Acts 2


The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
¹³Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Acts 2:1-13

Explanation:

THE JERUSALEM CHURCH: ITS BEGINNING (Acts 1:1--2:47)
"Let the church be the church!" This rallying cry from John MacKay, missionary statesman and ecumenical leader of an earlier generation, needs to be heard and heeded again in our day. Pressures from without (secularization or resurgent religious fundamentalism) and from within (marketing or accommodation to the spirit of the age) work to keep the church from being the church.

As Luke seeks to convince Theophilus and other interested Romans that the implementation aspect of the gospel message is true (Lk 1:4; 24:47), he places before us what the church is to be and do: its missions mandate. As Luke begins, he gives the mandate's source, emphasizes the divine power needed to implement it, and portrays its divinely worked results in individual lives and in the dynamic fellowship that is the church.



Pentecost (2:1-41)
In the twentieth century Pentecost has become a source of confusion, embarrassment or division for Christians, even as it has become a curiosity, if not an object of ridicule, for non-Christians. What is repeatable--and what is unrepeatable--of that miraculous outpouring of the Spirit and speaking in tongues? Luke helps us sort through our various reactions so Pentecost can become the comfort and the challenge it was meant to be. Peter's speech speaks to the cause and significance of the event.



The Coming of the Spirit (2:1-13)

The story of the origin of a nation, a movement or an institution captures the imagination of later generations. Whether in the yearly remembrance of America's founding, the Fourth of July, or the twentieth anniversary of a key event in a movement, the civil rights march from Montgomery to Selma, Alabama, or the celebration of the New Testament church's birthday, Pentecost, each generation desires to recall in vivid detail what happened in those early days. A people reinvigorates itself by drawing comfort and challenge from the way it was in the beginning.

The Miracle (2:1-4)

By the way Luke notes the arrival of the day of Pentecost, he marks it as a key event in salvation history (symplerousthai, "was fulfilled" [NIV came]; see Lk 9:51). Pentecost, the Feast of the Firstfruits, was a most appropriate time for the Spirit to come. It was closely connected with Passover, just as the Spirit's coming would be associated with the saving events of the Lord's crucifixion and exaltation. The feast celebrated the first produce of the Promised Land, Israel's inheritance, just as the Spirit is the "firstfruits" of the salvation blessings to the believer (see Deut 26:1-11, especially vv. 9-11).

All together in one place, probably the upper room, the disciples in prayerful unity await the Spirit (Acts 1:14). Suddenly God gives signs of sound and sight. Their divine origin and supernatural character is clear. The sound is from heaven and is like the blowing of a violent wind. The tongues that appear seemed to be flames of fire. In the Old Testament such a loud sound often accompanied a theophany (Ex 19:16, 19; 20:18; compare Heb 12:19). A violent, rushing wind symbolizes the Holy Spirit (Ezek 37:9-14; compare Lk 16:16). The sound fills the whole house. What has arrived is an all-encompassing divine presence. The divided tongues like flames of fire, resting on each, also symbolize the Spirit of God, especially his power (Lk 3:16; compare Acts 1:8).

Those on whom the outward sign rests experience an inner filling with the Holy Spirit. This leads to a further external manifestation of his presence. Luke uses the verb filled in order to emphasize that although this is the initial endowment of the Spirit on the church, it is also an equipping with inspired speech for ministry. It is the first of many fillings the believers will know (4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9).

As the Spirit inspires their speech, the believers are speaking in human languages other than their own native tongues. Here is a further sign that something extraordinary has happened. Acts 1:8 is being fulfilled all at once.

What of Pentecost does God want the church to expect in its life today? What is repeatable? What is unrepeatable? Those aspects of Pentecost that marked the inauguration of the Spirit's presence indiscriminately among the people of God appear to have fulfilled their purpose in the first Pentecost. We should not necessarily expect to see them again. The external signs of sound and sight and the foreign languages fall into this category. But in any age we should expect to find a church filled with the Holy Spirit, powerfully enabled to bear witness to Christ and his gospel.

If we are not so experiencing the Spirit's filling, why? Have we met the conditions of expectant prayer and cleansed lives? That is Pentecost's challenge. But what is its comfort? God has not abandoned his church. If he sent his Spirit before, he can do it again.

