All the Church

Over the last few weeks, David has taken us through the first two chapters of the book of Acts. We have looked at the author, the apostles, them waiting on the holy spirit, and then the arrival of the holy spirit.

“Acts” are actions - things that are done. These are not “Acts” like in a play, where we have act 1 scene 1, etc. Tough it might seem like that with all of the speeches and drama of the book, the title is meant to speak about the movement or activity of those in the book.

This is a book about ACTIVITY.

That is an interesting title, isn’t it? Acts. The book of Acts. Some translations call it ⭐ “The Acts of the Apostles”. David referred to it as, ⭐ “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”. N.T. Wright in his commentary on Acts calls it ⭐ “The Acts of Jesus part 2”.

Perhaps the title should be, ⭐“The Activity of Jesus through the Apostles Empowered by the Holy Spirit?” But, that would not be totally complete either! It is not just about the 12 apostles to the Jews and the one apostle to the Gentiles - Paul. Though the book is roughly broken down regarding the ministry to the Jews by Peter in chapters 1-13 and the Gentiles by Paul in 14-28.

However, we read about the entire CHURCH doing things in the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe it should be called, ⭐“The Activity of Jesus through the Apostles and Church Empowered by the Holy Spirit?”.

OK, we could go on all day doing this I suppose, and STILL not have an adequate title. Of all the NT books, only this one has a title like it. The gospels tell the good news about Jesus. Many of the other NT books are letters to individuals or churches or regions. THIS book is unique in that it is a record of ACTIVITY and titled such.

The activity of Jesus

The activity of the Apostles

The activity of the Holy Spirit

The activity of the church

ASK: But what is all of this activity for?

To WHAT END is there activity? Activity without purpose is a waste of energy. I believe Luke talks about the purpose of all this activity as well in his introduction: ⭐

Acts 1:1–3 CSB

1 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

When Jesus was on the earth, the things he did and the things he said were about the kingdom of God. In his post resurrection appearances to the disciples, what did he speak to them about?

⭐ The kingdom of God.

This is the introduction to the book. It is a reminder that the activity of this book is about the kingdom of God. The speeches of Peter are about the Kingdom. The speeches of Paul are about the kingdom. The conversion of Paul is a kingdom story. The way the church interacted with each other and with the world around them is focused on kingdom living. Many people were added to the kingdom.

Not only does Luke start the book reminding us that this is about the kingdom of God, he also ends the book with a similar statement: ⭐

Acts 28:30–31 CSB

30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

The last two verses remind us that Paul continued to teach about the kingdom of God.

So, as we consider the title of this book it could be “The Activity of Jesus in Building God’s Kingdom through the Apostles and Church Empowered by the Holy Spirit”. That sounds a lot different than “Acts” or “The book of Acts”.

ASK: Why does this matter?

I think that we often read about what God did in this book and are amazed at the Apostles and the Spirit. But we also might think that is just what God did through those special people at that special time.

The same Holy Spirit that empowered the early church empowers us today.

The same saving grace that drew 3,000 people to come to Jesus in a day is still available today. The church today has the same mission as the church back then - to proclaim the kingdom and share Jesus with people - and the church today might even face some of the same persecutions as the church back then.

We have the same mission, the same Spirit, and the same Savior -> which makes this book about the actions that you and I as the church can and should be doing today.

We could even say that the book of Acts is a book that demonstrates how: ⭐

“The ordinary people of God, equipped with the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, dedicated to the Son of God, can accomplish the mission of God.”

This message of all people being able to be used by God is a message that had been present in the Law & Prophets, but was not a reality until Pentecost. Let’s take a little different dive into chapter 2 this morning.

Acts 2:1–13 CSB

1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

Lets go back and look at those first 4 verses again. ⭐

“They were all together” and “filled the whole house” and “on each of them”. The broadness of these phrases, to include the whole house, etc, very well lends itself to the idea that all 120 of them that were referenced in 1:15 is who is being referred to here. They were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit.

While we might want to focus on Peter and his first sermon, Luke wants us to see that all of the disciples in that upper room and the entire house, were filled with the Holy Spirit. And they were all speaking in different tongues.

The Spirit empowered the entire gathering to speak in other languages. That is, by the way, what it referenced in this passage. The language is very plain...

