Trinity Baptist Church October 27, 2002
How Christ builds His Church
In the Face of Opposition
Acts 4:32-5:42
I’ve used it with you before and I will again because it’s a zinger. It’s one of Chuck Swindoll’s: "Where there’s light, there are bugs." The point is, where truth, or light, or good things happen, somebody, somewhere won’t like it.
What we will discover today is that every time God works in a church, or a city, or through a group of His people, we can anticipate reactions from people. Some good reactions and some bad!
We began talking a couple of weeks ago about "how Christ builds His church". I’ve quoted for you the declaration that Jesus, the Church’s Founder and Head, made in Matthew 16:18 where He said, I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
We understand from that statement, that the Church therefore isn’t a cozy club or comfortable organization which we get the privilege of re-inventing or re-defining. By His Word, the Church is the building work of the Son of God, to which He invites us to participate. In every generation and in every place, it is Jesus Who builds His Church. What He has been about since He ascended to Heaven is building His Church in every time and culture on earth. Matthew 28 and Acts 1:8 instructed us that Christ’s commission for us who follow Him is to develop followers for Him in every culture and people group. His clear intent is that we intentionally develop more disciples --close followers of His.
Last time we saw in Acts 2 that Christ’s design for His church is growth: we are to grow deep, grow together, and grow larger. Jesus doesn’t commission us to chase numbers and fill seats, but He loves people and He does want more close followers. His design is that His church expand and be the movement of His Kingdom reaching into every facet of earth’s culture, like a secret army that invading a foreign land.
That’s what He’s about and that’s what we need to be about. The book of Acts has and will instruct us in that. Today we come to a couple of chapters in Acts which answer: what happens when God moves and His church grows? What happens when the kingdom extends in size and influence? The simple answer is there will be a negative reaction. Why? Because when Christ builds His Church, He’s invades previously held territory. And the former owner doesn’t like it. When Christ’s Church the church stands of the front lines of the spiritual battle. When God works, we can always anticipate a reaction.
What we discover from Acts chapters 4 and 5 is that the reaction will originate from two different quarters: it comes from the expected one--from the culture--but opposition also comes from inside the church. That?s where we begin.
When Christ grows the Church . . . first
. . . internal opposition results.
When we read the account of Ananias and Sapphira in context, we see that
1. Imitation spirituality opposes the authentic. (4:32-5:11)
Beginning at 4:32, Ed read out of Luke’s continuing account of the amazing events in the early church. Like in chapter 2, these new believers aren’t only spiritually unified, they exhibit again a deep concern for others in the family who don’t have enough to live. Remember, thousands and thousands of people have come to know Christ. And lots of them don’t live in Jerusalem, they were just there for the feast. So others sell what they own, voluntarily, and bring the proceeds and put them in the apostles’ hands to make sure the needs get met. In the midst of this amazing time of the church growing not only in numbers but growing together, we read in verse 33 God gives the apostles great boldness to preach Christ’s resurrection.
It says there, God’s grace was abundant on all of them; and that’s the motivation for the super generous spirit which is described. God is clearly at work in peoples’ lives. They’re not operating out of law anymore, they’re motivated and living out of grace. So they didn’t just sell small possessions, things they didn’t need, some sold houses and land and brought the money to the apostles for the needs in the family.
One man is mentioned by name: Joseph, also called Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement. God is going to continue to work in this man’s life: He will use him later to mentor and encourage the new convert Paul and then travel with him on missions trips.
But then another man, and his wife are mentioned beginning in chapter 5. At first glance, the story of Ananias and Sapphira might make you think, God disciplines people who don’t give what they said they’d give. But it goes much deeper than that.
As I’ve said, it’s God who’s at work in Barnabas and the others in chapter 4. It’s like in the OT when the Tabernacle and the Temple were to be built; the call went out for the people to supply the need; it says in those cases everyone whose heart God had touched, gave. The giving in chapter 4 is proof that God’s hand is moving in those folks. They motivation is God’s grace and joy because Christ worked in their life.
But with this pair things are different. Ananias and Sapphira watch what God is doing in and through other people and they get jealous. Obviously when God greatly uses someone like Barnabas, other people applaud God’s work. But instead of opening their hearts and allowing God to do something similar through them, Ananias and Sapphira just faked it. And verse 3 says Satan got hold of Ananias’ heart. The result of that was their agreed upon deceit. God’s in the process of moving hearts, in this case it resulted in amazing generosity.
Ananias and Sapphira take a look at the product -- the generous gifts and bypass the process: a heart moved by God. So all they can come up with is a cheap imitation: Let’s let people think we’re like Barnabas. Let’s lead them to believe we’ve given everything from the land sale. Let’s show up with a large check and wow ’em.
