The Power of God in the Church
Tom Shrader walks through Acts 5:12-32, tracing God's response to the Ananias and Sapphira episode with fresh signs and wonders through the apostles, explosive church growth, and inevitable opposition from the Sadducees. Peter and the apostles are miraculously freed from prison by an angel and immediately return to the temple to preach, demonstrating the boldness and focus that mark Spirit-empowered ministry. Shrader closes with a pastoral challenge, urging believers to identify their God-given purpose rather than living for self-centered comfort, because that clarity is what produces lasting courage, persistence, and joy.
“Men may build their church with a tolerance for sin, but the Lord builds His among His people with those who love holiness, hate sin, and expose sin.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Acts
Recorded: 1999 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 45 min
Themes: boldness, purpose, courage, signs and wonders, persecution, church growth, obedience, fear of God, feeling purposeless, struggling with fear, new believer, young adult, facing opposition, pastor, living for comfort, seeking courage
Scripture: Acts 5:12-32, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:41, Acts 2:47, Acts 3, Acts 4:29-30, Acts 4:4, Acts 6:7, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:21, Acts 11:24, Acts 26:21, Mark 16, Matthew 27:25, Matthew 28, John 10, Romans 5:1-5, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter, 2 Timothy 3:12, 2 Timothy 2:4, Philippians 2:16
Theological Themes: pneumatology, Holy Spirit, apostolic ministry, ecclesiology, church discipline, divine judgment, Spirit-empowered ministry, biblical authority
Full Transcript
The Fear of God in the Early Church
Open your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 5. I want to continue to encourage you to bring a Bible with you to church. There is something so important and powerful about having the Word of God, your own copy, in your hands — to mark it, to make notes. It is something powerful in and of itself.
Acts chapter 5 gives us the story of Ananias and Sapphira. It is the story of a husband and wife who commit a sin we looked at last week. Even on the surface it might not seem that big a deal to us, and certainly the punishment would seem to far outweigh the sin — but obviously God is perfect in His dealings with people, so we know that is not the case. Their sin was this: they had a piece of land, and they agreed to give a portion of it — but not all of it — to the church, while pretending they were giving the full proceeds.
This was probably based on what they saw around them. They saw men like Barnabas selling land and giving the proceeds to the church. They saw the church take these men and make heroes of them — spiritual giants, people respected by the other members. Ananias and Sapphira wanted some of that recognition, yet wanted to keep the money as well. So they sold the piece of land and brought part of it to the church, Ananias coming first.
Peter uses the moment as a great teaching opportunity. He says, "Listen, as long as you had that property, there was nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with having property, and when you sold it you were free to do whatever you wanted with the money. That is not the problem. The problem is that you have lied to the Holy Spirit." Verse 5 tells us that Ananias immediately fell down dead. His sin had been exposed. The young men came, carried him out, and buried him.
Three hours later, Sapphira came in. Peter asked her whether they had sold the land for such and such a price, and she said yes — lying just as her husband had. Peter told her that the feet of the young men who had buried her husband were at the door, and that they would now carry her out as well. Down she went, and out she went.
The Church's Response to God's Judgment
Verse 11 tells us what we would probably sense would be the case: great fear came upon the whole church. The word "fear" there means reverence or awe. They looked at what had happened, and there stirred within them this undeniable sense that God was at work. It is worth noting that this is the first time we see the word "church" in the book of Acts — it appears here for the very first time. Even those unbelievers outside heard about what had happened, and the fear, the respect, had touched them as well.
I am guessing — we do not know this from the text — but I am guessing that as the church gathered shortly after these events, they began to wonder whether God was done with them, whether He had abandoned them. Was this just the tip of the iceberg? Was everyone in the church a hypocrite? Could they possibly recover? Were their best days already behind them? Would God ever use them again? I have to believe those were questions the leadership was asking, and questions weighing on the hearts and minds of everyone in that congregation.
The answer, however, comes quickly. Acts chapter 5, verse 12 — beginning in the second part of the verse, and we will come back to deal with the first part in a moment — tells us: "And they," that is the church, "were all with one accord in Solomon's portico." Solomon's portico is the east side of the temple, approaching and facing the court of the Gentiles. It was a place very familiar to these believers. It was where they would gather, in a sense, as a church. It was where Peter had delivered that powerful message in Acts chapter 3. It was where the Lord Jesus had stood in John 10 and declared, "I am the good shepherd." They return to that familiar place, and already the restoration is visible — they are of one accord.
