Acts 2:22-36 My Heart Is Glad!

Acts 2:22-36  “Fellow Israelites, 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.  This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  But 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.  David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand.  I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’  “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.  But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.   Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.  God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.  Exalted 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.  For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord:  “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’  “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

In the above focus, Peter ministers to the people who heard the terrific sound of a rushing wind and also observed the phenomenon of people speaking in other languages all at once.  Each of them heard someone in this group of tongue speakers glorifying God in his or her own language.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.  (Acts 2:6)  Now they are listening to Peter explain to them what just happened so early in the morning on that day.  He speaks to them about Jesus and his resurrection.  He tells him that Jesus, not David, fulfills David’s prophesy: I saw the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand.  I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.  Jesus went to the grave with great agony because He had been tortured, brutalized in many ways and then nailed to a cross.  His side was pierced to assure his death.  Even under this horrendous experience of death, Jesus understood the Father’s love for him.  As David stated, He understood God, his Father, would not abandon him in the grave.  He knew the Father would come to give him once more the path of life and the joy of living in the  presence of the eternal God.  Peter tells his audience that you know David’s body is rotting in the grave, so he was not the recipient of this prophesy.  No, someone much greater than David fulfilled these words given by the Spirit to David. That man is Jesus, whom you crucified, He who did no evil but went throughout Israel doing only good.  As John the Baptist's disciples saw and heard, confirmed by Jesus’ own lips, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  (Matthew 11:3-6)  But the leaders of Israel stumbled over Jesus' popularity with the people.  He was a threat to their leadership.  Huge crowds followed this man of miracles: Jesus Christ.  So they had the Romans execute him on a rugged cross, but as David prophesied, his body would not rot in the grave as all who are born of dust.  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, the Holy One of Israel.  God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.  Peter went on to say, what you see this day is what the resurrected Jesus promised to his followers, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 1:4-5)  The Holy Spirit today revealed this commandment of Jesus.  These people are not drunk as you might have supposed, but filled with the Spirit of God.

Peter knew that all they had seen and heard had been predicted long ago by the prophet Isaiah.  Christ's death was the will of God for the salvation of men and women.  He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:3-6)  He suffered the penalty of death for all mankind, but through his suffering man has found peace with a righteous God.  Peter was announcing to the people that they no longer have to experience the pain of eternal death.   No longer do they have to have their souls disappear from God’s presence, but through his death, Jesus has brought all mankind close to God.  All believers will experience a new life, a born again life that will never end.  For Peter and Jesus’ followers on the day of Pentecost, this reality of eternal life was in their understanding, and now they are receiving the eternal presence of God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  This story of life eternal would be the primary message of the apostles.  They were to announce the Good News that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and will save the people from their sins.  Even the twelfth disciple, Matthias, chosen by lot, was given the apostolic message of announcing the Good News that Jesus has been resurrected.  For one of these ( Barsabbas or Matthias) must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”  (Acts 1:22)  Paul said this message of the resurrection was so important that no other idea of Jesus would justify anyone giving their lives for him.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)   Peter tells his listeners that God’s presence in Jesus’ believers confirms that Jesus is alive and that his presence through the Holy Spirit is revealed today.  Jesus promised these believers that God would send them the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, all He said about his Father and his own eternal nature is true.  And they must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, sent from God.  If they do, they will be saved from the consequence of sin in their lives, which is eternal death.

Pentecost confirms that the presence of God has come to all humans if they put their trust in Jesus.  These people who were speaking in tongues on Pentecost were believers.  Most of them had actually seen Jesus after his resurrection.  They knew the reality of the resurrection, and now they are experiencing the intimate presence of God through the infilling of the Spirit.  Paul, who was a disciple out of season, approximately two years after the resurrection, also met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Therefore, he knew that Jesus was real and that He was alive for evermore.  Because of that fact, he was placing his whole life on the line for Jesus.  He knew salvation, being right with God, could only come through the resurrected Jesus.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)  For Paul the Good News was distilled down to the fact that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected the third day.  And because of the Good News, the Holy Spirit would come to occupy all who believe in Jesus’ work on the cross.  No other message was worthy dying for.  All of the apostles propagated this Good News.  They were ridiculed, harassed, persecuted and killed for this message, but they knew the truth, and they were willing to go all the way for God.  Because Jesus had been resurrected, they knew they too would be resurrected.  The promise to Jesus was their promise too, he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead.  They will not be abandoned by God.  God does not abandon his children.  His love for mankind was adjudicated through his beloved Son.  He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  God could now accept wholeheartedly the followers of his beloved Son, for they have become new creatures because of Christ's righteous blood.  Jesus ransomed the souls of people born in slavery.  Not only did He ransom their souls, He presented them the Holy Spirit to walk with them through their lives.  No longer would they be alone, fighting the world on the terms of the flesh, but now the voice of God would be IN THEM, directing them through the journey of life.  They would speak in the tongues of the new people, no longer hanging on to the voice and language of the flesh.  Peter was announcing that a new covenant has arrived, the placing of God in the hearts of men and women because of the work of Jesus Christ.  The grace of God fully given to men through Jesus' sacrifice has come to whosoever will believe on the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen!   

