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Acts 3:1-5: A funny thing happened on the way to the prayer meeting.

It is good to pray.

It is good to establish habits of prayer.

It is good to pray with others.

As Peter and John were doing their ‘duty’ (although I’m sure it was more to them than that) they met with opportunity. The plight of the needy man they met is conveyed in two words: ‘’carried’’ and ‘’put’’ (2). Where he was placed he had to stay. He couldn’t move under his own steam. He was a congenital cripple. Begging was the only way he could ‘earn’ a crust. It is possible to be so focussed on what we are doing that we don’t see people – not really see them;

…so busy we don’t see them;

…so distracted we don’t see them. (Have you ever been more preoccupied with the screen on your phone than with the person sat opposite or next to you?)

But ‘’Peter looked straight at him, as did John’’ (4). They gave him their full attention, and they asked for his (4). (As a preacher, I think you are more likely to gain a hearing from your congregation if they know you ‘see’ them; that you love them and care about their real life circumstances). It’s good to ask boldly (3), and with faith (5). But sometimes we set our sights too low. We can think we know what we need most, but God knows best. He did far more than this man asked. As someone said, ‘He asked for alms, but got legs!’ In a sense he did get the money he asked for (because now he could earn it), but he also got something infinitely more precious – his health.

So ‘’One day’’ (1) turned into a wonderful day. Any ordinary day that you go about your business as a Christian can turn into an extraordinary day by God’s leading – and that is ‘’Beautiful’’ (2).

PRAYER: Holy Spirit, lead me today to people you want me to meet, and may I be ready to give them what you have put into my hand to share. Help me to really see the people I come across in the course of this ordinary day.

Acts 2:42-47: Together (click here for the passage)

John Stott called this short passage ‘a beautiful little cameo of the Spirit-filled church.’ All the basics of church life are found here. It’s ‘not rocket science’ as they say. You don’t need a big building, a stage, a band, or PowerPoint! It can all be worked out quite simply in homes. Admittedly, they did use the ‘’temple courts’’ (46) – probably for the larger gatherings of the whole group. But they didn’t own a building. There were no church buildings, as such, for hundreds of years. They lacked many of the attractive features we have come to think are indispensable for success, but they had Bible teaching, fellowship, prayer life, and the breaking of bread. They saw miracles, and they were a ‘’devoted’’ bunch of people (42). They were ‘sold out’. Furthermore, God gave the growth.                                                                                                  At heart, they were a true community. The word ‘’together’’ is repeated three times in (44, 46). I once heard a preacher say that in the church today we have too many meetings and not enough meeting. But that was not the case with the first Christian community. They knew what it was to sacrifice and to share, and such an authentic community will always be a sign and a wonder in itself. In our materialistic, and often quite selfish culture, we need lots of little ‘lighthouses’ such as these dotted all over the landscape. They will always prove effective in saving many from the rocks.

In an age where more and more Christians are attending church less and less, we need to face the challenge of these verses. What is it about togetherness that we want to avoid and why?

Acts 2:37-41: Revival (please click for todays passage)

By any standards, this was a ‘miraculous catch’ (41). Twice during His ministry, Jesus had shown His followers that if they trusted and obeyed Him they would bring in a huge haul of fish. But I believe that in both those cases we see a foretaste of the spectacular growth of the church in ‘Acts’ as they went fishing for men. Here, the church grew from 120 to around 3,120 in a single day. How did they absorb all that growth? We are not told. They clearly did though. Somebody said, ‘We preach three thousand sermons to get one convert, but with one sermon Peter won three thousand.’ That is rather a gross over-simplification, I know, but it helps to see that what we call ‘revival’ is an unusual work of God.

Powerful ‘conviction of sin’ is one mark of all revivals (37). Before Peter got chance to tell the people what they should do about what he was saying, they asked! They were desperate to know. Twice in his sermon, Peter had told his hearers that they bore responsibility for the death of Christ (23, 36). Evidently he got through. The people felt like they were in the dock, with the Judge delivering the guilty verdict. He then puts on his black cap, and they know they are under the sentence of death. What can they do?

