The Church in Love, Unity, and Power

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:

neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they

 had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection

 of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them

that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought

the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet:

and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, 

who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of

consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and

brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Acts 4:32-37

After the advent of the Holy Spirit:

In the beginning of early Christianity you can see God’s infinite wisdom!  The commission to spread the word first in Jerusalem and then to the world could have possibly gone unfilled had it not been for the religious persecution that took place.  This caused the early Christians to scatter but, being filled with the Holy Spirit, they witnessed Jesus everywhere they went. 

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.  Acts 8:4

Chapter 4 speaks of the great love they had for God which was expressed in many ways:

Ø       Unity

All the believers were one in heart.  It is this oneness in heart that produces a unity of soul.  Their fellowship was different from the way we have come to define fellowship.  The main thrust of their fellowship was having all things in common; they shared everything they had.

And all that believed were together, and had all things common;  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  Acts 2:44:46

Ø       Grace

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.   Acts 4:32-33

Ø       Power

Along with the grace came great power.  Despite all of the opposition, the disciples continued to testify of the resurrection of Jesus.

Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.  Acts 2:47

Ø       Care

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.  Acts 4:34-35

The fellowship that the early Christians had included caring for one another:

Ö    Materialistically

Ö    Spiritually

Jesus explained to the disciples that the world would know them through their love one for 

another:

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.   John 13:35

What a beautiful example of love that was demonstrated by the early Christian church through which achieved greatness in unity, great grace, great care – all backed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The adversary is always seeking to destroy what God has ordained.  What a tragic account of Ananias and Sapphira.  Their deceit cost them their lives.  While they thought they were deceiving man, they were actually lying to God.  

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.  Acts 5:3-4

This example should give us cause to examine our heart to make sure that our thoughts and motives are pure and that we are not deceitful in our motives and our actions.

Peter is bold in pointing out to Ananias the error of his ways.  God’s punishment was swift in Ananias’ and Sapphira’s death.  His punishment caused great fear to seize the early believers who heard of the occurrence.  Because we are by nature a deceitful people due to the father of deceit, Satan, we must guard ourselves of this sinful nature by:

Ö    Take an honest look at our lives regarding deceit

Ö    Honestly lay the results before the Lord.  Repent of all sin; relying on the grace of God.

Ö    Ask God to remove habits of deception and replace it with truth.

Ö    Make an agreement with God that with His help we will consciously refrain from lying in all of its forms and repent immediately if it occurs again.

The power of God continues to be manifested in the lives of believers; particularly the disciples after the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira.

Due to the jealously of the high priests, the apostles were arrested and put in jail.  However, they were freed at night by divine intervention and told to preach in the temple the next morning by an angel of God.  This intervention was powerful encouragement to the apostles in their belief that whether or not God interceded or not, He was able. 

After realizing the apostles were free and once again preaching, the leaders reproached them once again but to no avail, the apostle Peter and the others responded:

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.   Acts 5:29-32

The apostles were liberated from their jail, but true liberation is found in our obedience to God.  Self-check questions:

®       Am I living consistently in view of what I know about Christ?

®       Am I living a life that is in accord with what I am learning in the scriptures?

®      Am I refusing to do what I know He wants?

®      Am I refusing to share my faith because of fear of rejection or appearing unintellectual or uncultured or any other reason?

No doubt the Sanhedrin were infuriated with the response received from the apostles.  Their  fate could have been far worse had it not been for the Pharisee, Gamaliel.  His wise counsel thwarted the fury of the Sanhedrin and the apostles were sent their way with a lashing and advised not to speak on the name of Jesus anymore.

They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them free.  Acts 5:40

The church continued to grow and flourish. However, with growth, problems arose. We expect attacks of Satan from the outside, but he attacks from the inside as well. A situation; whether real or perceived, if left unchecked, can bring disunity and dissention within the church body. This is what occurred between the Greek speaking Christians and the Hebrew speaking Christians. The apostles, when they heard of the complaint, consulted with each other as to how it should be handled. They understood rightly that be them stepping in and handling the situation would hinder them from their task of ministering the word of God. They were not limited to thinking that the job would not get done unless they handled it. Instead they handled the situation with apostolic principles of discipleship and delegation. Twelve men were chosen by the people to handle the situation with the Greek speaking Christians. This allowed the apostles to continue in their prayers and their ministry of the word of God.

Not only that, it enabled others to begin ministering God’s word which in turn allowed them, when the time came, to preach the word of God. Unity was restored, the number of disciples increased and priests believed.

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.  Acts 6:7

The first Christian martyr, Stephen, shows us both how to live and how to die.

Stephan was a man full of God’s grace who did many signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit. All the way to his final moments, Stephen was a faithful Christian:

Ø  Living as Christ would live

• He had wisdom given through the Holy Spirit 
• He shared Christ’s rejection and was falsely accused 

Ø  Speaking as Christ would speak

• He dispelled the three great pillars of popular Judaism: the land, the law, and the temple 

Ø  Dying as Christ would die

• He was stoned to death 
• Like Christ, he prayed for forgiveness toward those that stoned him 

He died a martyr’s death just as Christ did.

The persecution continued and intensified after the stoning of Stephen. But with the persecution, the power of God continued:

Ø  The exhibition of spiritual power

• Philip began preaching the gospel in Samaria and was accepted there as well as the gospel.
• Many miraculous signs were done by Philip. 
• The Samaritans, including Simon, were baptized 
• With the arrival of Peter and John, who laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 

Ø  The appropriation of spiritual power

• Instead of asking to receive the Holy Spirit, Simon asked for the power to bestow the Holy Spirit. 

The gift of the Holy Spirit cannot be purchased as Simon would have liked for his own personal glory. All that we do, say and accomplish in the name of Jesus is for the glory of God to be revealed.

God’s work with Philip teaches us that we are to be

Ø  In touch with the Holy Spirit – when we are in touch with the Holy Spirit, we will be sensitive to it’s guidance.

Ø  In touch with the gospel

• Philip shares the gospel with the Ethiopian Eunuch at the bidding of the Holy Spirit 

Ø  In touch with people

• It does us little good to be in touch with the Spirit and the word if we are not in touch with people 

To bring a touch of the master’s hand to those around us, we must:

Daily yield to the Spirit’s guidance, 

Understand and proclaim the gospel, and 

Love people with God’s love 

(Biblical Studies)

12/04/19

05/27/21