Acts 2: 14-21 I Will Show Wonders!

 

Acts 2: 14-21  Then 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.  These people are not drunk, as you suppose.  It’s only nine in the morning!  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:  “‘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.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’"

In the above focus, Peter ministers to the people under the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.  He connects this phenomenon of what the people in Jerusalem are seeing and hearing in these Galileans to Joel’s prophesy.  He wants them to know that what the people are observing is not outside of the Jewish religion, but in fact it is the fulfillment of Joel's prophesy.  He quotes this prophesy of what will happen in the last days before the Lord returns and gathers his kingdom to himself: the glorious day of the Lord.  In this prophesy we see that God puts his approval on all who call on his name by giving them them the presence of the Holy Spirit.  They who are under the umbrella of faith in his name will receive God’s powerful presence: men, women, young and old will be imbued with the Holy Spirit.  No longer will they just speak their native tongue, but they will have the ability to glorify the Lord in many tongues and languages, known and unknown.  This presence of the Holy Spirit with God’s newly designed people equates well with the cloud by day and the fire by night, for the once slaves of  Pharaoh, but now the Israelites are a new people of freedom.  In their escape from Egypt, we see a cloud appear to them from God’s domain of life.  This presence of God came immediately to the Israelites, protecting them from the intent of Pharaoh to regain his control over them.  Pharaoh, the evil one whose heart was hardened against God, pursues the Israelite to the Red Sea, believing he has the Israelites trapped.  However, God’s presence separates his chosen from the hands of Pharaoh by dropping his presence down, separating the army of Pharaoh and the camp of the Israelites.  On one side of the cloud is darkness, preventing the Egyptians from advancing towards the Israelites, and on the other side of the cloud is an illuminating light, giving the Israelites a way to advance through the Red Sea.  We then see the Israelites walking on dry land through the parted Red Sea.  The bottom of the sea is not muddy and murky, not hard to walk on, for the east wind from the heavens above has pushed back the water and dried the sea floor.  The chosen easily escaped to the land of freedom.  God paved the way for them.  

Now in Acts in keeping with Joel’s prophesy, we see the chosen of God, those who call on the name of the Lord as they find their lives enveloped by the Spirit of God.  They are basking in the light of God, each of them praising God in the language that He gifted them with.  As with the Israelites, they will escape the kingdom of darkness and now have a journey to live with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We see the cloud lift after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and then move to the head of the column.  Now the cloud will direct their journey, moving ahead, directing Moses to move when it moves and camp where it stops.  The Spirit of God is the director of their lives.  Sometimes, He places their lives in jeopardy, such as when they were at Rephidim.  The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded.  They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”  (Exodus 17:1-2).  The people grumbled greatly because they believed they were in the place of their demise due to the lack of water.  But God was in their presence richly, and He came to their aid by providing water from the rock: Christ.  This water kept them alive and accompanied them throughout their journey in the wilderness.  When the Israelites left Egypt, they did not realize that God himself would guide them through their journey to the Promised Land.  They did not understand such guidance would be provided for them.  God just showed up after they had placed the blood of the lamb on their doorframe.  This blood of the lamb was their redemption from the death angel.  This was their day of salvation.  After this day, the Holy Spirit showed up to guide them through their journey in life, the wilderness.  Pentecost reveals this reality.  The Holy Spirit is gifted to the people of God.  God reveals his presence to each one of his chosen by infilling each one with his Spirit.  He shows no favoritism--old, young, servants--all experience the presence of God within them.  In this world we have positions of status, of control and honor.  However, with the infilling of the Spirit, all are equal, all know God in their lives.  Even in the church of the living God there are roles, positions of authority and they should be honored, but in the domain of heaven, there are no special roles in the presence of God.  All are introduced by Jesus to his Father as children of the living God; all are accepted into the Eternal One’s presences as his children, begotten through the blood of Jesus.  When we see the multitude of the Israelites escaping Egypt, we do not know the condition of each person's heart.  We do not know if some are very reluctant to put the blood over the doorpost.  We do not know the content of their hearts, but we do know the blood paid the ransom for their lives.  They all received the presence of the Holy Spirit by the cloud by day and fire by night.  Revealing this presence is a gift of God, not something earned by their own efforts of purity.  We who are alive to God because of the blood of Jesus, do not earn the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He has not been given to us because we have packaged our lives in an acceptable manner to God; it matters not what bow we put on our lives.  What matters is the blood that has freed us from captivity, and because of our freedom, God has come to us through his powerful Holy Spirit.  We might have roles here, but God has honored us equally with his presence.  Notice, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  All will reveal they are partakers of the Spirit by the fact they will prophesy.  No longer will women and girls walk a step behind the men and boys.  All will be blessed equally.  All will rejoice for God’s gift of his Spirit.