How wonderful then to hear about the possibility of forgiveness of sins, and sharing the same experience they had seen and heard that very day (38, 39; see 33) –of receiving the Holy Spirit. But first they had to repent of their sins and be ‘’baptized’’ (38). There were no exceptions to this requirement. Someone wrote that ‘The idea of an unbaptised Christian is totally alien to the thought of the New Testament writers.’ Baptism is mentioned twice in the space of a few short verses (38, 41). If repentance (and faith) are the inward part of conversion, baptism is the outward aspect.Baptism on its own won’t save anyone. It is intended to be linked to repentance. But it is indispensable.

I think verse 41 indicates that not all the people in the crowd ‘’accepted’’ the message, but vast numbers did. Yet although there is a strong emphasis on the human response in these verses, the real reason for any conversion lies in the mystery of God’s sovereignty (39).

PRAYER: I pray, Lord, that you will send revival, for the glory of your Name.

Acts 2:32-36: Who done it?!(please click for todays passage)

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the work of the risen Jesus (33). In itself it points to the truth that Christ is alive.                                                                                                     The emphasis throughout the New Testament is that God raised Jesus from the dead. Although the Lord had the power to lay down His own life and take it up again (John 10:18), the clear message is that God the Father ‘done it’. The resurrection is the divine seal of approval on all the claims of Jesus, and of His saving work on the cross.

Somebody said that the resurrection is God’s reversal of the human verdict on Jesus. Someone put it this way: people said, ‘He’s too bad to live; out of the world with Him.’ God said, ‘He’s too good to stay dead; back into the world with Him.’ Jesus took His case to a higher court, and that court reversed the conviction. Jesus won the appeal.

‘’God has raised this Jesus to life…’’ (32a). Yes, this Jesus I’ve been talking about, says Peter; this Jesus who was in the grave for a very short time; this Jesus you ‘’put…to death’’ (23); ‘’whom you crucified (36)”, this Jesus whose resurrection king David prophesied (and see a further prophecy here in 34, 35 – taken from Psalm 110:1; ‘’God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact’’ (32). When Peter ‘’stood up’’ to preach this sermon, it was ‘’with the Eleven’’ (14). Peter could point to others who had seen the risen Christ. He wasn’t some maverick, going out on his own on this point. He wasn’t a spiritual ‘lone ranger’. He was dealing with a verifiable ‘’fact’’. I once heard a lovely Greek evangelist speaking. Whenever he tried to say ‘the book of Acts’ it sounded like ‘the book of facts!’ I thought his repeated, charming mispronunciation was a proclamation of truth. I was hearing what he didn’t intend to say, but what I heard was true.

We don’t know what 2017 will hold for our world, our nation, or for ourselves. But step into it holding tightly to the fact that Jesus is alive: ‘’…be assured of this’’ (36). And know that even when men do their malevolent worst (and no one will commit a worse atrocity than crucifying Jesus) God has the final say. Man did not have the last word with Jesus; nor did death;  Almighty God did. He always will. The resurrection of Jesus is the pledge of this. He turns the tables, and no-one will thwart His eternal purposes. He is on the throne. Our God reigns.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is good to know that you live. Cause me to live with this assurance that death and evil and hell are defeated and you are ‘’both Lord and Christ.’’ Hallelujah.

 Acts 2:24-31: A hole in history.(please click for passage)

I read that someone once asked the great librettist (and wit!) William S. Gilbert, ‘Is Beethoven still composing?’ Gilbert replied, ‘No, decomposing.’ Death and ‘’decay’’ are the normal human experience. We die, and in the grave our bodies decompose. From dust we come, and to dust we return. It is sobering, and it is humbling, but it is true. It’s something we all have to face, whether we like to or not. ‘Change and decay in all around I see…’  But in the case of Jesus, although death was in His experience, decay wasn’t. A dead body would decay swiftly in that hot climate, but Jesus’ body suffered no decomposition. Furthermore, this state of affairs was predicted in Psalm 16, according to Peter. David, great king that he was, still died, and his body decayed. This was a verifiable fact. Everybody listening to him knew it. So David was not speaking about himself in that psalm. No, he was a prophet and saw, looking through the long telescope of time, the resurrection of Jesus on the far horizon. Peter had insight into David’s foresight.

