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“Lessons from Acts 2”
Joel 2:28-29- “and it shall come to pass that I will pour out My Spirit…”
In Acts chapter 2 we see the pouring out of the Spirit of the Lord and the kingdom being born with Power from on high. The chapter begins on the day of Pentecost when they were gathered together and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles as they began to speak in tongues. A quick word about speaking in tongues that gets lost in our present age. People today claim to speak in tongues resulting in what amounts to gibberish in an attempt to “demonstrate their salvation experience." What real speaking in tongues looks like is what we see here-“people were amazed that they each heard in their own language what they were teaching." So it would be like me walking around Shanghai and speaking fluent Chinese even though I've never studied the language. This was a means to demonstrate that the words were coming from God and not from men due to the fact that these men didn't know the language and therefore couldn't have known what they were saying even though those that heard them understood every single word. In the midst of this Peter preaches the first gospel sermon to those who stood nearby. He began, where the Jews who were the audience, in the old law explaining the prophesies that spoke of the Christ who was to come. His concluding statement here pricked them to the hearts “this Jesus whom you crucified…” As they heard the Word of God many convicted by the truth shouted out “what must we do” and there the plan of salvation unfolded. They had heard the truth about the Christ, they believed in Him who died unjustly and they reacted by asking for guidance. Peter told them what was left in verse 38- “repent everyone of you and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." They knew in that moment they needed to change, Jesus was the answer and the needed to die to sin in order to be born into eternal life. That day about 3,000 were added to the church. The kingdom was born and those who believed were born into the family of God via baptism. The beginning of the relationship with God is beautifully simple- God wants us and we need Him. This walk then moves to our devotion to learning more about God- who He is, how much He loves us, what all He has done and will do for us. This led them to a beautiful fellowship of believers who shared and had all things in common. What God's love for us does is it teaches us how much we need one another and the beauty of what His family can do for one another when we are all devoted to His cause.
There are few greater things than the pure love that comes from believers whose hearts are bound together by the cord of Gods love, mercy, and grace they we all desperately desire. If there is anything we can glean from the birth of the kingdom here in Acts chapter 2 it's that the gospel is simple and that God's kingdom is a wonderful place.
-Mike Estes
