AFTER THE PENTECOST, WHAT NEXT? (2)

“⁴⁶So 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, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47 NKJV).

A people’s first response to the infilling of the Holy Spirit is usually indicative of what God wants to become their habit in the long run. The reason I believe this to be so is because such responses are often as a result of the impartation by the Spirit of God rather than being as a result of the rational analysis of the people involved. The Holy Spirit has prompted me to do some things that I could not have done if I were to rationally decide on such actions. This statement should not be understood to mean that the Holy Spirit and reason are always incompatible. It rather means that He can sometimes lead us in ways that would never resonate with our reasons. Examples of such occasions abound in the Scriptures. Paul and Silas worshipped God with loud praise in the prison after being severely beaten and inhumanly treated. That could not have come out of a rational analysis of their experience. Their response was obviously as a result of the prompting of the Spirit of God.

What the Holy Spirit led the early disciples to do immediately after being filled with the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost demands our deepest reflection. Those are meant to be the normative experience of the church in all history. First, we are told that they instituted daily meetings in the temple –“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple.” They had church service every day! I am sure that some of us will cringe at the thought of having church service every day, but that was what they did.  There are denominations and congregations that still do that even today. They met daily in the temple with one accord means that everybody endeavoured to be present and that, with joy and gladness of heart.  Should we not follow their example and institute early morning daily meeting with God?

They created an effective home cell fellowship system –“breaking bread from house to house.”  By God’s special design, the basic unit of every living system is the cell. The growth of the cells imply the growth of the organism. The Body of Christ, which is the church, is such a living system. Hence our Lord said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We have to find ways to keep our home cell fellowships in our church. Members should take personal pride and satisfaction in hosting a cell fellowship in their homes and work hard to see that it grows. Before any of us thought of getting married and raising a home, God prophetically declared that our homes should be revival cells. A home cell is a family or a group of families who meet weekly to share the word of God and pray for mutual edification of those involved and also to serve as a bridge through which people in their neighbourhood could come to Christ, and get involved in the church. I feel the need for us to fill our city with home cell fellowships which God can use as His kingdom outposts.

As a response to the move of the Holy Spirit in their lives, the believers who were impacted by the Pentecost outpouring cultivated a culture of generosity among them –“they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”   According to the New Living Translation, they “shared their meals with great joy and generosity.” Members joyfully shared their food with others. In that way, they made sure that nobody starved in their midst. This helped them to curb the tendency towards gluttony and increased the food reserve in their food bank. You must not let yams rut in your house and garri grow mould when there are so many in the church that could benefit from what you don’t need. Bring every food stuff and other household items you don’t need to the CWL Pantry. They could mean a lifeline for so many. Such generous attitude will generate much praise and thanksgiving to God.

The Spirit-filled believers modelled a lifestyle of praise and worship –“praising God and having favour with all the people.”  They were happy with and in their God, and as a result the rest of the people were happy with them. They were constantly creating sweet melodies of praise everywhere they found themselves and soon people began to want to associate with them. Nothing is more attractive than happy believers. “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Nobody would like to join a congregation of grumpy and joyless people. We must learn to rejoice in our God so He can add people to us daily. There is still alleluia-joy in the Presence of God. A lifestyle of praise foists the Presence of God in the atmosphere. May the joy of the Lord be our strength in Jesus name.