As we continue our study in The
Acts of the Apostles, or what should be known as
The Continuing Acts of Jesus Christ through the Apostles, we see revival made the
religious leaders uncomfortable.
The Continuing Acts of Jesus Christ through the Apostles, we see revival made the
religious leaders uncomfortable.
1. Religious Jealousy Was Aroused by Revival
(v.16-18; John 16:1-4)
Then the high
priest and all his associates,
who were
members of the party of the Sadducees,
were
filled with jealousy.
They arrested the apostles
and put them in the public
jail.
So why were the religious
leaders jealous? Well, what arouses jealousy in general?
We tend to arose jealousy in
others when we have a different center of attention, a different recipient of
our affection, and have shuffled our alliances (ultimate loyalty) from the
status quo. Those who faithfully follow Jesus are generally more law-abiding
citizens than others. However, their first loyalty is not to those in power,
but to the Lord and showing his love to “the least of these.”
We also know that such
opposition should not have been a surprise since Jesus had told them about it
ahead of time (John 16:1-4)
I have said all these things to you to keep you from
falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is
coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And
they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I
have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that
I told them to you.
This happened first at the
hands of the Jews who charged them with blasphemy, then the Romans who charged
them with atheism (because they only believed in one God) and so on down
through history with governments (e.g., communist USSR, China, Vietnam, Cuba,
etc.) hating Christians because of a greater loyalty than to the state. Today,
it is primarily at the hands of Muslim extremists who think they are serving
God to kill the followers of Jesus, even though Jesus (Isa) is one of their
prophets.
This is the smoking gun that they don’t know
God…when violence is done against God’s people wherever they may be found.
Also, you can never say that
Jesus wasn’t upfront and thorough in telling them about the difficulties they
would face. Difficulties we cannot stand up against if we are trusting in our
own strength (as we see from Peter on the night Jesus was arrested).
Why don’t we see these kinds of miracles today?
I am sure
that we could list quite a few reasons, but I chose to consider five examples
from church history and will draw at least one potential reason from each one.
A) Irenaeus (ca. 125-202) was one of the leaders of the early church
that we refer to as “Apostolic Fathers.” He made a rather off-handed comment regarding not only of the presence of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church of his day, but their purpose. This is a
strong argument for miracles of healing continuing to be experienced beyond the
lives of the Apostles. They were seen as a continuation of the ministry of
Jesus. He said,
“Those who are truly his disciples receive grace from him and
put this grace into action for the benefit of other men, as each has received
the gifts from him. Some drive out devils...some have foreknowledge of the
future...others heal the sick through the laying on hands...and even the dead
have been raised up before now and have remained with us for many years. Why,
there is no numbering of the gifts which all over the world the Church has
received. from the Lord; and put into action day by day, in the name of Christ
Jesus who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, for the benefit of the nations,
without deceit and without payment. For as the Church has received freely from
the Lord, so it freely serves mankind.[1]
So what does this suggest? Perhaps
we don’t see signs and wonders as often because
the church doesn’t use its gifts for
the benefit of others as it should.
B) Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) & the
Pope
While
I have seen this anecdote told of St. Francis of Assisi, it would seem to be
better attested as having involved Thomas Aquinas. It is said that Thomas
Aquinas once visited his friend the pope and was shown all of the treasures of
the Roman Church. The pope said to Thomas,
“Well, Thomas, no longer can the church say, ‘Silver and Gold
have I none.”
Thomas replied, “Yes, Holy
Father, but neither can we say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
rise up and walk’?”
Perhaps
this story suggests that the Church
became an empire rather than a spiritual community.
C) David Hume (1711-1776) and the Enlightenment.
Hume
raised a new philosophical opposition to miracles based on probability and the
laws of nature. This position was related to a movement towards Naturalism— a term referring to a philosophy that denies
the existence and activity of the supernatural or the metaphysical. All that
appears to indicate the presence of the supernatural can be explained in terms
of natural phenomena or misperception of witnesses. While his arguments are
faulty, the Western church tends to look with skepticism at the supernatural.
