The First Day of Church {Acts 2}
5:00 PM
Monday Feb. 10, “Walking in Wisdom”
After the death and resurrection of Christ, the disciples had gathered together to celebrate Pentecost, the Jewish Feast of Weeks. “Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.", (vs. 1-4). Can you imagine what a glorious spectacle that must have been! One minute the disciples were ordinary men meeting and worshiping together, the next they were filled with the Holy Spirit; preaching in all languages to all peoples about the "mighty deeds of God."
While Jesus walked the earth, He was able to physically minister to His followers; providing strength, healing, and teaching. But soon He would be returning to sit at the right hand of God. And so He told the disciples, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." (John 14:26) That Helper is the Holy Spirit; a Helper not reserved for the disciples alone, but for each of us as well. For the very minute we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell also in us; beginning the work of shaping and conforming us into the likeness of Jesus. And not only is He sent to help, comfort, and guide us, the Holy Spirit is also God's seal on us marking us as His very own.
As wonderful as that particular day of Pentecost was with the outpouring of the Holy Spirt, an equally wonderful thing also happened that day. That day the Lord’s church was established. “The church is the body of Christ, of which He is the head. “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” (Ep. 1:22-23) The body of Christ is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost until Christ’s return. “ (gotquestions.org)
With all of the fighting and strife in the world, in the church, and amongst Christians themselves, my heart longs to be a member of that first church of believers. To be a part of such pure joy, love, and fellowship! For in that gathering, the people weren’t gossiping about each other. They weren’t debating doctrine. They weren’t arguing over who was the greatest, most giving, or most knowledgeable. They weren’t pronouncing judgments on each other. Nor were they busy glorifying themselves or their works. Instead, at that gathering all the members of the church were busy rejoicing in their love for God and demonstrating their love for each other. “All the believers were together and had everything in common.They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 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.” (vs. 44-47)
In the current climate, there is more than enough hate to go around. And it’s easy to get caught up in the anger and turmoil of the day. But as the church, as Jesus’ representatives on earth, shouldn’t we strive to do better? To be better? Shouldn’t we want to get back to the same rejoicing, generosity, togetherness, and worship demonstrated by the early church? Shouldn’t we have hearts which share God’s will to be beacons of light in a dark world? If that is indeed our will, the Holy Spirit is the way. For the more we walk in His power, the more the fruit of the Spirit becomes evident in our lives. What is the fruit of the Spirit? James tells us, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23) So lets get back to being the church the Lord established on that glorious Day of Pentecost. May each of us, out of love and joy, let the fruit of the Spirit flow abundantly through us to others. And may the Lord’s church be so powerful a witness that Jesus can add to the number daily, “those who were being saved.” (vs. 47)
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