Acts 5:33-42 Good News!

Acts 5:33-42  When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him.  He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt.  He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone!  Let them go!  For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”  His speech persuaded them.  They called the apostles in and had them flogged.  Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.  

In the above verses the Sanhedrin attempts to deal with what they consider this apostate religion claiming Jesus as the Messiah.  Since they were responsible for Jesus' death by the Romans, they were frustrated that this dead man's name was still spoken of in Jerusalem.  They knew Jesus’ disciples were mostly unlearned men; however, the apostles were full of zeal for spreading the news of Jesus as the Messiah.  These disciples were  disobeying openly the demands of the Sanhedrin to cease their teaching about Jesus.  Peter exclaimed, “We must obey God rather than human beings!  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.  (Acts 5:29-30)  The Sanhedrin could not tolerate such an affront to their leadership within the Jewish community without a counter response.  Some in the Sanhedrin called for the disciples to be put to death.  Jesus had heard the same cry from their lips on the day He was killed: Crucify him!  Now the disciples stood before these leaders with the same threat on their lives.  They were not ignorant of the Sanhedrin’s power to kill them, but they were now full of the Holy Spirit--no retreat for them as Peter did in the courtyard of the high priest on the day they arrested Jesus.  He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”  After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”  Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”  (Matthew 26:72-74)  Peter their spokesman confronted these leaders fearlessly about their wicked deed: you killed Jesus by hanging him on a cross.  No denying Jesus this time even in this sanctum of religious authority, the Temple.  In this holy place where God’s Spirit dwells, the apostles boldly stood before the Sanhedrin, proclaiming the name of Jesus as the Messiah should be spoken everywhere.  They knew there would be dire consequences for speaking the name of Jesus to people in darkness, for Jesus had told them that He was sending them out as sheep among wolves.  The wolves would harass them, persecute them, even kill them, but they should speak fearlessly the Good News as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance.  Now before them, the religious leaders' muderous intent was aflame; they desired to kill these followers of Jesus.  But Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, tampers down their desire to permanently get rid of these apostles of Jesus.  He warns them not to make these apostles martyrs by killing them, but let them die at the hands of others or by natural causes.  By doing so, this wayward teaching of Jesus Christ being the Messiah will die out on its own accord.  He convinces the Sanhedrin to allow the disciples to live.  

Gamaliel was Paul’s teacher of the Jewish laws and it regulations.  He taught Paul well, for Paul was a leader in defending Judaism.  He was so zealous of Judaism that he became a leader in crushing the church of the living God.  Saul as he was known even went outside Jerusalem to arrest anyone who dared to speak of Jesus as the Messiah.  He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, believing not only in the commandments and the regulations given by Moses, but also in all the additional traditions that the Pharisees demanded the people to follow.  As the superstar of Judaism, he was on his way to Damascus to arrest these apostate believers, both men and women, bringing them back to Jerusalem in chains, hoping that they will recant being a Christian or be killed.  Saul, (Paul), was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.  (Acts 9:1)  But Jesus had other plans for Saul, as he neared Damascus with his cohorts, Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  (Acts 9:3-4)  Jesus caused him to go blind, making this man of power and authority so dependent that he had to have his companions assist him to Damascus.  Ananias, a believer in Damascus, was instructed by God to see Saul and to lay his hands on Saul to heal his blindness. “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  (Acts 9:15-16)  Paul's sight was restored, but he also heard from Ananias what he would suffer while following Jesus the Messiah.  Preaching The Way would be costly to Paul, just as it was costly to the apostles who were in the Sanhedrin’s hands.  They called the apostles in and had them flogged.  But for them and for Paul, this was nothing in comparison to the Good news, a price they were willing to accept.  The disciples left the presence of the authorities of Israel, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  Paul places suffering in the context of the heavenly gift of being Children of God.  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  I CONSIDER THAT OUR PRESENT SUFFERINGS ARE NOT WORTH COMPARING WITH THE GLORY THAT WILL BE REVEALED IN US.  (Romans 8:17-18)  Paul, as with all the disciples, suffered much persecution as he ministered Christ to the world.  These men were placed in prisons, experienced stoning, and beatings with rods; people spit at them, stripped them naked, ridiculed them.  Even the women and children laughed at them, derided them, demeaned them.  As Paul said, they were being treated as if they were the garbage of the world.  Nevertheless, the disciples left the Sanhedrin with joy after being humiliated by flogging.  Today’s church should be imitators of these believers who in the midst of persecution and threats of death  held steady.  Paul praises the church of the Thessalonians for they were standing fast in the face of much persecution.  You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy GIVEN by the Holy Spirit.  (1 Thessalonians 1:6)  The infilling of the Holy Spirit helps believers endure the cross and the assaults of the enemy with joy. 