Two Responses to the Power of God
Whenever you see God work, you are going to get one of two responses. They almost seem to be a paradox, and I suppose they are. Look at both of them here. Verse 13: "None of the rest dared to associate with him, however, the people held them in high esteem." There was a group of people who saw the power of God working in this church, who respected what they saw, but who said they wanted no part of it. They had their sin, they loved their sin, and they were not coming close to a church where hypocrites were being struck dead. That is one response.
The other response, in verse 14, is exactly the opposite. Rather than driving people away, this preaching, this teaching, this act of God draws people in: "And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number." The church continued to grow. That may seem odd on the surface, but I can give testimony from my own life and from watching the lives of hundreds of others that this is exactly what happens — the Word of God is taught and it acts like a magnet, drawing people in.
One author, writing about the purity and discipline of the church, reflects on this scene and then compares it to the church today — not East Valley Bible Church specifically, but the church broadly. Here is what he writes: "Uncompromising commitment to holiness characterized these believers. They were a fearful group that kept those who loved their sin away and those who wanted forgiveness for sin near. That stands in sharp contrast to the masses of uncommitted, even unsaved people that feel comfortable in the church today."
An Answer to Prayer
To preach holy living and to discipline those who don't live that way allows sinners and hypocrites to remain in the church, convoluting its direction, sapping its power, robbing it of purity, and marring its testimony. Men may build their church with a tolerance for sin, but the Lord builds His among His people with those who love holiness, hate sin, and expose sin.
I have all sorts of jobs at the church, but one of my favorite tasks is to be involved in a class called Getting Plugged In. It runs for two consecutive Sundays and is offered to those who are new to the church or who want to understand how the church fits together. On one Sunday, part of the leadership team comes in; on the next Sunday, the balance of the team joins. Then on the following Thursday night, I get to meet with all of these people for what I call experiencing time — a fireside chat, a two-hour meeting where probably an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes is spent going around the room dialoguing: Who are you? Tell me about yourself. How did you find the church? Why are you here?
One of the great things that happens over and over again is people will say, "I've been around church and I've been around a lot of stuff, but I was looking for a place where the Word of God was taught." Not just from the pulpit, but in student ministries, in college classes, in adult classes, in small groups, in CE, in women's ministries, in men's ministries, in the precept classes. Whatever it is, it's the Word of God — what God's Word says, that's what we're going to do. And there's power in that.
You can look around and see the church grow numerically. You can read the bulletin — there were a couple thousand people here last year at this time, and about three thousand now. When things like that happen, other people want to know what's going on, and other churches call and come out to see. What they're looking for is a recipe: What's the hook? How do you get them in? Why are so many people coming? When they find out we teach chapter by chapter, verse by verse, they shake their heads and almost say, "That can't be true. What are your other programs? How do you meet people's needs?"
I told the Getting Plugged In class the other night: people die with needs unmet. We cannot meet all your needs. If you're here to get your needs met, that's not why we're here. We're here to teach the Word and live the Word.
Truth in Counseling
We watch it week after week. Couples come into my office and the other offices, looking for counseling, wanting the other person fixed. Almost always, what they mean by counseling is: what can he do to clean his act up? Or she — either way. And almost always, we have the privilege of telling them: get your eyes off the other person and get your eyes onto the Lord. You're a prideful, arrogant person — that's the problem. The problem is your sin.
But what about him? I don't care about him — we're not talking about him. You be the wife God called you to be. You be the husband God called you to be. There's the counsel. Look at yourself. Don't try to explain away your sin. Identify why you are sinning and repent.
You'd think people wouldn't come back for that, but they just keep coming back. And they say, in so many words: hit me some more. You know why? Because it's true, and they know it's true. Don't ever be afraid to tell the truth in love. We always think of evangelism when we think of truth, but this also means sitting down with a friend who is involved in sin — a friend who is unrepentant — and saying: the problem is not the other person. The problem is not the job. You are the problem. It's your sin.
