Kirkcaldy Free Church

Sermon: Sunday, 28 January, 2024
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: Acts 6

1. The Wisdom of Stephen

Stephen is clearly a man who is being singled out by Luke the author as someone spectacularly gifted by God. This isn’t said of every Christian in the New Testament; it isn’t said of most Christians in the New Testament. He has a full, strong and vibrant faith, he is full of the Holy Spirit which is seen in that he is “full of the God’s grace and power.”

‘a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 6:5)
‘a man full of God’s grace and power, performing many great signs and wonders.’ (Acts 6:8)
‘They could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him.’ (Acts 6:10)

Every question they asked, he had an answer. Every comment they made; he could rebut.

Now before we go onto a bit more about the wisdom of Stephen, I’m going to just address the elephant in the room – namely verse 15: ‘All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.’

There are so many thoughts about what this could be. It’s pretty evenly divided between those who think:
His face is simply at peace or that his face shines with light.

It could be any and it could be both, but I personally would favour the simple explanation that his face is like an angel in that he is at peace and at rest for the reason that it never mentions light it just says his face is like that of an angel. Also, when people saw Moses’ face which reflected the glory of God, people were afraid. There doesn’t seem to be any of that here. The link to Moses would be neat given they’re accusing him of rejecting Moses, but I’m just not so sure.

I think he’s at peace because of what he’s communicating. He knows he will be vindicated one day even if he is falsely charged here. He knows that God, far from accusing him, is actually accusing them as he does brilliantly in chapter 7 by just opening up God’s Word. As he is falsely accused here he doesn’t jump about shouting, full of rage. In fact the contrast is huge. Whilst at the end of chapter 7 we’ll see the religious men grinding their teeth shouting, we see a man with a face like that of an angel, perfectly at peace.

Back to wisdom. Stephen is a man full of wisdom. Now, there is a general level of wisdom given to all believers. Wisdom to know Christ, yet we can always grow in that as Paul prays for in Colossians 1. Wisdom to walk in line with what the Bible teaches like the Proverbs call us to.

Where do we get wisdom? It doesn’t come simply from experience, knowledge, but by the Holy Spirit. Of course, the Spirit can teach us wisdom through experience, the Spirit can teach us wisdom through the knowledge we have but these things on their own do not equate to wisdom but only when they are fuelled by the Holy Spirit.

A wisdom which not only possesses knowledge but can apply that in helpful ways that challenge and confront, which encourage and strengthen, which get people thinking.

Stephen clearly has wisdom by the bucketload. Not to jump ahead into future weeks but as we look at his defence in chapter 7 and the thing is littered with Scripture. It is the fullest defence and explanation of Jesus from the Old Testament scriptures recorded in the New Testament.

What is clear is that his wisdom is Spirit given, but it is not Spirit given in an abstract and mystical kind of way. Like he was just zapped with wisdom. It is wisdom that is informed by the Bible. I think it is easy to look at Stephen a man who is full of faith, who is full of grace, who is full of wisdom and think, ‘That’s definitely not me.’

I can understand that same feeling, yet, let’s remember the source of all Stephen’s wisdom: the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture. Do you have the Holy Spirit? Do you read your Bible? You have all the key ingredients with which to grow in wisdom and therefore all the ingredients to speak up for Jesus to non-believers.

Of course, not all will be given the same degree of wisdom, as I said, Stephen I think is especially wise but if our faith is in Jesus Christ we have been given his Holy Spirit who speaks to us through the Bible.

So as you open up your Bible pray with Paul in Colossians 1:9; ‘Lord, fill me with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so I may live a life worthy of you and please you in every way.’

Or as you prepare your heart on Saturday night to come to church on Sunday ask God, ‘Speak to me through your word, give me the knowledge of your will that I may be growing in wisdom and understanding.’

Which means that when you are asked for the reason for the hope you have, you don’t have to panic. Rather go in with confidence, that God has given you his word, he has given you his Holy Spirit, he has given you all the tools to speak up for him.

