Tag Archives: stand

Who Is In Charge?

Bible Study, ,

WHO IS IN CHARGE?

“The religious leaders renewed their threats, but then released them. They couldn’t come up with a charge that would stick, that would keep them in jail. The people wouldn’t have stood for it — they were all praising God over what had happened. The man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old.

“As soon as Peter and John were let go, they went to their friends and told them what the high priests and religious leaders had said. Hearing the report, they lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer:…” Acts 4:21-24a (The Message)

This was the acid test for the apostles. How would they respond to this new development? They were enjoying the favour of all the citizens of Jerusalem, believers and unbelievers alike. Now the Sanhedrin was taking them on, just as they had taken on their Master.

As followers of Jesus, they had watched and listened to His response to the irrational rage of the Jewish religious hierarchy. Even when they arrested, tortured and killed Him, He neither resisted nor bad-mouthed them. He was representative of another kingdom which overrode the worldly kingdom they represented.

Peter and John politely listened to the rantings of the religious rulers but made it clear that they had no intention of obeying them. They had a higher authority to which they were accountable and He was backing their obedience by replicating through them what He had done through Jesus.

There was a strong bond between the believers that was not only a unity of faith but also a bond strengthened by sharing their resources and doing life together. When they were in trouble, they had one another’s support in love and prayer. Peter and John went straight back to their ‘family’ to report what had happened and, no doubt, to discuss their response.

Their first recourse was to God. This is a reflection not only of how well they had learned their lessons from following Jesus but also how powerfully the Holy Spirit was leading and transforming them. The old Peter would have reacted as he did in the garden when the soldiers grabbed Jesus. He lashed out with his sword and slashed off Malchus’ ear. That was his natural human instinct, but not any more. The old Peter had been replaced by a new model, an imitator of Jesus.

They had learned from their Master that the kingdom of God, not their earthly circumstances, was central in their lives. Whatever was happening to them was serving God’s purposes in bringing “up there, down here”. That’s how Jesus viewed life. He was never fazed by the imperfections He encountered. They always served a higher purpose — an opportunity for God to put His glory on display.

As leaders of the infant church, it was their opportunity to show their people how to deal with those who stood against them. Retaliate? No! Revenge? No! Resist? No! Stand? Yes. They had their mandate from Jesus. They were to be His witnesses to the world. As they stood firm in their commitment to obey Him, every obstacle would give way through His power in them.

That is the essence of ‘spiritual warfare’ — obedience to the Master in the confidence that His kingdom overrides the kingdom of darkness and will give way because Jesus is Lord.

It’s Not Your Fight

Christian Life, , ,

IT’S NOT YOUR FIGHT

“Then Jesus said, ‘When I sent you out and without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?’

“‘Nothing,’ they answered,

“He said to them, ‘But now, if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: “And He was numbered with the transgressors,” and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment.’

“The disciples said, ‘See, Lord, here are two swords.’

“‘That is enough,’ He replied.” Luke 22:35-38 (The Message).

Why did Jesus seem to be contradicting Himself? Why no equipment then but fully equipped now?

Firstly, He questioned them regarding their preaching trip when He instructed them to rely on the partnership of the people to whom they would be ministering, to take care of their physical needs. This is how God’s kingdom works. It is a principle in His kingdom that those who preach the gospel should live off the gospel.

There is no such thing as using the world’s system of buying and selling, i.e., fund raising, to raise money for the work of the kingdom. The kingdom of God derives its resources from giving and receiving which God initiates and multiplies supernaturally to meet all the needs.

Secondly, He made it clear that this situation demanded the world’s resources because they would be in a conflict with the dominion of darkness. There would be no partnership with other people here; it would be every man for himself and they would be required to take care of their own needs in the crisis.

Strange that Jesus even instructed them to sell an important part of their clothing if necessary — their all-purpose outer garment — to buy a sword. It was not intended for battle but for self-defence. Peter used his sword to defend Jesus, not himself, and that was not His intention.

Jesus also explains His reason for His apparent contradiction. He would be falling into the hands of “transgressors”, not people who were sympathetic to Him. He did not want His disciples caught up in the situation at the expense of their lives at this stage. They were not to be the victims of the injustice meted out to Him. Better that they were armed to defend themselves than to become the victims of some over-enthusiastic supporter of the religious crowd who were baying for His blood.

There would come a time in the disciples’ lives when the use of the sword would be inappropriate. James would be beheaded; Peter would be imprisoned and awaiting the same fate because of their obedience to Jesus. They would submit to the hatred of the world system then, just as Jesus was doing now, without resistance because they were citizens of an everlasting kingdom.

It is important that we, as followers of Jesus, keep in mind that we are living in two kingdoms simultaneously. We are, of necessity, citizens of this world and subject to the systems of this world but we are also citizens of the kingdom of God and subject to the way God governs in His kingdom. We are to be in submission to Him and to apply the ways of His kingdom to the way we live in this world. We are “in the world but not of it.”

At this point it was Jesus’ fight. He had to stand alone in this conflict. He had to take on the entire kingdom of darkness and come out of it the winner so that, when His disciples entered the battle, all they would have to do would be to stand in the victory He won for them.

“Therefore put on the full armour of God so that, when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and, after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 (NIV).