D) Miracle Workers and Televangelists (20th
Century)
Ironically, through the fruitful
ministries of various people with gifts of healing over the last century there
came a degree of sensationalism. Amy Semple McPherson and others were often hounded by aggressive agnostic reporters. Do we
tend to relegate healing to the religious sideshow? Or do we invent reasons why we are off the hook? Are we so
naturalistic that we fail to believe in the supernatural?
I
love the story of the late John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard churches, who
when first saved in another denomination asked his pastor, “When do we get to do the stuff? You know, the stuff! The stuff Jesus
did!” One reason we don’t see more miracles is that the church (and our culture) has both relegated signs and wonders to
the sideshow of sensationalism and yet, ironically, we are desensitized to the
super natural voice of the Spirit in our lives.
E) Advances
in Personal Wealth and Medical Care (ongoing).
The
last 100 years has seen an amazing progress in medical care. Life-saving
surgeries that are commonplace today were not even dreamed of even 50-60 years
ago. We live in a country that has experienced tremendous prosperity over the
same period of time. While there are still areas affected by poverty it is not
the desperate poverty on many third-world nations. While these advances are a
blessing to those they benefit, they can produce a deceptive spirit of
self-sufficiency which when coupled with the scientific-smugness that has
accompanied it we are much like ancient Nazareth. Nazareth is remembered for
its unbelief—they didn’t ask Jesus to heal their sick or deliver their
oppressed. And when we ask we are like those described in James 2:3 “When you ask, you do not
receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what
you get on your pleasures.”
Let
me say that we do have tremendous healing in this country, but it comes through
a variety of means. It comes through prayer, through doctors, through proper
nutrition and exercise, and through medical breakthroughs. Yet we too often
fail to recognize the wonder of it all.
There is an old story, of a man facing
a rising flood. When the Weather Service gave the flood warning, advising
evacuation he said “No, God will deliver me!”
When the water was up to his mailbox, he
said “No” to the National Guard truck from the driveway… later he said “No” to the swift water rescue
boat from his porch, later as the water continued to rise he said “No” to the
helicopter from the roof. After that he drowned. The story goes that when in
heaven he stood before the Lord, and asked, “Why didn’t you save me…I trusted
in you!” To which Jesus said, “Son, I sent you a warning, then I sent the
truck, the rescue boat, and the helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
I don’t share this story to debunk miraculous deliverance but rather to
warn against presumption; the presumption that demands God answer our prayer according
to our specifications. The man in the story should have taken the warning and
helped others. Instead of demanding that God rescue him in a certain way, he
should have used the circumstances as an opportunity to be the answer to other
people’s prayers. It is only a funny story, but if we aren’t careful we can end
up being the punchline. Having said that it is good to remember that the power
of God is often more convincing elsewhere. Timothy Warner writes,
In many parts of the
world…people are much more power-conscious than they are truth-conscious. We
may preach a very logical and convincing message by Western standards, but our
hearers remain unimpressed. Let them see Christian power displayed in relation
to the spirit world in which they live with great fear, however, and they will
“hear” the message more clearly than our words alone could ever make it. (Perspectives
3rd Ed., 580)
In light of these influences I would
suggest that the Western church is neither desperate nor boldly trusting God to
actually do something, and when he does do something we often don’t have the
sense to see it and give thanks!
That was a very lengthy aside,
answering a question we were unable to get to a few weeks ago. But what about
the apostles back in Acts 5? Last time we checked-in with their story they were
locked in the public jail by the Sadducee religious leaders. But it was not for
long.
2. They Were Released For a Purpose (v.19-21)
But during the night an
angel of the Lord
opened the doors of the jail and
brought them out.
“Go, stand in the temple
courts,” he said,
“and
tell the people all about this new life.”
At daybreak they entered the temple
courts,
as they had been told,
and began to teach the
people.
