SIGNS OF THE SACRED

SIGNS OF THE SACRED
The phenomenon of the power of gracious giving that occurred in Acts chapter four where they had ‘all things in common’ was a sign that God had poured out great grace and faith upon the people that displayed itself in a love and care for one another in their differing needs. The last verse in Acts chapter four says ‘Joseph, called by the apostles "Barnabas" (which means "Son of Comfort"), a Levite born in Cyprus, sold a field that he owned, brought the money, and made an offering of it to the apostles. This would indicate that he would have kept his house and any necessities for his upkeep and donated the proceeds of selling a field. That intense outpouring of grace lasted for a limited period of time and appears to have not been seen since. These early chapters of Acts show the contest of the mighty activity of the grace and power of the kingdom of God over and against the power of the world. Reading on in Chapter five…

ACTS 5:1. But a man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, who connived with him, sold a piece of land, and secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it. Peter said, "Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to do a thing like this? You didn't lie to men but to God." Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard of it. The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him. Not more than three hours later, his wife, knowing nothing of what had happened, came in. Peter said, "Tell me, were you given this price for your field?" "Yes," she said, "that was the price." Peter responded, "What's going on here that you connived to conspire against the Spirit of the Lord? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and you're next." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than she also fell down, dead. When the young men returned they found her body. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

When there is a great grace and faith through the power of the Holy Spirit there is also great accountability to the Holy Spirit for that grace. Such was the accountability in the case of Ananias and Saphira that eternal judgement came upon them through the apostle Peter because of their lying to the Holy Spirit. That grace and power and authority is not resident in the Church today. The Bible says to us for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6).The difference between being under the Law in the Old Testament and being under Grace in the New Testament might at first appear to mean that judgment is less harsh in the New Testament. However the power given to those people in the Book of Acts through the grace of the indwelling empowerment of the Ho]y Spirit required a far greater accountability for obedience than being under the Law and commandants in the Old Testament. Grace is the power that enables us to do God’s will. Grace is not a soft pretext for not doing God’s will.
This act of judgment had a very profound effect on people still in the process of making up their minds whether to ’join the Church’ or not (Vs.11)

12. And through the ministry of the apostles many signs and wonders were done amongst the people, who continued to gather together in great unity of heart and mind in the covered portico inside Solomon’s temple. Unbelievers did not dare try to join the body of believers (I wonder why not!). They just looked on and marveled at them. When people look on and marvel at something spectacular it is more like watching a side show – it is not worshipping God.
It is interesting that the display of God’s power drew many into the Kingdom of God as believers but was resisted by many who did not want the control of their own lifestyles interfered with, especially when it comes to money - the universal power and control agency. That power and control is very easily corrupted, as we all well know. 
13. However multitudes of people, both men and women, became believers through all of this and were added to the Lord.
But those who did believe had such a need for God in their needy lives that they wanted to be anywhere that the glory of God was on display, and they became worshippers.

15. Such was their faith that they brought sick people out into the streets and laid them on stretchers in the hope that the shadow of Peter walking past might overshadow them. Many people also came out of the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing sick people who were afflicted by evil spirits and they were all healed.

It does not say that the shadow of Peter actually caused the healing but something was happening in people’s hearts in drawing them near to God in their heartfelt desire to be touched by the power of God, so faith began to operate. It was like the Gentile woman who pushed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed, and Jesus felt her faith in operation within his Spirit. And he commended her for her great faith. There are many incidences of these signs of external sacred things that evoke faith in the hearts of people who want to draw near to God in faith. The word sacred (hieros) means dedicated or consecrated to God, holy. The word sacred is where we get the word sacrament from, as in the sacrament of Communion. 

When James recommended that elders anoint those who were sick with oil he said ‘let the elders pray over them, anointing with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal/save (sozo) the sick (James 5:14). It is not the oil that heals or the garment of Jesus that heals or Peter’s shadow – it is faith. James also said in the same chapter ‘draw near to God and he will draw near to you.’ These occurrences were all occasions or opportunities for drawing near to God so that faith in the work of Jesus could be found. It was not to point to the sacred object but to Jesus. 
It is only when people attribute power to the object or to some person that it becomes superstition, something like magical thinking, and a lot of that thrived in those days and continues to do so. But sacred objects have served their purpose, if only to draw our hearts to desire to draw near to Jesus in faith, but not to be worshipped in themselves. We see these sacred signs further on in Acts and in the epistles.
 
Acts 19:11 God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Most people would have believed in Jesus for those handkerchief healings but there would have been some people who may have attributed the power to the handkerchiefs, and others may have attributed the power to Paul. And at the same time that was happening in Acts 19, there were some men present, called the sons of Sceva, that saw what was going on. They tried casting out demons in the name of Jesus that Paul had been proclaiming. They thought that they could evoke that power to cast out demons by using the name of Paul and the name of Jesus and it backfired on them, because the demon answered them, and said “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” The evil spirit then jumped on them and beat them up. They were using the name of God (and Paul) in vain. Just using the name of Jesus is not faith unless one has a living faith in the life of Jesus within them that is working God’s will through them by his grace.

Paul writes to Timothy and says ‘from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings of the Scriptures, (Old Testament) which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’. (2Timothy 3:15). The Scriptures are indeed sacred but notice here that the active key phrase is ‘through faith in Christ Jesus’, because faith comes through the Spirit of the word and not the letter. The words must impart the living faith of those that speak it, and the Holy Spirit can impart spiritual life and witness to the word as a person reads it.

Some people believe that there is supernatural power resident in the bread and wine of what is called the Sacrament of Holy Communion. But the power is entirely of our faith in drawing near to God in remembrance of Who Jesus is and what he has done for us and what he is doing for us in the here and now – that is faith and that is our Communion with Jesus and with one another as we gather and partake of the bread and the cup. The grace of God is present and to be called upon, as we give thanks for the presence of God with us, and for the blessing and healing of body, soul and spirit upon each other. Amen