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Not Remain Your Own?

Detractors have often described the Lord’s church as governed by socialist … or even communist principles.  They’ll point to verses like Acts 4:32 as proof, “… no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”  In heaven, we are ruled by a benevolent monarchy with the King of Kings on the throne, but on earth do our possession really belong to the church and its leaders, forcing us to give, decide how to distribute them all?

I. Acts 5:1-14.  Wanting to look good to their brothers and sisters in Christ, Ananias and Sapphira “lied” to God and pretended to give the full amount for property they sold while keeping back part for themselves. Peter expresses that when it was unsold, it was their own, and when it was sold, it was at their disposal. This tells us that the church was not forcing Christians to give, but that it was an internal decision each made to be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9).

II. 2 Peter 1:3-8.  Restored to His image because of Christ’s work in the gospel, Christians should desire to be like Jesus and to walk like Him in every way.  God gives us the opportunity to participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world by continually adding virtues to ourselves.  Being generous and honest (2 Corinthians 8) in our giving, like the Macedonians in character, will help us not to be ineffective and unfruitful in His kingdom.

III. Matthew 5:13-16.  Because God made an example of Ananias and Sapphira, fear of God gripped the church and the a harvest of souls occurred.  It’s so easy today to live as a version of the world (1 John 2:15) while deceiving your fellow Christians, but we can not become salt without flavor! Instead, we must be light on a hill for all to see, so glory and thanksgiving will go to our God.

Is your thanks-living resulting in thanksgiving?

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As Though By Our Own

In recent years, the world has grown aggressively antagonistic to Christianity, and yet the church’s response has been to compromise with the culture and blend in to with every secular help agency to win souls.  Rather, let us hold out the treasure of the gospel and point to Jesus no matter what the cost.

I. Acts 3:5-16.  Peter healed a man lame from birth and an utterly astounded crowd soon came running.  Had it been the expected alms, like the silver or gold that everyone expected, then perhaps no one would have taken note.  But a complete healing of the man so that he could leap and praise God stood out dramatically.  Instead of blending in, God’s power was at work.  The gospel also heals us completely from sin, yet the church would rather be like every other agency to keep from being noticed.

II. Hebrews 7:11-16.  Peter was quick to tell the gathering crowd that it was not by their own power or piety that the man was healed.  Rather, he pointed to Jesus’ authority, power, and indestructible life.  Being sinful, we can do little (Romans 7:18-20), but Jesus was sinless (Hebrews 4:15).  Christians have often served without thanks, but when great things happen because God worked through us, we should acknowledge Him who is able to do all things.

III. Acts 12:21-24.  Peter then preaches the gospel to them (1 Corinthians 15:3-5), explaining that is faith through Jesus (John 8:24) that distinguishes us.  Yet, the Lord’s church attempts to compete with the world by means of the world.  We strive to have the same programs and ministries, the same facilities and advertising campaigns that the world has.  In doing so, we hope we’ll stand out enough to grow in numbers while not enough to incur the world’s wrath.

Because our Savior was on a mission (Luke 19:10), we who wear His name must be as well.  We must have the courage to stand out in a world that stands against us.

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Cut to the Heart

In Bloom’s taxonomy remembering and understanding are lower levels of critical thinking, yet that’s where most of our sermons, classes … and sadly studies on how to obey the gospel are centered.  It is at the level of applying the knowledge where a person sees how his own sin has eternally separated him from God and only the sacrifice of Jesus can restore the relationship.  Then, when they are “cut to the heart,” they will ask, “What shall I do?”

I. Acts 2:36-47.  The first gospel sermon that was delivered on the day of Pentecost used knowledge to convict the crowd that they were guilty of sin and putting an innocent man to death but that God had resurrected Jesus and made Him both Lord and Christ.  The people were cut to the heart and wanted to apply this knowledge, which required further knowledge about how to obey the gospel.  3000 applied it.

II. Romans 6:3-5.  In an era where many are convinced there’s no such thing as sin, what they’ve done is not that bad, or the preaching they’ve heard deemphasizes it, it’s hard to see the relevance of the gospel.  But even a knowledge-level passage of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 gives the application in the phrase, “for our sins.”  After they’re cut to the heart, we can explain how obeying the gospel unites us to Christ’s death and resurrection.

III.  Matthew 28:19-20.  We each have a job to do.  For we who are already living faithfully, ours is to use knowledge to convict the lost to action.  Then, when we have made disciples and the cut-to-the-heart are asking what they must do, we baptize–when it’s God’s job to add them to His church–and then teach them to obey everything that He’s commanded.  This is how is was for the gentile jailer in Acts 16.

When we push them to obedience before they’re cut to the heart, we risk making low-level disciples who struggle to see the relevance of church and live faithfully.  Never having been cut to the heart and applied the gospel, they never utilize the higher levels of critical thinking in their Christian walk.

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And They Prayed

One hymn we sing brings prayer into a never-ceasing part of our daily lives by asking us four questions:

Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray?

When you met with great temptation, Did you think to pray?

When your heart was filled with anger, Did you think to pray?

When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray?

