ACTS 2:37-47 - Corps Notes - December 2, 1975
Format: mp3,pdf
Publication Date: 12-2-1975
On Ephesians 4:25 where I want to begin tonight, or where we will begin tonight , the first part of what the Research Team gave me is the work that Walter Cummins published in our wonderful Way Magazine on "The Spoken Word." Also, as we cover Ephesians 4:28 tonight, I had all the information in front of me from another article that Walter Cummins has in the... has had in the Magazine. The first article on Ephesians 4:25 is entitled "The Spoken Word." The one on Ephesians 4:28 is "Workers for God." Both of these pieces of work by Walter are absolutely superb. And I believe that they should appear and will appear in our research journal GMIR whenever we begin publishing that. {GMIR Aramaic word meaning ' to perfect, accomplish , mature, complete, arithmetically to be divisible without any remainder.}
And I noticed again that some of the things that were stated are just so beautifully and logically presented, I'm truly thankful for, not only Walter, but the whole Research Department. I think our Biblical Research Department is just second to none. And it' s even going to be better by God' s mercy and grace next year and in years to come than it is at this time. And right now I do not believe that our Biblical Research Department needs to take a back seat for any academic institution or work in the world.
And I thought today, I have never... I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity than to be my assistant. I know Vince Finnegan, you know, on the books is my assistant. And that' s great. But I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity for so many years as always being my assistant. And I think he' s just the most wonderful person that any president could have as his assistant. And also to be chairmen of the Department of Greek, and then the coordinator of the Biblical research of The Way International. For any one man to have that position and that responsibility is an awesome reality and I'm real proud of Walter and real thankful for him. But I am also thankful for the rest of our wonderful men and women in the Research Department.
I would like for the Corps all over the country to go to the Magazine and find "The Spoken_Word," that's the title of it, dealing with Ephesians 4:25 and other scriptures, and before the next Corps meeting next week, you endeavor to master that great piece of work by Walter Cummins. It's just, you know, the spoken Word. Over fifty Greek words are used in the New Testament in connection with the faculties of utterance. Over fifty. And then he takes the most important ones and he lists them and it' s just. .. it' s just a piece of research work that you should really as a Corps master in your heart and in your life.
Ephesians 4:25 in the King James reads, Wherefore put away lyin g, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
The ' putting away' was interesting to me again because of the Greek word aniko, a-n-i-k-o.
And this word is ' the putting away,' this word ' put away,' aniko, is the same root word as in 4:22, where we use the word ' rest,' meaning ' to rest.' Is that right? Yep, that is right. I taught you that,
didn't I? Did I or didn't I? Doesn't look right to me. It is the same root. What chapter am I missing? Am I missing anything? I don't know. Right now I'm screwed up, ha ha. First time today. You check the word again and I'll do that, too and see what I'm missing here.
But a-n-i-k-o is the word for ' putting away from you. ' To put away. And it' s the same root as the word ' rest.' I don't know where the word appears, but it's got to be in there.
Now, that word ' speak,' every man speak. That word ' speak ' is from the Greek word
laleo, l-a-l-e-long-o. And that' s where Walter' s article on "The Spoken Word"_c omes in because that is.. .he uses that word laleo in here, which I teach in Corinthians when I teach the Foundational Class. And he says the word is employed 24 times in I Corinthians chapter 14. I had forgotten that.
This word is truly significant. I couldn' t quite understand it Research Department, what you said on page 26B 16, where you defined it ' to make vocal utterance,' ' to babble,' 'to talk,' 'to exercise the faculty of speech without reference to the words spoken.' I just wondered if there might not be another word that could be substituted or utilized at this point. I know that Zachariah 8:16 is the quotation that is used here, or spoken of. And that Zachariah 8:16 adds force to what is said by using a quote, a quotation. That' s why my question to the Research Department is, How can it be without reference to what is spoken if it is truth plus the quotation of the Word of God that's given. It doesn't quite fit for me.
'With his neighbor' has to be a believing neighbor. This 'speak truth with his neighbor' is a figure of speech gnome, g-n-o-m-e, which simply is a citation. And that' s a citation from Zachariah 8:16.
There are a series of figures of speech, Corps, in chapter four which just put the 00mph, the highlight, to the particular things that are set whereby you put off the old man. This phrase here 'speak every man truth with his neighbor' is one of them. The other one appears in verse 26, 'be angry and sin not.' ' Steal no more' is another one. 'Corrupt communication' is the fourth one. 'Grieve not the holy spirit' is the fifth one. ' All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking' is the sixth. And then ' be kind' and so forth, is the seventh.
You see, the last phrase in that verse, in King James, For we' re members one of what? [Another] And it' s relative to the neighbor. Now you just look at that. Wherefore put away lying, speak every man truth with his what? [Neighbor] For we are members one of another. That doesn't mean just a neighbor who lives next door, but it has to be a believing neighbor because we are members one of what? [Another]. You could not be a member ' one of another' ifhe was an unbeliever. That's how I know this is going to work. This tells me that the neighbor is a believer. And this ' we' re members one of another' continues the imagery of the Body of Christ.
The literal according to usage of this verse is as follows: Wherefore put away the lie... and I believe in my heart, before I go on with the literal that until man is born again, it's all a lie anyways. And that' s why I believe that this translation will fit in the light of that knowledge. Because when a man is not born again, his whole life is just a lie. Now you're born again, and that ' s why I think the text states it ' wherefore put away the lie,' the life you' ve been living , the screwed up life you have lived outside of God. It' s been just a life of a lie. It' s not truth. It' s just the opposite of truth and that's my reason for translating it this way... Wherefore put away the lie.
