The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eleven - D Aug 26, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T022_20180826.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. We will continue to look at the events of the Day of Pentecost. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 26th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 11D ‘Men and Brethren, What Shall We Do?’ 1). Ac 2:7 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." 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." 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.' When the Day of Pentecost had fully come the 120 disciples in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem were first immersed in the Spirit and then filled with the Spirit enabling them to speak in the native languages of all the Jews in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Feast. a). And as we saw last time and can see again from the verses we have just read, that Peter told the gathered Jewish multitude that this was Joel’s prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. b). So, to be absolutely clear – that which Peter said was not his own interpretation of the events taking place, rather it was the Holy Spirit through Peter, therefore God Himself, telling those gathered that this was Joel’s prophecy being manifested before them. c). And as we have seen from our Bible study, Joel’s prophecy is Messianic in its scope. Joel was a pre-exilic prophet which simply means he prophesied at a time prior to Israel’s captivity/exile – warning the nation of what was to come because of their continued unfaithfulness and calling them to repentance - Joe 1:6 For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7 He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white. Joe 2:12 ¶ "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. 14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him-A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" 18 ¶ Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people. The call to repentance that we see in these verses from Joel Chapter 2 are exactly in line with what we have seen in - 2Ch 7:13 "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. What we can see then in both Joel Chapter 2 and 2 Chronicles Chapter 7 is that national repentance on Israel’s part will bring cleansing and restoration for the people and the land – a restoration that is inextricably connected to the re-establishment of the Theocratic Kingdom and the accompanying change of rulership in the heavens with Messiah seated on His father David’s throne in Jerusalem and on His own throne in the heavens. c). And so, it is within this Messianic context, the coming of Messiah and His Kingdom, that Joel prophesied about the pouring out of God’s Spirit on all flesh - Joe 2:28 ¶ "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. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days……….. These are verses, as we have seen, that the Holy Spirit through Peter quoted to show the Jewish nation what was taking place when the Day of Pentecost had fully come. d). And as these verses were spoken there would have been the implicit warning of what must take place if the nation did not repent, because of what is seen in Joel Chapter 1, and the implicit promised restoration that would come if they did repent, because of what is seen in the latter part of Joel Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. e). And understanding this will enable us to make complete sense of the disciples’ question to the Lord in - Ac 1:5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with 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." The disciples’ question is directly connected to the Lord’s statement about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is Joel’s prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. And so, knowing the pouring out of the Spirit that the Lord had just promised and the Messianic content of Joel’s prophecy, their question was entirely logical. The Lord’s response though focuses on what they have been commissioned to do and not on that ‘which the Father has put in His own authority’. f). And the lesson here for ourselves would be an obvious one – we are not to expend our energy on trying to determine the day and the hour of the Lord’s return or search the news for events that would point us in that direction. We are to focus on that which the Lord has called us to do during the time He has given us on the earth – to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling – And we need to do this with the same degree of commitment and zealousness that we see in the disciples following Pentecost - Tit 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 2). So then, if we go back to where we started this morning, with the events of the Day of Pentecost, we see the establishment of a Messianic context through Joel’s prophecy and within this context Peter delivers a message concerning Jesus, that He is the Christ, the Son of God and a call to the nation to repent, to change its collective mind about who Jesus is with signs and wonders following, in this instance the disciples speaking with ‘other tongues’ – Ac 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 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?" 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. a). And these events all have to do with Israel and the Kingdom – and realizing this we can see the continuity of the scriptures, beginning in Genesis with the purpose for Man’s creation all the way through to the Day of Pentecost. b). The message that the prophets brought to Israel was a message of repentance with respect to the Kingdom, a message which along with the messengers was continually rejected - Ac 7:52 "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, c). We see the same message of repentance to the same nation at the Lord’s first advent with respect to the Kingdom being at hand with the same rejection forthcoming – Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" And then at the beginning of the Book of Acts we have the same message of repentance to the same nation again with the King and His Kingdom in view – a message that is now slightly different in that it now includes repentance from killing the nation’s Messiah as well. Power Point – Slides 1-3 d). And then Israel’s response to this message could only ever be in line with that which had already been set out in the OT scriptures, just as their response was at Christ’s first advent - Joh 1:36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Jesus is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’, the Passover Lamb given to Israel to sacrifice and events at the Lord’s first advent couldn’t have ended any other way than with His rejection and death. e). And then within the OT types there is also seen a primarily Gentile ‘Church’, seen repeatedly with respect to rulership in the 7th Day and it is within the context of the rejection of the Christ and His Kingdom, previously foretold in the OT scriptures, that this ‘Church’, those we would come to call Christians, and rulership comes into view in the Gospel accounts – Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And it is on the Day of Pentecost that this new entity which would receive that which Israel had rejected, rulership from the heavens, is brought into being through the immersion of the 120 in the Holy Spirit, in the upper room. f). And it would be this new entity, who could now produce fruit for the Kingdom and who would also offer heavenly rulership again to a perverse and unrepentant Israel. 