Monday, April 15

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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 Himself 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