As impressed on my heart by the Holy Spirit, I took a study of the book of Acts and I'm with Luke on the title he chose to give to that book of the Bible. I'm glad he didn't call it the second book of Luke. I'm glad the book is called “The Acts of the Apostles." Apostle Michael Orokpo in his teaching on Growing unto maturity said “It is the Acts of the Apostles because they're actors of the word."
I guess we've done justice to this in the first article on the Apostles. Check here to read- Lessons From The Apostles.
Evangelist Lawrence Oyor also said in his message on Restlessness that “We cannot see the Acts of the Apostles if we do not know the ways of the Apostles."
I will build this write-up on the basis of the latter statement as the Holy Spirit will give utterance and inspiration.
The first thing the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to in the book of Acts is the “one accordness" (if there's a word like that) of the Apostles. The one was so one that no one said they owned anything (do read again). They gave to each other freely. Immediately it is noticed that you don't have something, someone somewhere meets that need. God literally met the need but He'd have to use a man. The Apostles released themselves to be used by God and that anointing flowed to the souls they won for God.
It wasn't heard that someone can afford a five square meal and another cannot even afford to eat twice. It wasn't their custom that someone who has no cloth to wear and one or two persons that has will not give out. They even ate in each other's houses, no one trying to outdo the other. What we popularly call “breaking of bread."
They also used each other's houses for meetings. They did not see exactly have a designated spot for their joint prayers because they couldn't pray in the temple. Remember they prayed for Peter's release in the house of John Mark's mother. At this time, the persecution was in full gear.
I strongly believed and I still believe this is one of the reasons why the Spirit of God was able to move mightily in their midst. This will take me straight to Ananias and Sapphira. There's been a debate on who killed them. No, I will not exactly give to answer that question but I will give my two cents on that topic.
From my understanding, God being a holy, just and righteous God was able to wroth mighty things in their midst because they were in one accord. Their hearts were aligned. They all wanted the same thing- Christ being preached and God being revealed. They also made sure no one lacked while they did this... Then came this couple who decided to lie to the Spirit of God.
Acts 5:3
“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?"
Peter by the same Spirit of God found this out and confronted the husband first. The next thing we see is that he falls down dead! His wife came 3 hours later. She was given an opportunity to confess the lie and repent. However, they just had made a pact not to reveal the truth. Therefore, she follows her husband to the great beyond.
On my part, I believe they had to go because they Spirit of God was moving so much that if they as much as had a little opening for the devil to creep in, there'd be disaster.
“Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him." Ecclesiastes 10:8b.
If there's no opening, there's no way the devil can creep in. Ananias and Sapphira decided to let themselves be the opening for the devil. Therefore, they had to go in order to close that opening. If they had gone on with that lie, others will satanically pick it up because they took it up as a result of a satanic inspiration. Most likely, they might have not been so filled with God's Word as it is being taught.
What are you filled with as a believer?? God's Word or something else? Mind you, whatever you're filled with outside of God and His Word is of the devil.
There's this bone of contention that God doesn't kill. Hmmm. I'm not going into that. What I do know is that Ananias and Sapphira had to leave in order to close that door of the works of the flesh so the enemy will not creep into their midst. The question still remains... Who took them away? I leave that to you.
No one was forced to give. They all give as in whatever capacity they could (Acts 11:28-30). The lie wasn't necessary. Barnabas who is a foreign Jew (he was from Cyprus) went as far as selling his land and brought the exact amount to the Apostles (same Barnabas of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13). Probably the couple wanted to replicate this act but they had an evil intention. They must have tried to outshine him but the money with which they sold the land must have been too bulky to give away just like that. So they had to keep back part of it. Read Acts 4:36 to 5:11.
If you want to give, give wholeheartedly. Don't give grudgingly (2 Cor. 9:7). Don't give for eye service so people will know you gave something out. Jesus said you should not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3). You do not have to pick up a speaker and announce to the world that you gave something out.