At the Lord’s table we see the disciples gathered around Jesus.  John is leaning on Jesus’ shoulder and others are conversing with Jesus in an intimate way.  They are there because they are Jesus’ chosen.  All but one will follow Jesus to end of their lives.  After the resurrection, they will commit everything to Jesus’ will for their lives.  Except for John, they will die as martyrs for the cause of Christ.  At this supper, Jesus breaks this one loaf of bread and serves each one a piece of bread.  The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). No favoritism at the communion table.  They all partake of this bread.  He then takes one cup filled with wine and tells them to drink it.  There is no favoritism in drinking this wine: all will receive it as one cup of wine.  For in Christ there is one body, one Spirit.  We see on the day of Pentecost; one Spirit fell upon all of them.  However, each of them received a portion of what God’s Spirit had to offer him or her.  Pentecost as well as salvation is a gift from God, not earned but purely a gift.  Salvation comes to all who trust in God’s Word: Jesus Christ.  Pentecost comes to all who have the blood over their doorpost.  The cloud suddenly appeared to guide God's chosen to the Promised Land.  The Spirit of God shows up to guide every Christian to the Promised Land.  Some times in life the journey is tough, the terrain is difficult, and food and water are not always readily available.  But God tells us through his word, keep in step with the Holy Spirit; do not faint on the way, do not backtrack because you are afraid, hold steady for the ROCK is going with you.  Miracles are on the way, keep believing, keep praying, keep assisting the weak, keep announcing that the Lord’s favor has come upon all people.  Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  (Luke 2:10-11)  With the coming of the Lord, the Spirit of God comes to all who take the Messiah as their own.  We now know the truth of living in the Spirit of God.  He is with us at all times.  He has given us a new direction in our lives.  We are no longer bound by captivity to sin, but we are free, free indeed to live for God.  After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.  By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.  Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.  (Exodus 13:20-22)  How wonderful we have that promise that He is with us day and night.  Rejoice in that fact.  You are presently sitting in the presence of the Spirit of God.  No matter where you are now on your journey in life, no matter where you are camped, the Spirit of God is with you.  This is your promise: I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  (Matthew 28:20).  Jesus is with you through his Spirit.  His words are richly in you.  Let your ears be open to his comfort and his direction.  Amen!  

Acts 2:1-13 Be My People!

