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November 17th
The bible reading today is in Acts 4-6.
On the day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Ascension of Christ, close to a million Judeans (probably) gathered on the Temple Mount to worship the God who brought forth the fruit of the harvest for them.
Peter, by the Holy Spirit, stood and preached the gospel of Christ to the crowd. The Holy Spirit came upon 120 disciples of Jesus in that great crowd. They were given the spiritual gift of languages by the Holy Spirit in order to translate Peter’s message to the many different people groups, from all over the world, surrounding Solomon’s porch that day.
Three thousand men, women, and children repented and believed Jesus that day. Oh, what joyful baptismal services they must have had in the days and weeks that followed.
In those days and weeks, Peter and the followers of Jesus preached and testified of the good news of God’s salvation in the resurrected Christ. And hundreds of people every day were coming to faith in the Lord Jesus.
One day, as Peter and John were going to Temple at the hour of prayer, they met a lame beggar at the gate called Beautiful. He asked for money, but instead, he received a complete healing from Jesus at the hands of Peter and John.
You and I would have been amazed at that miracle. But the religious leaders who had Jesus killed were not amazed, they were enraged. So much so that they had Peter and John arrested.
In just a few weeks, the Holy Spirit moved upon Jerusalem. And the numbers of Christ-followers increased from 3,000 to 5,000 men...probably tripling those numbers if family members were counted.
The city council, led by Sanhedrin and Pharisee members ramped up their threats and intimidation strategy. But the new believers stood courageously for Christ and the salvation he bought for all who believed Him.
Peter and John set the tone. Instead of being filled with fear for their lives, they boldly preached Jesus to their captors.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