This act of eye service is not done to people alone. Some do it to God. Why will you give a seed and then have the pastor announce it that you gave a certain amount?? Why?? I don't understand people who do this. They're trying to look good and presentable before men. Meanwhile, God regards not their offerings nor sacrifices. Some will not have the pastor announce it, but they will carry the placard themselves saying, “yesterday, I dropped so so amount as a seed..." So what should we do about that?? Thank you for giving to God?? Or should we thank you on God's behalf because I don't understand the reason for the breaking news (apologies if the words sound harsh. I don't know a better way to put it).
This is one of the things that debars revival in our church today- the works of the flesh. It's not just lies. If what happened to Ananias and Sapphire were to happen in today's church; I hope we won't have an empty church. For some, it's secret sins.
Secret sins in the lives of the so called believers. You might not be aware but that thing you do in the secret place thinking no one, not even God can see you is an hindrance to that gift of grace the church has been asking for and has not received.
“But... If we check, I might not be the only one doing this. If we check, someone else must be doing something else... Blah blah blah." If someone else is doing it, must you follow?? The same Bible said “do not follow the multitude to do evil" (Exo. 23:2). Even if it's just you, why not be the only righteous man? At least, this is a good thing about Lot. Abraham could vouch for him as a righteous man along with his family that is why he was saved from the massacre of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:18-33).
Those little things that you think don't count is a big hindrance to God's move in the church. Ministers envying each other. One trying to outdo the other. Others are pursuing worldly pleasures. There's no difference between the church and the world. The church is now being influenced by the world.
If only we can go back to the old times and serve God the way these men did. They did not desire fame. They did not desire a luxurious lifestyle. All they wanted was what I call, “Thy will be done on earth." For them, it's about what God wants. For us, it is more about what we want. We do not even care about what's in God's heart.
When the early church preaches, we hear more of “and the Word of the Lord prevailed... And the Lord was glorified... The Lord... The Lord... The Lord..." It was always about the Lord! Some are serving God because of what they want to get. Once they have it, kapish! They evaporate from the church like vapour and the pastor would have to chase them with calls to bring then back.
God shouldn't be a run-to in the day of trouble, or a go-to in the day of distress God. He is the God you stay with all the days of your life and every time!
Collective prayers are not answered because of the heart of men... You're praying but you know you're not praying.
I was at a prayer meeting one time. It was a long stretch of prayers and I began to look at people (I was praying o, but at the same time I was studying people because...) because I coveted the way some people prayed. I liked the fervency some people used to pray. I forgot the prayer point and began wishing I could pray like those people. One of the beautiful things I like about the Holy Spirit is how He snitches on people (no, this is not an insult to Him. Some of you have called Him worse names like... You know the words you use).
Depends on your proximity with Him, and if the situation warrants it, He'll tell you very personal stuff about others that even they wouldn't dare tell you. Yeah, I was telling a story... When the Holy Spirit noticed I had switched from the general prayer focus to my own personal prayer focus. He asked for my attention and began pointing out people (at least, 5 people) who had no personal prayer altar but are hiding under the guise of the corporate cloud. Those He pointed to shocked me because these men are very much respected and honoured as men of the Spirit and of prayer but the Holy Spirit who knew everyone said they're only acting on the outside. In their closet, they're not as vibrant as they appear to be.
Since then, I stopped coveting people's prayer graces except the Holy Spirit approves of it. What I did was try to build myself up in my personal devotion because it's not like I myself was doing so well when the Holy Spirit began fishing people out for me. Meanwhile, that secret place is what is more pleasing to God. When our relationship and devotion to God in the secret is a sweet smelling savour to God, when we all come together, all spices will mix together and will go up to God as a sweet smelling aroma and He in turn sends answers back to us!
When the disciples in Acts 12 gathered together to pray after James had been killed and now, Peter had been captured, the release of Peter was epic! The release of prayer is worthy of note but what I find more intriguing in this chapter is that it wasn't the Apostles that were praying but what we can call “church members." The Apostles must have prayed as well but it's the account of the church praying that Luke documented for us. And it was stated that the prayers were ceaseless, round the clock prayers. The average member of the church knew how to pray ceaselessly and the answer was instant and in grandeur.
