Category: Weekly

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
Acts 4:32

What a testimony the above verse is to a world marked by strife and division!  Just this week, we were reminded by the tragic events in Boston of man’s tendency towards hatred and cruelty.  As a society, we may still be shocked by these increasing displays of violence, but they are merely outward expressions what many harbor in their hearts.  Remember, 1 Jn 3:15  tells us plainly that “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer…”  Paul describes the state of man outside of Christ as being “foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Tit 3:3) Brethren, the church should be distinctly different!

Our text today describes the early church as being “of one heart and one soul” and having “all things in common”.  Earlier in the same chapter, we find a similar description of the believers in Ac 4:24.  Here, we read that they raised their voice to God “with one accord”.  The Greek word translated “with one accord” is only found 12 times in our New Testament, almost exclusively in the book of Acts.  Interestingly, the word generally describes one of two things–the church’s oneness in heart and mind or the world’s unity in its hatred toward the saints!  The one instance of this word outside of Acts is found in Rom 15:5-6: “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The church should be marked by unity!

Paul told the Philippians that what would really make him happy was if he found them “being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (Ph 2:2) He longed to see the brethren united in Christ!  The next verse tells us the key to such harmony: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”  Unity comes naturally when people put everybody else ahead of themselves!  You can’t strive “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” unless you also “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love“! (Eph 4:1-3) A humble church will be a united church.

Oneness in the body of Christ is the responsibility of every member.  1 Cor 12:25-26 says that “there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”  Maintaining unity is not the job of only a handful within an assembly!  Individuals that are bent on separating the brethren should be dealt with firmly and swiftly.  We are admonished to “note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.”  These type of people can do great harm within the church for “those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Rom 16:17-18) In Tit 3:10-11, we find an even stronger word than “avoid” when speaking of how to deal with such a person: “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”

In contrast, the blessed ones of Mt 5:9 are “peacemakers” not “strifemakers”; however, even though that peace is a fruit of the indwelling Spirit (Gal 5:22), it doesn’t mean that it will take no effort on our part to maintain it!  We must, “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Ps 34:14) Strive for peace!  Temptation to divide is all around us.  I’ve heard of it creeping into more than one assembly in recent days.  Congregations are fracturing and on the verge of separation.  Let it not be on our watch, dear saint!  “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled…” (Heb 12:14-15)

Jamie

Now, 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.”
Acts 4:29-30

I wanted to revisit this text again this week because we never got to see God’s response to this prayer.  Last time we saw the amazing truth that, in spite of the threats by the Sadducees, the church never mentioned one word in their prayer regarding their personal safety.  In fact, they really weren’t surprised at all by this persecution.  Why not?  We find the answer in what they prayed in Ac 4:26-28:

“The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.  For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.”

The pattern of Christ was to suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake.  We have a group of people in this text that never agreed on anything!  Lk 23:12 tells us that prior to Christ’s crucifixion, Herod and Pilate were enemies.  As for the Jews and the Gentiles, we see the animosity between them in multiple texts.  When Paul defended himself before the Jews at Jerusalem, they kept silent until he said God had called him to preach to the Gentiles!  We read, “And they listened to him until this word [i.e. the word “Gentiles”], and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!’” (Ac 22:22) This prejudice ran in the other direction as well.  Listen to how the Roman Gentiles spoke of Israelites in Ac 16:20-21: “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.”  Do you hear their “us” and “them” mentality?  Yet, in spite of all the hatred these groups had for one another, they agreed fully on one point–they despised the Son of God even more!

So, the early church wasn’t surprised by the Sadducees’ reaction to the gospel because the world has always hated the light because its deeds are evil! (Jn 3:19) Jesus taught clearly that the church should expect resistance and outright hatred.  “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jn 15:19) The comfort in this fact is found in what the church prays after identifying the ones that joined together against Christ.  Pilate, Herod, the Jews, and the Gentiles were successful in crucifying Jesus only because they “were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.”  God’s sovereign will and eternal plans cannot be undone by the sinful practices of wicked men!

