Acts 5:1-16 "Purifying the Church"

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Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 5. Acts 5:1-16 today.

Over the past two and a half months, we have been journeying in Acts where Jesus orchestrated the birth of the church with the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.

We’ve seen the power of the Holy Spirit… especially through Peter.

Peter… who formerly denied Jesus three times… has become the bold voice of the early church…

Through his messages, thousands of people have come to accept Jesus as Savior.

Rom 10:17 states, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

And, true this was… as the church grew to well over 5000 people.

But, the religious leaders abhorred the disciples teaching in Jesus’ name… And, the Sadduccees especially did not like the teaching on the resurrection… a doctrine they rejected.

So, they arrested Peter and John… the first persecution of the church… and threatened them to be silent.

To which they boldly responded “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

A conviction we ALL should have. Listening to God above all else… even if authorities threaten us to be silent.

Last week we concluded looking at the response of the disciples to persecution.

They sought Christian fellowship… talked and prayed with believers…

They didn’t retreat from persecution… instead they prayed for BOLDNESS to speak God’s word… and for God to use them for more miracles, signs and wonders!

Exactly what got them in troubles with the religious leaders in the first place!

And, at the end of Chapter 4… we see the church come together… what the enemy intended for evil… God used for good!

The enemy attacked the church from without… and that didn’t work.

So, in Acts 5… the enemy will attack the church from within…

The title of today’s message is “Purifying the Church.”

Let’s Pray!

In Acts 5, the early church established a voluntary system of sharing material possessions… to care for the most needy in the body.

In Acts 2: 44 we read, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

How long was it before this went sideways?

We don’t have an exact timeline in Acts, but scholars seem to place the beginning of Acts around 29-30 A.D. and the end of Acts around 62 A.D. … so a stretch of about 32 years.

And, from Acts 2 where we first saw material sharing to Acts 5… when problems started to arise… scholars estimate less than a year had passed.

At the close of Acts 4… things were still going well with sharing material possessions… look at VSS 32-37 of Acts 4… “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. 36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

They were sharing their possessions… they were of one heart and one soul… “one accord”...

They were powerful witnesses to Jesus… great grace was upon them… and no one lacked…

Luke could have just omitted Chap 5 and the struggles ahead. He could have just penned, “And they lived happily ever after. The end.”

It would have made for a nice story. But the Bible is NOT a story. It’s a factual account.

And hard chapters like Acts 5 … chapters that don’t logically make sense to us… their very existence testify of the veracity… the truthfulness of the word…

Before we get into Acts 5… keep the end of Acts 4 in mind.

When the Bible was written… there were no chapter and verse divisions…

It wasn’t until 1227 A.D. when Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury created chapter divisions…

About 200 years later in 1448 A.D. a Jewish Rabbi assigned verse divisions to the Hebrew OT.

About a hundred years later… in 1551 A.D. or 1555 A.D., verse divisions were assigned to the Greek NT.

The first entire Bible with chapter and verse divisions was a Latin Vulgate edition in 1555 A.D.

And, the first English Bible with chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible (1560 A.D.).

I hope you are taking notes… There’s gonna be a test later.

I say all that to make a point… the end of Chapter 4 flows into Chapter 5.

They’re connected. In the original draft, without chapter and verse divisions… the account in Chapter 4 would have flowed into chapter 5.

And, note Barnabas. He stands out at the end of Chapter 4.

Barnabas selflessly sold his land… and laid the profit at the Apostles feet…

He will stand in contrast to Ananias and Sapphira who lie to God in hypocrisy.

They were actors… pretending to be more devoted to God than they were.

Let’s take a look…

Acts 5:1-2 “But [you could circle the word “but” and write “in contrast to Barnabas”] a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

Ananias and Sapphira…

The name Ananias means “Jehovah is gracious.”

Sapphira for Sapphire… root meaning “beautiful.”

Jehovah is gracious and beautiful.

If they only lived out the meaning of their names.

Please note: we read of NO mandate to give.

Paul instructed the Corinthians to give “as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.”

In 2 Cor 9:7 Paul wrote, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Barnabas lived this out…

In contrast, Ananias sells his possession… which is identified as land in V8.

And, it would appear they coveted recognition… the “ooo’s and aaah’s” of man.

Did they perhaps observe Barnabas receive favorable recognition?

Were they like the Pharisees of whom Jesus said, “… they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Jn 12:43

That was me 18 years ago… I remember my first awards banquet… when I first started selling insurance in 2004.

I strongly desired to win awards… to be recognized in front of my colleagues.

I told my manager, “Next banquet I will be up there.”

I worked like a dog, and there I was… over and over again… winning awards… soaking up the praise of men.

The pride of life.

Now… all those awards… boxed up in the attic… meaningless.

