Acts 2: Devotion

The second chapter of Acts chronicles the incredible display of the power of the Holy Spirit as God poured it out upon these believers. We have looked at the salvation that was revealed, the judgment that was revealed, and the power that was revealed as promised by our Lord that these people would become His witnesses. In verse 42 we see that these believers were changed...they "continually devoted" themselves to the apostolic teaching of the Gospel, fellowship with one another including breaking bread together, and to prayer.

In verse 43, we see that the apostles continued to perform signs and wonders. This is the same phrase used earlier to describe the manner in which God attested that Jesus is the Messiah. I take from this parallel usage that God now was attesting that the apostolic teaching of the Gospel was the true message of the Messiah, the promised Good News of the New Covenant and therefore God was declaring the certainty of the hope that is, and that is to be revealed. In chapter 3, we will see a specific example of the apostolic signs and the validation that they bring upon the Gospel that they are heralding.

Such things are overwhelming. God demonstrated in power with wondrous events that Jesus is the Messiah, that His judgment is against those who oppose Him, even those who were once His people, but now are not His people if they continue in unbelief.

My friends, we need to be overwhelmed. We must be driven from our whimsical nature to lives of continual devotion. This passage calls us to consider the great events of those first days of the New Covenant and we ought to be amazed. Perhaps as we study these accounts we realize that reading about them may not bring the same amazement that we may have had if we were there, experiencing the rushing sound of the Spirit, seeing the manifestation described as the tongues of fire, experiencing the miracle of the tongues. But these signs testify of the reality that can overwhelm us with incredible power. These all attest that the Holy Spirit will empower the people of God to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Christ and that we will be driven to devotion when we are led by the Spirit.

Let us thirst for this power! Let us ask for this power! And let us seek this power in faith, knowing that it is the will of our God to display His glory through the Good News concerning the Lord and Messiah, Jesus Christ!