The Miracle's Effect (2:5-13)

The sound like the blowing of a violent wind is evidently not isolated to the house. It attracts a crowd upon its occurrence, or possibly as the believers move out into the street and toward the temple. The curious throng, composed of devout Hellenistic Jews from every nation under heaven (compare Deut 2:25), is confused and then astonished (existanto) that each person hears in his or her native language the declaration of God's great deeds. Luke uses existemi very selectively to describe the effect of the miraculous (Lk 2:47; 8:56; 24:22; Acts 8:13; 10:45; 12:16). We find it two times in this account, together with other "amazement" or "confusion" terms (thaumazo, synchyno, diaporeo--vv. 6-7, 12). Clearly, Luke wants us to sense what a strong impact the Pentecost event had on the onlookers. They marvel that by a miracle of speaking or hearing, or both, they can understand Galileans, who were disdained for their indistinct pronunciation with its confused or lost laryngeals and aspirates (Bruce 1990:116).

The crowd's initial reaction shows us that God's powerful saving presence will always astonish us and challenge our current understandings of him and his ways. Turned toward God, our curiosity and surprise will become marveling, an important preparatory step to the believing reception of salvation blessings (Dupont 1979c:54).

People in the crowd enumerate their nationalities and places of origin. They begin with the far eastern border of the Roman Empire (Parthians, Medes and Elamites), move westward through Mesopotamia and Judea (Israel, understood according to its God-given boundaries--Josh 1:4), and then encompass regions of Asia Minor in a circular counterclockwise fashion, commencing with the east: Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. The list then notes southern regions of the empire--Egypt and, west of it, the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Rounding out the list is Rome, the Empire's center, and two geographical extremities: the islands of the sea, represented by Cretans, and the desert places, represented by Arabs (compare Ezek. 30:5).

Each in his or her own language hears of the wonders--the great deeds--of God. Were these wonders the gifts of the Messiah and the outpoured Spirit (see 2:17, 33)?

This multilingual witness coheres with the universal offer of salvation in the church's message and its consequent worldwide mission. It also highlights the church's multicultural character. God affirms people as cultural beings. As many a Bible translator knows, our native language and culture is natural, necessary and welcome to us as the air we breathe. No wonder that when persons receive a Scripture portion in their own language, they rejoice: "God speaks my language!"

The crowd's astonishment progresses from marveling to perplexity. They are trying to figure out the "why" of this miracle, both its cause and its significance. Some admit their inability to come up with an answer but show they are open for one as they wonder aloud, "What does this mean?" Others, for whom much of the speech is gibberish, mock, accusing the believers of being drunk with sweet wine (compare Lk 7:34).

How should we respond to the work of the Spirit in our midst? We must avoid the mockery of the scoffer who explains everything in empirical terms. We must be open to a divinely given explanation. The mixed reaction of the Pentecost crowd also teaches us that the "miraculous is not self-authenticating, nor does it inevitably and uniformly convince. There must also be the preparation of the heart and the proclamation of the message if miracles are to accomplish their full purpose" (Longenecker 1981:273).

Acts 2

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
    ¹⁷" 'In the last days, God says,
       I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
       your young men will see visions,
       your old men will dream dreams.
    ¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women,
       I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
       and they will prophesy.
    ¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above
       and signs on the earth below,
       blood and fire and billows of smoke.
    ²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness
       and the moon to blood
       before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
    ²¹And everyone who calls
       on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
²²"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ²⁵David said about him:
   " 'I saw the Lord always before me.
       Because he is at my right hand,
       I will not be shaken.
    ²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
       my body also will live in hope,
    ²⁷because you will not abandon me to the grave,
       nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
    ²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life;
       you will fill me with joy in your presence.'
²⁹"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. ³²God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. ³³Exalted 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. ³⁴For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
   " 'The Lord said to my Lord:
       "Sit at my right hand
    ³⁵until I make your enemies
       a footstool for your feet." '
³⁶"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
³⁸Peter replied, "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. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."
⁴⁰With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." ⁴¹Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:14-41

Explanation:

Peter's Speech (2:14-41)

Humans were born to ask "Why?" From the chattering toddler tugging at his mother's skirts to the seasoned astrophysicist puzzling over her computer-enhanced images from outer space, the response to the novel is the same: Why? In fact, we ask this question in two directions. We want to know the cause, and we want to know the significance, especially for us.

To find an answer that satisfies both "whys," especially in regard to one's personal destiny, is to discover the best good news.

