Sometimes you have to know what something is in order to know if you have it. Revival is one of those things. For example, sitting through a week of church meetings does not mean you have had revival. Being in a tent meeting with special guest speakers does not guarantee you have experienced revival.
However, there are signs of a true revival recorded in the scriptures. In Acts 2:41-47, the Bible gives us an accurate picture of what true revival looks like when the people of God are led by the Spirit of God to obey the plans of God, they have had revival. The Jerusalem believers were experiencing revival, and when we look at them, we can see what revival would look like for us.
In the Jerusalem Church there were three thousand believers who made commitments to God’s plan for belonging together, growing together, caring for one another, and giving to each other. These individual commitments happened individually, but were noticeable corporately.
In addition to these four commitments, we see three more in God’s plan for believers.
Committed to Worshipping Together!
Acts 2:46 tells us that the Jerusalem Christians gathered in the temple court together. The temple court was an area big enough for a large group of people to come together and worship Christ. They could have a time of preaching and a time of singing. They knew how much they needed this time together.
Worship was an important part of the church experience not because God needed it, but because his followers needed it. They gathered for worship not to connect with Christ, but rather because they were already connected to Christ. Coming together to worship was a weekly reminder of how much God had done for them, how much he meant to them, and how much they needed each other. This was a way for the church to magnify Jesus before the world.
Committed to Sharing Christ Together!
The fact that people were being saved and added to the church “day by day” tells us that the Jerusalem Church was experiencing a revival of sharing. These believers were so excited about what God was doing in their lives that they could not stop sharing it with others. Even after being beaten and imprisoned they continued to share the message with Jesus with everyone they could. These believers were committed to sharing – even when it was difficult!
Committed to Reproducing More Disciples!
Acts 6:7 tells us that the original Church multiplied and grew rapidly. They multiplied more disciples because they stayed focused on the last words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. When Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations”, they obeyed Him. Instead of coming up with dozens of reasons why they couldn’t make disciples, they did what Jesus told them to do. Imagine what could happen today if we did one of the most important things Jesus did – making disciples who make more disciples!
This post by Ken Adams first appeared here. Used with permission.