What Day Is It? What Time Of The Day Is It?

JANUARY 16, 2022 STUDY NOTES ACTS 2:14-17 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES WHAT DAY IS IT? WHAT TIME OF THE DAY IS IT? INTRODUCTION In Acts 2 the time-period is the “Day of Pentecost,” which was a unique day (vs 1) The day that the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled (vs 4) The Holy Spirit came in a new day of the Spirit’s ministry, a unique time-period The coming of the Holy Spirit on that day was the beginning of the present Church Age The age known as the day that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh (vs 17) Peter said it would be the day of salvation for all who will call upon the name of the Lord (vs 21) It is the day when God will add souls to the NT Church through salvation (vs 41) Since the day of the first coming of Jesus many prophetic days have been fulfilled That is what Peter is telling the Jews, right before your eyes, prophecy is being fulfilled (vs 16) Since what you now see and hear is fulfilled prophecy, then the day of the Messiah has come The promise of the first coming of Jesus has been fulfilled (vs 22) There will be many other days of prophetic events being fulfilled before the “Day of the Lord,” Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: Many students of prophecy today fail to read or understand that word “before” Which results in the failure to properly interpret the time known as the “Day of the Lord” Scripture properly interpreted tells us, “What day it is” and “What time of the day it is” We must understand the first sermon preached in the NT Church Age (Acts 2:14-41) Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: Last Sunday we looked at the man known as Peter, we studied his mistakes and his ministry An understanding of Peter helps us to realize how meaningful the beginning of this verse is “But Peter,” his name is the same, his looks are the same, “but” he is not the same man He is not the same man within that we read of 6 weeks earlier, when he denied Jesus 3 times What had happened to Peter to make such a change in him, he was now filled with the Spirit Peter now being filled with the Spirit takes his stand for His “Living Lord,” along with the eleven “Standing with the eleven,” who were also filled with the Spirit Peter knows personally that the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit has been fulfilled Peter now stands as an example of the promise of Jesus, 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. The day of the witness for Jesus now begins in Jerusalem, Peter “lifted up his voice” He cried out with a loud voice, which could be heard over the loud voices of the crowd Peter’s PA system was a supernatural system, the outpouring of the indwelling Spirit “And said to them,” the same original is found in verse 4, “the Spirit gave them “utterance” “Utterance” describes a clear and loud utterance, an attention getting sound, and it worked Peter had the attention of the crowd, and we find the evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit God had prepared Peter for this day, God had a message for the nation of Israel this day God had chosen a Jew and named him Peter, he speaks to God’s chosen people, the Jews The first sermon preached in the NT Church Age was specifically spoken to the Jews Page 1 of 4 “You men of Judea” (Vs 14) “You men of Israel” (Vs 22) “Brethren” (Vs 29) “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know” (Vs. 36) Peter was speaking to the Jews and “all you that dwell at Jerusalem” Peter speaks with authority, he is filled with the Spirit when he says, “be this known unto you” “Know” is one of the two commands of Peter found within his sermon, the other is “heed” “Be this “known” unto you (vs 14) he told Israel they must “know” assuredly (vs 36) “Be this known unto you,” the truth could easily be known if they had been seeking truth They were not all seeking truth, some minds were set upon mocking the disciples (Acts 2:13) Throughout Acts the Jews are called upon to know the truth of Jesus, Act 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 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. Peter said, “And hearken to my words,” not a bad way for a preacher to begin his sermon Pay attention, listen up, listen to me, and listen carefully, you need to hear this Don’t let what I say go in one ear and out the other, and don’t go to sleep, stay awake Quit sending text messages, get your mind off-of lunch and what you are going to do tomorrow Today we need to listen in-order to learn, and we must learn in-order to live daily for Christ Peter told the Jews that they must “hear” these words about Jesus, Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: How important is it? It is of eternal truth, accept the truth of these words and live eternally Today you must “see” and “hear” the truth, this day you must “hearken” to my words Words that were about Jesus, the Jewish Messiah that they had crucified and slain, Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: They must hear that God had raised Him from the dead, Act 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. They must hear that Jesus is the Christ who now sits upon the throne of God, Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; Concerning that which was seen and heard that day, the question had been asked, Act 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? The mockers had answered, Act 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. The mockers came forward to speak against God and what God was doing that day They came forward to speak against what God was doing through the Holy Spirit “But Peter” also came forward, he came filled with the Holy Spirit, he lifted-up his voice He spoke boldly, with a mind that was set, a heart that was full, and a determined will Peter had a morning devotional for the brethren and a sermon for the scoffers and skeptics Peter had an answer to their question of what is happening? I could not help but think about the question, what is it about these followers of Jesus? What a wonderful day it would be if people came to church because they had questions Wanting to know, what is it about these Christians? The ones they saw and heard during the week It can happen today in any church, in any believer because of the present ministry of the Spirit It can happen today because Christ is alive, and He lives in us Many today are willing to tell people that Jesus is alive, some even go to church on Easter But how often do we show them the evidence, which is living for Christ every day? Page 2 of 4 We