My point is not to discourage you and simply say, ‘Do more.’ My point is you may not think you have much to offer, but as a Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit, with the Bible in your hands you have every tool in the toolbox that is required to be a wise Christian around non-Christians.

In Luke 21, Jesus is speaking of persecution that will await his disciples but they need not fear. ‘For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.’ (Luke 21:15)

Who was this spoken to? The disciples. The disciples who, far from believing wisdom came from God, spent their time arguing who was the greatest and shooing away children whom they deemed to be the least. The disciples who at Jesus’ arrest all ran a million miles!

Jesus speaks these words to the disciples and he speaks these words to you. When it comes to speaking with non-Christians about Christ we can feel worried we won’t know what to say, we feel worried we’ll get it wrong. But with the Holy Spirit within you and the Bible in your hand read through and prayed through you might be surprised just what words come out.

Don’t feel dwarfed by a man like Stephen, feel encouraged by him.

2. The Desperation of the Jews

They love their way so much and detest Christianity so much that they’re willing to use any means necessary to defeat and bring down the church. Even when they have been disproven, even when they’re stumped by Stephen and have no answer, they don’t humbly admit defeat and gladly accept Christ, they try to take him down by spreading lies.

They’re committed to winning by any means necessary and that comes out here as they change tactics. They lie about what he has said and they strong-arm people into testifying falsely against him. They’re so desperate for Stephen to be wrong, they don’t admit defeat, they don’t trust in Christ. They go rogue. They twist and manipulate Stephen’s words, they caricature his words, the stir up the people, they persuade people to testify falsely so they can eliminate Stephen.

They persuaded people to give false testimony – see verse 11. It’s hard for us to understand in 21st century Scotland what a serious accusation this was but in 1st Century Judaism, to speak against the temple and the law of Moses was the worst possible thing you could do. Those were in many ways your bread and butter of 1st century Judaism.

This is the height of desperation and clutching at straws from the Jews to make things up. They did it with Jesus and here they are doing it with Stephen. The only way they can get round it is to lie and to produce false witness about Stephen. To say he is blaspheming is far from the truth.

What is interesting, of course, is that they’re breaking the 9th commandment as they do it. ‘Do not give false testimony against your neighbour.’ (Exodus 20:16) For all their seeming desire to protect religious observance, they themselves are breaking the commands and are failing to observe one of the 10 commandments.

What’s clear is the utter blindness the Jews have here. They claim to be followers of God, they claim to care deeply about honouring God and Moses the one who received the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai but they find themselves at odds with the law of Moses and therefore God’s law. It seems they have little interest in God or the law, but it seems there is a great interest in preserving the status quo which the Jesus and the early church threatened.

They are so desperate to maintain this whatever the cost – even lying. They’re even willing to disobey the God they say they honour just to preserve and maintain religious order. And they can’t seem to see the problem with this. It seems they’re wanting a certain answer, regardless of the sum.

What we have here is, not a group of God-fearing Jews, we have a group of people who want to preserve an outward appearance of religiosity who have no interest in who God actually is. The problem is of course, they equate their religiosity with honouring God but they are not the same thing and that is an extremely dangerous place to be. As soon as we bend God’s word to accommodate our religious practice, that’s when we know surely we’ve gone too far.

We, of course, don’t know what Stephen said at this point, we aren’t privy to their argument. But there’s nothing in his coming speech in chapter 7 which says he is speaking blasphemous words against Moses or God. And apart from anything else, Acts 6 doesn’t paint Stephen as a dubious character, he is unequivocally good and godly.

And the judgement of God’s Word is clearly the right one. Even if we don’t have Stephen’s words in the argument, we have the verdict given by God’s Word.

They get a false witness to testify against him on trial that he never stops talking against the temple, saying Jesus will destroy the temple, and change the customs Moses handed down.

Again, clutching at straws. They go for Stephen with lies. It’s not that they don’t understand. They understand Stephen’s position clearly hence why they’re stunned to silence. It is their intentional rejection of that position means they are making straw men arguments.

