In this passage, we see that Satan attacks through infiltration. He uses people who claim to be Christians and even confess his name to infiltrate the church. Since the beginning of creation, the enemy, Satan, The Old Serpent has opposed God’s plan. He knows he can’t stop God’s sovereign purpose, yet he continues to try. His purpose is to destroy the beauty of God’s plan. He tried at the beginning, but he failed. This is what happened in the beginning of the church. The Lord continues to do so even today. The sad thing is that God has to use outsiders to bring to light the sin of the church because His church refuses to do it internally.
The heart of the church is generosity. The generous Church is God’s plan. This is part of our mission. We are the means, through our generosity, by which we show God’s character. It’s part of discipleship. A generous church will have an impact in our community and will open doors for us to share the message of the Good News. This is the purpose, to show the goodness, grace, and love of Christ in a tangible way. This morning, we will look at the characteristics of a generous church through a positive example.
The church is not a passive institution, but one that is active. It is not an institution that is on the defensive but on the offensive. It is not a weak institution but a powerful one. What makes it powerful? This passage shows us where the true power of the church lies
We see two things that we see in this passage that make the church powerful, in the sense that it has the power of God (through the Holy Spirit).
In today’s passage we find the beginning of persecution against Christians. There is a cycle that we can look at that usually takes place when the chase begins. It is important to learn not only how persecution begins but also to learn how to respond. We also learn an important truths related to our faith.
One thing we can be sure of, the church will never be stopped by persecution. The church grows even more when there is persecution.
Last time we learned how God used Peter and John to bring healing and salvation to a man lame from birth. One result is the opportunity it provided for the apostles to share the gospel. This applies to us as believers who are also sent by the Lord, as missionaries. When we live on mission, God will give us opportunities to present the message of salvation in Christ. We have to know it so we can present it. Here we learn from Peter.
The greatest is love. Not our mushy conditional as long as “you do for me what I want love”. Not erotic love. Not imperfect family love. Not “materialistic love”. God’s love. The supernatural love that only God who is love gives to His children through His Spirit. That’s agape love, sacrificial, enduring, other-focused. The love that our Lord Jesus personified. That’s the only love that will endure and be part of God’s kingdom. That’s the love that will abide forever. That’s the love we need to have.
If the Christian life can be summarized it is with these words that Jesus said. He is using figurative language to teach spiritual truth. The vine in the Old Testament was Israel. Jesus is saying that he is the vine now. He is the source of all spiritual life. The disciples are the branches nourished by the vine. The Father is the one that cares for the vine and consequently the branches. Jesus told his disciples to abide in him in order to bear fruit. It follows that the fruit is a result of being in Jesus, therefore it is related to Jesus’s character. The fruit they will bear is to be like Jesus.
Abide isn’t a once and for all, it’s a daily thing. Abiding not in any person (wife, husband, children), thing (material), plan (present or future), purpose (life goal), church (service) but in Jesus. Only in Him we can bear fruitful character that redlects Him. Living in our own human efforts (apart from Him) we can’t bear fruit, do anything long lasting or reflect His character. We can live life in our efforts but we will never experience the fullness of what it means to abide in Him. Our life will be spiritually shallow and will need pruning by God the caretaker.
Jesus told them, and us of course, that we abide in Him when we keep or do what He says (vv. 7, 10). This takes intentionality and spending time (being rooted in Him) with Jesus every day. There is just no other way.
In today’s passage we look at how God uses Peter and John on one (of many) impossible missions. And although we see that it has a physical miraculous element, the most miraculous element is the spiritual transformation that it brings to the people involved.
We are to be on mission with God every day. That’s where it all begins. Moreover, if we are available, He will give us His mission each day. Only when each of us live as agents or ambassadors of Christ we will we achieve this goal.
In this passage we find the birth of God’s new community, the church. God’s community is distinctive and unique. It has distinctive God-given characteristics that are evident. Identifying and understanding them will help us be the community of God we are intended to be.
Peter through this sermon or preaching, will explain to the audience (many Diaspora Jews who had come for the special celebration, some to stay permanently in Jerusalem, some temporary) what is happening. God is doing this for a purpose. He will explain that this is a new beginning for Israel. From now on, the Holy Spirit will permanently reside within God’s people. This is possible because the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead, and this is why “God has made him Lord and Christ.” They must believe in Him as the Messiah and repent of their sins. In this way they will be part of this prophecy and be part of the assembly or Church that begins here and will bear witness to the world.
Amados, ahora somos hijos de Dios y aún no se ha manifestado lo que hemos de ser; pero sabemos que cuando él se manifieste, seremos semejantes a él, porque lo veremos tal como él es. Y todo aquel que tiene esta esperanza en él, se purifica a sí mismo, así como él es puro.
I am enjoying this book and agreeing with it (like "yes!", "write on"...laughing that Jesus wouldn't get hired because he was single...silly but prob would be true). There are some parts that uses particular language to describe leadersh...
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