Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

25 - Scattered

What had been an amazingly joyful season for the church in Jerusalem is suddenly thrown into turmoil. Stephen is publicly stoned and the temple authorities feel they now have enough popular support to send soldiers into the city to hunt down believers from house to house, to put them in prison and then to beat and execute them (Ac 22:4, 5, 19, 20; 26:9-11). The effect of this violence was to scatter believers. They fled the city for their lives. Luke says, “And there was in that day a great hunt upon the church in Jerusalem, and all were sown out into the rural country sides of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Ac 8:1). He pictures believers being sown like a farmer sows seeds. They were scattered far and wide through the surrounding country sides, being careful to avoid those cities where they might be recognized and arrested. At this point it might seem God’s work was severely hindered, but then Luke adds this statement, “Therefore the ones being sown passed through these regions preaching the word (about Jesus)” (Ac 8:4). With that one statement Luke shows us that this persecution didn’t stop the church, it expanded it. It turned a lot of people into missionaries. It forced them to go to Judea, Samaria and even the remotest parts of the earth. The very places Jesus had told His disciples to go after they were “clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). 

24 - Steven Full of Grace

Luke wrote the history of the early church but he wasn’t personally present at these events until chapter 16 (Ac 16:10). To gather all this information he had to interview eyewitnesses, ask them pointed questions to draw out their memories, and then carefully write down what they told him. Someone had to tell him about the martyrdom of Stephen; someone who was there and heard and saw what happened; someone who was at the debate and then later was present when the Sanhedrin gathered to try him; someone who saw the look on Stephen’s face and described it as “the face of an angel;” someone who listened to his defense and remembered it point by point; someone who saw, and maybe even felt, the anger that surged through the room when Stephen told them they had murdered the Messiah; someone who watched everyone cover their ears and rush forward dragging him out of the city to stone him; someone who stood close enough to hear him speak as he was dying; someone who heard him cry out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

I suspect I know who it was. Have you guessed? I think Luke didn’t have to travel far to get this information. That man was only a few feet away from him, in the next room, awaiting his own trial. And when he allowed himself to remember Stephen, the first thing he said, probably through his tears, was to call him a man “full of grace,” because that was Stephen’s gift to him.

23 - Handling Problems Well

How many of us are facing a problem that’s still there because we didn’t address it? It’s not a new problem, it’s an old problem that didn’t go away. Most of us tend to avoid confronting issues hoping matters will resolve themselves with the passing of time, but if we’re honest with ourselves we’d have to admit that seldom happens. Things that are broken don’t fix themselves, projects don’t move forward without someone investing time and effort, and suspicion and alienation certainly aren’t healed without someone taking deliberate steps to reconcile. 

What we see in our lesson today is a problem being handled well. The rapid growth of the church had brought in people from different backgrounds, and it wasn’t long before old cultural divisions sprang up. Charges had been leveled at the apostles that they had shown favoritism toward one group over another, and the situation had the potential to divide the church and ruin it’s witness. But it didn’t. Instead, it became an opportunity for another miracle that stunned the community and caused even more people to want to become followers of Jesus. Instead of hurting the church’s growth, it accelerated it. So how the apostles handled that crisis is a marvelous example of how to handle problems in our own lives. And if we put these lessons into practice in 2013, 2014 should be a lot more stress-free. 

22 - Gamaliel

It wasn’t just what he said, it was who said it. Very few of the dignitaries in that room could have stopped that lynch-mob. It took a special voice, at the right time, and a lot of courage to stand and rebuke the elders of Israel. God elevates His people to positions of leadership so He can speak through us at critical moments. There are times when even one voice speaking clearly, forcefully, respectfully, will turn the tide of a decision. In fact, looking back in history, most great decisions came because one person, or only a few, took a stand for what was right, and then persevered in that stand. In hindsight, these people are heroes, but at the time they often suffered under enormous pressure to conform, and when they didn’t they were mocked, threatened and even killed. Undoubtedly most of those brave souls questioned themselves, wondering how they ended up so out of step with everyone else. Often their selfless service took place out of sight, behind closed doors, one-on-one, and came as a passionate appeal to principle. Those about to open a door that would usher in trouble were confronted with truth and a deceptive spell was broken. And sometimes that brave, lonely person was the leader, the final decision-maker, who had to take a hard unpopular stand trusting that God would intervene and defend him or her.

 

Our lesson today looks at just such a person. A man named Gamaliel whose faithfulness to the Word had elevated him to high position, and who, on this day, within a window of a few seconds of time, had to decide whether or not to risk it all by rebuking the entire Sanhedrin and eldership of Israel. He’s a man to whom we owe a great debt of thanks, and who models for us the godly courage each of us will need when our moment comes.

21 - Power in Community

What an amazing level of power we are seeing at work here. Luke does say that it was “at the hands of the apostles” that these miracles were done, which seems to mean that most believers weren’t yet functioning at this high level. Even among the apostles, Peter seems to be exceptional (v15). If we remember that he was the disciple who had the courage to try and fail and give wrong answers, we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s now the one who can most authentically do what Jesus did. Yet, this level of power wasn’t just an apostolic gift, they were able to teach others and pass this ministry on to another generation who functioned just as powerfully as they did. Stephen (Ac 6:8) and Philip, the evangelist (Ac 6:5; 8:4-8, 13), are examples of this.

