After Pentecost, Luke shifts the narrative to a general description of the inner life of the church in Jerusalem. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42, NKJV). The four items noted appear to be basically teaching and fellowship. According to verse 46, the … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 2:42-46; Acts 4:34-35; Acts 3:1-26; Acts 4:1-18; Acts 5:1-11; Acts 5:34-39. Memory Text: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:46-47, NIV). The early church’s sense of urgency … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost revealed a crucial truth about what happened in heaven and about how God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of the world. The outpouring of the Spirit showed, too, that Christ’s work in heaven in our behalf, based on His sacrifice on earth, was … Continue reading –>
Peter’s hearers were cut to the heart by his words. Some of them might have been among those who asked for Jesus’ crucifixion a few weeks before (Luke 23:13-25). But now, persuaded that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed God’s appointed Messiah, they cried out in sorrow: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Read Acts 2:38. What are the … Continue reading –>
“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). In the third part of the speech, Peter went back to the issue of tongues, which had attracted the people in the … Continue reading –>
The charge of drunkenness gave Peter the opportunity to explain what was happening. In his speech, the apostle first pointed to Scripture (Acts 2:16-21), describing the outpouring of the Spirit as the fulfillment of prophecy. Compare Acts 2:17 with Joel 2:28. How did Peter understand the time of fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy? Joel’s prophecy was about the future age … Continue reading –>
In Acts 2:4, the gift of the Spirit was manifested through speaking in tongues. Yet, this gift was only one of many different manifestations of the Spirit (Acts 10:45-46; Acts 19:6). Others include foretelling the future (Acts 11:28), visions (Acts 7:55), inspired speech (Acts 2:8, Acts 28:25), healing (Acts 3:6, Acts 3:12; Acts 5:12, Acts 5:16), and qualification for service (Acts 6:3, Acts 6:5). The gift of tongues … Continue reading –>
In obedience to Jesus’ command, the believers waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Spirit, and they waited amid fervent prayer, sincere repentance, and praise. When the day came, they “were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1, ESV), probably the same large upper room of Acts chapter 1. Soon, however, they would move to … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 2:1-4, John 14:16, Acts 2:5-13, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:22-39, Ps. 110:1-3. Memory Text: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: “The whole interim period between Pentecost and the Parousia [Second Coming] (however long or short) is to be filled with the world-wide mission of the church in the power of the Spirit. Christ’s followers were both to announce what [H]e had achieved at [H]is first coming and to summon people to repent and believe … Continue reading –>
