Acts
Bible Study
Lesson 6
ACTS 2:14—36 PeterÕs sermon
¥ Peter spoke only to Israel. Men of
Judah (verse 14) and men of Israel (verse 22)
- Israel and Judah split in 922 B.C. (see
1 Kings 12)
¥ Peter was taught personally by Jesus
and under the full control of the Holy Spirit who stated that the events at
Pentecost were in fulfillment of JoelÕs prophesy.
- Many Jews had a good understanding of
prophesy.
John 7:40—42 40Some of
the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This
certainly is the Prophet." 41Others were saying, "This is
the Christ." Still
others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not
going to come from Galilee, is He? 42"Has
not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and
from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"
¥ Peter knew exactly where Israel stood
in relation to prophesy. We in the Body of Christ donÕt.
¥ The events at Pentecost were in
fulfillment of prophesy. (2:16, 33)
- Prophesy relates to GodÕs program with
Israel.
-- Prophesy is from the foundation of the
world.
Matthew 13:35 That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth
in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the
foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them
on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world:
- We in the Church, the Body of Christ
are related to Mystery.
-- Mystery is from before the foundation
of the world.
Ephesians
1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is able
to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence
through times eternal,
Colossians
1:25—26 25Of this church I was made a minister according to
the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully
carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26that is, the mystery
which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been
manifested to His saints,
-- Mystery is unknowable until God
reveals it to us.
-- It was God who revealed the Body of
Christ to Paul.
¥ It was Peter and the eleven with a
message of the Millennial Kingdom (2:1)
¥ It was a message of the Messiah sitting
on DavidÕs throne (2:30)
¥ ChristÕs death, burial and resurrection
were all a part of prophesy and related specifically to Israel. (Of course it
also is relevant to all mankind).
- What good would a dead Messiah be?
- Their hope and our hope are wrapped up
in a living Savior.
¥ Jesus is both God and Messiah. (2:36)
¥ The focus is still Israel and the
coming Millennial Kingdom.
- There is no change in GodÕs program,
only advancements in the Kingdom program.
KINGDOM SALVATION
NOTE 1: Salvation in any
age was always by GodÕs grace and through our faith. God also sets the means
for us to demonstrate our faith. We donÕt get to make up our own way. Israel
demonstrated her faith by keeping the commandments. We demonstrate our faith by
adding nothing and resting completely in GodÕs free gift of salvation and
ChristÕs work on the cross.
NOTE 2: It
is important to understand that Israel was GodÕs covenant people. They were
chosen by God in love.
Deuteronomy
7:7—9
and needed to obey the commandments in
order to stay in their favored position.
Exodus 19:5—6
Individuals who did not do the commandments were cut off
from Israel, not because they were not doing works, but because it demonstrated
that they did not have a true faith in God.
Numbers 15:30—31
Since God
is the Father of those in Israel, those who defiantly turn away from God are
told to repent and return to Him. (See the Prodigal son in Luke 15. Israel had
wondered away from God their Father.)
Chronicles 7:14; Acts 3:19—20
¥ How were Jews saved in the Gospels
before the Church the Body of Christ was formed?
- They only needed to believe that Jesus
was the Messiah. And by faith repent, be baptized and obey the commandments.
Matthew
16:16
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God."
Matthew 28:19 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 the Kingdom gospel,
they believed in the person Jesus Christ and then demonstrated their faith by
baptism and works (obeying the commandments).
Matthew
5:19—20 19"Éwhoever keeps and teaches [the commandments],
he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Luke
3:7—14 Ébear fruits in keeping with repentanceÉ
Luke 6:46 Why do you call Me,
'Lord, Lord,' and do not do (work) what I say?
Luke
10:25—28; Mark 10:17—21
-- In the Grace gospel, we believe
in the Person and the work of Jesus Christ and by faith do nothing. Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8—9
Romans 4:5 But to the one who does
not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited
as righteousness,
¥ They needed to show that
their faith was genuine (prove their faith) and true because they did not have
eternal security as we have. Their assurance came through obedience.
¥ By holding on to their
faith to the end through obedience and endurance, they were assured of their position
in the Kingdom.
1 John 2:3 We know that we have
come to know him if we obey his commandsÉ.6Whoever claims to
live in him must walk as Jesus did.
- Notice the order: Obey and remain John
15:10—11
- They needed to abide. This was their assurance. 1 John 3:22—23
- Those who do not abide are
burned up John 15:4—7
-
These verses fit in with what was taught during JesusÕ earthly ministry. Luke 3:8—14
¥ They needed to
believe in Jesus as their Messiah for the salvation of their souls.
¥ They needed to believe in the Person
to be saved. This is consistent with the Gospels
John 20:31 but these have been written so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have
life in His name.
- Then to demonstrate their faith, they needed to be
baptized.
Acts 2:38 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.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed
Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
¥ We need to
believe in the Person and His work for our salvation.
Romans10:9 that if you confess with
your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved;
1
Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will
bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
- Then to demonstrate our faith, we do nothing.
¥ Those who struggle
with the importance of Israel demonstrating works to show their belief need
only to look at the tenth plague.
- Those who believed put blood on the
doorpost and were saved.
- Those who believed
with all their heart but did not do the work of putting blood on their doorpost
were killed.
- If they truly
believed, they would do the works.
¥ This time in
Acts is known as the Last Days because it comes at the end of Daniel's
prophetic clock.
- The Last days basically refers to the
last couple weeks of Daniel's prophetic clock. (Daniel 9:24—27) From the
time of Christ's birth to the setting up of the Millennial Kingdom.
- 69 weeks have passed and the 70th
week should have come shortly after Christ ascended into heaven.
- These are the Last Days of Israel. We
are not in the Last Days now because this Age of Grace is open ended. Under
Prophesy, the days were numbered.
Acts 2:16, 17 16but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE
LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
- Jesus understood that he was in the Last Days with His
reference to the Kingdom being at hand
- Other Kingdom writers refer to the Last Days by saying the
end-time events are near.
¥ The time is near
- Refers to the second coming and setting
up of the millennial Kingdom by Jesus Christ
James 5:9 The Judge is standing right at the
door
James 5:8 The coming of the Lord is near
Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near
1 John 2:18 It is the last hourÉthe antichrist
is coming.
Revelation 22:10 Do not seal up the words of this
prophesy for the time is near.
¥ The Kingdom is
at hand (or right around the corner). Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mark 1:15
Micah 4:1 And it
will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the
LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains
See also
Hebrews 1:1; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 John 2:18
- Paul never refers to the Dispensation of the Age of Grace as
being the ÒLast TimesÓ
2 Timothy
3:1 But
realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. (Paul knows the Last Times are
coming which indicates they are not a part of this age.)
1 Timothy
4:1 But
the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from
theÉ(Again, Paul
seems to place this time after this age.)
This falling away is expanded upon in Matthew and Mark and seem to
point to the coming Tribulation: Mathew 24:10—13;
Mark 13:22
Compare this with:
2
Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless
the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of
destruction,
A better translation is:
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the Tribulation) will not come unless
the departure comes first, and the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
¥
Conclusion:
- The Last (Latter) Days is a technical term related to Israel and
the final days of prophesy.
- They were called Last Days because they were literally the end
of prophesy.
- We cannot be in the Last
Days because there is no way to measure when the end of this age will be
completed. All we know is the next thing to happen is the Rapture.
For previous notes and additional mid-Acts materials please visit http://www.MidActsTruths.com