3). Now, as we have seen, the existence of the one new man with respect to rulership and the heavens pervades the OT types and it is as Israel comes to a terminal point in rejecting Christ and His message that the one new man, the Church, becomes more and more central, along with the cross, in the Gospel accounts of the Lord’s first advent. a). We see this terminal point in the nation’s rejection of their Messiah, a rejection that had been on going throughout His ministry, in Matthew Chapter 12 when the religious leaders attributed the sign that the Lord performed by healing a demon possessed man who was both blind and mute – a picture of Israel - by the power of the Spirit to the power of Satan – Mt 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." And it is following this terminal point of rejection that the Lord left the house and went to sit by the sea in Matthew Chapter 13 - Mt 13:1 ¶ On the same day [as the events in Matthew Chapter 12] Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. Mt 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. b). Prior to the nation’s climactic point of rejection, as seen in Matthew Chapter 12, everything was focused on Israel, repentance and the Kingdom - Lu 8:1 ¶ Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, Mt 10:5 ¶ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Lu 10:1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go…………….17 ¶ Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." Then beyond that climactic point of rejection, as we have seen in Matthew’s Gospel, the Church and the cross become more and more prominent. c). This is the way the Gospel accounts are structured, and the Book of Acts is structured much the same way – The opening chapters focus on Israel, repentance and the Kingdom with the newly formed ‘Church’ being entirely Jewish at the time, being the ones proclaiming the message to Israel, but beyond the terminal point of the rejection of the message and the messengers in Acts Chapter 7, the ‘Gentile Church’, those we would know as Christians, comes more and more to the forefront, so that beyond the end of the time covered by the Book of Acts Israel is set aside with respect to the heavenly realm of the Kingdom while the Lord deals exclusively with those who make up the ‘Church’, Christians, who would come primarily from the Gentile nations; those who now are to produce fruit in relation to the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel - Ac 28:28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" Power Point – Slides 4-5 d). And it is important for us to recognize this structure in the Gospels, continuing into Acts, so we can rightly understand what the Book of Acts is about as it transitions us from the Gospels to the Epistles, from a focus on Israel and the heavenly Kingdom to Christians and the heavenly Kingdom. e). And recognizing and understanding the structure of the Book of Acts will also prevent us from making mistakes with regards to what we see in the opening Chapters – For example - Ac 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles………………46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. The 3000 souls who gladly received Peter’s message and were baptized were all eternally saved Jews, Jews who had been eternally saved by faith in the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs before the Lord’s crucifixion. Their baptism in water had to do with the remission of sins, their sin of unbelief and the killing of their King and can be seen in one sense as an extension of the ministry of John the Baptist only now with the events of Pentecost in view. These 3000 were then saved, literally delivered, from the perverse generation of eternally saved Jews who had rejected and continued to reject Jesus as the Christ, and they were added to those eternally saved Jews who had already believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, prior to the Day of Pentecost, prior to the ‘Church’ being brought into being. f). And the same would be true for those the Lord was adding daily to the ‘church’, who were also being saved. Again, these were eternally saved Jews who were being delivered from the same perverse generation and added to the eternally saved Jews who had believed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God from before Pentecost and the 3000 added at Pentecost. Power Point – Slides 6-10 g). And let’s not get hung up on the use of the word ‘church’ in Acts 2:47. This word does not appear in many of the original manuscripts and may well have been added by a well meaning but misguided transcriber in those manuscripts that do have it. But, even if we include the word we must see it in its literal meaning, rather than what the word has come to mean within Christendom generally. And so, literally the Lord was adding daily to the assembly of eternally saved Jews who had been delivered from a perverse generation by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. h). And again, notice the context in which these individuals were being added - many wonders and signs were done through the apostles – the many signs and wonders are present because we are dealing with a message by Jews to Jews regarding the King and His Kingdom and this is all taking place in Jerusalem where the disciples’ commission had to begin. i). And this is something we can see exemplified one more time in Acts Chapters 3-4 - Ac 3:1 ¶ Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them--walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. 12 ¶ So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 "But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 "and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. But we will have to continue with this next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eleven - D Aug 26, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T022_20180826.