Apologia for Pentecost: Ultimate Cause and Saving Significance (2:14-21)

Seizing the moment in the midst of the crowd's bewilderment and confusion, Peter addresses the people in Spirit-filled utterance (see 2:4). He begins with a formal address, Fellow Jews, which will soften as he proceeds (men of Israel, 2:22; brothers, 2:29). His message will explain the Pentecost event as God's saving acts (see also 4:12; 13:38: 28:28) and show its crucial importance for his hearers and for us.

Though those drunk and those filled with the Spirit are "carried out of themselves into an abnormal sense of freedom and expressiveness," the cause and the end results are entirely different (E. F. Harrison 1986:64). Peter with good humor dismisses this empirical explanation with further empirical evidence: in a culture where the first meal is not taken until ten o'clock, nine o'clock in the morning is too early in the day to find people drunk (see Josephus Life 279).

The ultimate cause and significance of the Spirit's empowerment is found in God and his saving purposes, as the prophet Joel foretold. In the last days--the final days of this age, the time when the "age to come" is inaugurated--God promises to pour out his Spirit on all people. Joel used the imagery of the vivifying impact of a Near Eastern torrential downpour on parched earth to picture the generosity, finality and universality of the Spirit's coming. And Peter declares that this is now happening before the very eyes and in the very hearing of his audience. In contrast to the selective and occasional outpouring of the Spirit on king and prophet in the Old Testament time of promise (1 Sam 10:10; 16:14; Ezek 11:5), here the Spirit comes without regard to age, sex, social status or, as Acts 2:39 indicates, ethnic origin.

What the Spirit empowers people to do is prophesy. Prophecy for Luke encompasses Spirit-filled speaking in other languages (2:12, 16), predictive discourse (11:27; 21:10; compare 9:10; 10:10; 16:9; 18:9, where dreams and visions guide the post-Pentecost church) and proclamatory witness (15:32). As the Old Testament prophets made God's will known by witnessing to his Word, so now, as Luther says, all Christians are Spirit-enabled to bear witness to "knowledge of God through Christ which the Holy Spirit kindles and makes to burn through the word of the gospel" (Stott 1990:74; compare Acts 1:8).

Joel and Peter remind us of the decisiveness of these last days by pointing to cosmic signs on earth and in heaven. The universe will reveal what a shambles sinful humankind makes of things by its constant assault on God's moral order. From this the human race should know that judgment must come at the day of the Lord (Is 13:6, 9; Ezek 30:3; Zeph 1:14-15). The hope held out by Joel is thus vitally significant. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21/Joel 2:32).

Today, living in a time of rapid social change, moral decay, environmental crisis and seemingly unmanageable economic and political problems, we can identify with the apostle's and prophet's sense of the end. We are comforted that history is not out of control, for God is constantly at work. We live in the time of the Spirit's life-giving presence--and there is the challenge: will we call on the name of the Lord and be saved?

Apostolic Gospel at Pentecost: The Immediate Cause (2:22-36)

Who is this Lord? How can we know he can save? What does Pentecost have to do with this salvation? Peter directs the crowd's attention to Jesus of Nazareth. He characterizes Jesus' earthly ministry as the arena of publicly witnessed divine power. Through him God did miracles, the power of God at work; wonders, astonishing, significant portents that point to God's presence; and signs, miraculous embodiments of spiritual truth. God accredited Jesus' mission by these marks of the messianic age and showed that it was the very beginning of the last days.

Peter next boldly implicates the crowd in Jesus' death. He was handed over into their power. With the help of lawless men--that is, Gentile Romans (NIV wicked men)--they did away with him through crucifixion. Peter sets their responsibility in tension with God's determined purpose and foreknowledge (compare Lk 22:22). Far from discrediting Jesus as God's Messiah, this shameful death was very much a part of God's set purpose and foreknowledge (see Acts 3:18; 13:29). Though Peter does not explicitly refer to Jesus' death as a vicarious atonement, he gives us the objective fact, which is the basis for such an understanding: an innocent man suffered and died.

But there's more. Human beings may have killed Jesus, but God brought him back to life. It was not a resuscitation but an eternal resurrection. In a remarkable mixed metaphor, death's agony became its birth pangs: death was in labor and unable to hold back the "delivery" of Jesus.

As Peter will go on to prove, with respect to Pentecost, Jesus' resurrection is the answer to the question "Why?" from both angles. It is Pentecost's immediate cause (vv. 32-33), and it is the ground for the saving significance of the Pentecost event.