It is now true for everyone who puts their trust in Jesus that they will not be ‘abandoned’ to the grave. Yes, they will still go to the grave – temporarily. Their bodies will decay. But they will not stay there rotting forever. Resurrection day is coming (John 5:28, 29). ‘The sky, not the grave, is our goal’. The grave is a waiting room, not the final destination.

It is sometimes argued that the resurrection idea gained ground because the body of Jesus had been removed, or stolen (it amounts to the same difference). But think about this, Peter was preaching this message not very far from where Jesus had been laid in the tomb. All some enemy of the disciples had to do was to parade His dead body through the streets of Jerusalem. Someone noted that they would be able to ‘smother Christianity in its cradle.’ But the big fisherman could speak ‘’confidently’’ about the resurrection as he went angling for men (29). He had seen the empty tomb; he had met, spoken with the living Christ. He had been personally commissioned by Him. He was convinced that no compelling evidence would be brought forward to contradict him (see 1:3).

Somebody once said something like this, and I’ve thought about these words often in recent days: ‘If the coming of Jesus has left a hole in history the size and shape of the resurrection, with what does the secular historian propose to fill it?’

PRAYER: I am so thankful Lord Jesus that you live!

Acts 2:22-28: They know you know.(please click here for the passage)

At one time, it was fashionable in some academic circles to dismiss Luke as a reliable historian. It was agreed that he wasn’t! But then along came an archaeologist called William Ramsay, who verified that at point after point Luke’s historical detail, as found in ‘Acts’, is bang on. It’s as well to bear in mind Luke’s introductory words in his gospel (Luke 1:1-4) as we listen to this record of Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Note that:

• Peter spoke with confidence (22): ‘’as you yourselves know.’’ He knew that the people in this huge crowd also knew that his assertions about Jesus were correct. We should not miss the significance of this. He wasn’t preaching that Jesus was ‘just a good man’. He was making big claims about Him. If these things were not as he said, he could have quickly lost his congregation. But no, he could appeal to their real and recent knowledge. He knew he was on a firm footing;
• Peter spoke boldly (23). He was not afraid to call sin ‘sin’; not scared to spell out in detail their specific sin of rejecting/crucifying the Lord. He must have known that these people were capable of turning on him too. But he went for it. He took a big swing, and obviously connected sweetly with the ball (37). It is sometimes said that the resurrection of Jesus transformed the disciples. Well, it obviously did. But I believe one preacher was correct to emphasise that the resurrection made them glad; it didn’t make them bold. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that changed the previously fearful Peter (for example) into a roaring lion of a man;
• Peter spoke Biblically (24-28). He said ‘’it was impossible for death to keep its hold’’ on Jesus, and he made his point by quoting Psalm 16:8-11. He had insight to see that the words of this Psalm pointed beyond David, and we’ll pick up his thought in the next notes. At one time, the ‘Elim’ churches held great services in the Royal Albert Hall on Easter Monday. I still remember the thrill of the great organ rumbling like an earthquake beneath the words of a hymn: ‘Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Saviour; He tore the bars away; Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes…’

HE TORE THE BARS AWAY! It was impossible that it should be any other way, Peter said. He had seen it in the Bible.

Never forget that Pentecost is all about the living Lord Jesus. It only happened because He lives.

Matthew 1:19: Doing the right thing.(please click for todays passage )

This is a brief hiatus in our series on ‘Acts’, but this verse popped into my mind while out on a walk, and I could see its relevance to the Christmas season:

‘’Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public grace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.’’

Here are my thoughts on this:

• God sees our hearts. He knows those who want to do ‘the right thing’. He saw this virtue in Joseph and had it recorded in His Word. What an honour God has placed on the man;
• Sometimes, though, wanting to do the right thing, we formulate plans that are not in the will of God. Now, it’s good to live life in a ‘’considered’’ way (20a); not recklessly, thoughtlessly and carelessly. And our thoughts may lead us to do legitimate things; good things; but they may not always be the best We can have handsome looking plans that do not come from heaven;
• But knowing the heart of Joseph; seeing his desire to do the right thing, the Lord gently directed him into the right paths.With a little adjustment of the ‘steering wheel’ Joseph began to go in the right direction. So the Lord gave him what he, in his heart of hearts most desired. He just wanted to do the right thing.