And, any recognition Ananias and Sapphira would have received… would have been meaningless… and would have detracted from where attention should have been… on God.

Note: In V2 we read… they “kept back part of the proceeds.” That was acceptable… that was not their sin.

They had every right to keep some… or even ALL of the profits… giving was voluntary.

The problem was they pretended to give all of the profits to God… and made it known to everyone…

“Look at us… we’re just like Barnabas.”

But, they kept back part of the proceeds for themselves.

It was a dishonest sacrifice to God. It was modern “strange fire”… they misrepresented what was actually in their hearts.

And, they did this in front of the people, but their sin was against God…

Look at VSS 3-5…

Acts 5:3-5 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

It’s not shocking at all that Satan had his iniquitous hands in this event.

Satan tempted Jesus… Satan influenced Peter’s thoughts and sought to sift Peter as wheat… he entered Judas… and now he filled the heart of Ananias…

Influencing him to lie to the Holy Spirit… (V3)… who Peter calls God in V5… supporting the Holy Spirit as one third part of the trinity.

Satan is against God… he wants to be like God (Isa 14) and he hates mankind… who are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26)…

Peter exhorted in 1 Pet 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Ananias and Sapphira entertained the pride of life… and Satan found them as easy prey.

We are to do the opposite… Be sober (self-controlled), vigilant (watchful), resist him (flee youthful lusts), and remain steadfast in the faith (abide in Christ).

If I had to put my finger on one word to describe the sin of Ananias and Sapphira… it’s the sin of hypocrisy (which is a lie).

A hypocrite Gk. hupŏkritēs- by def. “an actor; to pretend.”

They were actors in ancient times… wearing masks to assume a role, but this was not who they truly were under the mask.

An appropriate cross reference to Ananias and Sapphira as hypocrites is found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus encouraged “Charitable deeds”… giving gifts as an act of mercy… but warned against doing so like hypocrites.

Matt 6:1-4 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

In life and ministry it’s important that we have an audience of one. If you are serving at our church, it’s not me or anyone else that you are serving… serve God alone.

Col 3:23-25 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. [And, we know and quote those verses, but listen to the following verse…] V25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”

What a great cross reference for today…

Had Ananias and Sapphira heeded Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount… they would not have sinned… and God would not have judged them.

God calls us to avoid hypocrisy and He desires His bride to have integrity… honesty… moral uprightness.

As Jesus said in Matt 5:37 “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

Ananias and Sapphira, influenced by the evil one… lacked in integrity towards God.

But, “How did they lie to God?”

They sold the land, and gave part of the profit to the Apostles, but said they gave all.

So, this was a lie, but how was this a lie to God, and not to the church?

Well… specific to this incident… keep in mind this gift was an offering to the church.

And, the church is the bride of Christ. Giving to the church is giving to the Lord. It’s His bride. It’s His church.

Ananias and Sapphira pretended they were totally dedicated to the Lord in their offering, but there hearts… if totally exposed… would tell a different story.

And, we must be careful with this… a false front of total dedication to the Lord, while some secret sin festers in our heart is not unnoticed by God.

More globally… the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was a lie to God as ALL sin is against God.

David understood this when he sinned against Uriah by having an adulterous affair with his wife Bathsheba.

David sinned again when he pulled Uriah off the battlefield and tried to get him drunk… encouraging him to be with his wife to cover up the pregnancy.

When that failed… David sent Uriah to the front lines of battle, and ordered his troops to fall back… murdering Uriah.

Easily, an apology should have been made to Uriah… Bathsheba… their families… frankly to the whole kingdom.

But, notice who David acknowledges in his prayer of repentance…

Ps 51:4 “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— [His sin was against God alone] That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”

All sin is against God… and when He chooses to judge sin… know this… He is just and He is blameless… even when we cannot comprehend His ways.

With that…

Acts 5:5-6 “Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.”

Chuck Smith said, “So, here we have our first problem in the church… people falling over dead.”

Of course, Chuck was joking… Chuck agreed it was an issue of lying to God… an issue of hypocrisy.

But… was this a harsh judgment by God? Did punishment fit the crime?

To us… this judgment may feel harsh… critics have criticized the Bible it’s ethics over this account…

But who are we to know the infinite wisdom of God… who knows the end from the beginning?

If this had played out…without God’s judgment… who knows what would have happened to the early church?

I like this quote from Expositors, “…the way Ananias and Sapphira attempted to reach their goals was so diametrically opposed to the whole thrust of the Gospel that to allow it to go unchallenged would have set the entire mission of the church off course.”

The behavior of Ananias and Sapphira was totally out of sync with the power of the Holy Spirit in the early church.

