I have news for you, from a fellow-long-erâŚthe days of the apostles werenât any different than the days we are in right now. The same Spirit is living and working in our lives and in the church. The same Jesus died for both and commands both to GO OUT! The same Father offers the same book of truth at no cost for the purpose of teaching, encouraging and building up the church.Â
In fact, those days really werenât as good as we remember. If you recall there were many trials before people who called themselves God followers. (Imagine that! Church people who disagreed with what God was doing!) There were many hardships: beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, life threats made, and many, many deaths with no more reason than the person loved Jesus and took Him at His word.Â
One of my favorite passages in Acts is when Peter and John find themselves in church court in chapter 4. Luke tells us that the leaders were annoyed because these âChristiansâ wouldnât stop teaching the people and proclaiming, in Christ, resurrection from the dead. (Annoyed. Humm. Basically the apostles wouldnât do what they were told. Nothing new. Neither did Jesus!) They put them in jailâŚsomething that happens all over the world today to ChristiansâŚand spoke to them the next day. Their main beef was that they wouldnât be quiet about Jesus. Their main problem was a lame 40 year old man who just happened to be standing in front of them!Â
They questioned the guys and Peter shares the Gospelâwith the church people!âand the leaders are quiet. They didnât know what to say. This guy that everybody knew who had been unable to use his legs for years was standing in front of them on his own two legs! They had no argument! Clearly God was at work among them. Luke says this about the occasion, âNow when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus!â
Normal guys. What? Ordinary men. Wait a minute! Healed guy. This doesnât make any sense! Jesus followers attracting thousands of listenersâŚthese guys are trouble. Their shakinâ up the boat. What can be done? Nothing. They played the fear tactic card: âthey charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.â This comes as a pretty heavy hand from the people youâve listened to and respected all your life. Peter and John answer as respectively as they could and still be truthful: âWhether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.â No attitude. No disrespect. Just straight forward truth. They didnât say âShut up and listen to what we have to say!â They just answered truthfully and the crowd was left speechless.Â
Hereâs the truth for us: these days can be just as good as the days of the apostles! God is working in mighty ways among us! I canât wait to see what He is going to do next and who He is going to use to do it! When He moves there is no question about how we are supposed to respond: immediately and obediently. Whatâs left is up to us. Will we speak truthfully, honestly, respectfully, and boldly in front of the audience God has given us or will shrivel in fear? Will we obey the Spirit and watch God confirm in ways that only He can the work He wants to accomplish through us or will we walk away from opportunity after opportunity, shrugging off the voice of the Spirit like a bad case of indigestion?Â
The truth is, the only thing that keeps today from resembling the days of the apostles is me and you. What will you do about it?