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| Chapter 2 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 ¶ And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because every man heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, "Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how then do we each hear them speaking in our own tongue wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabians--we hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 And they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, "What meaneth this?" 13 Others mocking said, "These men are full of new wine." 14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, "Ye men of Judea and all ye who dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. 15 For these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day; 16 but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ’And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And 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 that great and notable Day of the Lord come. 21 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22 "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know-- 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate will and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. 24 But God hath raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David speaketh concerning Him: ’I beheld the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, 27 because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance.’ 29 "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that from the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, 31 David, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ that ’His soul was not left in hell, neither did His flesh see corruption.’ 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he himself saith, ’The Lord said unto my Lord, "Sit Thou on My right hand 35 until I make Thy foes Thy footstool."’ 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his words were baptized, and that same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common, 45 and they sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all men, as every man had need. 46 And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. |
Why are the events recorded in this chapter so important? Fulfillment of promises of the Holy Spirit: Jesus promised John 14:16-17 The Holy Spirit will be internal to each person and eternal, "He will be in you." Up to now the Holy Spirit had only come upon a person as an external power for a period. Just before Jesus returns to heaven He repeats the promise Acts 1:5,8. Jesus did not tell the disciples when the promise would be fulfilled, they were probably surprised when it happened and the significant of the Jewish day, - Pentecost. The day of Pentecost was given this name because it was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Passover Sunday Lev 23:15ff. It was known as the "the day of the first fruits" Exodus 34:22 or the "feast of weeks." It was the day that the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were presented to God. Jews from every nation had come on this day to celebrate this feast, and it was upon this day that God chose to start His spiritual harvest of the world. v1 The believers were of "one mind,," John 17:20,21 united in one place when God moved. v2,3 Without warning, a sudden noise from heaven. It sounded "like a rushing mighty wind" It was loud enough to be heard outside some distance away v6. Those who were in the room also saw fire-like tongues appeared upon each person and "sat upon each of them." The Holy Spirit had revealed Himself as an external noise and tongues of fire. v4-6 The believers, being now filled with the Holy Spirit, leave the room. He starts to reveal His power through them by giving them the ability to speak in languages which they had never spoken before. These people were speaking in known languages, v6 the Jews who had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost from other nations, and who did not speak Hebrew, were being spoken to in their own language by the believers, not only in the language of their country but in the language where they had been born, their dialects. v9-11 Luke lists the languages spoken by the 120 believers, each Jew present hearing about the wonderful works of God in their own language. v7 The people were amazed when they realized that these people were Galileans. Galileans were considered uneducated and could not even speak their own language properly, they were considered "from the backwoods." v12 Full of amazement they are confused and keep asking each other "What does it mean?" Not only were these Galileans speaking foreign languages supernaturally they were also speaking with great confidence, once they had been a frightened group, now they were shouting God’s works. The Galilean dialect was very distinct and difficult for a non Galilean to follow. The ability to speak in so many languages and dialect could not fail to cause an effect. Some say we need release of this power again in the church today, but nowhere does the Bible teach that we need more Pentecost’s. The word "Pentecost" is only use in two other places, Acts 20:16 and 1 Cor 16:8, both used as a calendar reference. As a result of this day, Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes into a person when they believe at the moment of salvation 1 Cor 6:19; 1 Cor 12:13. v13 As normal when anything happens to a persons behaviour associated with religion, which cannot be explained, the response is "they must be drunk." They could not recognize the power of God. We must also note that not all supernatural religious behaviour is of God, Satan can make copies, if the event gives glory to God then it will not be of Satan. v14- The first sermon by Peter. The Holy Spirit brings Peter to his feet, a changed man, full of the power of God now brings the message of salvation. The sermon of Peter is simple, he uses scripture quotes to prove the points, and the message is Christ centered. v14-36 Peter calls the people to listen, he explains what is not the cause, "these men are not drunk, it is only the third hour (09:00 a.m.)" This is the fulfilling of a promise made by God through the prophet Joel. Joel 2:28-32 God showed Joel that in the last days He will pour out His Spirit upon man, this is what you are now witnessing. This is the beginning of the period of God’s grace, all who believe, Jew or Gentile, would receive the Holy Spirit when they believe. This period of grace will end with the return of Christ and Judgement of mankind by God, but right now we are still in the time of grace "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." v21. Peter continues to highlight the blood stained path of Jesus of Nazareth, a Man incarnate, God in the form of man v22, who was given authenticity by the miracles, signs and wonders He did v22. This man, who recently was nailed to a cross and killed by the wicked hands of the Jews v23. But God has raised Him up and brought Him back to life v24. God has now put Him on His right hand in heaven v33, where God has made Him Lord and Messiah v36. v25-28,34-35 Peter quotes Psalm 16:8-11 as prophecy of the resurrection by David, what David had said could not apply to himself as we all know that he is dead. Up to this point most people would agree but then Peter tells them that David was talking about Jesus of Nazareth, He died but we have many witnesses who have since seen Him alive, risen, the true Messiah. But not only is He risen He is now at God’s right hand, Lord of Lord’s. Psalm 101:1. v36 Peter now reaches the peak of the sermon, "The Jesus you killed, God has raised up as the Messiah." Guilty. Peter gives the listeners the verdict. v37 Their hearts touched, (stab with a sword is the meaning) they respond with true repentance,"what shall we do?" v38 These were religious men, committed to serve God, they wanted to know what to do, more prayer, more give, more work? Peter gives them the only way to God, "Believe and you will be saved." It is interesting to note that Peter refers to the promises and power of God in his sermon but does not mention the appearance of the tongues except that it was not produced by wine but by God as prophesied. v41 The people were convinced, the Holy Spirit was active in their minds, realized what they had done and were guilty of the death of the Messiah, accepted Jesus as their Saviour. On that day there were 3000 baptized, (It is often normal for the Jews to only count the men and ignore the women and children, so the real figure could much larger.) over 3000 people turned to Christ that day. The Church of Christ was born. v42-47 The basic church now gathered together in various homes and learnt from the apostles the teaching and fellowship of Christ, prayer and worship. Remembering Him in the Breaking of Bread. Giving and helping each other in life’s troubles and problems. Full of gladness and joy, one together. "And the Lord added to the church each day," those who believed and asked for forgiveness. |
Easy English Translation
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