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| Acts 2:1-13 Genesis 27 Memory Verses: John 15:5; John 3:17 Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters, Acts 2:1 The day of Pentecost, also called the "feast of Weeks" From Leviticus 23:15-22. The word Pentecost is referring to the 50th day of the festival, Leviticus 23:16. It is obvious from the text that there were a lot of people gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. Along with the people gathered for Pentecost there were 120 believers huddled together in a prayer meeting. Isn't it interesting that Jesus died on the Passover, which celebrated the passing over of the Jews in Exodus 12:1-30. Christ is our Passover, 1 Cor 5:7, His sacrifice on the Cross signified not only the payment of our sins, but also was a picture of the blood of the lamb over the doorpost, a blood covering for sin. When you think about it, the cross is our doorway into heaven, Revelation 3:20 by Jesus shedding His blood on the cross, he protected us from death. He was the lamb that was slain for our sins on the Passover. The "feast of the Firstfruits" Leviticus 23:15-22, which took place one day after the Sabbath, after the Passover, was where the grain offering was waved before the Lord. On that day, we as Christians became the firstfruits of those who slept, Jesus rose from the dead on that day. 1 Cor 15:20 At the end of the festival, Pentecost was celebrated, this was where the two loaves were waved before the Lord. Two loaves, Jew and Gentile. The significance of the loaves is that they were baked with yeast, symbolizing sin. 1 Corinthians 10:17 indicates that we are all of one loaf in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, the church will not be perfect until it gets to heaven, sin will abound, just as yeast is abounding in the loaves. So to make a long story short, this is why we celebrate worship on Sunday. The church, or the body of Christ was actually initiated on a Sunday, which is signified by the waving of the two loaves before the Lord at the end of the feast of the weeks. Calvary was once for all, it finished the requirements of the Law, Jesus rose from the dead, signifying that He defeated death, and bore the sins of the people, covering the sins. Now 50 days later, the church is instituted with the filling and baptism of the Holy Spirit. 2:2-4 We have discussed at length the difference between filling with the Spirit and the Baptism of the Spirit, with the letters from Erik. Rather than re-hash the issue, look back on that letter, I forwarded it to you yesterday. Erik was pretty thorough on the discussion of the Holy Spirit. Check out this note regarding the same issue: The filling with the Holy Spirit is separate from the baptism of the Spirit. The Spirit’s baptism occurs once for each believer at the moment of salvation ( cf. 11:15-16; Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 2:12 ), but the Spirit’s filling may occur not only at salvation but also on a number of occasions after salvation (Acts 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9, 52 ). An evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was other tongues ( heterais glōssais; cf. 11:15-16 ). These were undoubtedly spoken living languages; the word used in 2:6 , 8 is dialektō, which means “language” and not ecstatic utterance. This gives insight into what is meant by “tongues” in chapters 2 ; 10 ; 19 ; and in 1 Corinthians 12-14 . This event marked the beginning of the church. Up to this point the church was anticipated (Matt. 16:18 ). The church is constituted a body by means of Spirit baptism (1 Cor. 12:13 ). The first occurrence of the baptism of the Spirit therefore must indicate the inauguration of the church. Of course Acts 2:1-4 does not state that Spirit baptism took place at Pentecost. However, 1:5 anticipates it and 11:15-16 refers back to it as having occurred at Pentecost. The church, therefore, came into existence then. cf. confer , compare Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures, Ac 2:4. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985. One other note regarding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This occurred at Pentecost to institute the Church. It also occurs at the moment each believer accepts Jesus as savior, instantly, it usually doesn't bear the filling of the Spirit as it occurred here. But it is the way that the baptism is taken care of on a constant basis. Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27-28. The references to the sound, was in regards to the Spirit being as a wind, there are many references in the Bible referring to the Spirit as a wind, John 3:8; Psalm 135:7; Ezekiel 37:9; Ecclesiastes 11:5. (NASB references) Just as there are many references referring to God as being in the fire, here are a few Gen 15:17, Exodus 3:2-6; 13:21-22; 19:18; 40:38, (all references borrowed from Walvoord as referenced above). 