“in different tongues”

“in our own native language”

then there is a list of all the places they were from - representing the different languages

The Spirit of God allowed the people of God to speak in other known languages to share the wonders of God.

The amazing thing is that ordinary people, Galileans, who would not have studied other languages, were all able to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. What were these ordinary people talking about? “The magnificent acts of God” - the work of Jesus and the kingdom of God. ⭐

“The ordinary people of God, equipped with the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, dedicated to the Son of God, can accomplish the mission of God.”

When Peter explained what was going on, he quoted Joel 2. He said that the ONLY explanation of what was going on was the movement of God’s Spirit among his people. Let’s look at Joel 2 together: ⭐

Joel 2:28–32 CSB

28 After this I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 I will even pour out my Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days. 30 I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.

Peter says that the experience of Pentecost was the work of the Holy Spirit being “poured out” on who? ALL HUMANITY. ( Hebrew “flesh”). In Acts, Peter says, ALL PEOPLE.

Peter then goes into qualifying all the different people groups according to Joel’s prophecy:

sons & daughters

old men and young men

men and women servants

All ages are represented: children, parents and elders. Both genders are represented: male and female. Both social classes are represented: slave and free.

With all of these groups represented, the prophet Joel says that these groups will prophesy. What is the purpose of prophesy? ⭐

1 Corinthians 14:1–4 CSB

1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

One who prophesies is one who speaks the word of God to the people of God for the strengthening, encouraging and consolation of the church.

So all people (children, adults, elders, men, women, slave and free) will speak about God’s word and build up the church. That is EXACTLY what is happening in the book of Acts at Pentecost! The kingdom was being built up by all the people whom God’s Spirit empowered. ⭐

“The ordinary people of God, equipped with the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, dedicated to the Son of God, can accomplish the mission of God.”

As we progress through chapter 2, Peter preached about Jesus the Messiah. The man that once denied him 3 times in one night is now defending Jesus in front of a massive crowd. He explained Jesus as the fulfillment of the word of God, and he explained the new kingdom of God and that it was established through the sacrifice of Jesus - whem they killed. ⭐

Acts 2:37–39 CSB

37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each 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, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Notice the message? Repent and be baptized and “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. Who? You, your children, and for those who are “far away” which could refer to Gentile proselytizes or Jews that were spread out far away from Jerusalem. This is not necessarily a reference to the Gentiles - that comes later.

ALL of those people groups will receive the Holy Spirit as a result of salvation.

For what purpose?

So that they can live kingdom lives and tell others about Jesus. This was the point! They came from all over the place to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, and they heard the message of Jesus in their own language so they could accept Jesus as Messiah, receive forgiveness and the Holy Spirit, and take that message back to their own towns and cities.

While we will hear about specific missionary journeys in the book of Acts, the FIRST group of people that will be “sent ones” are the ordinary people who traveled to Jerusalem for the feast. And we will never know all of the impact they had. We will hear about groups that Paul will meet that know about and follow Jesus - and those might be the fruit of this encounter. In any case, the first group sent out from Jerusalem with the good news of he Kingdom of God and the power of the Holy Spirit is going to be ordinary people.

“The ordinary people of God, equipped with the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, dedicated to the Son of God, can accomplish the mission of God.”

As we wrap up chapter 2 we read that they were all together and had all things in common - they shared what they had with each other. The way that this entire group of people lived had a huge impact! Kingdom living of ordinary people was so attractive that even more people came to know Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit. ⭐

Acts 2:44–47 CSB

44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

When all of God’s people commit to living kingdom lives empowered by the Holy Spirit, lives are changed! When you and I are willing to join God in his mission, in his power for his kingdom, it will drive us to activity that focuses on loving others and sharing our lives and our Savior with them.

The Apostles had a special gifting to be able to perform miracles to demonstrate the power of Jesus was still at work after his resurrection. They were still 12 men who would someday sit and judge the nations, and they were 12 men who would also suffer greatly for the cause of Christ.

While the “Acts of the Apostles” were amazing, it was not just the activity of those 12 men that spread the good news. It was not just the preaching of a select few that God used to bring salvation to the masses. ⭐

God desires to use all his people to accomplish his rescue mission.

ASK: What about you?

God wants to use you, through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, to share the good news of the kingdom with the people around you.

As God is writing your story, what will be⭐ “The Activity of ____________ as empowered by the Holy Spirit to build the kingdom of God?”

**prayer and communion