Peter now argues, based on Scripture, that Jesus' resurrection is part of God's saving plan. In verses 25-28 he introduces a quote from Psalm 16:8-11 to explain Jesus' resurrection as the fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah (NIV does not translate the Greek gar, causal connector between vv. 24 and 25). The psalmist declares that because of his ongoing relationship with the Lord God, he will not be shaken. This accords well with Luke's portrayal of Jesus in his last hours (Lk 23:46/Ps 31:5; the cry of dereliction is absent--Mk 15:34/Ps 22:1). The psalmist expresses joyful confidence that his flesh (sarx, NIV body; v. 26) will live in hope. He openly declares that there is no abandonment to Sheol or experience of decay, but rather the path of life and the joy of God's presence forever.

How is it possible to understand a first-person psalm attributed to David, in which he appears to speak of his protection from death, as a prophecy of the Messiah's hope in a resurrection out of death? Peter comes to such an understanding by using two hermeneutical principles: literal interpretation and a messianic reading of first-person Davidic psalms. Thus David, "not . . . as a mere person but David as the recipient and conveyor of God's ancient but ever-renewed promise," can predict the Messiah's experience (Kaiser 1980:225). Pointing to the well-known (and still extant) tomb of David, Peter contends that David could not be talking about himself. By a process of elimination, then, someone else must qualify to experience the literal fulfillment of this promise. That someone is the Messiah. For David was a prophet. He had received the divinely sworn promise of an eternal reign for one of his descendants, who would be the Messiah (2 Sam 7:12-13; Ps 132:12).

But how can a Messiah who suffers and dies also reign forever (Ps 22:15-16)? It is possible only if that Messiah rises from the dead. David was permitted to see ahead of time this vital stage in God's process of redemption. So he could speak confidently of Messiah's resurrection when he said that Messiah was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay (Acts 2:31). What a wise God to plan a path the Messiah would follow to effect salvation! What a merciful God to reveal a portion of that path to prophets, so that now, as we look back after the fulfillment, it all makes sense (see 1 Pet 1:10-12).

Now Peter moves from argumentation to proclamation (Acts 2:32). The great good news is that God has now raised to life the same Jesus who was crucified (v. 23). Peter adds his voice and those of the other apostles to the witness of the Scriptures. So confident is he of the apostolic witnesses' compelling testimony that he can divide his presentation into two steps: (1) the Old Testament bears witness to a risen Messiah and (2) we bear witness to Jesus as the risen Messiah.

Peter unveils an even greater truth about Jesus which turns his audience into witnesses of God's saving grace. Jesus is the exalted Lord raised to the Father's right hand in heaven (see also v. 30). From that position of authority Jesus mediates the gift of the Spirit (Jn 14:16, 26; 16:7).

Peter now completes the second half of a chiastic (or reverse parallelism) construction that extends all the way back to verse 25. He has (a) preached Scripture proof of Jesus as the Messiah risen from the dead (vv. 25-28), (b) given an interpretation (vv. 29-31) and (c) made a kerygmatic proclamation (v. 32). Now he (c') proclaims Jesus as the exalted Lord and giver of the Spirit (v. 33), (b') gives an interpretation (v. 34) and (a') presents Scripture proof (vv. 34-35/Ps 110:1). This construction binds together Jesus' resurrection, his exaltation and his giving of the Spirit.

Again by a process of elimination and literal interpretation, Peter applies the Old Testament text to the Messiah. David is dead; we cannot claim that he has ascended to heaven. Then, following the lead of Jesus, Peter claims that David is addressing the Messiah when he says, "The Lord [God] said to my Lord [the Messiah]" (Lk 20:41-44/Ps 110:1). When Jesus asked how David could call his descendant "Lord," he was not simply making Messiah and Lord synonymous titles. When the One who is literally exalted to the right hand of the Father is called "Lord," he is addressed as more than an honored human descendant of David. The way Jesus formulated the question implied as much. Peter, unveiling what Jesus' question hinted at, declares him to be Lord in the sense of Yahweh. Jesus is God! (See also Acts 2:21, 36, 38.)

Peter calls his listeners to know for certain that God has openly avowed Jesus to be Lord and Messiah (compare Lk 1:4). Jesus may now rightfully be declared Messiah, since he has done Messiah's saving work and has been vindicated by God, who raised him from the dead. He may properly be proclaimed Lord in the highest sense of the word, as the respectful designation of the unpronounceable name of God (YHWH). For by his resurrection-exaltation he has demonstrated that he is the ever-living and life-giving God, whom death cannot hold and who pours out the Spirit (Acts 2:24, 33).

