Life Project Blog

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Luke abruptly shifts the scene from Pentecost to a summation of the period that followed in which he tells us what they did and how they lived during this early time. What is there for me to add to this picture?

Not much. There is one thing: For me at least, there are two references here that are easy to miss: First, notice that during this period they are said to have enjoyed “the favor of all the people” and finally, the Lord “added to their number daily”. When the love of Christ shines through the Body of believers into the larger community, amazing and wonderful things happen.

That should give us something to ponder…

With that, I’ll bid you farewell for now.

Acts 2:22-41

We left off earlier after Peter’s citation of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 (cf. Acts 2:17-21). Our text picks up in verse 22 as Peter moves forward to drive his point home. I would certainly recommend that you read the text at this point, if you haven’t already. He mentions the name Jesus of Nazareth in that verse, reminding them that He performed miracles and wonders in the midst of the people which were intended by God to confirm His identity and authority, and that his hearers knew all about these things. Then Peter goes right to the nitty-gritty:

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (2:23)

This is an amazing contrast to the Peter who not long before had denied Jesus three times and gone into hiding; it might even be called a reckless thing to say to a large crowd of Jews in Jerusalem at that point in time, yet Peter boldly proclaimed the truth. He continued in his proclamation of the truth by boldly announcing that Jesus had been raised from the dead in 2:24-28, including another quotation, this time from Psalm 16. His explanation of the day’s events is wrapped up in 2:29-33, and then Peter closes his remarks with this:

For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (2:34-36)

Let’s pause a moment and take in the power of what we’ve been reading of the address by Peter at Pentecost…

Peter began to address this very large crowd of thousands when people in the crowd began to say that he and the other Apostles were drunk (2:13-14). This was not only silly, as Peter pointed out, but it was an attempt to marginalize the magnitude of the coming of Holy Spirit, which had been God’s purpose all along. Yet the Holy Spirit, through Peter, took that slur and turned it completely around on the scoffers and used the occasion as an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in a most convincing way; who could argue with it?

Apparently, no one dared to do so. I would suggest to you that the coming of the Holy Spirit was the greatest miracle of that day, but the working of the Holy Spirit through Peter comes in a very close second. Look what happened next:

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (2:37)

Where are the scoffers now?

Peter replied, “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.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (2:38-41)

Here’s a question to ponder:

When did Peter become such a Bible scholar that he could cite and interpret Scripture so insightfully that people would see truths they had never before seen? Peter was a fisherman, not a theologian; he was a working man, not a Rabbi − where did this come from?

Another question might be, what had Peter really done?

The answer is simplicity itself: Not much. On that amazing day, the only thing Peter had done was show up, and get out of the Spirit’s way; the Spirit did the rest, and about 3,000 people were saved from destruction. I’ll end with one final point to think about: The same Holy Spirit that was in Peter is in all of us; brothers and sisters, what shall we do?

Acts 2:14-21

Peter begins by speaking to the silly notion that they are all drunk, reminding the crowd that it was still only nine in the morning. By tradition, the ninth hour was the time for morning prayer after which the first meal of the day would be eaten; silly notion indeed. Then Peter gives an explanation about what was going on that morning, by telling the people that “‘In the last days, God says,I will pour out my Spirit on all people. (2:17a). The prophet Joel, who is being quoted here (see Joel 2:28-32) spoke in a time of trial when the people were feeling the weight of their sin during a time of plague, when God had spoken of a future when Messiah would bring about the fulfillment of God’s purpose with His people, pouring out His Spirit upon all people. This was the longed-for age of the Messiah for which they had been yearning such a long time now. In addition to Joel, Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah had called this time “the last days”, as would New Testaments writers such as Peter himself, John and the author of Hebrews. Those in the crowd that day would have had no difficulty in understanding the reference, since it was a rich part of their heritage.

Joel made it quite clear that these wonders of God would be for all of the people. Notice that he said things like “all people”, “sons and daughters”, and “both men and women” that mark a great contrast with the restricted activity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Now, the Holy Spirit was to be “poured out” on all who believed; God was expecting universal acceptance. In 2:19-20 we see a number of apocalyptic elements that add to this the sense that God is doing a work of staggering proportion, and finally in verse 21 we see that what is coming about is a new age of salvation for all of those who will accept it:

And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved

From our point of view, this passage is somewhat more difficult to grasp then it would have been to those who heard it first, for most of us are not well versed in the Messianic understanding of the first century; some today even suggest that Peter might have been mistaken in citing this passage from Joel as what was happening at that time, preferring instead to place its fulfillment at some point that is still in the future. Of course, you are welcome to your view on the subject, but as for me, I must respectfully reject such thinking, and here’s why: In 2:1-12, we are told that the Apostles received the Holy Spirit. Their having been filled with the Spirit was so much in evidence that they began to speak in other languages (tongues), and while this was still going on, Peter applied the Joel text to that moment in time. Thus, we have in this very highly documented point in time, as we understand time, an Apostle who is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit making an assertion that Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled at that moment, nearly 2,000 years ago.

