5/16/2021 - Powerful Witnessing - Acts 5

Acts chapter 5 contains one of the more sobering accounts in the New Testament. A man and woman receive judgement from God and both die in the midst of the church assembly. What’s going on? They wanted to appear generous without being generous. The church is the bride of Christ and He will protect her from corruption. Since then, God has given the church authority to watch over herself. Jesus gave us specific guidelines in Matthew 18.  Purity is important. This amazing story reveals that when two things are combined there will be real change in the world: personal purity + the gospel of Jesus.  Purity gave the church her power. Nothing robs the church of her influence more than when our words and actions are incongruent. Show me a church that’s pure and I’ll show you a church of influence. Where there’s influence there’s opposition. The lives of the apostles inspire me. Their dedication is remarkable. The attitude of the apostles is part of the reason why they were able to do what they did for the Lord. They are rearrested and told, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your words about Jesus.” Have we filled the Valley with our words of Jesus? Do people in our area – our friends, neighbors and relatives know about Jesus? Do they know about his love and forgiveness and grace? If we are going to make a difference in the world we have to preach Jesus. We must have the attitude that, no matter what, we will tell others about him. Our purity and integrity is an open invitation giving us the ability to speak into the lives of others. Opposition will tempt us to be silent. So let’s remember the words of the Apostles, “We must obey God, rather than men!"