The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eleven - C Aug 19, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/Suvery11C_20180819.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Today we will begin to look at the events of the Day of Pentecost. The full text of this message with the accompanying Power Point can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 19th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 11C ‘Men and Brethren, What Shall We Do?’ 1). Ac 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with [Lit. immersed in] the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 ¶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. The Lord’s final command to His disciples before a cloud received Him out of their sight was to stay in Jerusalem ‘for the Promise of the Father’, which they had heard from Him, maybe during the 40 days when He taught them the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God following His resurrection. a). And as we see from v5 the Promise of the Father begins with an immersion in the Holy Spirit – an event in the disciples’ thinking, because of what the Lord had taught them, that they linked to the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. b). But, the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel was not something the Lord could confirm for them as it was dependent on Israel’s national repentance, which at that time, in one respect, remained an unknown quantity and from another would not happen. c). What the Lord did confirm was that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them to be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth – power to fulfill the commission He gave to them after His resurrection, which we have seen in the Gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke over the last couple of weeks which had to begin in Jerusalem. d). And the cloud which received the Lord out of their sight at His ascension would be the glory in which He would from that time forward be enswathed – Ac 1:10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." According to the 2 men in white apparel ‘this same Jesus’ would return in like manner to His ascension and the Lord’s return is an event already described for us in - Mt 16:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." 17:1 ¶ Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Here at the beginning of Matthew Chapter 17 we see that it is on the 7th Day that the Lord is transfigured before Peter, James and John on a ‘high mountain’, where His face shone like the sun and His clothes were as white as light – this is the Christ in His glory - Mt 16:27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. e). And not only does this scene in Matthew Chapter 17 confirm that the cloud into which He was received at His ascension was the glory of God as His leaving and return would be identical, but it also identifies the 2 men in white apparel who stood by the disciples as the Lord was taken up, signifying the Law and the prophets – all the OT scriptures. f). And we will also note once again from these verses that the Lord’s return, when He would come a second time, is associated with a ‘high mountain’ on the one hand and the Feast of Tabernacles on the other – both of which direct us to Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. g). So, to say this simply, when the Lord returns, when He is physically present upon the earth a second time, it will be to establish His Kingdom and He will not return apart from establishing His Kingdom – and we also know that the Lord will not return to establish that Kingdom apart from repentance, a change of mind, from the nation of Israel first. Last week’s slide? 2). And so, with the command not to leave Jerusalem and the promise of immersion in the Holy Spirit given, 120 disciples were gathered together in an upper room waiting - Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. These need to be left up The Day of Pentecost came 10 days after the events of the day of the Lord’s ascension, fulfilling that which He had promised. a). Let’s take note of exactly what we see in these verses – the ‘whole house’ where the 120 were sitting was filled with the Holy Spirit, thereby providing the baptism, the immersion, in the Holy Spirit for those in the house as the Lord had promised them and after their immersion in the Holy Spirit the 120 are then filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ‘with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance’. b). There are 2 things that are going on here – in this scene the immersion in the Holy Spirit has to do with the beginning of the Church, the new nation brought into being on the Day of Pentecost to be the recipients of that Kingdom, the ones who would offer the Kingdom of the Heavens again to national Israel - Ga 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; And then the subsequent filling with the Holy Spirit is the empowerment of the 120 to be God’s witnesses, in line with the commission He gave them before His ascension, beginning at Jerusalem - Lu 24:46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 "And you are witnesses of these things. 49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." c). And to understand what is meant by the 120 speaking ‘with other tongues’ we need only follow the scripture - Ac 2:5 ¶ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Let’s remember as we read this that the Jewish people at that time were still scattered out among the Gentile nations. This was a situation that had existed since the days of the Babylonian captivity, and although many Jews may have returned to geographical Israel many didn’t. d). Consequently, there were generations of Jews who had been born and had grown up in Gentile countries speaking the native language of the country of their birth as well as Hebrew, presumably. And being Jews, they would also keep the command to be present in Jerusalem for the annual feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. e). And this being the case it would not be surprising to see many who had come long distances for Passover staying in Jerusalem for Pentecost. f). And contemporary accounts suggest that it was not uncommon for there to be in the region of 2 million Jews in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost year by year. g). Therefore, the power given to the 120 through being filled with the Spirit, after their immersion in the Spirit, enabled them to speak in the native tongue of every Jew visiting Jerusalem for the feast – languages that the 120 themselves had no skill in. h). And with this came the expectation that the Jews in Jerusalem ‘from every nation under heaven’ would receive the message being preached, change their minds about the Christ and return to their native country bringing the same message to the Jews there, who would also repent, and having been filled with the Spirit they would then take the message of the King and His Kingdom out to the Gentiles – each one being able to speak, by the power of the Spirit, in the native language of whichever nation they went to - Mr 16:5 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And this is exactly what will take place during the Millennial Kingdom – Jews alive following the Great Tribulation, repentant, delivered and restored in those days, during the Day of the Lord, will be filled with the Spirit, will be empowered to speak the language of every ethnic group they go to fulfilling their calling to be God’s witnesses with accompanying signs and wonders because Jews will be proclaiming the good news of the King and His Kingdom. 