You've got to go with that translation. You have no other text to go by both from Aramaic and Greek it's 'lie.' Not 'lying.' If the Research Department has anything to share in the light of that, I'd be blessed to hear, but you' ve heard my reasons for translating it, Research Department, this way.
Now since they're born again, their whole life is changed, so the life of lying, and living a lie, and being a lie, and being false, is to be put away.
And every man... this is the translation ... and everyone, everyone. The word ' man' you could use because it's an inclusive noun, but I prefer to use the word ' one.'
Wherefore put away the lie and everyone speak the truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another. That is literal according to usage.
Now for the expanded according to understanding. It's not bad. Because of this... What we coughing for? Everybody sick?...Because of this... and the reason I went in the expanded along this line is because verse 24 last week told us that we are created by God in righteousness and in true purity, through holiness. Twenty four.
That's why 25, Wherefore ... 'wherefore' can be translated 'because of this.' Because of this what? Being created in righteousness and truly pure. See it's an inside job.
Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure by the grace and the love of
God.. .Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure, you put away, completely lay to rest the lie that you have been and were living and each one of you speak the truth using a quotation from the Word with his believing neighbor for we are members one of another in the Body of the Church.
Robinson {Edward} said, he translated, 'speak every man truth with his neighbor' and he said it's from Zachariah 8:16 which adds force to what is said by using a quote. That's why I translated that. I think that' s great. It adds force to what is said. If you're speaking to someone, it adds force to what you say by using a quote, a quotation from God's Word. In other words, ' you share the Word with them.' That' s why I went with that translation. I want to give it to you again in this sense.
Speak the truth using a quotation from the Word, which means 'share the Word.' Quote the Word to them. Tell them what the Word says, with his believing neighbor. Why? For we are members one of another in the Body of the Church. This verse is just mind blowing.
Here, you have a born-again believer neighbor who needs to grow up a little more. So what do you do? Each one speak the truth to that neighbor, that believer, using the Word, quoting the Word because we' re members one of another in the Body of the Church. It's a real positive thing to do.
Verse 26 in King James reads, Be angry.. .ha ha... we like that one, don't we. Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Here is a verse of Scripture that' s very, very difficult for most people. And it' s not too easy for us either. But I think we are able to share the truth of the greatness of this and it's been burning in my heart for a long time to do this with our people.
Everybody has problems with ' how can you be angry and not sin?' You know, how can raise hell with something and not be sinful in doing it? Teed off and not be sinful. And how can you go... and what does it mean 'don't let the sun go down upon your wrath?' See.
In the context, here, verses 26 and 27 deal with your believing neighbor, specifically. Then the Greek word for ' anger' which is from the root orge, o-r-g-long-e means 'anger together with the desire of revenge .' That' s bad. That' s a heavy. The Hebrew word means ' to kill, and all the tumults of passion that terminate in killing.' So it's a real heavy word when it said ' be angry.'
And the way I believe it's used in God' s Word, ' be ye angry' means ' it's a long time anger with your believing neighbor until a change has ensued.' The desire to... of revenge is a change. And I, knowing the Word in the light of the new birth, it's where a change finally comes about. Until that time, you just, long-term, you just stay put witnessing the Word, sharing the Word. You do not dislike the believing neighbor; you simply dislike that he is not fully accepting the Word and walking on it. So it' s a long-term anger until a change has ensued. You just stay faithful.
I don't know what else to do with those words. It is a righteous anger. Yet it is a righteous anger without sin.
Among the scholars, there is a disagreement on these words. Well, I don't know about my being a scholar; that I don' t anything about being about. But it's simple to me because righteous anger is commanded by God's Word when it says ' be ye angry.' Well, the scholars can fight about it. I don' t care. It' s a command. Not just permitted to get teed once in a while when somebody' s off of God' s Word, a believer is off of God's Word. You' re always teed off righteously at any believer, born-again believer, who is off of God' s Word. And for those of us in the Way Ministry, it' s been a lifetime.
Get into it with them on... Oh what subject do you want to talk about? Baptism? Food? One God? See. All that stuff.
The Aramaic is accurate in the words ' and sin not.' It literally translates ' and you will not sin.' Again, this ' be angry and sin not' is that figure gnome. Quotation. A citation from the Old Testament. It' s from Psalm 4:4. But in King James, Psalm 4:4, it's translated 'stand in awe.' The real sense of the Hebrew is ' one of admonition;' sin not. Where we' re admonished to not sin. Sin not.
' Let not the sun go down on your wrath. ' Ha ha. That again is beautiful. People went to bed when the sun went down, when it got dark. That's when they went to bed. So what that simply is saying, ha ha, ' don't go to bed teed off.' Don' t let the sun go down on your wrath. In other words, go to bed; don' t go to bed mad. ' When you go to bed' is what it means. Let not the sun go down when you go to bed. And they went to bed when the sun went down. When it got dark, they went to bed, see.
' Upon your wrath.' And the word ' wrath' here is basically ' irritation.' Ha ha. Previously when I taught Ephesians, I made mention of this fact, ' don' t let righteous anger shake you, wondering if it was right on. When you go to bed, go to sleep.'
Now, this is what we have done with it in the literal, ha ha, according to usage. I got more papers up here than Carter has liver pills, or something. Then, I can' t find my... whatever it is I take off of it.
Okay, verse 26. You be righteously angry.. .this is literal according to usage.. .and you will not be sinning. Don't go to bed even with a momentary irritation, ha ha.
