Empowered to Help - Acts 3-6

A while back I started writing a bibliography of my life primarily to meet the family’s request. It seemed prudent to start with my birth and early childhood on Raft Creek in Prairie County. The first part of the book would cover things that were important enough to me that I could write from memory; so I made a date-line of early memories that included 1. Parents, birth, when; where; and how? 2. First and best loved pets. 3. First and best friends. 4. Early schooling. 5. Growing up and maturing. When I first read the lesson for today which is recorded in these three chapters, it occurred to me that Luke followed this same pattern as he tells us about the birth of the church, its early days and who its friends and enemies were.

1. Luke tells us that the church was born in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus was crucified.
2. The leaders were Peter and John assisted by other disciples.
3. The power and direction came from the Holy Spirit as he worked through the Christian Jews. All early leaders were Jews.
4. There were only a few friends of the church and they were Jews.
5. One thing set these Christian Jews apart was their fearless proclamation of Jesus as the living Lord.

Read 3: 1-10. A Jewish day started at 6 AM and ended at 6 PM. There were three special hours, 9 AM, 12 noon, and 3 PM that were set aside for prayer which was necessary wherever they were, but was doubly precious when offered in the temple courts. Even after Pentecost, the disciples continued to go to the Temple to pray. They were now under grace but they did not use their new freedom as a license or excuse to break any part of the law. Men of faith still needed to bath their new freedom in prayer.

Beggars looked for temples then; they still look for churches as the best place to beg alms. Conservative Christians are noted for their willingness to give to the poor. Note: A very recent news forecast reported that a survey has been made in the USA which shows that the people in the more conservative states give far more to charity each year than the liberal states in the far west and east.

John and peter were going to the temple to pray at 3 PM. A beggar, unable to walk since birth, was at the ‘Gate Beautiful’ and asked them for money. Peter made one of the best known statements in the NT. Looking the beggar in the eye he said; “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk.” The beggar that had never walked before, got up, walked, and followed them into the temple praising God. This turned out to be a real problem for the apostles to deal with—because the Jewish opposition to Christ thought they had crucified their problem, and now they find that He is still alive and healthy.

Miracles did happen. The Jewish opposition would have denied the possibility but the truth was self evident and they did not deny or try to de-grade the apostles. Specific, immediate, and visible examples of people being healed were possible—and had to be in order to win the doubters of that day—and to help build the faith of young believers. You will note that Peter and John did not take the credit for this healing, but quickly and emphatically stated that the power came from the Holy Spirit—Christ’s gift to them.

Some have asked why this type of healing stopped after the demise of the apostles. I believe God saw the necessity of these undisputable examples of healing. Those known to be blind could see. The deaf could hear. This lame man had been seen by hundreds/thousands of people and they knew that he had never walked in his life, now he walks. Lazarus had been dead and his body had begun to decay and he was made alive and lived for a time thereafter. This was a time when miracles were necessary. In that early age of the church, the Jewish doctrine of keeping the law was so dominating that they needed visible proof as a guarantee of the truth and the power of the Christian message of salvation by grace and not works [law]. People had to see to believe. To the best of my knowledge these special miracles were performed by only Jesus Christ in person, and by those disciples that had a personal intimacy with Jesus Christ. They had walked and talked to Him.

The question today is not ‘why have miracles stopped?’ But a better question is ‘have they stopped?’ My answer, based on the word of God is an emphatic—NO. Today, doctors would have simply repaired the problem that caused the man to be lame and God would heal him. The eye surgeon would remove the cataracts that blinded the eyes, and he could see by the grace of God. There is no doubt that many have been diagnosed with a serious ailment such as cancer and their bodies have developed antibodies that cured the ailment without treatment or surgery. Some of these are people of faith and they truly [and rightly so] believe that it was a miracle performed by Jesus Christ. It may be done in an instant by some man/woman laying hands on them and praying but is not a visible happening that you and I can observe as was the case of the lame man that walked. If indeed it does happen, it is simply a miracle performed by Jesus Christ and not by man…just as Peter told these people that this miracle was performed by the man they crucified. Jesus is the only man and spirit that can heal.

I think what I am trying to say is this. I know without any doubt that my Lord has performed miracles in my life many times, but you just have to take my word for that. It is not something that you saw happen to me as a visible miracle. In fact I did not watch Christ heal me, but my little faith tells me beyond any doubt in my mind that he did. We are living in the day of grace and faith, and if you do not believe you can not be healed—neither can you be saved. To my knowledge, there is no record in the bible where and evangelist or even a disciple held a “healing service” for the precise purpose of healing the sick or lame. The incidents recorded occurred along with and during the ever day activities that were taking place. For Christians there are still miracles that happen almost daily if one only has eyes to see and a believing heart.

Verses 11-16. Based on this scripture the early preachers and even those that came to America considered the crucifixion as the most horrible crime ever committed. Ministers that have stuck with the basic doctrine of the Gospel generally agree that His resurrection was vindication for his murder and that the church would never have come to stay without His resurrection. The disciples including Paul, all stressed the power of the risen Lord. His power through the Holy Spirit gave them the power they had to witness.