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. We will continue to look at the events of the Day of Pentecost. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 26th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 11D ‘Men and Brethren, What Shall We Do?’ 1). Ac 2:7 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." 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." 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.' When the Day of Pentecost had fully come the 120 disciples in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem were first immersed in the Spirit and then filled with the Spirit enabling them to speak in the native languages of all the Jews in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Feast. a). And as we saw last time and can see again from the verses we have just read, that Peter told the gathered Jewish multitude that this was Joel’s prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. b). So, to be absolutely clear – that which Peter said was not his own interpretation of the events taking place, rather it was the Holy Spirit through Peter, therefore God Himself, telling those gathered that this was Joel’s prophecy being manifested before them. c). And as we have seen from our Bible study, Joel’s prophecy is Messianic in its scope. Joel was a pre-exilic prophet which simply means he prophesied at a time prior to Israel’s captivity/exile – warning the nation of what was to come because of their continued unfaithfulness and calling them to repentance - Joe 1:6 For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7 He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white. Joe 2:12 ¶ "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. 14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him-A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" 18 ¶ Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people. The call to repentance that we see in these verses from Joel Chapter 2 are exactly in line with what we have seen in - 2Ch 7:13 "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. What we can see then in both Joel Chapter 2 and 2 Chronicles Chapter 7 is that national repentance on Israel’s part will bring cleansing and restoration for the people and the land – a restoration that is inextricably connected to the re-establishment of the Theocratic Kingdom and the accompanying change of rulership in the heavens with Messiah seated on His father David’s throne in Jerusalem and on His own throne in the heavens. c). And so, it is within this Messianic context, the coming of Messiah and His Kingdom, that Joel prophesied about the pouring out of God’s Spirit on all flesh - Joe 2:28 ¶ "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. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days……….. These are verses, as we have seen, that the Holy Spirit through Peter quoted to show the Jewish nation what was taking place when the Day of Pentecost had fully come. d). And as these verses were spoken there would have been the implicit warning of what must take place if the nation did not repent, because of what is seen in Joel Chapter 1, and the implicit promised restoration that would come if they did repent, because of what is seen in the latter part of Joel Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. e). And understanding this will enable us to make complete sense of the disciples’ question to the Lord in - Ac 1:5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with 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." The disciples’ question is directly connected to the Lord’s statement about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is Joel’s prophecy beginning to be fulfilled. And so, knowing the pouring out of the Spirit that the Lord had just promised and the Messianic content of Joel’s prophecy, their question was entirely logical. The Lord’s response though focuses on what they have been commissioned to do and not on that ‘which the Father has put in His own authority’. f). And the lesson here for ourselves would be an obvious one – we are not to expend our energy on trying to determine the day and the hour of the Lord’s return or search the news for events that would point us in that direction. We are to focus on that which the Lord has called us to do during the time He has given us on the earth – to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling – And we need to do this with the same degree of commitment and zealousness that we see in the disciples following Pentecost - Tit 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 2). So then, if we go back to where we started this morning, with the events of the Day of Pentecost, we see the establishment of a Messianic context through Joel’s prophecy and within this context Peter delivers a message concerning Jesus, that He is the Christ, the Son of God and a call to the nation to repent, to change its collective mind about who Jesus is with signs and wonders following, in this instance the disciples speaking with ‘other tongues’ – Ac 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 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?" 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. a). And these events all have to do with Israel and the Kingdom – and realizing this we can see the continuity of the scriptures, beginning in Genesis with the purpose for Man’s creation all the way through to the Day of Pentecost. b). The message that the prophets brought to Israel was a message of repentance with respect to the Kingdom, a message which along with the messengers was continually rejected - Ac 7:52 "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, c). We see the same message of repentance to the same nation at the Lord’s first advent with respect to the Kingdom being at hand with the same rejection forthcoming – Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Joh 19:15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" And then at the beginning of the Book of Acts we have the same message of repentance to the same nation again with the King and His Kingdom in view – a message that is now slightly different in that it now includes repentance from killing the nation’s Messiah as well. Power Point – Slides 1-3 d). And then Israel’s response to this message could only ever be in line with that which had already been set out in the OT scriptures, just as their response was at Christ’s first advent - Joh 1:36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Jesus is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’, the Passover Lamb given to Israel to sacrifice and events at the Lord’s first advent couldn’t have ended any other way than with His rejection and death. e). And then within the OT types there is also seen a primarily Gentile ‘Church’, seen repeatedly with respect to rulership in the 7th Day and it is within the context of the rejection of the Christ and His Kingdom, previously foretold in the OT scriptures, that this ‘Church’, those we would come to call Christians, and rulership comes into view in the Gospel accounts – Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And it is on the Day of Pentecost that this new entity which would receive that which Israel had rejected, rulership from the heavens, is brought into being through the immersion of the 120 in the Holy Spirit, in the upper room. f). And it would be this new entity, who could now produce fruit for the Kingdom and who would also offer heavenly rulership again to a perverse and unrepentant Israel. 