Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Jun 28, 2020: Acts 5-8 Early Church Lessons For Every Christian
Transcript
- Amen. Well, as we look at the book of Acts this morning, we're looking at the book of Acts and understanding that it is a model for the church. The book of Acts is the beginnings of the church and sets forth some really important things for us. Church doctrine we find here established in the book of Acts. We see in regards to churches what kind of activities and functions and things that the churches should be operating in. We find leadership within the church and how that works and how that's structured. And so we have the book of Acts really as a model for us as the church today. But as we look at the book of Acts this morning, I'm not gonna be focused so much on the doctrine or the leadership or really even the activity, but really the church members. And here in the book of Acts, we get some insight into what the Lord desires for each of us and what it looks like for us as members of the body of Christ to be able to be a part of the church. to be the church. We are members of the church. We are Christians and followers of Christ. And so I've titled the message this morning, Early Church Lessons for Every Christian. Early church lessons for every Christian, things that we can pull out and understand from these passages, these chapters, that are not just for leaders or for those who are interested in studying doctrine and getting particulars uncovered and understood, but for all of us as believers, there's some things that are clear here through the scriptures that the Lord has for us and calls us to. And so some lessons here from the early church for us. And as we look at these four chapters, we'll have one lesson from each chapter. And just kind of grabbing a little snippet from each one, we'll have four points, four lessons to consider together. The first one to consider here in Acts chapter 5, here's point number one this morning, Christians agree to be genuine. Christians agree to be genuine. Looking again at verse 1 and 2, it says, "...but a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet." Now, the situation happening with the church here in Acts chapter 5 is that there was a movement that was happening. There was a thing that was going on, and God was just putting it upon people's hearts to sell their property, to sell possessions, and then to give the proceeds to the church to help support others. On Wednesday, we talked about this a little bit with the provision for the widows and those who were in need and were unable to provide for themselves. And the church had the means and the resources to be able to help provide for those in need because of this situation where there were those who had extra and they were giving to the church in this way. It gives a little bit more detail about that in Acts chapter 4, how the Lord was just putting it upon people's hearts and people were moved to give unto the Lord in this way. It wasn't a requirement, it wasn't a command, and it wasn't established as church doctrine in the sense of this is what everybody should do, sell all of your property and give it all to the Lord in that way. But it was just a special time where the Lord was moving this upon the church. It was a beautiful move of God upon people's hearts. Barnabas, the companion of Paul that we'll get to read about in the coming chapters, it notes there in chapter 4, he participated in this also. And so there's this great thing that's happening, this generosity that's being demonstrated and displayed. Again, it's a beautiful move of God until Ananias and Sapphira come on the scene. And here the situation is they are kind of jumping onto the movement and they sell a possession. We don't know exactly what the possession was and we don't know, you know, the details about what they made for it. But it tells us in verse 2 that they kept back part of the proceeds. So let's say they sold the property for $100,000. They kept $20,000 and then they gave $80,000 and brought it to the apostles' feet. Now the issue in this passage is not that they kept some of the money, but Peter makes it clear as you go on into verse 3 and 4, the issue was that they pretended to give all the money, meanwhile they kept some of it. In verse 3, Peter says, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. Peter says, look, you didn't have to sell your property and you didn't have to give money. You didn't have to give all of it. None of this was required. You voluntarily did all of these things. And so again, the issue is not the selling of the property or the dividing of the funds, the dividing of the proceeds, keeping some for themselves. There was no problem with that as far as God was concerned. The problem from this passage is what they did was pretended to give it all. They wanted everybody to think that they had given the full proceeds of the sale. Meanwhile, they had kept part of it for themselves. It was the issue of hypocrisy. They wanted to look more generous than they actually were. They wanted to look more godly than they actually were. And this is an important lesson for us as members of the church because there can be a strong pull towards hypocrisy within the church. And if you haven't felt that pull personally, then you're probably not being honest with yourself. That is something that is a tendency for us. We desire to appear more godly or we fall into hypocrisy because we don't want to be judged or criticized. And so we kind of play the part, we kind of, you know, put up the front because we don't want to deal with the criticism that might come our way. Think about the example of the Apostle Peter. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul lets us know he had to address an issue of hypocrisy with the Apostle Peter. In Galatians chapter 2, he describes the situation. Before men from Judah came, Peter was hanging out with the Gentiles. He was fellowshipping with them. He was having meals with them. But then when those came from Jerusalem, it said that they... withdrew. And so they now began to act differently because these others came and it not only affected Peter, but it affected the rest of the Jews. And Paul even says Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is contagious and it influences others and leads others astray as well. And so here we see this issue of hypocrisy is one to be aware of and to watch out for. And so I've put it the opposite instead of being hypocritical, instead to be genuine. Now in the following verses here in Acts chapter 5, we see that the wife comes in. Sapphira comes in and Peter asks her, gives her an opportunity to really come clean and to be genuine. But she says, oh, no, no, that's how much we sold the property for. And in verse 9, Peter says, how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? You've agreed together. There's this family agreement, this husband and wife agreement. And without a show of hands, I would ask you this morning, husbands and wives, do you have a hypocrisy agreement? You know, hey, we're, you know, yelling and screaming at each other all the way to church. But once we get to church, we all have an agreement. We're going to be hypocritical. We're going to pretend like there's no problems. We're going to pretend like we're not fighting. We're going to pretend like there's no issues. And everything is going to just be glorious. I remember Pastor Gail Irwin sharing one time when he would go and travel, he would be staying in people's homes and as they were having dinner together, he would kind of provoke the kids a little bit to share with him some insights that the parents didn't want him to know. And, you know, you could always tell because the kid would say something and the parents would be like, you know, not like that. And then Pastor Giller, when describes, you know, talking to the kids and saying, what else did your parents tell you not to tell me? You know, what else did they tell you to keep under wraps? And it's something that we can easily fall into and practice. And so let this be a reminder here as we look at Acts chapter five, the situation with Ananias and Sapphira. Let's agree not to be hypocritical. Let's agree to be genuine. Let's agree to be real. And there's a lot of things that we could consider about this in regards to our practices and our relationship with the Lord, our practices outside of the church and things we do, things we agree with, our politics, all of that. Let's agree genuinely. to be genuine. Don't be fake to avoid criticism, and don't be fake to appear more godly. Well, moving into chapter six, we get the second lesson from the early church for us, and that is that Christians serve one another. Christians serve one another. Now, we looked at this passage also on Wednesday, and so I'm going to be a little bit more brief with this passage, but verse one here of Acts chapter six says this, Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. So as the church is growing, as the church is gathering, there comes some personality conflicts, there comes some issues, some favoritism, things that are natural components of people gathering together. And although we wish it were different, it's not really different. When people gather together, including the church, there's some issues that develop. There's some problems that need to be addressed. It happens whenever there are gatherings of people. There will be problems, challenges, needs that are presented. And the thing for us to reconcile in our minds is that God calls us to gather. And so we understand we are called to gather together, but But we also need to understand what comes along with that is some challenges and some problems and some offenses and hurt feelings and some legitimate needs that will be presented. And as God calls us together, he has a plan for addressing all of those things. And it's through us serving one another. And so as this need is made known, as this problem develops and is brought forth, we The solution is provided from within their midst. And it's through the area of service that this issue is going to be handled. In verse 2, it tells us the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it's not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. The apostle says, look, we have a role in the body of Christ. And if we devote our time to this, it's gonna take away from what God has called us to in fulfilling our role. But there's others among you who are available to fill the role. And so seek those out. Seek out those who are available and able, who have godly character, who can fulfill that role and make sure that the distribution is fair. God has designed us, the body, the church, to function this way, to have needs, to have problems, and to have opportunity then to serve one another in ministering to those needs and resolving those problems. The reality is you cannot serve God without serving people. You cannot serve God without serving people because, well, people are what God cares about the most. And God designed us to need one another in that way. And so as we seek to serve the Lord, it's going to involve some role, some function within the body of Christ. And it's going to involve some type of service. Not lordship, not ruling over, you know, but service, loving one another and serving one another. Jesus set the pattern for this in John chapter 13. when he took a moment before that last supper and washed his disciples' feet. And then he called his disciples' attention to this. In John chapter 13, verse 14 and 15, he says, look, if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, well, you ought to wash one another's feet. I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. And this idea of washing another's feet, this is not something that, you know, is commanded throughout the scripture. So we don't take that piece and say that's the only way to fulfill what Jesus said here. But we understand this was an act of service. This was a function that was performed by the lowest servant of the household. And Jesus said, look, be willing to serve one another, to meet one another's needs, to take a low position, to provide for, to resolve, to help others. Those around you who are in need are facing problems. And so Christians serve one another. We see that demonstrated throughout the book of Acts and the scriptures. You can't serve God without serving people because people are what God cares about most, demonstrated by his own self, sending his son to die upon the cross for us and serve us. Well, moving on into chapter seven, we get the third lesson from the early church for us as Christians. Here's another lesson for us to grab hold of and to consider. Christians know the scriptures. Christians know the scriptures. In verse one, we're jumping into the account of Stephen as he's on trial and about to be martyred, the first martyr for following Jesus. In verse one, it says, then the high priest said, are these things so? And he said, brethren and fathers, listen, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him, get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you. Here