13 Mar 2017, Acts 5:12-42 使徒行传5:12-42, God’s Strategy for Church Growth 神对教会增长的策略

Posted on Mar 12, 2017 in Acts, Devotions |

Scripture Reading        : Acts 5:12-42

Theme                            : God’s Strategy for Church Growth

 

  1. Purity of the church. After the death of Ananias and Sapphira, “none of the rest”, or unbelievers, dared to join the church, for fear of divine judgment. But at the same time, the church grew because God added genuine believers in great numbers.
  1. Power of the truth. The Apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit and performed great miracles. The purpose of miracles was to authenticate the Gospel message preached by the Apostles, and not to produce faith in unbelievers, since those who did not believe did not dare to join the church (v13).
  1. Persecution of the church. At this stage, persecution of the church was beginning, and the Apostles were imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. Historically, persecution of the church only strengthened it, because God used persecution to maintain the purity of the church.
  1. Priority in obedience. The night before, they were miraculously rescued from prison by an angel, who told them that they must go into the temple to preach. Even though the Apostles risked further imprisonment and persecution, they obeyed God rather than men.
  1. Preaching of Jesus Christ. Gamaliel was the most noted rabbi (teacher) of his time, and his most famous student was Saul (who became Paul, the Apostle). After heeding his counsel, the council (the Sanhedrin) had the Apostles beaten and commanded them not to preach the Gospel. But the Apostles rejoiced over the persecution and “did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

 
Praying the Scripture

  1. Today, many churches focus on man-centred, seeker-friendly methods of church growth, and end up attracting multitudes of unbelievers to the church. This is in stark contrast to the purity of the church in Acts, where only genuine believers joined the church. Let us pray that our church will be pure and will focus on preaching the Bible faithfully, rather than be concerned with numerical numbers. Also pray that God will add genuine believers to our church.
  1. The gift of performing miracles has ceased, even during the Apostles’ time (2 Cor. 12:12; 1 Tim. 5:23 – Paul did not heal Timothy). The purpose of the miracles was to authenticate the Apostle’s message, and we have it written in the Bible today. Pray that we will be devoted to the teachings of the Bible, rather than be distracted by the demand for miracles.
  1. Sometimes, believers pray that God will remove the persecution that they are facing. However, God is sovereign and He can use any situation in our lives for our good (Rom. 8:28). We ought to pray that God give us the strength to obey Him and persevere during persecution. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
  1. Even an unbeliever like Gamaliel provided wise counsel that methods that were not according to God’s strategy would eventually fade away. Let us pray that we will not be tempted to pursue church growth methods that are not in accordance to God’s Word. Pray that we will preach the true Gospel only, even though people do not like to hear it or even if we are persecuted for it. Pray that we will be joyful even when persecuted for the sake of the Gospel.
 
 

经文：使徒行传5:12-42

主题：神对教会增长的策略

 

  1. 教会的纯洁。亚拿尼亚和撒非喇死了后，“其余的人”，即非信徒，都不敢加入教会，以免受到神的审判。与此同时，教会却增长了，因为神给教会增添了很多属实的信徒。
  1. 真理的力量。使徒借着圣灵的力量行了许多神迹奇事。行神迹的目的是要证实使徒所传的福音，而不是让非信徒能有信心归主，因为不信的并不敢加入教会（13节）。
  1. 教会的逼迫。这时候，教会的逼迫开始了；使徒因着传福音被拿下监。然而，历史证明逼迫只会坚固教会，因为神是在借用逼迫洁净教会。
  1. 顺服的重要。前一个晚上，使徒奇迹般地被一个天使从监狱救出，且被告知必要到殿里传道。虽然他们可能会因此再次被捉坐牢或受逼迫，但他们顺从神不顺从人。
  1. 传耶稣基督。迦玛列是当代最知名的拉比（犹太教师），而他最著名的学生是扫罗（后来成为使徒保罗）。公会听取了他的劝诫，将众使徒打了，又吩咐他们不可再传福音。然而，使徒反因受到逼迫感到欢欣，还“不住地教训人，传耶稣是基督”。

 
用经文祷告

  1. 今日，许多教会看重的是以人为本、讨好群众的教会增长模式，结果引来了大批非信徒到教会。这与使徒行传中的纯洁教会截然有别——只有真正信主的才加入教会。让我们祷告我们能有纯洁的教会，并重视忠心传讲圣经，而不是关注数目的增长。也祈求神能给我们的教会增添属实信徒。
  1. 即便在使徒的年代，行神迹奇事的恩赐已停止了（林后12:12；提前5:23—保罗没有医治提摩太）。行神迹奇事的目的是要证实使徒的信息，叫我们能有今日的圣经。祈求我们能忠于圣经的教导，而不是看重神迹奇事的发生。
  1. 有的时候，信徒会祈求神能除去他们所面对的逼迫。可是，神有主权，并能使用我们生命中的境遇叫我们得益（罗8:28）。我们当祈求神给我们力量顺从祂，并在遭逼迫时能忍耐。哥林多前书10:13：“你们所遇见的试探，无非是人所能受的。神是信实的，必不叫你们受试探过于所能受的，在受试探的时候，总要给你们开一条出路，叫你们能忍受得住。”
  1. 即便像迦玛列一样的非信徒都能明智地指出不从神策略的方式必然会消逝。祈求我们不会被诱，叫我们不按神的道追求教会增长。祷告我们只传真正的福音，即便人不爱听，或者我们会因此受到逼迫。也祷告我们为福音的缘故遭逼迫时能欢喜快乐。