I don't think you get nearly as much fun out of this as I do. It's neat. It's absolutely scrumptious, see. At the opening, is that heavy word, remember? Anger. So it's a real heavy time. So what he is saying, in the heavy time, when your standing on God' s Word and sharing that with the believing neighbor, you' re righteously angry... you're not sinning. And you don't even go to bed with a momentary irritation. In other Words, when you go to bed, thank God the day is over. Say your last prayer and start snoring.
Boy, that would save a lot of sleeping pills, wouldn' t it? Practicing that principle. Boy, oh boy, what a tremendous Word. And hardly anybody understands verse 26. They argue about it, but they don' t get the understanding.
Now this is the expanded one according to understanding, I hope. And again, I would like to just lay some things before the Corps, and especially before the Research Department. I translated the first part of verse 26, You always stay angry with an all-out desire to have them to change which anger will not be sin on your part.
Then I have another translation of that first part of it: You be righteously angry, 'teed off' with sin... 'Teed off' I put in quotes. But don't you sin by acting ' holier than thou' vaunting yourself by acting so righteously like you never sin.
I do not know which one of those two the Research Department feels would be the better. The last part of the phrase that I translated which would go with both of these that I have given you here on the expanded one for understanding. This, the last part, goes with that first one and with the second ... also.. .even if it is only a momentary irritation. When you go to bed, go to sleep. That's what I did with it.
Now, verse 27. King James says, Neither (or neither) give place to the Devil. The word 'place' is simply a portion, a part. No believer will give full place to the Devil, but he may be giving a part, a portion. He' ll mark off a spot, ' this is Devil' s permission over here, over here, no permission, you know. And you really give the Devil a portion or a spot if you stew about it after you go to bed and you toss and you tum and can' t sleep.
This word 'the Devil,' ' the Devil' in the Aramaic is a very interesting and exciting Word to me and it blesses my heart. It' s a compound word where the first part means ' to eat' or ' to devour.' The latter
' to slander' or ' to accuse. ' So when I got to translating this, literally according to usage, verse 27 reads: Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil. So I used those three words synonymously: portion, space, opportunity. Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil.
The expanded according to understanding: And you will not give a toehold, an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. Ha ha. I get more fun than you ever will out of working this stuff, huh.
You see, and to me, that communicates to my understanding. John 10:10. The thief cometh not but for to what? [Steal, kill, and destroy] Right. To eat you out. To beat you. And that's why that Aramaic word, on the word ' Devil' really thrilled me.
And that ' s why I put it into the expanded translation: And you will not give a ' toehold.' Now, at L.E.A.D., you know how important it is to get a what? [Toehold] Ha ha. And when you' re really climbing in, you' re blessed for a toehold. How thankful you are when you get a foothold. Now the adversary can never get a foothold in a believer' s life until he first has a toehold. That's why I translated it that way.
Do not give... and you will not give a toehold ... shave all the rocks off... an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. And that' s exactly what he likes to do to believers.
Now we go to verse 28. King James says, Let him that stole steal not more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. And here again, is another great work that I believe should be in our research journal GMIR, Walter' s work on " Workers for God."
It' s just tremendous where he... you know... he just goes into God' s men are called many things in the Word. They' re called: fellow workers, ministers, or servants, slaves, fellow slaves, partners, messengers, soldiers, fellow soldiers, athletes, fellow athletes, stewards, ambassadors, witnesses, all of those. And he covers them so beautifully. And I love very much how he covered the word ' slave,' because it' s a much stronger word than to be a minister, or to be a servant. It is to be one who is branded, marked out, sold out. And baby, from that day on, there are no ifs, and' s, or but' s. You never budge on it. You are branded. Most believers are never branded. They may be servants, they may be ministers, but they are not branded. When you' re branded, you stay faithful. You do not budge. You do not change. You stay put. If all hell breaks loose, you still live the believing Word.
I think the prophet once said, If I was in the midst of hell, God I know you' d be there. (Psalm 139:8) He' d be there. That' s the doulos. That, of course, is just a tremendous piece of work.
And the other great part that I think... and this is a second piece that I want the Corps to master before next Wednesday night, " Workers for God," the work on ' witness.' You see, it's the same word basically that's translated ' martyr,' see. And we got a lot of those canonized. That's not at all what a witness is. A witness is a living example, not a dead one. The word 'martyr' simply means that you lay down your life in witnessing. And boy, when you put the doulos together with ' witness,' then you' ve got power for abundant living. It's just a fantastic work by Walter and I' m real grateful that it was published. Because once it' s in print, people can take a look at it if they want to.
I'd like a cup of coffee, please.
Now, we are in verse 28. The Aramaic translation is ' and he who was stealing.' I understand it from the English, ' let him that stole,' past tense. The Aramaic is real simple, real strong. ' And he, the one who is born again, who was, past tense, stealing.'
Thank you.
His whole life was one of those before he was born again.
Whenever you bring a cup of coffee to a right-hand man, you put the handle to the right. When you serve a cup of coffee to a left-hand man, you put it on the left-hand side and put the handle to the left. Corps principle number seven or something, ha ha. Mrs. Wierwille would say, Well, be thankful you even get a cup of coffee. [Laughter] Ah, you're wonderful.
See, ' let him who stole, steal no more.' 'Stole and steal,' that' s a figure of speech and is polyptoton p-o-l-y-p-t-o-t-o-n. It' s a repetition of the same root word in different parts of speech or reflections. But, that's not earth shaking right now in my heart.
