Acts 2:14a, 36-41
2:14a: But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to
what I say.
2:36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him
both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the
other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"
2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
2:39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him."
2:40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation."
2:41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand
persons were added.
There is a parallel in science to the "three thousand persons . . . added. Physics theorists think that, just before the Big Bang, the tiny point of matter that had just "appeared" (HAH! We know better!) suddenly & very rapidly expanded in size - it inflated! We could almost see the results of this Day of Pentecost as that critical expansion of the believers (from about 100 to over 3,000 in a single day!) before the church and the Christian faith "exploded" from Palestine into the rest of the Empire, and into all the world! Ken in WV
Hey, Ken in WV, this is powerful stuff, BOLD , power drink aid...The people are so thirtsy, water, need something to quench Grab that Holy Spirit Power Aid! Ken, I want to reach people, win souls for Kingdom, I have addeda few souls but/ I talked to a older preacher, he said had revival six days no one went to altar, are we preaching IN our Churches to Christians? I believe so. CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS, I tell my people to imagine their Church with just a roof, can see through two by fours to the road, sidewalk going past, people walking by... I am getting like John Wesley, Preach outside , undera tree mood LOL. Ladypreacher in OHIO
Ladypreacher, Acts 2 never mentions how the disciples ended up outside speaking to the crowds in Jerusalem, when they had begun inside! I think the Spirit must have driven them out (just like Jesus being driven into the wilderness). Well, Wesley had been banned from preaching in most of the Anglican churches in England, so he HAD to preach outside. But, I really think, in his case, too, it was really the Holy Spirit's work that put him outside, where the people could hear him and the word of God! I think Wesley's spiritual heirs are sometimes too busy hiding behind their walls to ever reach the place where the 'outsiders' will ever hear the Word from us again! But then, the Spirit has ways. . . Ken in WV
Dear Ken - I don't see in the text where it says they end up outside. I love the idea of moving in that direction in my sermon... Are you inferring that because there are so many people added and therefore could not fit inside?
I really like the promptings on this DPS site to think about "response to the word." That is where I am also moving. If the response to Peter's sermon is for folks to repent and be baptized. And if the Spirit comes to us at baptism, what is our response to baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit? The answer is in next week's lection... they devoted themselves to... (v. 42).
Amma in FL
Amma in FL:
You're right, I'm assuming 'outside' because of the crowd's size. 3,000 people repent and are saved at Pter's words, and we can probably safely assume that not everyone repented! That many people couldn't have fitted into the small house where the believers were.
I'm still leaning toward the comparison to the 'Big Bang' and that first rapid expansion which led to the first BOOM! That action was guided by the mysterious physics of the early universe, just as that amazing first response (!) to God's word was a result of the mysterious ways the Spirit moves when God's people bear witness. The Spirit's power can still explode today, as it did at Pentecost and for witnesses like Wesley, when we bear faithful witness to Jesus Christ. Ken in WV
The bible says that if you add or take alway my words,that all of the plagus will be added unto you.The bible says in Acts 2:38 repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your SINS and you shall recevie the gift of the Holy Ghost.Be very carefully how you add or take alway something in the bible cause it just might led someone the wrong way.GOD will always give his people understanding of his word and he dosent need anybodys help! Bro.Chris Tn