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

When the Israelites arrived into the land of Canaan, they were instructed by God to celebrate this wonderful event of entering the Promised Land by offering God the first fruit of the barley harvest.  This was a time of thankfulness to God for the great deliverance from slavery and for protecting them through their journey in the wilderness.  Later on this festival became known as a celebration of the Passover: the deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  After 50 days another celebration of the firstfruits of Canaan was demanded: the waving of the first cutting of wheat before the Lord.  This second celebration was known as Pentecost.  This second celebration of the first fruits of the harvest morphed into celebrating the day God gave the Torah (Law of Moses) on Mount Sinai to the Israelites.  Therefore, the first celebration of the harvest of barley became a remembrance of the Passover, God’s mighty hand in their deliverance from slavery.  The second festival fifty days later became a celebration for God giving them the Torah, the law of Moses.  In the context of Christianity, Jesus became the fulfillment of the first Jewish holiday, the Passover.  By his death, all who put Jesus’ blood on their lives by faith are delivered from Satan’s hold on them, setting them free to journey to the Promised Land.  Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God, shedding his blood for freedom from sin for all people.  The second celebration, Pentecost, in the Christian context is the infilling of the Spirit of all those who are free from the hands of the devil.  This day is when the Spirit of God enlivens all people who are IN CHRIST who have accepted his sacrifice for them.  Peter announces to the crowd that is gathered there that this infilling of the people is a fulfillment of Joel’s prophesy.  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.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  (Acts 2:17-18)  People will no longer just be known as children of God because of their ascent to the Lamb of God’s work, but also will be alive to God because of the Holy Spirit present in their lives.  They will demonstrate this reality by doing powerful things in the name of Christ.  This work of the infilling came with a rushing sound as wind and a visible sign of flames on the heads of the Christians.  Otherwise, the human senses of men were exposed to this miraculous event.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  The people’s physical senses were cognizant of something special and different happening to them.  It was not just a spiritual awareness, but something that activated their fleshly senses too.  

Under the Old Covenant, for people to approach God was a scary event.  To have God interact with people as He does on Pentecost was really an unknown event for people in general.  Special individuals in the Old Testament were allowed to come close to the Lord, as with Abraham, Moses, and with the prophets.  God, through his mercy and grace, allowed these people to know him without judgment on their lives.  These special dispensations show how earnest God was to salvage humankind from their rebellion toward him.  He ministered to these special people so He could bring men and women into his household.  But God is a consuming fire, and without his mercy and grace on lives, sinful humans cannot exist in his presence; people carry the stain of sin on their lives.  We see Moses' encounter with God accompanied by fire.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”  When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”  “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”  At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.  (Exodus 3:1-6)  We see God warning Moses not to come any closer because his sinful self would be destroyed by God’s holiness.  Later, we know Moses became a friend of God, but first he, as Abraham did, must believe that God is and that his word will be fulfilled no matter what the rational mind believes.  The word of God must be respected as the essence of life itself.  Sinful man will place his words before God’s creative Word.  Rebellion in itself is placing man’s understanding of life ahead of God’s  purpose for life.  Fire represents holiness.  We see in the giving of the law that Mount Sinai was covered with fire.  Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.  The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.  (Exodus 19:18)  The Lord told Moses to tell the people not to touch the mountain or they will have to die.  If a person disobeyed that instruction, no one should touch that person or he would die.  Any animal that wanders onto the mountain must die.  God’s holiness will not tolerate anything that is not absolutely perfect as He is.  Nothing outside of God’s holy domain can be in the presence of a perfect God: no blemish of any sort can exist in God’s perfection.  Jesus was emphatic about the nature of God and his perfection, his eternal nature.  As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.  “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone."  (Mark 10:17-18)  Jesus indicates clearly in this encounter that only God is eternal, only He exists forever.  All else is marked with death or imperfection, every human, every animal.  Only God is so good that He will exist forever.  In this scene, even Jesus will experience death, but not God.  In fact, God through his mighty Spirit raises Jesus from the grave to sit with him on the throne of God forever.  

Then, if God is so mighty, so good, that He cannot exist with sinful man as man is, why do we see on Pentecost, the fire of tongues settling on the followers of Jesus?  This holy fire that settles on each believer is God himself in his Spirit.  Through the complete and satisfying work of Jesus Christ, God has come to dwell in the inner sanctum of each believer.  No more would they be warned about touching the holy Mount of Sinai where the law would be given to Moses.  No, touching is one thing, but to be filled with the Holy Spirit is altogether another thing.  God is not up on the mountain, but now the hearts and minds of Christians are perfect because of the blood of the one and only perfect One, Jesus Christ.  We are clothed with his righteousness.  We walk in the midst of his holiness, not our own righteousness.  We have been give a place of perfection in God’s eyes because Christ is totally acceptable to God the Father, for He has been with the Father from the beginning.  “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.  This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  (Hebrews 8:8-10)  In Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, Jews from many countries were there to present their gifts to God, thanking him for their deliverance from Egypt, giving them lives of abundance.  These Jews from many lands were witnesses of the Holy Spirit’s infilling of the believers of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  When they heard Peter’s explanation of what they had witnessed, they became believers in the message of Jesus being the Messiah.  About 3,000 were added to the church that day.  These Jewish people from many lands went back to their homelands with this message, that Jesus is alive and that He had come to rescue people from their sins.  This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  This message would spread to many lands quickly after Pentecost, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.  No longer would Jesus be just the Messiah of the Jewish people, but He would be the Messiah of all people: God himself amongst people, everywhere.  The infilling of the Holy Spirit has made all people who place their trust in Jesus Christ friends of God.  Not just a few select people will know God as their friend, able to talk to God face to face.  But now, all humans who know Jesus as their Savior can be God’s friend.  Even better, they are Children of the Living God, priests in the body of Christ.  As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 2:4-5)   Pentecost, once a day when the Jews praised God for the abundant harvest of grain in their lives is now a day where all Christians praise God for the abundance of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  We have experienced Pentecost; we are free from the old self of the flesh.  We are now God’s servants with a desire to obey every dictate of the Spirit of God inside us.  Let that life flesh out in love for all people, everywhere.  Amen!   

