Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

How many times have you been confronted with someone who was ill or troubled and thought to yourself, “We need to find somebody to pray for this person!” The individual in front of you needed a touch of God’s power and you wondered who you knew who could pray with real authority…you know, someone who actually has power and believes in miracles. Those kind of people! And there are such people, aren’t there? But sadly there aren’t nearly enough, and they usually aren’t around when you need them.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is kind and compassionate. When He began His ministry He introduced Himself this way: 

People need a God who actually does something. We live in a world filled with varieties of invented gods and philosophies. They only exist because of someone’s imagination. They make great claims but provide no proof they exist. We’re told to trust them, and after we die it will all become real. How many different theories about life and death have you heard? Undoubtedly, the answer is, so many (and they all contradict one another) that you may have been left wondering if reliable truth about the spiritual world exists anywhere, or is all religion just guesswork? And before someone answers, “Well, at least we know Christianity is true!” May I ask how we know that? What caused you to entrust your eternity to Jesus Christ? Yes, Christianity is a beautiful religion, and by comparison (my judgment) most of the religions of the world look like something a human invented, but what could you turn to and say, “See, this isn’t something we invented in our minds. It’s true, here’s proof!” Now, I know in the final analysis we all have to walk by faith. Nothing can be absolutely proven to the philosophical skeptic. But still there are many who walk with God in deep assurance. So, how far is God willing to go to prove Himself to human beings? Do we dare ask for proof or will such presumption make Him angry (if He’s there)? Philip, preaching in Samaria, gives us an answer. 

What had been an amazingly joyful season for the church in Jerusalem is suddenly thrown into turmoil. Stephen is publicly stoned and the temple authorities feel they now have enough popular support to send soldiers into the city to hunt down believers from house to house, to put them in prison and then to beat and execute them (Ac 22:4, 5, 19, 20; 26:9-11). The effect of this violence was to scatter believers. They fled the city for their lives. Luke says, “And there was in that day a great hunt upon the church in Jerusalem, and all were sown out into the rural country sides of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Ac 8:1). He pictures believers being sown like a farmer sows seeds. They were scattered far and wide through the surrounding country sides, being careful to avoid those cities where they might be recognized and arrested. At this point it might seem God’s work was severely hindered, but then Luke adds this statement, “Therefore the ones being sown passed through these regions preaching the word (about Jesus)” (Ac 8:4). With that one statement Luke shows us that this persecution didn’t stop the church, it expanded it. It turned a lot of people into missionaries. It forced them to go to Judea, Samaria and even the remotest parts of the earth. The very places Jesus had told His disciples to go after they were “clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). 

Luke wrote the history of the early church but he wasn’t personally present at these events until chapter 16 (Ac 16:10). To gather all this information he had to interview eyewitnesses, ask them pointed questions to draw out their memories, and then carefully write down what they told him. Someone had to tell him about the martyrdom of Stephen; someone who was there and heard and saw what happened; someone who was at the debate and then later was present when the Sanhedrin gathered to try him; someone who saw the look on Stephen’s face and described it as “the face of an angel;” someone who listened to his defense and remembered it point by point; someone who saw, and maybe even felt, the anger that surged through the room when Stephen told them they had murdered the Messiah; someone who watched everyone cover their ears and rush forward dragging him out of the city to stone him; someone who stood close enough to hear him speak as he was dying; someone who heard him cry out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

How many of us are facing a problem that’s still there because we didn’t address it? It’s not a new problem, it’s an old problem that didn’t go away. Most of us tend to avoid confronting issues hoping matters will resolve themselves with the passing of time, but if we’re honest with ourselves we’d have to admit that seldom happens. Things that are broken don’t fix themselves, projects don’t move forward without someone investing time and effort, and suspicion and alienation certainly aren’t healed without someone taking deliberate steps to reconcile. 

