Lesson 3 Acts 2:1-22
Introduction Acts 1:8
Act 1:8 NASB but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (We will see the coming of the Holy Spirit in Chapter 2:1-22 which would enable them to spread of the gospel and establish the Lord’s church across the Roman Empire.)
Act 2:1 NASB When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
“had come” – literally means ‘was being fulfilled’ from the Greek. Which gives the sense of this passage that prophecy was being fulfilled on this wondrous day.
Pentecost - Lev 23:15-18 NASB 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. (16) 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD. (17) 'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD. (18) 'Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week = Saturday so seven Sabbaths = 49 days then plus 1 puts this on the first day of the week or Sunday. Which is the pattern we see henceforth in the New Testament as to when the Christians would meet and so we do today.
Stay in the City until you are clothed with power from on high -
Luk 24:44-53 NASB Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (45) Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (46) and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, (47) and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (48) "You are witnesses of these things. (49) "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." (50) And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. (51) While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. (52) And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, (53) and were continually in the temple praising God.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Mat 3:7-12 NASB But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; (9) and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. (10) "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (11) "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (12) "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Act 2:3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
OT eample:
Exo 3:2 NASB The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
NT example of giving of the Spirit
Mat 3:16-17 NASB After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, (17) and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
Another giving of the Spirit to confirm God’s choice
Act 10:44-48 NASB While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. (45) All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. (46) For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, (47) "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" (48) And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
‘hagios pneuma’ – holy wind/breath
‘tongues’ = languages as evidenced in v6.
Act 2:5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
Jews from all over were in Jerusalem and would be instrumental in spreading the gospel and the story of this miracle they had witnessed to every nation under heaven when they traveled back to their homelands.
Act 2:6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
‘this sound’ = ‘from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind’ attracted a crowd to hear the first gospel sermon by Peter
Act 2:7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
Act 2:8 "And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
It is clear they were speaking in other languages which would assist them in spreading the gospel or good news of Jesus. God was providing them the ability to carry out His wishes.
A representation of ‘every nation under heaven’.
Act 2:9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretans and Arabs--we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God."
Both Jews and converts to Judaism = gentiles
Act 2:12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
This was clearly an unusual occurance.
Act 2:13 But others were mocking and saying, "They are full of sweet wine."
Many will mock what they do not understand or what they do not want to acknowledge, they mocked them as being drunk on grape juice – new or sweet wine is unfermented grape juice, a study of ancient wine will show that the ancients had the knowledge to keep grape juice unfermented. The Bible word for wine denotes both fermented and unfermented grapes – distinguished by the context.
Act 2:14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. (15) "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
Peter did not play in to their mocking but answered their allegations in a straightforward factual manner it was only 9AM on a feast day when they would be fasting in the early morning.
Act 2:16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
Peter informs them that instead it was the fulfillment of a prophecy spoke through the prophet Joel 2:28-32.
(17) 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
We are in the period of human time known as the last days, when these days are over there will be no more time or days.
‘all mankind’ = all flesh = jews and gentiles = male and female
(18) EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.
Gal 3:28-29 NASB There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.
(19) 'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. (20) 'THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
Apocalyptic OT language as in Matthew 24.
Key verse for the rest of the chapter
(21) 'AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'
From this point until v41 and v47 where it shows they were saved and added to the church we must see what they did to call on the name of the Lord. Jesus himself taught that is was more the verbal but obedience
Mat 7:21 NASB "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Act 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
Heb 5:8-9 NASB Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. (9) And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
Starting here in verse 22 Peter begins proclaiming Jesus – the source of eternal salvation and in whom we must believe as Jesus himself taught-
Joh 6:26-29 NASB Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. (27) "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." (28) Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" (29) Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Believing in Jesus is a work which we are to do as required by God and taught by Jesus. We have to have a change of mind from non-believer to believer. That is our job/our work.
They showed that they believed in verse 37 when they were pierced to the heart
Act 2:37 NASB Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
When they asked ‘what shall we do’ Peter continued in v38 and answered their question
Act 2:38 NASB Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus said:
Luk 5:32 NASB "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
The nature of repentance:
Luk 3:8-14 NASB "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. (9) "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (10) And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" (11) And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." (12) And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" (13) And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." (14) Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."
Repentence = Change the way you think and do
Peter went on to combine Baptism with repentence again agreeing with Jesus:
Mar 16:16 NASB "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Here belief and baptism combined together by Jesus as being necessary for salvation.
Our baptism is to be ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ which would require us to acknowledge him and would imply confessing him as Jesus taught:
Matthew 10:32-33 NASB95 32"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Act 2:40-42 NASB And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" (41) So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (42) They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
In v40 Peter kept encouraging them to ‘be saved’ and v41 tells us that ‘those who had received his word were baptized’ and were added and v47 shows us they were added to ‘their number’ – the church.
V 42 shows us they kept learning and devoted themselves to worship activities. As Jesus taught that we must continue to learn and obey:
Matthew 28:18-20 NASB95 18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus declared ‘I will build My church’. Jesus sets the entrance requirements and through the Holy Spirit inspiring the apostles and prophets He set up the structure and organization.
To be members of the church that Jesus built we must use the Scripture to discern the divine entrance requirements of the church. We must speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent, call Bible things by Bible names, and do Bible things in Bible ways. After all it is not our church!
Review:
In Acts 2 when Peter opened the doors to the church on the first Pentecost after Jesus death, burial, and resurrection he:
Preached Jesus to the people
When they believed they asked ‘what shall we do?’
Peter told them to repent
Peter told them to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins
Peter told them to be baptized ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ this means they would have to acknowledge and confess Him and they were being baptized by Jesus’ authority and command.
About three thousand received Peter’s word, were baptized, and were counted among the saved.
From that time we find they devoted themselves to learning God’s Word, worship activities, and fellowship.
If you have not obeyed the entrance requirements into the kingdom like they did then you do not have what they got that day – salvation!
If you have, like Judas, turned your back on Jesus then you need to repent and pray to be restored to full fellowship with Him.
Lesson 3 – Acts 2:1-22 Scripture References
Acts 1:8
Acts 2:1
Leviticus 23:15-18
Luke 24:44-53
Acts 2:2
Matthew 3:7-12
Acts 2:3
Exodus 3:2
Matthew 3:16-17
Acts 10:44-48
Acts 2:4
Acts 2:5
Acts 2:6
Acts 2:7
Acts 2:8
Acts 2:9-11
Acts 2:12
Acts 2:13
Acts 2:14-16
Acts 2:17
Acts 2:18
Galatians 3:28-29
Acts 2:19-20
Acts 2:21
Matthew 7:21
Acts 2:22
Hebrews 5:8-9
John 6:26-29
Acts 2:37-38
Luke 5:32
Luke 3:8-14
Mark 16:16
Matthew 10:32-33
Acts 2:40-42
Matthew 28:18-20
