“And the word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.”
Great things were happening in Jerusalem. In Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, three thousand people were added to the church, making a total of 3,120 Christians. People continued to be added to the church, even though Jewish authorities tried to put a stop to it. What the devil could not do through persecution, he tried to do through internal church problems. The Greek widows in the church accused the apostles of neglecting them in favor of the Jewish widows in the daily distribution of food. This caused quite a stir. As a result, seven godly men were elected to oversee the distribution of the food.. What happened after this trouble is interesting. With the problem solved revival broke out. What happened after the trouble? First, “the word of God increased.” This means that the church got back to the word of God and began to take it more seriously. At that point the predominant scriptures were the prophecies about the Messiah and Old Testament types of Christ. Of course all of the existing scriptures were important. Anyway, this means that Christians talked about the word of God wherever they were. They talked about scriptures pertaining to the Messiah, and about the fact of His resurrection at home, in the streets, at work, etc. Of course they talked about it in their worship services. With all of this, I think the word of God increased because they were living what they learned. That is important. Whatever the trouble is in your church, your home or your life, the word of God should increase in your life. The Bible is not a magic book filled with magic incantations that you can use to magically make your life better. The Bible has a message that makes your life better, and your troubles seem less, because it shows us the way to victorious living. Let the word of God increase in your life by reading, studying, and applying it to your life. Second, “the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem.” Today we would say that they evangelized Jerusalem. This evangelistic effort brought great dividends to the church in Jerusalem. When the church got beyond a bitter internal struggle and began to take the word of God seriously, and to share it with unbelievers, people began to take the church seriously. When this happens in our churches we will see the results. When this happens in our lives, you will see the results. They even reached a group that they would not have expected to reach: “A great number of priests were obedient to the faith.” Third, individuals began to make a difference, for “Stephen full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” Can we be like Stephen in our families, churches and communities? We will if filled with the Spirit, the word of God will increase in our lives. We will see the difference in our lives, our churches and our Christian influence if we will just let the Lord have control as they did. The trouble about the Greek widows could have been a devastating blow to the church in Jerusalem, but it was not. Why? Because they followed the Lord’s leadership, solved the problem, forgot about the problem and moved on with the work. Our problem is that we do not solve the problems in our lives and in our churches. We need to confront our problems, do what needs to be done to solve them and get on with the work. The greatest days in your life and in your church might be just ahead – after the trouble. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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