Acts 2:38-40, ‘Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”’
We see every one of them came together on ‘The day of the Pentecost’ and then ‘Peter’s sermon’ starts from Acts 2:14. This sermon was the first sermon of Peter, on the day of Pentecost. Four things Peter is mentioning here,
- Repent
- Be Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins.
- Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Be saved from this perverse generation.
As we see in verse 1, ‘When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.’ When everyone gathered together on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and every one heard Peter’s sermon about the fulfillment of the Law – ‘in Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and the promise of God about receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ being made the Lord and Christ’; v37, ‘the people were pierced to the heart and were eager to know what they must do next’. Each one of them responded.
For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” – This promise is for us and our children as well. The people were amazed by listening to Peter, when he mentioned the prophecy from prophet Joel.
but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; 18Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.
The day of the Lord is very near. In these last days, God wants all of us to be filled with His Holy Spirit in all its fulness. He is pouring His Holy Spirit on all mankind.
2 Timothy 3:1-5, ‘But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.’
We see what is happening in the last days, so how are to avoid all these characteristics, how do we cling, to the promise of God to all the mankind, about filling us with His Power of Holy Spirit? about pouring out of His Holy Spirit on all mankind? In our local body, God wants every one of us – brothers, sisters, children to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. What is hindering this to happen to us? It depends on us; we need to choose from our ‘free will’ that God has given us. We are to have this desire to be always filled with His power of the Holy Spirit. As they asked Peter – ‘having pierced in their hearts, asked Peter, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ we also as an individual, need to – ‘have a separation from this perverse generation’, ‘being continually filled with the power of the Holy Spirit’, our cup must be filled and should overflow from living an overcoming, victorious and living an ‘abundant life’ in these last days.
What shall we do? Zechariah 4:10, ‘10 For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.”’ God is encouraging us here that, ‘in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, in our daily circumstances and activities, we cannot despise the small things happening to us – in our Family, Workplace, relationships, in the local Body of Christ – we need to have that sensitivity in our conscience, to know – ‘what is God’s purpose through these small situations, in our personal lives?’ asking God’s help how to deal with the situations, reach out to God – ‘choose this decision of asking God’s help’ in our free will.
8 Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. We can’t run away from smaller trials, in our lives, do not take small things lightly, not having confidence in ‘self’ but asking God, for His help of the Holy Spirit. God will lead us. We cannot despise the small spiritual steps where God wants us to learn and follow His ways, His will, in our lives. Do not be condemned. We can come out victoriously through the promise of filling of His Holy Spirit. When we consider our every day life, from morning till the end of the day, we go through many situations in our Family – spouse and children, where we need to make godly decisions, are we choosing what God wants us to choose? How much are dependent on God? Do not take these things lightly. Let us repent and choose to be filled with His Holy Spirit, then we can be ‘one in Spirit’, as we come together, in ‘the body of Christ’.
Acts 4:32, ‘And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them’ We see here, the disciples after being filled with the Holy Spirit, they were separated from the world and worldly things and they were concerned only about growing spiritually.
Acts 2:46,47, ‘46Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved’. As members of the body of Christ, we need to have very sensitive conscience in all the matters and individually we all need to grow spiritually. Do not despise small things. The Lord is watching us. Do not seek to do our own will, but seek the Lord and be filled with His Holy Spirit and He will transform us into His likeness.
John 16:8, ‘8And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;’ Holy Spirit is our counselor, comforter and keeper, who will remind us, convict us of our ‘sin, righteousness and judgment’. Let us take the help of the Holy Spirit to come out of our trials, victoriously by obeying. We need to be humble and seek His grace and be filled with His Holy Spirit.
Joel 2:18 – 19,’ 18Then the Lord will be zealous for His land And will have pity on His people. 19The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.’
We see here, the deliverance promised. Then we see the promise of all the mankind to be filled with His Holy Spirit in the last days. The Holy Spirit helps us to be separated from this world. Let us always seek God for His power, to lead an overcoming, victorious life. Let us practice this in our individual life and we will have freedom in our family life, our local body, as we come together, we can be one in Spirit and can do our functions effectively. Let us put all our things –‘which we plan, our decisions’ on the altar. Ask God, ‘let Your will be done’ and let the Holy Spirit comfort and counsel us, if things do not go on our own way. How blessed are we to be the children of God!
Let us also heed to what Holy Spirit is saying to us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 – ‘For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these’. ‘Let us be self-less, reaching out to the helpless, staying together, sharing with those in need’, according to the Acts 2. Let us covet the Holy Spirit and claim the promises of God. Let us be faithful in little things. Let us not despise small things. Lord is watching over us. Let us be faithful in our responsibilities in our personal relationships as well.
Mark 4:30-32, ‘30And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”’ Let us be cautious, as this farmer, who takes all this care to plant a mustard seed, not despising the small things. God promised to fill each one of us with His Holy Spirit, let us seek His face continually. He will build His body of Christ and will help us to be separated from this wicked, perverse generation.
