January 4, 2012

Acts 2:22-47 (Click to see scripture)

Bible in One Year Passages:
Matthew 2:13-23, Psalm 4, Genesis 7-8

Journal Entry

Scripture

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 

32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 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?” 38 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. 39 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.”

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  43 And awe [1]came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Observation

It is interesting how the once cowardly Peter who denied knowing Jesus as not to be associated with Jesus on trial, not just once but three times (Matthew 26:69-74), now stands up boldly to address the crowd of devout Jews and accuse them of crucifying the Lord Jesus. Peter is able to be bold for Christ only after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles as Jesus promised (Acts 2:1-4).

Peter spells out for the Jews the basic facts about Jesus.
1. Jesus lived as a man who did miracles, wonders and signs which they were witnesses.
2. It was God's plan and purpose for Jesus to be handed over to the Jews but they were guilty to hand him over to the lawless men (Gentiles, specifically Romans) to crucify and kill Jesus.
3. But God raised Jesus up from the dead and exalted Him to the highest place at the right hand of God, a place of power and authority and from here received and sent the Holy Spirit to the believers as promised.
4. These were all a fulfillment of God's prophesies in the Old Testament, which Peter's audience were well aware of.

Then Peter applies the facts to his audience. They are convicted of their sin of indifference and rejection of Jesus. They needed to repent (confess sin of rejecting Jesus as Lord) and be baptized (the public declaration of their inward change and faith in Jesus' power to forgive and cleanse sin). Then they were to receive God's gift of the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers.

About 3000 Jews became believers that day—the beginnings of the Christian church. These new believers devoted themselves to God's Word through the apostle's teaching since they didn't have the whole Bible as we do today. They fellowshipped among believers, broke bread (remembrance of Jesus body and blood shed for them; communion) and prayed together. They also shared God's love in practical ways by sharing their possessions with other believers who were in need. This newly formed church worshiped God in such a way that others wanted what they had and more new believers were added daily.

Application

Am I filled with the Holy Spirit today that I can boldly and clearly pinpoint sin and give instructions for being saved? Peter's audience were skeptics who had witnessed the execution of Jesus as a criminal. He too could be in danger but this time Peter didn't back off, didn't water down the truth nor avoided any aspect of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and accused them of the guilt of His crucifixion.

Am I grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit's power within me by ignoring or shying away from those who need Jesus Christ as Savior? It's not enough just to keep my faith to myself. How can I relay the message that when we reject Jesus we are committing the unpardonable sin and we will experience the full force of God's wrath. But the good news is that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are forgiven of our sins and we are given the Holy Spirit of God who helps us to live a life which glorifies Him.

How am I walking the talk? Am I like the first Christians: Reading God's Word daily, fellowshipping with other Christians being accountable to each other in faith, worshipping with them, remembering the Lord's Supper in partaking of Communion, pray in community interceding for others as well as personal prayers, and generous toward those in need? Do I do all these things out of obligation or with joy because of the thankfulness to Christ for what He has done for me in saving a sinner like me? Can people look at my life of faith and want what I have or am I discouraging others from coming to Christ? Today, I will ask the Lord to fill me with the Holy Spirit and follow His guide to speak up, to pray, to help, to encourage, or whatever He puts in my heart and do it with joy remembering Christ with thankfulness.

Prayer

Lord God, Thank you for Jesus Christ who died so that I can live abundantly in Your presence. Thank you also for sending Your Holy Spirit to reside in me. Yet, I don't always listen and obey the Holy Spirit's leading. Please forgive me. Help me to take my eyes off of myself and focus my attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit especially to open my mouth to tell others about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and not back off if it's not advantageous to me. Help me Lord not to just talk but to live it so that my life would be a testimony of Your love and grace. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

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