ACTS 4

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1As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 2being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. 4But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. 5On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; 6and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. 7When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people, 9if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10let 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. Think of it. 5000 believed!
 
NOTE the disciples were asked IN WHAT NAME HAVE YOU DONE THIS? Then Peter has the opportunity to clarify it once more: BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, THE NAZARENE, BY THIS NAME THIS MAN STANDS HERE BEFORE YOU IN GOOD HEALTH. And then Peter goes on to elaborate on this NAME: 12"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." As a practicing Buddhist once said to me, "Jesus seems to trump everything else!" IN THE POWERFUL NAME OF JESUS.

Now we come to a most interesting observation that is encouraging to all of us. 13Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. These normal, uneducated men were amazing as they spoke, because it was evident that they had been hanging out with Jesus.

The most compelling thing to all who were watching the happenings was the lame man, himself. It's possible to argue with someone about who Jesus is on an intellectual basis, but when it comes to the reality of a lame man being miraculously healed, this was overwhelming! I call it the LAME MAN PRINCIPLE! It's so much more powerful to hear from the healed lame man than the agents of healing. This is the highest credibility and most persuasive evidence of all to everyone! You see this in verse 14: 14And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
 
18And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." 21When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; 22for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

One more thing here in chapter 4: 32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. 36Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

I've noticed that every ministry where Jesus is dynamically working within a fellowship there is always a few who become unusually committed to the point of great generosity. These few are used of God to literally launch a ministry to a whole new level. This was the case of Barnabas. And even his name says it all. The meaning of Barnabas is SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT. His example of selling a property he owned and giving it all to the local fellowship must have been a real encouragement to the young fellowship in Jerusalem. Later in this study we'll see others who step forward-many business men and women-to underwrite the needs of the fellowship.

So, there you have it. God uses ordinary people, even uneducated and untrained, in unusual ways to do wonderful things! But the most effective thing in being persuasive about Jesus is to use the LAME MAN PRINCIPLE.

Who are the "lame men" in your life-the people in whom you have invested your life, those fellow followers of Jesus who have experienced Jesus because of you? When they share their stories, people listen!

By the way, this is at the core of what Jesus meant when He said that His disciples will do greater works than He did. The NAME OF JESUS is powerful all by itself, but there is nothing more attractive than the powerful NAME OF JESUS transforming someone's life-forever!

ACTS 3

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1Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 2And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. 3When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. 4But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" 

5And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-walk!" 7And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
 
Like most of us, this man who had been lame from birth, was confused about what he really needed. He wanted something from them-money-that was not going to bring healing to his core problem. He was willing to "settle" for something less than he needed. Yet God had a different idea as He always does. The Lord used Peter and John to bring real healing to his problem.
 
9And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

NOTE when all the people saw the lame man walking and praising God, they recognized him as being the same man who had sat at this gate, begging for years! They were in shock over it all.

Even though the people were impressed with what had happened through Peter and John, Peter made it clear that this was not done by their own man-made power: 11While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. 12But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

Then Peter clearly declares that this healing occurred by faith in the NAME of Jesus, 16And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

NOTE that the power for this miraculous healing came through the NAME OF JESUS. I like the song we sing: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus;There's just something about that name! Master, Savior, Jesus, Like the fragrance after the rain; Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; Let all heaven and earth proclaim; Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, But there's something about that name!

There is something about that name and we're going to see the power of the name of Jesus unfold throughout this book study. In the meantime, do everything you can to embrace the teachings and principles of Jesus. His name will become more real and dynamic to you as we walk through this book.

ACTS 2

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The disciples of Jesus waited in Jerusalem as they were directed to do. They were waiting for the Spirit to come upon them to give them power for bearing witness of Jesus throughout the world. Well, the Spirit showed up alright with an undeniable presence! He showed up with a loud, rushing wind and tongues of fire appeared to them and the disciples began speaking in other languages. It caused such a stir that a great crowd gathered to see what was going on. Then, they not only saw, but they heard the disciples speaking in the many languages of the people gathered there. You see, this was the first world-wide witnessing event, all set up by God to bear witness to the business "executives" of the world. From that event the message of Jesus spread naturally through these business leaders of the world.
 
