Acts
2:37-41 … Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And
Peter said to them, “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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all
who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with
many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save
yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were
baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit will always “cut to the
heart” and they asked what they should do since they were responsible for the
death of Jesus. Peter responds with 1) repent or turn from your former path of
sin to a new path of obedience, 2) be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
forgiveness since all other forms of purification are null and void, and 3) you’ll
receive the Holy Spirit and that will change the way you live. Three thousand
believed in one day without a radio, television, or even amplification.
We are some of those who are far off. We are nearly 2000
years and many thousands of miles from Jerusalem but the promise is for us.
I was looking at some pictures from an archeological dig
near the retaining wall that is called the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem. They
uncovered a ritual baptism pool near the steps leading up to the Temple Mount.
It was buried under stones thrown down from the Temple Mount during the
destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Water would flow through the pool. It was
about 3 feet deep and they had a staircase divided into an up staircase and a
down staircase so that they could have a steady flow of traffic. This was a
regular process so you could go through the ritual bath and go up and offer a
sacrifice for sin in the Temple. What a blessing it is to know that we were in
Christ baptized and passed through that wrath of God for sin in the only way we
could. We don’t get baptized over and over again. It is a finished work. We get
baptized once in the name of Jesus. He is our righteousness. We are justified
in Him and all the generations and all those far off are all justified in Him. When
the real thing is present then the shadow and images need to go. The old Temple
had to go because the real Temple was Christ and He had finished His work.
Acts
2:42-47 … And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every
soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all
who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling
their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any
had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in
their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising
God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number
day by day those who were being saved.
Empowerment, purification, revelation, and unity were
produced by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Invisible Church was born. In
other places, Ezekiel and Peter call the Church a Holy Nation (Ezekiel 19:6;
Peter 2:9). As Isaiah 66:8 says we were,
“brought forth in one moment.”
They were devoted to Scripture with the Apostles teaching
those who were saved and they fellowshipped together. Signs and wonders
continued to confirm the authority of the Apostles.
The description reminds me of a group of people getting
ready for a very long trip. They were going to be sent out. Persecution became
a terrible thing for the Church and gave the name for witness a new meaning;
witness came to mean martyr. We’re getting ready for a trip too and we should
live like it. Some of us live like we’ll be able to ship our stuff to heaven.
You don’t see hearses pulling U-Haul trailers. One of my uncles was a very rich
man. He managed every aspect of his funeral by setting things up ahead of time.
He arranged the Episcopal Church as a spot for his funeral and paid for
everything. He even anticipated that some people would show up at the funeral
home to desecrate his corpse and gave instructions that prevented that. But he
left it all here. He lived for this earth. We live and die like grass of the
field and to put nothing into eternity is truly foolish. The Bible tells us
that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), is wisdom
(Job 28:28), is clean (Psalm 19:9) endures forever (Psalm 19:9), the beginning
of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), hatred of evil (Proverbs 8:14), prolongs life
(Proverbs 10:27; Proverbs 19:23), produces strong confidence (Proverbs 14;26),
makes a refuge for your children (Proverbs 14:26), turns you from evil
(Proverbs 16:6), is riches and honor (Proverbs 22:4), and our delight (Isaiah
11:3) so that we will walk in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy
Spirit we seek to share the Gospel (Acts 9:31; 2 Corinthians 5:11).
The “awe” is the Greek word φόβος from which we get the word phobia. It
can also be translated fear and is translated as fear. The effect of what God
was doing filtered into every nook and cranny of their lives. I generated fear,
awe, and an exciting desire to please God. This is as you would expect from a
godly fear of the Lord. It doesn’t paralyze but it does purify. In fact it is a
delight and motivation to share the Gospel. It is not a bad thing but rather a
smart thing.
These verses summarize the core activities of Christian
discipleship. The disciples didn’t develop these things by themselves. These
things were taught to them by Jesus and they taught them to those that the Lord
was adding to the Body of Christ.
1) Teaching
about who Jesus is (Matt. 16:18, 19; Luke 24:46),
2) Teaching
about how they should live (Matt. 5–7),
3) Fellowship
(John 13),
4) The
Lord’s Supper—the breaking of bread (Matt. 26:17–30), and
5) Prayer
(Matt. 6:5–13; Luke 11:1–13; John 17).