 

   




 

  

 

Acts 1:18-26. Build on the Rock

Acts 1:18-26 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field: there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.  Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)   For, said Peter, it is written in the book of Psalm, “‘May his place be deserted: let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, may another take his place of leadership.  Therefore, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.  For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”  So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.  Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”  Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

In the above focus, we see Peter addressing the need to add another apostle to their group because Judas had betrayed the Lord, handing Jesus over to his enemies.  The number twelve has a connotation in Hebrew as being complete, satisfying the number to complete a task.  Twelve is also the number of Jacob’s sons, the fathers of the tribes of Israel.  Also Jesus promised the twelve disciples that in the kingdom of God they would sit on thrones and judge the tribes of Israel.  You are those who have stood by me in my trials.  And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  (Luke 22:28-30)  We know that when He promised the disciples that position of honor in the kingdom of God, the Lord knew Judas would betray him, but the promise was for twelve so a disciple must be added to the group.  Judas’ lack of fidelity to Jesus and his teaching came from his need to have money in his possession: his desire to have individual wealth.  Within the community of Jesus’ followers, he claimed to be concerned about the poor, yet his heart was not true but deceptive.  He was focused on his wellbeing, not the  condition of the poor.  But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?  It was worth a year’s wages.”  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.  (John 12:4-6)  This coveting of wealth is endemic in all humans to some extent.   Paul beseeches Timothy to cut away from the human tendency of desiring wealth and the security it brings.  He reminds Timothy as a servant of Christ he should live not for gain or recognition in this world but for the benefit of the Good News. But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  (1 Timothy 6:6-10)  Judas fell into this trap of coveting money.  His life ended with his bowels bursting out of his body, a tragic ending of a man that Jesus called by name.  We wonder how many times Judas heard his name called by Jesus as a name of endearment.  How many times did he hear the tone of Christ’s love for him in his ears, but his ears were stopped and his eyes blinded, so he did not really hear or see the Messiah.  He traded the Messiah, the Son of God, to his enemies for only thirty pieces of silver.  Jesus was not valuable to him.  We now see Peter calling for another disciple to be named in place of the disgraced Judas, completing the number twelve that will sit on the thrones in the Kingdom of God to judge the people of Israel.  

The choice of which one of these two men should be the twelfth apostle was chosen by lot.  By choosing the apostle by lot, they gave the selection to God.  Sacred lots were often the way God was given authority over the children of Israel in the Old Testament.  The tribes received their land allotment in Canaan by lot; it would be God’s choice, not theirs.  Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them.  Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.  (Joshua 14:1-2)  This was not a process of chance or perhaps gambling: it was done to allow God without man’s involvement or interference to choose the direction of his people.  God was heavily involved in guiding the Jewish community from the very beginning.  Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!  The God of the people of Israel CHOSE our ancestors; he MADE the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he LED them out of that country; for about forty years he ENDURED their conduct in the wilderness; and he OVERTHREW seven nations in Canaan, GIVING their land to his people as their inheritance.  All this took about 450 years.  (Acts 13:16-20)  Paul goes on and tells how God selected their judges and kings; God was involved in every part of the Israelites’ kingdom.  Yet they rejected his authority over them.  But now we see the people in the upper room placing God in his rightful place of authority by drawing lots for who should be the twelfth disciple.  The lot fell upon Matthias.  Matthias had been with the followers of Jesus from the very beginning.  He had been an observer in everything Jesus did for three years.  He probably participated in the seventy-two that Jesus sent out to towns that He was going to minister in.  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go!  I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.  (Luke 10:1-4)  Matthias was not only a follower, he probably was active in every part of the Lord’s mission of bringing the Kingdom of God to the people.  Jesus told his followers, Heal the sick who are there (in the towns) and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’  (Vs 9)

