“The Church’s Commission”

Scripture: Acts 2:37-47

This week, we finish our study of Acts 2. But even though we finish the chapter, that doesn’t mean that we can leave Pentecost behind for the next year. Pentecost must be more than just the appearance of the Holy Spirit, more than the first recorded instance of the gift of tongues, more than the day we celebrate the beginning of the Christian Church, more than just the claiming of 3,000 souls for Christ. Pentecost must become a way of life for all who believe and follow the Lord.

In Our walk through Pentecost, we have seen the promise that Jesus made to the disciples come true. John 15:26-27 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
We have seen the fulfilling of Joel’s prophesy of miracles, wonders and signs.
We have heard the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and new life proclaimed
And today, we will hear more. Today we take a look at the conclusion of Peter’s sermon, and then at what came of Peter’s call to all who would believe in Jesus.

Read Acts 2:37-40

Suddenly, the people are listening to the preacher. No longer are they hung up on the speaking in tongues that was ridiculed by the crowd. No longer are they simply amazed at what they are hearing. They are moved to cry out “What shall we do?”
They knew that they were in the presence of one who had the authority and blessing of God Almighty, and they knew that they were hearing a truth that they had, somehow, missed in the past. But the message was no longer being missed. They heard, they were convicted, and they wanted to do something about it.

And Peter tells them that the thing that they need to do is to repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you might be forgiven of your sins! They had come to know their sins for what they were, and the mere fact that they were God’s Chosen people could no longer be used as an excuse to keep living a sinful life. And 3,000 accepted the message that day, and they repented of their worldliness, and they were baptized.

But the promise didn’t end with their new membership! Peter also tells them that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. John 15:26-27 said that because of the coming of the Spirit, that the disciples must also testify about him, because they had been with him since the beginning. It could be assumed that the reference to “being with Christ from the beginning” referred to his ministry. But these folks had not! The “beginning” doesn’t, and can't, refer to the ministry, it doesn’t even refer to the moment of creation, it refers to pre-creation – the very beginning.
Since the “Beginning”, since God was, Jesus had been with these 3,000 people, and now they were with him, and they, too, would soon testify to Christ in their lives!

Read Acts 2:42-47

And evangelism is born! And just so we are all on the same page as to what evangelism is all about, I looked it up in Webster’s Dictionary. The first definition is this – “of, relating to, or being in agreement with the Christian gospel esp. as it is presented in the four Gospels”., and an additional thought is ”emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.”
And that is exactly what the people began doing.

They devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship. They would come together to study and learn – not by speculation and supposition, but by the apostles. The teaching would be conducted by followers who had been with Jesus for a while, and had learned from him. But everything wouldn’t continue nice and smooth. If we jump ahead and read 1 Corinthians, we discover that as the church grew, false teaching began to creep in, and new believers were being deceived. And this will continue to be a problem right up to today, and will be until Christ returns and again begins to teach us directly once more.
The problem is that humans like to theorize, and we like to figure things out for ourselves. And that’s not a bad thing, at least not until our theories begin to lead us away from what is true. And when we don’t have all of the truth, this is going to be inevitable. But when we stick to scripture – all of scripture – not one piece taken out of context, not one piece that is twisted to suit our own desires, and when we study as a body, we will find that God’s truth will rise to the surface and will prevail.
The second part – that about fellowship – is almost as important as the study. In our meeting together, our partnership in Christ is solidified and strengthened. Conversely, when we only join together once in a great while, we not only miss out on the teaching and strengthening, but we miss out on being part of the solidarity. And that is when the “untruths” begin to emerge.

The people would also devote themselves to communing with each other, and to prayer with and for each other. The early church would gather together for a meal, for communion, for prayer, and for study and worship. There was a unity unlike anything that had been seen before. And the church of 2011 doesn’t to have that. We don’t commune with each other nearly enough. Our lives get busy, we have other obligations, the job demands more and more of our time, and there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything! Unfortunately, the world is intruding into our spiritual lives and that isn’t good. We need to become more intentional with the fellowship and study and worship and prayer that we are called to be doing, and that includes me. We need to surrender to the unity that can only come from the Spirit of God.

But in that early day, there was a unity. Verse 44 tells us that “the believers were together and had everything in common.” That doesn’t just mean that they got together on a regular basis. It means that they were in agreement on all matters and that they were constantly ready, and even anxious, to help each other. If another person was in need, they saw to it that the need was cared for. They would give their possessions to others, and would even sell them off to raise money to benefit someone else. If there was a need, there was no question that the community of believers would stick together to resolve the situation.

And in all things, they praised God and rejoiced in the fellowship of each other. “Make disciples, baptize, and teach them what Jesus would have them know.” This wasn’t a commandment just for the 1st century church – it’s a commandment for all time. Being a Christian must be cyclic in nature. You come into the church, become a committed member through baptism, you study and learn about the faith, and go out to invite others into the fellowship. You then come back, to be refreshed, to learn some more, and go out again.

The people did just that and the church grew daily. More and more would turn to Christ, repent of their sins, receive baptism for forgiveness, and they would begin to learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Consider the last call that Jesus placed on us, the one we know as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 – 20.
First, make disciples, then baptize them, (both of which had happened at Pentecost), then teach them to obey the Lord’s commandments, and that is exactly what began to happen.

From an article in Interpretation, a study and preaching resource:
Regardless of denomination, evangelism retains for Christians its strong and rightful appeal. The reason is that it is not tangential to Christian faith but rooted in the apostolic identity of the church. From baptism and Sunday school, Christians are shaped by a biblical narrative that enjoins them to make disciples of all nations. The risen Jesus delivers his great commission on a mountain in Galilee. Peter stands up on Pentecost, and 3,000 persons are said to hear his summons to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And Paul travels the roads of the Mediterranean world on three journeys to proclaim God's salvation to the Gentiles. As the activity that corresponds to these narratives, Christianity is unthinkable without evangelism.
--Interpretation, April 1994, 116.

That’s what faith is all about – living in Christ and proclaiming him to the world! This is the Church’s commission, our charge. John 14:12 – “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these ..” The life of the Church - its very existence, its future, depends on the acts of the faithful. The church can’t grow unless we invite others to come to know Jesus. And we can’t invite unless we know what the fellowship of believers is all about in the first place. And we will never know the joy of fellowship unless we are part of it. And we will never know the joy that comes with faith unless we actively participate in it. And we will never be able to study and learn and grow unless we are invited.
But someone invited us – it was probably our parents, but it may have been a friend, it may even have been a stranger. Regardless of who it was, what a wonderful friend that person was! What greater gift could there possibly be?
So teh question for today must be "When will you return the favor and begin the cycle all over again?"