Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38
This passage shouts out to me in so many ways that all attempts to hinder the message of God being spoken were failing.
Inside problems did not weaken the fellowship which supported and encouraged the message to be lived out.
Persecution and fear of going to jail did not stop the message being spoken.
Human authority and powers did not stop the message being spoken.
Acts 4:32-5:11
Lets first think about the lesson we might learn from Ananias and Sapphira:
Fellowship; this is such a powerful word; it is unity, generosity, love and honesty. The believers were of one heart and mind; this must have been such a powerful witness in itself. I remember being in Aberdeen - living in a community which had grown from a small fishing village to a commuter village. In the local community centre I asked one of the older members of the community why people did not visit each others houses for coffee etc. ‘Why would you do that?’ she asked. That community had never been a strong foundation to build a community of fellowship on. It was hard to make friends in and it had a very high depression rate.
God taught the early church members a lesson through Ananias and Sapphira – God loves His Church and is jealous over it. It was purchased by the blood of his Son and has been enabled on earth to glorify God and do his work, nothing less.
Acts 5:12-32
Lets secondly think about preaching the message and persecution.
Fear is natural and important. It tells us when to beware. It helps us to tread the right path and be safe. When your whole community turn against you it should be natural that fear would help you to determine what to do. These disciples were definitely bold and not stupid. They were not ignoring God because it was God who directed them in what to say and when to say it. The miracles no doubt helped their faith and conviction. They were convinced – and from what we read their conviction was infectious!
Acts 5:33-end
Lets think about human authority and power
Theudas and Judas the Galilean obviously had much charisma, power and authority, they were characters that had attracted much attention and following, but they did not have Gods power or authority and their work failed.
Who would fight against God? God will bless and enable his work to continue while other efforts may thrive for a while but will eventually dwindle to nothing.
This passage shouts out to me in so many ways that all attempts to hinder the message of God being spoken were failing.
Inside problems did not weaken the fellowship which supported and encouraged the message to be lived out.
Persecution and fear of going to jail did not stop the message being spoken.
Human authority and powers did not stop the message being spoken.
Acts 4:32-5:11
Lets first think about the lesson we might learn from Ananias and Sapphira:
Fellowship; this is such a powerful word; it is unity, generosity, love and honesty. The believers were of one heart and mind; this must have been such a powerful witness in itself. I remember being in Aberdeen - living in a community which had grown from a small fishing village to a commuter village. In the local community centre I asked one of the older members of the community why people did not visit each others houses for coffee etc. ‘Why would you do that?’ she asked. That community had never been a strong foundation to build a community of fellowship on. It was hard to make friends in and it had a very high depression rate.
God taught the early church members a lesson through Ananias and Sapphira – God loves His Church and is jealous over it. It was purchased by the blood of his Son and has been enabled on earth to glorify God and do his work, nothing less.
Acts 5:12-32
Lets secondly think about preaching the message and persecution.
Fear is natural and important. It tells us when to beware. It helps us to tread the right path and be safe. When your whole community turn against you it should be natural that fear would help you to determine what to do. These disciples were definitely bold and not stupid. They were not ignoring God because it was God who directed them in what to say and when to say it. The miracles no doubt helped their faith and conviction. They were convinced – and from what we read their conviction was infectious!
Acts 5:33-end
Lets think about human authority and power
Theudas and Judas the Galilean obviously had much charisma, power and authority, they were characters that had attracted much attention and following, but they did not have Gods power or authority and their work failed.
Who would fight against God? God will bless and enable his work to continue while other efforts may thrive for a while but will eventually dwindle to nothing.
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