Acts 2:1-24 They Were All Filled with the Holy Ghost

[Study Aired December 4, 2022]

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
Act 2:7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Act 2:9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Act 2:12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
Act 2:13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
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:
Act 2:15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
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:
Act 2:18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
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:
Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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:
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:
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.

In our last study Peter was inspired to remind the other ten apostles that King David had prophesied that Judas was to be replaced. In doing so, he demonstrated that any action against any Old Testament man of God is a prophecy of how Christ and His Christ will be treated by their enemies.

These are the verses in Psalms which the holy spirit inspired Peter to show us were referring to Judas’ betrayal of Christ:

Psa 69:25  Let their home be made desolate; let no one dwell in their tents.

Without explanation he jumped to Psalms 109 and added this verse to make his point that Judas must be replaced:

Psa 109:8  let his days be few; and let another take his office;

Peter tells us these verses refer to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus:

Act 1:20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Based on these words, the apostles appointed two men and cast lots to see who the Lord had chosen to take Judas’ ‘bishoprick’.

Act 1:21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Act 1:22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Act 1:23  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
Act 1:24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
Act 1:25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
Act 1:26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Peter had observed how Christ Himself had applied this principle to Himself when quoting the Old Testament:

Joh 13:18  I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

This is the Psalm Christ referred to:

Psa 41:9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Verse 5 shows once again that King David is referring to “[his] enemies”:

Psa 41:5  Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

However, Christ identified with King David and with every righteous patriarch, king and prophet and every godly man or woman of the Old Testament who was persecuted for being obedient to Him and His Word. Therefore, every enemy of theirs was His enemy and was the enemy of His nation Israel and of His body, the church. Peter learned that principle from Christ Himself, and he and all the apostles use this principle when they quote the Old Testament.

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

This Pentecost is the day of the birth of the church of Christ. The church was born on this day because the feast of Pentecost is “the feast of… the firstfruits”:

Exo 23:14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Contrary to the false doctrine which teaches that this is the only day of salvation, the scriptures teach that there are three distinct harvests of the fruits of this earth which will bring “all in Adam” back to their Lord (1Co 15:22). The order of these harvests is of utmost importance to understanding the plan of God for His creatures.

The first harvest is the death and resurrection of Christ Himself. Christ is the first of the firstfruits as our spotless Passover Lamb who was offered at the beginning of the days of unleavened bread:

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

The second harvest was 50 days later. Hence the name Pentecost, which means ‘count fifty’. Fifty is a multiple of five and therefore signifies the “grace through faith” that was given to mankind on the day of Pentecost.

Here is the link to the study on the spiritual significance of the number five:
Significance of the Number Five

The feast of Pentecost is also called “the feast of… the firstfruits” signifying that we, too, with Christ, “are a kind of firstfruits”, being the beneficiaries of “the first resurrection”:

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

The Lord’s work in the lives of His “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” began on the day of Pentecost, the “feast of… firstfruits”:

The “rushing mighty wind” was the gift of holy spirit which was given to those 120 people. The gift of the holy spirit was accompanied by “cloven tongues of fire”, signifying the fiery witness which was taking place at that moment. The Lord’s Words are called ‘fire’ in scripture:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The gift of the holy spirit is the ‘baptism of fire’ promised by both John the Baptist and by Christ:

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50  But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

These same ‘fiery words’ of the Lord in Jeremiah’s mouth are the same fiery words of the Lord into which we are all baptized, and which are called a fiery ‘two-edged sword’ in:

Rev 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

“They were filled with the holy spirit, and began to speak with other languages.” They did not begin to speak in unintelligible gibberish which characterizes the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches of today. We are even told which languages were being spoken by those who were given the holy spirit that day:

Act 2:5  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

The multitude gathered in Jerusalem that day were devout Jews, “out of every nation under heaven”, and they heard the wonderful works of God being spoken of by ‘every man in his own language’:

Act 2:7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Act 2:9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Act 2:12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
Act 2:13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

There will always be skeptics. It is right and proper to “try the spirits”, but we should do so with a ‘Berean’ attitude to “see if these things be true”, not with a closed mind that is telling us this is all a hoax, “These men are full of new wine.”

