Acts 5:12-16

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. -Acts 5:12-16

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Jesus shared the Gospel by addressing people’s needs.  Yes, our spiritual lives are far more important than our physical.  One day we will die, but our soul continues on in the afterlife.

But to help people see the importance of the spiritual, Jesus helped with the physical and the practical.  This entire passage is about healing and it says as a result of Jesus’ healing, many people started to believe in Jesus and become Christians.  Jesus cared for people to take care of their physical needs AND their spiritual needs.

When we help others, we need to do the same as well.  It’s not enough to just verbally tell people about Jesus.  We must show them the Gospel by loving them where they are at—by helping them with their present issues whatever they may be.

Our sharing the Gospel with both your words and your deeds?

Acts 5:1-11

1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

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Lying to God

This is one of the more challenging passages in the Bible because it reminds us of the high standards that God expects of us. In the passage, two Christians — Ananias and Sapphira — sold some property but apparently lied about its full value. They donated "some" of the money to the Christian church community, but they kept the rest of the money for themselves.

On the surface, their sin doesn't sound "too bad," right? Like they didn't kill anyone? But the punishment for their dishonesty?... The Bible says they both died on the spot within three hours of each other!

It seems God caused their death as a result of their disobedience and dishonesty to Him. Why such a severe punishment? And why this particular offense? After all, everyday those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus probably do things like this and worse... not honoring the Sabbath, using God's name in vain, putting other things ahead of God, not loving God with all of our heart, not donating our money to ministries, etc. Will God also bring about our death too?

One thing we can clearly take from this passage is that God EXPECTS all of us to be obedient. And the punishment that Ananias and Sapphira received (death) is what we ALL deserve. The Bible says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The Bible also says that the punishment for our sin is eternal death. In other words, Ananias and Sapphira just got what they deserved for their sin. Why God chose to punish them at that moment and not each of us when we sin? I am not sure, perhaps to remind us of the standard He expects?

May this passage be a wake-up call to all of us... Even though we are forgiven because of Jesus' death on the cross, we deserve to be punished for our sins. It is because of God's grace alone that we do not get what we deserve. God still expects holiness and obedience. May we all be reminded of this the next time we think of being dishonest before God.

- Brian Hall

Acts 4: 32-37

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 2:23-31

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

26 The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the Lord

and against his anointed one.’

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

-Acts 2:23-31

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The Holy Spirit changes us and transforms us to be more like Jesus.  Remember Peter was a scaredy-cat!  He abandoned Jesus during Jesus’ greatest time of need and denied Jesus three times.

But in this chapter, it’s like a different Peter.  He’s arrested essentially by the Jewish leaders and instead of denying Jesus, basically gives them a Bible lesson.  How is this possible?

It’s because of the power of the Holy Spirit.  In verse 29, the believers prayed for boldness and in verse 31, God answered them by giving them the Holy Spirit.  Peter’s life was transformed by the Holy Spirit.

For those of us who call ourselves Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  That’s what of the promises Jesus made to us right before he died.  He said he would give us a Counselor to help us.

Whenever you’re struggling with a temptation and you feel what you’re about to do is wrong, that’s the Holy Spirit tugging at you.  When you are faced with a selfless choice and you feel a nudging to sacrifice for another or for a good cause, that’s the Holy Spirit nudging you.  When you don’t think you can serve in a certain way, but you step up to do so, that’s the Holy Spirit helping you.

The Holy Spirit lives inside of you.  As Christians, you need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  How do you do that?  By praying and reading the Bible.  Through prayer you get to speak to the Holy Spirit and through Scripture, you get to listen to the Holy Spirit.  And He will transform you just as He did Peter.

Acts 4: 1-22

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.⁵ The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ Jesus is“‘the stone you builders rejected,    which has become the cornerstone.’
¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ¹⁶ “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! ²⁰ As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. ²² For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

- Acts 4:1-22

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Something that really struck me here is how confident Peter and John was when speaking about God. When Peter and John were seized, they were put in front of some really important leaders and were questioned. If you were put in front of judges you would probably feel nervous or scared. On the contrary, Peter and John were able to speak in front of the high priest and was even able to turn the tables. It’s almost like they threw the questioning back by saying that it shouldn’t be wrong to perform an act of kindness to a man who was lame and that this was made possible in the name of Jesus Christ whom THEY crucified and whom God raised from the dead. They then followed by saying that there is salvation in no one else.

To note that Peter and John were both uneducated and yet because they believed in our savior, they were able to speak in great confidence. And because of that, even the high priests were amazed. I think this really shows the power of God in them. They did not have to do anything else, but to obey and proclaim the word of God. When they were ordered to stop what they’re doing, they said that they would not because they just can’t stop speaking of the things that they have seen and heard.