Jesus said, ‘Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.’ (John 2:19).

They thought he meant the physical temple in Jesus’ day and it’s the same with Stephen, who has clearly articulated a similar thing is getting placed on trial for their misunderstanding.

Similarly, the customs of Moses, they misunderstand everything. Things like Sabbath observance and hand washing laws which were instigated not by Moses but by religious traditions Jesus contradicted. That was met by mass opposition from the religious leaders who again conflated their rituals and regulations with the law of Moses because Jesus was not opposing Moses, he was opposing their man-made rituals. Jesus, it’s fair to say was not a fan of the Pharisees.

‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.’ (Matthew 23:23-24)

(See also Matthew 5:17-18, Matthew 15:9, John 5:39-40 and 46.)

They were so caught up in what they thought was honouring God that they failed to see who it was all about. Jesus says “if you really did believe Moses, you would believe in me because it was me that Moses was writing about.

The stirred up the people against him – see verse 12. Why did they do this? Just to publicly smear Stephen’s character? Well, it’s worse than that. They knew this would get to the religious high authorities who would put him on trial and that’s exactly what happened.

All of a sudden, this ramps up in seriousness. The elders and teachers of the law are absolutely raging. They are the gatekeepers of the religious community, they are the ones who form the religious council called the Sanhedrin. All of a sudden, these false accusations mean he is to be put on trial.

The application of this point is simply this: don’t be surprised if you have been clear on what the Bible says to outsiders and they oppose you by mischaracterising you or misquoting what you say. It isn’t logical but people will hear what they want to hear, take away what they want to take away and if they don’t like what they hear they’re quite inclined to ignore it.

In fact Jesus says in John 15 as he quotes from Psalm 35, ‘They hated me without reason.’ That’s what happened to Jesus, it’s what is happening to Stephen here and is what happens to us when people understand our position, don’t like it and so hate us. They have no reason for their hatred other than they just don’t like the message. Understand it, yes, but dislike it yes also, so reject it they will.

If we’re unclear or if we’re unfairly representing the Bible, that is fair enough. But sometimes, though we speak the truth, people reject it and will therefore do anything to discredit you or your message.
If this ever happens to you, let Stephen be your encouragement. There was certainly no fault in Stephen or his message. If you’re clear in your message, and your message is the Bible’s message, people can mock, people can misrepresent but God sees your labours.

So to close, in the face of possible persecution in smaller ways today perhaps and maybe in bigger ways to come we can go forward with confidence. God has given us the tools he gave Stephen. The Holy Spirit and the Bible. And if people misrepresent you, misquote or misunderstand you when you did share what the Bible says, take heart, it’s a well-trodden path.

Don’t shrink back from the opportunity to speak up for Jesus. You might fear, you might worry about yourself and your wisdom or lack of it, you may worry about what will people say, think or do. We have been called to speak the truth in all wisdom and love, let that be our task and let’s leave the rest up to God.

Sermon: Sunday, 21 January, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Acts 6:1-7

1. Problems in the church

As we come to the next section of Acts, once again there are problems in the church. This section is bookended with massive encouragement, in that both verses 1 and 7 speak about the growth of the church. The number of disciples is increasing, the word of God is spreading and even priests are being converted. However, sometimes problems accompany church growth. These are the problems I’d love to have!

What is the problem exactly? It’s clearly stated in verse 1: some of the widows who have a Greek background are being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. I don’t think that this was deliberate. But it was happening. Needy and vulnerable women were slipping through the net, in terms of their practical care. So, the basic problem is that women who had come from faraway countries and so who had no support network and could not provide for themselves, are being missed out. Because those being missed out are from a Greek-speaking background, this had the potential to be construed as favouritism towards the Hebrew widows, and had the potential to split the church along racial lines. That would have been a disaster, especially at such an embryonic stage on the life of the church.

Looking after the vulnerable, such as orphans and widows and the disabled is close to God’s heart. We see this throughout the Bible.

