The Lord was adding to their number day by day

Acts 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”¹³ But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

¹⁴ But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams;
¹⁸ Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
²⁰ ‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. ²¹ ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³ this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. ²⁴ But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. ²⁵ For David says of Him,

‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. ²⁶ ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; Moreover my flesh also will live in hope; ²⁷ Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. ²⁸ ‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’

²⁹ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seatone of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. ³² This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.³³ Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:  ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, ³⁵ Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷ 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?” ³⁸ 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. ³⁹ 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.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” ⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

⁴³  Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.⁴⁶ 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, ⁴⁷ 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.

In today’s text it says:  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?  Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  What it meant was that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Christ, just as Jesus had said. They spoke the language of the Spirit and each person heard in their own language. The Holy Spirit gave the interpretation to each one who heard. The text says: But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”   Perhaps these where those who did not accept what the Spirit was doing, so that what they heard seemed like nonsense. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says:  The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  It does not matter in what language it is spoken, those who refuse to receive the message of the cross, will say it is foolishness. For those who do receive, it is the power of God to save.

The text continues saying:  But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them…   Peter went on to preach a sermon under the power of the Holy Spirit. The result was: Those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.  This too is the fulfillment of what Jesus said: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”  Peter was a fisherman, not an expert in the scriptures. It was the power of the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter that enabled him to remember and proclaim the testimony of Christ, through the scriptures. We too are called to be witnesses and to testify for Christ. In Luke 12:11, as in Matthew 10:19 and Mark 13:11 Jesus says:  “Do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”   If we yield to the Holy Spirit and speak what He is saying, some will say it is foolishness, but for others it will be the power of God to be saved. In John 16:8-14 Jesus says:   “He,(the Holy Spirit) when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”   Those who hear and receive what the Spirit says will be convicted and repent. Those who refuse what the Spirit says; those who refuse the truth, will be judged by their own standards of foolishness, rather than by the cross.

The text ends saying:  The Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.  If we too will allow the Holy Spirit to teach us what to say, if we will be witnesses for Christ, not worrying about those who think us foolish, we too will see the Lord add to His church day by day.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Empower me and enable me to be Your witness, to speak the truth regardless of what people may say. May I testify of Your goodness and Your love and grace demonstrated on the cross, so that You can add to Your church day by day.   Amen.