Why do people get so mad when you say that? Because their rights feel violated, their pride kicks in, and they want to defend themselves. But the problem is sin. That is what people need to hear.
Signs and Wonders: The Answer to Peter's Prayer
In Acts chapter 5, the first part of verse 12, we see an answer to prayer. Back in Acts chapter 4, verse 29, Peter prayed: *"Oh Lord, we hear their threats — the threats of the opposition — give Your servants great boldness in their preaching."* Verse 30: *"Send Your healing power. May miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of Your holy servant, Jesus Christ."*
Peter had prayed: God, give us boldness. Let us speak the truth, and let signs and wonders be done through the name of Jesus. Acts chapter 5, verse 12 records the answer: *"And at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were taking place among the people."*
A couple of things are important to note here. These signs and wonders were at the hands of the apostles. This was not a miracle-working church — these were miracle-working apostles. When we see a miracle, we are seeing a supernatural act of God. When we see a wonder, that is the reaction, the marvel that takes place — here is the event, and here is the response to it. The sign, in this case a healing, was a physical truth, a physical change designed to point to a spiritual truth.
So when Peter comes upon the man who was lame and who can now walk, Peter is saying: yes, you can walk, but that is not going to help you a great deal, because your deeper problem is that you are spiritually dead on the inside and you need a Savior. These miracles are taking place as signs pointing beyond themselves to that greater spiritual reality.
Signs and Wonders Authenticating the Gospel
Back to the text — Acts chapter 5, verse 12. At the hands of the apostles. This is exactly what Jesus had said. In Mark chapter 16, at the very close of that gospel, Jesus speaks to the apostles: "These signs will accompany those who believe." He is speaking to the apostles. They will cast out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up serpents. Even if they drink something deadly, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.
Verse 19 continues: "So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken this, was taken into heaven. He sat down at the right hand." And they — that is, the apostles — went forth. They preached everywhere while the Lord was working with them, confirming the message by the signs attended to it. These signs, these miracles, these wonders were taking place, and the whole point of this is to authenticate the gospel message that comes with them.
In our human form, we want to run after the miracle. We saw it in the time of Jesus — it was the miracles they wanted to follow. We see it in our own day and age. Someone announces a healing miracle service and all of a sudden the focus is on the healing, the focus is on the miracle. The focus is on something supernatural, and we miss the point. These things are meant to point us to the power of God.
The Spread of Healing and the Word
Look at verse 15. These people were so taken away with this that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets. A cot would be like a small bed or a couch; a pallet would be a straw mattress, used primarily among the poor. It is as though Luke is telling us that healing is spreading, the word is spreading, and the church is spreading — and already the barriers are beginning to be broken down.
They brought the sick into the streets so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one of them, with the implication that the shadow might heal them. The apostles were not encouraging this. There is nothing in the text that would lead us to believe that the falling of Peter's shadow on them actually healed them, but the people were swept away with the healing and the signs and the wonders.
Verse 16: "And also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick and afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed." The word had spread.
The Fulfillment of Acts 1:8
I want to draw attention to the first part of verse 16, because this is the beginning of the fulfillment of the spreading of the word. In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus said to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them. Jesus was clear: the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Acts chapter 1, verse 8 — which is, in a sense, the most important verse in the whole book and a perfect outline of Acts — declares: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth." And already, this is beginning to happen.
Acts chapter 2, verse 41 records 3,000 people added to the body. Acts chapter 2, verse 47 tells us the Lord was adding to their number daily. Acts chapter 4, verse 4 records 5,000 added. The text we are looking at says they were adding to their number every day. Acts chapter 6, verse 7 tells us the number of disciples continued to grow in Jerusalem. Acts chapter 9, verse 31 says the church in all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace — it was already beginning to spread.
Acts chapter 11, verse 21 records that a large number believed and turned to the Lord. Acts chapter 11, verse 24 says considerable numbers were being brought to the Lord. That continues through the entire book of Acts, and in a sense the book of Acts is still being written today. Some of you have been added to the kingdom of God just in the last week. God is saving people. God is moving, things are beginning to happen, God is blessing, miracles are taking place, the word is spreading.
Opposition Follows the Move of God
Whenever you see that, you can count on what comes next: opposition. The high priest rose up — which literally means he moved from inaction to action — along with all his associates, the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy.