 

Is it realistic for us to expect to have such power today? Well, we already do, it’s just not as widespread or consistent. We’re seeing miracles now on a level with those we see there, but we still see far too many go away unhealed. In many cases, there is partial relief, in others there begins a gradual improvement. So, it’s not that we have today none of the Spirit’s power, it’s that we don’t have enough, often enough.

20 - Ananias and Sapphira

What we’re seeing in this remarkable event is God disciplining His church. He’s revealing His standard of holiness and showing us the danger of hypocrisy. What may seem to us to be a small, insignificant sin, a lie told about an amount of money being given as a gift, we discover was viewed by God as an alarming spiritual danger which had to be removed immediately. Clearly, in His mind, there was no room in the church for this level of hypocrisy, for hearts that only pretended to love Him, for people willing to lie to the Holy Spirit.

 

In this dramatic encounter God reveals the need for church discipline. He shows us what to discipline, and that discipline ought to be done quickly, which, of course, doesn’t mean hypocrites must die. This particular couple’s death was a divine act which God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to perform in order to protect this young church, and to teach succeeding generations a lesson that wouldn’t be forgotten.

19 - The Price of a Soul

How many people would become Christians today if being baptized meant the government would seize their bank account, their spouse would be free to divorce them and take all the assets, if they were a student they would be removed from school, if employed they might be fired with no legal rights to protect them, their parents might not speak to them again, declaring them “dead,” and the community in which they lived would bar them from its gatherings? The fact is, such a price would be too high for many to be willing to pay. Even if they felt in their heart the gospel was true, the terror they would feel at the possibility of this kind of abandonment would prevent many from ever publicly confessing Jesus. Yes, of course, He said we must be willing to die for Him, but for someone considering following Him, the fear of such a backlash would be a real barrier.

 

I believe that a similar situation faced the Jerusalem church. To be baptized in the name of Jesus was a dangerous thing to do. A person could be left suddenly destitute, and many were. But impelled by the love in their hearts, and led by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, these early believers immediately rallied to take care of those who had been abandoned for their faith. And I believe the numerical explosion of the church in that hostile environment was directly related to their spontaneous generosity. The question facing us today, as we consider their example is this: Will we respond with the same depth of love and wisdom to remove the barriers our culture places in front of those who are considering following Jesus Christ?

18 - Godly Disobedience

Sometimes human leaders tell us to do things God has told us not to do, or they tell us to stop doing things God has told us we must do. And then they force us to choose whether we will obey them or God. By nature, Christians prefer to be peaceful and obey civil and religious authorities, and the Bible tells us that under normal circumstances that’s the way we should live (Ro 13:1-7). But there may be times when the spiritual health of a leader declines or the mood of a culture or society darkens to the point that open hostility arises toward the God of the Bible. His moral standards and His claim to be our rightful ruler and judge always has, and will until this age ends, offend unbelievers. What seems so right to us can really make people angry, and sometimes that anger erupts into persecution. When that happens, believers become openly criticized and watched. Unreasonable demands are placed on them, and they’re forced to choose who they will obey.

This is exactly the situation confronting our forefathers and mothers in this passage in the Book of Acts. They were being forced to choose who they would obey, and threatened with severe punishment if they chose to obey God. So their response provides a very important model for us, because not only did the threats directed at them fail to stop them from proclaiming Christ, but God Himself responded in a dramatic way, that showed how pleased He was with them. Clearly, there are times when believers must engage in godly disobedience to human authority.

17 - Answering Our Accusers

Jesus warned us that following Him would get us in trouble, and He didn’t promise that He would always get us out. But He did promise He would be with us in that moment, and would speak through us. He said when we stand before our accusers He would empower us and make us witnesses for Him. And this is exactly what we see happening here with Peter and John. Basically, they’re in trouble, standing in front of Israel’s highest court, for doing what Jesus did.

When we become believers and begin to live out our faith to the point that we make a difference in other people’s lives, we become part of a great spiritual war. Those who are looking for the true God, like us, but those who aren’t, don’t. I mean they really don’t, and some, particularly those with a lot to lose, can get very hostile. And it’s not that they don’t understand what we’re saying or have doubts that’s what’s happening is real, it’s because we’ve become a threat to their way of life. They like what they have and they’re not going to let anyone, even God, take it away without a fight. And that’s where you come in. You’re the one who’s bringing God into their world. You’re the one disturbing their peace of mind. So, you’re the one who must be silenced. The promise we’re seeing today is that God won’t let that happen. When you need Him, He’ll fill you with the Holy Spirit and give you the words to speak.

16 - Decisions of the Heart

A startling reality confronts us in this passage. We see two wildly different responses to the same event. On the one hand, there are hundreds, possibly over a thousand people, who repent and believe, and on the other hand, there is a much smaller group who seem to feel no inclination whatsoever to repent and believe, but instead actively work to find a way to stop others from doing so. Both groups saw the same miracle and heard the same message. Why, then, were there such different reactions? If they had only heard the preaching of a message, we might explain it by saying they doubted because they had no way of testing it. But it wasn’t just a message, it was a message confirmed by an absolutely stunning miracle, that not even those in the small group could deny. You would think that anyone confronted by such an amazing display of power would be forced to listen with an open mind. But the smaller group of people doesn’t seem affected by the miracle at all. They’re alarmed, they see the situation as a crisis needing damage control, but there’s no trace of self-doubt. So this passage provides a case-study on the inner workings of the human heart. It makes us look deep inside and ask why do some people say “yes” to God while others refuse to even see or hear His call.