2:5-13 When God moves, the world is bewildered. This was the original intention regarding tongues, each one was a known language, and was used to establish the Gospel, to preach to the unsaved. How many were speaking in tongues? According to v. 14, it could have only been the Apostles, but it also could have included the 120, that isn't clear. What is clear is that the Spirit of God moved in a mighty way, and people of all nations heard the Gospel for the first time. The tongues still exist in some churches today, there is a lot of debate over them. The conservatives feel that they are done and over with, the charismatics feel that they are evidence of and a gift of the Spirit. I personally believe that tongues is right for today, with scriptural limitations, an interpreter must be present. We will know who is ultimately right when we go to heaven. Now, it is a hot issue, one well worthy of a lot of thought and discussion. But time is against us. If you wish to comment more on this, write in. Also, regarding v. 13 when the world does not understand the moving of God, they try to make excuses to make the occurrence logical. Genesis 27 Regarding this story, a few thoughts, first, have you ever wondered how he could be fooled with goat meat? I found out recently that if you cook venison or deer meat, and goat meat the same way, you can't tell a difference. Weren't they stinkers? Talk about deception, and intentional blatant lies, the lies that were told earlier regarding the wives being their sisters came around fully. We are very observative as children, it is important to lead our children in the right way, and not lead a double standard in our lives. Lord, as we study together, thank You for Your work on the Cross, and thank You for baptizing each one of us with Your Holy Spirit, fill us daily, and give us understanding, molding us into Your image and likeness. In Him, Joe Turner. *** Joe, Thanks for the Acts 2 study. Revelation 3:20 is commonly used as a gospel presentation verse, but it really is about a church problem, thus not a gospel issue. Until we are resurrected, I believe Jesus is the first fruit. IHG, Erik ----- Acts 2:14-24 Genesis 28 Memory Verses: John 15:5; John 3:17 Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters, We are going to begin the study of Peters Sermon in three sections. Peter preached in the presence of the other eleven, it is very interesting the text that he chose. First, he established that they were not drunk, since it was so early in the morning. But he exhorts them to listen to his words, and to pay close attention. Remember also that he was addressing the Jews at this point and not the Gentiles. When he quoted the prophet Joel 2:28-32 in 17-21, he was not saying that the scriptures were fulfilled, merely that the same Holy Spirit that inspired Joel also was inspiring the preachers that they had heard when the Baptism of the Spirit took place. A lot of the scripture had been fulfilled, or partially fulfilled, and it was messianic in nature. Verses 17-18 were obviously fulfilled, but 19-20 was still left to be fulfilled. 2:17-18 Look at the obvious fulfillment in these verses, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all of mankind, Peter missed the gentiles in this application. But the Scriptures didn't, we are bondslaves, born into the kingdom of God through the blood of Jesus. Referring to Nicodemus in John 3, once we are born again, we are born out of slavery to sin into slavery to Christ, becoming His bondslaves. Isn't it interesting that the manifestation of the Spirit was Sons and Daughters prophesying? Prophecy is to proclaim the truth, or to speak the truth. It is not necessarily telling the future, we stumble a lot on that one. Although that was part of the idea of prophecy. All prophets do not just foretell the future, they also are speaking the truth about a situation, and that is not always popular to do. A prophet will speak not of his own opinion, where he has studied a situation, and made an intellectual assent of it. A true prophet will speak as God leads him to speak, becoming a mouthpiece for God to use. God does use the knowledge that an individual possesses, but adds to it divine inspiration. In the process of pouring out His Spirit this divine inspiration is poured out on average people, Jews and Gentiles alike. 2:19-20 Although a lot of parallels could be made between Jesus' life, burial, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, these scriptures seem to be pointing more toward the second coming of Christ. 2:21 The summation of the verses comes to this statement. The purpose of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was that everyone would be convicted to call upon the Lord to be saved. The purpose of the prophesying was to point people toward God for the sole purpose of salvation. So in a nutshell, the Spirit of God is poured out upon men to lead men to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The flip side to this is that if men do not call upon the Lord, they will not be saved. Up to this point Peter was explaining the phenomenon of the tongues, fire and the wind. He pointed out that the prophecy in Joel had come to pass, and how it was manifested. Now Peter develops his argument further. 