The Wonderful Works of God

JANUARY 2, 2021 STUDY NOTES ACTS 2:5-13 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD INTRODUCTION Realizing that this is the first Sunday of 2022, I went to my file of New Year messages I searched and came up with nothing and then returned to our current study in Acts I realized that right where we are in our study will preach a message for the New Year The subject, “The Wonderful Works of God,” which should be our spiritual goal for 2022 Which we should desire to study, learn, and live as Christians and as a Church family in 2022 The verses we are going to study took place at the beginning of the NT Church Age The Church was being prepared to tell the world of “The Wonderful Works of God” Which is still the mission of the Church today, that which our Church must do in 2022 Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Jews from every nation under heaven were gathered at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost Jerusalem was like old MacDonalds farm, here a Jew, there a Jew, everywhere a Jew Jews who had come to Jerusalem for Passover and stayed for Pentecost The fact that they were observing the required Jewish Feasts identified them as “devout” They were God-fearing people who were obeying God’s command to keep the feasts The Feast of Pentecost was one of 3 required feasts Jewish males were to attend annually Together the visitors and residents represented “every nation under heaven” Jews had spread throughout the civilized world at the time, which was according to God’s plan God had plans for their gathering at Jerusalem at this particular time, God had a word for them Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. The noise they heard which brought them together was the sound of a rushing mighty wind Evidently God got their attention from a supernatural sound from Heaven, Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The multitude either heard the noise themselves or heard of it from others who had heard it Now that God had their attention, they all heard a message from heaven in their own language Which was another supernatural sound from Heaven and they “were confounded” They were bewildered, confused, perplexed, at something they were not able to explain They were not confused because of the message they were amazed at how it had been given They were astonished because Galilean Jews were speaking in the language of their homeland Every person was hearing over-and over again words being spoken in their own language They were not only speaking different languages, but also different dialects of the same language In America, north, south, east, and west all speak English, but it doesn’t sound the same Yankees speak a different English than the southerners do, they sure do, “ya’ll” know that There is an interesting thought here, this is a reversal of what God did at Babel, Gen 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. The language of the whole earth was confused by God, He “confounded” all earthly language So that people could not understand one another, the opposite of what we find at Pentecost “Every man heard,” that specifically singles out each-and every Jew in the crowd that day Each person heard and understood what was spoken in their own language, their native tongue There were representatives from “every nation under heaven,” amazing what God was doing God was fulfilling the promise of Jesus to all believers, Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Note: Jerusalem first) On the Day of Pentecost, the gospel was heard in Jerusalem in every known tongue The Gospel witness had its beginning in Jerusalem and was to spread to the “uttermost earth” God got their attention that day, does He have my mind today? Does He have your mind today? What is it going to take in the year 2022 for God to get our attention? God’s choice is not Covid, storm disasters, trials, hardships, life’s pressures, or difficult days God can use any or all-of the above to get our attention, but they are not His first choice God’s choice is for us to give attention to His Word, 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The word “study” is not the normal word we use to relate to a student This word is related to a “workman” who must put forth every effort in his work Which begins by concentrating upon your work, realizing that you must work Realizing that Christians are to work for God and there is a great need for workers today Workers for the Lord must be prepared, and we must put forth the effort to be prepared On the Day pf Pentecost God was preparing His workers to spread the Gospel to the world The Gospel that Peter was about to preach to them (Acts 2:14-41) the “amazing Gospel” Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? All those that heard were “amazed,” astonished, what they were hearing blew their mind The reason they “marvelled” is because of what they were hearing from the “Galileans” They were amazed because those speaking their language did not know their language The language barrier had been broken as-a result of the ministry of the Holy Spirit Those speaking were Galileans, Jews from Galilee Jews from Galilee were unpopular and without respect among the Jews from Jerusalem Galileans were easily recognized by their manner of speaking, their dialect They had a peculiar dialect which distinguished them from Jerusalem Jews Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? The multitude had a question about what they were hearing, how is this possible? The miracle was not the hearing, their question concerned the speaking How is it possible that we are hearing Jews from Galilee speak in our native language? The word “tongue” refers to a known language, even to the specific dialect of a region The same thing that was stated in, Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. The word “language” in verse 6 is the same word translated “tongue” in verse 8 The miracle was that God was being praised in every language of the world Jews who were scattered among the nations were now gathered-together in Jerusalem And all who were gathered were hearing, no one was left out, everyone was hearing from God Which was a unique experience, at a unique time, God’s chosen time, this Day of Pentecost The list we find in verses 9-11 identify how widespread the dispersion of Jews really was Luke mentions 15 nations that were represented at Pentecost Use a Bible Land map and a Bible Dictionary to locate the nations identified in verses 9-11 Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselyte “Strangers” means one who is living away from home, temporarily living as a visitor “Proselyte” describes one who comes from his own people to unite with other people Proselytes were Gentile converts who had committed themselves to the teachings of Judaism They had been converted to Judaism through Jewish missionary efforts Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God The list of nations confirms the point of Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Jews from all over the world heard the words that came from God at Pentecost Why was this gathering of the Jews so important? God had a plan, Jesus spoke of God’s plan in, Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. The