The intent of the devil is to stop the spreading of the Good News throughout the world.  Sometimes it seems as if the plan of redemption has been successfully thwarted by the devil, but God’s mysterious and victorious plan of salvation from the beginning of time will not be stopped by any power.  Paul was greatly persecuted in Philippi; he and Silas were flogged and thrown in jail because Paul freed a young woman from demon possession.  Paul and Silas were delivered miraculously from the prison in Philippi by a violent earthquake. These two ambassadors of Christ had been humiliated, abused, mistreated in every way, emotionally and physically.  They might have cried out WHY GOD?   But instead of being discouraged and quitting their missionary journey, they go on to Thessalonica.  You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results.  We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.  (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2)  Severe opposition in Thessalonica was not going to stop them from spreading the Good News.  They knew the delivering power of the Holy Spirit in people's lives.  In Philippi, after the earthquake devastated the jail, the jailer was in fear because the authorities would kill him if any of the prisoners escaped.  However, Paul had convinced the inmates to stay put.  Because of Paul convincing the prisoners not to escape, the jailer’s life was spared.  The jailer knew this was a supernatural situation, he cried out to Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved?  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.  (Acts 16:31-34)  Paul and Silas left Philippi knowing what God can do to a sinner who repents.  God redeems him, saves him, fills him with the Holy Spirit and rescues his whole family from sin and death.  Even though abused and mistreated in Philippi, the Lord confirmed again to Paul and Silas the transformational power of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Christ's disciples had been with Jesus for three years.  They also knew emphatically that Jesus was a man of transformational power.  Because of that, they were not going to be silent about Jesus and his saving grace.  They understood well that Jesus was sent by God to earth to make people right with him.  Jesus had been resurrected to new life; they too now because of faith in Jesus’ work possess this new eternal life.  In Jesus, they recognized that God’s reconciling plan was being implemented in people’s lives.  All who know Jesus come into God’s presence without one fault.  Eternity will not accept anyone without complete perfection through the blood of Jesus.  But in and through Jesus, people are presented to God without one fault.  This mystery of God of making eternal children of God through Christ has now come to all humans.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through Jesus' blood, shed on the cross.  ( Colossians 1:19-20)  The apostles did not stop spreading The Way to God and neither will we dear breakfast companions.  Purpose in your hearts to follow Jesus, and people will say of you that you never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.  

Act 5:17-32 New Life!

Act 5:17-32  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.  But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”  At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.  When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.  But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there.  So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”  On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.  Then someone came and said, “Look!  The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”  At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles.  They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.  The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.  “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”  Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.  God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.  We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

In this passage the apostles experience the price of preaching the Good News.  Persecution and restraint were their reward for following Jesus’ command to preach his words to all people.  Jesus experienced in his walk on earth the likeness of men and women, yet was without sin.  We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  (Hebrews 4:14-15)  For humans to be right with a righteous and eternal God, God gave Jesus Christ, his Son, as a sacrificial lamb, to satisfy God’s wrath on the waywardness of mankind.  Jesus was ransomed for the souls of sinful men and women.  Jesus' resurrection placed him by God as the eternal priest for mankind, forever advocating the perfection of mankind through his work on the cross.  In the above passage, we see the apostles restrained in a jail because they were preaching this Good News of life eternal through Jesus Christ to the people in the Temple.  The religious elite of Israel killed Jesus because He was a threat to their position of deference and authority within the Jewish community.  They supposedly got rid of Jesus by his death on the cross, but to their consternation, the name of Jesus had not disappeared from the people’s lips, but was alive and well through the ministry of the apostles.  They imprisoned the apostles, but not for long because an angel came to them and released them from confinement.  Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.   The apostles had this commission on their lives to preach the new life to all people, starting in Jerusalem and then on to the world.  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  (Mark 16:15)  They were in the midst of carrying out this commission, but  they were stymied by the religious elite of Jerusalem.  But the works of God are yea and nay; God will do what he desires, so an angel is sent to release the apostles from jail.  The angel does not tell them to run and hide somewhere in Jerusalem, but he tells them to go back to the Temple and preach the gospel.  Even though threatened by the powerful in Israel, they go back under God’s command and commence ministering the new life in Jesus’ name.  As children in the household of God, they were under orders.  As Paul says to the Romans, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  (Romans 8:16-17)  As children of the Living God, the apostles would suffer much in their lives while propagating the Good News.  The new life, being right with God, would be challenged everywhere by the devil and his demonic cohorts.  Every testimony of a new life would meet with resistance from somebody, but God freed his disciples from prison to challenge the old order of sin and death.  No longer would humans have to be bound by the old order of works to know God, for now eternal life had come to the world through faith in Jesus Christ and his works alone.