In 1 Tim 4:1-2 Paul warned Timothy, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared [cauterized] with a hot iron…”

That was a warning for the latter times… people would depart the faith and speak lies in hypocrisy.

Ananias and Sapphira were already speaking lies in hypocrisy… not in the latter times, but at the beginning of the Church Age.

They were ahead of the curve… and God puts a stop to it.

Another question that has been raised on Acts 5 goes something like… “Why doesn’t God still judge like this today? Why doesn’t He just eradicate sin immediately? Why does He allow such gross transgressions in the world???”

Those questions seem best answered by 2 Pet 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

And, we should be grateful for God’s longsuffering… His patience towards us.

Some people complain about the state of the church today, and wish we were living in the power of the early church…

All the miracles in Acts… if we could just see that power today!

Let’s think this through… the miracles didn’t stop at healing people… and major revivals… people falling dead was also a miracle.

A miracle of subtraction… and purifying the church.

Can you imagine if God was not longsuffering towards us today?

Some of us wouldn’t make it past our greeters!

“How are you today? I’m fine.” Well, that’s a lie. Bam… they drop dead.

Half of us wouldn’t make it past worship.

We’d sing a hymn like “It is well”

‘When peace like a river attendeth my way… When sorrows like sea billows roll… Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say… It is well, it is well with my soul.’

Is it really? You’re soul is well with massive waves of sorrow one after another.

Bam… people dropping like flies.

In reality, I think most people are truly happy with the dispensation of grace in which we live.

Now, before we move on… notice the result in the church when God judged Ananias… V5… “So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.”

There are two comparisons I want to point out regarding this verse…

First, the comparison in Acts before and after sin entered the camp.

And, second, an OT comparison… a parallel when Achan in Josh 7 allowed sin to enter the camp.

First, notice the words in V5… Great fear- Gk. mĕgas phŏbŏs…

In Acts 4:33 we read “with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

When they were of “one heart and one soul”… they had “great power” [Gk. mĕgas dunamis] and “great grace” [Gk. mĕgas charis] was upon them.

They were in harmony… they experienced mega power and mega grace… but compare that to when sin entered the church… V5 “great fear”… mega fear.

For our church today… what’s the application?

I think it’s simple… when we are in one accord… we experience great power and great grace.

If sin and hypocrisy enters the church… great fear.

I don’t want to be operating in great fear… I want great grace and great power.

Just look what happened to my daughter on Friday.

Head trauma from a bike fall. Cognitively disconnected… memory loss.

But, in one accord… you all… and hundreds of other Christians… surrounded us in prayer.

And, the 4 CT scans and the 2 X-rays … all were normal.

Great power… and great grace!

I praise God… and I thank you all for your prayers of faith.

The second comparison… is to notice God’s response to sin in the camp in the OT to what we are seeing here in Acts 5.

There are several OT examples on how God dealt with sin in the camp…

Lev 10:1 “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire [King James- “strange fire”] before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.”

Exodus 32… Moses descends Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments… and the whole camp is worshipping an idol… a golden calf.

‘We just cast our golden earrings in the fire and out popped this golden calf! Imagine that?!”

About three thousand people fell that day.

But, the example that seems the best parallel is the sin of Achan in Joshua 7.

This is an interesting parallel… Joshua was coming into the land… and in Acts the church was getting established.

At the beginning of both Epochs… of God establishing His nations land and establishing His church… sin entered the camp… and both times… God purified through a sobering lesson… subtraction… death.

“For the wages of sin is death...”

Typically, Rom 6:23 is spiritually symbolic, but in these events… death was quite literal.

In Josh 6:18… on the seventh day of marching around Jericho… just prior to the walls falling, Joshua commanded… “And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.”

This was a reminder to honor the covenant with God to forsake idols, and the spoils of war from sinful nations ripe for God’s judgment.

This was the case with Jericho. Joshua said, “… the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it.” (Except Rahab and her family).

This command had it’s genesis during the conquest of Canaan. Deut 7:26 “Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.”

Expositors states, “One of the persistent themes of the OT is that the sin of an individual has consequences for the family and the community.”

Well, starting in Joshua 7… Achan violated this covenant and took of the accursed thing… and the whole nation was held accountable.

In fact, in their next battle at Ai… which should have been an easy victory… Israel fled and 36 men died.

Joshua falls on his face pleading to the Lord in prayer.

Then in Josh 7:10-13 “So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”

So, tribe by tribe, came before Joshua and the LORD revealed the sin was in the Tribe of Judah… then family by family came and the LORD revealed the family of Achan was guilty.

Joshua pleaded with Achan to confess to the LORD, and Achan did in Josh 7:20-21 “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

Josh 7:25-26 “And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. [just to be sure!] 26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger.”

