I'm continuing my yearly readings, and today read several of the early chapters of the book of Acts.
The early chapters of Acts are much more than history, they represent the simpicity of the Gospel, along with the profound wisdom of God at work in a people simply doing things with faith in him.
The testimony of the early church revolves around their faith in Jesus working among them. Peter is the principal character in the stories, but he makes it clear, it's always about Jesus and what he is doing, not about him, or the miracles. In the early chapters these believers act in faith of Christ's presence, and they are called to account by religious authorities...but there they make it clear:
Acts 4:8-10, 12, 30, 32-33 NLT
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Their complete surrender to God's authority and faith gives them boldness in terms of both declaring Jesus' name and in praying for the work of God to be fulfilled in them. Peter prays...
"Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
The affect upon them as a fellowship were profound...they became even more simple in terms of their lifestyle.
"All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all."
We muse about the early church, and wished we experienced the grace of God in those ways, but (perhaps) stop short of realizing the sacrifice and commitment that went with that grace. Reading on in those early chapters and we run across the story of Annanias and Sapphira - a story of discipline we would prefer to ignore!
And then shortly after, we see the first of the many martyrdoms that would occur in the early church with the story of Stephen.
One of the things that struck me is Stephen's sermon to the Jewish leaders in Acts 7. We know that Stephen was martyred for his testimony before this group...the first of many martyrs in the early church who testified about Jesus as the Messiah. The chapter is interesting because it tells the Old Testament story so succinctly and thoroughly. For anyone who has ever tried to understand the story of Scripture from beginning to end, this would be a great chapter to review.
Then we get to the main character of Acts (outside of the work of the Holy Spirit) - Paul. We meet him in the narrative as a zealous Jew seeking to destroy the Christians... Acts 8:1, 3 NLT
"Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison."
Saul, soon to become brother Paul, is arrested himself by the Spirit of Christ while traveling to Damascus. He who was a zealous opponent becomes a zealous evangelist for Jesus.
Acts 9:17-20 NLT
So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
My readings ended with Peter's encounter with the Lord on the rooftop, his subsequent journey to Cornelius' household, and the conversion of the first Gentiles...something of which we are all heirs of.
This story of the early church makes me want to pray more for the simplicity of the power of Christ at work in my own fellowship. I long for the authority of Christ to be real...his power, salvation, healings...but along with that comes the reality of opposition, and even those that would kill to oppose this reality.
I called this post, "Getting it Right", because there's something in the experience of the early chapters of Acts that draw me back to church when it did it right.
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