You see, in some Eastern culture, it was not considered a sin or a shame to steal because that's the way they lived, the only way they lived. Somebody told me... or not only told me, one of our people, but it was in a national magazine, that the basic culture of Russia today is to steal. And in some respects I can understand this. If you don't have anything and you're starving to death and there' s a loaf of bread you can get a hold of... steal the dam thing. I understand that.
So this verse is really sharp, really sharp. Let him who stole, even though that man previously considered it the way to live and there was no shame in it, no sin in it. He said, Well, let that fellow who stole, steal no more. Something has happened on the inside of that man. Something that happened, where He is able to meet all of our need according to His riches in glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. More than conquerors.
A record in the Old Testament, I forget where it is, but it's in there, that it' s never, you never need to borrow or steal bread or... what is that in the Old Testament? Begging bread. One person stand and tell me. {Psalm 37:25, I have been young and now am old; yet have I seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread.} Psalm 27:25 who? {Psalm 37:25} 37:25. All the years, he's never seen the righteous to have to do what? {Beg bread} Beg bread.
First of all, I wish the Christian world could hear this. Secondly, I wish our government in the United States could understand it. The Word says, If you don't work, you don' t eat. A lot of that stuff. Well, what we've been doing is stealing from the people who are willing to work to give to the people who don' t want to work. That's a bunch of crap. That's stealing. That's why this verse is so hot in my soul tonight. Let him who stole, quit stealing, dang it. See.
Many years ago I was really knocked for a loop along some of this line in India, from Dr. Williams. I think he loved India maybe like I love the United States, I don' t know. Because only a man knows how much he loves his own country, I guess.
But... as we were traveling together, he said to me, Dr. Wierwille, I hear you have whores in the United States.
You know, I never had given it a thought. I just took it for granted. [Laughter] And I said, yeah. He said, Why does a rich country like the United States have whores?
And I said, I don't know.
And he said, I can't understand it. Cannot your women make enough money to live? Yeah, but they figure that' s cheaper and more pleasurable or something, I don' t know. And he said, Well, I think it's sinful that the United States has whores.
And I said, What do you mean?
And he said to me, why, I can understand India. He said we don' t enough food, we don' t have enough of anything hardly for a lot of people. And we have whores because that' s the only way they can continue to live physically.
And I thought to myself, well boy, that' s slapping me in the face good. And I took it as a wonderful lesson. There is no excuse in the United States for any women being a whore because she doesn' t need to get screwed and paid for it in order to get money so she can live. There's plenty of work available and if there isn' t she ought to get born again, then there' s a guarantee of work. ..other work, available. I tell you, when you' re honest, some of these men in other countries have some real logic behind their thinking. How would you have liked to have handled that? I just simply admitted, Well, I think we' re wrong in the United States. But I said, I think you' re wrong in India, too, because no reason to have whores here if you get them born again.
So I don' t know. But this verse today as I worked the final working on this verse 28 is when my heart really went back and burned with that truth that Dr. Williams had stated. Because in many Eastern cultures, it was not considered as sin or as shame to steal, if it was a matter of livelihood. You sometimes wonder who will live in the greatest condemnation before God and justice and judgment when the time comes.
For in most of what are called poor countries even, there is sufficient money, food, and other things for the people to live if those in positions of authority were not so selfish and egotistical, and want it for themselves , and let the rest of the world die... or a country die.
The word ' labor' in verse 28 is the word which literally means ' hard work resulting in fatigue.' That's how I felt coming from the woods last night. And I didn' t do anything. It was just hard work being there with the rest of you. Today I got so tired of being with some, I came home. Ah, you' re wonderful.
' Working with his hands' is an Eastern cultural type of thing. Today in our culture, you could have it, you know, the truth is working with your mind or working with your hand, whatever you' re working at. But in Eastern culture, every son was to be trained to work with his hands, even if he was the son of a king. Had to learn a trade, a profession of business.
Jesus Christ was a saddle maker. He made them to ride, I guess, what do you want? Tennessee Walkers , or? See. I think not only did he do that, Paul did it, too, you know. Someday I'm going to find a...or Walter, or some of those, are going to find me a manuscript to prove it. .. and a wonderful carpenter by trade. Many times doing carpentry work and being a saddle maker were sort of in the same household, because building carpentry and having saddles to use for their business and carrying on, were very, very closely aligned. Well, I won' t argue the point, but I wish we' d keep looking.
II Thessalonians.. .Do your hands ever get so dry you can hardly hold anything? Golly, mine are so dry tonight, I wonder why? II Thessalonians, chapter 3:10... this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he what? [Eat] Right. Even unemployment is no excuse for stealing. He just doesn' t eat. Goes and gets work. Boy, when I first saw the greatness of these principles many years ago, and then of course, I uniquely by God' s grace, inculcated that into our W.O.W. program and very dynamically in the Corps leadership.
ACTS 2:37-47
December 2, 1975
The Way International
The entire Word of God is exciting and electrifying, and I suppose it’s like any experience that the
moment you are in it, that’s the greatest. So that’s why perhaps Last year Ephesians was the greatest
to us, and this year, of course, the book of Acts. We’re in that tremendous section of the book of Acts
that there are just no words to describe its greatness. You can unfold it, you can work it with all of its
integrity the best to your ability, and then there are still some things that escape you. Yet somehow
when you work through this record you have to just stand in utter amazement at its greatness, its
simplicity and its real in-depth beauty. I’m sort of believing that when I finish some of these things
here in Acts I’ll do a homiletical analysis for you, which I’ve never done, and just simply handle this
whole chapter from a homiletical point of view. Nothing teaches any better than God’s Word on
homiletics, which is the art of teaching. How to teach God’s Word most effectively is set forth in
God’s Word. The greatness of this record in Acts 2, homiletically, has never been superseded. It has
a fantastic introduction and then it has what you call the body, which is the build up. All the build up
is in this last session that we did. The introduction is in the preceding tape. Of course, the whole idea
of teaching, as well as preaching, is to bring men and women to a point of decision, to what many
times, homiletically you refer to as the moment of decision.