3). As the scripture tells us, there was much consternation in Jerusalem on that Day of Pentecost as the 120, all being Galileans, simultaneously spoke the wonderful works of God in languages they could have no knowledge of – Ac 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." And as we look at this we can already see a division among the Jews, those who sought an answer to what was taking place and those who mocked it. a). And, it is in the midst of this division that Peter by the power of the Holy Spirit makes plain exactly what is happening - Ac 2:14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.' The Holy Spirit, through Peter, clearly says that the filling with the Spirit that the 120 had just experienced is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the prophet Joel, Peter quoting specifically from verses at the end of Joel Chapter 2 to demonstrate this. b). So, to summarize a moment, and say this as simply as possible, being filled with the Spirit seen here in Acts Chapter 2 and elsewhere in Acts IS the pouring out of God’s Spirit ‘on all flesh’ in Joel’s prophecy – the 2 are one and the same. c). And the thing for us to remember is that Joel’s prophecy is exclusively Jewish, dealing with a repentant, delivered and restored nation during the Millennial Kingdom, and as such it can have absolutely nothing to do with Christians today - Joe 2:25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. 28 ¶ "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions………… Joe 3:1 ¶ "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. From the Jewish perspective then, for those present in Jerusalem to physically witness the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy could only have led in one direction, to one conclusion, a restored Theocratic Kingdom with Messiah on David’s throne with the accompanying change of rulership in the heavenly realm. This is what was playing out before their eyes. d). And this is exactly what Peter told them – Ac 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- 23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' 29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Immediately Peter preaches the Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the very truth we saw revealed to him in Matthew Chapter 16. e). We see in v22 that he draws their attention to the ‘miracles, wonders and signs which God did through Him’ in their midst, which testified to the Lord’s identity and testified to the veracity of His message – we might remember what John wrote in his Gospel about signs, a Gospel written during the time covered by the Book of Acts for the purpose of bringing the nation to repentance - Joh 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. f). Peter witnessed to the Lord’s resurrection and showed how this was foretold prophetically by David, the same David to whom the promise was given concerning the Son who would sit on his throne – And Peter also told them that everything had happened ‘by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God’. g). And as we see the lucidity and authority of Peter’s message along with his grasp of the scriptures we cannot help but connect this with a series of events that had previously taken place - Lu 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Ac 1:1 ¶ The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Ac 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." h). Here then was Peter proclaiming the good news of the King and His Kingdom – Ac 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." A powerful message that brought about a singular response - Ac 2:37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Before we read the scripture we would already know the answer to the question as there was only one thing that could be done that would bring about a change in Israel’s situation – Repentance - Ac 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Those who had heard this message were to change their minds concerning Jesus, they were to believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God and then be baptized ‘in His name’ accordingly for the remission of sins, and this would result in them being delivered from the perverse generation who had rejected Him. i). And just to draw our attention to this one more time – Peter’s message is about the King and His Kingdom, it is not a message of eternal salvation, nor could it be as it was a message for the eternally saved generation of Jews alive from the Lord’s first advent and the use of the word ‘saved’ in v40 has to do with deliverance from a perverse generation not issues to do with deliverance from death to life. j). And as we see, those ‘who gladly’ received Peter’s words were baptized, their number being about 3000. k). Now, if there may have been around 2 million Jews in Jerusalem on this day 3000 is a pretty small proportion and so we are certainly not seeing national repentance here and so the Christ could not have returned at that moment. l). But what about the 3000, what can we know of them? Well having believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and having been baptized in His name they would have received the gift of the Holy Spirit – they would have been filled with the Holy Spirit as the 120 were, in accordance with Joel’s prophecy, being empowered to continue disseminating the message. m). And one final, important thing, to take note of for today – these 3000 eternally saved Jews who had now believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and delivered from the perverse generation were added to the number of eternally saved Jews who had believed this same thing prior to the Lord’s crucifixion. n). They cannot be added to the one new man in Christ, because to do so would make a nonsense of the Kingdom of the Heavens being offered again to the nation. But we will need to continue with this next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eleven - C Aug 19, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/Suvery11C_20180819.