Acts 2:37-47 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." 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 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.”
I am quickly coming to believe that reading, praying through, and meditating on Acts 2:37-47 is a very dangerous thing for the comfortable Christian! This passage reveals how the New Testament Church reached their world in a single generation. Every place and every way in which the modern Church has deviated from this pattern is why we may well lose our Nation in a single generation! In the days ahead, I want to take this passage apart piece-by-blessed piece and make application to us, our world, and our churches.
Some years ago I heard one of those sermon outlines that never leave you: “Why not Us, Why not Here, and Why not Now?” As I read these verses, these three questions come again and again into my thinking. The writer of Hebrews tells us in 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” With that being so, our failure to see anything like this move of God is not because Jesus has changed, the Word of God has changed, or because the Holy Spirit has changed.
The heart-breaking truth is that in most cases our churches have changed! Another great statement that bounces around in my head is, “God made the Church the way He wanted it; now, He wants it the way He made it.” I do too! And I believe that an important step in bringing about these needed changes in our lives and our churches is to carefully and prayerfully examine this passage and come to fully understand what it was about these one-hundred and twenty people that caused the Lord to be willing to use them in such a mighty way.
Next time, in PART 2, we will begin that examination.
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