‘’He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake’’ (Psalm 23:3).

 Prayer: Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd of your sheep, I claim this word for my life today. You know I long to do the right thing. Lead me to do it, for the honouring of your Name.

Acts 2:14-21: Seeing and seizing opportunities.(please click here for todays passage)

‘’Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’’ (1 Peter 3:15).

 It was Peter who wrote these words some years after he had exemplified them on the day of Pentecost. What he said in his sermon was a response to questioning (12). Something had happened in the church/to the church, that grabbed the attention of the masses. Suddenly it was a city on a hill that couldn’t be hidden.

This passage is instructive about our witness to Christ. Here are some vital ingredients:

1. Try to answer the questions people are asking. More often than not, we need to start where they are; scratch where they itch. ‘’What does this mean?’’…’’this is that’’ (12, 15).Michael Green said you need to row your gospel ‘boat’ around a person’s life, and decide where is the best place to ‘put in’. What questions are they asking?
2. Answer with courage (14). This is the second time in ‘Acts’ that we read about Peter standing up. It’s not nice to be ‘’made fun of’’ (13), and scorn/mockery can easily turn a person into a ‘shrinking violet’. But not so with Peter.He ‘’raised his voice’’. In the face of severe enemy fire, he blew the whistle, climbed out of the trench, and led the charge. (This is the difference the Holy Spirit can make in a person’s life. It was the same Peter who only recently, under great pressure, had denied His Lord. See Acts 1:8. Peter is living proof of this text);
3. Answer with clarity: ‘’let me explain this to you’’ (14). Do your best to make yourself as clear as possible. If at all possible, polish the windows of your words until they sparkle and gleam;
4. Realise you’re not alone: ‘’Then Peter stood up with the Eleven…’’ (14). Peter took the lead. He ‘’addressed the crowd’’; but he was aware that he was not out there exposed and alone. He was the ‘centre forward’; he was about to put the ball in the back of the net. But he never forgot that he was part of a team. He must have felt their solidarity with him; felt them pulling for him;
5. Be immersed in the Bible (16-21). Peter knew his Old Testament Scriptures really well, and inspired by the Spirit, he was able to draw out the right words for the context. Part of being able to communicate clearly involves getting to know the Bible as well as possible, and thinking through how to put its message across.

When all is said and done though, we know that the ‘seed’ will fall into different kinds of soil. So ‘’listen carefully’’ (14) is an important message. A failure to respond does not necessarily come from a failure on the part of the messenger. It may just be that the good seed has fallen into poor soil.

PRAYER: Help me Lord to always be ready to answer the questions others ask about my faith in you.

Acts 2:1-13: The great need of the church.

As much as I don’t like to admit it, Christmas is all but over for another year. We seem to spend weeks, if not months, preparing for it, then it’s all over in a big bang. As we now prepare for new year, today’s reading reminds us of what is always the great need of the church: to be perpetually renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Speaking on this passage, David Pawson made the point that when a house is on fire you have no publicity problems. People come to see for themselves what is going on. It’s the same when the church is ‘on fire’.

David Watson observed that Pentecost began not with preaching, but with praise (11).He added that a praising church preaches to answer questions raised by its praise (12, 13). Of course, there will always be people who just don’t ‘get it’ when the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work; and there will be others who poke fun. Sadly, some of them will be ‘insiders’.

Both David’s were correct in what they said. Their points are complementary. Something happened to the church at Pentecost, but it affected the world, and, as we will see, large numbers were converted.

That Christmas tree, looking so dull and unimpressive in the corner of the room, suddenly burst into life once it is illuminated. It looks like a different tree. It is so attractive; you can’t take your eyes off it. It can be that way with the church.

Revive us, Lord, again.

PRAYER: ‘’Revive thy work O Lord, create soul thirst for thee. And hung’ring for the Bread of life, O may our spirits be.