A STUDY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH IN ACTION
PART 4
This week we will finish chapter 4. Remember we are discussing the New Testament Church in Action. The Book of Acts has no formal ending, that is because we are the church and we were to continue what the Apostles and early church started even today. Sadly, throughout history this was not so. During the Time of Constantine, paganism was allowed to mix with Christianity and the actions of the church were drastically affected to our detriment. The church was held back for hundreds of years, with very few understanding or teaching the truth of the gospel, the salvation message and the gift of grace and faith. So, it will benefit us to study the early church and its actions to help us in our walk as individuals and as a church body.
Lets’ look at Acts 4: 18-20: 18. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19. But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20. "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'':
If you remember from last week, Peter and John had gone to the temple to pray, and before entering at the Gate Beautiful, they through the working of the Holy Spirit healed the lame man. They were then arrested. The above verses tell us the consequences of their action, which was the religious leaders telling them they could not speak or teach in the name of Jesus. This is important, because if you remember from Pastor’s teaching in Luke, the religious leaders had lied, paid the Roman soldiers to lie and state the disciples had stolen Jesus body. They did not want proof of the power of the resurrected Lord to be seen or know.
The other thing I want to take away from these verses is Peter and John’s stance. They choose to do God’s will and not man’s or the world’s. They choses to listen to God, to do His will, to speak of the things they had seen and heard. We as a church must speak of what we see but mainly what we know and believe. I want to use what the Lord told Thomas as an example.
John 20: 24-29: 24. But Thomas, called Didymus, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord.'' But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'' 26. And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!'' 27. Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'' 28. And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!'' 29. Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.''
The disciples had the honor of sharing what they saw and heard. We are blessed beyond measure because we did not see but believe anyway and are willing to follow the Lord’s commands to share the gospel. This is our mandate and we must be willing to do whatever the Lord tells us to do. Starting with what the word says.
Look at some other verses:
Acts 4: 23. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
After they were released from their court session they returned to their own companions. People who believed as they did, practiced as they did and as we have stressed before were of one mind.
We can see this because in the next verse it says:
Acts 4:24a: So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said:
They all then prayed in one voice the verses in Psalm 2. I don’t know whether they were all taught this Psalms, but however they knew it, they all prayed it in one voice and one accord. This is stressed throughout the first of Acts, one voice and one accord. As believers we must be in unity about the gospel. Unfortunately, we are not. One of the long-term main disagreements is in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts given by the Holy Spirit for ministry. Now as the general humanism creeps into the church we are leaving out the shed blood, righteousness, sanctification, forgiveness and a host of other important teachings of the Lord. As a church we cannot compromise or give in to the world and we must pray for unity first in our church, our community and then in the whole church body. It is imperative that we do so.
Let’s continue with 4: 31-32: 29. "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,.
Here again we see that when they were all in one accord, the presence of the Holy Spirit was physically manifested, falling on the original 120 and on all the other believers. What was the result, power! They spoke with boldness. As I spend time with the Lord and other believers of like mind, I find my boldness increasing. Even up to several years ago, I would never had engaged a stranger at the store or doctor’s office and end up inviting them to church or talking about the Lord. But today, I find I have more boldness.
Let’s end with Acts 32-35:
- Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35. and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
They shared all with everyone. This is a special time in the formation of the church. We see the Lord Jesus adding to and building His Church. They did not have the Bible as we know it, teachers or preachers to lead them, churches everywhere. Many of them were disowned when they became believers. Cast out with nothing. They had to support one another.
This is the only example of this type of community in Acts or the remainder of the New Testament. It was done to support them, teach them, prepare them for what was to come, which included the dispersion of the church so that the gospel message could be shared. As we will see as we study further, it was not without its pitfalls.
There are some keys to the successful New Testament church.
His Word. With boldness.. Acts: 4: 29. "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
The Holy spirit, as we saw in verse : 29. "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.. We are given power with the Holy Spirit.
The Name of Jesus. The religious leaders forbade them to speak by, in or about the name of Jesus.
Romans 14: 11. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' John 14: 13-14: 13. "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. These are just a few of the verses that show us the power of Jesus’ name.
United Prayer: we have already seen the power of unity and united prayer. We all need to understand what the will of God is and to pray that for each of us, our church and the body of Christ, so that we will be ready when that day comes.
These are the keys we have discovered so far in our study, we will continue in our study and see that many times they will be repeated throughout this book. These some of the important issues of life, we were placed here on earth for a purpose. Each of us has a calling on our life. Do not let the enemy mislead you or lie to you, leading you in thinking you are not one of the called. We are all the called.
Mark 16: 15-20: 15. And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16. "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18. "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'' 19. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
These signs follow those who believe not those who are called. We must understand and walk in this.