Acts 2:37
“What shall we do?” That’s the moment of decision. His teaching brought them to the place where
the people said, “what shall we do.” (Example of PFAL class) One of the great arts of teaching is to
bring men and women to that point where they have to make a decision.
It’s like in selling, you can be the best salesman in the world, but if you never say to them, “look, do
you want to buy,” you’re never going to sell. The whole thing in selling is to bring people to that
point where they make a decision. Moving the Word of God is just as simple. That’s why whenever
you teach at a believer’s meeting you have to pre-think, pre-plan, pre-work in your heart and life the
Word of God so beautifully that your teaching will get people to the place where they make that
moment of decision. All teaching is designed to do just that.
Acts 2:38
Well, there it is. Many years I failed to understand that verse because I was taught it wrongly. I just
didn’t know the answer to this verse. I was taught to repent was to confess my sins, so I went through
that every year, sometimes twice a year, to get saved. If God had never taught me more than the two
verses, 38 and 39, I’d forever be grateful to God. To repent is not to confess your sin. The word
“repent” Literally means a change about, a turn about, going in another direction.
I understand this, because before, we are dead in trespasses and sins, without God and without hope
and by nature the children of wrath. So to repent is to get from the nature of wrath category to being
born again and alive in God in Christ. That’s why to repent is not to confess your sin but to confess
the savior from sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:9-10) The confusion of this word
“repentance” was paramount in my life. Even today in the so-called Christian church the confusion is
very manifest.
“be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” - This is another point of confusion. Once
you rightly divide the Word of truth and have the true Word and you understand it then it looks so
simple, but before you had that, it doesn’t look so simple. It may have looked simple, but you
weren’t able to put it together, because if it’s God’s Word, it all has to fit like a hand in a glove. You
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and I know that to ‘be baptized’ is a one time deal, and it’s not something that you do, it’s something
that happens to you when you repent. But we never knew that, years ago. When you repent you are
baptized. It’s not just emersion; it’s an internal fulfillment, Christ in you the hope of glory. Every
part of your being has Christ in it. That’s the baptized. When they did it in water, the baptism was
always an emersion so that the water would be completely ‘over’. I think It’s beautiful that God
chose to use the word “baptize” here. Repent, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and Christ
comes in, and that is baptized in with everything Christ is. He is completely all in you.
“in the name of Jesus Christ” - The teaching as well as the “Christian” tradition that is based on
Matthew 28:19-20 is absolutely ripped to shreds in the light of the record in Acts 2.
Matthew 28:19-20
“baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” - must be, deleted.
This is the teaching of tradition and of the “Christian” church which is always quoted, but they quote,
of course, the part that should never have been in the text to begin with. “Baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” was never in the originals. If that were true, that
that was the command given, then the apostles were either very forgetful or very ignorant, for this
occurred only eight days before Pentecost. It was the last thing Jesus Christ said, and most people
have the ability to remember the last thing someone says and yet here in Acts Peter said, “be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ.” Either the apostles were very ignorant or very forgetful or we must
accuse them of incompetence and absolute insubordination, if Matthew 28:19-20 would apply to the
administration that began on the day of Pentecost. All the Word of God stands in its greatness and its
beauty and it stands absolutely inviolate with no tearing up of any of God’s Word if we obey
II Timothy 2:15. Matthew 28:19-20 is the Israelitic commissioning, or the ministry that is to be
carried out under Israel.
“Teach” - discipling, to make disciples of all nations. That discipling of Matthew 28 is basically a
continuation of the record in Matthew 10.
Matthew 10:5-10 - The Word of God never says that we are sheep. Israel was referred to as sheep,
but we are sons of God. At another place it says that you are supposed to take scrip for the journey.
It’s where he said to take the sword, or something.
Luke 22:31-36 - Situations change and when situations change, the revelation changes. Here we are
at the time of the crucifixion, and at the time of the crucifixion, he lays this on them. Verse 36, then
comes the crucifixion, then comes the resurrection, then comes the ascension, and just before his
ascension again, situations change and we add something and we have that record in Matthew.
Matthew 28:19-20 - In Matthew it says to teach all nations. Previously it didn’t say to teach nations.
Who did you teach? Israel. Now he says teach nations.
“end of the world” - “end of the age” - That is exactly what occurs after the gathering together of the
body to which you and I belong. Then this Scripture comes again into prominence, then Israel will be
teaching the nations.
The Acts 2:38 record “baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins” has nothing to do with the record in Matthew 28. It’s an entirely new administration, and you
dare not read into the previous administration that which is for the current one, nor can you take the
previous one and read into the present one. I think in one of the books I have a piece of work on
baptism. (The Bible Tells Me So chapter 14) You ought to master that. Either those apostles were
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very forgetful because just eight days before, the last thing he said was to go out and teach the
nations. If you are going to include baptizing them in the name of the Father, the son, the holy ghost,
you are going to develop even more opportunities. Why didn’t they do it on the day of Pentecost?
Were they forgetful? See how simple it becomes when we rightly divide it.
