Friday, Oct. 31

Friday

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.  The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.   - Acts 5:1-6

One of the saddest things about this story is that their sin was so unnecessary!  Peter said to Ananias, “while it remained unsold, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?”  Ananias was free to use the money for whatever he wanted, except as a means to inflate his own spiritual pride.

Satan had filled the heart of Ananias, yet Peter could ask why he had conceived this thing in your heart. Satan can influence the life of a believer, even a spirit-filled believer, but he can’t do your sinning for you. Ananias had to conceive it in his heart.

Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last: Peter did not pronounce a “death sentence” on Ananias. He simply confronted him with his sin and Ananias fell down dead. It is NOT the business of the church to pronounce a “death sentence” on anyone!

Notice that Peter said no word to Ananias about his death. I wonder if Peter wasn’t more surprised than anyone when Ananias fell down dead!

God struck Ananias dead for his sin. Doesn’t this seem rather harsh?

The greater wonder is that God delays His righteous judgment in virtually all other cases.  We don’t like to think about this in our culture because it offends our sensibilities, but Ananias received exactly what he deserved; he simply could not live in the atmosphere of purity that marked the church at that time.

The physical means by which Ananias died was probably a heart attack. Ananias lived in a time, and among a people, who really believed there was a God in heaven we must all answer to. It frightened him to have his sin exposed and to know he was accountable before God for it. How many people would be frightened before God if confronted with sin like this? Today, too many people would yawn or debate or simply shrug.

We also have to see this incident in the context of its time. This was a critical juncture for the early church, and such impurity, sin, scandal and satanic infiltration could have corrupted the entire church at its root. 

“The Church has never been as harmed or hindered by opposition from without as it has been perpetually harmed and hindered by perils from within.”  - G. Campbell Morgan

The shock of being exposed was too much for Ananias. For many Christians in compromise, their greatest fear is not in sinning itself, but in being found out.

i. As much as anything, the lesson of Ananias and Sapphira is that we presume greatly on God when we assume that there is always time to repent, time to get right with God, time to get honest with Him. Any such time given by God is an undeserved gift that He owes no one; we should never assume it will always be there.

God’s purpose was accomplished in the church at large, the story ends with these words, So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. Surely, this is one of the great understatements of the Bible!

Jeff Frazier

Thursday, Oct. 30

Thursday

 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,  and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?   - Acts 5:1-3, 9

It is easy to ask why God dealt with Ananias and Sapphira so severely when He does not do so with other hypocrites in the church. One reason is that it was because the church was still in its infancy, and He needed to set before us a sober lesson of the seriousness of this sin among God’s people. God did the same thing in the Old Testament in the story of Achan (Joshua 7).

The charges that Peter brought against the couple reveal just how serious the sin was.  First, Ananias told a lie. Lying is the sin especially characteristic of Satan. Perhaps the most fundamental difference between God and Satan is that God is Truth, whereas Satan has no truth in him. 

Jesus said of Satan,  “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44). God was deeply concerned when lies and deception, the mark of His enemy, had entered His beloved church!

Ananias lied to God, not man. Specifically, he lied to God in the person of the Holy Spirit. In fact, he and his wife had lied to the church, but Peter identifies the church with the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit indwells the church and is responsible for its existence. 

In saying that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, Peter meant that Ananias actually imagined that he could fool God. Ananias thought that God Himself would fail to detect the lie and would bless the couple for their generosity. 

Before we think that Ananias was completely foolish for thinking he could get away with this, we should pause and recognize that he was no more foolish than any of us who think that God (and others) are not aware of our own little hypocrisies.  

What about us in the church today? We have the whole Bible, and our understanding of it is enriched by two thousand years of Bible study. This means that we have more knowledge than Ananias and Sapphira, do we really think that God will view our pretense and hypocrisy lightly!?  

In His mercy, He may not strike us down. Yet He will surely remove His favor from our attempts to serve Him, and our work will amount to nothing.  And He will absolutely work to wake us up to the true condition of our hearts. He may even bring pain and guilt into our lives to show us that we have taken the wrong path - all because He loves us too much to let us drift into cold and hypocritical lives.

Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, Oct. 29

Wednesday

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.  The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”  But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”  Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.  And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.  - Acts 5:1-11

The word “church” first occurs in Acts in verse 11 (out of 16 times). The word means an assembly or congregation of people. Luke wants us to know that the church should live in the holy fear of God and especially should be on guard against this serious sin, hypocrisy. 

Liberal commentators are shocked at this sudden, severe punishment. Ananias is not given a chance to repent, even though his sin seems not all that serious. His wife is not even told of her husband’s death and of what will happen to her if she lies. The instant that she agrees with her husband’s lie, she is struck dead. In this age of tolerance, we might think, “What’s the big deal?”

But we need to learn to view this sin from God’s holy perspective, not from our world’s relativistic view. Jesus always hit hypocrisy hard. In Matthew 23, He pronounced a series of woes on the scribes and Pharisees, whom He repeatedly called hypocrites. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.   - Matthew 23:27-28

In Luke 12:1, Jesus warned His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”.  Like leaven, hypocrisy starts small and unnoticed. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But if it is not quickly checked, it spreads. It deceives the person into thinking that things are right between him and God, when in reality, things are very wrong.
The leaven of hypocrisy can soon infect an entire church. 

The church at Laodicea thought that things were going well. They said, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” But the Lord’s perspective was, “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17)

We might think that their sin was minor. After all, to give the church any proceeds from the sale of their property would have been a good deed. Their only offense was to exaggerate how generous they were. Who was hurt by their boasting? Don't we all do a little boasting from time to time? When we stand before the church and give a testimony, do we always tell the exact truth about ourselves? Or do we, like Ananias and Sapphira, exaggerate our good works and our devotion to God?

Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, Oct. 28

Tuesday

Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.  But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.   - Acts 4:36-5:6

This is one of the stories which demonstrate the almost stubborn honesty of the Bible. It might well have been left out because it shows that even in the early Church there were very imperfect Christians; but the Bible refuses to present an idealized picture of anything. The story is told of the artist who painted the portrait of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was disfigured by warts upon his face. The painter, thinking to please the great man, omitted the disfiguring warts. When Cromwell saw the picture, he said, "Take it away, and paint me warts and all." It is one of the great virtues of the Bible that it shows us its heroes, warts and all.  There is a certain encouragement in this story, for it shows us that even in its greatest days the Church was a mixture of good and bad.

We are not told whether or not Ananias and Sapphira were true believers in Jesus Christ. Some argue that they were; some that they were not. Perhaps we are not told because if we knew that they were not true Christians, we would shrug their story off as not applying to us. If we knew that they were true Christians, we might say, “Thank God that this was just a one-time occurrence!” We would not pause and ask ourselves, “Is my faith in Christ genuine? Do I need to deal with the sin of hypocrisy?” We do know that Ananias and Sapphira were a part of the early church. Their story applies to us all!

We need to be clear on the exact nature of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. Their sin was not that they had sold their property and had given only a part to the church. In fact, Peter makes plain (5:4) that it would not have been a sin for them to have sold their property and not given anything to the church. Their sin was that they conspired together to deceive the apostles and the church into thinking that they were giving the entire amount, when in fact they kept back a portion for themselves. In other words, they were trying to impress everyone with a higher level of spirituality and commitment than they really had.  We’ve all been guilty of trying to impress others with our commitment and devotion to Christ, even though we know in our heart that we are exaggerating.

"What we want is to be real. Let us not appear to be more than we are. Don't let us put on any assumed humility, but let us be real; that is the delight of God. God wants us to be real men and women, and if we profess to be what we are not, God knows all about us. God hates the sham."   - D. L. Moody

Oh Lord God, protect from the great sin of hypocrisy.  Keep our hearts open and authentic before you and before each other.  Let Your Holy Spirit convict us of any pretense in us and draw us ever closer to the center of your heart - Amen.

Jeff Frazier

Monday, Oct. 27

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Monday

In the fourth chapter of Acts is a beautiful glimpse of what life was like in the early church. After the dramatic events of the day of Pentecost, the healing of the lame man, and the great response of multitudes in Jerusalem, the church faced life in the world of that day -- a world of darkness, despair, and death on every side -- and met it with a flowing out of the life of Jesus Christ. 

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. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.   - Acts 4:32-33

What a picture of true, genuine Christianity. Unfortunately there is also a counterfeit Christianity. It came in shortly after this in the early church, and evidences of it will be seen on throughout the book of Acts. Wherever the true church has gone throughout the world, counterfeit Christianity has gone right along with it.

Counterfeit Christianity can be recognized externally as a kind of religious club where people, largely of the same social status or class, and bound together by a mutual interest in some religious project or program, meet together to advance that particular cause, or to make each other feel better about their lives.  But that is a far cry from true Christianity which consists of individuals who, because of Jesus Christ share the same divine life, who are made up of all ages, backgrounds, classes, and status-levels of society, and who, when meeting together, regard themselves as what they really are - brothers and sisters in one family, in the family of Christ. 

That is what we have here at the end of Acts 4. "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." 

The last word is the key. Community, commonness, everything in common. This is not a reference to government enforced communism, this is a description of people willingly sharing their lives with each other.  For those of us living in 21st century American culture, with all of its individualism, consumerism, and materialism, this concept of community is almost impossible for us to grasp.  In fact, I think it is impossible for us without the power of the Holy Spirit.  

These believers were of one heart. Here the word "heart" is used for the human spirit. It denotes the deepest part of our life. It is the unconscious level of existence, the spirit, the most essential part of our nature. These were people who, by the Holy Spirit, had been united into one life. They were of one heart.  At the very deepest level of their lives they belonged to each other, and that is only possible by means of the Holy Spirit. 

Oh Lord, open our eyes to see the deception of selfishness in our culture and in our own hearts.  Let us so radically love and serve one another that the world will not be able to deny the power of your gospel.  Grant by your Holy Spirit, that we might be truly united together as brothers and sisters in Christ - Amen.

Jeff Frazier

Friday, October 24th

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Friday, October 24

Acts 4:23-31

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

In February of 2010 my wife and I woke up in the early morning hours to the sound of picture frames rattling on the walls of our bedroom. Our bed and the floor underneath us seemed to be trembling as well. After what seemed like minutes, but was really only a few seconds, the  shaking stopped and everything became quiet again. It slowly dawned on us that we had just experienced our first earthquake. By morning all the news shows confirmed that a large swath of Northern Illinois had felt the low-level quake.

While the quake was minor; nothing even fell of our walls; we still remember that moment. In Acts 4 Luke describes a much different kind of quake!

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Notice the similarity to the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The believers are gathered together for prayer. God shows up in a powerful and unmistakable way through the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is experienced as wind and fire in Acts 2 and as “shaking” in Acts 4.

Next, notice the connection between prayer and the Spirit. Prayer seems to be the precursor, dare I say prerequisite, to the experience of the Spirit. Now we know that every believer already has the Holy Spirit dwelling in his or her heart. That’s a promise found in God’s word (Ephesians 1:13). So we certainly are to experience the presence, encouragement, conviction and direction of the Holy Spirit when we pray all by ourselves. What we see here, however, is that we can also experience dramatic manifestations of the Spirit when we join together in prayer.

Finally, we see a connection between the Spirit and boldness.

Perhaps we have somewhat misunderstood, or at least underestimated, the purpose of prayer. Perhaps the primary purpose of prayer is not to make our lives easier or to remove us from difficult circumstances, but rather to make us more bold in our witness for the gospel.

Perhaps the role of the Spirit is to shake us up; to awaken us to the power of the gospel; to get us up out of bed and into the world!

Are you willing to be shaken by the Holy Spirit?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, October 23rd

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Thursday, October 23

Acts 4:23-31

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

On a recent trip to visit potential ministry partners in the middle east I was blessed to attend a prayer meeting at the Evangelical Church of Dubai. The meeting had already begun when we arrived and there were about 30 people worshipping together as they were led by a guy on a keyboard and two women singing up front. They were singing in Arabic but the Spirit of the gathering needed no translation; they were lifting their voices and hearts to Jesus.

After 15 minutes or so or worship they began to pray. The keyboardist continued to play softly in the background which gave the prayer time a very worshipful feel. What I noticed right away was the intensity of the prayer being offered. I couldn’t understand a word that was being said but even though I was fighting the drowsiness of jet-lag I was caught up in the passion of their prayers.

At one point a man stood up to pray and prayed with such force that I whispered to the woman sitting next to me, who spoke Arabic, “What is he praying about?”

