily say they came to faith because of the Spirit's work because they did. But how should this affect us? What should we learn here? How should this affect us in evangelism? We should use this as a pattern. It's a pattern. We should preach the gospel just like Peter did and we should look to the Spirit just like Peter did. So look what we have here in these verses in what I call Peter's sermon at Pentecost. Really a part one and a part two. A lot of verses starting at verse 14 all the way down to verse 41. Look at what we have here.

I like what James Montgomery Boyce says. He calls this the sermon that won 3,000 souls. Notice how he's emphasizing Peter's responsibility? I would add to that by saying this is the sermon that the Spirit of God used to win 3,000 souls. This is a work of the Spirit of God in and through Peter to win 3,000 souls. That is why I like to call this series The Acts of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we can call this the Acts of the Apostles but it's the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. Now in closing, I wanna offer a few lessons, six specific lessons. It comes right out of the teaching.

First lesson, we have a great responsibility to preach the gospel just like Peter. Now it could be one on one. It could be two or three. I don't know, God might give you an opportunity to where you preach to thousands. But we all have a responsibility to preach the gospel, the totality of the gospel. And never forget now, a part of the message of the gospel is the sinfulness of man. That's the bad news. Second lesson, the great need to personally apply the gospel personally. We should use the personal pronoun you. That's offensive now.

If you look at your mother or your father or your brother or your neighbor and you start using personal pronouns you, they could be offended. Now you can preach and declare the gospel in such a way where you never personally apply it to them. What good is that? Peter didn't do that. So we need to personally apply the gospel personally in all of the implications of the gospel. The third lesson, our utter and total dependence on the work of the spirit to bring lost sinners to a place of conversion. I don't know if anybody can preach any better than Peter and he was dependent on the spirit.

So that tells me that I am really, really dependent on the spirit. We can declare the gospel, we can pray, we can have the gospel, I mean down to every detail and we can preach the gospel and witness and even use great illustration and even share out of our own lives. But unless the spirit of God does what only the spirit of God can do, we are hopeless. Fourth lesson, when the piercing, cutting work of the Holy Spirit is complete in bringing sinners to a place of conversion, they will cry out in faith. Let me repeat that because some of you need to hear it.

When the piercing, cutting work of the Holy Spirit is complete in bringing sinners to saving faith and conversion, they will cry out, what must we do to be saved? And the lesson here is this, leave people alone. Have you ever noticed my approach? I beg people to come, I beg people to come. But unless they say, pastor, what am I gonna do? Unless the spirit gets them to that place, I can't. Fifth lesson, God desires a loss to be saved. What did Peter say to the Jews? This is a promise for you and for your descendants and for all kinds who are far off.

The point I'm trying to make is God desires lost sinners to be saved and that includes your son or your daughter, your mother or your father and your neighbor. And then the sixth lesson, we should have a mighty expectation that lost sinners will be saved. What did we learn a couple of weeks ago? We learned that there's a mighty expectation for the church and we should have a mighty expectation for the church and we should have a mighty expectation that lost sinners will come to faith.

So tonight we finished up Peter's sermon at Pentecost, I call it a part two and then next week we will finish up chapter two in that great, great description of the life of this first church. I really can't wait to get there.