March 2011

I, Timothy Nathanael, a doulos of Christ, to the Saints: A day can make a difference! Since I have been in this facility, I’ve been in cell house 7. As I have said before, I live with 248 of my closest friends (L.O.L.). With that said, because of all the noise, it has been hard to set time aside on a regular basis. Well, I was moved last month (February) to a new unit; a 30 man pod. So in many ways, Phish Bowl Ministries will look different. In C.H. 7, there are so many new men weekly; there is a lot of work to do. There are many men to check in on to see how their day went. The night before the move, my house was backed up three deep. To look out the door and see two men waiting to talk was cool and trying at the same time. (All I could hear from my cellie Frankie was him yelling “Next”!) Now our Lord is moving me to a new season. To me, the big difference will be having the time to read more, but time will tell us what God’s plans are. As you know I look to see where He is working and I join Him, instead of telling God, “I’m here---now work”. So on to a new land, new home, new fellow countrymen, and all in less than one hour. In this world there is not time for long good-byes.

If you remembered from last month, we are going to cover a big part of Acts 2 this month. Twenty-seven verses. I have so little to update you on and my as my desire is to always put God first, let’s move right to the study.

Acts 2:14-41, Study of God’s Word. “Peter Stands Up and Preaches the Gospel”.

Acts 2:14 “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.”

I love it! Peter, the first disciple to recognize the truth about Jesus, was also the first to bear witness of Him. (Mt 16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.")

Ac 2:15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

The ‘Third Hour’ was nine o’clock in the morning. This accusation that the apostles were drunk with “sweet wine” carried serious religious implications, more so at 9 A.M.! We don’t see Peter defending himself, as Rabbinical Law required, but instead of focusing on himself, he points right to Jesus. We will see him use three passages from the Old Testament demonstrating that the Messiah would be a descendant of David, that He would rise from the dead, and that He would be exalted to the right hand of God. He will proclaim that all three have been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

Acts 2:16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

Peter now quotes the Book of Joel (Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.) Something to be said here; when this was recorded, Luke used the Greek translation of the Old Testament…the why I don’t know; just food for thought.

Acts 2:17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.

Peter tells them what they are witnessing is nothing less than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit predicted in Joel. The coming of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the last days and the new covenant blessing for those who put their faith in Jesus. All flesh both Jew and Gentiles will be saved. Now the time has come that God will speak to and through all who would come to Him (not just Levi Priests or Prophets).

Acts 2:19 “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 the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.”

I don’t think that anyone would claim that on the day of Pentecost, the moon turned to blood. When Christ was crucified, the sun was darkened for three hours, but not on the day of Pentecost. Dear Saints, Joel 2:28-32, has not been completely fulfilled to this day. Joel has a lot to say about the Day of the Lord. In three chapters of the Book of Joel, the Day of the Lord is mentioned five times. Joel speaks about the fact that it is a time of war and of time of judgment upon the earth. (Sounds like the 11 o’clock news to me).

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'

Joel’s prophecy is not one of utter gloom and despair. It holds out the bright hope that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…Praise God Our Father.

Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know_”

Why did Peter separate “miracles”, “wonders” and “signs”? Well, in my understanding, the three have different purposes. Jesus did miracles of healing to prove who He was, wonders were performed to get the attention of His hearer and still He did certain things that would be signs. All to show the Jew that God has come as man.

Acts 2:23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

This is not contrary to God’s program. This is not something that took God by surprise. However, Peter makes it clear that this does not release men from their responsibility. There is no use in our arguing about who was responsible for His death. You are, and I am. It was for my sins and for your sins that He died. In John 10:17-18 ("Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.") Jesus said “…I lay down my life…no man takes it from me…this commandment have I received of my Father”. Do note on the first day of the church age, in the first sermon preached, what is the theme? It is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Christ.

Acts 2:25 "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in Your presence.'”

I’ve been sitting here reading this in both Acts and from Psalm 16:8-11 pouring over commentaries. I could write 5 Phish Bowls and do two Sundays and still not cover it fully. So, here it is in a nut shell: Joel prophesied that the Spirit would come; Jesus fulfilled that promise when He sent the Spirit (John 14:16: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--). If Jesus was dead, He could not have sent the Spirit. Therefore, He must be alive. To go one step further, Jesus could not have sent the Spirit unless He ascended as Lord to Heaven. Therefore, Jesus is both our Master and our Savior.