She whispered back, “He’s asking God to pour out his Spirit on the people in dreams and visions so they can know who Jesus is.”

It struck me that these believers, most of whom had faced rejection and persecution from their own families, were not asking God to make their lives easier or better but rather to send the Holy Spirit to reach those who did not know Christ! What I experienced in that prayer meeting in Dubai was what I see happening in Acts 4.

"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

They ask God for more miracles like the healing of the man born lame (Acts 3), but not miracles for themselves. They ask for healing, for signs and wonders in the name of Jesus, but they are asking God to do these things for those who do not yet believe in Jesus so that they can then use those miraculous events to share the gospel!

So often my prayers tend to be focused on my own needs or the needs of those I love. And, again, there’s nothing wrong with lifting our needs and cares to our heavenly Father.

But how often do I pray for boldness with regard to sharing the gospel? How often do I ask God to do something miraculous in someone else’s life so that I will have the opportunity to share the grace of Christ with that person?

I think we are being challenged by these early believers to stretch our experience of prayer. Are you ready and willing to pray revolutionary prayers? Are you ready to ask God for the opportunity to share the truth of the gospel with a friend or neighbor? Are you ready to ask for boldness?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, October 22nd

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Wednesday, October 22

Acts 4:23-31

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Last spring a friend of mine named Tom Randall, a career missionary to the Philippine Islands and now a pastor at my brother’s church in Ohio, was arrested while on a trip to visit ministry partners in the Philippines.

To make a very long and scary story short he was falsely accused of some horrific crimes and, due to how the law works in the Philippines, he was immediately thrown into prison and had to try to defend himself from there.

Prison conditions were both harsh and extremely dangerous. The temperature was over 100 degrees; prisoners were jammed together in tiny cells and violence was rampant. On several occasions Tom’s life was in real jeopardy.

But Tom saw things a bit differently. He didn’t want to be in prison; he knew the accusations were false; but he also trusted that God would work in and through even that terrible situation. So Tom started ministering to fellow prisoners. He started sharing the gospel with them and offering to pray for them. He even did so with the guards.

As word got out dozens of churches and thousands of people began to pray for Tom’s safety and for his release. Tom was able to communicate sporadically with my brother, Joe, when he was allowed to use his cell phone.

At one point my brother said Tom sent him a text saying, “Tell the people who are praying to pray that I won’t get out too soon - because a lot of people are getting saved in prison!”

Now, Tom wanted to get out of prison and return to his wife and his ministry; but Tom also trusted that God was sovereign and could use even that terrible circumstance for his eternal purposes.

We see the same trust in the prayer of the early believers:

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

They don’t ask God to punish those who are threatening them. They don’t ask God to wipe out their enemies. They ask for more boldness.

That’s revolutionary prayer!

Most of us will never spend time in a Philippino prison! But most of us will, sooner or later, find ourselves in a situation that we would have never chosen for ourselves. Maybe it will be a time of unemployment; or a time of sickness and hospitalization; maybe even a time of loss.

What we can learn from these earliest followers of Jesus is the kind of faith that allows us to trust God’s sovereignty in all circumstances; the kind of faith that leads us to pray for boldness in those circumstances.


Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, October 21st

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Tuesday, October 21

Acts 4:23-31

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

A couple of weeks ago we lost our friend and colleague, Pastor Roger, after a 13 year battle with cancer. It is a sad time for our church family but, as often is the case when a faithful follower of Christ leaves us, it is also a time of deep  appreciation and sweet remembrance.

One of the stories I found especially meaningful had to do with how Roger spent his many hours hooked up to the dialysis machine. For the past 6 or 7 years Roger went three times a week - for five hours each time - for dialysis treatment. Turns out he used much of that time to pray.

Rather than pass the time reading, watching T.V. or sleeping, Roger spent hours praying for staff members and their families, including praying for our children by name.

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them...

These early Christians were being threatened by the same   people that conspired to send Jesus to the cross and notice that they begin their prayer by acknowledging the sovereignty of God. This is not insignificant.

By recognizing who God is; the sovereign creator of all things; they are anchoring their faith in a troubling and confusing time.

For if God is creator of all things then all things belong to him, including the religious authorities that are threatening them. If God is sovereign Lord of the universe, then nothing is beyond his authority; nothing surprises him; nothing can happen to them that he does not allow for his eternal purposes.