We as followers of Jesus can learn from this as well. How can we be confident in God?

We know that Peter and John spent a lot of time with Jesus. You can’t really speak of something that you don’t know, and so we also must spend time with Jesus. We have to let Jesus come into our lives and let him work through us. When you spend a lot of time with a friend, you start realizing what they are like or even sometimes what they think and sometimes you start speaking for them. Similarly, as we spend time with Jesus and learn more about him and his truth, we start to understand who he is, and we speak of him to other people.

Peter and John also knew and spoke a lot of truth about Jesus. Because they have heard and seen him, they just could not stop speaking about him. Because they knew Jesus, they are able to speak about him confidently. We too know what Jesus has done and his teachings through scriptures. And so, we can be confident in Him as well as we learn more about him in the scriptures.

Peter and John also believed in Jesus Christ as our savior. In today’s world, we often say “I personally believe ….” Because there are so many different “truths” out there, we diminish the value of our own beliefs and somewhat accept other people’s “truths” by saying “I personally believe ___” As a follower of Jesus, we don’t just “personally” believe that Jesus is our savior. We know that He is our savior and we proclaim that our salvation comes with no one else but Him. Peter was able to say this in great confidence, he didn’t just say “I personally think he’s my savior” but rather he confidently with no doubt said the He is our salvation and no one else. Because of that many people started to believe. We as well must believe that and be able to confidently speak the truth of God.

Are you confident in God? 

Acts 3:11-26

11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’[a]

24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’[b] 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Acts 3:11-26

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One of the hardest things in the world is to admit you were wrong about something. It can look like a lot of things, but for me it happens most often when I'm arguing with my friends and start to realize I'm on the losing side. Not only do you have to face your own pride and see that you're wrong, but you have to acknowledge that fact to your friend too. You basically have to take back things you believed in and swore were true, usually to a pretty smug face ready to roast you and tell you, "I told you so." Luckily for me the topic of argument is normally something that's irrelevant and not about if Jesus was the true Messiah of the world.

The Israelites weren't as fortunate. In this section of Acts, Peter is preaching in the temple and is telling the Isrealites how wrong they were in denying Jesus. Peter tells them they denied His Holy presence multiple times and was the reason He was killed. Talk about having to take back things you said and done. However continuing on Peter doesn't roast the Israelites for how wrong they were or what they did, rather he tells them about life with Jesus now.

See the amazing part about Jesus is that He knows we've denied him or wronged him before. Maybe we didn't literally turn Him into authorities to be killed, but in some shape we sinned and went against what Jesus wanted for us. Even still, He just wants us to turn back to Him and God. Jesus won't hold our past against us, He's just glad we're not turning away from Him anymore. This is exactly what Peter tells the Israelites, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." He's telling them just admit your wrongs and believe in Jesus now! Peter tells them if they do their sins will be forgiven, and their spirits will be "refreshed" with the Holy Spirit. And the same is true for us today. You've never done too much and it's never too late to repent and accept Jesus into our own lives.

Acts 3:1-10

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

-Acts 3:1-10

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Does this sound like something we've read back in Mark? Perhaps a story of Jesus healing somebody, after which the healed person's life is changed and the surrounding people are all amazed at the miracle? Sounds just like one of many of the miraculous healing Jesus performed, but this time it's performed by Peter.

As a continuation of the gospels, the book of Acts depicts the life of the disciples and Christians after Jesus's ascension back to heaven. Although the events still take place thousands of years ago, the fact that Jesus is not physically on Earth anymore is the same as today. However, although God is not physically on Earth in the form of Jesus Christ, we read earlier that God is still present in the form of the Holy Spirit, who is very much still at work even after Jesus's ascension.

This miracle performed by Peter is one of many ways God is still present and active. It's clear that it was not through Peter's abilities or strength that the lame man was healed, but rather through "the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth". Furthermore, we observe that the power of Jesus is something that can be freely given, something that is more valuable and more life changing than money.

Even though these kinds of miracles are not so common anymore today, we can still learn and take away the idea of being able to pass along the name of Jesus to others, to have the mentality of "what I do have I give you". Of course practicing charity and being generous with our possessions and resources is a good thing and something we should strive to do. But even more important is being able to share our knowledge and experiences of the gospel, of Jesus and how He can change lives.

Furthermore, we can infer from the passage that this is something that should be intentional, as we see both Peter and John look straight at the lame man and demand his attention. If the name of Jesus is so powerful that it can heal and perform miracles, than we have to make it our mission to be intentional to spread His name and to bring Jesus to others - to share our relationship with God. This is "Beautiful"!