You might recall that time when Jesus was baptized. Heaven opens up, the Spirit descends upon Jesus, the Father’s voice booms from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” The Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness, where he fasts 40 days and nights. And then Satan appears! Matthew 4:3, “Then the tempter approached him saying, “If you are the Son of God…”
Or how about the time the Father reveals Jesus’s identity to Peter. Peter makes the great confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Peter has such spiritual clarity. Jesus blesses Peter and promises “on this rock I will my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Jesus grants Peter the keys of the kingdom saying, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and unbind on earth will be unbound in heaven.” As Jesus forecasts his coming death, Peter opposes Jesus to his face, “Oh no Lord, this will never happen to you.” And then Satan is named. Matthew 16:23, “Get behind me, Satan, you are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
On the night of Passover, Luke tells us, Luke 22:3, “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was numbered among the Twelve.” In the Garden of Eden Satan suddenly emerges to deceive Adam/Eve. We see the same satanic pattern in Acts 5. The gospel is flourishing! The church is thriving! And then Satan emerges from the shadows… What does Peter say in 1 Peter 5:8? “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”
This morning, I want you to find Acts 5, while I share what I think are four faces of satanic attack. The first face of satanic attack is Compromise. I wonder, have you ever found yourself surrounded by a group of people totally SOLD OUT, WHITE HOT, for their cause? But maybe their cause wasn’t your cause? Many years back I started playing a game on my phone that was quite addicting. Soon some other players reached out for me to join their team. I’d never encountered hard core gamers before. They wanted absolute commitment. They wanted you to pay big real-world dollars for game packs. They wanted my personal information to coordinate strategy meetings. They demanded I be online immediately should they buzz me. At first, I went through the motions of being committed—but they quickly saw through my charade and booted me.
This happens in Acts 5. The entire church is of one heart and mind. No one claimed any possessions were his own. They held everything in common. The Apostles are preaching powerfully, great grace is evident upon the church. Nobody is in need because people sold land, houses and shared their “dollars”.
Acts 4:36-37, “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the one the apostles called Barnabas (which is translated Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostle’s feet.” Barnabas is what we call a hard-core gamer. He’s white-hot in faith, sold-out to serving God.
But maybe you know the story. In Acts 5:1 a man name Ananias and his wife Sapphira sell a piece of property. “Yep, signed the paperwork today!” But instead of giving the full amount they pledged, they conspired, and kept back part of the proceeds, and what’s worse, they lied about it. Here’s the thing. They didn’t have to pledge anything. They wanted the reputation of being hard-core gamers but without the sacrifice. In Acts 4 both Ananias and Saphira are confronted by the apostles for lying to God, and both immediately drop dead! Acts 5:5b-6, “Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.” Acts 5:9b-11, “Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.”
In Romans 11:22 Paul invites us, “Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity…” Are we to suppose that God wants us to play games with this thing called Kingdom of God? Are we to suppose we’re to go on sinning that grace may increase? When it comes to grace, God isn’t looking for a bunch of pretenders. He wants his church to be the real McCoy, authentic gem. You have Barnabas who is white hot, and Ananias and Sapphira who become room temperature. Where do we maybe find ourselves out-of-step, out of temperature, with body of Christ?
The church is growing in generosity, but you are growing in deceit. The church is growing in grace, but you’re eating and drinking judgement on yourself, growing in hatred. The church is growing faith, but your heart is riddled with fear and doubt. The church is growing in holiness, endeavoring to be holy as God is holy, but you’re hiding secret sin in your heart. The fear of God is beginning of all wisdom. Sobriety and fear make for a holy, uncompromised church amen?
Another face of Satanic attack emerges across Acts 3-5. The second face of satanic attack is Intimidation. Acts 5:17-18, “Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”
Acts 5:19-21, “But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.”
Psychologists talk a lot about the Imposter Syndrome. An imposter doesn’t believe he or she really belongs in their role. So instead of discharging their duties, they sabotage themselves, or let others sabotage them. Instead of being evangelists, certain of Christ, and certain of the Gospel, filled with boldness, telling people about this wonderful life we have in Christ… we act like a bunch of imposters. “We don’t really belong in the temple. We aren’t qualified to teach and preach and talk about God. Nobody should really be listening to us. We certainly don’t want to make waves in our homes, or community, or school, or workplace.
We all need an angel to say to us, “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life!” Don’t be bullied. Don’t be silenced. Don’t self-censor. You will be filled with power, and will be my witnesses first in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Our voice belongs in the marriage conversation, the dinner table conversation, the family and friend conversations, the neighborhood, the workplace, the school and government. Where do you maybe find yourself intimidated?
Acts 5:28, “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Acts 5:29-32, “Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Acts 5:40-42, “After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name. 42 Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
A third face of attack is Complaining. In Acts 6, a complaint arises by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. There is actually a whole sermon that can be preached here about how cultural matters of racism, privilege, prejudice so readily infiltrate the church. We’ll return to this problem later in Acts.
But one of the big issues in Acts 6 is that instead of people stepping up and solving this huge disgraceful issue, they instead opt to complain. You might recall how when God raised Moses up to deliver Israel from slavery, the Israelites complained and grumbled against Moses. Instead of giving the work back to the people, Moses took their complaints upon himself and tried to fix everything! Fortunately, Moses had a mentor named Jethro to rebuke him! Moses what you are doing is not good! “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.”
Whether your name is Moses, the Apostle Peter or the Apostle John, it’s the task of every great leader to give the work back to the people. The complainer should become the owner, and solver. The energies of key leaders cannot be diverted to those things readily resolved by the body. As Paul taught, the body must build itself up in love with each one doing their part.
Acts 6:2-7, “The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So, they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.”
Satan wants the best energies of the church leaders diverted away from the word and prayer. He wants you to be reduced to a mass of idle disempowered complainers (not solvers, not doers, not workers, not servants). The Apostles were wise to the attack of Satan, appointed workers, and church flourished.
The fourth face of attack is Ignorance. We’ll explore this next week. One of the men appointed to serve in Acts 6 is man named Stephen. Stephen is a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and good reputation. And he’s no mere table waiter. In Acts 6-7 he is falsely accused of blasphemy. But instead of backing down, he stands up to his accusers, waxes eloquent, and gives a master class detailing the history of God’s salvation from the very beginning of time all the way into the present time. Where in the church do we find such lovers of the word—knowledgeable in salvation, fully informed, able to give defense? The ripple effect of Stephen’s testimony sends shockwaves across all Roman Empire!