Jews had been given the revelation of the coming Messiah through OT prophecy The Jews were the chosen nation of God, God’s covenant people, Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. The Jews were entrusted with the teachings of God, His promises, and His commands They were to be the first to learn that Jesus was the Messiah and make Him known to the world Jesus instructed the Apostles, Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: Jesus was presenting the order that the Apostles were to follow as they preached the Gospel They were commissioned to go to God’s covenant people first, Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The Jews should have received the Messiah and then presented the Messiah to the Gentiles Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, but he ministered to the Jews first, Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Paul’s policy was to enter the synagogues and preach to the Jews first in every new city Read Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:1-3, 10, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8 Did God give the Jews an opportunity to believe the gospel through Paul’s ministry? Whenever the Jews would reject the Gospel, Paul would turn to the Gentiles, Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. (Read Acts 18:6) Some Jews did believe, and some did not, Act 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. So, we find a sad commentary concerning the Jews, Act 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, The Jews were of deaf ears and blind eyes, Act 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: Their heart was calloused, Act 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. The Gospel now goes out to the Gentiles, Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. On the Day of Pentecost, Jews from throughout the known world heard a message from God The message was clear to them because they heard it in their own native language We are not told that they were preaching the Gospel, they were praising the God of the Gospel What they were hearing is described as “the wonderful works of God” We are not told the exact words that were being spoken, we are told what the words were doing They were praising God for His great and glorious works, praising His power and glory “Wonderful works” identifies with the word “majesty,” He is our wonder working God Praise God for His miraculous works, extraordinary works, astonishing works, “Glory to God” Paul gives us a good example of “the wonderful works of God,” 1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. On the Day of Pentecost there was a time of continual praise unto God The Jews were hearing over and over “the wonderful works of God” God was preparing the Jews for what they would soon hear from Peter (Acts 2:14-41) Peter tells the Jews of the wonderful works of God through His Son Jesus (a Gospel message) The Jews were amazed and had a question, Act 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? They were “all amazed,” they were at a loss for words, they had no explanation Which led to “doubt,” there was no doubt to what they were hearing, but what did it mean? They were not doubting what they had heard about God Their question was, how could this be happening this way at this time? They did not understand what was taking place on this particular-Day of Pentecost They were witnessing something that had never happened before but had been prophesied They wanted someone to explain what was going on, somebody tell us what is happening They heard a supernatural sound from Heaven, they were hearing a supernatural Heavenly speech Which was coming from an unlikely source among men, someone tell us what it all means? Satan is always ready to give mankind an answer to questions concerning the works of God Satan’s suggestions began to come in, they were coming through mockers Act 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. Mockers were those who were not really interested in the truth of what was happening They were making fun of the disciples speaking the wonderful works of God Insulting them with words, sneering at them with facial expressions, laughing at them Jesus was mocked during His earthly ministry by Pharisees who challenged His miracles, Mat 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. Mat 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? “Amazed” is the same word found in Acts 2:7 & 12 Satan was ready to answer, he wanted the credit, Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Jude tells us that the mockery of God and His Word will continue until the return of Christ, Jud 1:17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; Jud 1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Christians who will faithfully serve Christ will face scoffers and mockers in 2022 , 2Pe3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, “Scoffers” are those who do not take seriously the Word of God or the works of God The message that Satan is sending to our world today is, you do not have to take God seriously “Walking after their own lusts” is the opposite of being obedient to Christ On the Day of Pentecost, the mockers said, “These men are full of new wine” “Wine” that had the capability of intoxicating those who were drinking it CONCLUSION Satan always has someone ready to answer questions about God and what God is doing Mockery is a way of insulting God, His Word, and His people In 2022 we will face those making fun of God, turning truths of God into a joke The mockers said, these men are out of their mind, they are beside themselves They are under the influence of wine, they are drunk with wine Part of what they said was true, they were under the influence But not the influence of new wine or any other natural cause They were under the influence of a new ministry of the Holy Spirit, a supernatural influence Paul instructs Christians today by using the same comparison, Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; His first command is do not commit yourself to the control of wine Everyone has-an understanding of what it means to be intoxicated with alcohol Life is dominated by the wine, the wine controls their mind and influences their actions The second command is, “but be filled with the Spirit,” we must be filled with the Spirit The mockers accused the disciples of being full of new wine The truth is they were filled with the Holy Spirit, presenting the new ministry of the Holy Spirit Which Peter explains in his “Day of Pentecost” sermon, one of the most powerful sermons ever Peter is going to answer the question of the multitude, what does this mean? A study of Acts answers the same question, we will learn of the present ministry of the Spirit We will read of the mighty works of the Holy Spirit through the disciples of Jesus We will read of the scoffers, mockers, and persecutors of those living for Jesus We will read of the salvation of those who accept Jesus as the one and only Savior We will learn that the Spirit convicts the lost as Christians present to them the Gospel So, what are we going to do with what we learn from our study of Acts in this New Year? Listen to the song and make it a spiritual goal for 2022