Anchoring their prayer in God’s sovereign wisdom and power gives them great comfort and freedom even in a time of uncertainty and pain.

Back to our friend Roger. I believe Roger could spend all those hours hooked up to a dialysis machine praying for others because he also trusted the sovereignty of God. Roger didn’t want to be sick; he didn’t enjoy being on dialysis; but he trusted that God could use him and his life for a greater purpose even as he suffered.

This is a unique kind of prayer that I like to call “revolutionary prayer.” Ordinary prayer is, “Lord, please help me with this....help me with that...remove this difficult circumstance from my life.” And there’s nothing wrong with that kind of prayer! God wants us to come to him as our Heavenly Father with everything we need.

But revolutionary prayer is, “Lord, you are sovereign and you are good. You are able to heal my body and get me off this dialysis machine; but you are also able to use my situation for your glory and for your purposes; use me even here!”

Ordinary prayer focuses on asking God to change our circumstances; revolutionary prayer asks God to change us IN our circumstances.

Do you pray revolutionary prayers?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, October 20th

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Monday, October 20

Acts 4:23-31

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

We have a door frame in our house where we measure the growth of our four sons. Year after year the little lines are etched higher and higher as we track their physical height. I’m pretty sure that most of us would agree that the growth of a child is a good thing!

And yet with that growth come certain inevitable problems. Those growing bodies are almost constantly in need of new clothes and shoes. The grocery bill climbs ever higher. There are trips to the emergency room and to the orthodontist. Then comes driving and girlfriends and college...you get the picture!

The Book of Acts is the story of the birth and early growth of the church. In Acts 2 we see the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and 3000 people respond to the preaching of the gospel. In Acts 3 we see the lame man healed and the number grows to 5000 who have come to faith through the name of Jesus.

Then in Acts 4 the growing pains start. Peter and John are arrested and thrown in jail overnight. The next day they are interrogated by the authorities and ordered to cease teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus.

This is a very real threat to the early believers. Imagine if the police showed up at your home today and threatened to arrest you if you went to church again! How would you respond if being caught reading the Bible could land you in prison?

Here’s what these early followers of Jesus did:

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God...

They gathered together and they prayed.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the content of their prayer, but for today just notice that they prayed together.

I think we tend to see prayer most often as a private, personal experience. We see prayer as something we do when we are alone; and, of course it is. But prayer is also, according to the New Testament, a relational experience. We are to pray when we are alone, but we are also to pray when we are together.

We remember from Acts 2 that the early believers were “devoted to the fellowship.” The Greek word is koinonia; meaning, the sharing of life together. Here we see that being devoted to the fellowship included prayer.
We live in a much different culture than the people we are reading about in the Book of Acts. We are much more isolated from each other; we live at a greater velocity; we struggle to find time for our families let alone for church. Yet the blessing of corporate prayer is also for us!

So how do we experience “prayer together” today? Most of our church’s midweek ministries include a time for group prayer. Those committed to C-Groups gather in one another’s homes regularly for fellowship and prayer. We have groups like “College Moms in Prayer,” or a group for parents of children serving in the military that meets regularly to pray for their children.

Do you have anywhere in your life where you gather with others for prayer? If not, I encourage you to make an effort to find and connect with a group of fellow believers with whom you can share the great blessing of prayer!


Pastor Brian Coffey

Friday, Oct. 17

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Friday

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.   - Ephesians 6:18-20

In this passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he (Paul) asks them (the Ephesian Christians) to pray for him.  Twice he repeats his request, that he might speak boldly.  This is the same Greek word translated “confidence” in Acts 4:13. 

The phrase, “the mystery of the gospel,” does not mean that it is a hidden secret, but rather that it is divinely revealed truth. It is not logical truth that anyone can deduce on his own. Rather, God must open blind eyes to see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4-6).  So Paul asked for prayer for boldness as he proclaimed this revealed mystery.

When you read through the Book of Acts, you don’t get the impression that Paul was lacking in boldness! In fact, he was in prison because he had boldly proclaimed the gospel to a mob that had attempted to kill him! When you read what he had endured for the sake of the gospel, it seems that nothing could stop him. So why was he asking prayer for boldness in witness?

