Scared to Join the Church - Acts 5

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. - Acts 5:12-16

Today, we beg people to join us.  Why would people be scared to join them?  The believers were highly regarded by the people.  It would seem that people would be quick to join them wouldn’t it?  It’s the “social club” to be in; it’s where great things are happening and people are getting healed, right?  What would keep people from daring to join them?

That first church wouldn’t allow someone to sit on the fence.  You couldn’t be half-in and half-out.  You couldn’t live in the church on Sunday and in the world on Monday thru Saturday.  You couldn’t just sort of believe.  You couldn’t just say a salvation prayer, check the box saying you got your fire insurance, then move on to doing what you want to do in life.   The church was being protected, and a half heart was rejected.  Remember Ananias and Sapphira?  People were scared to join them until God had their whole heart and they cared more about the gospel message than they did about their own life.

This should be a goal for the church today.  We should all want to proclaim the gospel message wherever we are and it should be more important than our own life.  We should want all Christians, Christ followers, to be “all-in”.

I wonder if this is why the church has lost so much influence in society today.  I think the young people see through the half-hearted Christians and they aren’t going to spend any time around people that only take the mission half serious.  They want to be a part of something with purpose and there must not be much of a purpose if people are only partially committed.

The Apostles are healing people!  So much so that the communities around Jerusalem are bringing their sick.  They are casting out demons!  They are doing wonders and signs.  Crowds are gathering.  They so believe in what the Apostles believe that they hope Peter’s shadow falls across the sick so they can be healed.

In the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, after Private Doss has saved 75 men from the ridge and gotten them down through the night, the Army is getting ready to attack again.  Captain Glover comes to Private Doss and says, “Most of these men don’t believe the same way you do. But they believe so much in how much you believe. And what you did on that ridge is nothing short of a miracle — and they want a piece of it. And they’re not going to go up there without you.”

I think this is what the Apostles are experiencing.  The people of Jerusalem didn’t believe the same way the first church did, but they saw how much these Christians believed that they wanted a piece of it.  To be healed or to see the signs and wonders.  So crowds were gathering wherever they went.

Sapphira - Partner is Crime - Acts 5

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. - Acts 5:7-11

Everyday, members of the universal church lie to God.  They give half efforts and are half committed.  There is a very real war in Christians with their own carnality.  They want what they want and submission to the leadership of a Holy God and serving a risen Christ above themselves is a choice difficult to fulfill.  I think I've heard one Christian or another justify about every sin that can be committed on the earth.  Perhaps there is none better at justifying the enemies war effort.  You can be sure that Ananias and Sapphira had a well rehearsed justification prepared for their actions so their friends would disapprove of the judgmental and self-righteous church and not them.

A key tell-tale is that Christians following God don't justify their actions.  If asked about their actions they simply say they are following God.  The asking person must deal with God.  There is peace in that.  But when those professing to be Christians start justifying their actions, you can be sure there is not peace in their soul.  They are looking for support for their actions which they are in some kind of internal conflict.  

The church is important to God.  He is very purposeful in protecting the church here.  When He does it, the whole church is “seized” with fear.  What are they scared of?  …  What many in the church had failed to realize at that time and most of the church fails to realize today is that the mission of the church to spread the news of the gospel is way more important than their lives.  The disciples understood this.  They were so full of the Spirit and is such a completeness of belief that giving their life for preaching or healing or teaching was an honor.  To go to jail or be persecuted was praiseworthy! 

And I’m preaching to myself here, but oh if we would see the lost world and the preaching of the gospel as more value than us today, the church would no longer be on a road to irrelevance in American society.

Ananias - #blessed? - Acts 5

5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. - Acts 5:1-2

First, this is significant.  A man sold property and did so with his wife.  The fact that the wife is mentioned in this means they were working together.  She did not have to be mentioned and he did not have to have her approval in that day and time.  But, Luke was intentional here to show how they both participated in their deception.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. - Acts 5:3-6

How did Peter know Ananias had deceived them regarding the price of the property?  The Holy Spirit communed with him and told him there was deception.  The disciples and the church as a whole are walking so close to God that deception is quickly called out by the Holy Spirit.  God is protecting them as a body of believers.  It should be our duty to walk this close to the Holy Spirit as believers and as a church.  And the sanctity of the body of believers should be a priority within the church.  This is not true with the church in America today.  In fact, if a church stands for sanctity to hold fellow believers accountable they are called judgmental and unloving, yet this is exactly what is being done here in the first church through the Holy Spirit.