In your own life, when you decide you are going to be a servant of the Master, you will suffer. Always. It is coming, and it comes right away. Your suffering and your persecution are not an indication that God has somehow abandoned you. If anything, they are exactly the opposite — an indication that God is working in your life and using you. Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12: "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." This is going to happen. In a sense, it goes with the territory.
Wherever there is a move of God, the demons and the evil one immediately begin to move against it. And that is exactly what happens here. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail.
Peter's Understanding of Suffering
As you read through 1 Peter — a great exercise for this week — you see a constant theme of suffering. Peter says, what is the big deal if you sin and you suffer? Endure that patiently. But when you do what is right and you suffer for it, that is pleasing to God. It is as though Peter, when he writes that letter, draws on all of this experience. He knows suffering. He knows that it is good. He knows it is for a purpose and a reason, and he knows that frequently it is because God is moving in your life.
The Cause of the Opposition
They laid hands on the apostles and threw them in jail. Consider the cause of this opposition. The apostles had been told not to preach in the name of Jesus, and they did. The Jewish authorities considered Jesus to be a liar and a false teacher, and the apostles had been warned by the judge to stop — and yet they continued.
The Sadducees' Opposition
The Sadducees in particular did not believe in anything supernatural — they denied it entirely. So as the apostles and the followers of Christ began to talk about the resurrection, this was a direct offense to them. Above all, they were jealous. They had seen people rallying to the name of Jesus, and they did not want that. They wanted people coming to them. They did not want to be in a situation where people were praising the name of Jesus and praising the followers of Christ. They wanted to be praised. The opposition was inevitable — it was part of the deal.
The Angel Opens the Prison
Verse 19 tells us that an angel of the Lord, during the night, opened the gates of the prison and took them out. The irony is pointed: the Sadducees do not believe in angels or anything supernatural, yet here is an angel of the Lord acting on behalf of the very men they imprisoned.
In verse 20, the angel says, "Go your way, stand and speak to the people in the temple — the whole message of this life." The message of life is the person of Christ, the gospel message. Paul writes to the church at Philippi in Philippians 2:16, "Hold fast to the word of life." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The angel's instruction was clear: go right back to the temple — the very place where they had been arrested — stand there, and teach. Share the gospel.
And that is exactly what they did. Verse 21 tells us they heard the angel, entered the temple about daybreak, and began to teach. The angel released them, gave them a command, and they obeyed.
The Council's Confusion
Verse 22 brings us to the morning session of the council. The high priest and his associates, along with the full council, gather and send officers to retrieve the prisoners. The officers return with a remarkable report: the prison is locked securely, the guards are standing at the door, but when the door was opened, there were no prisoners. They have a prison, they have locks, they have guards — but they have no prisoners. Something happened, and it is one gigantic problem.
The captain of the temple guard and the chief priests hear this and are perplexed. What could this possibly be? How can everything be locked and there be no prisoners? Then, in verse 25, comes the report that sets them back even further: "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching."
Now they are truly frustrated. They had arrested the apostles and ordered them not to teach. The apostles did not stop. They threatened them — the apostles still did not stop. They arrested them again, and somehow they escaped from prison. Yet the apostles did not run away. There was no need to search for them or put them on a fugitive list. Word had already come in: they were right back where they had been left.
The captain went with the officers and brought the apostles in — and the apostles came on a voluntary basis. They did not resist. They could have incited a riot or argued about what was right and wrong, but they did not. Verse 27 tells us they were brought before the council.
The High Priest's Accusation
The high priest stands to speak, and his words are telling: "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 on us." It is worth pausing here, because those words echo Matthew 27:25, when the crowd said, "Let his blood be on us and on our children." They had said then that they did not care — let the blood be on them. Now, faced with the consequences, they are saying, we have told you and told you and told you. What are we going to do with you?
Reading this, one cannot help but ask: what do these men need to see? They have heard testimony from the lame man who was healed. They have an empty tomb. They have witnessed healings. They have now seen these men removed from a locked prison. What more could they possibly need? If you ever wanted a concrete human example of the truth that people do not come to Christ persuaded by evidence alone, but only by a heart touched by the Holy Spirit, there it is. No amount of proof is sufficient for a heart that has not been changed.