There are three things I would
like to mention about this section. First, it was an angel of the Lord who
opened the door of the jail (v.19). What marvelous bit of divine irony it is
that the apostles were imprisoned by the Sadducees for doing the supernatural
and were miraculously released from prison by an angel which according to the
Sadducees do not exist. Who says that God does not have a sense of humor? In
addition, the angel in this case does not proclaim that Jesus was alive but tells them
to do so…in the temple no less. That is like sending the apostles to preach on
the Sadducees’ front lawn. It is a strategy sure to land them back in jail. By
the way, in case we are tempted to develop some kind of angelic door-opening
theology, notice that while the angle opened the door of the jail for them to
escape, they still had to wait until
daybreak for the doors of the temple to be opened (v.21).
Second, the purpose of
the Lord is sure (Isa 14:24), where in the context of the coming destruction of
Assyria,
The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned, so shall it be,
and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…”
“As I have planned, so shall it be,
and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…”
His word will be fulfilled; it will come to
pass, with or without us.
Third, the Apostles were recalled
to active service… a three-part commission was given by the angel. They were to
“Go” (out of the jail), “Stand in the temple” (see Eph. 6:13-14), and “Tell the
people all about this new life.” They were to continue to be ambassadors for reconciliation in the world.
3. Repeating the Process (21-25)
When the high priest and his associates arrived,
they called
together the Sanhedrin—
the
full assembly of the elders of Israel—
and sent to
the jail for the apostles.
But on arriving
at the jail,
the
officers did not find them there.
So they went
back and reported,
“We found the
jail securely locked,
with the guards standing at the doors;
but
when we opened them,
we
found no one inside.”
On hearing this
report,
the captain of the temple guard and
the chief priests were at a loss,
wondering what this might lead to.
Then someone came and said, “Look!
The men you put
in jail
are standing in the temple
courts
teaching the people.”
We all saw this ending coming,
back when the angel sent them back to witness in the temple, the religious leaders’
home court. It reminds me in a way of the original Weebles, the old children's toy that was like a weighted punching bag that just kept standing back up. The tag line was, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!" They were noticed, reported and the source of great wonder to the
guards.
4. Remaining Faithful Under Pressure (26-33)
At that, the captain went with his officers
and brought the apostles.
They did not use force,
because
they feared that the people would stone them.
The apostles
were brought in
and made to appear
before the
Sanhedrin to be questioned
by the high priest.
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in
this name,” he said.
“Yet you have filled Jerusalem with
your teaching
and are determined
to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Peter and the other apostles replied:
“We
must obey God rather than human beings!
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—
whom you killed
by hanging him on a cross.
God exalted him to his own right hand
as Prince and Savior
that he might bring Israel to repentance
and forgive their sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
and so is the
Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who
obey him.”
When they heard this,
they were furious and
wanted to put them to
death.
Peter didn’t disagree with the
High Priest’s charges but admitted them while saying just why they did what
they did. He made several good points that I will list…
- We must obey God rather than human beings (v.29)
- The Jesus you killed is now alive (v.30)
- That Jesus is Prince and Savior—the Messiah (v.31)
- The Holy Spirit is also a witness (v.32) living in those who obey God.
Now, let me ask the question, “What
were Peter’s words in v.29?” What was the implication of this? Is it not that “We
obey, you don’t.” So this truthful conclusion didn’t clear them. Instead it cut
the Sadducees to the heart not in conviction but in anger and they began actively
discussing how to have them killed.
What will happen? Will they be
delivered or executed? Will the angel show up again? Will the people march on
the palace? Tune in next week at this same Acts-time, same Acts-channel!
Cliffhanger aside, God’s plan
for us is not destroyed or cast down by any attack from the outside. “Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot
hear” (Isa 59:1), we just need to make sure we have confessed our need for him
to be our savior.
Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you are doing in the
world today,
and the courageous love needed to jump in together and participate with
you in your mission!
[1]
Henry Bettenson, ed. The Early Christian Fathers, [New York: Oxford
University Press, 1956], 93.
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