Knowing then that the Sadducees could not touch them except within the boundaries of God’s determined purpose, the church’s prayer addressed their real need in this hour.  “Give us boldness to speak your word!”  They prayed for strength to not give in to worry, doubt, and fear so they could faithfully fulfill Christ’s command to go “into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mk 16:15) Was God pleased with their request?  There aren’t many places in Scripture that you find God answer a prayer so quickly!  “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.” (Ac 4:31) God granted their request immediately!  May such a gracious response from the Lord encourage us to pray for the same boldness in our day.

Jamie

Now, 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.”
Acts 4:29-30

The prayer in our text today is an inspiring one.  It may seem simple enough on its own, but we must always consider the context in which Scripture is presented to us.  Let’s dig a little deeper and see what makes it such an amazing request by the early church to the Lord.

Peter and John had just been released from prison but not without first being threatened by the Jewish rulers that had taken them into custody.  The disciples were commanded to not speak nor teach in the name of Jesus again, and this threat was no empty one.  It had come from the high priest and the rest of the Sadducees, men that had been instrumental in the death of Christ.  At this point, it’s only been a couple of months since the crucifixion, and the scene at Calvary is still very fresh upon the saints’ minds.

When the apostles return to the church to report all the chief priests and elders had said to them, the church begins to pray “with one accord” (Ac 4:24), i.e. with one heart and mind.  What unity they display as they receive this news!  The first word out of their mouth appears to be a word we see over and over again in the New Testament: “Lord”.  However, the fact is that, in this instance, it is not the Greek word translated “Lord” over 600 times in our Bible.  The Greek word for “Lord” that they begin their prayer with is only used ten times, and it denotes an absolute ruler.  As they address God, they remember that He is in absolute control over all things, including these men that have just threatened their lives!

With that comforting thought in mind, they begin their request.  What stands out first of all to me is not what they say but rather what they don’t say.  Humanly speaking, these Jewish rulers can bring them before Pilate just like they did Jesus, but in this prayer that spans v. 24-30, you will not find one mention of their personal safety.  After they pray, “Now, Lord look on their threats,” we might expect their next words to be, “and don’t let them harm us!”  But, you won’t find that sentiment among these who are praying “with one accord.”   Their unanimous desire, per our text above, is that they will boldly preach the word of God and that the Lord Jesus would be glorified!

Dear soul, the gospel is being opposed in our day and age as well.  With so many who still claim the name of Christ, surprisingly few have an ear for sound doctrine.  Should we be surprised?  Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Tim 4:3-4) The instruction to Timothy is the same to us in such a day: “Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” (v. 2) Will you pray with me that we will be faithful to declare the truth of the gospel regardless of the opposition of men?  It is that gospel which holds the hope for men’s souls!  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” (Rom 1:16) May the Lord show Himself mighty in our day as we boldly declare His word for His glory!

Jamie

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 4:12

What an impression the apostles made as they stood before this inquisition of the religious leaders of their day!  Oh, for such boldness in declaring our Savior that it may be said of those that hear us that “they marveled [and] they recognized them, that they were with Jesus.” (v. 13) Isn’t that the desire of the children of God?  Not that men might recognize us, but that they might know Christ and the effect He has had upon us!  These apostles were lightly esteemed in the eyes of men.  They were untaught and uneducated (v. 13), but the Lord uses such “earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

This confession by Peter and John was before the Sadducees, the religious party of the high priest and those who were involved in the administration of the temple.  They were a group that held great power and who doctrinally differed from the Pharisees on certain issues, particularly regarding the doctrine of the resurrection.  The Sadducees denied there was any resurrection, and so, even though a great miracle of healing had been performed through Peter, they were grieved that he “preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Ac 4:2) Many would have been intimidated by these religious giants, but not these former fishermen that were now filled with the Holy Spirit!  They knew well that the idea of a resurrection offended the Sadducees, and yet they boldly declared, “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.” (v. 10)