John, who preceded Jesus Christ in the m1nistry, gave his call to Israel and they turned out by the
barrel full, and it says that he baptized them unto the remission of sins, and therefore, they have
carried that over from that administration into the church administration. And every time you read
“baptized” they add “water.” Acts 21:20 tells you why this was carried over into the age of the
church.
Acts 21:20
They were still zealous for the law; therefore, they continued to carry out at times John the Baptist’s
baptism of water. Why do we then carry out water baptism today? Still zealous for the law. They
were zealous for the law here because the revelation of what the church was had not been given
historically at the time of Acts 21:20. Shortly thereafter the fullness of the revelation comes. That’s
why you never after that read about water baptism again in the book of Acts. We’ve lived almost
2000 years tonight from the day that these things occurred, and we are still zealous for the law. We
still have not come to the place that Peter came to on the first day when he was born again.
So we talk about intelligence, I’d say that Peter had it far beyond what most people have today. At
least he got it the first day. We Live 2000 years later and we don’t have it. Peter just had to learn to
rely upon God and speak forth as the spirit of God worked mightily in him. And Peter said it
accurately and right on.
In Matthew it is not a called out of Jew and Gentile. In Matthew it’s a call only to Israel, Jew only. At
the end of Matthew, it’s not a calling out of Jew and Gentile. It’s a calling where The Jew, Israel,
takes the Word to the Gentile. But to us in the body it’s a calling out of both Jew and Gentile.
Romans 9:24 You don’t see that in the gospels, only in the church epistles. In our administration it’s
a calling out of both Jew and Gentile. In the next administration, after the gathering together, it will
be Israel witnessing to the nations. The calling out of both Jew and Gentile and this baptism in Acts 2
brings you to Ephesians 4:5. That has nothing to do with water. What I’m teaching you tonight you
can’t get in any commentary. You cannot get it in any seminary, any Bible school, but you can get it
from the Word if you’ve got eyes to see and ears to hear.
“baptized” - when they did it in water, when John did it, he put them all the way under. That’s why
they used the word “baptized,” for it’s all the way under, it’s God in Christ in you, all the way under,
completely, completely, complete with Christ in you the hope of glory. Boy, how little we’ve
appreciated that and how we’ve magnified the water. And the water doesn’t give you a lousy thing
except dead people. That’s right. They fought over it; they killed each other over it because one
group believed in more water than the other. And it’s the same amount of Christ in us, the same faith,
the same joy, the same peace. That’s baptized. If that isn’t bigger than water, then just go fly a kite
backwards! See how little we’ve appreciated God and His Word and his wonderful son Jesus Christ.
How little people have gone to the Word to work the Word. The Word does not contradict itself if we
rightly divide it. If we wrongly divide it, we’ll have any number of contra-dictions, and then you
have to keep propounding the error to maintain the system. Praise God for the Way Ministry; that we
don’t have to propound error to maintain the system because we never had a system to begin with.
All we’ve been is a research center. If we learn any more, we’ll change. As long as the Way Ministry
stays that way, God will bless it. When it solidifies itself, it’s dead. When it systematizes itself where
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there is no freedom to work the Word without somebody criticizing, or raising hell, she’s over with.
Praise the Lord. I hope it dies the first day somebody gets that silly idea.
Peter said repent. He could have said,”Come on up and sign the register”. He doesn’t talk about
signing a church book. To get to the new birth you have to repent. And it isn’t sin or we’d never
make it. When you repent you are baptized. Repent and be baptized. How? - By repenting and being
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. There’s an orientalism about pleading in the name of some
prominent man. That’s the meaning here. You are baptized in the name. In whatever that name
represents is what you’re baptized in. What does that name represent? Christ in you the hope of
glory, righteousness, redemption, sanctification, etc., that’s in the name.
“In the name of Jesus Christ” - the one who was humiliated, the one who had no sin, the one who
never blew it, the one yet who was tempted in all things like as we are - that’s in that name of the one
who carried everything for us. The Christ, the messianic one, the one whom God sent who now is
seated at the right hand of God - puts the humility first. Well, that’s where you and I need it here
upon earth. That’s why the repentance is down here, that’s why it’s baptized in the name of Jesus. If
it was baptized in the name of Christ your Bible would fall to pieces. It’s baptized in the name of
Jesus; it’s down here upon earth where you are baptized with his presence and with his power. He’s
seated at the right hand of God, but he’s born in us, Christ in you, in every born again believer.
“for” - unto - eis
(Go through Acts and find out how many times “the name” is used in the book of Acts.) Unto the
remission of sins. Remission of sins is for the accumulation of sins before you repent. Forgiveness of
sins is after you are born again of God’s spirit. Repent; be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto
the remission of sins, not forgiveness.
“Ye shall” - is absolute
In the singular and plural, 1st and 2nd person, I’ll give it to you once more.
‘I’ will - absolute
‘I’ shall - simple future
‘You’ or ‘they’ will - simple future
‘You’ or ‘they’ shall - absolute
“receive” - lambano
Ye shall is the absolute, then why do people argue about it? For the same reason that they argue
about water, for men’s eyes are blinded to the truth of God’s Word. To propound error is so much
easier that men just stand against God because of the Adversary and make the Word of God look like
a bunch of bologna.
After Peter had preached that fantastic sermon, be brought them to that point of decision when he
said “repent.” When you repent you are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of
sins. Now then lambano, manifest. Ye shall absolutely lambano the gift, Christ in you the hope of
glory, the fullness of the power of God in Christ in you, the new birth.
“the’’ - Greek text has it but Aramaic never has it, so have to get in the context to find out if the
article should or shouldn’t be there.
