Greater Works – Visions from heaven

Our study of the life of Peter comes to the first half of Acts 10, and shows God opening His plan for His glorious salvation to be proclaimed to the nations, providing visions of instruction to prepare Peter to proclaim it and the gentiles to hear it. On both sides, their beliefs about themselves and the role of their faith will have to be course-corrected. An Old Testament dividing wall is about to be torn down, bringing about a change in the world that still affects us all two millenia later. And we as individual Christians will find in this message instruction and inspiration for our calling to greater works in the Lord’s service.

At the end of Acts 9, we see “Peter’s smaller miracles.” Like healing a lame man and then raising a woman from the dead. In light of Jesus’ words in John 14, those are the smaller miracles, which show God’s compassion and draw people’s attention to Him. The “greater works” of Peter’s ministry are about to expand as he and Israel shine Christ as a light to the gentiles and people are saved and given eternal life. In this Acts 9 passage, we see the stage set for those events in a way that teaches and motivates us to seek a summer of greater works.

In Acts 5, we see Peter’s first divine prison break, after which the apostles take their first beating for Christ. Their reaction and response is surprising, as well as instructive and inspiring, in ways you may never have noticed. This is the continuation of an ongoing sermon series “Growing in Grace” on the life of the apostle Peter.

“Peter the Powerful,” a sermon in the ongoing series on the life of Peter, looks at the end of Acts 4 and beginning of Acts 5, when God’s use of Peter as a preacher of truth, healer of the sick, righter of wrongs, and leader for the apostles, reaches its peak. The power is all God’s, of course, not man’s, and the Name of Jesus is the One being exalted through it all. At the center of the events is God’s swift and strong judgment of a married couple who tried to take some of that Name’s honor for themselves. Their quick deaths remain a dire warning for each of us today, and an all-important lesson for us to learn in our walk of faith.

Pride is never a virtuous thing. But pride in things that we should be ashamed of is pride of the worst kind. Our world today isn’t in need of more pride—there was never a time in history with a shortage of pride. When we follow our basest, darkest desires, we do things that should humiliate us. Our sexual sins of any kind or degree should be things we want to keep hidden because of shame. We shouldn’t want our nakedness exposed, nor our moral failings known. If as an individual, one of us reaches the point where he or she can engage in the worst behaviors their flesh is capable of desiring, and he or she feels no shame, that’s a level of lostness that should make him or her very sad. Because at that moment, there’s no reason for hope. Not hope of happiness. Not hope of life. Not hope of honor. Not hope of joy. Not hope of satisfaction. It’s just wallowing in darkness, and celebrating the condition of hopelessness. We’re all sinners, but we should all want our sins covered, not exposed and celebrated. We’re celebrating the very things that destroy us. That’s not sane. And it isn’t just happening to individuals anymore. Our whole world is joining in, not just doing these things, but celebrating those who do them. There is no lower point for our world to sink to. There is no reason for hope for society. But for individuals in darkness who seek hope, there is one place for it to be found. You see, the God who made us wants us to be cleansed and made whole. To have hope for satisfaction, joy, peace, love, honor, and glory. For most of human history, God provided a system of sacrifices that would cover the sins of those who believed. Their shame was covered and their lives could have hope for eternity. Then, when the time was right, God stepped into humanity, as the eternal Son of God made Himself flesh and walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ lived a sinless life without need of shame. He lived that perfect life on our behalf, in our place, so that His righteousness could earn us eternal life and joy with Him. Then, He took our shame upon Himself, along with all of our sin. He hung on a cross, naked and bleeding, exposed to the world, bearing the guilt and shame for all that we have done in our rebellion and the hopeless darkness of our depraved minds. He suffered in our place, because of our guilt. He bore our shame upon His own back. Then He died for us. He paid the price for our sins. He absorbed every ounce of the punishment we had earned. It was in our place, instead of us, that He died. He deflected God’s judgment from us by taking it Himself. Then three days later, He rose again to life, proving Himself to be God and proving He had paid the full price for our sins. He rose to life and promised eternal life, abundant life, salvation from condemnation in hell, peace, and eternal joy in heaven to everyone who believes on Him. Unlike the animal sacrifices that only temporarily covered sin and shame, He had become “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” When you trust Jesus Christ to save you from your sins and the punishment for them, He doesn’t just cover your sin and shame; He takes it away—forever. Whatever kind of sexual activity or desire or identity has been yours up until this moment, don’t take pride or try to persuade yourself that you are fine as you are. God made you. He loves you, even though you’ve done wrong. He wants to give you life today. Let Him. Don’t listen to the voices of those who want you to stay in darkness and never-ending cravings that can never satisfy your heart. Come to Jesus. Drink of His living water by believing in Him and His promise: “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Don’t be lost anymore. Let Him rescue you today.

This is a supplemental devotional to Sunday’s message “Peter the Persecuted,” covering some important verses that time constraints prevented in the preaching.

Acts 4:24-31

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, Who through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed’ for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the Name of Your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

In Acts 4, when the church learned that the authorities had commanded them not to proclaim the gospel of eternal life through Christ, their response was immediate prayer. That’s the right thing to do. Too often when opposition arises, we exhaust all other options and then pray. Let us teach one another, when problems come, pray first.

Now let’s note some things about their prayer that teach us how to pray.

First, they prayed in light of what the scriptures said to them. They understood what was happening, because they found that insight in God’s word. And they were sure God would bring victory, because they trusted His word.

Second, they didn’t look at God’s power and authority through earthly eyes; they looked at their opponents’ power through God’s eyes. This allowed them to see that what had happened to Christ (rejection and crucifixion) was by God’s plan. And it allowed them to see that what was happening to them (threats and persecution) could also only happen by God’s plan. Herod and Pilate couldn’t take Christ’s life from Him—unless He willed it. And the authorities of that moment couldn’t stop Christ’s church with their threats. Let us teach each other to view our problems from heaven’s viewpoint. It will build our faith and help us to trust the Lord in times of suffering.

Third, they asked God for big things, not small. They could have asked Him to just make the persecutors stop. God could do that, but it would have been small. They asked Him for a lot more. They asked Him to give His Son’s Name so much victory on earth that the authorities of this world would be rendered irrelevant. They asked Him to make it obvious to anyone willing to see, that Jesus Christ is God’s One and Only Anointed Servant for the salvation of the world.

So often we pray for God to make the government do good things and for good men to win elections so that His will can be done. Perhaps we should follow the early church’s example, praying instead, “Father, we know from Your word that the nations and kings will continue to oppose You, mock You, and celebrate every form of rebellion against You. So they will treat us the same. But You are greater than they are. Their plots are ‘in vain,’ and will come to nothing in the end. Do great things in our lives and in the world that show everyone willing to hear the truth, that Jesus is Savior and Lord. And make us bold enough to stand with Christ, and for Christ, even in the face of their mocking, threats, and demands that we stop proclaiming Christ.”

God answered their prayers. The persecution didn’t stop–as we’ll learn soon in our study of Peter’s life–but the church grew, and the gospel spread.

Acts 4: “Peter the Persecuted” – in this continuation of our “Life of Peter” series, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, faces persecution for the Name of Christ for the first time, and teaches us a crucial lesson from the experience that can change our life and witness for the better, as we learn to find, and stand in, boldness from God.