Ananias could have simply been honest and said he had sold some property and was there to give such and such a sum.  He would have lived a much longer life.  But he wanted glory for himself.

Today’s church would have taken that money and put Ananias’ name on a building.  The intention of his gift or deception of holding some back wouldn’t matter at all, but the size of the gift would.  Jesus had taught the disciples regarding this, because He knows the evil in the heart of people and how we want recognition for what we do for our own glory, it’s recorded in Matthew 6:1-8:

 6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

This was the way the Jewish church leaders gave and prayed.  It was for the recognition in front of other men of how good they are.  John called these leaders vipers, meaning devils, and Jesus called them the sons of their father, the Devil.  God sees the heart and knew these men were evil seeking their own glory and worshipping themselves.  Jesus was clear that He wants our hearts to be pure.  If you are going to give, give with your whole heart what you are led by God to give, do it for God’s glory, not yours, and do it in secret so no one knows.  Don’t go before the church and lay it down at the pastor’s feet so everyone knows about it.  This type of act is meant to honor you and God is a jealous God and he killed Ananias over it.

This is an important aspect of Christian living.  Being honest with your purpose and effort in following God is extremely important to God. 

I imagine that Ananias posted a picture of his pot of money from selling the land and giving to the church at the feet of the disciples with the #blessed on Instagram just prior to God taking his life for his deception of heart.  

Today, people will say #blessed or comment "blessed" on events in their life.  Upon investigation in that person, there won't be another aspect in their Facebook, Instagram, or any other part of their social media accounts that indicate that they follow God, worship a holy God, and are a witness and testimony to the one true living God being saved by His grace through Jesus.  It is as if they are saying, because they made something go right in their life, they are blessed by God, whom they do not acknowledge otherwise.  Where is the faith, witness, or testimony in that?  Isn't this playing for people's approval as much as the whole of most people's social media accounts?  

This strikes me as being very opposed to this first church and the actions of the disciples as they witnessed and testified of Jesus while walking devoutly close to God in the Holy Spirit.

Time to Speak, Together - Acts 4

In Acts 4:29-31, the first church is praying for boldness to speak the gospel message, to heal, and to do the signs and wonders they are led to do.  This comes after Peter and John had been part of the healing of a 40 year old lame man.  Because of this and their preaching of his being healed by Jesus the leaders of the day threatened them to not speak of Jesus in this way again.  Peter and John responded asking the question, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you [the leaders] more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:19-20)”

Every Christian in America should take a stand on this.  Is it right for Christians to listen to this society that tells us to not speak of Jesus or of His Word, or is it right to listen to God and follow Jesus and His Word?  Then every Christian must to decide that we (Christians) cannot help but speak of the things in our lives that we’ve seen and heard (experienced). 

It is much to the same question that Joshua asked the Hebrews (Joshua 25:15), “if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served …, or the gods of [society], in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  There are too many carnal Christians unwilling to stand and choose God and Godly morals, standards of conduct, and belief in Jesus as Savior.  They might in the privacy of their own thoughts or when their world falls apart, but in the view of society, they work to “fit” in awkwardly.

As American society tells every Christian to be quiet and refuses to acknowledge their rights to believe in Jesus as the Son of the One and Only Living God and in His precepts, Christians must decide that they cannot help but speak of the things they know that are real, which is repentance and salvation through Jesus.

Because of their persecution, the first church prayed: Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,  by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Notice that the church prayed together.  Next to the average Christian's timidness to proclaim the truth as Christ, the American churches refusal to pray together as one body of believers is our greatest fault.  Christians need to pray as one body just as this first church did and for the same thing: boldness to speak God’s Word.  Where are the bold preachers, community leaders, teachers, and politicians?  Can anyone imagine a politician who would speak unapologetically and openly about Jesus?  Isn’t it remarkable that we have to ask that question when almost all the founding Fathers did so and that this land was sought as a place to go so Christians could worship without persecution? 

When the first church prayed for boldness in unity something remarkable happened.  The ground shook, the Spirit of God descended upon them and their prayer was answered: they spoke the Word of God with boldness.  They continued, in spite of the threats and in direct opposition to their society, to speak of Jesus as the Son of God and the only path to salvation from sin. 

Now is the time for American Christians and the churches in America to decide to listen to God and speak upon the things they know and have experienced, and for the churches to pray together for the boldness for that speaking.

Set Apart - Acts 3

As described in Mark 6:7-12, Jesus sends the twelve disciples out into neighboring towns.

