Acts 5

The first section of Acts chapter 5 is titled, in my Bible, “Lying to the Holy Spirit.” As I read the section, Ananias and Sapphira never pray to God, they never talk directly to Him or to the Spirit, yet they are accused of lying to the Holy Spirit in verse 3 and to God in verse 4. That sticks out to me in two ways. First of all, it is once again a reminder that our actions, whether good or bad, are always towards God and not towards men. I have in my nature the tendency to try to please people, to try to be liked by everyone. Consequently, the way I talk and act sometimes reflects a desire to please men and not God, and I can find myself compromising the standard that God has called me to live by in order to keep everybody happy. If I lie to someone or stretch the truth so it sounds better, I am not lying to man but rather to God, to the Holy Spirit. And, as much as I am convicted on that front the other part of what transpires here convicts me even further. Peter doesn’t get mad at Ananias and Sapphira for lying to him or to the other apostles. He doesn’t shake his finger at them and get angry for what they did to him, he is indignant because of what was done to God. You can sense a raised voice and a harsh tone, but Peter is speaking this way because of the sin committed against God. When someone lies to me, I get ticked off because they lied to me. When someone speaks things against me and my family that are not truth, I get mad because they are giving me a bad name and reputation. How often, if ever, do I think about God being sinned against first? Peter’s perspective on the situation is incredible. He realizes that this new church and his leadership position within this church were not about him and what he could do or who he was, it was about God. When we are focused on ourselves, our word and our reputation and our status, that’s when we get mad when people wrong us, and our focus is completely in the wrong place. When someone sins against me, the real problem is that they are sinning against God. Who do I think I am to be offended or cast judgment, who am I to throw the first stone?

In verse 11 great fear came on the whole church. Duh, I mean two people just dropped dead because they lied about how much money they made, that they were donating to the work of Christ. Wouldn’t you be crippled with fear as well, watching every step and every word? Me too.

As many signs and wonders were being performed, as the sick were being healed and the demon possessed were being restored, crowds began to show up from all over. That wasn’t an anomaly, that wasn’t something new and it isn’t something that has stopped. When great things are being done and when people’s needs are being met, more and more people show up. When an organization like Hope Ministries begins taking food and clothing to the homeless on a regular basis, the homeless start showing up when Hope comes around, looking to see if they can benefit from the work being done. When a church is providing for the needs of its people and growing and maturing them in incredible ways, people find out and people show up. It’s not about advertising and promotional campaigns and church signs and even church mission statements, it’s about the work that is being done. As I seek to unpack what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach me through this study, one of things that is becoming abundantly clear is the need to live out the gospel message rather than talk about it, rather than preach about it. Rather than teaching about the importance of spreading the gospel to those that need it, I need to walk across the street or get on a plane and go across the world and actually do it. Rather than preaching about helping the poor and afflicted, I need to go find the poor and afflicted, who are all around me, and go help them! This gospel is for doing, not for knowing! When I live as God wants me to live and do as God wants me to do, people will notice, people will show up, and the Kingdom will expand.

The apostles get tossed in jail, get released by an angel, go preach some more, and then get dragged in front of the Sanhedrin and flogged again. There had to be a thought going through their mind of what have we gotten ourselves into here? Not in a bad way, or a doubting way, but almost with a sense of awe, knowing that what they were a part of was an incredible move of God that was being fought against mightily. It would be hard to identify at the time I am sure, but I wonder if a little part of them as they were witnessing the incredible work God was doing, and taking the brunt of the incredible force that was against it, I wonder if a little part of them understood that they were a part of, the beginning of, something far far greater than themselves. That’s a movement of God that I want to be a part of, where I can look around and see what is happening for the work and against the work and know that it is so much bigger than me or any other person involved. In the world’s eyes, getting put in jail the first time was unfortunate, going back into the temple courts after getting out of jail was risky, but continuing to preach and teach after being scolded and flogged was just plain stupid. But, that phrase they said to the commander of the guard and the motto they lived their lives by continues to ring true, “we must obey God rather than men.” God told them to teach, no matter what opposition arose and no matter what punishment was inflicted, they were to teach the gospel of Christ. They chose to obey God rather than men. What would I have done? Even better, what have I done in my life, what am I doing right now? Men tell me to think first about myself and my family and our standard of living when considering what to do for a job, God tells me to think of Him first, His Kingdom first. Men tell me to do what appears to be best for this group of people or that group of people, to worry about reputations and relationships, God tells me to follow Him at all costs. Men tell me to spend my time and energy and resources on myself, God tells me to give it away to my family and those that need it more. I want with all my soul to say “I must obey God rather than men,” but so often I don’t.

Father this is a weakness, a glaring weakness that you have so graciously pointed out to me today! On the surface I want to say I obey you and not myself or others, but I know in reality I struggle greatly with this challenge. Empower me to say no to my selfish desires impure motives and yes to your direction and your path. Lord I need your humility and your selflessness, and I need more of your Spirit to make that happen. Please pour out your Spirit in abundance!

This last section of Acts 5 contains a couple verses that I have memorized and repeated over and over during the last few months. As God has walked us through this transition phase in our lives, there has been temptation all along to take the reins away from Him and take control of it all, as my sinful and selfish heart would really like it to be. In my daily reading a few months ago I came to this passage in Acts 5 and verses 38 and 39 jumped off the page at me. “For if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” Ever since that day I’ve been reminded of this verse over and over again, and God has reminded me that the path He is taking me down is His, and it will not be overthrown, not by others around me and not by myself. And, if I fight it or resist or push against it, I would literally be fighting against God. When that temptation arises to take control and stop living in the unknown, I am reminded that if I start making plans, if any of this becomes my work and not God’s, it will be overthrown. Not that it would be a little less successful or a little different than if I would have let God direct it, those plans would be overthrown. I don’t want my life to be overthrown. I don’t want my mission and my efforts and my energy and my work to be overthrown. I don’t want to be found fighting against God, so I must give up control and allow His plans and His work to become mine. That sounds easy and sounds like a no brainer until He asks you to quit your job without telling you what’s next. That sounds easy and sounds like a no brainer until what He asks you to do is clearly going to hurt some people, is clearly going to damage some relationships. It sounds easy, it sounds like a no brainer, but it’s not. It’s not, and as long as my sinful, prideful heart still has a say it’s a battle I’ll be fighting all my life. But, I would much rather fight against my sinful nature than to fight against my God, because with my God I can beat my sinful nature, and no matter what I bring to the fight I will never beat my God.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of Jesus, what a picture into their hearts. Suffering for the name and cause of Christ is not a stroke of bad luck or equivalent to drawing the short straw in life, it is a must and should be a given for anyone truly pursuing our Savior. Halfhearted followers don’t suffer. Wishy washy, lukewarm pretenders (I don’t call them believers) don’t suffer. Disciples of Jesus suffer; the trouble is I haven’t suffered much. The scary, humbling, embarrassing thing is that I haven’t been counted worthy of suffering on behalf of Jesus very much, and that needs to change. Not that I need to go out looking for trouble, picking fights, but it means that I need to be living my life in pursuit of Jesus more radically, in a more obvious way. The opposition will never come if the enemy doesn’t feel threatened and there isn’t an obvious difference between me and the world.

Lord, as weird and foolish as these may sound, I want, I need to suffer for you. Whatever that means, whatever that takes, and I may regret praying this later but you know I mean it, I want to be counted worthy to suffer for you and for your gospel. Transform my life so that suffering becomes a part of it. And please please please give me the grace and patience to handle that suffering, because I need that as well!