I. Acts 1:1-26.  Told to wait in their time of transition, God’s people prayed.  For about ten days, Jesus’ followers waited for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, and in that time they decided to find a replacement for Judas.  Rather than just picking someone whom everyone liked and might give their group a morale boost after Jesus had ascended, they prayed about it first, and prayer characterized Christians’ lives throughout Acts.  So, we who are waiting for our coming transition to eternity when Jesus returns (Hebrews 9:27-28) ought to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

II. John 14:12-14.  When God’s people don’t inquire of Him, bad things happen (Joshua 9:14-15).  On the other hand, we have record of great encouragement and growth when they do (Acts 4:31).  Jesus invites us to submit to Him in prayer, promising that He’ll do what is within God’s will and not our own (James 4:3-4), so that glory will go to the Father.  It pleases God when we pray without ceasing for ourselves and others to be filled with the knowledge of His will and are saved (Colossians 1:9-10).  But, we have to believe that God will work powerfully through our prayers for His purpose.

III. 1 Timothy 2:1-4.  We have to believe that powerful things will happen when His people pray.  When the Israelites sinned with the golden calf, Moses prayed, recognizing that their only distinction from other peoples in the world, was God’s presence working powerfully in them and through them (Exodus 33:15-17) and God did all that Moses had asked.  We in the New Testament time are told to intercede on behalf of others in all situations and circumstances because God desires all people to be saved.  So, are you praying that the saved may be strengthened and the lost led to Christ?

Jesus’ church today is a continuation of what we can read about twenty centuries ago.  Since prayer was so much a powerful part of their daily lives, shouldn’t we pray without ceasing as well?

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Should Not Trouble

We want the community to obey the gospel and come into the church, but we don’t want the church to compromise truth and become the culture.  U.S. church attendance has fallen from over 70% around WWII to less than 47% today.  This means that the aging baby boomers (ages 60s through early 80s), who have lived through very challenging societal changes in their decades of life, are the ones filling our pews.  How can the church today hope to grow?

I. Acts 11:19-21.  Antioch saw changes in the church.  Exclusively Jewish in its traditions and knowledge until God opened the door to the gentiles, Jesus’ church was suddenly overwhelmed with believers who had obeyed the gospel but came from a denominational (pagan) and unchurched backgrounds.  Today’s faithful don’t fear opening our buildings to our communities without reason.  During the turbulent ’60s, divisive ’80s, and combative 2000s, the culture deviated from truth while the church held fast but became unrecognizable to each generation.  Sadly, a church that no longer looks like the community it is in soon dies.

II. Acts 15:6-20.  Leaders in Jerusalem told the Antioch church to extend the same grace to those from the outside coming in as God had already given to those who had been in the church.  It was God’s church, not theirs, and He was restoring His fallen tent.  Giving grace means WORK for us as we convert the fallen away, the denominationalists, and the unchurched, who are all products of the current culture we live in.  The easier ways of growth closed off to us, the church must return to the method that worked when it last looked like its communities.

III.  John 15:16-18.  While doing the difficult work of going into our communities and making disciples, we “should not trouble” those escaping the corruption of the world by keeping them from returning to it.  We can extend grace and love as Jesus loves without compromising truth.  If we do this, His church will be forever changed, yes, but it will thrive into the future.

 

 

 

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In No One Else

God made a way for sins to be forgiven through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.  Seeking opportunities to proclaim that gospel should be what is on every Christian’s mind every day.  For Peter this was true–even when he was hauled before the very group that had condemned Jesus.

I.  Acts 3:6-26.  For Peter, every encounter was an opportunity to serve in Jesus’ name.  So, when he saw a lame beggar, he healed him.  And, every interaction was an opportunity to tell the good news.  So, when an astonished crowd gathered, Peter proclaimed Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, telling the crowd to repent!

Is this us?  Or, do we allow the petty power the world wields to stop us from serving in Jesus’ name and proclaiming that which might offend?

II.  Acts 4:1-18.  This didn’t set too well with those in worldly power, who seized him and made it sound like he had done something wrong.  Not to be shaken by how the world framed what he had done, Peter rightly describes their actions as calling him to account for showing compassion.  Then, he tells them the gospel!

Shrinking back, we even say things like “we’re not allowed …” or justify to ourselves that our audience wouldn’t be receptive to the gospel anyway.

III.  Acts 4:19-21.  Peter wasn’t motivated by the worlds threats, tactics, or persecutions.  He never reasoned that the Council couldn’t act because the people were all praising God!  Because he knew Godly power, he didn’t care what the world might do to him–only about lost souls who needed to hear the good news!

For us to adopt this perspective, we need to be transformed (Ephesians 4:20-24) and to die to sin and self (Romans 6:5-8) to know our salvation.

How frustrating it must have been to be the world in the 1st century and discover that threats and persecutions no longer worked on Christians who used everything the world had the power to do as an opportunity for the gospel and continued to serve in Jesus’ name (Acts 5:40-42)!  How can we similarly frustrate the world around us today?

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Serving God’s purpose

By John Henson, Dibrell congregation, McMinnville TN

ACTS 13:36

I. DAVID SERVED GOD’S PURPOSE

  1. By becoming king.
  2. By writing inspired scripture.
  3. By being the one through whom the Christ would come.
  4. By prophesying the coming King — Jesus.

II. WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE FOR US

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:21 That we might be made the righteousness of God.
  2. Galatians 2:16 That we might be justified by an obedient faith.
  3. Hebrews 12:10 That we might be partakers of his holiness.
  4. 3 John 8 That we might be fellow helpers of the truth.

III. ARE YOU SERVING GOD’S PURPOSE?

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