The apostles were rearrested by the Temple guards.  They were brought to the Sanhedrin, consisting of the religious leaders of Israel.  They were people of power, expecting their commands to be followed.  We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said.  “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”  They feared the animosity of the people for many had followed Jesus Christ during his lifetime.  The people knew they had snuffed out Jesus’ life by having the Romans place him on a cross.  To quiet any discontent of the people, they needed the remembrance of Jesus to disappear.  But Peter tells them outright that they will not obey the Sanhedrin’s orders, for they serve a higher authority than the Sanhedrin’s authority.  We must obey God rather than human beings!  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.  Peter directly confronts them with pointing out their wicked deed of killing Jesus.  Peter was carrying his cross of Jesus, his responsibility to Jesus, in front of this powerful group of rulers. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.  And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  (Luke 14:25-27)  The cost of following Jesus might be his life.  He was now putting his life and the apostles’ lives in danger of being murdered.  The messages of God to the world have always been costly to the people who deliver them.  The prophets of old were often ostracized, persecuted and even killed for speaking the words of God.  But as the angel commanded, go back to the Temple and spread the Good News regardless of the consequences.  In a dying and sick world, the voice of God must be heard.  In Jesus’ teaching He often says, “God says.”  God’s words should be expressed regardless of whether the people are listening or not, whether the teller receives good from saying God’s words or trouble.  God's words must be said to a rebellious world.  Ezekiel had to learn this fact.  And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words.  Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions.  Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.  You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.  (Ezekiel 2:6-7)  We see Paul in Lystra, after being stoned outside of the city, get up and go back into the city and stay the night there before going on to Derbe.  Expressing what God says is sometimes very dangerous.  In the above focus we see Peter in a very precarious place, but his trust is in God’s faithfulness and not in his own ability to extricate himself from this dire entanglement with the authorities of Israel.  Peter, the man who once ran away from the authorities, denying he even knew Jesus, was now face to face with death, and he would not back down: for him the powerful name of Jesus should be spread everywhere regardless of the consequences.  

Jeremiah thought that he could bottle up the name of the Lord inside of him, for he experienced only trouble when he expounded the words of the Lord.  The authorities were against him; the people ridiculed him.  He was a voice in the wilderness that was not attended to or respected.  The word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.  But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.  (Jeremiah 20:8-9)  Jeremiah could not hold back the name of the Lord for it was part of him, his word is in my heart like a fire.  We who are Christians should have this same fire in our spirits.  Each of us are part of the body of Christ.  Each of us has a duty to carry out--in this world of darkness, we are to be lights.  Peter knew he and the disciples were an intricate part of the body of Christ on earth.  He understood the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to them for a purpose, to spread the Good News to everyone, everywhere. When Jesus taught God’s words, He proclaimed over an over, “The Lord says.”   Now Peter and the apostles knew they had a responsibility to teach God’s words.  They had a fire in their bones that would not quit.  Persecution would happen but the fire still abides.  Only their martyrdom would snuff out the fire within them.  Their assignment was to express the Good News to a sick and dying world.  Peter said, we must obey the fire within us, not man.  We have seen God’s fire expressed before: Daniel would not recant, even before the lion's den. He would not be cowered by the threats of men.  The men thrown into the hot furnace would not back down, but championed the words: “God says” because of the fire inside of them  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:16-18)  Peter now tells the Sanhedrin, even if God does not rescue us from your hands, we will not serve your orders.  The Holy Spirit had placed in the heart of the apostles his abiding fire.  I baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  (Matthew 3:11)  The task of the living body of Christ on earth: the church, is to express in love the Good News to people that Jesus saves.  Jesus will make people right with God through repentance.  God will forever forgive people of their sins in and through the cross. The work of the cross makes it so nothing can separate believers from God’s love, no hardship, no trouble, no ridicule.  God through Christ binds himself to us for all eternity.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 8:35-37)  Peter and the disciples were more than conquerors in the above focus.  Because they already had won the name of God’s children, they were already wearing the crown of righteousness.  Nothing could ever depose them from their position with God as children of the Most High.  So death was no threat to them, for they had already won the victory of eternal life in the domain of the eternal Father.  Amen!  So whether you find yourself in a prison or preaching in the Temple courtyard, you are a child of God, free in him.  

