Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Diaspora Jews Believed by Faith
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These diaspora Jews believed what the Apostles spoke of following the miracle of tongues. Tongues signified the message was true, and they heard this message in their own dialects accurately. And hearing they believed.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome And Today’s Focus
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Who Was Living In Jerusalem
Verse 5. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. That word living is the word Katoikeo, I mentioned before. It means they were temporary residents because they'd come all the way from Passover 53 days before, right? And so they just remained there. They were temporarily residing there. But they their permanent residents, he says, were every nation under heaven. And we have a list of those places down in verse 9 and following.
The Wind And The Language Miracle
Verse 6, and when this sound occurred, there's the audible miracle of the rushing mighty wind, like a thousand freight trains, like a tornado. The crowd from Jerusalem, of course, came together. And they're bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language or dialect. That's what's so surprising. It's a foreign language, but in a dialect. He says they were amazed and astonished. There's the word for miracle, amazed. It was a miracle. And they asked, What? Why are not all these who are speaking Galileans? You know, the country bumpkins, right? How could these people reproduce those sound intonations to which they were not born? Because we all know if you take a second language, you usually are not as adept at it as those who are native. And they can tell. He says, and how is it that each of us hear them in our own language to which we were born? So they were native speakers of these languages. And then you see a long list of
Reading The Map Behind The List
places. Parthians means Elamites. What's so interesting about this list? If you actually go to a map, this is why Bible study is so important. Right? It's not to just read a list and then move on. Oh, that was interesting. Next. I don't know where those places are. Who cares? Let's go on. You have people that are Bible teachers, right? Who've been gifted by God to be pastors and teachers, who are like, well, I'm going to look up every one of these places on a map. And when you do, what you find out is that number one, these places are on three different continents Europe, Asia, and Africa. And number two, it circles the Mediterranean Sea. And what did Jesus say in Acts 1.8? You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria enter the remotest parts of the earth. And right here we have a concentric ring pointing to the remotest parts of the earth that the people that were there on that day of Pentecost just happened to be from. Now, they're about to hear in verse 14 and following, Peter give an explanation for the tongue, right? He's going to give this great long message that culminates in their need to basically become believers.
Pentecost Pilgrims Plant New Churches
But these people are going to go home, right? They're going to go back. Those from Parthia are going to go back to Parthia. Those who are Medes are going to go back to Media. You've got all these places, the Cretans, you've got people from Rome. I mean, what's the Holy Spirit doing here? Isn't he prompting or leading the way in the witness going out to the remotest parts of the earth? And that's why we find later in Paul's epistles, some of his epistles, like the epistle to the Romans, no apostle had ever been to Rome, but there was already a church there. You say, how can there be no apostle who went there to found a church? Well, because back in Acts chapter 2, there were people there on the day of Pentecost from Rome. And so when they left, they went back and established a church themselves. Same thing for the Crete, Cretans there, verse 11, I believe. No apostle ever went to Crete. But Paul writes the book of Titus to Titus saying, I left you at Crete to put in order the churches. Well, where did all the churches come from on the island of Crete? Well, there were people on the day of Pentecost who believed, and they were from Crete. So when they went home, they established churches. So let's look at some of these places that God strategically arranged for them to be there on that day in order to bring the message to them of Jesus' death and resurrection. And how is it we hear each of them in our own language and we mention all these places, and then you move on to verse 11.
Salvation By Grace Through Faith
Cretans, Arabs, you know that salvation is there's only one name under heaven in which there is salvation, right? Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Two verses before it gives us that name. It says Jesus Christ the Nazarene. What did one of the disciples say? Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And his brother said, Come and say Salvation is always, forever, by grace, which is unmerited favor, through faith alone. In Christ alone. He's the basis of salvation. Anyone who was saved before the cross, of course, is saved looking forward to the Messiah, that he would come and he would pay the penalty for their sins and rise again. Anyone who's saved after, we're looking back at the one who has done this. We're all saved exactly the same way. By grace alone, through faith alone, ultimately in Christ alone, who is the one who paid the penalty for our sins and rose again.
Abraham David And Justification
How was Abraham justified? He lived before the law, right? The law hadn't even been given. He lived hundreds of years before Moses came. He lived hundreds of years before the Exodus and all that. So did Abraham keep the law in order to be justified before God? Impossible. There was no law for him to keep. It says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So if you live before the law, of course, justification is by grace alone through faith alone. But what about after the law was given? Did that change then? No, it says of David that it was not on the basis of works, but through faith. Through faith. So whether you live before the law or after the law, it doesn't matter. Justification is by grace through faith. It's not by works of the law. So they will say then, well, why then was the law given? To show them their sin. So that they would turn to faith in the Messiah for righteousness. So the Bible talks about works righteousness and faith righteousness. But the only type of righteousness that pleases God is which kind? Faith righteousness.
Repentance As A Change Of Mind
That's why when John the Baptist comes, right, and he keeps telling the nation, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is in hand. Then Jesus comes along, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then he's got the 12, and he says, Go and teach. Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, do not go to any of the Gentiles, go only to the lost sheep of Israel, right? And say, what? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What do they need to repent of? They need to have a change of mind about what kind of righteousness they needed before God. That it's not works righteousness like the Pharisees taught, but it's faith righteousness, like John Jesus, and the 12 taught. And it's always faith righteousness. Whether it's the Old Testament, whether it's the New Testament, whether God's dealing with Israel or He's dealing with the Church, was a Jew and Gentile in one body being formed here on the day of Pentecost. Starting with, of course, Jews from the diaspora as well as Jews here natively in the land.
Where To Find Visuals And Closing
Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.