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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
How Did They Do It?
Reading the Bible raises questions that are worth asking. Questions for which we seek answers. It has always fascinated me to see how early Christians faced their daily trials. Not just the apostles, but the “average” Christian as we often say. For example:
“Saul…made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those that were scattered went every where preaching the word,” Acts 8:3-4.
These Christians were being imprisoned just because they were Christians. Some were put to death, Acts 7, 9, yet the others did not go into hiding, but went everywhere preaching the very things that had brought about their persecution.
How did they do that? Why did they not just give up and hide? You and I know the answer, but knowing it intellectually doesn’t make it easy to understand. In fact, the more you read about those first century Christians the more you have to admire them. What qualities did they possess that motivated their success?
They were truly converted
Being a Christian was not just a “Sunday morning thing” for them. It was their life, their very purpose in life. They had heard Jesus’ statement:
“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26.
People were dying “having no hope, and without God in the world,” Ephesians 2:12, and those Christians had the key to eternal life in Christ. They could not—would not—keep silent; they had to speak “words” whereby others might be saved, Acts 11:15. They had an urgency about life that moved them to speak truth even though in danger. They were truly converted to Christ, “Christians.”
They loved the lost and one another
Love motivates people to do things they would not do otherwise. This was not senseless fanaticism at work, but genuine Christianity. They wanted all to know of Jesus and His saving words. So they did what was necessary to provoke each other and the lost to hear and obey the Gospel. Try a dose of that love, and remember John 13:34-35.
They were humble
They knew the power was not in themselves, but in the Gospel, Romans 1:16. They did not exalt their own lives, but pointed all to Christ. They were willing to face danger, shame and loss of status in order to save those with whom they associated. They were more interested in the eternal welfare of others than in their own material gain or loss, Philippians 2:4. Even when embarrassed, humility overcame selfish thoughts.
They were filled with purpose
Just as Daniel, they “purposed in (their) heart” that they would “Seek first the kingdom of God,” Matthew 6:33. Their priorities were properly arranged, and they truly followed in the “steps” of Jesus, 1 Peter 2:21-22. Nothing could deter them from meeting their goal of seeking and saving the lost. When threatened, they persevered. When beaten, they remained full of faith. When shamed, they thrived. When put to death, they “kept the faith,” 2 Timothy 4:7. When ridiculed, they rejoiced that they were privileged to serve Christ, Matthew 5:11-12.
They were bold
This word “bold” is found almost forty times when describing Jesus’ disciples. In Acts 4:5-31, when they were threatened with death, they spoke plainly and prayed for “boldness,” not protection. How could they be bold and humble at the same time? They knew that true power was in God, not in themselves, therefore humility and boldness blended perfectly. Why not read Acts chapters 4 and 5—right now?
These, and other characteristics enabled those early Christians to turn the “world upside down,” Acts 17:6. They made it possible for Paul to declare that the Gospel had been preached “in all the world,” to “every creature under heaven,” Colossians 1:6, 23. They did so under the most difficult of circumstances, with none of the equipment we consider so vital today. They did it because of who they were, and what they had become. We can learn something about life from them!
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“The Christians know and trust their God. They calm those who oppress them, and they make their enemies their friends. They do good to their enemies. Their wives are absolutely pure, and their daughters modest. Their men abstain from unlawful marriages and all other impurity. If any of them have bond- women or children, they persuade them to become Christians for the love they have for them, and when they do so, they call them “brother” without distinction. They love one another. They rescue the orphan from him who does him violence. He who has gives ungrudgingly to him who has not. If they see a stranger, they take him into their dwellings and rejoice over him as a brother. If any of them is poor and they do not have food to spare, they fast two or three days that they may supply him with the necessary food. Because of them there flows forth all the beauty there is in the world. Truly this is a new people, and there is something divine in them.”
From a report to Emperor Hadrian,
second century A.D.
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Weapons of Mass Destruction
We have heard a lot about weapons of mass destruction in the past several months. God provided His soldiers with a weapon of mass destruction that is a mighty and powerful weapon. In Ephesians 6, the inspired writer described the “armour of God.” First, he listed the five pieces of defensive armor: truth, righteousness, preparation, faith and salvation. He then gave the one and only offensive weapon, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The word of God (sword of the Spirit) is indeed a mighty weapon. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,” Hebrews 4:12. The “word of truth”: and the “gospel of your salvation” are apparently equal things which are equal to each other in Ephesians 1:13. Now the gospel of Christ is the “power of God unto salvation,” Rom. 1:16.
God’s weapon is the all powerful “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Man cannot improve on that, but he vainly tries by introducing all sorts of unauthorized activity into the Lord’s church. In attempts to enhance the growth of the church, some have initiated fun and games, gadgets and gimmicks, new and innovative ministries and programs with applied names that are not authorized.
God’s people were told in Isaiah 59:2 that their “iniquities” had separated them from God. To do things in the name of religion, without authority, is iniquity. It means to “bend,” “make crooked,” “pervert,” “to err” or “go astray.” Jesus said, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity,” Matthew 7:23.
Engaging in unauthorized and innovative activity and substituting it for the word of God can cause an entire body of Christians to drift away to the point that they are no longer recognized as the body of Christ. The next thing is that they call themselves some sort of community church and they renounce the name of Christ.
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (RSV – “lest we drift away from it”), Hebrews 2:1. We may be drifting! Let us put away iniquity and preach the word!
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