Though they refused to believe when the answer came... Some have said they were praying but didn't believe in the efficacy of their prayers but I beg to differ. I want to believe that it must have been two things. Either he miraculously appears in their midst as they were praying (this might not be shocking to them because they were used to the miraculous), or on the day Peter was going to be killed, something supernatural will happen and he would be released or something. Not that he will appear at the door at the middle of the night... They were even using someone's house to pray.
I cannot be told otherwise... Their heart must have been in one accord such that the prayer was greeted with an urgent answ er from Heaven. The person that was locked in prison was even sleeping. Maybe he was ready to die for the Lord or he was so sure he wasn't going to die, I don't know. But as the Berean Bible put it, it reads,
“The Jews have not yet lost any of their hatred of Christians. They have rejoiced at the death of James. When Herod notices this, he wants to take political advantage of it. In order to be even more favorable to the Jews, he continues his campaign of purification. He then arrests Peter, which is the third time he is arrested.
Just like Pilate, Herod also acts with the favor of the people in mind. Common feelings of hatred bring Herod and the Jews together. The hatred of the Jews concerns the worship of the Lord Jesus as God. According to them, this is apostasy from God, because to them He is only a human being and the worship of a human being is punishable by death.
Because of the feast, the execution does not take place immediately. The reference to the days of the Unleavened Bread means that the Passover was celebrated. It was a reminder of the time when the people were under foreign domination, but from which God liberated His people. Here the Christian people of God are oppressed by political power, as will be the case in the end times with the faithful remnant. But just as God liberated His people at the time so that they might serve Him, so He is delivering His own now and in the future. In all times political powers have tried to prevent the serving of God.
In this case of Peter, Herod leaves nothing to chance. He will certainly have heard of the previous imprisonments of Peter and how he has been delivered from them twice. That will not happen to him. So he will keep those weak Christians with his security measures from liberation plans. Only, the question is not what Herod is doing. What matters is what God can do.
Herod’s security measures are firm. Peter is guarded by four squads of soldiers. That means that he is guarded by four men every three hours, to the four periods of three hours in which the night is divided. Two soldiers of each squad are chained to Peter and two soldiers are on guard at the door. With the guards it’s all right.
But there is a battle going on in another terrain that nullifies all security measures of any kind. That is the battle of prayer. This is what the church is involved in. The church has come into being in an atmosphere of prayer (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:42) and persists in this attitude. The postponement of the execution of Peter is used by the church to pray for him.
That is a prayer meeting! The imprisonment of Peter, with the terrifying death of James still fresh in memory, drives the church to fervent prayer. The power of prayer is greater than the power of Herod, yes, than the power of hell. Several days are spent in prayer with only one subject: Peter. It is a fervent communal prayer, it is addressed to God and it is a concrete prayer: for Peter (Heb. 13:3; Rev. 5:8).
A first elaboration of the prayer can be seen in the peace that Peter reflects. While he knows what Herod intends to do with him, he is not restless, but asleep. This sleep is a victory of faith. He sleeps the sleep of the righteous. On the one hand he knows what happened to his good friend James. On the other hand he has the experience that the Lord has freed him from prison before. He has put everything in the hand of the Lord. What He decides is good and that gives him the rest to sleep. He has slept at times where he had to stay awake, such as at the transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain (Luke 9:32) and at the Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:40), but now he sleeps in peace (Ps. 4:8; Ps. 3:5-6)."
I choose to go with the explanation above.
This issue of a personal relationship with God and holiness in the secret place cannot be shoved aside. It cannot be done away it. It is necessary to the growth of the church and to revival. We are all seeking to see revival in our time but there are impediments, and I dare tell it's not coming from God but from men. I will leave you with what Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians in Gal. 5:16-26.
“Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you yield to the life of the Spirit, you will no longer be living under the law, but soaring above it! The behavior of the self-life is obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior. Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God! But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless. Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus Christ have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self-life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah. If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives. So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original. We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others." (TPT)
The early Apostles and disciples must have upheld this and by so doing, God worked full time in their midst. Let us also walk in the same shoes so we can see the Acts of the Apostles.
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