Paul was about to go before Caesar, who would either acquit or condemn him. There would be the strong temptation to be diplomatic and to avoid talking to Caesar about his need for repentance from his sin in order to receive God’s forgiveness in Christ. Perhaps Satan tempted Paul with the thought, “Think of how many more you could reach if you get out of prison! Just play it safe when you go before Caesar and you’ll have your freedom.” But Paul wanted to proclaim the gospel boldly and clearly to Caesar. So he asked for prayer.

In our culture, Evangelical Christianity is increasingly viewed as a negative term, synonymous with right-wing fanaticism.  It is more and more common for Christians to feel marginalized and even attacked for their beliefs.  However, our prayer should not be that God protects from a hostile culture, but that God gives us opportunities to demonstrate and share the love of Jesus Christ! 

It’s amazing to me that Paul did not ask for prayer that he would be released from prison or for prayer for his health needs. Rather, he asked for prayer that he would proclaim the gospel boldly and not miss any opportunities. While it’s all right to pray for your personal needs, Paul’s example here, as well as the Lord’s Prayer, teach us that our primary focus in prayer should be furthering the kingdom of God, not making ourselves more comfortable. So make Paul’s passion your passion, to pray that you will be used to proclaim the gospel to the lost with clarity and boldness.

If Paul had on his prayer list the need for boldness as a witness, then perhaps you and I should add it to our lists! We all should seek to proclaim with confident boldness the good news that there is salvation in no one else except in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead.

Jeff Frazier

Thursday, Oct. 16

Thursday

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.  On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”   - Acts 4:1-12

The Sanhedrin had asked Peter, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” (4:7). So, Peter told them: We did it “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” (4:10). Furthermore, His name is the only name by which anyone can be saved: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12).

Even though the Sadducees were known for not believing in the resurrection, and Peter knew that this would be a sore spot for them, he didn’t hesitate to confront them with the truth. He tells them boldly, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health” (4:10-11). The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith. If it can be disproved, our faith is worthless.

1 Corinthians 15:17 - “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

F. F. Bruce states, “It is particularly striking that neither on this nor on any subsequent occasion (so far as our information goes) did the Sanhedrin take any serious action to disprove the apostles’ central affirmation - the resurrection of Jesus. Had it seemed possible to refute them on this point, how readily would the Sanhedrin have seized the opportunity! Had they succeeded, how quickly and completely the new movement would have collapsed!” 

We live in an age where tolerance has become the primary virtue. People don’t object if you say, “I’ve found Jesus as my personal Savior.” They say, “That’s nice for you, but I’m into something else.” Or they say, “Well that’s fine, but all that really matters is that you’re a good person and believe in something. All roads lead to God.”  Although most people do recognize it, the prevailing view in our culture which says that "all religions are equally true or valid", and that nobody should claim to have "the truth", is itself a claim to have the truth.  In other words, those who accuse Christians of being exclusive narrow since they claim that Jesus is the Truth, are actually being narrow and exclusive themselves by making such a claim, they just don't see it or won't admit it.

The statement that "all religions that claim to have the truth are arrogant and wrong" is, on its own terms, arrogant and wrong!

It is no more narrow to claim that one religion is right than to claim that one way to think about all religions (namely that all are equally valid) is right.  As the Christian philosopher Peter Berger said, "Relativism eventually relativizes itself."

But Jesus Christ cuts across the relativism and “tolerance” of our culture and proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). “There is salvation in no one else ...” (Acts 4:12). But what about sincere Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus, who are kind and loving people? They are not saved unless they trust in Jesus Christ alone. What about faithful Church goers, who who pray, and who pile up good deeds in their efforts to go to heaven? They are not saved if they are depending on any good works or ceremonies or religious devotion to get into heaven. There is no other way to God except through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  And before you start to get irritated, keep in mind that this is what the Scripture proclaims.

But while there is salvation in no one else, the good news is, there is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ for all who will trust in Him alone!  To trust in Christ means to abandon your trust in your own good works.  It means to let go of your pride and acknowledge that you are a sinner, alienated from God. Like the lame man, there is no hope for you to heal yourself. Only Christ can heal your soul. And He will save you, if you will cast yourself upon Him.

Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, Oct. 15

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Wednesday

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.   - Acts 4:5-13

Peter and John have managed to get themselves into hot water with the most powerful group in Jewish society, the Sanhedrin.  They are in this trouble primarily for continuing to talk about the love of Jesus Christ even after this council has put Him to death on the cross.  Although they were on trial before this intimidating council (the Sanhedrin), Peter quickly turned the tables on the Sanhedrin, showing that it was they who were on trial. He points out that it was not a crime to do a good deed to a cripple. Then he indicts the Sanhedrin be- cause they had crucified Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead and in whose name this lame man had been healed. Further- more, Peter let them know that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12).

The members of the council were amazed at the confidence of Peter and John, who had not been educated in the rabbinical schools, they did not come from prominent families, they did not have social or economic status of any kind.  

The council was amazed at Peter and John’s boldness, especially since they were uneducated, untrained men (4:13). But they also began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. The boldness of Peter and John reminded the council of the boldness of Jesus Christ, who also was not trained in their schools.  

Think about this for a moment...this means that there was something about the way these two men responded to persecution, something about the way they faced imprisonment, something about the graceful confidence with which they handled themselves under questioning...they were not out looking for a fight, but they were not afraid to take a stand for Christ when the moment came...all of this led these Jewish leaders to recognize that these men had been with Jesus.  Is there a greater compliment, than for people to recognize that we are like Jesus because we have been with Him!

I often hear people say that they want to be more like Jesus, but I think we have some misconceptions about what Jesus was really like.  I remember hearing a fellow grad-student in theology say that he thought pastors should be more like Jesus and less like the Apostle Paul.  When I asked him for some clarification, he said that Paul was too confrontational, but Jesus was always kind and loving!

I’m not sure which translation of the Bible he was reading!  In Matthew 23, Jesus confronted the scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, whitewashed walls, and a brood of vipers.  In Matthew 21, Jesus took a whip and drove out the money changers from the temple courts.  In Luke 11, Jesus was invited to lunch at a Pharisee’s house. He went out of his way to pronounce woes upon the Pharisees for their hypocrisy!  He was not exactly a polite dinner guest!  On many other occasions, Jesus deliberately did something to provoke controversy and point out hypocrisy or injustice.

The point is, if we’re going to be like Jesus, we will be kind and loving, but we will also be bold witnesses who confront religious hypocrisy and injustice where we have the opportunity.  We won’t be mean or rude. We will have the fruit of the Spirit, including kindness and gentleness. But we will have spent enough time with Jesus to learn from Him the importance of speaking out when God’s truth is being compromised. 

Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, Oct. 14

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Tuesday

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.  On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”   - Acts 4:1-12

To picture this scene correctly, we need to understand how threatening it was for Peter and John. The Sanhedrin was like their Supreme Court and Congress all rolled into one. They had religious and, to a great degree, civil authority in Jerusalem. The high priest was the most powerful Jew in the city and the captain of the temple guard was second behind him. Furthermore, they had just been the main force behind the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Even if they didn’t go so far as to crucify Peter and John, they certainly could make life very uncomfortable for them. They were powerful men. The fact that they arrested Peter and John, kept them over night in jail, and then threatened them with dire consequences if they continued speaking in Jesus’ name shows their use of power to intimidate.

We also need to remember that just a few weeks before Peter, in order to avoid possible arrest, had denied that he knew Jesus Christ to a lowly servant girl. But here he is before this powerful body of men, boldly reminding them that they had crucified Jesus, that God had raised Him from the dead, and that He is God’s only way of salvation. If Peter had been fearful, he would have said only what he thought was necessary to secure his release. But instead, he boldly witnesses to these murderers of Jesus. What made the difference?

The answer is in 4:8 - Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Some people are by nature more daring souls than others, but we’re not talking here about natural inclination, but supernatural power.  Jesus had told the disciples that they would be brought before the rulers, but not to worry in advance about what to say, because the Holy Spirit would teach them in that moment what to say (Luke 12:11-12).  Later He again told them that they would be brought before rulers for His name’s sake, and that it would lead to an opportunity for their testimony.  He promised that He would give them the words of wisdom which none of their opponents would be able to resist or refute (Luke 21:12-15).  

So Peter’s witness before the Sanhedrin was not due to his natural boldness or to his brilliant oratory.  It was due to the filling of the Holy Spirit.  What does this mean?