This event is being recorded by Luke, who although not an Apostle himself, is under the oversight of an Apostle while also being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Our whole understanding of inspired Scripture is that each author, either Old Testament prophet, New Testament Apostle, or a New Testament believer under the direction of an Apostle, is accurate and reliable precisely because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if either Peter or Luke got this wrong, then none of the 66 books of the Bible are reliable as the Word of God. As a consequence, any time I think the Scriptures might be mistaken, I recheck my work, for it is I who am mistaken.

At any rate, we can all be assured that Pentecost was the day the Church began as had been foretold long before. As we will see next time, Peter moves on from explaining to the people what they had witnessed, to telling them about the Messiah, and in doing so, he will pull no punches.

Acts 2:1-13

The Apostles waited; I don’t know how patiently they waited, but they waited nevertheless.

What they did not know that morning as they awoke, was that this day would mark a paradigm shift of massive proportion. For those who had been through the ministry of Jesus, His death and resurrection, they had experienced many very highly significant events to say the least, but this day would be the culmination of all that had happened before− on this day of days, the Kingdom would come.

Oh yes, of course Jesus has already brought the Kingdom of heaven to earth with Him; He had been its very embodiment. In fact, everything He had done in His ministry, and most particularly in His death and resurrection, had been done to make this day a reality. The paradigm shift takes place when the Holy Spirit comes into the Apostles and into all believers, for when this happens, the Kingdom itself is within us, and together as the Body of Christ, we are the embodiment of His Kingdom on earth.

This was the day of Pentecost, and in the Jewish calendar it is the second of three annual feasts, falling fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover week (Lev. 23:15-16). It has a few names in the Old Testament; the feast of weeks (Deut. 16:10), the feast of harvest (Ex. 23:16) and the day of firstfruits (Num. 28:26). I bring this up because we need to see God’s timing in all of this: Jesus had instructed the Apostles to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, and so they have waited. Then, the Holy Spirit comes upon them on the very day when the city was filled to overflowing with good God-fearing Jews from all over the known world who had come for the feast of weeks (Pentecost).

You see, the Holy Spirit came when there would be literally thousands of witnesses; this was not something that would happen in secret.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (2:2-4)

The Holy Spirit comes upon them without warning, but He does so in a dramatic way, with the sound of a “violent wind” and an appearance like “tongues of fire” that separate and “came to rest on each of them”. We might want to keep in mind here that “like tongues of fire” isn’t literally fire because of the word “like”; Luke is telling us that in this instance, the Holy Spirit took a form that they could see. He looked something like tongues of fire, but He was most assuredly the Holy Spirit. What we really have here in the coming of the Spirit, is the Apostles receiving the Spirit with such am impact that the people in the neighborhood couldn’t miss it. The Apostles began to speak in “other tongues”, and it is worthwhile for us to note the meaning of this statement: The Greek word rendered “tongues” is glossa which means “languages”, thus in this instance the Apostles were not speaking in private prayer languages, they were speaking human languages that they didn’t know.

In 2:5-8, Luke documents for us that hearing all of the commotion, a crowd gathers, a crowd that is amazed to find a bunch of Galileans speaking languages that the people in crowd, who are in town for the Feast speak. In other words, they are wondering how it could be that mere lowly Galileans can speak their languages. Luke also documents the places the people in the crowd have come from in 2:9-11, and more to the point, he documents what the Apostles were talking about in languages they had never studied:

we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (2:11b)

Needlessly to say, they were amazed and wondered what this all meant (2:12). Yet, as one might guess, not all were amazed…

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” (2:13)

Have you ever noticed that there are always the naysayers? As old Solomon wrote long before Pentecost, “there is nothing new under the sun”.

Peter will shortly step up once again and address the wine comment, and as he does so, he’s going to address quite a lot more. In the next section, we’ll see what happens next on that most exciting of days; see you then!