What an awful thought–there is no resurrection!  This false doctrine had made it into the Corinthian church, but the Apostle Paul rebuked them sharply for it.  Just listen as he entertains the thought for a moment in 1 Cor 15:16-19: “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  We are a pitiful bunch if this life is all there is!  “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57) Many will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord this week, but it must not stop here.  We must walk in the “power of His resurrection” at all times!  Christ, who IS the resurrection (Jn 11:25), comforts His children with these words: “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.” (Jn 14:19)

I’m not sure if the resurrection is as unpopular today as it was to the Sadducees then, but there is certainly still much about the gospel that offends our present culture.  Our main text deals with such a topic–a topic for which I believe the church will increasingly come under fire if we faithfully confess it.  The disciples clearly declared that there was no “salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  The relativistic viewpoint of our day says truth is subjective–you have your version, and I have mine.  The problem is that Jesus Christ was very close-minded on that point.  He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  There are not many ways to get to the same God.  As popular as that notion is today, it simply cannot be found in the inspired word of God.  May we possess the same boldness that the disciples did in their day to proclaim the simple truth that Christ taught us: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (Jn 3:36) Perishing souls need the truth!  May we never give them a false hope.

Jamie

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing…Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:2-4, 12

After reading the post last week, a dear sister shared with me the verses above.  They remind us of the blessing of enduring suffering.  When my children were young, they would fight against my attempt to get a thorn out of their hand or foot.  They hadn’t learned that the brief, though more intense, pain associated with removing the thorn brought with it the reward of not having to deal with the longer pain of leaving the thorn lodged in there.  Aren’t we the same way with the Lord at times?  We run from the suffering of the present circumstance because we fail to see the blessing that’s coming as a result of it.  Jm 1:2 says we should rather “count it all joy”!  After all, aren’t you glad the Lord didn’t give in to the temptation to abandon suffering when the Jews cried out, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross”?  If He hadn’t endured, we would have no salvation!

Last time, we looked at three of five blessings that come as the result of suffering.  Just to recap, we saw that through trials 1) we are identified with Christ and enjoy unique fellowship with Him, 2) our spiritual man is developed, and 3) God draws us closer to Him and keeps us from sin.  Let’s now consider the final two points.  Through suffering:

4) The true believers are manifested

The children of God don’t like tension and strife.  One of the descriptions of the blessed ones in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is that they are peacemakers. (Mt 5:9) When separation and division occurs within the church, believers suffer, but did you know there is blessing in such experiences?  “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it.  For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” (1 Cor 11:18-19) The saints are suffering, but the trial brings the blessing of manifesting those that are true Christians!  John writes in 1 Jn 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”  Division is hard to deal with for those that love peace, but the church is blessed by it as tares are purged from among the wheat.  Jesus’ parable of the seed and the soils teaches us that the way an individual handles suffering will reveal the truth concerning a his profession of faith.  Suffering exposes the man who is a stony-ground hearer, “for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” (Mt 13:21)

5) We are equipped to comfort others in their affliction

In Heb 2:17, we read that Christ in all things “had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God”. This experience was a new one for God as He entered the virgin’s womb, humbling Himself and experiencing life as one of us. The result of that suffering is listed in v. 18: “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Because He suffered temptation, He is well equipped to aid us in ours. Christ has been in our shoes! He has first-hand experience with our trials because He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15) This pattern is the same for the believer. We live in a pain-filled world. How can we minister to those that are hurting unless we endure the same? According to 2 Cor 1:4, it is through our suffering that we come to know the tender care of the God of all comfort, “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Suffering equips us to minister to others in unique ways that we otherwise would not be able to do!

So, the next time suffering comes your way, dear child of God (and it will for “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God”–Ac 14:22), don’t be so quick to despair.  Instead, as our text today reminded us, we can count it all joy if we realize God’s got better things in store for those in Christ Jesus.  He’s bigger than the attacks made against us, and we, like Joseph, will see in the end that, though they meant it for evil, God meant it for good! (Gen 50:20) Believe me, the trial is small compared to the greatness of what God is accomplishing through it.  “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18)

Jamie