Jump Start # 4193
Acts 5:14 “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.”
There is something interesting that happens in the first few chapters of Acts. It is found in Acts 5 and 6 and 8. Where there are problems and challenges, the church continued to grow. Notice this:
- Acts 5 death of Ananias and Sapphira. This is the first recorded deaths of Christians and they were punished by God for lying. Yet, as our verse today shows, multitudes of men and women were constantly being added. The shame and the death of these two didn’t hinder the growth of the kingdom.
- Acts 6 neglect of some of the widows. A plan and a solution was implemented to take care of this problem. In verse 7, “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”
- Acts 8 Saul was arresting men and women who believed and putting them in prison. In verse four, “…those who had be scattered went about preaching the word.”
What a great picture and lesson for all of us. Much too often, when trials, troubles and turmoil arise, everything comes to a screeching halt. Evangelism stops. Encouragement stops. Until the storm passes, nothing gets done. But, that’s not what we see in Acts. In the midst of the storm, these early Christians never forgot their mission, their duty and their roles in the kingdom. The word was spread. More were converted. The kingdom grew.
Here are some things to remember:
First, Satan loves to get us sidetracked and bogged down to the point that we no longer do what we ought to do. Satan doesn’t have to defeat us. He just gets us to stop. We can become obsessed with the trials and troubles. Our every prayer, our every thought, our every sermon, our times together becomes one topic, the trials that we are going through.
Looking at our three examples from Acts, lying, neglect and persecution, yet the work carried on. God is greater than these problems. And, God doesn’t give us a time out to sit on the sidelines until things improve. Onward we must go. We have a job to do and we must do it.
Second, through these troubles in Acts, we see the disciples coming together and being united in what they should do. Neglected widows is enough to splinter and split into a Hebrew church and a Hellenistic church. Instead of that happening, a plan was introduced. Acts 6:5 says, “The statement found approval with the whole congregation.” Unity prevailed. This was not going to be a storm that shipwrecked them nor destroyed the good that was being done. Hearts that loved the Lord and loved each other prevailed.
When sides are taken and we begin firing shots at each other, forgetting who the enemy is, Satan smiles. He wants us to turn against each other. But, arm in arm, stepping forward, the problems are dealt with in a Biblical fashion and the work carries on.
Third, these early disciples understood the great opportunity and privilege placed in their hands of sharing the Gospel message with others. If they didn’t do it, no one else would. There is no outside organization that can be paid to do what God wants us to do. If we do nothing, then the growth stops. Who else is going to do this? And, if we allow a problem or challenge to stop us, there will be more challenges and more problems that follow. Work through these things while still being faithful to the cause and purpose of the Lord.
Vision, unity and purpose – that’s what these early Christians had. And, when sin, neglect and persecution tried to slow them down, it was vision, unity and purpose that saved the day.
Does your congregation have problems? Don’t let that stop you from doing the work that God has designed for you.
Roger