Raise Your Voice and Proclaim

From today’s reading…

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,

raised his voice, and proclaimed:…

God raised this Jesus;

of this we are all witnesses.”

In this second chapter of Acts we see that Judas has already been replaced—”Peter stood up with the Eleven.” 

In fact, the first thing the apostles did in the first chapter of Acts after Jesus ascended into heaven was assemble “(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place)” and choose Matthias so the Twelve Apostles may be complete, thereby laying the foundation for what is known as Apostolic Succession, which remains unbroken to this day.

Today we see the first of Peter’s five speeches in Acts that deal with the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic meaning. (Paul gives the sixth speech on this subject in Acts.)

Because of his conviction we read later in this chapter that at least 3,000 who heard Peter’s speech believed and were baptized.

Jesus did not live in secret. He did not return in secret. And His followers were anything but quiet and subdued in how they lived their lives after His resurrection.

This is not conjecture, rumors, or a myth.

Jesus lived. The Apostles lived. They preached loudly and proudly what they heard and saw.

Now you must choose what to do with that information.

Choosing to believe and live accordingly means you are going to… 

Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure.