February 19th, Thursday: Acts chap. 4&5

Acts 4

In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter proved from the Scriptures that Jesus was alive.

But now he proved it by the miraculous change in the beggar's life.

The man was healed through the power of the name of Jesus.

The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection so they wanted to put a stop to the ministry of the apostles.

This was the beginning of the official persecution of Christians.

What do you do when they tell you to stop sharing the Gospel?

What did the apostles do?

Certainly they recalled the words of Jesus Christ, and depended on the Holy Spirit to help them.

Furthermore they were so filled with their message and with love for Christ, that they could not stop telling people about Him.

They depended on prayer and directed their prayer to a Sovereign God, who made everything and can do anything!

They based their petitions on Psalm 2 – a marvelous psalm to read when you're being attacked.

When you are let go, where do you go?

When you're in trouble, to whom do you turn?

Acts 5

We'll read about pretending.

Barnabas had a gift and it exposed the sin of Ananias and Sapphira - just as Mary's gift exposed Judas' sin.

The couple lied to the Spirit, to the church and to Peter, and it caused them their lives.

Their sin was not in taking money from God, but in pretending to be something they're not.

And then we'll read about obeying.

Dealing with sin in the church often results in new power for the church.

Can you imagine a church so spiritual that people were afraid to join with them?

Even Peter's shadow had power.

It was FW Borim who wrote, “We make our decisions and then our decisions turn around and make us.”

And then we'll learn about those who oppose.

Because the Sadducees cannot tolerate the evidences of resurrection power, they arrested the apostles again and told them to be quiet.

“Well, we ought to obey God rather than men,” is their response.

It's the only position to hold when you have the word of God on your side.

Be sure it's conviction and not just opinion.

And we'll learn about hesitating.

Gamaliel advised neutrality, which means avoiding the truth and letting Satan move in.