Matthias knew the cost of following Christ.  He had seen Jesus crucified.  He knew the hatred that the Jews had for the Christians.  He was aware of the fact that the disciples fled the scene when Jesus was arrested.  He maybe even knew of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  He had walked the same road that the disciples had walked with Jesus.  So he was not going into the role of apostleship without knowing the danger of accepting this position.  In fact, custom says he died a martyrs’ death.  But he was willing to go all the way with Jesus as a believer in Jesus’ divinity.  Of course, as Jesus’ popularity grew in his ministry of healing and casting our demons, many were his followers, but Jesus said to some of them, you follow me for the fishes and loaves, what you can gain from me as Judas did.  A number of them wanted to be in Jesus’ inner circle, the retinue around him.  As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  He said to another man, “Follow me.”  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”  Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:57-62)  Who is fit to for the kingdom of God?  Only those who are totally committed without looking back at anything in this world.  These people are those who are baptized into the will of the Father, not their own lives or wills.  God is still demanding zealous commitment from the followers of Jesus.  No one can follow Jesus rightly if he or she is double-minded.  James said that that kind of man will get nothing from the Lord.  A life of being half in and half out is a wasted life, a shallow life with little commitment to God under stress.  Sometimes faith in Christ and other times little or no faith in him, depending on the circumstances of life.  Mathias was not that kind of man.  He would go on with his life, testifying of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Something that would bring him great scorn and ridicule by the supposedly sane in the world.  As Peter said in the lot drawing, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.  This one was Mathias.  Jesus says to each one of us who name the Christ as our lives.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-29)  How can we find rest in our souls in a troubled and trying world?  How can we know the purpose of living in this awareness we call life?  We find it as Mathias found it, by committing our lives to Jesus Christ completely.  Peter said, Where else would I go.  You are the Christ.  Simon Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  (John 6:68-69)  Breakfast companions, have you come to believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God?  Is this belief part of every fiber of your being?  Does it fill your body from skin to skin?  Or is it just some philosophical belief you hold in your mind?  If it is not your everything, you will not hold firm when the trials of life enter your domain.  You must build your house on the Rock!   

 

 

Acts 1:12-19 Do Not Love the World!

Acts 1:12-19  Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.   When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.  Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.  They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.  He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”  (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.  Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

We see in the above focus that all the disciples but Judas were still followers of Christ.  In Jesus’ prayer about the disciples, He tells his Father that He kept all of them except the one whose heart was not receptive to his teaching: Judas Iscariot.  Judas depicts a rebellious world.  Even though exposed to Jesus’ teaching daily, his heart was worldly, centered on his  own needs and desires.  His walk with Jesus included stealing from money given to support Jesus' ministry.  Because he kept the purse, he was able to embezzle the money unseen or unquestioned by others, but Jesus knew what he was doing.  As a thief without a repentant heart, he was exposed to the works of the devil.  Satan’s plan was to kill Jesus, to get rid of him for good.  Therefore, Judas approached the chief priests and the teachers of the law with the intention of betraying the Lord.  The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.  And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.  They were delighted and agreed to give him money.  He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.  (Luke 22:2-6)  Judas spent many nights at Mount Olives with Jesus, a place almost a mile away from Jerusalem.  He knew Mount Olives would be a safe place for the authorities to arrest Jesus, for there would not be many of his followers there, probably only his disciples.  To arrest Jesus in the Temple would be dangerous for the authorities because Jesus’ many followers might use violence to prevent Jesus’ apprehension.  Of course, Jesus and his disciples were aware that the leadership of the Jews wanted him dead, but they also knew the Temple was probably a safe place to teach because of the Lord's many followers.  Jesus openly riled the priests with his claim that their father was the devil because of their murderous hearts.  He told them that Abraham could not be their father because their secret desire was to kill him, an innocent man, which would be a violation of the law of Moses they claimed to follow.  Judas, as all the disciples, was aware of the Jewish leadership's intense hatred of Jesus.  Consequently, his heart was eventually receptive to betraying Jesus for money.  For a long time, Judas was part of Jesus’ inner circle for his own interests.  Even though he was called to be separate from the crowd, he chose the world rather than fidelity to Christ.  His carnal heart loved the world more than the Messiah.  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  (1 John 2:15-16)  Thirty pieces of silver led to Judas' demise.  In remorse for his betrayal, his life ebbed out in the Field of Blood.