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Today we will begin to look at the events of the Day of Pentecost. The full text of this message with the accompanying Power Point can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 19th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 11C ‘Men and Brethren, What Shall We Do?’ 1). Ac 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with [Lit. immersed in] the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 ¶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. The Lord’s final command to His disciples before a cloud received Him out of their sight was to stay in Jerusalem ‘for the Promise of the Father’, which they had heard from Him, maybe during the 40 days when He taught them the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God following His resurrection. a). And as we see from v5 the Promise of the Father begins with an immersion in the Holy Spirit – an event in the disciples’ thinking, because of what the Lord had taught them, that they linked to the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. b). But, the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel was not something the Lord could confirm for them as it was dependent on Israel’s national repentance, which at that time, in one respect, remained an unknown quantity and from another would not happen. c). What the Lord did confirm was that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them to be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth – power to fulfill the commission He gave to them after His resurrection, which we have seen in the Gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke over the last couple of weeks which had to begin in Jerusalem. d). And the cloud which received the Lord out of their sight at His ascension would be the glory in which He would from that time forward be enswathed – Ac 1:10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." According to the 2 men in white apparel ‘this same Jesus’ would return in like manner to His ascension and the Lord’s return is an event already described for us in - Mt 16:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." 17:1 ¶ Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Here at the beginning of Matthew Chapter 17 we see that it is on the 7th Day that the Lord is transfigured before Peter, James and John on a ‘high mountain’, where His face shone like the sun and His clothes were as white as light – this is the Christ in His glory - Mt 16:27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. e). And not only does this scene in Matthew Chapter 17 confirm that the cloud into which He was received at His ascension was the glory of God as His leaving and return would be identical, but it also identifies the 2 men in white apparel who stood by the disciples as the Lord was taken up, signifying the Law and the prophets – all the OT scriptures. f). And we will also note once again from these verses that the Lord’s return, when He would come a second time, is associated with a ‘high mountain’ on the one hand and the Feast of Tabernacles on the other – both of which direct us to Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. g). So, to say this simply, when the Lord returns, when He is physically present upon the earth a second time, it will be to establish His Kingdom and He will not return apart from establishing His Kingdom – and we also know that the Lord will not return to establish that Kingdom apart from repentance, a change of mind, from the nation of Israel first. Last week’s slide? 2). And so, with the command not to leave Jerusalem and the promise of immersion in the Holy Spirit given, 120 disciples were gathered together in an upper room waiting - Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. These need to be left up The Day of Pentecost came 10 days after the events of the day of the Lord’s ascension, fulfilling that which He had promised. a). Let’s take note of exactly what we see in these verses – the ‘whole house’ where the 120 were sitting was filled with the Holy Spirit, thereby providing the baptism, the immersion, in the Holy Spirit for those in the house as the Lord had promised them and after their immersion in the Holy Spirit the 120 are then filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ‘with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance’. b). There are 2 things that are going on here – in this scene the immersion in the Holy Spirit has to do with the beginning of the Church, the new nation brought into being on the Day of Pentecost to be the recipients of that Kingdom, the ones who would offer the Kingdom of the Heavens again to national Israel - Ga 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; And then the subsequent filling with the Holy Spirit is the empowerment of the 120 to be God’s witnesses, in line with the commission He gave them before His ascension, beginning at Jerusalem - Lu 24:46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 "And you are witnesses of these things. 49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." c). And to understand what is meant by the 120 speaking ‘with other tongues’ we need only follow the scripture - Ac 2:5 ¶ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Let’s remember as we read this that the Jewish people at that time were still scattered out among the Gentile nations. This was a situation that had existed since the days of the Babylonian captivity, and although many Jews may have returned to geographical Israel many didn’t. d). Consequently, there were generations of Jews who had been born and had grown up in Gentile countries speaking the native language of the country of their birth as well as Hebrew, presumably. And being Jews, they would also keep the command to be present in Jerusalem for the annual feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. e). And this being the case it would not be surprising to see many who had come long distances for Passover staying in Jerusalem for Pentecost. f). And contemporary accounts suggest that it was not uncommon for there to be in the region of 2 million Jews in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost year by year. g). Therefore, the power given to the 120 through being filled with the Spirit, after their immersion in the Spirit, enabled them to speak in the native tongue of every Jew visiting Jerusalem for the feast – languages that the 120 themselves had no skill in. h). And with this came the expectation that the Jews in Jerusalem ‘from every nation under heaven’ would receive the message being preached, change their minds about the Christ and return to their native country bringing the same message to the Jews there, who would also repent, and having been filled with the Spirit they would then take the message of the King and His Kingdom out to the Gentiles – each one being able to speak, by the power of the Spirit, in the native language of whichever nation they went to - Mr 16:5 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And this is exactly what will take place during the Millennial Kingdom – Jews alive following the Great Tribulation, repentant, delivered and restored in those days, during the Day of the Lord, will be filled with the Spirit, will be empowered to speak the language of every ethnic group they go to fulfilling their calling to be God’s witnesses with accompanying signs and wonders because Jews will be proclaiming the good news of the King and His Kingdom. 