Acts 2 - What The Church Should and Can Look Like!

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The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

The Old Testament had predicted a time when the Holy Spirit would come on all people in places like Joel 2, Ezekiel 36, Zechariah 4, and Jeremiah 31. Jesus also said it would be good for him to go back to the Father, so He could send the disciples the promised Holy Spirit. And on Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection, the Holy Spirit came like tongues of fire upon the disciples. 

They were gathered in one place, the Upper Room, when the whole place began to shake with a violent wind from heaven, and tongues of fire separated and rested on the disciples. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in "tongues", as the Spirit enabled them. This was the beginning of speaking in tongues, but it would have a special purpose as the church was born. 

Because of the Feast of Pentecost, there were God-fearing Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem. Importantly they heard the gospel about Jesus preached in their own language. If you read of all of the people groups gathered, it reads like a roll call at a United Nations meeting. The apostles were amazed and perplexed.  After all, it is not very often that you start speaking in other languages. Some scoffed at them saying that had to much wine. But I have not seen many drunk people be able to speak intelligently in other languages. 

Then Peter, fresh off of being reinstated by Jesus, got up and preached one heck of a sermon. He quotes from Joel 2:28, where the prophet Joel predicted that the Holy Spirit would come upon ALL people, young and old, men and women. Importantly he says, "Both men and women will prophesy". This is a very important verse when the subject of women in ministry comes up. To prophesy is to speak the Word of God. So if women were prophesying, they were speaking the Word of God. 

Peter then recounted how Jesus had been handed over to wicked men who nailed him to a cross, even though the signs and wonders he had done made it obvious He was from God. But God raised Him from the dead proving that He was the only Son of God. Death could not keep its grip on him. Then, he quotes from Psalm 16, which was a psalm of David. This is a great psalm to memorize. It has been my personal psalm. 

It was to David whom God had made his covenant that one of his descendant would be the Messiah and not see the decay of death. In another verse it plainly points to the theological concept of Trinity. 

"God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." 

God the Father raised God the Son from the dead, and Jesus is not seated at the right hand of the Father. This is where we get the language in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus, "Sits at the right hand of the Father". Jesus received from the Father, the Holy Spirit, who had just been poured out on the apostles resulting in them speaking the gospel in foreign languages. Jewish fishermen do not speak in foreign languages, even further evidence that this is not a made up story. 

Peter's first sermon elicited quite a significant response. It says, 

"They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

The same Holy Spirit that enabled the apostles to speak in tongues, convicted the people in their hearts to respond to the gospel to the point where they said, "What shall we do?" I would love to hear that response to one of my sermons. 

And Peter then made it clear what they should do, 

"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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

This is a very important message in which almost every phrase has meaning. To "repent" means to turn away from one's sin and turn to God. Baptism is a sign of the cleansing and renewal we experience when we turn back to God. The water of Baptism is a symbol of that cleansing. We are baptized "in the name of Jesus". This means we belong to Jesus and our identity is in him. As a result of being in Christ, our sins are forgiven through what He did on the cross for us. Then, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, which has many facets to it. 

Finally, Peter says the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call. Note that the promise was for the people gathered there and for their children. When God called people to himself it was not only individually but as a family. 

In our individualistic, Western mindset, we tend to not look at how much God sees us within a family. The word "promise" is very important too. The promise is of forgiveness of sin through Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit. We once again see the Trinity in relationship to each one of us. God the Father calls us, we are baptized in the name of Jesus for our forgiveness, and we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We serve one God as each person of the Trinity brings us to salvation. It is the same God who keeps us in true faith until He calls us home. 

3,000 people heard the message and were baptized and the church of Jesus Christ was born. 

The Fellowship of the Believers

Now that all these people were saved, how would they live out their new calling in community together. We see this new community consisted of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. These have all been hallmarks of the church's life together for the past 2,000 years. Teaching is similar to discipleship in that it is learning how to live our lives as Jesus did based on what he did and taught in the gospels. Fellowship is a word that means something different than just friendship.  It is a deep connection between believers based on the sharing of the Holy Spirit together. This is why the church is more than just a social club. It is a family of brothers and sisters in Christ. The breaking of bread most likely refers to sharing communion together, as we remember Jesus' death by the breaking of bread and pouring out the wine of the new covenant. Usually in the early church this Lord's Supper was held in conjunction with a meal the community shared together. This is kind of like our modern day "church potluck!" Finally, the prayed together and much of their power can out of this prayer time. Someone has said, "Prayer is the boiler room of the church!"

Not only did the church enjoy this inward fellowship and community, but they also looked outside of themselves by selling their own property and giving it away to those in need. They didn't just gather on the Sabbath day, but ate in each other's homes on a daily basis. They held things in common and met at the temple for teaching and worship. Not only did they enjoy a wonderful fellowship, but they also gained favor with all of those outside of the church too.  In fact the community was so warm and invitational, God added to their number daily those who were being saved. 

Note it was not a "church program", or an "evangelistic rally" per se, but a way of life. There is nothing wrong with those things but often when we separate evangelism from the local church it leaves people saved yet often isolated. It can create a "me and Jesus" attitude that can keep the church from being as effective as the church we see here in Acts. As the church lived out their calling as disciples of Christ together in this rich community, people were invited into it to experience Jesus' love and calling themselves. 

As the church today, we can learn a lot from how God designed the His body of believers to function. Not only were the believers built up and deeply connected but they were a force of God's kingdom in the world!