tell them that we believe the tomb is empty, Jesus is not there, he is risen from the dead But too often our life is like the tomb, it appears to be empty as if Jesus was not there Because the tomb is empty our life can be filled with His presence and power Our testimony should be like that of Paul, Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Peter was speaking to the Jews who should have known the truth of what Peter was preaching Peter was doing what Paul told Titus that Christian leaders must do, Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. “Gainsayers” are those who contradict and speak against sound doctrine, just like the mockers Peter had an answer for them, it was a sermon filled with sound doctrine The Holy Spirit gave Peter the words to speak, and he spoke directly to the Jews God had put it all together that day, Jews had gathered in Jerusalem for a Jewish holy day They were gathered in Jerusalem where the Jews had crucified the Jewish Messiah Peter is going to point out to them that the one they had put to death was now alive Peter explained what was happening that day Act 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. According to the Jewish calculation of time it was 9 AM, too early for most people to be drunk Maybe a hard-core alcoholic today would be, but not a group of 120 disciples of Jesus’ day Orthodox Jews did not eat or drink before 9 AM on the sabbath or on a holy day It was not wine that allowed them to speak in languages that they had not learned A drunk does not speak sensible words, they speak foolishness, things we don’t understand They were not under the control of the spirits of wine, they were under the influence of the Spirit A normal conversation for a group of drunks would not be the wonderful works of God Peter answers their question, “what does this mean?” Peter explained, this is that which Joel the prophet was speaking of Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; Verse 16 begins in an interesting way, “But this is that” “But this” refers to the unique events that had occurred on this particular-feast day The Pentecostal phenomena that had amazed the crowd and brought forth the mockers “That” begins Peter’s explanation, using prophecy from Joel to tell them what was happening “That” which they were witnessing had been foretold in the O.T. (Joel 2:28-32) Spoken “by” the prophet Joel can read, spoken “through” the prophet Joel Explaining how the Bible was written, God spoke “through” the prophets, 2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The source of Scripture is the breath of God, 2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: God spoke through the prophets, Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Most Bible scholars agree that the events of Acts 2 are a partial fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy Peter’s Pentecost sermon and many other NT scriptures explain that to us There are things in Joel’s prophecy that are being fulfilled today and things yet to be fulfilled Ever since Pentecost the Spirit is poured out upon all who receive Jesus as Savior Today all who put their faith in Jesus experience the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit This present Church Age is the day of the ministry of the Holy Spirit through believers The emphasis of the Day of Pentecost, was not tongues, as many make it to be today Page 3 of 4 There is no mention of tongues found in Joel’s prophecy, Joel does not mention tongues Joel points to the gift of prophecy instead of the gift of tongues The gift of prophecy is the ability to speak forth the Word of God explaining the will of God To tell forth what God has said and is doing, exactly what was taking place at Pentecost The Holy Spirit was speaking to the world through the disciples of Jesus The day was the beginning of the NT Church Age and the fulfilling of Acts 1:8 The followers of Jesus were proclaiming the wonderful works of God, first to the Jews Today, we must allow the Holy Spirit to do the same, to all nations, throughout this present age Throughout the present age we must obey the “Great Commission,” Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. The word translated “world” refers to an age and literally reads, the end of the “age” In Peter’s sermon there are verses which apply to events coming at the end of this present age The Church Age had its beginning with God pouring out His Spirit on all believers The end of the age will be God pouring out His wrath upon Satan, sin, and the followers of Satan The pouring out of God’s wrath is known as the “Day” of the Lord, (Revelation 6:12-17) Peter explains that what God is doing has been promised to take place in the last days Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of 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: (We will continue in this verse next week) The term “last days” is often misunderstood, Christians ask, “are we living in the “last days?” According to scripture we are already in the time-period known as the “last days” Scripture does not limit the “last days” to a time-period just prior to the return of Christ The Jews believed that the “last days” would be the time of the coming of the Messiah And at that time, or at that day, the Messiah would defeat all-of the enemies of Israel The Messiah would restore Israel and establish the day of the earthly Kingdom of God The Jews did not see or understand that prophecy presented two comings of the Messiah Prophecy presents but “One Messiah,” but He will come two times, 1 st and 2nd coming There is an extended period-of time between the two comings known as the “Church Age” Which is the present age in which we are now living, its beginning was the Day of Pentecost Scripture identifies the “last days” as the period-of time between the two Comings of Christ The “last days” began with the first coming of Christ to the earth, 1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, This does not teach that Jesus did not exist before He was born of the virgin, He is Eternal The coming of Jesus in the flesh was the beginning of the “last days,” Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; The “last days” will come-to a conclusion when Christ returns to the earth There are many verses referring to the days preceding the return of Christ to the earth But we must identify those days as the “last days” of the “last days” The question of our day is, are we in the last days of the “last days? CONCLUSION What day is it? What time of the day is it? Listen to the song, it answers both questions, sing along with the song Page 4 of 4