   

Acts 5:12-16 A Message of Grace!

Acts 5:12-16  The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.  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.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

In the above focus we see crowds gather around the disciples.  These people were afraid to meet formally with the disciples because of the persecution of the believers, but they did want the disciples and fellow believers to touch their lives with powerful healing and miracles.  The disciples now imbued by the Holy Spirit performed many signs and wonders among the people.  Jesus foretold that the disciples would do many mighty works after He went to heaven.  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  (John 14:12)  Now we see Peter’s shadow carrying the presence of God.  The disciples were truly doing even greater works than Jesus did in his ministry.  Because of the Spirit falling on them, all things were possible for them under God’s will.  The apostles believed in the God of signs and wonders.  They were serving the God who spoke the universe into being.  From the very beginning of the scriptures, the God of unimaginable events was the God of the Israelites.  In the book of Nehemiah we hear the Levites in their prayer of dedicating the people, affirming the God the Israelites serve.  Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.  You alone are the Lord.  You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.  You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.  (Nehemiah 9:5-6)  Judaism and Christianity are founded on a strong belief in an everlasting Creator, who exists without restraint or boundaries on his power.  Jesus revealed this unimaginable power when He quieted the waves and calmed the wind on the Sea of Galilee.  His authority over the natural forces brought great fear on his disciples, even though they knew Jesus had divine power.  Mighty prophets of old had done many great wonders, but now the disciples were in the presence of a man who functioned as God the Father--nothing was outside of his orbit of authority.  Now we see the disciples given this divine power from God, performing signs and wonders, confirming they are messengers of God.  These miraculous signs gave them favor with the people, opening their ears to the salvation message.  This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.  God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.  (Hebrews 2:3-4)  The early church was a community of people who moved under the power of God.  We see one of the deacons, Stephen, performing great wonders and signs among the people.  (Acts 6:8)  The Good News was accompanied by wonders and signs.  In Paul’s ministry to the Greeks, healing and casting out demons were necessary components of convincing the Greeks to turn their lives over to the God who had manifested himself to the Jews.  At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.  There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.  But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.  So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to PERFORM signs and wonders.  (Acts 14:1-3)  Believing in the God of creation meant that you believed in the God of miracles who manifest himself through signs and wonders.

As we see in today’s focus, God is powerfully manifested in his believers.  As in the wilderness, the Holy Spirit was with the children of Israel, a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day reflected that God was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.  We who are now in the flesh, living for only a short time on earth, know that God is leading us to his Promise Land, heaven.  At the very beginning, miracles were performed by Jesus' followers, testifying that God was with them and their message of salvation should be heard.  The church existed in a dangerous environment, a wilderness environment, constantly needing the presence of the Lord day and night.  As with the Israelites in the wilderness, manna was needed, water was needed for survival.  In today’s church, the bread of life is broken for us through God's Scriptures, and the water of life is poured through our spiritual existence by the Spirit’s abiding within us.  The Spirit manifests Christ in our daily lives.  The children of Israel had the abiding Rock with them at all times.  He, Christ the Lord, was with the Israelites in their journey.  When Moses struck the Rock with anger, he violated what God wanted for him, for he should have spoken to the Rock, the Lord, and asked him for the living water.  But his frustration with the Israelites was so great that he violently struck the Rock.  The Rock always provided an abundance of water for the large congregation of people and for their animals in the wilderness.  They and their animals were sustained in this arid land of sparseness with an abundance of water.  Now we see as Peter passes through the crowd an abundance of water flows from him.  Even his shadow brought refreshment to the people.  The Rock was opened for the people so that they might find healing for their bodies and encouragement for their souls.  As believers ventured towards the Promised Land, leaving their captivity behind them, the power of God was present with them.  The Holy Spirit has provided his gifts to the church, helping the believers to journey through this wilderness of life successfully.  As with the children of Israel, God will provide for the church everything needed.  For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.  (Nehemiah 9:21)  We know the children of Israel were not always faithful to God.  They chose allegiance to the god of Egypt at Mount Sinai, but God never left them, never abandoned them.  He always forgave them and blessed them even during their times of waywardness.  Thanks to God, we who are venturing through this wilderness, this homeless environment, have the Spirit of God within us.  As  Peter walked, the Spirit accompanied him.  For God had transitioned him from his own efforts of finding God through obeying the law and its regulations  to following Jesus who alone in his flesh satisfied the law.  Consequently, because of his faith in Jesus and his work, Peter possessed Jesus’ holiness and power, as does the church today in Jesus’ name.  