It is not magic, nor is it only something reserved for the super-spiritual.  Some people confuse being filled with the Holy Spirit with conversion or salvation.  While every believer receives the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (this is a fact, not an experience), the filling of the Spirit is repeated often in the life of a believer.  I remember hearing it said that we need repeated fillings because we tend to leak!

Assuming that you are a believer (that you have trusted Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and for your eternal security), the main requirement for being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be yielded completely to Him.  A Spirit-filled person is not self-willed, but rather is submissive to God’s will.  A Spirit-filled person is more concerned about obeying God’s will rather than man’s will (Acts 4:19).  Since the Holy Spirit’s main ministry is to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14), a person who is filled with the Spirit will seek to glorify Jesus.

Jeff Frazier

Monday, Oct. 13

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Monday

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.  - Acts 2:41

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. - Acts 2:47

The book of Acts is the story of how the very first church began after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven.  These were tense times for the people of Israel.  Rome was tightening her grip on the little nation, insurrections and rebellions against Rome were growing and a rag tag group of people were creating a stir in the name of a man named Jesus. The Jewish leaders had pressured the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, into putting this radical Rabbi to death, but now it appears that an amazing thing has been happening in the city of Jerusalem. Thousands of people are turning from their Jewish beliefs to embrace this man named Jesus, and of course, this is upsetting to the leaders of the Jewish people.

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.  - Acts 4:1-4

To fully understand what is going on here, we need to look back for just a moment.  In chapter 3, Peter and John were going up into the Temple to worship at the time of the evening sacrifice, about 3 PM.  As they were passing through the Beautiful Gate, they met a crippled man who had been lain there so that he might beg for pennies from the people who were headed to the Temple to worship.  Instead of giving this man a few coins and passing right on by, Peter takes him by the hand and heals him in the name of Jesus.  When the people, who knew this was the lame man, see this man leaping and jumping and praising God, they gather and inquire as to what is going on. Peter seizes upon this opportunity to tell them about Jesus.  While he is preaching, the religious leaders of the people, the Sanhedrin, come on the scene to see what the ruckus is all about. When they hear Peter preaching about that Jesus, they are livid.  When they hear that Peter is claiming that this Jesus rose from the dead, they are absolute furious and they arrest the two preachers.  But, the message had already been delivered and 5,000 men were saved by the grace of God that day!

There are several things we can learn from this passage out of the book of Acts.  Perhaps the most important lesson is that opposition cannot stop the power of the gospel to change lives!  In fact, a glance back through ancient and contemporary church history will show us that the gospel has flourished in the most hostile environments.  

There are two common misconceptions that we need to keep in mind regarding opposition or persecution for our faith. The first is that if we’re faithful to the Lord, He will protect us from persecution. I’ve heard many Christians say something like, “I don’t understand what’s happening. I was faithful to the Lord, but I’m being attacked by my co-workers or friends. Why isn’t the Lord protecting me?”

I don’t know where this idea comes from, because it clearly is not in the Bible. The Old Testament prophets were bold and faithful witnesses, but many of them were persecuted and killed. John the Baptist, the twelve, the apostle Paul, and the Lord Jesus Him- self all were faithful witnesses who suffered much because of their faithfulness to God.

Paul himself writes, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

In the Western world, Christians rarely face physical persecution (although that may not always be the case).  Most of us don’t know much firsthand about persecution for the sake of Christ. Satan instead has chosen to attack us with materialism, worldliness, selfish pride, comfort, security, complacency, and a need for acceptance, and status. The threat of someone rejecting us or thinking that we’re weird is enough to make cowards of us when it comes to witnessing.

The second misconception is that persecution comes mainly from those outside the church. We expect those outside of the church to oppose the name of Jesus, but for some reason, we are surprised when those who profess to be Christians that attack us. But it was the religious establishment in Israel that often opposed the prophets in the Old Testament, it was the religious establishment that opposed Jesus, and it was the religious establishment that opposed Peter and John here in Acts 4.

If we are willing to boldly demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ, and boldly share the truth of Jesus Christ with those around us, then we can expect that we will face opposition.  In fact, if our lives are comfortable and we never feel any opposition at all for what we believe, then we should probably ask ourselves if we are doing enough to even be noticed as a follower of Jesus!

Jeff Frazier