Act 17:10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

“They searched the scriptures daily” with an open mind to see “whether those things were so”.

When the holy spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, Peter, who just a few weeks earlier had denied with an oath that he knew the Lord, was now publicly telling the “men of Judea” what he had found when he had “searched the scriptures [to see] whether these things were so”:

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:
Act 2:15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

Notice that Peter’s words are not addressed to those who had come to Jerusalem to observe this feast from all the countries mentioned in:

Act 2:9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

None of these people thought those who had been given the holy spirit were drunk because they all said: “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”

For many years I thought these were Gentile “devout men, out of every nation under heaven”, but notice what the scripture says:

Act 2:5  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

This is the very birth of the church. Peter has not yet gone to the house of Cornelius, and the apostles themselves are yet… carnal babes in Christ, still offering blood sacrifices for their sins, and still convinced that God is working only with the physical seed of Abraham. Remember what we read in our last study. These events took place over two decades following the death and resurrection of our Lord:

Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

If Paul had broken his word concerning the letter sent to the Gentiles in Acts 15, and if indeed he had been teaching the Jews among the Gentiles that they need not keep the law of Moses, this was the perfect opportunity to make that clear. However, Paul had never once told the Jews among the Gentiles that they need not keep the law of Moses, and he was more than willing to “Do… this we say unto you”:

Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself [according to the law of Moses] with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering [a lamb. A blood offering, as if the blood of Christ was not sufficient] should be offered for every one of them.

All who offer offerings at the temple in Jerusalem must be Jews. Gentiles were not the least bit welcome in that temple, and the thousands of Jews at the day of Pentecost at the birth of the church were just as “zealous of the law” of Moses, as they were these decades later when Paul made his final visit to Jerusalem.

Here on the day of Pentecost, Peter is speaking specifically to the “men of Judea”, who did not understand the “wonderful works of God” being spoken of by the apostles and the others who comprised the 120 who received the holy spirit that day.

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:
Act 2:15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

These were the same Jews which believed on Him one day and were calling for His crucifixion the next day, as Peter revealed when He said:

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:
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:

It is true that Christ died to bear the sins of the whole world, but that was not yet understood by these immature apostles and believers who were all Jews on the day of Pentecost. Gentiles were not yet welcome in Jerusalem, much less into the temple.

Deu 23:3  An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

This is what the holy spirit inspired the apostle Peter to say to the “men of Israel [among whom Christ had been] approved… by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you” (vs 22):

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:
Act 2:18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

There is no dichotomy or contradiction between what Peter quotes Joel saying and what Paul says about women being quiet in the congregation. The word ‘silence’ is not a proper translation of the Greek word, sigao, which is more often translated ‘hold their peace’:

1Co 14:34  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

All speaking by women is not prohibited in the church as the commandment to Mary to tell the apostles that He had risen was done “in the church” shows us. Nevertheless, it was not done in a capacity of overseeing and teaching the church, which the holy spirit through the apostle Paul in his latest epistles prohibits:

1Ti 2:11  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
1Ti 2:12  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Neither Deborah, the judge, nor Huldah, the prophetess, nor Anna in the temple, ever sought to usurp authority over men. Deborah even upbraided and shamed Barak for insisting that she go with him to the battle:

Jdg 4:8  And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
Jdg 4:9  And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

The whole story of Deborah and Barak is a testimony of how far from God Israel was at that time:

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

It is those nations who claim the Lord’s name to this day who produce the most women rulers.

There is a proper time and place for women to speak, and the story of Mary telling the apostles of the resurrection was such a place, and the women on whom the holy spirit fell on the day of Pentecost is another such example where “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” and do so properly, not seeking to “usurp authority over the man”.

Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
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:
Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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:

“Ye men of Israel” [who had seen the] miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by [Christ] in the midst of you” are those to whom Peter is speaking. It was they who could not understand the languages being spoken by the 120 disciples. If Peter has any hopes of being heard by these men, then they surely must truly have seen all these “miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in [their] midst”. Peter is not speaking to people with the mind of the spirit who could see any of this from a spiritual perspective. These were all unconverted people who had not the least bit of spiritual understanding. They had indeed seen all these “miracles, wonders and signs”, but what about “wonders in the heavens above, and signs in the earth beneath”? Had “the sun [appeared to have] been turned into darkness and the moon [appeared to be turned] into blood before the [judgment of] that great and notable day of the Lord” which was beginning on this very day?