3: 17-26. Telling people they are ignorant is usually not a good way to win their hearts; however in this case Luke is actually having mercy on them, as he indicates that they did not crucify Christ intentionally. He then continues by telling them that they can not claim ignorance as an excuse…they now know the truth and there is no excuse for them to reject the Lord. James said the same thing when he wrote: “Whoever knows to do right and fails to do it, to him it is sin.” When we become knowledgeable about sin and its consequences—that knowledge brings us the obligation to repent and trust Christ. Peter uses the OT and the Jewish writings to prove that this was all foretold and that they should have been able to discern it from prophesy.
4: 1-4. For preaching the power of the resurrection, Peter and John were arrested and spent the night in jail. The healing took place at the ‘Gate Beautiful’ which led from the Court of the Gentiles into the Court of the Women. The Court of the Gentiles was the busiest part of the temple because anyone could enter that part if they observed the common laws of decency. Even this reverence was not always shown because this was the place where the money exchangers were gathered when Christ used a whip and drove them out. The crowd was likely very large, and the Jews just could not allow so many to hear and see Christ at work. Indications are that this incident resulted in about 5000 converts—shocking the Jewish leaders.

The superintendent of the Temple was the right hand man for the High Priest and it was his job to maintain peace and order in the temple. This large crowd that had gathered got their attention so he and the Sadducees went to restore order. The Sadducees were the rich and aristocratic class and they were afraid that the Roman Government would intervene and cause them trouble for not maintaining a peaceful atmosphere and public order. They did not want their prized position with the government jeopardized. They arrested the disciples to nip this movement in the bud.

4: 5-12. The supreme court of the Jews was called the Sanhedrin Court, and its power was almost unlimited. This court had 71 members and the most of them were the Sadducees and the High Priest served as the chief judge. A few of the members of the court were Pharisees who were fanatics; some were scribes that were the experts in interpretation of the law; and only a few were elders or just respected men in Jerusalem. The position of High Priest had always been hereditary and for life and was until the Romans came to power. According to Josephus there was so much intrigue, bribery and corruption that many were removed from office. Between 37 BC and AD 67 there were at least 28 that held the office. The court was corrupt.

Can you imagine Peter, a fisherman, standing before this court more as their judge than their arrested victim? This was the same court that condemned Jesus to death. What courage he must have had, but through his great faith he found that courage that was necessary for him to carry on and not fold. Here again Peter let all that were present that Jesus had healed this lame man and not he and John. He actually rubbed it in when he reminded that this man Jesus was the Messiah they had killed, and that he was raised from the dead and now lives. He let them know that they had arrested the wrong man. You rejected the stone…you killed Him, but now He has become the cornerstone of the living church.

4: 13-22. We must ask ourselves this question. If we have to someday appear before the Sanhedrin court or the Islamic court will we have the faith to do what the disciples did? Their faith bewildered these Jews. They said they were ignorant and unlearned but they astonished at their defense. They knew that they had access to a Higher Power because they could see the change in the disciples. I know from my life’s experience that were I a few years younger I would have had more doubts, but honestly I do not wish for a chance to prove it, but in confronted today my little faith is strong enough to stand for Christ regardless of the pressure that comes against me. Oh, I plead with you who have not reached the level of assurance necessary to live daily under pressure, please study your bible and see what these men had to do, believe in your heart that God will sustain you, and pledge your everlasting commitment to our Lord and savior.

The Sanhedrin witnessed the healing of the lame man; they now are witnessing the courage and strength of disciples that have been in the presence of Christ, and they still refused to believe. Why do you [many do] read these truths, these proofs, and still retain doubting minds? You are simply refusing to believe. Ask yourself why? Then there are those of us that witness…we believe the gospel, but when we tell others about Christ and they seem to reject us, it interferes with our boldness to witness. We are prone to pull back, feel the pier pressure and fail to be aggressive and claim the promises of God when he tells us that if we will acclaim him before men he will intercede for us with the Heavenly Father. The Sanhedrin Court was caught between a rock and a hard place. They wanted to punish the disciples for their message about the resurrection which they did not believe and a great number of the people who had witnessed the healing and would rise up against them—so they warned the disciples to go ‘and preach no more.”

4:23-31. We can see in this writing the action or reaction the church today should take when our message is rejected. We should go to God in prayer realizing that the strength needed to succeed is through the Holy Spirit who is with us and in us and whose power is available each day. The disciples had the conviction of the power of God, and the power of the Spirit that they received at Pentecost and as they prayed regarding their problems here they were re-filled, refreshed in, empowered by the risen Lord. We should face our problems remembering what Christ did for us. It is a good attribute to feel weak, helpless and in need of help—we should never attack in our own strength, but always call on Christ in times of need—whatever the need may be.

4: 32-37. The believers felt the dire need for complete unity and realizing that some of their brethren were not financially able to survive as families and still make contributions as needed for their work they decided to share alike. They seemed to share in the work showing a sense of responsibility for each other. This was not some new government rule; they did not legislate but simply agreed to share. Note: this feeling still exist among conservative Christians today as was proven in the survey that I mentioned above, which shows that the more conservative Christian minded states in the USA give more to society than the ‘Sadducees’ with self centered minds and hearts.

In Acts 5 we see the both the internal and external problems of the early church. There was the pressure from the Jewish leaders, and now the incident with Ananias and Sapphira showed that Satan still had a stronghold in the church. Ananias and Sapphira had a choice, they did not have to give all they received from the property they sold; it would have probably pleased God if they had only given their tithe. But they lied about their gift and were punished for the lie. This was not a miracle but an incident to show others the importance of remaining faithful and truthful with God. The apostils and other believers continued to meet in Solomon’s Colonnade. Even today it is not the beauty of the church that attracts people, but the message and the work it does. The miracle of healing continued because of the need for the supernatural to help reluctant Jews especially. Read the rest of this chapter to find what happened to those worshipped.