⁷ And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. ⁸ He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— ⁹ but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

¹⁰ Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. ¹¹ And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

¹² So they went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

The disciples were called by Jesus and then sent by Jesus on their own with His power.  They took nothing of the world with them.  They were able to preach and cast out demons and heal the sick.  They had experience doing this when Jesus was still physically in the world.

In Acts 3, they find themselves without Jesus by with the Holy Spirit and one of the first things they do is heal someone who is lame.

3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ² And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; ³ who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴ And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” ⁷ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. ⁸ So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. ⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

How does Peter answer the people when they marvel at this miracle and stand in amazement and wonder at the healing?

Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 

He witnesses to Jesus, the source of the miracle, and testifies to His godliness.  Then preaches for them to repent from sin. 

I often consider, that if there was anyone who could be so focused on the greatness of God, knowing that nothing within them is save worthy, and who at every thought witnessed and testified to God, we might could see miracles like that again. 

Will anyone ever walk set apart from this physical world and committed completely to the communion of God again?  Who will that be?

Whom are you a witness for today? - Acts 2

Those who followed Jesus when He physically walked in this world witnessed incredible things.  They saw Jesus crucified, they witnessed Him resurrected and communed with Him for 40 days thereafter.  They saw Him ascend into the glory of God.  When the Holy Spirit came upon them they immediately became witnesses to the world..  They preached the gospel and their message didn’t change.  Here are four small examples in the first four chapters of the book of Acts of their preaching once they had received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”  ³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. ...  ¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord

Acts 4

⁹ If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ ¹² Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Acts 5

²⁹ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. ³¹ Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Where are the Christians who will witness of Jesus today?  Why do so many Christians seemingly want to change the Message?  For those whom the Holy Spirit rests, there is only one message and they must share it!  They are witnesses and share testimonies regarding the greatness and glory of Jesus the Son of the one true living God.

Whom are you a witness for today?

Choose Who You Serve

I was reflecting on all the names I’ve been called for being a Christian and actually trying to follow the commands of Jesus.  Like everyone, I’m not perfect and have made many decisions that would cause anyone to doubt whether I am saved or not.  However, so far, I haven’t given up on trying to follow them through constant repenting and turning away from my sins.  And I haven’t, as is the custom of our modern society, changed those commands of Jesus to suit me, so I can do what I want to do. 

Shallow-minded, narrow-minded, judgmental, one of those, hypocrite, sexist, unloving, uncaring, ignorant, close-minded, are some that come to mind, but those are just the nice ones, there’s others that don’t need repeating.  I’ve also been told that I only go on mission trips or give to others to make people think I’m a good person.  It’s all very interesting.  Sometimes it gets to me, especially when it’s family members saying it to you.  It is most unsettling when it is family members that call themselves Christian that are saying it to you.  Always makes me wonder, did the Holy Spirit inside of them lead them to say that?  When did God tell them to tell another brother/sister such a thing?  Hhmm.  Seems to be out of character for God and actually contradictory to His Word if He did.

I was studying Acts chapter 2.  At the end of the chapter is a description of the first church.  In reading different commentaries on that, one said this, “The church will never be like that again because there are too many carnal Christians today.”  As unpleasant as that was to read, I’m afraid it is correct.  I know people who claim to be Christian who live out of wedlock with multiple partners, believe divorce is a right they have, believe abortion is an option, believe homosexuality is justified, they mark their body with tattoos (and the tats aren’t Christian), have social media accounts and never mention God or anything Christian (but they sure take a lot of pictures of themselves).  I think that’s pretty carnal.  In fact, I believe it is idol worship.  They worship themselves and their opinion more than anything God offers.

Moses experienced much of the same.  The Hebrews were very carnal.  Joshua faced the same as well when he was leading the Israelites.  It is recorded in Joshua 24 that he charged them to get off the fence and make a decision.  ¹⁴Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  ¹⁵But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”

If you say this to someone who claims to be a Christian today regarding any action they are doing that is described as a sin by God, you get called some of those names listed above.  People don’t want to make a decision to follow God.  They want you to support their decision to worship themselves.  If you contradict them in the slightest of ways by stating God’s Words, not even your own words, you can be sure you WILL be called out as not loving them correctly.  Isn’t it interesting how someone can tell you, for following the Word of God that describes Himself as love, that you are unloving when you present God’s Word to them while they describe themselves as a follower of the same God?  It’s mind blowing confusing.  However, I am reminded that God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33) and Jesus told us who the father of lies is (John 8:44).

Fortunately for Joshua, the people responded with courage.  ¹⁶The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!  Unfortunately for the church these days, the people are certainly more wiling to serve other gods.