Dear Friends,
Greetings in Christ!
In our last post, we saw the birth of the church, a new institution under a New Covenant of grace. According to I Corinthians 10:32, there are only three kinds of people: Jews, Gentiles, and the church.
Church (Gk ekklésia) literally means ‘called out’. Jesus calls us out of this world and when we respond, we become members of his church, the body of Christ (I Cor 12:27 et al), a body of believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
Thus, the old sacrificial system that pointed to the Messiah was ended at Pentecost, having been fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Christ. Old Covenant sacrifices are no longer accepted because Christ offered one sacrifice for sins for ever. (Heb 10:12)
A key to understanding the Bible properly is to never confuse the church with Israel. The church has been adopted into, or graffed in among the commonwealth of Israel (Rom 4:16f; 8:15; 11:17; 23f; Eph 1:5; 2:10-22; Gal 4:5; 6:15f), but the church has not ‘replaced’ Israel. The Bible says Christians are ‘fellowcitizens’ (Eph 3:6) and ‘fellowheirs’ (Eph 3:6) with Israel. Galatians 6:16 calls the church the Israel of God, but soon God will remove his church from the earth, and the leadership position that the church has had in extending God’s invitation of salvation to the world will be transferred back to Israel. (Rom 11:25; Rev 7)
Give us understanding, Father, as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Acts 2:42-47
42 And they [the church] continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Let’s take a closer look at the word fellowship (Gk koinónia). This is a distinctly ‘Christian’ word. It does not just mean to meet together or be in partnership. That would be a literal definition, but in the Bible the word implies like-minded spiritual unity. I cannot have ‘fellowship’ with another Christian when he invites me to go see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If he invites me to break bread and pray in Jesus’ name, or maybe go witnessing in the parking lot at the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, that is fellowship.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Acts 2:42-47
As Chapter 2 ends, we are given a snapshot of what the new revolution looked like — far different from any other revolution there has ever been. It runs counter to our way of thinking about what might change the world. There are no large sums of money, no new buildings, no political manifestos. Just a peaceful group of Christians who love God; who love the word of God; who love to fellowship and pray and praise God; who continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house with gladness and singleness of heart; who watched as the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. In other words, their faith was not something they practiced once a week on Sunday morning. They lived it daily.
The way these new believers loved one another and had all things in common has caused some to accuse them of practicing communism — a philosophy which says there is no God. While the church was motivated by love to voluntarily share their wealth as they felt led, communism forces the redistribution of wealth as the state demands. The leading that the church followed came not from men, but from the Holy Spirit. Acts is all about the operation of the Holy Spirit in the early church (and continuing through the church age).
On Pentecost, we saw all of the functions of the Spirit in operation: regeneration, new birth, baptism, indwelling, sealing, and filling.
There are still those whose miraculous testimonies seem to indicate all these things happened to them at once, but that is not typically the case. For example in my case, after I believed on Christ I was regenerated. When I repented, and made a conscience decision to commit my life to Christ I was born again (John 3:3). I believe at that point I was baptized in the Spirit (1 Cor 12:13), indwelt by the Spirit (Col 1:27; 1 John 4:15), and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13; 4:30). Finally, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. These things did not all happen at once. The last operation, filling, is something that does not last indefinitely. Out of all these different operations of the Spirit, filling is the only one we have anything to do with. Jesus told us to ask for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13); Paul commands us to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18)
As part of my preparation for this study in Acts, I have been reading The Spiritual Man (Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc, 1968) by Watchman Nee. This book has a somewhat different tone than another book I read by Nee (and am now reviewing), Spiritual Authority (Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc, 1973).
Both these books present vital spiritual truths, essential to the spiritual life of the believer. While Nee focuses on the importance of obedience in Spiritual Authority, in The Spiritual Man, Nee focuses more on how to discern the leading of the Spirit. Both are essential because you cannot follow and obey that which you cannot discern and hear. (Luke 6:46)
Nee likens the leading of the Spirit to ‘intuition’. When a Christian first believes and is regenerated, his spirit is connected to God’s Spirit. He is no longer spiritually dead. Now, he is complete in body, soul, and spirit, as his spirit is connected to God’s Spirit. Thus, he can now choose to follow his soul (his own reason), or he can follow God’s Spirit.
This threefold nature of a man — spirit and soul and body (1 Thess 5:23) — is similar to the design of the temple (I Cor 6:19 et al), which was made up of the outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies. The body is like the outer court; the soul (mind, will, and emotions) is like the holy place, and the spirit, once one is regenerated, is like the Holy of Holies. The spirit is our connection to God. He typically communicates to the believer’s spirit in a still small voice.
This gets to the heart of an important philosophical question: What, exactly, are you? The tech titans want us to believe that in the future we will be able to have our brains backed up on a data storage array, ie upload ourselves to the cloud. But according to the Bible, that part of you (the flesh) is not the real you.
II Corinthians 5:1-5 says the body is just a temporary tent you live in, but the soul and the spirit are immortal. Eventually, we will receive a new glorified body like Jesus did in the Resurrection. (1 John 3:2)
In the meantime, I need to train my spirt and soul (and hence my body) to be in agreement with the Holy Spirit as He speaks to my spirit. This runs contrary to our habit of demanding our own way, or yielding to evil spirits which seek to influence us. This is nothing less than spiritual warfare, which we all engage in on a daily basis. (II Cor 10:5; II Tim 2:26; Eph 6:11ff; Jam 4:7)
Learning to hear and follow God’s still small voice takes practice. It is a difficult but necessary skill to learn. The most essential way to sharpen this skill is to abide in the word of God. (John 6:63; 8:31f) The power that the Christians enjoyed in the Book of Acts was a result of their being filled with the Holy Spirit. One of the primary reasons they were filled with the Spirit is that they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (v 42). We can likewise continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine by reading the Book of Acts and the Epistles that the apostles wrote.