Sharing the Gospel was a natural part of living for the
whole Church. The Church was being used by God to reach out and He was adding
to the Body of Christ daily.
John Stott identifies four marks of the Spirit-filled
church and it all centers on relationships.
1) First,
they were related to the apostles (in submission). They were eager to receive
the apostles’ instruction. A Spirit-filled church is an apostolic church, a New
Testament church, anxious to believe and obey what Jesus and his apostles
taught.
2) Second,
they were related to each other (in love). They persevered in the fellowship,
supporting each other and relieving the needs of the poor. A Spirit-filled
church is a loving, caring, sharing church.
3) Third,
they were related to God (in worship). They worshiped him in the temple and in
the home, in the Lord’s Supper and in the prayers, with joy and with reverence.
A Spirit-filled church is a worshiping church.
4) Fourthly,
they were related to the world (in outreach). They were engaged in continuous
evangelism. No self-centered, self-contained church (absorbed in its own
parochial affairs) can claim to be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a
missionary Spirit. So a Spirit-filled church is a missionary church.
God continued to use miracles to affirm the ministry of
the Apostles and the Cross as the only way of salvation.
Acts
3:1-11 … Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer,
the ninth hour (3pm). And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they
laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask
alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the
temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did
John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to
receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but
what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up
and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately
his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to
walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the
one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were
filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While he clung to
Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the
portico called Solomon’s.
They were on the east side of the Temple in a section
built by Herod the Great. There was no doubt about the authenticity of this
healing. The man had been lame from birth and everyone knew him and had seen
him all his life. He couldn’t even get to his spot to ask for alms without
assistance. Peter and John told the lame man to look at them. That would mean
that he was going to get something. Those who wouldn’t give him anything wouldn’t
look at him either. Instead, those who were going to pass him by would look the
other way. Even those giving money wouldn’t necessarily make eye contact. So to
be told to look at them – to make eye contact – was surely different. The lame
man would have been sure he was going to get something. So then Peter says, “I
have no silver or gold” and that would have cause the lame man to look away.
However, then Peter gives him more than he ever hoped for by healing him. There
is an old story from the Renaissance period that may or may not be true. It goes
like this: Thomas Aquinas was in Rome walking along the street with a cardinal.
The cardinal noticed a beggar, pulled out a silver coin, and gave it to the
beggar. Then he turned to Aquinas, the great doctor of the church, and said,
“Well, Thomas, fortunately we can no longer say, as Peter did, ‘Silver and gold
have I none.’” Thomas replied, “Yes, that is true. But neither can we say, ‘In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’” The power of the Holy Spirit for
healing is one thing we need but more than that is the power of the Holy Spirit
for salvations.
Peter and John were in a spot where Jesus had taught about
His divinity and the purpose of His signs and wonders. It must have been
staggering for Peter and John to walk into this place where Jesus taught and to
be prepared to confront the same opposition.
John
10:23-30 … and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So
the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in
suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told
you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear
witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my
hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is
able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
This man heard the Shepherd’s voice. It was Peter talking
under the anointing of the Holy Spirit but the voice he heard was Christ’s call
to healing. His lame condition was a condition that had existed from his birth.
His dead legs were thought to be the product of sin. Our dead heart is also a spiritual
condition that exists from birth. We are born with original sin and it corrupts
us and we live the way we want to live … in sin. The lame man was unable to
enter into the Temple worship even though he was as near as the gate and he was
satisfied with that because it was all he had ever known. However, to the lame
man, and to us, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one
will snatch them out of my hand.” In fact, Jesus goes on, just in case you’re
thinking that Jesus in His humanity is making the claim of eternal security.
Jesus says, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no
one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Can you rest in that? I can rest in that. God gave me as
a love gift to Christ. I heard His voice. He knows me. I follow Him. He gives
me eternal life. I’ll never perish. No one can take me from Him. The wind of the Holy Spirit blew
one day and my dead heart came alive and I was born of His Spirit. The lame
man’s reaction reflects our joy of salvation. Walking, leaping, and praising
God for making the dead become alive while he clung to Peter and John.
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