Acts 2:1 states, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
Years back there was a Catholic school for girls. There was very strict training—getting up early was part of it. When the old red rooster crowed at sunrise the sister in charge would make them get up. Two of the girls decided to kill that rooster so they could sleep a little later. The sister informed them that they would now have to get up a half hour earlier to be sure they were up at sunrise, since the rooster wasn’t around to make his announcement.
I want us to look for a few moments at the “Early Church.” I am talking about the early beginnings of the church, however, one of the qualities of that group was they were on time. They were ten days early for the grand opening day of the church on Pentecost. In Acts 1:4, Jesus told them to not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, meaning the giving of the Holy Ghost. They may have guessed it would happen on the Feast of Pentecost. Jesus did not give the date, but simply told them to wait.
In that ten-day waiting period there are a number of things we can learn about them. Jesus’ 11 disciples are named as being there (Acts 1:13). In the next verse we see there were some women there and also Jesus’ mother and brothers. Verse 15 says there were about 120 charter members.
Continual prayer and supplication marked the atmosphere of that early church (V.14). They were obedient to Jesus’ command to wait. Even though the Holy Ghost had not been given to comfort, guide, and empower, they were united. They recognized their call to ministry and apostleship (V. 25). They were also students of the Scriptures (V. 20), “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let another take.” It was because of this Scripture that Peter assumed leadership and they replaced Judas, who betrayed Jesus, with Matthias. No one questioned Peter as the leader for he had been commissioned by Jesus to feed the lambs, the early church (John 21:15).
It was with a humble spirit that the 12th disciple was chosen. There were ordination requirements: He must be one who walked with Jesus from the time of John’s baptism and witnessed the resurrection and the ascension. Two were appointed, Joseph called Barsabas and Matthias. Then they prayed for God to look upon their hearts and choose the one He wanted. With that they cast lots and the lot fell upon Matthias (V. 26).
As we look upon this early flock of believers, there is much to learn. They did all they could to prepare for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As we pray for revival, and for God to pour His Spirit out, what would God have us do in the meantime? CONSIDER THE EARLY CHURCH!