3). Now, as we have seen, the existence of the one new man with respect to rulership and the heavens pervades the OT types and it is as Israel comes to a terminal point in rejecting Christ and His message that the one new man, the Church, becomes more and more central, along with the cross, in the Gospel accounts of the Lord’s first advent. a). We see this terminal point in the nation’s rejection of their Messiah, a rejection that had been on going throughout His ministry, in Matthew Chapter 12 when the religious leaders attributed the sign that the Lord performed by healing a demon possessed man who was both blind and mute – a picture of Israel - by the power of the Spirit to the power of Satan – Mt 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." And it is following this terminal point of rejection that the Lord left the house and went to sit by the sea in Matthew Chapter 13 - Mt 13:1 ¶ On the same day [as the events in Matthew Chapter 12] Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. Mt 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. b). Prior to the nation’s climactic point of rejection, as seen in Matthew Chapter 12, everything was focused on Israel, repentance and the Kingdom - Lu 8:1 ¶ Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, Mt 10:5 ¶ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Lu 10:1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go…………….17 ¶ Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." Then beyond that climactic point of rejection, as we have seen in Matthew’s Gospel, the Church and the cross become more and more prominent. c). This is the way the Gospel accounts are structured, and the Book of Acts is structured much the same way – The opening chapters focus on Israel, repentance and the Kingdom with the newly formed ‘Church’ being entirely Jewish at the time, being the ones proclaiming the message to Israel, but beyond the terminal point of the rejection of the message and the messengers in Acts Chapter 7, the ‘Gentile Church’, those we would know as Christians, comes more and more to the forefront, so that beyond the end of the time covered by the Book of Acts Israel is set aside with respect to the heavenly realm of the Kingdom while the Lord deals exclusively with those who make up the ‘Church’, Christians, who would come primarily from the Gentile nations; those who now are to produce fruit in relation to the Kingdom of the Heavens taken from Israel - Ac 28:28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" Power Point – Slides 4-5 d). And it is important for us to recognize this structure in the Gospels, continuing into Acts, so we can rightly understand what the Book of Acts is about as it transitions us from the Gospels to the Epistles, from a focus on Israel and the heavenly Kingdom to Christians and the heavenly Kingdom. e). And recognizing and understanding the structure of the Book of Acts will also prevent us from making mistakes with regards to what we see in the opening Chapters – For example - Ac 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles………………46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. The 3000 souls who gladly received Peter’s message and were baptized were all eternally saved Jews, Jews who had been eternally saved by faith in the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs before the Lord’s crucifixion. Their baptism in water had to do with the remission of sins, their sin of unbelief and the killing of their King and can be seen in one sense as an extension of the ministry of John the Baptist only now with the events of Pentecost in view. These 3000 were then saved, literally delivered, from the perverse generation of eternally saved Jews who had rejected and continued to reject Jesus as the Christ, and they were added to those eternally saved Jews who had already believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, prior to the Day of Pentecost, prior to the ‘Church’ being brought into being. f). And the same would be true for those the Lord was adding daily to the ‘church’, who were also being saved. Again, these were eternally saved Jews who were being delivered from the same perverse generation and added to the eternally saved Jews who had believed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God from before Pentecost and the 3000 added at Pentecost. Power Point – Slides 6-10 g). And let’s not get hung up on the use of the word ‘church’ in Acts 2:47. This word does not appear in many of the original manuscripts and may well have been added by a well meaning but misguided transcriber in those manuscripts that do have it. But, even if we include the word we must see it in its literal meaning, rather than what the word has come to mean within Christendom generally. And so, literally the Lord was adding daily to the assembly of eternally saved Jews who had been delivered from a perverse generation by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. h). And again, notice the context in which these individuals were being added - many wonders and signs were done through the apostles – the many signs and wonders are present because we are dealing with a message by Jews to Jews regarding the King and His Kingdom and this is all taking place in Jerusalem where the disciples’ commission had to begin. i). And this is something we can see exemplified one more time in Acts Chapters 3-4 - Ac 3:1 ¶ Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them--walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. 12 ¶ So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 "But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 "and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. But we will have to continue with this next time – if the Lord is willing.