Another way to retain the filling of the Holy Spirit is through praise and worship and giving of thanks. (Ps 22:3; Eph 5:18-20; Col 3:15ff)
Hence, as Christians, we must learn to walk in the Spirit. (Acts 13:52; Gal 5:25 et al) Walking in the Spirit is how we abide by the New Covenant of grace. (EZ 11:19; 36:26; Rom 2:29; II Cor 1:22; 3:3; Gal 5:18; I Pet 1:22; 3:4) When a Christian walks in the Spirit, she does not need laws to govern her behavior. That is why Jesus only gave us two laws. (Matt 22:40; Gal 5:14)
When we walk in the Spirit, we are filled with love for God and love for others. When we grieve the Spirit, our walk with the Lord is cold and anemic. When we confess our sins we are forgiven. (1 John 1:9) We then ask for the Holy Spirit and He fills us again. (Luke 11:13) I ask every day.
Above, I mentioned The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee. In this book, over the course of 700+ pages, Nee repeatedly exhorts the reader to discern between the voice of his soul and the voice of the Spirit, then to be led by the Spirit. (Pro tip: the leading of the Spirit is usually the exact opposite of what your soul says to do.) Of course, we have the world and our flesh, ie our old nature, as well as the devil and his angels constantly trying to draw our attention away from the still small voice of the Spirit. Someone said it is like there are two dogs fighting inside of us. The flesh and the spirit are contrary to one another. The one who wins is the one we feed the most.
Therefore, we have to reckon our old man dead. (Rom 6:11) We must reject the way of the world and embrace the way of the Spirit. (Rom 12:1f) This is a lifelong process called ‘sanctification’. (II Thess 2:13; I Pet 1:2 et al)
Let us consider some of the Biblical references given by Nee to see if our spirit is in agreement with the Holy Spirit. Do you have:
A contrite spirit? (Ps 34:18)
A broken spirit? (Ps 51:17)
A spirit of meekness? (Matt 11:29; I Cor 4:21)
A humble, lowly spirit? (Pr 16:19; Matt 11:29)
A poor spirit? (Isa 66:2; Matt 5:3)
A gentle spirit? (Gal 5:22)
A fervent spirit? (Rom 12:11)
An excellent spirit? (Pr 17:27)
A joyful spirit? (Luke 1:47)
A powerful spirit? (II Tim 1:7)
A quiet spirit? (I Pet 3:4)
A newness of spirit (not legalistic)? (Rom 7:6)
A holy spirit? (I Cor 7:34)
A strong spirit? (Luke 1:80)
A spirit full of grace? (Phlm 25) (1)
A sister who gives attention to the spirit and lets God transform her mind in these ways is a sister who walks with God. There were two people whom the Bible says walked with God, and they were both saved from the flood. (Gen 5:22, 24; 6:9; Mic 6:8)
So, as we finish up Acts 2, we now have some joyful Spirit-filled Christians — ie the church. In a way I feel sorry for them. They have no idea what is coming. They are now in the ‘honeymoon period’, but soon they will be falsely accused and persecuted. Some of them will be put in prison. Some will be betrayed by family and friends. Some will be martyred for the faith. (Matt 10:34; Luke 21:12, 16) Such is the nature of our sojourn here on earth. (II Tim 3:12) We are at war. (I Tim 1:8; II Tim 2:4)
In conclusion, Acts 2 launched the most influential and far-reaching revolution the world has ever known, yet everything about it is contrary to our natural way of thinking. There is no armed rebellion in Acts, nor any of the other things one might expect from a revolution; just the word of God and the Spirit of God changing one heart at a time.
It was the quiet witness of the Holy Spirit and the peaceful conduct of the Christians that changed hearts. It is still so today. For example, Larry Sanger, the man who started Wikipedia in 2001, recently became a Christian. In his testimony, he cited the conduct of Christians compared to the conduct of atheists as one of the primary motivations for his conversion.
The Holy Spirit always points people to Jesus; Jesus always points people to his Father. In Acts 2, there are six direct references to the Holy Spirit. There are ten or more indirect references to the Holy Spirit. Just as Peter introduced his fellow Jews to Jesus in Acts 2 by the leading of the Holy Spirit, he will introduce the first Gentiles to Jesus in Acts 10 by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, my takeaway so far from this study in Acts is that I need to be more Spirit filled and do better at letting the Spirit lead my spirit.
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Proverbs 20:27
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Proverbs 25:28
Father, help us to deny the flesh and feed the spirit through prayer and abiding in your word. Help us to hear your voice, and to obey You in all things. Fill each of us with your Spirit day by day and help us to walk in the Spirit. We pray that we can in some small measure receive the power that they enjoyed in the early church. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prophecy Update: Since the roll-out of the mRNA shots in 2021 up to where we are now in 2025, cancer rates continue to skyrocket.
Oncologists who are honest about this and provide simple solutions like HCQ and Ivermectin (yes, one of the things that has been discovered over the last few years is that HCQ and Ivermectin both fight cancer) continue to be debanked and harassed in other ways. Pray and proceed accordingly.
José Rizal was a populist who rebelled against the establishment of his day by writing two fictional counter-culture novels. Since 1956, Rizal’s books have been required reading in Philippine schools as mandated by the Rizal Law. I believe that RFK Jr’s non-fiction book The Real Anthony Fauci is far more important to America, if not the world, than Rizal’s books are to the Philippines. I believe The Real Anthony Fauci should be required reading in public schools. Anyone who cares about the truth, freedom, health, or just doesn’t want to be a slave, should read The Real Anthony Fauci.
1 Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man, pp 404-417
