Acts 2:22-47

 Acts 2:22-47

In his first gospel sermon Peter first quotes from Joel to explain the phenomenon of the Holy Spirit then he quotes for the first time an Old Testament passage about the Messiah. This passage is Psalm 16:8-11.  In a single verse indeed in one phrase Peter tells us much about the life of the disciple. Quoting David, Peter claimed, for himself and for us, that we can enjoy the constant company of the Lord. This first phrase "I was always beholding the Lord in my presence” is better translated to tell us  “before our face the Lord is constantly there”.   

Before Peter addresses the resurrection he tells us about the presence of the Lord. Let’s us not miss that point.  Before we are told of the means of salvation, the resurrection, we are told the meaning of salvation, the Lord’s constant companionship.  The resurrection is the central point of our faith. Without the resurrection Christianity is really a sham posing as a philosophy. The resurrection means that we can enjoy the Lord's consistent and constant presence in our lives. 

There is another often misunderstood passage here.  "…he is at my right hand…” This is not about regal enthronement, remember this Psalm is written from David’s perspective. It was the custom of the time for ‘The Advocate’ to stand to the right of their client, with the client on the left of the advocate. Here David, perhaps beyond his full understanding, it's telling us that the one who is always with us is pleading our case for us. The verse offers an interesting picture "the Lord", Jehovah is constantly with us pleading our case for us.  In the understanding of the Old Testament the term “Lord” refers to the personal name of God.  The question that this phrase would bring to the ancient mind would be, “To whom is God advocating?”  The deity of the Son, and the Trinity of the godhead are implicated in this passage.  And this is only the first quote about Christ in this early sermon of the Gospel age. 

What is the practical meaning of God advocating for us. The next phrase of the quote says, "that I might not be shaken ". The word for ‘shaken’ is descriptive of a storm tossed ocean. And the Jewish worldview the ocean was one of the passageways to the world of the dead. The chaotic storm-tossed ocean was how a person would travel from this world to Hades.  While the world of a disciple will the time be storm-tossed, in the midst of that chaos we are not shaken because of the constant presence and advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ who is pleading our case for us.

"Lord, Help me hold on the the hope that I will never be shaken. AMEN"

Acts 2:1-21

 Acts 2:1-21

The day of Pentecost ought to be celebrated and observed more than it is. For many Christians it is not noticed at all. For some it is little more than a date on a calendar. For others it is an occasion to argue over the role of the Holy Spirit. In reality it ought to be second only to Easter in importance in the Christian calendar. The birthday of the bride of Christ ought not be overlooked. We would benefit greatly from an annual reflection on the reasons that the Lord gave us the Church. It would be a time to reconsider, reflect, and renew our understanding of why we are on earth and what we ought to be doing about it.

This is consistent with what we see in the record of the first Pentecost of the church age. After a description of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the surprise of the crowds, we get a wonderful insight. Before Peter speaks to the crowd in general, there is a description of what the other apostles were saying. After Luke lists the various language/people groups, he tells us, “…we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” We often hear that Peter’s sermon was the first sermon of the Church age. That is not specifically true. Peter’s sermon was an explanation of how these other sermons were offered. The first sermons were about “...the mighty deeds of God”. They didn’t offer sermons on psychology or self-help, or how to get what you want in life, or some form of therapy. Rather, they began talking about the mighty deeds of God. We don’t know what deeds they were talking about specifically, but in view of the season and recent events, it almost certainly would have been associated with the Passover, Exodus, and God’s ongoing plan of redemption in the past, present, and future. Not a bad subject for the church to talk about. 

"Lord, help me to always point people to the mighty works of God.  AMEN"