Restoration of the New Testament Order

Acts 4 (1) By Ron Thomas       In our continued effort to understand the nature of the New Testament church, we look at Acts 4 and glean from this chapter some points we need to be sure to consider. If we do what they did, we will get what they got.     First, the Word of God was preached. Let us begin by noticing that the apostles were considered a threat by the religious leaders of their day. The Scripture plainly states they were “...greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (4:2, ESV). The Lord’s Word was preached when the people wanted to hear it, and it was preached when they did not. That is not to say that preachers (trained and untrained) are to go into environments to provoke the community into a response that will generate violence, but their mission is to get the Word of the Lord into the hands of the people, however they might get this done.     In an earlier article, we mentioned the apostles were guided into all truth after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This accomplished two things (at the very least): first, God gave them the credential needed to attest to the message they preached and, second, with boldness they went forth preaching.     With their credentials in place, the people listened (even if they did so curiously). Shortly after they began to preach, an amazing thing took place, the healing of a lame man. It stunned the people, and they did not quite know what to think. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew that the people were amazed and perplexed by what they saw, so they got in front of the situation and learned quickly the stunning miracle was the result of these men having been with Jesus (4:13). To put a stop to this, they had the apostles arrested for teaching Jesus and the resurrection (cf. 4:30, 33).      As the religious leaders saw the apostles and recognized they had been with Jesus, when people see us, do they recognize the same?     In any event, getting to the bottom of what they perceived as trouble, they landed on the rock-bottom conclusion their arrest and killing of Jesus did not stamp out the threat of Jesus’ message permeating the community. With force they ordered “...that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (4:17-18).     This brings us to a second point we want to consider from the chapter. The two apostles could not abide by such a decree. They replied they can only do the Lord’s bidding because it is by the Lord’s authority they are preaching, and they were not going to disobey the Lord (cf. 26:19). They understood fully, that among men, there was no other name than the name of Jesus wherein people can be saved. Thus, they spoke only what they knew (4:20).     In summary, the two points we need to consider is our preaching of the Lord’s Word faithfully and without compromise and let us resolve never to live by man’s decree if it conflicts with the Lord’s decree.

- Ron Thomas preaches for the Church of Christ at Rio Grande in Bidwell, OH. He may be contacted at etsop95@gmail.com. Visit the congregation’s website at: https://www.churchofchristatriogrande.com

The Restoration of New Testament Order

Acts 4 (2) By Ron Thomas     The message preached was Jesus and His resurrection. The world in which the first-century saints lived was just as vile, just as wicked as our own (Romans 1 giving evidence of this). What did the preachers of the first century preach? Jesus and Him crucified. They preached the remission of sins if one obeyed from the heart the teaching of God that redeems. As you go through Acts, take notice of what is preached and what is not.     There are a few points to emphasize in this article. First, Peter laid at the feet of those who killed the Lord Jesus was the Jews. Rome played a role in this also, but it was the Jewish community who turned Jesus over to them. It is frequently said that we (humanity) killed Jesus. What Peter taught, however, was not quite the same. He stated it plainly, “...whom you crucified....” The “whom” are those of the Jewish community. This gets to the point that the message needs to be taught, not sugar-coated. Did we not all kill the Lord? Be careful about what you say. Our sins took Jesus to the cross (that is for sure) but not even one of us had a direct hand in killing Him. “Are you not splitting hairs?” I am not. If one kills, he takes. Jesus gave.     Second, there is no other name under heaven whereby man can be saved. Salvation is found/located only in one name (4:20; cf. John 14:6). The gravity of this cannot be over-emphasized. This means there is salvation to be found/located in nothing else that Jesus and Him crucified. Thus, there is no man-made religious institution that has been created that will benefit one in a spiritual way before the Lord.     Let me add a non-related note to this: Have you ever heard it said by some in a congregation “We need a preacher?” and by that they mean one who is professionally trained or is otherwise considered and recognized to be one. Peter and the apostles were not professionally trained by the accepted means in Jesus’s day, but those who walked with Jesus, others could tell. Preachers (formally trained or not) need to “walks with Jesus,” for without that how can Jesus and Him crucified be taught accurately to others?     Third, one can only say what they know. “I don’t know enough to teach others!” many have said. Do you know what you did to become a Christian? Do you know why you did this? Does it have any meaning/significance to you? If you answered “yes” to any of this, you know enough to tell others about Jesus.

- Ron Thomas preaches for the Church of Christ at Rio Grande in Bidwell, OH. He may be contacted at etsop95@gmail.com. Visit the congregation’s website at: https://www.churchofchristatriogrande.com