We who are alive in Jesus Christ possess the great power of the living God in us.  Jesus Christ has led us out of slavery into the very presence of God.  He took on the robe of mankind.  He called himself the Son on Man.  In this robe of frailty, this robe of finiteness, He possessed the fulness of God within himself.  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!  (Philippians 2:6-8)  Why humble himself as a man?  As a man He walked in the will of God, always pleasing his Father in heaven.  He fulfilled the law by being completely faithful to God.  He made his flesh conform to the will of God.  Therefore, Jesus is holiness, completely without fault.  We who are in the flesh are judged by Jesus’ standard of holiness, and we find ourselves falling short of that standard: following God at all times in our life’s journey.  But nothing is acceptable to God but complete holiness, eternity demands complete righteousness.  Jesus came as the Son of Man, set up a standard that all people must achieve.  The disciples are now addressing this conundrum: how can an unholy people meet the standard that God requires of them to enter into a right relationship with him?  The people are listening to them because they have seen the miracles the believers in Jesus have performed.  But what must they do beyond obeying the law, which they have never been successful in doing completely?  The Good News was that Jesus who was resurrected from the dead has made a way for them to be right with God, clothed in holiness.  They must believe in Jesus’ work on the cross and his substitutionary work in their lives.  By placing their faith IN HIM, they reach the standard God has placed on their lives: the perfection of Jesus.  They are introduced to God in the cloak of Jesus' righteousness.  This work of God, making a homeless people journeying through the wilderness of life a part of his domain forever is beyond the imagination of sinful men and women.  “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?  You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”  (Hebrews 2:6-8)  We are no longer homeless, just journeying through life and then die.  Through Christ and his holiness, we have a permanent home with God, known as children of God.  What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?  Through and IN CHRIST we have passed through the domain of the angels, where they dwell, into the very presence of the Creator of all things.  We are crowned with Jesus' glory, joint-heirs with him forever.  Jesus will never abandon us throughout all eternity.  He is our ever present High Priest, standing before God in his holiness, making intercession for us forever.  This Good News is so glorious that ears had to be opened to receive it.  Consequently, the apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people so that they might receive the message of eternal life.  Walk in that message today as children of God.       

Acts 5:1-10 Give Willingly!

Acts 5:1-10  Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.  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.  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?  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.”  When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.  And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.  Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.  About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”  “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”  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.”  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.  Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

