The Challenge of Following Christ

 Acts 5:12-42

Bertoldo de Giovanni was a pupil of Donatello, considered the greatest sculptor at his time. Giovanni became the teacher of Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor of all time.

Michelangelo was only 14 years old when he came to Giovanni. It was obvious to many that Michelangelo was enormously gifted. Bertoldo de Giovanni was wise enough to realize that gifted people are often tempted to coast rather than to grow, and therefore he worked diligently to pressure his young prodigy to work seriously at his art.

One day Giovanni came into the studio to find Michelangelo toying with a piece of sculpture far beneath his abilities. Giovanni grabbed a hammer, stomped across the room, and smashed the work into tiny pieces, shouting this unforgettable message, "Michelangelo, talent is cheap; dedication is costly!" Gary Inrig, A Call to Excellence.

Being a Christian is the only way to live! We have wonderful people to fellowship with, and can be in daily contact with the God of the universe! How can life be any better?

However, to accomplish all that God has called us to, you and I need the same kind of dedication a great artist or accomplished musician has.

 If we think the Christian walk is a cake walk, boy, are we in for a rude awakening! G. K. Chesterton said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried.”  G.K. Chesterton, quoted in Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick, Thomas Nelson, 1978, p. 128.

"While witnessing for Christ on the streets of a city in California, evangelist H.A. Ironside and his associates were often interrupted by questions from the crowd. “There are hundreds of religions in this country, and the followers of each sect think they're right. How can we know what really is the truth?”

Ironside and his friends would answer: “Did I hear you say there are hundreds of religions? That's strange; I've heard of only two. True, there are many shades of difference in the opinions in those who make up the two great schools.

But there are only two schools of thought. One school believes that what they do saves them; the other school believes that God saves them.”  Source Unknown; found at www.sermonillustrations.com

Yes, salvation is a free gift, but it is only free to us. It cost Jesus Christ everything. Being what God has called us to do will also cost much!

Last week we studied about Ananias and Sapphira. They lost their lives because they lied to the Holy Spirit. They did this because they were hypocrites. They wanted the praise of the people without the sacrifice that they were pretending to make.

Today we look at the rest of Acts 5. The Apostles, anointed and empowered by God the Holy Spirit went about healing many people – “performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.”

“No one dared to join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

“Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and ALL OF THEM WERE HEALED.”

With God blessing them like that one would assume that there would be no problems! It sounds good, but that is not the way life is. As surely as there is a God, there is a devil! When we commit ourselves to doing the will of God, Satan and his crowd commit to shutting us down. A battle ensues – it can be a tough battle!

Because of their huge success, the Apostles were on the receiving end of the wrath of the Sadducees – who were filled with jealousy.

Jealousy opens our hearts and minds to be controlled by Satan!

NEVER let the spirit of jealousy consume you! Jealousy destroys friendships, families, businesses and marriages. To have a jealous spirit is like yelling, “Hey Satan, come into my life and take over!”

The Sadducees had the apostles arrested and put in jail.

No matter how difficult your circumstances, never count God out. During the night God sent angels to let the apostles out of prison. The angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought the apostles out. He told them to go and stand in the temple courts and preach the full message of the gospel.

The apostles were obedient. When the sun came up, there they were, preaching and teaching the people.

Can’t you see the high priest and his associates arriving later in the morning, looking very serious and self-righteous, ready to “take care of those prisoners?” They convened the Sanhedrin – the full assembly of the elders of Israel – and sent the guards to the jail to get the apostles.

Imagine their amazement and anger when the officers reported that the jail was locked securely, the guards were standing in place – but no prisoners were present in the jail! The Bible states, “They were puzzled, wondering what would become of this.”

Confused, they stood there wondering what to do next when someone ran in and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple courts teaching the people.”

They are no longer confused, now they are upset and angry!

The captain and his officers discretely retrieved the apostles so that they would not upset the people, and brought the apostles in for questioning. It was not a pretty picture!

What would your reaction be? Two areas to be explored:

1.     The reaction of the apostles to the Sanhedrin

2.     The reaction of the religious leaders to Christ and the continued ministry of the apostles.

I. The Reaction of the apostles to the Sanhedrin

As Christians we are instructed to “Try the Spirits.”

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:4-9

            This is called being proactive rather than reactive. We touched on that last week.

Many of the problems in our society are caused by people reacting – without thinking things through – to both good and bad things.

As Christians and as leaders we are to respond to the real needs of the people that hurt us.

This is not always easy. When Jesus healed the man with the withered hand His first response to the opposition was anger. The scripture says, “He looked on them with anger. Then He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stretch forth your hand.’”

When he did, the man was healed.

If you know Jesus, you know that He softened his voice and appearance when He told the man to stretch out his hand. Jesus had a flash of anger, but He let it go!

So… when someone opposes you because of your testimony, first try the spirits to see if their attitude is of God or the devil.

If you are in the wrong, repent. If you are in the right, minister to the needs of those around you and leave the rest to God.

2. The reaction of the Religious Leaders to Christ and the apostles.

I have to tell you, this confuses me! Why on earth people who know the scriptures can miss the move of God! Now I’m not being judgmental, for I’ve missed God more than a few times because people were not doing things the way I thought they should!

Why do we do that?

1.     We get real comfortable doing what we have always done. The gospel message never changes – but we need to know how to minister to the needs and understanding of those God sends us to.

2.     We defend our own beliefs and understanding. “Some people will change when they see the light. Others change only when they feel the heat.”

I close with two stories about two men that accomplished a great deal in their lives. Hopefully it will inspire us to do more for God.

     When Pablo Casals reached 95, a young reported threw him a question: "Mr. Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?"

     And Mr. Casals answered, "Because I think I'm making progress."  Your goal is to make progress every day of your life.  Dr. Maxwell Maltz, quoted in Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, p. 12.

      In the course of their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein's young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, "What are you actually by profession?" 

     "I devote myself to the study of physics," Einstein replied. 

     The girl looked at him in astonishment. "You mean to say you still study physics at your age?" she exclaimed. "I finished mine a year ago." Today in the Word, September 25, 1992