Keeping The Passion For Christ

Bible Passage: Ac 2:40–47

The context of this passage is the aftermaths of Peter’s testimony about Jesus Christ in the preceding verses. What was Peters testimony about Jesus?

(i) His life and ministry (2:22)

He was truly a man, yet he was accredited by God to them through supernatural works, which are given three names—miracles or literally ‘powers’ (their nature being a demonstration of the power of God), wonders (their effect being to arouse astonishment) and signs their purpose being to embody or signify spiritual truth). God did these through him, and publicly (among you), as you yourselves know.

(ii) His death (2:23)

Peter describes this man as having been killed, partly because he had been handed over to them not by Judas but by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and partly because they with the help of wicked men (presumably the Romans) had then put him to death by nailing him to the cross. Thus the same event, the death of Jesus, is attributed simultaneously both to the purpose of God and to the wickedness of men.

(iii) His resurrection (2:24–32)

It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him (24; Peter sees this moral impossibility without explaining it). So although men had killed him, God raised him from the dead, and thereby freed him from the agony of death. ‘Agony’ means literally ‘birth pains’, so that his resurrection is pictured as a regeneration, a new birth out of death into life

(iv) His exaltation (2:33–36)

Peter now jumps straight from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to his exaltation to God’s right hand. From this position of supreme honor and absolute power, having received the promised Spirit from the Father, Jesus has poured out the Spirit.

(v) His salvation (2:37–39)

Luke now describes the crowd’s response to Peter’s sermon, together with Peter’s reply.

When 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 baptised, 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.’

(vi) His new community (2:40–41)

Luke adds that this was not the end of Peter’s sermon, for with many other words he both warned them and pleaded with them. And the essence of his warnings and pleadings was the appeal: ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation’ (40). Peter was not asking for private and individual conversions only, but for a public identification with other believers. Commitment to the Messiah implied commitment to the Messianic community, that is, the church. Indeed, they would have to change communities, transferring their membership from one that was old and corrupt to one that was new and being saved (47). The behavior of this community after their faith in Jesus Christ is what we are going to focus on

1. Passionate Acceptance: Embrace the Message

Ac 2:40-41

Large numbers of people accepted his message (i.e. repented and believed), and in consequence were baptized. In fact, about three thousand were added to their number that day (41). The body of Christ in Jerusalem multiplied twenty-six times, from 120 to 3,120. They must also, according to Peter’s promise, have received forgiveness and the Spirit, although this time apparently with no supernatural signs. At least Luke makes no mention of phenomena like wind or fire, or of languages. These conversions followed a faithful proclamation of the gospel. An today we need such than ever.

2. Passionate Devotion: Pursue Spiritual Disciplines

Ac 2:42

This new group of believers was a learning church. The very first evidence Luke mentions of the Spirit’s presence in the church is that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. We note that those new converts were not enjoying a mystical experience which led them to despise their mind or disdain theology.

Anti-intellectualism and the fullness of the Spirit are mutually incompatible, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Nor did those early disciples imagine that, because they had received the Spirit, he was the only teacher they needed and they could dispense with human teachers. On the contrary, they sat at the apostles’ feet, hungry to receive instruction, and they persevered in it. Moreover, the teaching authority of the apostles, to which they submitted, was authenticated by miracles: many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles (43).

The two references to the apostles, in verse 42 (their teaching) and in verse 43 (their miracles). Since the teaching of the apostles has come down to us in its definitive form in the New Testament, contemporary devotion to the apostles’ teaching will mean submission to the authority of the New Testament.

The NT apostle’s are very different from the modern day apostles.

A Spirit-filled church is a New Testament church, in the sense that it studies and submits to New Testament instruction. The Spirit of God leads the people of God to submit to the Word of God.

A spirit-filled believer is a NT believer. He studies and submits to the teaching of both the OT and the NT.

3. Passionate Generosity: Live in Unity

Ac 2:43-45

This new church was a loving church. There commitment to the apostle’s teaching inspired a sense of awe in them and built them into a loving community. They devoted themselves … to the fellowship (koinōnia). Koinōnia (from koinos, ‘common’) bears witness to the common life of the church in two sense. First, it expresses what we share in together. This is God himself, for ‘our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ’, and there is ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’. Thus koinōnia is a Trinitarian experience; it is our common share in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But secondly, koinōnia also expresses what we share out together, what we give as well as what we receive. Selling their possessions and goods (probably meaning their real estate and their valuables respectively), they gave to anyone as he had need.

