SCRIPTURE: Acts 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call. [Acts 2:38-39] The good news is that the message is for everyone, for sons and daughters, young and old men, women and men, for adults and for children. This is a gift of grace, undeserved favour!
That the message is declared in a variety of languages, to those gathered from every nation under heaven, reinforces the extent of God’s overflowing grace. God is not stingy with His love. Even though not everyone accepts it, He spreads the message generously, like the Sower casting the seed, knowing that it will fall on different kinds of soil [Matthew 13].
Jesus told His disciples that their assignment was to tell everyone about Him. This is what Peter and the others do. Jesus told them that they would be empowered by the Spirit to do this. And here they are enabled to speak the wonders of God and the testimony about Jesus in languages they have never learned.
This is my job as well. And the job of the church. Often the Acts 2 church is set up as an example of how church should be, and many churches have used this as a checklist. But the fact is that this happened because of the Holy Spirit, not because the disciples organized a great church. They didn’t need an evangelism committee because the Lord added to their numbers. They received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they allowed the Spirit to work in and through them, and they opened their mouths.
Why do I hesitate to talk about Jesus? Why do I hold back from boasting in the Lord? Are there no ‘wonders of God’ that I can speak about? The Spirit is bubbling inside of me, waiting to be released. But if I keep my mouth shut…
The gift is for you, for me, for everyone. If I am not experiencing it, then I need to open my heart, repent anew, and seek the Spirit of power. I need to admit my need for God, for Jesus, for the Spirit. And I need to make myself available to Him, so that He can use my mouth, my mind, my hands, my life, to get the message out. He is ready to work through me! Am I willing?
PRAYER:
Lord, You are ready to use me to bring others to life through repentance and faith. I repent of my resistance. Here I am, fill me and use me!
I am fascinated with verse 37, after Peter spoke,
“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
I always just assumed these were the new believers of the early church. Ah… oh how nice!
But hang on a moment, who were these people? In verse 14, it says that Peter addressed them as “Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem… Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene … delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, YOU nailed to a cross … and put Him to death”
Wow, Peter isn’t exactly winning any rewards in winning friends with a speech like that. This was not a crowd pleasing, smooth talking speech. Oh, no, not from Peter! Peter must have had his “stone-proof vest” on that day expecting a few stones to go flying at him.
But no … this crowd was “pierced to the heart”
What made the difference this time around? Peter wasn’t speaking.
The “logos” was speaking through Peter.
When Jesus dwelt among them, He was the “logos”, the “word made flesh” in their midst. Then Jesus promised to send a helper after He ascended to heaven. That helper was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit within Peter became the “logos” just as powerfully as when Jesus dwelt among him in the flesh.
The power of the Spirit at work is marvelous, amazing as we see in this passage. It cuts to the heart. We, the people, have a choice. Peter showed the choice – serve the idols of the world or Christ Jesus. And the people committed themselves to the teaching and acted upon the teaching and they became living witnesses by what they were doing and saying for their numbers grew daily. Thank You Lord for the gift of Your Spirit.
And today, we still have that Spirit. Yet His people, I, am not the living witnesses the people were then. All to often I am too critical of the words spoken – out of tune with God. Help me Lord to be a living witness this day and use me as an instrument of Your peace. Help me bring the harmony that is only found in your Kingdom and not the discord of Babel. Your Kingdom come and may we also grow in numbers, praising God, celebrating the joy of the Lord Who is our strength.
The joy of the Lord is my strength,
the joy of the Lord is my strength,
The joy of the Lord is my strength,
the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He heals the broken hearted and they cry no more,
He heals the broken hearted and they cry no more.
He heals the broken hearted and they cry no more,
the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He gives me living water and I thirst no more,
He gives me living water and I thirst no more.
He gives me living water and I thirst no more,
the joy of the Lord is my strength.