Peter immediately reminds his listeners that it is this risen and exalted Messiah and Lord whom they have crucified. "They were not trifling with a Galilean carpenter, but God!" (Ogilvie 1983:71).

Application of Pentecost: A Call to Repentance and Promise (2:37-41)

By the Spirit (Jn 16:8-11) the crowd feels the sharp pain of guilt (the NIV renders the verb literally, were cut to the heart). For Luke, this is as it should be: the heart, the inner life, is the source of all the thoughts, motivations, intentions and plans of sinful human beings (Lk 6:45; 12:34: 21:34; Acts 5:3-4; 7:39; 8:21-22; 28:27). Realizing they have killed the Messiah, their only hope of salvation, they desperately want to know, "Is there anything we can do about this? Or are we doomed to suffer God's certain wrath on the day of the Lord?" (see 2:20). They address Peter and the rest of the apostles, for it is the apostolic gospel, not a gospel of Peter, that they must receive and cling to (2:32, 42).

What will it take today to bring people to their knees--beyond admitting their anxiety (the awareness that something is wrong) to facing their guilt (the recognition that someone is wrong)? The sin of people today put Jesus to death just as surely as the sinful hatred of first-century people. This fact leaves no room for anti-Semitism. With Peter's first audience, we must return to the scene of the crime, the cross. We must face up to our guilt before almighty God, the Judge. We must throw ourselves on his mercy, asking, What shall we do? (v. 37).

Peter's invitation is to repent, "do an about face in your life's orientation and attach yourself to Jesus" (Talbert 1984:16). This turning from sin and turning to Christ is the necessary condition for receiving salvation blessings (Lk 13:3, 5; 15:7; 16:30; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). What about faith? It is mentioned in verse 44. John Stott observes, "Repentance and faith involve each other, the turn from sin being impossible without the turn to God, and vice versa" (1990:78).

Peter calls for each one of them individually (hekastos, but NIV every one) to be baptized . . . in (on the basis of) the name of Jesus Christ--that is, as Joseph Addison Alexander puts it, "by his authority, acknowledging his claims, subscribing to his doctrine, engaging in his service, and relying on his merits" (quoted in Stott 1990:78). By repentance and baptism we show that we have met the conditions for receiving forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit. By making repentance and baptism conditions for the reception of salvation blessings, Luke does not imply that salvation comes by merit or ritual. He is not promoting some necessary second experience. He consistently presents both forgiveness and the Spirit as gifts of grace (3:19; 5:31; 13:38; 11:17; 15:8). The gift of the Spirit is the Spirit himself, who regenerates, indwells, unites, and transforms lives. All the fruit and gifts of the Spirit flow from this one great gift.

Peter now declares the universal extent of the salvation offer. He reaches out across time and space, generations and cultures (your children and . . . all who are afar off--that is, Jews of the diaspora and Gentiles; see Is 57:19; Eph 2:13). And he does not let his audience forget, even as he tells them their responsibility, that salvation is God's work from beginning to end. For the promise is for all whom the Lord our God will call. Those who respond are answering the Lord our God's effective call on their lives (compare Acts 13:48; 16:14). "He set me free to want what He wanted to give!" (Ogilvie 1983:72).

Now we have come full circle. The salvation promised by Joel (and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved--Acts 2:21/Joel 2:32) is accomplished by Jesus (God has made this Jesus . . . Lord--Acts 2:36). And it is humanly appropriated when one is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (v. 38) with the assurance that the gift of salvation is for all whom the Lord our God will call (v. 39).

There were many other things Peter said to the crowd as he warned them. He kept on exhorting them to allow themselves to be saved, rescued from a corrupt (literally, "crooked") generation. The Old Testament labeled the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness a "crooked generation" (Deut 32:5; Ps 78:8). Peter's use of this phrase intensifies the call to repentance. The "wilderness generation" experienced the judgment of God when it did not repent. So will those of the present generation if they do not answer God's call and turn to him in repentance.

The gospel call comes clearly and urgently today. "The question is not, shall I repent? For that is beyond a doubt. But the question is, shall I repent now, when it may save me; or shall I put it off to the eternal world when my repentance will be my punishment?" (Samuel Davies in Wirt and Beckstrom 1974:203).

Three thousand souls welcomed the word (compare 28:30), met its conditions and were baptized. They joined the ranks of the apostles and disciples in the nucleus of the New Testament church. "The kerygma, indeed, has the power to evoke that which it celebrates" (Willimon 1988:36).