2:22 Jesus is identified as to have walked among them performing signs and wonders, and that He was doing the will of the Father in their mists. They were all aware of the source of Jesus' power, or had come to the realization after his death, that Jesus was genuine. Peter is causing them to take responsibility for knowing that Jesus was the Christ. How does he know this? It is simple, the Spirit of God was speaking through him, revealing the inner thoughts of his audience. 2:23 Jesus was delivered over by them, and Peter is placing personal responsibility on them for the crucifixion of Jesus. It was like that he was accusing them of swinging the hammer to drive the nails, of swinging the whip, and driving home the spear into His side. They were responsible because they followed the godless leaders who were obviously wrong. They were responsible for the crucifixion of the Messiah. 2:24 God raised Jesus up from the dead, the Jews had nothing to do with it. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice could not be held in the bonds of death. He defeated the agony of death, which was the separation from God. Now the agony of death is destroyed, the sting of death is gone. We can stand before Him, holy and righteous as a result of His death, burial and resurrection. Where is the sting of death? It only exists for those who continue to reject the call of Christ. Peter in this first section of his sermon, established that the Holy Spirit was indwelling the believers, and the message is not about the Holy Spirit, the message is about Jesus Christ. The focus in its entirety is Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Genesis 28 Jacob is sent to Paddan-aram by his father, and the blessing is ratified again by Isaac, who makes sure that Jacob understands not to take a wife from among the daughters of Canaan. While Jacob is on his journey, he had the dream regarding Jacob's ladder. God verified the promise to him again. He in turn worships the Lord, and builds a pillar to stand as a witness. He also commits to give a tenth back to God of everything that he owns. This was before the law, therefore, the tithe was not just a institution that was under the law, it existed before the law, which is one reason why it is still encouraged today. Notice also Esau's response in v. 9 in a attempt to win favor with his father, he doesn't marry a Caananite, but he marries into the rejected branch of Abraham's family. Esau was boastful and arrogant, but now, he seems to be trying to fix the situation. Sin causes all kinds of ill effects, not all of them obvious, and not all of them related to the sin. This family has had a lot of problems due to the sin in their lives, and the consequences of that sin. We should learn from them, take John's advice and stop sinning, 1 John 5:6. Lord, as we study Your word today, impress upon our minds the meaning of salvation, and the need for purity in our lives. Thank you for the Holy Spirit guiding us daily through our lives. In Him, Joe Turner. *** Acts 2:25-36 Genesis 29 Memory Verses: John 15:5; John 3:17 Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters, Peter continues his sermon on Jesus Christ, and develops the thought much further. He uses the same approach that was used in 2 Samuel 12:9, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword....." He used the same approach on the Jewish crowd that was used by the prophet in David's day for rebuking David of his sin. It demanded personal responsibility. One thing I missed yesterday, which is too good to pass up, the word in v. 24 for "agony" is actually the word which is used to describe a woman in labor being ready to deliver a child. It throws a different spin on that verse, gives the idea of Jesus being born out of the grave. 2:25-29 Peter quotes from Psalm 16:8-11, using David's prophecy concerning the Messiah as a basis of proof that Jesus was the Messiah. This could not possibly have been written to speak of David, since they were all witnesses that David was dead and buried, his bones in a local grave. He is also refuting the myth that the Sanhedrin tried to establish saying that the apostles had stolen Jesus' body, and that He had not risen from the dead. Matthew 28:11-15. Jesus was indeed alive, and David prophesied it. 2:30 Peter then points to another Messianic psalm concerning one of his descendants sitting upon the throne, Psalm 132:11. In 2 Sam 7:12-16, this prophecy is spelled out, Not only does the descendant occupy the throne, it is going to happen after David's death, and He will occupy the throne forever, also in this passage, the relationship between God the Father and Jesus is prophesied, along with the death of Jesus by the "rods of men and the strokes of the sons of men". Then Jesus will be raised up and His kingdom shall endure forever and ever. This prophecy is also referred to in Psalm 89:3-4. The point of all of this, these people were well versed in the writings of David, they studied them intently. Their only Bible was the Old Testament, therefore when Peter pointed out that the prophecy concerning Jesus abiding on the throne, these people knew exactly what he was talking about and was able to connect the dots. 2:31 Peter quotes from Psalm 16, this psalm is entirely messianic in its content, another very familiar Psalm to them, and they were well aware of the puzzle in Psalm 16:10 where he would not stay dead, and would not experience decay. Jesus filled this prophecy to the fullest extent, and Peter is pointing that out to the Jews. 2:32-33 Peter sums up what he had been telling them, just in case they had missed it. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we were all witnesses." He was exalted to the throne, and He fulfilled the prophecies that were given earlier to David by the Holy Spirit. 2:34-35 Quoting again from Psalm 110, Peter points out that again this is a messianic Psalm, speaking about Jesus. Obviously this could not be talking about David, it was written about the Lord, and it also establishes the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God the Father Lord calls Jesus Lord of men. Jesus is also referred to in this Psalm as a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. You can be sure that the Jews attending, did not miss the references to the Old Testament prophecies. 2:36 Peter lets the hammer fall, "This Jesus whom you crucified." He makes sure that they know that all the prophecies that he quoted were directly related and directly fulfilled for certain in Jesus, who is both the Lord and the Messiah. It was clearly established in the Scriptures, and they can clearly see the fulfillment in their lives. Genesis 29 The Bible records a love story here, it is love at first sight between Jacob and Rachel. Think about finding the love of your life, having to wait 7 years for her hand, then being tricked into waiting another 7 years for her hand. He waited a total of 14 years to marry the girl of his dreams. Ended up with quite a household of women, children, and the drama continues tomorrow. Lord, as we study Your word this morning, enable us to see that Jesus is Lord of our lives, that we are to submit every area to His will. Thank You for reminding us that we have a risen Savior. In Him, Joe Turner. *** Acts 2:37-47 Genesis 30 Memory Verses: John 15:5; John 3:17 Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, The final section of this chapter shows us the results of Peters sermon, and also gives us a brief picture of the early Church. Acts 2:37 The working of the Holy Spirit is to convict the hearts of man, Hebrews 4:12. Once the heart is convicted, we need to be ready so that we can give an answer to the question. Wouldn't it have been a shame if Peter answered, "I don't know, we've never had a convert before". The point, be ready, learn the memory verses, and be ready when someone ask you how to be saved. Acts 2:38-39 Two qualifications that Peter points out, first, repent, and second to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Once that took place, then the Holy Spirit would give His gift. Those who are far off are drawn near. Look though at the idea behind the baptism. It was not a light ceremony, it had significance. The Greek word for baptism means immersion. The idea here was that once you repented, or did a u-turn with your life, turning from a life of sin, to God. In this case, it was turning from a life of religiousness that caused the execution of the Messiah. To the Messiah Himself. It was being immersed into His name for the sole purpose of forgiveness of sins. You can bet that they understood the significance of the baptism. Today we don't place much significance on Baptism, that emphasis is placed at the moment of leading someone to Christ. Baptism was understood to be an outward sign of repentance at that time, look at John the Baptist's ministry. We don't have the religious background today that they did at that time. It was important to be a part of the Temple and to worship on the Sabbath. To be a Jew had meaning, and it was important to follow the traditions. Today, we have to be much more careful when leading someone to Christ, because with our society, there is just not the religious background. In very few situations a person has knowledge of God before accepting Christ as Savior. There are a few who were raised in the church, but for the most part, the people we reach out to are unchurched. We must also remember when reading this that these people were very well versed in the Old Testament to understand what Peter was talking about. Isaiah 57:19 addressed the idea of those far off being drawn near. As a matter of importance please do not mis-understand, Baptism is not essential to salvation, look at this note: "It is unfortunate that the translation of Acts 2:38 in the King James Version suggests that people must be baptized in order to be saved, because this is not what the Bible teaches. The Greek word eis (which is translated “for” in the phrase “for the remission of sins”) can mean “on account of” or “on the basis of.” In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist baptized on the basis that people had repented. Acts 2:38 should not be used to teach salvation by baptism. If baptism is essential for salvation, it seems strange that Peter said nothing about baptism in his other sermons ( Acts 3:12–26 ; 5:29–32 ; 10:34–43 ). In fact, the people in the home of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized! ( Acts 10:44–48 ) Since believers are commanded to be baptized, it is important that we have a clean conscience by obeying ( 1 Peter 3:21 ), but we must not think that baptism is a part of salvation. If so, then nobody in Hebrews 11 was saved because none of them was ever baptized." Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. "An Exposition of the New Testament Comprising the Entire 'BE' Series"--Jkt., Ac 2:14. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989. Looking into the commentaries, there seems to be quite a concern over these verses seeming to justify the requirement of baptism for salvation. If you need more on this, please write me, Peter preached salvation by faith in other places in the New Testament. The truth is simple, it is salvation by faith, and baptism is an outward sign of what happened on the inside. The idea in these verses is clear, first repent, first do the u-turn, then as a symbol to everyone else, be baptized. This way you were seperated from the crowd, you made a stand for Jesus. Remember, his audience was strict Jews, they needed to perform the baptism to make a show of turning to Jesus. If they weren't baptized the effect wouldn't be the same. Baptism did not save them. Acts 2:40-41 Peter kept preaching, he didn't shut up once the alter call was made, he kept on encouraging the people and exhorting them to be saved. Picture this, those who were "received his word and were baptized" were about 3000, my question is how many were there that didn't get baptized? It is an incredible figure at any rate. Imagine preaching to an audience of 3000 people without the aid of a public address system. Remember, his audience was Jews and Jewish Converts who had gathered for the festival. Acts 2:42-47 Take a look at the lives of the Apostles and the believers. They spent time in continual fellowship, breaking bread and praying together on a daily basis. Can you imagine the power that was present with the apostles performing signs and wonders, along with the pure faith that was not polluted by doubt? We are told here that they were of one mind, and they weren't ashamed to pray or eat together. They weren't ashamed to share their possessions with the other believers. God was at work, He was adding to their number every day. If there was a need, they found a way to meet it. Could we do this in our church today? Outside of the limitations of the high cost of living, could we devote ourselves to constant prayer, and could we devote ourselves to fellowship as much as possible? These are hard questions, prayer is regarded with distain, and fellowship is viewed as an inconvenience to most church goers today. Can we honestly say that we fellowship with "gladness and sincerity of heart"? Makes you think doesn't it? Perhaps we need to re-think our institutionalized religion that we have today and insert a little real fellowship into it. Just a thought. Genesis 30 Can you imagine being a part of this family? The family politics must have been incredible. Also, look what happens when you put the fox in charge of the hen-house. Jacob did everything in his power to promote the growth of the herd to his favor. Would you consider this right or wrong? He was taken advantage of for many years by Laban, but was taking advantage of him right? Lord, as we study Your word today, open our minds to understand how it applies to our lives. Enable us to learn to be ready to give an answer when we are ask, and make our lives an example as the early church's was. In Him, Joe Turner. *** Joe, Thanks for the study in Acts 2. Note, repent (METANOEO) means to change the mind. The Jews there certainly needed to change their mind about who Jesus was, the Messiah instead of a blasphemer. They needed to confess their sin of murdering the Messiah (change their mind about that too - not a duty against a blasphemer, but murder of the Messiah). Everyone must recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord. That requires a change of mind about Jesus and their need for the Savior. That change of mind is repentance. The adding to their number by God (47) seems to be a consequence of devotion to the word, to fellowship, to worship and to prayer. When we give ourselves over to these activities, devoting ourselves to them, then fruitful evangelism is a consequence. Jacob was a scoundrel, no doubt. I consider his actions with the herd/flock to be unorthodox, another example of cheating. Did the Lord instruct him to do these things? Well, Jacob gives God credit in Genesis 31, but I don't think he said anything about the poles. Yes, God did prosper him, but his actions were still underhanded. IHG, Erik |
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