Here is what all these men of Jerusalem had seen just seven weeks earlier at the crucifixion of Christ:

Mat 27:45  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

This time of darkness from noon until three P.M. was witnessed by all those in Jerusalem and far beyond Jerusalem. This was an incredible supernatural event because any natural eclipse of the sun lasts no more than a few minutes. It was recorded by many heathen historians as John Gill relates in his commentary on Matthew 27:45:

“…but it is evident, that it is taken notice of, and recorded by Heathen historians and chronologers, as by Phlegon, and others, referred to by Eusebius (d). The Roman archives are appealed unto for the truth of it by Tertullian (e); and it is asserted by Suidas, that Dionysius the Areopagite, then an Heathen, saw it in Egypt; and said, “either the divine being suffers, or suffers with him that suffers, or the frame of the world is dissolving.” (End Quote)

Mat 27:47  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
Mat 27:48  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
Mat 27:49  The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Mat 27:50  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Mat 27:54  Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

The Lord’s own stubborn people were less affected by these things than that Roman “centurion, and they that were with him”.

These events have great spiritual significance concerning the spiritual ‘earthquake’ which the Lord uses to drag us to Himself, but again these words are being addressed to very carnal Jews who were familiar with all these physical events but had not been given to repent of all they had done to facilitate the crucifixion of their own Savior. Like doubting Thomases, this audience had to see to believe, and they had seen all these “miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by [Christ] in the midst of you.”

These unbelieving Jews and Thomas are types of our own self-righteous, rebellious old man.

Joh 20:24  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
Joh 20:25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Joh 20:26  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Many have believed “that have not seen”, and they are being given a blessing for believing without having to physically see all these things we now are blessed to read about. I used to wish that I had been there with the original twelve apostles to see all the miracles of Christ in real time. Christ tells us “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”.

The disciples had witnessed many more signs and wonders than the Jews who cried out for Christ’s crucifixion:

Joh 20:30  And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
Joh 20:31  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

“The things that are made”, including these signs and wonders to which Peter refers, must precede the spiritual:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

This principle applied to the events surrounding our Lord’s death and resurrection. Christ had to come first in a natural body before we could get to know Him spiritually. That principle also applied to all these “miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by [Christ] in the midst of [these Jews who dwelt in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost].” If the Lord grants us to continue in His faith in these things we have never physically seen, we will be blessed of all men:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

This is the blessing to which we are hoping to attain:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Whether we are given to “have part in the first resurrection” or not it will have nothing to do with anything we did of our own will any more than those who crucified the Lord chose of their own will to do so. Peter reveals who it was who had been determined in advance to be given the bitter task of crucifying our Lord:

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:
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.

The same could be said of the wicked hands of the self-righteous treachery Joseph’s ten brothers conspired against Him. They thought for certain they had rid themselves forever of their pesky ‘Daddy’s boy’ brother. Nonetheless, the words of Joseph to His brothers apply to all things the Lord is doing:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Christ and His Christ are the real ‘daddy’s boys’, who have been given to know the Father and His Son as Joseph knew his father:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

If it is God who has predestined that we are all guilty of our Lord’s crucifixion, then it is incumbent upon the Lord to deliver “every man” from the death into which He has placed “every man”. That is also the very thing we are told the Lord, through His judgments, is doing for every man in Adam:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Lest any man miss the point being made here, Paul puts it this way:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire [The lake of fire/second death/ white throne judgment].
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The “all” of the first part of verse 22 is the same “all” of the last part of that verse. Christ’s sacrifice covers “the sins of the whole world”:

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

That is truly good news, and this is the message the Lord has given us to take to this dark and hopeless world. The resurrection of Christ and the giving of the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost are the first two harvests which will lead to the third and final harvest of “all in Adam” at the great white throne judgment where the elect will dwell comfortably in the everlasting flames, judging men and angels:

Deu 8:16  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Isa 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Joh 6:58  This [Christ and His Word] is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

There is a resurrection of the dead, and we, of all men, are most blessed (1Co 15:19).