When the disciples were accused of being drunk so early in the morning, Peter stood up and articulately presented the message of Jesus to the crowd. He said, 22"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know" Peter points out the miracles Jesus performed that authenticated Him as from God and notes that his audience were eye-witnesses of these works.
 
23"this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24"But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." He tells them, "You effectively put Jesus to death, BUT GOD RAISED HIM UP AGAIN, putting an end to the stress of death."

Peter then sums up his message with: 36"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified." 37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Their response was amazing. They were persuaded by Peter's explanation of the day's event and asked, "What shall we do?"

Now NOTE the results of this powerful event and Peter's message: 41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

NOTE the 12 evidences of their faith in Jesus: 42They were continually devoting themselves to the (1) apostles' teaching and to (2) fellowship, to the (3) breaking of bread and to (4) prayer. 43Everyone kept (5) feeling a sense of awe (feeling the presence of God among them); and (6) many wonders and signs (there was evidence of things that only God could do among them and they noticed the "God-things" among them) were taking place through the apostles. 44And (7) all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need (they were sensitive to the needs of one another and operated as a family, taking care of each other). 46 (8) Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple (they were doing life together, day-in and day-out), and (9)breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart (they enjoyed themselves thoroughly as they learned to hang out together for dinners and parties in their homes), 47 (10) praising God (they were careful to give God the credit for what was going on and were grateful to Him) and (11) having favor with all the people (this was a remarkable effect where the masses of people were attracted to the light and the love of the fellowship they observed) (12) and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Now, NOTE that the Lord added others to their fellowship daily. But that's not the insight here. Here's the key. How were these people added to the fellowship daily?

FIRST-There was no evangelistic program within the fellowship with training sessions and a variety of witnessing tools.

SECOND-The only thing that was done by the believers was to practice being together, learning to love one another.

THIRD-It was the Lord Who added others to the fellowship and only the Lord is able to do so. Any other "addition" is filled with hype and is, at best, man-made.

Again, we are faced with the most basic truth of all. ONLY GOD CHANGES LIVES AND BRINGS PEOPLE INTO HIS FELLOWSHIP. This is why we must continue to hang out with Jesus and His people!

ACTS 1

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For the next 28 days (7 days a week) I want to move back through the book of Acts. I suggest that you read the full chapter from whatever version each day and I will comment on a paragraph that seems to stand out to me out of that chapter. PASS IT ON TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
Don't be distracted away from this dynamic book of Acts. In a very real sense it's the 5th Gospel, specifically a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. I've always heard of Acts being a transitional book, but I see it differently in this season of my life. You've probably heard Acts called the "Acts of the Apostles", but I find it helpful to refer to Acts as the "Acts of Jesus." You see, although Jesus ascended into heaven, He is still quite active in our lives individually and as we gather in fellowship with one another. We grossly miss the point of the experience of walking with Jesus, if we don't see it this way.

Today in ACTS 1 check out verses 6-8: 6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

First NOTE their question. It's a little like "Jesus, are you going to unfold life and the world the way we've been taught and believed?" I've spent entirely too much time trying to figure out how God is going to unfold the world and bring it to some glorious conclusion. I've used the "signs of the times" to stir up people's interests and have been quite successful doing it. However, Jesus seems to relieve us of that knowledge or responsibility to know these things and points us to something far more important and strategic.

And He uses a big "BUT" to refocus our attention toward the most important things-the power of the Holy Spirit is to come upon Jesus' disciples and the disciples are to be Jesus' witnesses. FIRST, the power of the Spirit is to come upon Jesus' disciples. The way Jesus will remain active and powerful among His disciples is for the Spirit to do His work in us and among us. And, because the Spirit takes up permanent residence in those who believe, Jesus will have the opportunity to touch so many more lives than He could have. They were looking for political or organizational power. What Jesus wanted them to possess was a new kind of power-the transformational power of His Spirit for the spreading of the Gospel throughout the world. Jesus said that we would do greater works than He did and this is how it's done-with Spirit power!