  

Satan had his way with Judas.  Judas’ ears were open to evil; consequently, he rejected God’s plan of redemption for mankind through Jesus.  His spiritual eyes were darkened by his own self-interest.  Even when partaking of the last supper with Christ, he could not accept Jesus’ words.  The Lord was in the process of ministering to his disciples as a servant to them as He served each of them the bread and the wine.  He broke the bread and offered it to them, just as He did after his resurrection to the two followers from Emmaus.  As he served these two disappointed followers of Jesus, they realized that the Great Servant of all people, Jesus the Christ, was in their midst.  Now we see at the Last Supper before the crucifixion, Jesus offers his disciples the bread of life and the wine.  Both the bread and the wine are allegories that represent new life through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  No longer would people face the necessity of being right with God through works.  Now salvation would be wholly through the works of Jesus, the Messiah of all people.  In the Last Supper we see Jesus epitomizing his work as the Great Servant of all people.  As He offers the cup of wine to his beloved disciples, He also tells them of the damage to anyone who does not receive the New Covenant in his or her life.  “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.  But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.  The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed.  But woe to that man who betrays him!”  They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.  (Luke 22:20-23)  Judas will leave that communion table with the devil’s plan in his heart.  He will leave the Great Servant of all mankind with the intention to have him arrested.  The devil had a deeper plan than just having Jesus arrested; he would have him killed by the hands of the leading Jews and Pilate.  Judas might not have conceived of the final outcome of the Lord, his death on a cross.  He might have thought that Jesus would just be arrested, held for a while in a prison.  But the father of the Jewish elite, the devil, wanted Jesus done away with, for He was a threat to his control over people.  And of course, for the Jewish leaders, He would damage their power over people and the deference they received from the community of Jews.  Jesus and his name must be done away with forever.

After Jesus finished offering the elements, the disciples started to argue about who is the greatest among them.  Jesus had just said that one of them would betray him, so they are postulating about who is the greatest among them, for that person would never betray the Messiah.  A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  (Luke 22:24)  It is interesting to note in this whole scene that by serving them, Jesus demonstrates who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God: of course, He is.  As with all humans since Adam and Eve’s temptation to be as God, the temptation of being great is in the hearts of men and women.  Some humans seek this worthiness aggressively and others passively.  Jesus quells this argument by saying, In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’  But among you it will be different.  Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.  Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves?  The one who sits at the table, of course.  But not here!  For I am among you as one who serves.  (Luke 22:25-27)  Jesus says, but NOT HERE; I have demonstrated to you today who is the greatest: the one who serves everyone as I have today at this supper.  If He, the Messiah, serves everyone, his followers should do likewise.  We see this theme of servanthood of God to people in the Old Testament.  God selected the rebellious, hard hearted Jewish people out of all the rebellious human beings of the world.  The Jews epitomized the rebellion of humans to God’s control.  However, for the wayward Jews, God's hand of protection was on them greatly because they carried his SEED through the loins of Abraham’s descendants.  God’s servanthood is revealed to the Israelites by delivering them out of Egypt.  He provides them continuous protection through the Holy Spirit’s presence: a cloud by day and fire by night.  His miracles are many and his hand provided them Canaan, a land fully developed, a land of milk and honey.  Otherwise, they are inundated by God’s servanthood presence.  Yet, they failed to be thankful for God’s faithful and enduring love to them.  They constantly hurt him by obeying, serving idols that are powerless to help them.  They even chose to be under the control of a man, a king, and not God.  Solomon warns them that if they reject the servanthood of God to them, they will fall into the hands of self-willed masters.  This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.  Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.  He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.  He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.  Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his Slaves.  When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”  (1 Samuel 8:11-18)  Such a heavy price for not having God in control of people's lives.  As Jesus said, But not here!  As the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city, they were left with a message to go into all the world and make disciples.  They were to present the bread of life to people.  They were to serve the cup of redemption to all people.  The apostles were not to win the things of this world as Judas had tried.  They were not to love the world or to try to gain recognition by their works.  Instead, they were to usher people into the Kingdom of God.  As they served, they would die in strange cities and foreign lands.  They would count their lives as nothing, for they had met the greatest Servant of all mankind: Jesus the Christ, the Lord of all.  Amen!  Let it be so!