This is a call to generosity, and to accountability. A NT Christian is sensitive the the needs of others.

It is part of the responsibility of Spirit-filled believers to alleviate need and abolish destitution in the new community of Jesus. John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 84.

4. Passionate Gathering: Worship Joyfully

Ac 2:46-47

The early church was marked by faithful attendance—meeting together daily in the temple courts. They prayed, gave, ate, and rejoiced together. They devoted themselves … to the breaking of bread and to prayer (42). That is, their fellowship was expressed not only in caring for each other, but in corporate worship too. Moreover, the definite article in both expressions (literally, ‘the breaking of the bread and the prayers’) suggests a reference to the Lord’s Supper on the one hand (although almost certainly at that early stage as part of a larger meal) and prayer services or meetings (rather than Private prayer) on the other. There are two aspects of the early church’s worship which exemplify its balance.

First, it was both formal and informal, for it took place both in the temple courts and in their homes (46), which is an interesting combination.

The second example of the balance of the early church’s worship is that it was both joyful and reverent. Their worship was not dull, but neither was it irreverent.

You cannot be a faithful Christian and miss fellowships. You must be a committed member of a fellowship. The challenge with our generation today is we think we can be clever that the NT church. We come up with phrases like I left God, not the church. We can see the effects of this. Every believer must be part of a healthy local church or fellowship.

This church was also an evangelistic church. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Those first Jerusalem Christians were not so preoccupied with learning, sharing and worshipping, that they forgot about witnessing. For the Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit who created a missionary church

From these earliest believers in Jerusalem, we can learn three vital lessons about local church evangelism.

The Lord himself (that is, Jesus) did it: the Lord added to their number. Doubtless he did it through the preaching of the apostles, the witness of church members, the impressive love of their common life, and their example as they were praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people (47a). Yet he did it. For he is the head of the church. He alone has the prerogative to admit people into its membership and to bestow salvation from his throne.

What Jesus did was two things together: he added to their number … those who were being saved . He did not add them to the church without saving them (no nominal Christianity at the beginning), nor did he save them without adding them to the church (no solitary Christianity either). Salvation and church membership belonged together; they still do.

The Lord added people daily. The verb is an imperfect (‘kept adding’), and the adverb (‘daily’) puts the matter beyond question. The early church’s evangelism was not an occasional or sporadic activity. They did not organize quinquennial or decennial missions (missions are fine so long as they are only episodes in an ongoing programme). No, just as their worship was daily (46a), so was their witness. Praise and proclamation were both the natural overflow of hearts full of the Holy spirit. And as their outreach was continuous, so continuously converts were being added. We need to recover this expectation of steady and uninterrupted church growth

CONCLUSION

Looking back over these marks of the first Spirit-filled community, it is evident that they all concerned the church’s relationships.

First, they were related to the apostles (in submission). They eagerly received the apostles’ instruction.

Secondly, they were related to each other (in love). They persevered in the fellowship, supporting each other and relieving the needs of the poor.

Thirdly, they were related to God (in worship). They worshipped him in the temple and in the home, in the Lord’s Supper and in the prayers, with joy and with reverence. A Spirit-filled church is a worshipping church.

Fourthly, they were related to the world (in outreach). They were engaged in continuous evangelism. No self-centred, self-contained church (absorbed in its own parochial affairs) can claim to be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit. So a Spirit-filled church is a missionary church.

So to keep the passion for Jesus, you must be a learning believer, a loving believer, a worshipping believer and an evangelistic believer. Or else you will grow rusty and immature

So what can you practically do?

At a personal lever take the word, prayer, fellowship and witnessing seriously

In your home, take the initiative to lead family discussions centered on faith. For instance, after dinner, invite your family to share one thing they are thankful for and then lead a short prayer expressing those thanksgivings to Jesus.

In your educational setting, exemplify your passion for Jesus by forming or joining a study group that includes prayer and scripture reflection. Develop a habit of being a Bible student and lean to evangelize to your peers

Be actively involved in your local church