This is also a powerful picture of how evil the human heart is. When sociologists, psychologists, secular humanists, and even liberal theologians try to explain what is wrong with mankind — why people who seem so nice still do horrible things and cannot stop sinning — here is the answer. Their hearts are hardened by universal sin. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Unless God intervenes in that heart and changes it, nothing will take place.
Peter's Transformation
Now we come to Peter's response in verse 29. It is worth pausing to remind ourselves: this is that Peter. This is the Peter we might all be tempted to write off — the one who was intimidated by a servant girl, the one who caved under pressure. But look at the Peter we see here in the book of Acts. He has seen the risen Lord, and it has changed his life, transformed it completely.
The same should be true of every believer. If you have seen the risen Lord, as Peter had, there will be a boldness in your life. Peter does not waver at all.
The Apostles' Boldness Before the Council
The religious leaders confronted the apostles and said, "We told you to knock it off. Now you're spreading it through Jerusalem. You're trying to dump this man's blood on us." And Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men." What a subtle yet powerful way of saying: you are in opposition to God. You think you are men of God, but you are not. If we follow you and what you say, we will be in opposition to the very teaching of God Himself.
The leaders placed a dilemma before the apostles. If the apostles did what the council commanded, they would have to be disobedient to God. And in their minds, this was not even going to be difficult. Whenever there is a conflict between what man says and what God says, the answer is clear: we will always obey God.
Peter's Testimony to the Council
Peter then seized the moment to teach them again. He declared: "The God of our fathers" — that is, your God, you Jewish leaders — "raised Jesus up." This is the Jesus whom you put to death. The Greek word used here appears in only two places in the New Testament: here and in Acts 26:21. It means literally to put to death with one's own hands. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, and you with your own hands put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
This Jesus is the One whom God exalted at His right hand as the Prince — that word means literally "originator" — and the Savior, to grant repentance. He is the originator of eternal life. Then in verse 32: "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." The Holy Spirit is at work, bearing witness to those who obey God — those who are Christians, those who follow what He teaches, those whose lives have been transformed and changed by a work of God in their hearts.
The Courage and Persistence of the Apostles
Did you see the courage of the apostles? Did you see the boldness? When the angel told them to go right back into the temple, they did not stop and say, "That temple hasn't worked out well for us." They did not say, "It's been a long night — let me rest first." They did not stop to ask whether it was safe. They simply asked what God wanted them to do, and they did it. They persevere. There is a sense of persistence here. They cannot be stopped because they understand that God is at work.
Let me offer a word of encouragement. God is at work and is using — and will continue to use — every one of you who are Christians in this room. Here is how you can know He is still using you: you are not dead. That is when He is done with you. When you die, He is finished. John MacArthur tells a great story about visiting a dying old woman in a hospital. She was at the point where people were praying for God to take her and end her suffering, where others were quietly wondering what value remained. When MacArthur walked into the room, she saw him and signaled him over. She could barely speak. He leaned down and put his ear to her lips, and she said, "Dr. MacArthur, what can I pray for you for today?" He was not done with her. He is not done with you.
Focus, Suffering, and the Joy of Perseverance
There is a persistence and a perseverance in these apostles, and it comes from focus — a clarity of mind about what their lives are all about. When you read through the accounts of the martyrs, the stories in the Old and New Testaments, you ask: how did they do it? Paul gives you the answer in Romans 5. "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." Then in verse 3: "And not only this, we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
James says nearly the same thing in James 1:2–4: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect" — that is, its maturing — "result." That is how they do it. They understand this. They are absolutely focused.
The Power of a Unified Purpose
There is a new biography out on Vince Lombardi, and it is absolutely terrific. Lombardi got out of college struggling with what to do with his life and not knowing which direction to go. Then he found coaching, and all of his personality, all of who he was, and his sense of mission came together. It set him off for the rest of his life.
Watching some old NFL Films last week, the Ice Bowl came on — the Packers and Cowboys game played at something like 23 below zero. The steam was pouring out of the players' mouths. And then that play comes — a foot drops, the drive begins — and there is Jerry Kramer —
Finding Your Focus
No soldier in active duty entangles themselves in the affairs of everyday life, so he may please the one who enlisted him. That is the word Paul uses in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 4. The words that come to mind are intensity and focus, and that is exactly what we see in the apostles.