Acts 2:29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”

As for David, the Jewish historian confirms that David’s tomb was still present in Jerusalem in the first century and Peter freely points this out. No where in Acts did Luke tell us where this is taking place. We might have a clue here! I found a note that at the temple courts, there was a platform for sages. Thinkers and prophets could have an opportunity to address the crowds and J. Vernon McGee tells of when he was at the temple area, he could point his finger up to the top of Mt. Zion where David is buried. So, I know that David was not talking about himself, but of Someone whom I know, Someone who did not see corruption, but was raised from the dead.

Acts 2:30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”

What is Peter talking about? His sermon is about the resurrected Christ. Is that not the message?

Acts 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

“We (the apostles with the 120) witnessed”: This little line is so big. We in the Western world overlook it. We in prison know how witnesses in court can not always tell the truth. But, by Jewish law there was a legal standard for being a witness. (See the Halakhah). “A witness may not testify to things of which he has no personal knowledge, nor may he testify regarding what he has heard from other people however true and trustworthy their account may appear to him”. If this little, not unheard of statement were untrue, the Sanhedrin would have pressed criminal accusation against Peter and the other 120. The law also required two or three witnesses to verify what was being reported. Peter continues:

Acts 2:33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand”. Peter goes on to tell us that Jesus has ascended to heaven and once again argues that this was in fulfillment of prophecy, citing Psalm 110:1 (A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."). Peter now understands the Psalm as the LORD said to my Lord, as God speaking to David’s Lord, that is, to Jesus.

Acts 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

This is so cool! This Jesus is our Lord and He’s our Christ (Messiah). As Messiah, He is the fulfillment of Israel’s expectations for a descendant of David to come and sit on the throne as Lord; Jesus is at the right hand of God and is Sovereign. (Pow! Add to that!)

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

“Cut”. Luke uses a term that literally means, “to be stabbed, as with a knife”. It was used to express deep regret and this message brought conviction.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

“Repent”: This became the central call of early Christians. Repentance (metanoia) involved a radical change in a person, his convictions and life’s direction. No longer a life centered on self and sinful pursuits, but now embracing the will of God and His priorities. “Baptized”: I’m standing at a fork in the road looking at great teachings and trying to form a thought. First, as I study the Old Testament and the Jewish root of Christianity, I have to start here. There are many examples of Ritual washing of oneself in Rabbinical law: to enter the temple, to have a change of status. Gentile converts to Judaism were required to be purified in a ritual bath. However, all this ritual bathing would only be temporary and would have to be repeated. Now Peter tells us to be baptized in Jesus, this time in to the new covenant and the gift of the Holy Spirit. I find this practice going way back in Judaism and in the early church. Fun fact time: There were many places in Jerusalem where these new believers could have been baptized. A number of ritual baths were located within the walls of the temple as well as the temple mount. There were also six large pools mentioned by Josephus: The Pool of the Towers, the Strouthion Pool, and the Sheep’s Pool (Bethsaida), the Serpent’s Pool, Solomon’s Pool (the Pool of Siloam) and the Pool of Israel. So to end this thought…Paul, in Romans 6:3-4 (“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”), identifies baptism with Christ, and not the water itself, is symbolizing a participation in Christ’s burial and resurrection---the basis for forgiveness of sins. I was baptized by Kevin just before going to prison, but in no way am I teaching you that you must be baptized to be saved. Salvation is in Christ only.

It was written in Isaiah 37:19: “Peace, peace to those far and near”. As Peter said 2000+ years ago and exhorted his listeners to repent. That message is true today; each person has to make a decision to turn to God in faith. Then God will forgive your sins and declare you righteous because of what Jesus has done on the cross.

In closing, three thousand souls responded to Peter’s sermon that day. Now the apostles had a responsibility of training this large group and bringing them into this new fellowship. Next month we are going to dive into what the church is to look like. Acts 2:42 has been called the model by many theologians and a big part of the blue print of Calvary Chapel in Loveland and Phish Bowl Ministries. Thank you for taking the time to study with me. I look forward to next month’s teaching. May our Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Left)This is a picture of the Jordan River where many pilgrims currently come to be baptized. (Right) This is a picture of a Mikvah in Qumran, Israel near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947.