So, what was the point of this? The lesson is this… Sin was against God… broke His covenant… and defiled the camp… whenever sin surfaced… it was to be eradicated in it’s entirety… otherwise God would not be with them.

There is a stark contrast between the mindset of Israel and our national mindset.

When they fell into sin, and dealt with it… they were not hesitant to eliminate the high places… and anyone associated with sin… and often this meant death.

Our culture is much more tolerant of sin. We legalize sin and make it illegal to take action against sin.

Isaiah admonished, Isa 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness...”

Pro 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.”

God’s judgments on sin may violate our cultural experience and norms…

But, I’m pretty sure our cultural experience and norms very much violate God’s view on sin.

Sin is not a toy to play around with. Sadly, even within the church today… many Christians have the mindset “how close can I get to the line without going over?”

Christian… can I say… that is NOT being set apart.

In Col 1:21-23, Paul wrote, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, [our sins formerly separated us from God] yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, [Jesus’ sacrifice reconciled us to God with purpose....] to present you holy [sacred, set apart], and blameless [unblemished, faultless], and above reproach [no debt to call in; irreproachable] in His sight—23 if [conditional] indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard...”

We need to be like Joseph… fleeing youthful lusts when Potiphar’s wife entices us… instead of nuzzling up to sin.

Continuing on…

Acts 5:7-11 “Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” [Peter extends her the opportunity to be honest.... to confess, but…] She said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? [Ananias and Sapphira were united in their plot… and they will be united in judgment] Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear [noted for the second time] came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things."

Heb 10:31 states, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

In the Book of Acts… the Holy Spirit demonstrates His power through math…

God adds, multiplies, and subtracts from His numbers.

Four times in Acts...God adds to to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; & 11:24)

Three times in Acts… God multiplied the number of the disciples (Acts 6:1, 6:7, and 9:31).

Here in Acts 5 God subtracts… He takes away from the number… purifying the church.

But, God does not divide. Division is not of God.

Division in the church is of mankind. In Rom 16:17 Paul emphasized… “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.”

Divisive people who cause schisms and offenses (lit. to lay traps]… who are against God’ teachings… are to be avoided.

In our closing verses… we read about the results once the church has been purified from sin…

Acts 5:12 “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.” [at the Temple- The Court of the Gentiles]

The church was purified, and then their prayer was answered!

The was indeed an answered prayer… in Acts 4:29, they prayed, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Immediately, they received boldness… now God adds “signs and wonders…” in V12… and in V15, the sick and demon possessed are healed through the Apostles.

And, note the word “through” in V12… through the Apostles, but the origin of the power is God.

Now… in V13… we read of hesitant Jews.

Acts 5:13 “Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly [meaning ‘to declare great.’].”

This was true in Jesus’ day… true in the early church… and true today.

There will always be outsiders looking in… unbelievers who observe Christianity… perhaps even respect Christianity… but they will not commit to Jesus Christ.

In contrast… V14…

Acts 5:14 “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,”

In Acts 2:41… “… about three thousand souls were added to them...”

in Acts 4:4 they begin to struggle keeping count… “the number of men came to be about five thousand.” They only count the men.

Here, in V14… they give up counting… “multitudes of both men and women.”

I think it’s safe to say we are north of 10k believers at this point.

V15 “...so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

These signs and wonders were confirmation of God’s approval both over the Gospel message… and over the early church movement.

When a movement is of God, and led by the Holy Spirit…God’s approval should be observable through evidence of how God is moving through the body.

In reference to events like the shadow of Peter… Chuck Smith preached about “activated faith” where a person had a trigger point in their mind and when then encountered it… faith was released.

For ex.- when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Matt 9:21 reads, “For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”

Is that not the same here in Acts? “If only Peter’s shadow falls on me, I shall be made whole.”

It’s not that Peter’s shadow had healing power, and Luke does not indicate that it did… but the crowd had this expectation.

How the crowd got the idea of Peter’s shadow (“shade” by def.) being that which would activate their faith is uncertain.

But, there are numerous examples of shade or God’s shadow being equated to protection or safety.

A pillar of cloud by day… creating shade in the desert.

Ps 63:7 “Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”

Hos 14:7 “Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”

So, possibly this heavily Jewish crowd… may have had OT concepts of shadows in mind to activate their faith.

Lastly, notice this crowd travelled from surrounding cities to Jerusalem… word was going out… and people were coming in to encounter the power of the Holy Spirit in the church.

And the beautiful words closing out this passage… “… and they were all healed.”

And today, sometimes physically, but always spiritually… He does the same for all who place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Let’s Pray!

Read ahead… Lord willing we will finish Act 5 next week.

If you are carrying a physical burden and need prayer… what do you need to activate your faith? We can lay hands on you… anoint you with oil… pray over you…

But, you need to ask… so ask!