If it’s going to be a capital ‘‘H’’ and “S”, the preposition “of’’ has to be “from. If we are going to
keep it lower case “h” and “s” the preposition has to be “of.”
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You are going to lambano the gift of holy spirit or you are going to lambano the gift from God. In
any case, you can’t get out of it; lambano it. That’s the cry we can share with people. Lambano the
gift. You don’t lambano the giver, but lambano the gift.
In my heart I feel that it’s lambano the gift from God, to manifest that wonderful gift that God has
given. But you can’t teach this text wise, because you can’t prove it from the text. Not that the gift is
the important thing, but the God that gave it. To lambano the gift from God.
“gift” – dorea – of service to men
Acts 2:39
“the promise” - Acts 1, Luke - You are clothed, no longer naked, endued with power from on high,
which is in that name of Jesus Christ. What you got was remission of sins and you lambano-ed.
“unto you” - Israel
“and to all” - The commentaries say Israel only, but they forget to read the last part.
“even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” - That brings us Gentiles in. We were called by his
Word. Believing comes by hearing the Word. That’s why the Word is the only thing that is
important. The Word is the only thing that ever brings men and women to the knowledge of God and
salvation. That’s how He calls, by the Word. Those who have ears to hear, hear. Just two verses of
scripture; the whole summation of the new birth, power from on high, the fullness of the spirit, Jew
and Gentile, all in just two verses. The promise is unto you, Israel, and to your children, Israel, and to
all, Israel. Afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call, brings in the Gentiles. This is why
people do not find Jesus, they are found of him, because the Word draws, the Word is the calling. We
are the ones lost, not Jesus. The Word does the calling to those who have ears to hear. Those who
want to remain unsaved stay unsaved. It’s as simple as that. To me, this is in many respects, like
“who forgiveth all thine iniquities, and who healeth all thy diseases.” (Psalm 103:3) If he can forgive
sins, in the same verse you have the healing. Over here you have the new birth and the manifestation
of that birth in the same verse. Anyone who is born again of God’s spirit should manifest. We didn’t
manifest because we did not know, and we did not know because nobody taught us. You can be born
again without a manifestation because the new birth is the working of God in Christ; the
manifestation is your working. Unless you are taught your job, God can do his and you don’t do
yours. You can confess with your mouth the lord Jesus and you can believe God raised him from the
dead without manifesting anything. That’s why we need a teaching ministry, that’s why the teaching
ministry is in the Word, because it’s the Word that calls. The Word needs to be taught. The greatest
thing in the world is the Word. He magnified it above all His name. It’s the Word.
Acts 2:40
Verses 38 and 39 finished up an action, a result, but that didn’t stop the day. He preached the Word
all day. They kept right on going. When John got tired, Andrew came along and fished a while.
“testify” - some center margins have - earnestly testify. That isn’t big enough, it’s deeper than that.
It’s a fantastic verse, but hardly anybody ever sees it.
“many other words” - continued teaching, preaching God’s Word - testify - In its basic meaning here
means to completely give an out and out witness. It’s a complete, full, out and out witness.
Man, what a day that must have been. Peter gave a complete, full, out and out witness.
“exhort” - In one sense that I’ve taught you, the word “exhort” means to encourage toward a more
worthy endeavor. But there is another usage of that Word and it’s here; out and out witness. To
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exhort means to call them near, to draw them unto. He gave an out and out witness to draw the
people unto God, as many as the Lord our God shall call. Look at that verse! He did an out and out
witnessing to call the near unto God. If you want to get saved from this crooked world, draw near;
come over, to God’s side. That’s verse 40.
Acts 2:41
“gladly” - delete
“received” - dechomai, subjective reception, but in this instance it’s apodechomai, which means that
they received it here and flowed it out. They received fully. They didn’t just dechomai, they
dechomai-ed fully, which means they manifested in this verse. Apodechomai means subjective
reception to the end that it flows out. That’s why I know they spoke in tongues on the day of
Pentecost.
“about three thousand souls” -- Every commentary says there were 3000 souls added by Peter’s
sermon. That’s not true, because this is the second, third, fourth, fifth sermon of this day. Throughout
the whole day the Word moved. They went all day long, and by nightfall, about 3000 people. What a
record!
That received fully in that verse implies the absolute manifestation.
That’s the end of Pentecost.
Acts 2:42
Now you begin in verse 42 with the things that occurred as a result of that which had previously been
accomplished. That’s why you get to the great figure of polysyndeton with verse 42. You count the
“ands.” There are 16 “ands” from verses 42-47. The “ands” are to roll over fast and quickly to show
you the immensity of the results. I tell you, when God moves, He moves and there are tremendous
results when people believe. Fantastic! About 3000 souls that day. (Just like Genesis 1) Here it’s the
church. After the great revelation of what God did, then comes polysyndeton, just like in Genesis,
only here it’s the church of the body.
“apostles’ doctrine” -- the right teaching, the right dividing of God’s Word is what they continued in
steadfastly. They didn’t flip out on it; they just steadfastly stood together.
“fellowship” - they fellowshipped. It’s in the fellowshipping with like-minded people, day after day,
hour after hour, that’s where it is. If you really love to golf, who do you like to be with – golfers. If
you really love God and God’s people and God’s Word, who do you like to be with? With people
who have the purity of the spirit of God in them. Before you can have fellowship you have to have
sonship. You have to have the ship.
You can’t have fellowship in the body until you are first born again. The fellowship implied a little
sharing, etc.
“Breaking of bread” - implies that they ate together. They shared their sandwiches, etc. It’s just
beautiful! They didn’t forget to pray. And I’ll venture to day that they did it by the spirit too.
