This is a long read
today…
Just when you think
things are going well, and the spread of the Gospel will be one of unhindered
and unchallenged progress, we come to Acts 4. The healing of the beggar has
drawn the unwelcome attention of the Jewish officials, especially when they
hear the Apostles preaching about Jesus and his resurrection (4:1-2) - no doubt
they believed they had quashed that particular problem of the Galilean
troublemaker a few weeks earlier when they had him crucified. But no, talk
about Jesus and the threat he posed to traditional Judaism hasn't gone away, in
fact more people than ever seem to be embracing this message (v4). This cannot carry on, these preachers need to
be silenced (v3). Clearly Satan is again rearing his head orchestrating
opposition against Jesus and those associated with Him; but God is still in
control (v24,28)…
It's important to
remember that Peter and John were just 'normal', unremarkable, unknown blokes
(v13), who - because of their faithfulness to Jesus - were now demonstrating
greater influence over the people than the celebrated Jewish authorities before
whom they now appeared (v7-8). Their
lives had been dramatically transformed by the resurrection of Jesus they now
proclaimed (v2,10); they were trusting in Him, being obedient to Him; and as a
result, they were experiencing Holy Spirit power as they witnessed to Christ in
situations they would have not naturally have been in (v20). Only the Lord
knows how He will use your humble service to others - in His name - to be
multiplied for the blessing of so many more (v16, 21).
Upon release, the
church gathers for prayer (v23-24), not in fearful anxiety and for God's
protection against further intimidation: no, they pray to God, their God, the
God of creation (v24), the God of revelation (v25),the God who directs history
(v28) - that they might be "enabled to speak His word with great
boldness" (v29). When we remind
ourselves of how great and glorious God is, we are encouraged and emboldened to
pray great prayers that will result in God being wondrously glorified in the
lives and evangelistic testimony of His people.
Are our lives, our families, our church and community being shaken by
God in response to our prayers of envisioned, emboldened faith (v31)?
When the unbelieving
sceptic accuses the church of being full of hypocrites, Acts 5 suggests the
critic may well have a point. It's
stories like that of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) that give the church,
and consequently, the Lord - a bad name. But again we note, that once more,
Satan is at work behind the scenes, trying to disrupt and discredit the people
and mission of God (v3). What was the issue that provoked such a swift and
frighteningly severe response from God (v5, 10-11)? They sold a field with the
declared intention of giving all the money raised to the work of the Kingdom
(note the contrast with Barnabas, 4:36-37), but when the time came, they kept
some for themselves; pretending to donate the whole, they only gave in some. If
they had told everybody this was their plan, that would have been fine, it was
their field, after all. But in their pride and hypocrisy, they gave the
impression of being more selflessly generous than they actually were. It was a
pride issue; more concerned to receive the praise of the people than a smile
from God. What false impressions of spiritual maturity and service do we leave
with others? Let's take note we're not
guilty of similar sins…
The remainder of
chapter 5 contrasts Ananias and Sapphira's disobedience with the persevering
faithfulness of the Apostles - under severe pressure to stop their Gospel
preaching. The key principle that
governs their action is in verse 29:
"We must obey God rather than men!" If only we would follow this pattern…
As the church
continues to grow and function as a community (Acts 6:1), so the need for
institutional structure and support develops.
The establishing of 'deacons' to oversee the work of care among the
widows - so that the Apostles can give their priority to the ministry of the
Word and prayer (v4) - introduces us to Stephen, "a man full of God's
grace and power". Interestingly,
Stephen does not pigeon-hole himself as a 'one-job' believer; so, he's involved
both in mercy-ministries among the elderly women within the fellowship (v5-6),
and in street-evangelism among the crowds remaining in Jerusalem for specific
holidays. Stephen was prepared - in
Christ's name and by the enabling of the Spirit - to get involved as external
opportunities to serve opened up and the internal (heart) compulsion to get
involved could no longer be ignored. No
wonder he was "full of God's grace and power". And he needed God's provision for what
happened next…
No comments:
Post a Comment