Jerusalem was meant to be a city, not a Christian church.
Jerusalem was to be a starting line of evangelism and discipleship, not the finish line of Christianity.
Jerusalem was to be the spring-board into Judea and Samaria, not the very pool itself.
In other words, although it would have been mind-blowingly (is that a word?) awesome to be in Jerusalem during and after Pentecost (c.f Acts 2), our Lord’s plan was never for the saints to remain there in a holy huddle. He wanted them to move on to the next city with the gospel.
As mentioned in a previous post, our Lord waited around two full years for the early church to move on from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, but they just wouldn’t leave the city. God then unleashed the beast of persecution in order to scatter His people into the outlying districts surrounding that city. Once the gospel began to permeate other areas around Palestine, the Lord holstered the beast and gave His people rest.
I think the early church learned at that point that it isn’t wise to play a game of Truth or Dare with God almighty.
But rather than focus on disobedience or chastening, let’s look at the beauty of God’s blessings (and they challenges that being blessed presented) which commenced shortly after the birth of the Christian church during Pentecost.
Walking, Leaping, And Praising God
In Acts chapter three, a lame man got blessed and was physically healed. After Peter then preached another Spirit-empowered sermon, hundreds of more sinners were blessed by getting saved. It says in Acts 4:4, “But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
The Lord was building the church at a rapid pace there in Jerusalem. Only the men were numbered in those biblical days, so when you take into consideration their wives and any children with them, the total number in the Christian church at this point could have been well over 20,000 people.
20,000 blessed people. That is not a church, it’s a city! And notice, if you will, there wasn’t a church facility in sight! Imagine that.
The church was certainly growing, but only in Jerusalem. This would quickly become a good problem for everyone involved.
Over population—all due from God’s blessing of building His church—quickly became a massive issue to be addressed. Expecting to be in Jerusalem only a short while, the thousands of visiting Hellenist Jews who got saved during the celebration of Pentecost didn’t bring enough money to support their family’s long-term needs. Most did not have homes in Jerusalem to live in permanently.
Notice what it says in Acts 4:32-35,
“And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”
During the onset of this tremendous need, the early church did a fantastic job of meeting the physical needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ. However, with the local Christians selling their lands, homes, and possessions just to sustain the Hellenist Jews who remained in Jerusalem rather than going back to their own cities, it would not be long before those temporary resources dried up.
I wonder what would happen in your own local church (and city!) if we collectively began to love one another like they did in Acts chapter three and following. Do you think we’d all be blessed?
Hmm, I wonder…
ACTION YOU SHOULD TAKE
Comment below be sharing some of the things you have seen happening in your own church that demonstrate the love the people in your church have for one another. It can be meeting a specific need, someone just going around to put their arm around someone else who needed some encouragement, or the church meeting a financial need for a family that needed it most. I just love to hear stories like that. Don’t you?
Image credit: Kirsten Blackstock (Creation Swap)
Comment below be sharing some of the things you have seen happening in your own church that demonstrate the love the people in your church have for one another. It can be meeting a specific need, someone just going around to put their arm around someone else who needed some encouragement, or the church meeting a financial need for a family that needed it most. I just love to hear stories like that. Don’t you?
Also, it is really ideal to fit sneakers through the
latter part of the day simply just for the reason that the ft have a tendency of enlarging a little bit during the total
day. Remember that you need to know a few things about hiking
boots so you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for.
Rather than getting a normal pair of boots, these are the times you need something
more hardy and tough that would withstand the
wear and tear of time.