is Stephen is standing trial and beginning this testimony that he's about to give. He goes back to the Old Testament and and begins from Abraham to walk the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders there, through the history of the nation of Israel. And I think Acts chapter 7 is a really good example for us. I think every Christian should be able to write their own version of Acts chapter 7. That is a retelling of biblical history in your own words. And so Stephen here takes them back to Abraham and he kind of walks through the timeline. He highlights a few of the prominent people appropriate to his testimony and what he is sharing. He talks about Abraham. He talks about Joseph. He talks about Moses. He talks about Solomon and the tabernacle and temple transition. As he walks through all of this history, he concludes in verse 51, he says, You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. Without getting into all of the details, as he's walking through Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Solomon, he's walking the people through the history of stiff-neckedness. That is, their stubbornness. How they are resisting the message of the Lord, the Holy Spirit. And he says, as your fathers did, so do you. Through Abraham, through Joseph, through Moses, through Solomon, you see this pattern throughout the history of the nation of Israel. After Solomon comes a long chain of prophets, several hundred years of God sending prophets to call the people to repentance. And again, there's this resistance. And so he says in verse 52, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? All of those famous prophets that you could think of in the Bible, they were all persecuted. persecuted. They were all fought against at the time of their message being delivered by those who were supposed to receive it and respond to it with repentance. And so Stephen here recounts this history for them. And again, I would suggest and I would encourage you to consider every Christian should be able to write their own version of Acts chapter 7. Be able to have a grasp of biblical history in a And you can think about this because the scriptures are the word of God and there's doctrine and it's effective for reproof and correction and training in righteousness, you know, all the 2 Peter chapter 3 things. But also on a practical level, just the fact that history teaches us so much about God. This history also teaches us so much about ourselves. I'm sure you've heard this famous quote from Winston Churchill. He actually got it from another philosopher as well, but In 1948 in his speech, he said, those that fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it. It's important for us to understand and grasp hold of biblical history because if we fail to learn from it, we are condemned or doomed to repeat it. We're gonna fall into those same habits and patterns and traps that others fell into before us in their walk with God. Paul tells us this as well in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11 says, He's talking about the Old Testament account, and he says, I don't want you to be unaware that all of our fathers, our, not descendants, ancestors, you know, they were before us, they were with Moses, they walked through these things, and yet they failed in many ways. And Paul says, this happened to them as examples for us. They were written to admonish us, to instruct us, so that we would not follow that same path, that same pattern. Knowing the scriptures helps us to recognize the tendencies in ourselves, the issues that we need to address as we're walking with the Lord, to stay away from the pitfalls and traps that others have experienced before us. as well as a revelation of God. And the scriptures teach us about the nature of God, the character of God, and understanding these things helps us to know him, to love him, and to walk with him. Well, finishing it up now in chapter eight, the passage that we read this morning or assigned to today. Here in Acts chapter eight, the lesson number four is Christians turn necessity into ministry. Jumping into verses 1 through 4, it says, Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Here in Acts chapter 8, we find the beginning of really the disbursement of the Christians from Jerusalem into the surrounding regions. And this is what Jesus told them would take place back in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. When he talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he said there would be witnesses unto him in Jerusalem and and then into Judea and Samaria, and then to the end of the earth. But up to this point, the church had stayed in Jerusalem. They hadn't gone out of the city of Jerusalem. They had really just gathered together and camped out together there in Jerusalem. But now comes the persecution. And there through Saul, who was enraged against the Lord, he fought against the church. He wreaked havoc upon the church, it says. And he was And so as he is torturing people, causing people to blaspheme, seeking to turn people away from Jesus, the Christian church is scattered. They're fleeing for their lives. They're running for the hills to save their necks, to save their families. And in doing so, they find themselves fulfilling what Jesus declared would happen in Jesus' Acts chapter 1 verse 8. They go into Samaria in the north. They go all around Jerusalem and the region of Judea there in the south. And then beyond this, we're going to see as we continue on in the book of Acts, their journey then to the ends of the earth and the gospel going forth beyond the area of Israel all the way throughout the rest of the known world. But as you consider that, I would encourage you to just stop and think about what that must have been like for those Christians. What was that like for them to all of a sudden, overnight, now there's this huge persecution. Christians are being tortured until they renounce Jesus. Saul of Tarsus, who later becomes the Apostle Paul, he shares about this in Acts chapter 26. He caused people to blaspheme. As we read on in Acts chapter eight, we're gonna be reading about Philip, the evangelist, and later on we'll see that he has four daughters and putting that in the context here, here's Philip, you know, with four daughters running out of Jerusalem to save his family, to protect them, to provide for them, to care for them. You can imagine it must have been absolutely terrifying. G. Campbell Morgan says, how dark the day seemed