Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 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!" So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day 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, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
My thoughts -
The disciples have received the Holy Spirit and are speaking in tongues. Each person in the crowd hears them in their own language and is amazed. This must be a raucous event to observe from the outside, as speculation arises that all of these people are drunk.
So Peter comes forward and says that they aren't. He says it's only the third hour of the day. I've known people for whom that would not be an obstacle for drunkenness. But Peter says "Look at the time. We haven't been drinking! Come on, man!"
And then Peter tells them why they're acting this way. Peter tells them all about Jesus. Peter gives one heck of a sermon and we pick up in this passage immediately after it with the people's response.
This sermon was convicting. It says the people "were pierced to the heart". God's word has gotten through and now they want to know "what shall we do?"
So Peter tells them. Repent! Isn't that the message God always has for us? Repent! Turn from your sin. Turn back to God. Repent.
I know a lot of pastors who would do pretty much anything to have to opportunity to do what Peter does next. He baptizes three thousand new believers. I'm pretty sure this was the first alter call in Christianity. I'll let the scholars get back to me on that.
God is working here. We don't have people just "giving their lives" in some kind of academic sense. They are literally giving their lives. Their conversion doesn't end with some kind of academic "acceptance" of Jesus as their saviour. They are giving their lives. They are selling all they have and sharing with the needy. They fellowship and worship with each other daily. Think about that the next time you're not sure you have time to make it to church this week.
They're seeing and doing all kinds of amazing things for the Lord. Now I wonder, do they this faithful because of the amazing things, or do the amazing things happen because they are this faithful? This is a community on fire. And it is growing and spreading like a wildfire. You start with eleven people and within days have thousands. And out of those thousands you end up getting what has become Christianity as we know it today.
All of this happens because people hear the word and repent. They are baptised and they are faithful. They do God's will, they worship God and they care for the needy.
It wasn't all roses. The early church faced serious persecution and death. Many of the people who were there on the day of Pentecost were eventually martyred for their faith. But they remained faithful. The heard God's word and they responded.
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