God will have none of that. It doesn’t take long for people who are just trying to impress to be found out. God gives the Church’s leadership -- Peter in this case enough discernment to look right past that outward impression they to make and speak truth to both of them, one after the other: The property was yours. No one coerced you. You owned it, you could have kept it under your control. But the truth of your deceit was that you were trying to deceive God Himself.
How does God Respond[s]
He protects and purges Christ’s Church through discipline.
First, Ananias dies, then a few hours later his wife. The NT warns that God intervenes like this especially in cases where people’s actions damage to the body. Paul warned the Corinthians of that and he said that some of their number were sick and some had died because of that.
The result in verses 5 and 11 great fear came upon the church (and on all who heard of it. . .)
People stood in awe of a Lord who would guard the purity of His Church in such a way.
The church’s role is to speak the truth. It is to confront people in the body who oppose Christ’s work. And it is to watch God work to purify His Church
When Christ grows His Church. . .
You can expect oppostion from inside the church.
You can also anticipate that . . . external opposition will result.
In chapter five we also find that
2. Religious rivals oppose Christ’s message. (5:17-42)
Beginning in verse 17 the opposition comes from the religious community. It says The high priest rose up, the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with jealousy.
They react with jealousy because these Jewish leaders thought they had a monopoly on God and God’s Word. They’re protecting their turf. They watch the amazing things that God is doing in and around Jerusalem and they want to stop it by stopping the apostles. Instead of rejoicing at what God is doing, like good spiritual leaders should, they want to stop it because He’s not working through them anymore. Paul wrote in Romans that God set aside the nation of Israel for a time--because of their unfaithfulness and grafted in Christ’s Church.
So verse 18 -- they lay hands on them and put them in the public jail. But again, God intervenes in this situation. Verses 19 and following record that an angel comes and springs them. The doors are opened, the apostles go free and they head straight back to preaching and teaching Jesus. The temple guard captain comes and reports to the religious leaders that the men they thought they had jailed are out preaching in public.
Again, they?re brought in and this time brought before the Council. Verse 28: we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this Name, and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
The first motive Luke identified was jealousy. The second is fear: They?re implicated in Christ?s death and it looks like lots and lots of people are believing in Jesus, leaving them as the bad guys. To their command, Peter gives his classic response: we must obey God rather than men.
He goes on to relate that this Jesus--the Name they?re so in opposition to--is the One Whom God raised from the dead, the One Whom God exalted to His right hand, the One is is Savior and Prince. And He?s the One before Whom Israel is called to repent and in Whom they will find forgiveness of sins.
The implication is clear: God’s in this; the message of Jesus is the one that very obviously now needs to be propagated. We as His representatives call Israel--and you as its leaders--to repent.
They were ready to kill them because Peter’s words cut them like razors. The very narrow, absolute Truth of Christ?s gospel will always get that kind of reaction. Their opposition is out of jealousy and fear but it?s also to the nature of the gospel. The gospel puts up the the Truth of Christ against everything else. Acts tells us there is no other name, given by God among men, whereby we must be saved. Toleration ends when the gospel is clearly defined.
But Gamaliel’s wisdom stops them from tearing them to pieces: He says in verses 35-39, men, you know, you need to make a wise decision here: if this movement is just something that people have originated and are driving, then it’s going to die quickly, so don?t worry about it. But if this is of God. If God has initiated this and if God is driving it by His power, then, the last thing you want to do is be opposed to it, because you?re going to find yourself opposing God.
Again, How God Responds to this kind of opposition?
With His Protection.
First supernaturally, He rescued them from jail. And secondly, He moves Gamaliel to speak the truth that protects them from the anger of the Sadducees.
What’s The church’s role?
Very simply get the truth out and let God work to protect His church. The church learned that day that they should exhibit boldness in the face of opposition. Doesn?t matter where it comes from, whether inside the church or the culture or religious people. Christ will grow His church and cause it to thrive in the face of either internal or external opposition. He said, the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Application
But that brings us to -- us. If Christ is today, in Lincoln and at Trinity, building His Church, if that’s the work He’s doing, where are you? Are you intentionally, partnering with Him and engaged where Christ is working?
If you’ve watched as He’s worked in and through others and you’ve been a reactor or a critic, today’s the last day you should fulfill that role. Don’t be someone who discounts God’s work in others while you won’t let Him work through you. Become a co-laborer with Christ.
Let Him fill you with His Spirit and let Him use your life. He’s simply looking for available people.
We as leaders at Trinity are committed to being where God is and joining Him where He’s working. That provides the direction for our ministry. It also gives us great boldness to address the truth to anyone. We’re going to spend a few minutes in prayer. Get before God, just you and He, and let Him call you again to availability to Him.
