Then Peter stood up with the Elven and addressed them in a loud voice: 'Men of Judaea, and all who live in Jerusalem, make no mistake about this, but listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you imagine; why, it is only the third hour of the day. On the contrary, this is what prophet spoke of:
In the days to come - it is the Lord who speaks - I will pour out my spirit on all mankind. Their sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall dream dreams. Even on my slaves, men and women, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. I will display portents in heaven above and signs on earth below. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the Day of the Lord dawns. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
'Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David say of him:
I saw the Lord before me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption. You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence.
'Brothers, no can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God's right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit. For David himself never went up to heaven; and yet these words are his:
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for you.
'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.'
Cf. - Acts 3:4; 4:8; 5:8-29; 10:5; 2:33+ -
Cf. - John 1 3:1-5 - N. T. - Think of the love that the Father has lavished us, by letting us be called God's children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
Cf. - Isaiah 2:2 - O. T. - In the days to come the mountains of the Temple of Yahweh shall tower above the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. All the nations will stream to it.
Cf. - Romans 7:5-6 N. T. - Before our conversion our sinful passions, quite unsubdued by the Law, fertilised our bodies to make them give birth to death. But now we are rid of the Law, freed by death from our own imprisonment, free to serve in the new spiritual way and not the old way of a written law.
Cf. - Sirach / Ecclesiasticus 1:10; 11:27-30; 21:9; 5:12 - O. T. - To be with all mankind as his gift, and he conveyed her to those who love him. In a time of profit, losses are forgotten, and in a time of loss, no one remembers profits. Yet it is a trifle for the Lord on the day a man dies to repay him as his conduct deserves. A moment's adversity, and pleasures are forgotten; in a man's last hour his deeds will stand revealed. Call no man fortunate before his death; it is by his end that a man will be known. A meeting of lawless men is like a heap of tow; they will end in a blazing fire. Be steady in your convictions, sincere in your speech. be quick to listen, and deliberate in giving an answer. If you understand the matter, give your neighbour an answer, if not, put your hand over your mouth.
Cf. - Matthew 24:29-30 - N. T. - Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; then too all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Cf. - Romans 10:9-13 - N. T. - If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the death, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those who believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Cf. - 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 - N. T. - I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours.
Cf. - Matthew 2:23; 10:38 N. T. - There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: Jesus will be called a Nazarene. Anyone who does not take his/her cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
Cf. - Luke 24:19-20; 4;10-13 N. T. - 'What things?' Jesus asked, 'All about Jesus of Nazareth' they answered 'who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. 'If you are the Son of God,' the devil said to him'' 'throw yourself down from here, for Sacred Scripture says: He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you, and again: They will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone'. But Jesus answered him, 'It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test'. Having exhausted all these ways of tempting Jesus, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.
Cf. - 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 - N. T. - The people who put the Lord Jesus to death, and the prophets too. And now they have been persecuting us, and acting in a way that cannot please God and makes them the enemies of the whole human race.
Cf. - Psalms 18:6 - O. T. - In my distress I called to Yahweh and to my God I cried; from his Temple he heard my voice, my cry came to his ears.
Cf. - Acts 13:34-36 - N. T. - I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples. Simon Peter said, 'Lord, where are you going?' Jesus replied, 'Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later'.
Cf. - Psalms 16:8-11 - O. T. - I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart exults, my very soul rejoices, my body, too, will rest securely, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor allow the one you love to see the Pit; you will reveal the path of life to me, give me unbounded joy in tour presence, and at your right hand everlasting pleasures.
Cf. - 2 Samuel 7:12 - O. T. - And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure.
Cf. - Psalms 132:11 - O. T. - Yahweh swore to David and will remain true to his word, 'I promise that your own son shall succeed you on the throne.
Cf. - Matthew 9:27-30 - N. T. - As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, 'Take pity on us, Son of David'. And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, "Do you believe I can do this?' They said, 'Sir, we do'. Then Jesus touched their eyes saying, 'Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you'. And their sight returned.
Cf. - Acts 1:8+; 1:4-5+ -
Cf. - Ezekiel 36:27-28 - O. T. - I shall put mu spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.
Cf. - Matthew 21:9,42 - N. T. - The crowds who went in front of Jesus and those who followed were all shouting: 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!' Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone, rejected by the builders that becomes the keystone. This was the Lord's doing and it is wonderful to see?
Cf. - Ephesians 4:8-13 - N. T. - Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. It was said that he would: When he ascended to the height, he captures prisoners, he gave gifts to men. When it says, 'he ascended', what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
Cf. - Psalms 110:1 - O. T. - Yahweh's oracle to you, my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand and I will make your enemies a footstool for you'.
Cf. - Acts 2:23+; 9:22; 10:42; 13:33 -
Cf. - Romans 10:9 - N. T. - If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.
Cf. - Philippians 2:11-13 - N. T. - And every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my dear friends, continue to do as I tell you, as you always have; not only as you did when I was there with you, but even more now that I am no longer there; and work for your salvation 'in fear and trembling'. It is God, for his own purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you. - PAGE 90 -
The first conversions
Hearing this, they were cut....... - PAGE 91 -
IF WE LIVE BY THE TRUTH AND IN LOVE, WE SHALL GROW IN ALL WAYS INTO CHRIST JESUS, WHO IS THE HEAD BY WHOM THE WHOLE BODY IS FITTED AND JOINED TOGETHER, EVERY JOINT ADDING ITS OWN STRENGTH, FOR EACH SEPARATE PART TO WORK ACCORDING TO IT FUNCTION. SO THE BODY GROWS UNTIL IT HAS BUILT ITSELF UP, IN LOVE." - EPHESIANS 4:15-16 -