3). As the scripture tells us, there was much consternation in Jerusalem on that Day of Pentecost as the 120, all being Galileans, simultaneously spoke the wonderful works of God in languages they could have no knowledge of – Ac 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." And as we look at this we can already see a division among the Jews, those who sought an answer to what was taking place and those who mocked it. a). And, it is in the midst of this division that Peter by the power of the Holy Spirit makes plain exactly what is happening - Ac 2:14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.' The Holy Spirit, through Peter, clearly says that the filling with the Spirit that the 120 had just experienced is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the prophet Joel, Peter quoting specifically from verses at the end of Joel Chapter 2 to demonstrate this. b). So, to summarize a moment, and say this as simply as possible, being filled with the Spirit seen here in Acts Chapter 2 and elsewhere in Acts IS the pouring out of God’s Spirit ‘on all flesh’ in Joel’s prophecy – the 2 are one and the same. c). And the thing for us to remember is that Joel’s prophecy is exclusively Jewish, dealing with a repentant, delivered and restored nation during the Millennial Kingdom, and as such it can have absolutely nothing to do with Christians today - Joe 2:25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. 28 ¶ "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions………… Joe 3:1 ¶ "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. From the Jewish perspective then, for those present in Jerusalem to physically witness the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy could only have led in one direction, to one conclusion, a restored Theocratic Kingdom with Messiah on David’s throne with the accompanying change of rulership in the heavenly realm. This is what was playing out before their eyes. d). And this is exactly what Peter told them – Ac 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- 23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' 29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Immediately Peter preaches the Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the very truth we saw revealed to him in Matthew Chapter 16. e). We see in v22 that he draws their attention to the ‘miracles, wonders and signs which God did through Him’ in their midst, which testified to the Lord’s identity and testified to the veracity of His message – we might remember what John wrote in his Gospel about signs, a Gospel written during the time covered by the Book of Acts for the purpose of bringing the nation to repentance - Joh 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. f). Peter witnessed to the Lord’s resurrection and showed how this was foretold prophetically by David, the same David to whom the promise was given concerning the Son who would sit on his throne – And Peter also told them that everything had happened ‘by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God’. g). And as we see the lucidity and authority of Peter’s message along with his grasp of the scriptures we cannot help but connect this with a series of events that had previously taken place - Lu 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Ac 1:1 ¶ The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Ac 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." h). Here then was Peter proclaiming the good news of the King and His Kingdom – Ac 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." A powerful message that brought about a singular response - Ac 2:37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Before we read the scripture we would already know the answer to the question as there was only one thing that could be done that would bring about a change in Israel’s situation – Repentance - Ac 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Those who had heard this message were to change their minds concerning Jesus, they were to believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God and then be baptized ‘in His name’ accordingly for the remission of sins, and this would result in them being delivered from the perverse generation who had rejected Him. i). And just to draw our attention to this one more time – Peter’s message is about the King and His Kingdom, it is not a message of eternal salvation, nor could it be as it was a message for the eternally saved generation of Jews alive from the Lord’s first advent and the use of the word ‘saved’ in v40 has to do with deliverance from a perverse generation not issues to do with deliverance from death to life. j). And as we see, those ‘who gladly’ received Peter’s words were baptized, their number being about 3000. k). Now, if there may have been around 2 million Jews in Jerusalem on this day 3000 is a pretty small proportion and so we are certainly not seeing national repentance here and so the Christ could not have returned at that moment. l). But what about the 3000, what can we know of them? Well having believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and having been baptized in His name they would have received the gift of the Holy Spirit – they would have been filled with the Holy Spirit as the 120 were, in accordance with Joel’s prophecy, being empowered to continue disseminating the message. m). And one final, important thing, to take note of for today – these 3000 eternally saved Jews who had now believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and delivered from the perverse generation were added to the number of eternally saved Jews who had believed this same thing prior to the Lord’s crucifixion. n). They cannot be added to the one new man in Christ, because to do so would make a nonsense of the Kingdom of the Heavens being offered again to the nation. But we will need to continue with this next time – if the Lord is willing.