In this morning’s breakfast, we see two members of the nascent church of the living God fail to be honest with the community of believers.  They had seen the church gladly and thankfully receive Barnabas' gift of money.  Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.  (Acts 4)  Barnabas' generous deed brought so much praise from the church that the author of Acts mentioned it.  Ananias and Sapphira saw how this gift impressed the believers.  Barnabas received much praise by the church and the evaluation of him as a good Christian probably rose greatly.  Ananias and Sapphira desired similar accolades and recognition from these early believers that Barnabas received, selling his property and giving the total amount he received from that sale to the church.  They then conspired to lie to the church.  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.  Their problem was they not only lied to other people, they lied to the Holy Spirit who was present in this gathering of believers.  Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, recognized immediately their devious plot to deceive the church about their goodness and generosity.  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?  Peter exposes the deception in their hearts before all of the church. This incident is recorded in Acts, revealing clearly the Holy Spirit is present with believers wherever they go.  He is not only present in a prescribed holy place like the Temple or Tabernacle of Meetings in the wilderness, but He is the omnipresent God in the body of Christ.  Because the promised Holy Spirit had fallen on the church, his active presence was with them.  This realization hits the church with full force in this incident.  Peter tells them and the church that God through the gift of the Holy Spirit is always abiding within them wherever they go, wherever they gather, wherever they settle.  Both of the conspirators die before them.  Both are buried immediately.  This reveals the quickness of judgment on those who try to deceive the church and the Spirit of God.  Great fear fell on the rest of the believers that day, great fear seized all who heard what had happened.  Christianity passed from a religion in their hearts to a reality of the eternal God inside them.  No longer was a belief in Jesus the Lord just another religion or idea, but it was a current and intimate relationship with the Creator of all life.  Ananias and Sapphira died before their ideas.  God creates and He also judges, and death is part of that judgment.  Paul tells the believers,  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  (Colossians 3:9-10)  We are now a new self, a temple of the living God.  Consequently, we should act with integrity, honesty and truthfulness.  We should be as God is, kind, generous, and loving.  Ananias and Saphirra were clothed in their own deceptive desires; their old selves had conspired to elevate their flesh before men and women, but they were really contaminating the unity of believers with their self-willed desires.  They were not discerning the body of Christ in their fellowship with other believers.  Paul points to this lack of discernment in the Corinthians when they partake of holy communion.  Some come to the communion table with selfish desires.  They quickly eat and drink everything they have brought to the table without considering the needs of the whole body.  Consequently, part of the  body goes away from the table without being satisfied.  They go away hungry, thirsty because of the selfishness of the greedy.  

Ananias and Sapphira were fixated on their own fleshly desires; they did not care about the unity of the body; they just wanted themselves to be elevated in the eyes of the early believers.  Their failure to discern the body of Christ and its unity got them in deep trouble with the Holy Spirit.  Their self-willed nature greatly interfered with the servanthood of the church.  Paul instructs the church to consider the whole body of Christ when taking communion.  So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.  (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)  In examining themselves, they should consider how they view the rest the body.  Are they living the life of Christ in a self-willed manner?  The self-oriented person will function in ways to benefit himself, but he is not discerning the body correctly.  The body of Christ is to image the Great Servant: Jesus Christ.  Jesus was the Great Servant to all mankind, even dying for mankind’s sins.  Now as the image of God, the church must reflect servanthood to all people, not as Ananias and Sapphira reflected in their conspiracy to deceive others for their perceived benefit.  No matter how much they gave or did not give would be honored by God.  For as Paul tells the Corinthians,  if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.  (2 Corinthians 8:12)  Any gift they would have given no matter how small, God would have greatly honored if it came from honest hearts, seeking to be faithful to a loving God.  All mankind will be judged someday.  Ananias and Sapphira experienced quick judgment as an example to the early church that God is with them and that He hears every intention of their hearts.  He is no longer far away in some temple or shrine, but He is now intimately involved with their lives.  We know since that day, many thousands have lied to the church, but few were judged quickly by God with death, so people can speak boldly against God’s church and unity and get away with it on the earth, but someday judgment will arrive for all people.  Someday people will face the living God and give an account of their lives.  A two penny offering in the Temple of God, given by the widow woman, will be acceptable and honored by God.  But money accrued dishonestly and deceptively will not be honored by God, no matter how much praise the person receives by the world because of the generous gift given to the church or the needy.  God sees all and knows all.  The church learned that on the day both of the conspirators died at their feet.  Paul talks about this faith journey we are on as Christians.  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  For we live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.  (2 Corinthians 5:6-10)  Everything that we do or do not do should be honest, open, clear to all people.  God will judge the goodness of our hearts and the love we have for others, even our enemies.