So let me close with this, because I don't think this is a stretch. Do you have the courage of the apostles, the persistence of the apostles, the focus of the apostles? Think about it honestly. Does your spiritual life go up and down? Maybe not just your spiritual life — maybe all of life. Right next to your bed, or by your desk somewhere, is a stack of books you bought and haven't read a word of. You walk past and say, I've got to get into this. You've signed up for fifteen different classes and never made it all the way through. You run hot and you run cold.
Why does that happen? It is not because you are not committed or not determined. It is because you do not understand why you are here. You do not understand your focus.
Understanding Your Mission
Why would an athlete go through all of that torture? Why would they put their body on the line? Because they understand what their mission is, and they understand that is the price related to it. Most of them will say it is not even a price at all — it is part of the deal. If you want to get there, you have to go through this.
In your Christian life, it is the same way. What is your focus? Why are you here? To get your needs met? To be happy? To be pleased? That is why your life goes up and down. You are never going to be fully happy that way. The minute you meet one need, another one pops up.
You are here to serve the risen Lord. God saved you for a reason, and that reason in its broadest sense is to glorify Him. You do that by evangelizing the lost, by knowing Him, and by ministering to one another. That is why you are here. Anything that competes with that is a distraction, and anything that dilutes that focus leaves you thinking about how cold you are instead of making the block. No soldier in active duty entangles themselves in the affairs of everyday life — and most of us have ourselves tied up in exactly those affairs, and then we wonder why God is not using us.
Living with Passion and Purpose
What is your focus? Why are you here? What is the passion in your life? God has given you unique life experiences, unique gifts, unique talents, and He has placed you right here for a reason. Once you find that out, you are going to have courage, boldness, and persistence, because now you understand why you are here.
Every day will have its challenges. Some days you are going to be happy and some days you are not, but every day you will be filled with joy — and that is what God wants. The fruit of the Spirit is not love and happiness. It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
What is God doing in your life? When is the last time someone came up to you and said, "There is something different about you," and you had the chance to say, "It certainly is not my personality — it is Jesus Christ"? When is the last time you sat with two or three or four people and said, "What does God have to say about this?" When is the last time you went out and served Him despite what it cost you, and walked away saying, "I cannot wait to do it again"?
That is what it means to be used by God. That is what it means to be a servant of His — to understand that passion and pursue it. There was nothing that could have kept the apostles out of the temple, other than being physically arrested. And beyond all of this, what we see is that God is in control. No man, no council, no government, no force, no jail — nothing is going to stop God's plan.
Your Unopened Gift
Now here is what should excite you: you are part of God's plan. He continues to work it in this world, and you are an integral part of it. He has given you a ministry and He has given you a gift. Now He says, go and use it.
Every year at Christmas we have all these gifts, and there is always one that arrives for my dad or my mom about a week late. It is a pitiful little thing when you look at it — all the other gifts are gone, and there sits this one unopened gift. Every year I think the same thing. I think of spiritual gifts, and I think of how many of us have been given this incredible spiritual gift, this incredible opportunity to be used by God in a supernatural way, and like that late Christmas gift, it is sitting there and has never been opened.
And then we are frustrated with God because He does not use us. Then we are frustrated because we cannot stay committed. Then life feels erratic and we cannot figure out why. The reason is we have not fallen in love with Him, given our lives to Him, and said, "Take me wherever You want to take me." That will change everything.
Closing Prayer
Father, please put in our hearts the courage, the persistence, and the focus of these apostles. Help us understand who You are. When we do, we begin to see ourselves as we really are. Like Isaiah, we will say, "Woe to me, for I am undone; I am a man of unclean lips."
Then You will show us a world — a world that is hurting and lost — and You will say, "Who should I send?" God, let us stand there like a little child with a hand waving in the air, saying, "Here I am, send me." And all of a sudden, all of life falls into place — not circumstantially, for there are still problems and still difficulties — but we understand who we are and why we are here. All of a sudden, commitment is not a problem anymore.
God, let us be bold in our love for You. We pray to You in Jesus' name, amen.