“and in prayers” – they didn’t forget to pray and I’ll venture to say they did via the spirit too.
Acts 2:43
“fear” - awe
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“every soul” - every believer
Acts 2:44
“all that believed were together” - Now I do not believe that they were all together at one location all
the time. I think Peter had a Twig, maybe a Branch. All of those guys were busy ministering the
Word. All that believed were together, together on the Word, together on believing the apostles’
doctrine. It’s in the plural, possessive. The possessiveness of it implies plurality, of verse 42.
“had all things common” - Not communistic - that’s from the Devil. They had it common. If you
have a need and I have something to share, then I share it with you. That’s the common. The early
church had it in common. It’s one body and the whole body has things in common. Everything above
your need is made available to the body.
II Corinthians 8:9-14
Verse 9 – “poverty” – it isn’t a negative poverty
Verse 10 – “forward” – willing
“a year ago” – from a year ago
Verse 14 – “that there may be equality” – in the body
This all happened to come into fruition immediately after the day of Pentecost. He isn’t talking about
tithing. Tithing is under the law. Christ is the end of the law for the believers. Abundant sharing is
abundant sharing over and beyond your need. Who gave you life? It’s eternal life. Who gave you the
joy and rejoicing in your heart? The great joy and rejoicing of your heart is not in the natural man but
in the Christ in you. To whom do we owe our life and everything then? To God! Boy, how the
church has lived below par and how devilish they’ve lived. It isn’t “giving me more”, but giving to
the body. They had things in common.
Acts 2:45
They sold their plurality, possessions, plural. They sold their plurality, goods, plural. They did not
sell what they needed. They sold what they had greed for; that which inflated their ego, “Well look at
me.” God has never asked a believer to give away or sell anything which you need. God supplies our
needs. Now what is need? Every individual stands before God and makes that decision. What may be
need for one person may be greed for another.
In one sense I’m a professional man. I need some dress clothes. That’s my need. But now, here’s the
local farmer across the road. If he would have as many dress clothes as I have, that would be greed
for him. If I had as many overalls as he has, that would be greed for me. You see it? It’s as simple as
that. What your job is, where you fit in the body. God will supply that need and that need varies.
“parted them to all” – shared - gave to all believers
“need” – not greed but as the need was there
Now that does not mean that they gave everything. But inside the body of believers, here’s a young
couple who wants to start farming. The church takes its young couple and put him in business at no
interest. That’s what they did. They parted the material goods as they had need. (Not once is “bank”
mentioned in the Word of God. Banks are built by the Devil for selfishness of people.)
We don’t need the world to back up believers: we need the believers to back up believers. Boy, what
a day if people see this. That early church must have been absolutely sharp. Just imagine that thing
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happening today, even among the Way people. Suppose they really saw the light of the Word and
really turned loose and believed God.
Acts 2:46
“daily” - The only people who object to this are the adults. They don’t fellowship daily because they
don’t want to. You can’t expect a business man to drive two hours at night to go to a Twig meeting.
The leader is supposed to be the leader. When people come to that Twig meeting, he ought to have
that thing burning in his soul from the time it opens until it closes. And it doesn’t drag all night. You
don’t start at 7:00 p. m. and preach a four hour sermon. You just kill everybody. People came to the
meeting to be built up, to fellowship. They met daily. That doesn’t say nightly. It doesn’t say that
they were in ten different meetings. It says daily. But it says daily. When the church does not meet
daily, it will die. It’s as simple as that. When the adults don’t go to the meetings daily, they will die.
It’s a daily life. Do you eat physical food daily? You got to fellowship with the believers daily.
That’s in addition to your private devotions, as you call it, because you speak in tongues much. They
met daily.
“with one accord” - with unity of purpose
“in the temple” - it’s not the temple proper, it’s in the temple area.
“breaking bread” - They just met daily and brought their sandwiches along. That’s all. That doesn’t
mean that the cook at the house made a seven course dinner for everybody. It just wasn’t a 30 second
meeting either. They prayed together. They worshiped together. They heard the Word together, sat
down, ate and fellowshipped together.
“house to house” - They did it from house to house. The Church is in the home.
That’s where the Twig is, in a house. When that Twig gets too big you split the Twig and go to
another house, and now you have two Twigs. But you see, we get selfish; I want to do it in my house.
So now we have nine people and that’s all we ever get and they are my people. And our believing has
already said that they are mine, so we limit it to nine or twelve and nobody else comes. My Twig, is
that right? No, it’s God’s. It’s God’s church and you are responsible to God. You ought to believe
God to fill that house the first night and the second week have a second Twig. God will raise up
leadership. It’ll be there sooner or later. If not, you lead both Twigs, one at 8:00 and the other at
10:00. It won’t hurt you. You aren’t going to burn out that quick. Get to moving with God’s Word.
“gladness” - euphoric - means with merriment, with festivity, with dancing, exuberance. They were a
happy gang. They ate their bread not with longfacedness, negativeness, but like it was a great
festivity, with dancing. The word “dancing” is used for this word “gladness.”
“singleness” - means simplicity of
“heart” - undivided loyalty. That’s the greatness of that verse. Ephesians 6:5 ‘singleness’ -
singleness is the same as simplicity - in simplicity in your heart. In Acts it’s the same thing. They ate
their bread with joyfulness, with dancing, with fellowship, with real exuberance, festivity, with
simplicity of undivided loyalty.
Acts 2:47
“praising God” - for what they had seen and heard and what they were experiencing.