The Hundredfold Ecclesia Grows by 3,000
October 9, 2006
Dear Friends
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gifts are poured out on the disciples and the Apostle Peter gives his famous speech. At the end of the day, three thousand people are baptized. Not a bad outreach effort! What was going on here? I would suggest that the answer is very simple; this was the fruit from Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had sowed and tended to this field for three and a half years without much apparent fruit. He had 120 disciples when he ascended to his Father. Yet, the crop was about to come and in a dramatic fashion. While Peter’s speech was no doubt compelling and well-delivered, it was not mastery of rhetoric that obliged three thousand to be baptized; it was the years of preparatory work of Christ that yielded this amazing harvest.
This suddenly large body of believers was no ordinary ecclesia. It was quite extraordinary. Notice how Acts 2 ends:
These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. And everyone was filled with awe; the apostles worked many signs and miracles. And all who shared the faith owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and distributed the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed. Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the Temple but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved. (NJB)
Notice a few of the extraordinary attributes of this ecclesia as highlighted above.
- They were communal. They sold everything and distributed it as it was needed. To sell everything and throw it in the communal pot requires 100% commitment. There is no half-hearted service here.
- They met each day. I know a lot of places where it would be nice to just get people to attend once a week on Sunday not to mention each and every day. Imagine, though, how spiritually uplifting it must be to do so. They would gain in less than two months what it takes us a year to obtain by meeting weekly.
- They were looked up to by everyone. I can tell you this, if this happened today, I doubt they would be looked up to. They would be labeled freaks, cultists and extremists. Such commitment to the Lord is frowned upon today as unbalanced (as if you need to balance commitment to the Lord with worldliness).
- They had baptisms every day. My own ecclesia has been blessed with 3 baptisms since August 11 plus several transfers. I would expect this trend to continue for the near future, God willing. This would probably put us among the faster growing ecclesias in all of North America. This pales in comparison to the Jerusalem ecclesia. Imagine baptizing people every single day!
This was a fruit-producing ecclesia. It was active. It was preaching. It was serving. As we will see, they took care of their problems. Next week, Lord willing, we will also see that with success comes persecution. The Jerusalem ecclesia was to be no exception but prospered despite the persecution they endured.
Have a great week,
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