to be for the infant church. Nevertheless, the overruling hand of God is seen in the movement. As they were scattered, the members did not cease their work. In verse 4, it tells us, Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. This was a terrible moment for them. Personally, it must have been horrifying. It must have been frantic, trying to get out and escape the persecution and the attacks that were coming. But at the same time, God is able in those dark days and those difficult situations to work out situations for good. And everywhere those people went as they fled for their lives, they brought the word of God. They brought the gospel message. They brought the truth of God. It's something to remember. I will often say from time to time, if it's out of my control, it's in God's control. There is elements of choice that I must choose and God, you know, assigns me responsibility to choose and make decisions. But there's also a lot of things that are outside of my realm of choice and I have no control over. And whether things happen favorably or unfavorably, I need to settle my heart and understand if it's out of my control, it's in God's control. Now, realistically, if it's in my control, it's still in God's control ultimately, right? But the idea here, the understanding is for me to rest and understand that I didn't do this. I didn't decide this. I didn't put this in motion. And so God's in control and I need to trust him and rest and know that he's able to work. And there's, well, things that he has for me in the midst of this. Pastor David Guzik says, God can and will use pressing circumstances to guide us into his will. When everything is fine, we may have never considered going a certain course. And then a crisis opens our eyes to that course. Sometimes we have to be shaken out of our comfortable state before we will do what God wants us to do. And so here was the church. They were gathered together and I wouldn't suggest that they were resisting what God wanted to do. by gathering together in Jerusalem. But the Lord, knowing in advance what was going to happen, told them, this is what's going to take place. You're going to be scattered. And through that, you're going to be witnesses to me in those various regions. As you look at these things, I think perhaps we could stop and reflect and consider our world is beginning to look a lot more like the world that we see the Christians facing in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. It's a little bit more difficult to imagine, you know, these kinds of things for us, perhaps in our society, in our culture, just a few years ago. But this type of persecution, this type of world, these types of attacks, it's what Christians face all over the world. It's just us here in America and Southern California that are really unique and don't face those kinds of things. But the reality is we may. And if we do, well, it's outside of our control, but it's not outside of God's control. And so what we must learn to do is to turn that necessity into ministry. Maybe you're forced into a new job. Maybe you're forced into a new location. Maybe, you know, circumstances present themselves in a way where you can't retire in California. You have to move to Texas, right, George and Patty? Yeah. It's outside of your control, perhaps. You wouldn't have made those decisions. If you had your way, you would take a different course, but here you are stuck in this course, and you can be bitter about it and grumpy about it, or you can look to God and say, God, what is it that you want to do through the midst of this? We have the great example of Joseph in the Old Testament through that as well. So, sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused and imprisoned, but the Lord was with him the whole way and preparing him and shaping him for the things that were to come. And all along the way, he sought to be faithful to the Lord, to honor the Lord and serve the Lord in each of those steps. This is what it is for us as Christians. This is what we're called to. Turn those necessities, those things that are forced upon you, whether they're fair or unfair, what you would consider good or bad, but look for ways to honor the Lord and serve the Lord and minister the word of the Lord through the midst of it. If it's outside of my control, it's in God's control. And so here we have some great lessons for us from the early church. Lessons from those Christians who were experiencing the birth of the church, the beginning of persecution. It's a great example for us. Let's remember to be genuine. Let's agree. Let's not be fake when we come here, when we gather together. Let's not have to put up a false front. Yeah, I know there's going to be some criticism because, yeah, some people don't have the same convictions as us. Yeah, maybe we're not going to appear as godly as we want to appear, but let's agree to be genuine, not to be fake, hypocritical in the way that we present ourselves. Christians, let's serve one another. Yeah, there's going to be problems and difficulties and issues. There's going to be needs as we gather together, but God also is going to use us to minister to those needs and resolve those issues. Christians, let's get to know the scriptures. Let's learn the word of God. In it, we learn who God is. We learn about God. We also learn some valuable history, some valuable lessons to help us and protect us from making the same mistakes that others before us made. And then finally, let's turn necessity into ministry. If it's outside of my control, it's in God's control. And my job isn't to change everything, to change all the stuff that I can't change. My job is to look for the opportunities to serve the Lord, to honor the Lord, to minister on behalf of the Lord in the situations that he's allowed to come upon my life. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these examples that you've provided for us. And I pray as we consider these things that you would bring them home to our hearts, to our minds. Lord, in each area where we're Lord, our lives are in parallel with some of these things. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to see these situations, these opportunities in our lives, that we might respond to what you say, that we might follow the example or avoid the example, whichever way is appropriate, God, that you would help us to grow, to draw near to you, to become men and women who walk with you, who know you, who represent you, to the world around us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.