We must not be negligent either in giving or heeding invitations. Lloyd Ogilvie strongly encourages pastors to make invitation a standard part of regular worship services. In whatever form--whether printing an invitation in the bulletin, designating a room for inquirers or calling people forward during a closing hymn--the Lord's call for those to be saved should be consistently present. "People are more ready than we dare to assume. And why not? The Holy Spirit is at work!" (Ogilvie 1983:73).

Acts 2

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Explanation:

New Testament Church Life (2:42-47)

J. A. Bengel, the great Pietist commentator on the Bible, concluded his comments on Acts this way: "Thou hast, O church, thy form [pattern]. It is thine to preserve it, and guard thy trust" (Bengel 1860:1:925). We must do this by examining Luke's portrait of a Spirit-filled community.

Four Commitments (2:42)

The outpouring of the Spirit produced not just momentary enthusiasm but four continuing commitments: to learn, to care, to fellowship and to worship. The apostles' teaching probably included an account of Jesus' life and ministry, his ethical and practical teachings, warnings about persecution and false teaching, and the christocentric Old Testament hermeneutic. But at its center was the gospel message. And so today, to devote oneself to the apostles' teaching means evangelism as well as edification (4:2; 5:42; 15:35).

The apostles' fellowship and breaking of bread was a sharing of possessions to meet needs and of lives in common meals (2:44-46). What an inviting way of life for our day, when "loneliness drives people into one place, but that does not mean that they are together, really" (Ogilvie 1983:74).

Finally, Luke portrays prayer as integral to the church's life (compare 4:24; 6:4; 12:5; 13:3; 20:36). It is the essential link between Jesus and his people as they carry out his kingdom work under his guidance and by his strength (4:29-30; 6:6; 8:15; 14:23; 28:8). The reputation of the vital, growing Korean church as a praying church shows that the maxim is indeed true: "the vitality of the church was a measure of the reality of their prayers" (Williams 1985:39).

Impact: Fear (2:43)

The conviction of sin that followed Peter's Spirit-filled preaching (2:37) was not momentary panic but a continuing uneasiness among those who had not yet received the word. The many wonders and miraculous signs done by God through the apostles served only to intensify this conviction. Whether the "signs and wonders" element be taken as normative for today (Wimber 1986:21) or as simply the authentication of a fresh stage of revelation (Stott 1974:13), clearly Luke is certain that the church's presence will have an impact on society.

A Caring, Joyful, Transparent Fellowship (2:44-47)

In expression of their Spirit-inspired togetherness, the believers pooled their resources. Individuals voluntarily sold property and goods, contributed the proceeds to a fund from which any Christian (and possibly non-Christians as well) could receive help, as he or she might have need. What a standard for today's church! Indeed, "what we do or do not do with our material possessions is an indicator of the Spirit's presence or absence" (Krodel 1986:95).

The community lived out its commitment to the apostles' teaching by gathering each day in the temple courts to hear instruction. They probably met in Solomon's colonnade, at the eastern end of the court of the Gentiles (5:12; compare 5:20-21, 42, and Jesus' practice--Lk 20:1; 21:37). In the temple they also fulfilled their commitment to prayer as they engaged in corporate worship.

Daily the community broke bread together in homes--sharing a meal, beginning it with the bread and ending it with the cup of the Lord's Supper (Lk 22:19-20; 24:35; Acts 20:7, 11). With constant intimacy, exultant joy and transparency of relationship they enjoyed the graces of Messiah's salvation in a true anticipation of his banquet in the kingdom (Lk 22:30; compare Acts 16:34). It was a gracious witness to the people (laos), "Israel as the elect nation to whom the message of salvation is initially directed" (Longenecker 1981:291).

Today growing churches manifest the same "metachurch" pattern: celebration, joining in large gatherings for worship and instruction, and cell group, meeting in home groups for fellowship and nurture.

Impact: Church Growth (2:47)

Every day the Lord Jesus by his Spirit saved some, incorporating them into their number. God's plan is for churches to grow. The challenge for us is, "Will we meet the Scriptural conditions for growth: a dedication to be a learning, caring, fellowshipping, worshipping church?" Will we meet the one essential condition? "As empowering follows petition, so evangelism and Christian unity or community follow Pentecost. The empowering, moreover, is repeatable. So pray!" (Talbert 1984:17).