It wasn’t just what he said, it was who said it. Very few of the dignitaries in that room could have stopped that lynch-mob. It took a special voice, at the right time, and a lot of courage to stand and rebuke the elders of Israel. God elevates His people to positions of leadership so He can speak through us at critical moments. There are times when even one voice speaking clearly, forcefully, respectfully, will turn the tide of a decision. In fact, looking back in history, most great decisions came because one person, or only a few, took a stand for what was right, and then persevered in that stand. In hindsight, these people are heroes, but at the time they often suffered under enormous pressure to conform, and when they didn’t they were mocked, threatened and even killed. Undoubtedly most of those brave souls questioned themselves, wondering how they ended up so out of step with everyone else. Often their selfless service took place out of sight, behind closed doors, one-on-one, and came as a passionate appeal to principle. Those about to open a door that would usher in trouble were confronted with truth and a deceptive spell was broken. And sometimes that brave, lonely person was the leader, the final decision-maker, who had to take a hard unpopular stand trusting that God would intervene and defend him or her.

Our lesson today looks at just such a person. A man named Gamaliel whose faithfulness to the Word had elevated him to high position, and who, on this day, within a window of a few seconds of time, had to decide whether or not to risk it all by rebuking the entire Sanhedrin and eldership of Israel. He’s a man to whom we owe a great debt of thanks, and who models for us the godly courage each of us will need when our moment comes.

What an amazing level of power we are seeing at work here. Luke does say that it was “at the hands of the apostles” that these miracles were done, which seems to mean that most believers weren’t yet functioning at this high level. Even among the apostles, Peter seems to be exceptional (v15). If we remember that he was the disciple who had the courage to try and fail and give wrong answers, we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s now the one who can most authentically do what Jesus did. Yet, this level of power wasn’t just an apostolic gift, they were able to teach others and pass this ministry on to another generation who functioned just as powerfully as they did. Stephen (Ac 6:8) and Philip, the evangelist (Ac 6:5; 8:4-8, 13), are examples of this.

Is it realistic for us to expect to have such power today? Well, we already do, it’s just not as widespread or consistent. We’re seeing miracles now on a level with those we see there, but we still see far too many go away unhealed. In many cases, there is partial relief, in others there begins a gradual improvement. So, it’s not that we have today none of the Spirit’s power, it’s that we don’t have enough, often enough.

What we’re seeing in this remarkable event is God disciplining His church. He’s revealing His standard of holiness and showing us the danger of hypocrisy. What may seem to us to be a small, insignificant sin, a lie told about an amount of money being given as a gift, we discover was viewed by God as an alarming spiritual danger which had to be removed immediately. Clearly, in His mind, there was no room in the church for this level of hypocrisy, for hearts that only pretended to love Him, for people willing to lie to the Holy Spirit.

In this dramatic encounter God reveals the need for church discipline. He shows us what to discipline, and that discipline ought to be done quickly, which, of course, doesn’t mean hypocrites must die. This particular couple’s death was a divine act which God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to perform in order to protect this young church, and to teach succeeding generations a lesson that wouldn’t be forgotten.

How many people would become Christians today if being baptized meant the government would seize their bank account, their spouse would be free to divorce them and take all the assets, if they were a student they would be removed from school, if employed they might be fired with no legal rights to protect them, their parents might not speak to them again, declaring them “dead,” and the community in which they lived would bar them from its gatherings? The fact is, such a price would be too high for many to be willing to pay. Even if they felt in their heart the gospel was true, the terror they would feel at the possibility of this kind of abandonment would prevent many from ever publicly confessing Jesus. Yes, of course, He said we must be willing to die for Him, but for someone considering following Him, the fear of such a backlash would be a real barrier.

I believe that a similar situation faced the Jerusalem church. To be baptized in the name of Jesus was a dangerous thing to do. A person could be left suddenly destitute, and many were. But impelled by the love in their hearts, and led by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, these early believers immediately rallied to take care of those who had been abandoned for their faith. And I believe the numerical explosion of the church in that hostile environment was directly related to their spontaneous generosity. The question facing us today, as we consider their example is this: Will we respond with the same depth of love and wisdom to remove the barriers our culture places in front of those who are considering following Jesus Christ?