BECOMING THE TEMPLE OF GOD:
(Acts 2:38-39) “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’
(1) Repent: (Matthew 3:1-2) “in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Repent (str. 3340) Repentance is a decision that results in a change of mind, which in turn leads to a change of purpose and action.
(Matthew 3:10-12) “And even now the axis laid (judgment) to the root of the trees (people). Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit (accomplished results) is cut down and thrown into the fire (bad fruit destroyed). I (John) indeed baptize (immerse and saturate) you with water unto repentance, but He (Jesus) who is coming after me is mightier than I. whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (for refinement). His (Jesus) winnowing fan (tribulation shacking) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor (location for the recent cut harvest), and gather His wheat (the genuine saints) into the barn (kept and sheltered); but He will burn up the chaff (the worthless flesh) with unquenchable fire .”
(Dan. 2:44) “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people (the unredeemed); it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
Tribulation leads people toward, and into repentance. And that which is worthless is destroyed with refining fire. To inter the outer courts of God’s kingdom first requires repentance.
(2) “And let every one of you Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin”: was a public acknowledgment that they had accepted Jesus as Messiah and Lord, and also confessing Him to be all that his name denotes.
(Mark 16:16) “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
(3) “And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”: is not the same as the gifts of the Spirit, and is referring to the Holy Spirit Himself; while the gifts of the Spirit are special abilities given to equip believers for service, as presented in (1 Cor. 12:1-31) as a diversity of gifts.
“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The promise: is of the Holy Spirit for every believer in every generation and to all who are afar off including Gentiles.
(Joel 2:28-29) “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
(Eph. 2:19-22) “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
BUILDING THE CONGREGATION OF GOD
(Acts 2:42)“And they continued steadfast in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
(1) And they continued steadfast in the apostles’ doctrine:
Teaching and instruction
(2) and fellowship: (str. 2842) koinonia, means; sharing, unity, close association, partnership, participation, a society, a communion, a fellowship, contributory help, the brotherhood. A unity brought about by the Holy Spirit. The individual shares In common an intimate bond of fellowship with the rest of the Christian society, cementing them to the Lord Jesus and each other. So they were in unity and harmony with each other and with God (Acts 1:14, 2:26, 4:24, 5:12, and 15:25).
(3) in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. It refers to reference to the Lord’s Supper in conjunction with a full meal.
(1 Cor. 11:23-32) “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you; that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He hadgiven thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood: This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Given thanks: (str. 2168) means to give freely. Be grateful, expressing gratitude, which describes words of praise to God.
Remembrance: (str. 364) to remind, recollect, call to mind, to prop up, extend use, repetition, intensity.
Covenant: (str. 1242) means a will, testament, pact, contract, an agreement upon plan to which both parties subscribe. The world’s contracts signify an agreement between two parties, but it is usually a declaration of one person’s will, agreed to by the other. A covenant, God initiates the whole action, and sets the conditions of purpose.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lords body.
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.”
(Acts 2:43) “Then fear (Awe) came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.”
(Acts 2:44-45) “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
(Is. 58:6-14) “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke (all forms of political, economic, and social injustice)? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast (wandering) out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh (own family)?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say here I am.
If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness (gloom), and your darkness (gloom) shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fall. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall rise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasures, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
SALVATION TO THE GENTILES
(Is. 56:1-8) “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of the man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hands from doing any evil.’ Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, ‘the Lord has utterly separated me from His people’; nor let the eunuch say, here I am, a dry tree.’
For thus says the Lord;
‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
‘Also the son of the foreigner who joins themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants– everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant– even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar;
for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ‘yet I will gather to him others beside those who are gathered to him.”
(Lev. 23:2-3) “—The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwelling.”
(Acts 2:46-47) So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people.
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Father, there are several areas that I feel convicted about, that also seems to be lacking in the church body, which is:
(1) COMMUNION in its two forms; as the consistency and importance of the Lord’s Supper, and the consistency and importance of the Intimate time spent with you in prayer and communication together; and
(2) The True Sabbath (Saturday) set aside for YOU.