We see in today’s focus, that the Holy Spiirt was lied to.  We understand by this incident that the church was imbued with the Spirit of God.  He was present with them, and what they did or did not do was to be in his will.  They were now walking as Christ walked on this earth.  Christ was born from a woman.  He came as the Son of Man, epitomizing the best in men and women.  He always did the will of the Father.  His body image, the church, was always to do his will in unity and power.  The most obvious deceivers of Jesus’ time were the religious elite.  They hated this Jesus of Nazareth.  He was drawing people away from their religious activities.  They were losing control of the Israelites and their position of leadership within the Judaic society.  Because of their fears of Jesus, they claimed He was getting his power to heal and cast out demons from the devil.  They who were the biggest hypocrites in the Jewish society now claimed Jesus’ power was from the underworld, not from the God they served, even though so inappropriately.  Jesus addresses their accusations, he called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.  In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up.  Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.  Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”  (Mark 3:24-29)  He tells them very directly and powerfully that his works are from God and that Satan has no part in anything He does.  He also warns the Pharisees that their speech and accusations are fencing with the Holy Spirit.  If they call the Holy Spirit a spirit of evil, they will never be forgiven because the Spirit of God renews people and raises people from the dead to eternal life.  Without the Holy Spirit within lives, people will not be in the presence of the Father God in holiness.  So their adversity to the Spirit’s work will not cause them to have eternal life.  Without him, they are established in their sins forever; they will never find forgiveness.  In Ananias and Sapphira’s deception, we find their physical lives being destroyed.  We do not know their commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, we only know that they were operating in the flesh.  And God wanted the church to know that functioning in the flesh is a dangerous place before God.  In their ignorance of the reality of the body of Christ, they made a huge mistake.  They lied to the Holy Spirit.  But they did not say the Spirit of God is of the devil.  They did not claim the works of God are of the devil as did the religious elite.  Salvation comes from the works of God, not man.  Being right or wrong does not make us right with God, but God makes us right with himself through the works of Jesus.  The great denier, Peter, was made right with God because of God’s work through Jesus Christ.  We do not know the hearts of either Annanias or Sapphira, or what happened to their spirits.  However, Paul tells the church of Corinth that they should hand the man who is living in incest to the devil for the destruction of his flesh  so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.  (1 Corinthians 5:5)   Maybe the death of Ananias and Sapphira was a gift from God so that their souls might be saved.  Breakfast companions, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, live lives of integrity.  Do not conspire against the Holy Spirit of God, and He will bless your pathway.  

  

 

Acts 4:31-36 One Heart and Mind!

Acts 4:31-36  After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.  For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.  Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

In the above focus we now see the church functioning in power and authority of the Holy Spirit.  They were ready to proclaim the Good News to the world.  Peter and John recently had been arrested by the Sanhedrin for speaking in the name of Jesus.  This name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was an anathema to the ruling elite, for their hatred of him had put him to death.  They despised him because He was threatening their position of power with the Israelites.  Jesus in his walk on earth was gathering crowds of thousands around him wherever He went.  The leading priests knew his ministry was an affront to their position as intermediators between God and the people.  They were the chosen ones who had the validation from God to show the people how to be right with him, to be in good standing with the Creator of all things.  They oversaw the sacrifices given in the Temple, and they led the people through their teaching of the law and sacrifices in the Temple.  But Jesus was challenging all of that by his willingness to break the Sabbath conditions of complete rest.  Jesus was also castigating them for what He saw as the hypocrisy in their lifestyle.  Jesus and his miracles led the people away from the authority of Moses' laws and regulations.  Now the leaders are confronted by Jesus’ disciples, teaching in the Temple this name that was so dangerous to their position of authority and deference.  But the church of the Living God was no longer anemic, powerless to resist the challenge of the authorities of Israel, for the death of Jesus had brought to them the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  As with the children of Israel in the wilderness, we see the Spirit of God present with them wherever they went.  He was no longer just in the Temple, present with them in a prescribed holy place; He was in a new Temple, a living and thriving Temple: the church.  In the above scriptures, we see the manifestation of the Spirit in this scene where the church had gathered: After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  The Spirit of God was viscerally present with them: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  In essence, the Ark of the living God was with them.  No longer would the voice of God be restricted only to the Ark or in the tabernacle of the Lord or his Temple.  When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law.  In this way the Lord spoke to him.  (Numbers 7:89)  In the wilderness, on the way to the Promised Land, God’s voice came from the Tabernacle in the Holy of Holies, but now a new Temple had been constructed in and through Christ.  This voice would abide in the believers of Jesus Christ, for they would be the temple of the living God.  These members of the body of Christ knew in whom they believed.  They were not like the Sadducees who controlled the Temple, for they did not believe in supernatural events such as the resurrection.  They were stultified by their belief, not true advocates of a living God who created everything.  But the believers in Christ were firm believers.  They prayed, “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  (Acts 4:24)  Now you the mighty I AM,  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  (Acts 4:30)  That request was immediately answered with a shaking of the building.  For them, knowing Christ was not just a religion or a religious activity, it was knowing an active God, involved in their everyday lives.  He was a supernatural God who revealed himself through the miracles and activities of Jesus Christ, his Son.

