The song that was playing on my CD player at the time of the vision was “So Many Times,” and that song was immediately followed by, “Awestruck Grief,” which is a song of repentance and grief over our sin. The first song is a song about hearing God’s word, and our hearts being stirred by what we hear. It is also a prayer for revival. It speaks of coming to Calvary and of Christ’s blood shed on the cross for our sins in providing the way we can be free from the penalty and the control of sin over our lives.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 5 (I will summarize first 16 verses):
The Apostles Persecuted
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
My Understanding: We read in Acts 2-4 that “all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had… From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need” (Acts 4:32-35 NIV ’84). “A man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 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” (Acts 5:1-2 NIV ’84).
No one was being forced to do this. It was not required. This was something people were doing freely in order to give to others. Ananias and Sapphira held back some of the money from the sale for themselves, which was their right to do, for again they were not required to sell the property, nor was anyone forcing them to give away the money they received from it, nor was anyone checking to make sure they gave it all. It was theirs to keep or it was theirs to give away. Yet, they decided to pretend as though they had given it all when they did not, and that was their sin. Peter said that Satan had filled Ananias’ heart so that he lied to the Holy Spirit of God, not to men. His wife followed suit. Each one faced instantaneous judgment of God and they fell dead. As a result, great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The church had just begun, and God, at the onset, was letting them know that he takes sin very seriously, I believe.
The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. All the believers met at that time in Solomon’s Colonnade. Non-believers did not dare join them, even though the believers were highly regarded by the people. Some have speculated that the non-believers kept themselves separate from the believers out of fear from what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Yet, that did not stop the spread of the gospel, and it did not keep people from coming to faith in Jesus Christ, for more and more men and women were added to the number of believers, and many people were healed.
Yet, the Jewish religious leaders were jealous of the believers and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and of people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, because it served as a threat to their own positions of political power and influence over the people. So, they had the apostles arrested and put in public jail. This treatment of true followers of Jesus Christ has continued throughout the generations in various areas of the world, and this is coming to the USA, too. It is just a matter of time. Yet, in the case of the apostles, though God does not always work this way, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
This is very significant here to this vision because so many people are telling only half the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the book represents the full message of the gospel and of this new life in Christ Jesus. I wondered if the book cover I saw was red because it represented Jesus’ shed blood for us on the cross for our sins. Jesus shed blood at Calvary is the covering for our sins, like this book cover, perhaps. Yet, we still have rules to obey that are found in God’s word (the book), in particular in the New Testament, as this represents our New Covenant relationship with God.
Some people don’t want to hear that repentance and obedience to Christ are necessary for salvation, so if that is what we are teaching, they may slam the book (God’s word) shut in our faces and may refuse to hear what it says. Yet, it is the grace of God and the working of the Holy Spirit within us in transforming our hearts and making us more like Jesus which gives us the gift of repentance, so we can turn from our sin, and which gives us the ability and strength to obey, because it is God working in us and out through us for his purposes and glory. So, this is not works-based salvation, as some people would have you to believe it is.
The apostles did what the angel told them to do, and at daybreak they entered the temple courts, and they began to teach the people. The religious leaders did not find the apostles in the jail so they went looking for them. Someone told them that they were back in the temple courts teaching the people. The captain went with his officers and brought the apostles, but not by force, which means that the apostles cooperated with them. They made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!” Again, the apostles reminded these Jewish leaders that they killed Jesus, but that God raised him from the dead, and that God the Father, who they claimed to worship, had exalted Jesus to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. And, then the apostles stated that they were witnesses of these things, and so was the Holy Spirit, “whom God has given to those who obey him.” Jesus gives us the gift of grace, of faith, of repentance and the ability and power to obey. It is required of God that repentance and obedience are necessary for salvation, and for eternal life with God, and for the receiving of the Holy Spirit of God within our hearts in transforming us, and in turning us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that we might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ (see Acts 26:18 NIV ’84). This is the full message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is found in the whole of the New Testament under the New Covenant of God with his people.
When the religious leaders heard this, they were furious and wanted them put to death. That is the picture I received with this vision with the slamming shut of God’s rule book for how we are to live the Christian life, i.e. the words of the Bible under the covering of our New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. Repentance and obedience are all through the New Testament as requirements for life with Christ, with God the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and in order to have eternal life in heaven with God. There are all kinds of rules we still must follow, but they all fall underneath the two greatest commandments: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. We are to stop sinning against God and against each other, we are to turn toward God, and we are to walk by faith and in God’s grace within us in faithfulness, obedience, humility, surrender and submission to our Lord Jesus and to make him truly our master.
This is required, though this does not mean we will live in sinless perfection. But, when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who purifies us from all sin.
A wise man suggested to the religious leaders that they leave the apostles alone, for if their purpose or activity was of human origin, it would fail, but if it was from God, they would not be able to stop these men; they would only find themselves fighting against God. Yet, God does allow his servants to be persecuted and even put to death for their faith, but God’s word will endure and nothing can kill that! They can kill our bodies, but they can’t kill our souls, so we must press on in being faithful servants of the whole gospel, knowing that God is able to guard what we have committed to him against the Day of Judgment.
When His Kingdom Comes / Dottie Rambo and Dony McGuire
When His kingdom comes, what a difference
When things are in earth, as they are in heaven,
When all has been settled and my heart is His home,
Oh, what a difference, what a great transformation!
Oh, what a difference when His kingdom comes!
http://www.lyricstime.com/green-steve-when-his-kingdom-comes-lyrics.html
No comments:
Post a Comment