“And they continued steadfastly . . .” – Acts 2:42a
Acts chapter 2 is where the Spirit is poured out in power on
120 disciples including the apostles. At the end of that chapter the church is
born. Acts 2:42-47 is an account of the growth and formation of the church.
These verses give us God’s model for the
Spirit built church. As we look at these verses we should ask, Is this what my church looks like? It
should be. Every church should be a Spirit built church. Every church should
look like this. I believe the revival we need in the church and for our nation
will come when we get back to this Spirit built model for the church.
The first thing we see here is that the Spirit built church is filled with people who have a passion for God and ministry.” It states, “And they continued steadfastly . . .” (Acts 2:42a). The phrase, “continued steadfastly” is translated
from one Greek term proskartereo
which occurs ten times in the New Testament being translated as “continue” four
times, “continue instant” once, “continue steadfastly” once, “attend
continually” once, “give (one’s) self continually” once, “wait on” once, and “wait
on continually” once.” [1]
The grammatical form of the word emphasizes an ongoing persistence. It means,
“to be earnest toward, . . . to persevere, be constantly
diligent, . . . to adhere closely
to. . . .” [2]
These disciples were wholeheartedly
committed to, passionately dedicated to, zeroed in on and focused upon the
things mentioned about the church, which follow here.
Think of the focus people have at
the critical time of a movie or a sports match. Think of how you would hang on
every word of someone who was bringing information that was of particular
interest to you. These people lived
for their life in the Spirit and what God was doing. There was nothing else in
their lives that came close to challenging their interest and dedication to the
work of the Spirit in and through them and their brothers and sisters in
Christ. When the Spirit spoke, they jumped to ready service.
This first aspect of the Spirit birthed church is essential. It is the
energy that propels us and empowers us to fulfill what follows. When the Spirit
comes He empowers. And that power will in part be evidenced by a passion for
God and His work. Do you have a passion for God and His work? When you look at
the people of God in Acts, do you see more similarities or more
dissimilarities?
God’s plan for all people is that they become like Jesus (Rom. 8:28).
This is the holy work of the Spirit in us. Jesus had a zeal and passion for the
house of God (John 2:13-17). He had compassion for people (Mat. 9:36). We need
the passion of Jesus. True repentance produces such passion (2 Cor. 7:9-11).
Jesus finds lukewarmness detestable; it makes Him nauseous (Rev. 3:14-19). It
is tremendously telling that today’s church and many “Christians” are so
passionless for God and the things of God. We won’t escape if we neglect the
great salvation of God in Christ (Heb. 2:1-3). Truly, if we claim to be Christians
and live on unchanged in our sin, we are only fooling ourselves; we don’t fool
God (Heb. 10:26-29). Anyone in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). And the love
of Christ should be compelling us (2 Cor. 5:14 f.). We are not our own, we have
been bought with the precious blood of Jesus (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Does our life
reflect that? Is there a heaven sent Spirit enflamed fire within us?
In Jesus’ Olivet Discourse He first mentions characteristics of the
world that will be found in the Last Days before His 2nd Coming
(Mat. 24). He said the love of many would grow cold (Mat. 24:12). Sadly, this
seems to be true of some in the church. Jesus illustrates how we should be
living in light of His imminent return (Mat. 25). The first of these
illustrations speak of virgins awaiting the Groom, five ready for His return,
five who aren’t ready. Those who are ready have oil in their lamps symbolic of
the fullness of the Spirit (compare Zech. 4:1-8). The four who aren’t ready
have lamps that have run out of oil. Lamps were lit with a wick of fire. Which
group best describes you? On fire for the Lord and burning bright, ready for
His return? Or is the light in your lamp gone out and you are groping in the
darkness?
Jesus said He wouldn’t break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering
wick (Mat. 12:20). If you are bruised and as a result smoldering instead of on
fire with a passion for Jesus, He will fire up your passion if you open up and
invite Him in for some personal one on one time. In fact, the Last Days Laodicean
Lukewarm church was called to repent by Jesus (Rev. 3:14-19). He said He was
knocking on the door of that church and if anyone opened and invited Him in, He
would come in and dine with them (Rev. 3:20). That is the key to acquiring His
fire. Spending time with Jesus is how we can be re-fired. Contact with Jesus kindles
a holy passion in us. I encourage you to open your heart and invite Him in. I
encourage you to encourage your churches to open the door to Jesus and invite
Him in. It’s time to burn bright with His holy fire.
This focus and passion is something that is frequently
missing in the church of our time. We have TVs, computers, the Internet, cell
phones, hobbies, sports, careers, and a myriad of other things to distract us
from the same kind of passion for the Spirit that these first century believers
had. But it’s not too late and it’s not impossible to recapture that zeal.
Jesus told the lukewarm Laodiceans that He was waiting and knocking on the door
of their church and their heart. All that is needed is to open and invite Jesus
in. Passion and zeal are kindled as the Spirit brings us into the presence of
Christ. The Holy Spirit working in and through us can start the fire in us.
Jesus wants to stoke and fire us up again, if we let Him. Jesus is knocking.
Will you open your church and heart and invite Him in?
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