The First
Believers Unity in Prayer and Purpose
[Acts
chapter 4, verses 23-37]
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Last
week as we continued our in-depth studies of the writings of the
apostle Luke, we left off at Acts 4 and verse 22. Peter, John, plus a
fair amount of their compatriots, had just been let out of jail after
being ordered by the court not to speak or preach in the name of
Jesus. In response, as they left the courtroom, Peter and John said
to the authorities present there, “'Judge
for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather
than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and
heard.'”
Today as we pick up at verse 23, Peter and John have just returned
together from the proceedings to an enthusiastic welcome, so let's go
to the Word to see what happens next.
“On
their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and
reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When
they heard this, they raised their voices in prayer to God.
'Sovereign Lord', they said, 'you made the heaven and the earth and
the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through
the mouth of your servant David: 'Why do the nations rage and the
peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the
rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed
One.' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy
servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will
had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their
threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great
boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and to perform miraculous
signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' After
they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God
boldly.”
(Acts 4, verses 23-31)
What's
the first thing the early Christian converts did when Peter and John
returned? They didn't throw a party, they didn't have a banquet in
the form of a giant potluck dinner, and they didn't go out to Red
Lobster either. They prayed, and they did so as an example to
everyone as to what authentic prayer really looks like. Their prayer
was passionate, it was very thankful, and it was filled with
gratitude! One more important thing about this prayer – it was
prayed directly to God just as he is, which is on his throne as
creator-ruler of the whole universe. Although it was formal in that
the prayer quoted the first 2 verses of Psalm 2, it was personally
directed at God, but not with face-to-face familiarity since that is
not possible for any human. Instead, just as Jesus intercedes at the
Father's right hand in heaven, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us here
on earth. Their prayer was directed at the Holy Spirit. The
impartation and constant presence of that same Holy Spirit among the
true believers was the reason for the occurrence of Pentecost – so
that a communications channel between humanity and God could be
opened and maintained!
“Herod
and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom
you anointed.”
This particular verse is where the phrase 'conspiracy theory'
originates, and the conspiracy against Christ was real just as the
conspiracy surrounding the assassinations of President Kennedy, his
brother Robert and that of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It's a
tragic fact that, until the return of Christ, there will always be
people who crave money and power to such an extreme as to kill
someone to get what they want (or what they don't want someone else
to have). They are all like spoiled little brats who will take the
life of anyone who stands in their way – the ultimate temper
tantrum. Like other unbelievers, they risk eternity in hell if they
don't repent of their violent lifestyles and callous attitudes.
“....Lord,
consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word
with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and to perform
miraculous signs and wonders....”
Peter, John and company didn't have a 'board meeting' to decide on a
counterattack against those who had jailed them unjustly, even though
there would be sufficient justification for doing this in the eyes of
many. They prayed about it and gave it all up to God instead – they
put the Lord in charge and submitted themselves to God's will rather
than their own. As I wrote above, if everybody did this we could all
avoid a lot of costly and sometimes-stupid mistakes! “After
they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God
boldly.”
If the Holy Spirit can shake an entire house, just think of what that
kind of Spiritual power can do for you! Moreover, consider what that
kind of power could do to anyone or anything that opposes it! And now
let's move on to part 2 of this week's lesson, starting at verse 32.
“All
the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of
his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those
who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as
he had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called
'Barnabas' (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned
and brought the money and put it at the apostle's feet.”
(Acts 4, verses 32-37)
These
five verses describe exactly what happened when Christianity as it
was originally taught was put into practice for the first time.
Ownership did not disappear entirely, since some of the land that was
owned by the members was used to grow food. Others owned houses so
the people could have a place to meet, or for anyone in need of
emergency shelter (yes, they took in homeless people with few
questions asked, if any!). Everyone's basic needs were met 24/7 (“No
one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared
everything they had.”).
Food, clothing, shelter, medical and social needs, and unity of
purpose were the primary things that mattered. They still are. There
was no Internet, phone, television or radio, and no one cared because
they already had everything they wanted! I doubt the early believers
would have been interested in any of our modern technology anyway.
Let's not forget that all this was occurring about 2 months after
Christ had been crucified and resurrected, and so the memory of Jesus
was still very fresh for all who had known him. But by this point
they were equally knowledgeable about the extreme significance of
what Christ had done.
“There
were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who
owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and
put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he
had need.”
When's the last time you ever heard a sermon on Acts 4 and verses
34-35 preached here in fabulously wealthy North America? Never!! Nor
with much of the rest of the Capitalist world, either. Capitalism is
a code word for organized, systematic greed. Capitalism is also a
grievous sin (see Nehemiah 5: 1-13, Exodus 5: 22-27). The ugly truth
for the proponents of capitalism is that the first Christians, the
1st
century Church that endured an enormous amount of persecution, is
that the first Christians were practicing Socialism via a
laterally-managed organization of peers. There was – and is – no
hierarchy present in authentic Christianity except for that of Christ
as the head of his Church. As you saw during my previously published
studies on the writings of the apostle Paul, neither he nor any of
the other apostles took a salary for their work. They did it all for
free, a lesson that modern preachers and TV evangelists have yet to
learn.
Moreover,
the distribution of church resources was unconditional and free of
charge! As I wrote before, the First Century Church was socialistic
by modern standards, except that it was apolitical. This tells us
without a doubt that the early Christians, the first generation
believers who had either known Jesus personally or knew others who
had, were practicing their faith as it was originally meant to be
practiced. It's also an instrument of measurement as to how far off
base the modern church actually is. The ugly truth is that the modern
church, particularly here in the western hemisphere, and the early
churches are polar opposites of one another! And, the early churches
were apolitical. They certainly never called themselves
“conservative” or “liberal”. Those two words are labels
arbitrarily slapped onto the population by people whose job it is to
divide us. Christ didn't come to divide us, he came to unite us
collectively with himself. Let's unite with Jesus instead of our
economic system, which is dying of old age anyway. Jesus, on the
other hand, lives forever! Anything else, if carried to its logical
conclusion, ends up being idolatry. It makes no sense to pledge
allegiance to any flag if we already have allegiance with Christ. And
next week we'll move onto chapter 5 of the Book of Acts.
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