God was not only in signs and wonders for the new believers, He also guided their daily activities and attitudes.  God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.  They were now the true Israelites.  Circumcision as originally ordained did not make a Jew, but the circumcision of the heart made a true Jew, and this cutting away of the flesh was illustrated by Jesus on the Cross.  He died to his fleshly existence; He gave himself to God completely, identifying that He trusted his Father God to raise him from the dead.  Christ's death and his subsequent resurrection are foundational to every Christian’s born-again life.  Every Christian by faith has died with Christ, completing the act of circumcision, the cutting away of the carnal self.  To be a true Jew, the cutting away of the flesh is a heartfelt experience, a spiritual exercise.  This is a step of faith, but a further work has to be completed for a believer to exist with God forever, and that is his or her resurrection from the dead.  All believers through faith in Jesus Christ’s and his works are raised from the dead; now subsequently identified as everlasting children of God.  But then, how does a believer in Christ live who has been raised from the dead and now sits in heavenly places alive?   I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”  (Galatians 2:20-21). The Christians in today's passage reveal what a true Jew’s life should be like.  They should love their neighbors as themselves.  If a neighbor is in need, they should come to the rescue of that person, to stabilize their lives by giving out of their own resources.  God is love; therefore, they should function in the milieu of love.  The world is the opposite of God’s goodness and caring.  The acts of the world are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  Christians should be people who place their trust and allegiance in God, doing his will not their own will.  God is to the master of their lives.  God speaks of a true Jew’s responsibility to others in Leviticus.  If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.  Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you.  You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.  (Leviticus 25:35-38)  In the verses for today, we see other believers picking up the responsibility of helping their fellow believers.  God does not change.  He does not mean one thing for other believers but not for us; one thing for another time, but something else for us during our lifetime.  Righteousness or right living is always the same, from one generation to the next.  The Spirit of God fell in the midst of these new believers because they were one in heart and mind.

Paul reminds the believers of his churches to be generous.  He desires for them to help the poor in Jerusalem for they were being persecuted severely.  He did not want them to give beyond their means, but if they had money to give to the poor in Jerusalem, they should open their hearts to this dire need of the believers.  He reminds them that God has been generous to them; therefore, they should be generous to his church.  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”  (2 Corinthians 9:6-9)  God will remember your generous heart when you meet him on the day of judgment, for all will face God whether you have been good or bad.  God is a just God and he will bring justice to all people.  We have found in our own lives that not only does God love a cheerful giver, but giving makes you cheerful.  Jesus was giving when He walked the earth.  He expended his energy to help others.  He got up before dawn to pray; He walked from city to city to spread the Good News of eternal life for all who would put their trust in him.  He was tired when He met the Samaritan woman at the well.  As he rested there at the well, He told the woman about her life, opening up salvation to her and her village of fellow Samaritans.  Jesus fed others willingly, even though He knew many of them only followed him for bread.  Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”  (John 6:26-27)  Jesus illustrates the goodness of God to the people He has made; Jesus was generous.  Now in our above focus, we see his followers opening their lives up to help everyone, especially the poor among them.  By feeding and housing others, these new believers were testifying of the goodness of God.  Their fleshly lives meant very little to them.  They would put their lives on the firing line for God.  Some in this group would lose their lives for Christ--others would face great persecution, but they knew in oneness that they were serving the eternal Creator.  So nothing mattered to them but to serve God.  Jesus had told his followers their energy should not be spent in achieving things of this world, but should be spent in pleasing God, beings servants to the world.  No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  Why such unselfishness; why throw their secular lives away?  Because they knew the true bread of life rested in the broken body of Christ and the true drink of eternal life came through the blood of Christ on the cross.  Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  (John 6:35)  During this season of Easter, dear breakfast companions as you look at the bread before you and as you see the drink at your hands, know these are emblematic of the body of Christ, which was freely given for you.  As the early believers so willingly did, they ate of this bread, drank the cup given to them representing his blood for the sake of others, do likewise.  And be filled with the Holy Spirit as you speak the word boldly.