SECOND, the disciples are to be witnesses of Jesus. We are not to be witnesses of a denomination or a cultural bent of Christianity. We are not told here to be witnesses of Bible doctrine or creeds or of the many teaching gurus. Literally Jesus says He wants His disciples to be "witnesses of Me" or My witnesses. The purpose for the power is to bear witness of Jesus, not Jesus plus anything, but Jesus plus nothing.

A question arises here. Why is it that we disciples are to bear witness of Jesus? It's because Jesus is all that is needed and nothing more. Jesus is the Good News in a bad news world. Jesus is the Gospel! The meaning of Jesus' name says it all. "God Saves!" Is there anything you can add to your witness to improve upon Him? No, there is nothing more to be said. It's all about Jesus!

Now NOTE the strategy for bearing witness of Jesus. We are to bear witness of Jesus to the remotest part of the earth. Also, NOTE that this witnessing has an order to it. You begin right where you live-IN JERUSALEM. Then be sure to witness of Jesus in your surrounding area. Now watch this--and in Samaria.

Samaria is the place where you might not be invited, because they are not "your kind". in fact, the Jews believed the Samaritans were half-breeds and they didn't get along at all. Yet Jesus made it clear that this was a strategic part of the plan for bearing witness, even to the Samaritans. Then, Jesus' disciples are to bear witness of Him to the remotest part of the world. This begs the question, "Who or what is the object of your witness?" Is it Jesus or is it Jesus plus something else?

ILLUSTRATION OF SELF-GIVING LOVE

 
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In reflecting further on the death of Jesus on the cross I feel compelled to share one more thought with you.
NOTE when the love of God is mentioned in the New Testament it is usually found in the context of Jesus' death on the cross. In John 3:16 Jesus says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." Then in Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And then again in I John 4:10: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice for our sins." John goes further and says that GOD IS LOVE.

Emil Brunner called this "The most daring statement that has ever been made in human language." But that statement alone tells us nothing. It is the cross that unpacks its meaning. As Eugenia Price says in Share My Pleasant Stones, "God's mercy was not increased when Jesus came to earth, it was illustrated! Illustrated in a way we can understand."

The love that Jesus illustrated was self-giving for the benefit of others. We tend to think of love in emotional terms, but the New Testament concept of love is more focused on active self-giving. And the greater the cost of that self-giving, the greater the love, therefore Jesus commands those who follow Him to "love your enemies" as well as friends. The very night before Jesus was crucified, He said to His disciples: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

On the day Jesus died all of the guilt of the world was paid for by the sacrifice of the lamb of God. And, on that day all of the love of God rushed in to touch and transform all those who will see and hear the self-giving love of Jesus. You are a delight to God. He desires to have fellowship with you. He continues to court you with His self-giving love to woo you into a relationship with Him, no matter what you've done or haven't done. Now that's AMAZING GRACE.

ONE MORE THING: As followers of Jesus you are to practice this self- giving love with all those He brings to you. This self-giving love is best illustrated by loving and touching those who are in need and who are identified as your enemies.

So, it's SELF-GIVING LOVE or SELF-CENTERED LOVE? The good news of the Kingdom of God is that the Creator-God is love. And, God wants you and me to continually get back on track with the ultimate purpose of life. Do you know what that is? It's LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. It's all about self-giving love.

Every time you exert any energy toward "It's all about me!" or "What's in it for me?", you are spending yourself toward self-centered love which goes nowhere healthy. I find the greatest deception among followers of Jesus is that they can say, "I love God with all my heart as long as I can do life my way and I love my neighbor as myself as long as I can choose my neighbor." So, which is it for you? Self-giving love that spreads the good news of Jesus and the Kingdom to all the world around you or self-centered love that can only spread as far as your mirror and your decreasing band of friends? THINK IT OVER.