‘Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.’ (Exodus 22:22)

‘A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.’ (Psalm 68:5)

The early church knows this, but because the church is growing so rapidly, the Twelve are not able to keep track of all of those in need. The situation has become unmanageable.

It would have been good if the Greek widows had directly approached the leaders of the church and brought their problem to them. Instead, we are told that the Greek Jews just complain or murmur about the situation. It’s always better in our churches to communicate problems as they arrive, to give the leadership the opportunity to deal with them before they grow ‘arms and legs’. The complaining we read of here in verse 1 echoes back to the murmuring of the Israelites in the wilderness. I hope everyone in our church will be quick to bring problems to the attention of the leadership, rather than letting a matter fester and grow.

But there is another significant problem in the church. It is related to the first problem, but is a little more subtle, though just as serious. The Twelve are in danger of becoming distracted from their God-given role of ministering the Word of God to the people. If the Twelve deal with the problem of the widows on their own, it will mean much less time on doing the work God has given them to do. They will not be able to teach and preach properly, because their week will become too cluttered with things other people could and should be dealing with.

Once again in Acts, we can see Satan working behind the scenes. He is trying to divide the church on racial grounds. His plan is for this problem to drive a huge wedge between the Jews and Gentiles, who had been divided throughout history, on had only just come together through the gospel. And Satan wants to overload and distract the leaders of the church, so the Word of God becomes something secondary in the church. Satan, then and now, attacks us in all kinds of different ways; he tries persecution and intimidation and moral hypocrisy and now distraction.

2. The solution

I love the fact that the Twelve deal with this issue quickly and wisely. They’re sensitive to the genuine needs of the Greek widows, but are also aware of how this problem could threaten the unity of the church. These leaders are watchful and prayerful. They are ‘on the ball’ here. Their solution is to divide up the work of the church so that different people are doing different jobs, according to the gifts the Lord has given them. The work of preaching was vital. The care of the widows was also vital. Both body and soul matter to God. The answer is to delegate the work more widely.

“A vital principle is illustrated in this incident, which is of urgent important to the church today. It is that God calls all his people to ministry, that he calls different people to different ministries, and that those called to ‘prayer and the ministry of the word’ must on no account allow themselves to be distracted from their priorities.” (John Stott)

This passage is one of the foundational passages in the Bible which highlights the two different kinds of leadership in the New Testament church, that of the elder and the deacon. Elders are called to deal with the matters of the soul, and focus on teaching and preaching and prayer. Deacons are called to deal with more physical needs, such as the needs of the poor, the upkeep of church buildings and ensuring church money is used in a godly way. It’s interesting to note that the Bible stresses the importance of both of these offices. In fact, they have the same job qualifications, except that elders must be able to teach.

‘Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

Our church is led by elders and deacons. Deacons are men who have the spiritual maturity to lead in these areas, combined with the practical skills to do so. Both the spiritual maturity and giftedness are necessary to serve in the church. Stephen is the first one identified to take on this new rule. He’s described as: ‘a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit’. That’s what we want both our elders and deacons to be.

3. Practical application

How can we apply this short passage to our live in Fife today? There are many direct applications, I believe.

3a. All Christians have been given a spiritual gift to use in the church.

We have been given different gifts in the church and so have different callings. This passage reminds us that if the work of the many is left to the few then nothing will be done properly, and God’s Word will be neglected.

The 5th part of our vision statement is this: ‘That we should all prayerfully seek to identify the spiritual gifts we have and use them in the church for the benefit of the church family.’ There are many gifts being used in KFC and we are thankful to the Lord for that. There are those looking after finance, those teaching Sunday School, preachers and teachers, musicians, those who welcome on the door and those gifted in hospitality. However, in all churches, including ours, there will be Christians who have either stopped using their gifts, are underusing them, or aren’t using them at all. And so, the challenge isn’t to judge other people, but to reflect on our own lives and ask ourselves- what gift or gifts has the Lord given me and am I using them to serve others?

‘There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

This is a hugely important passage as it underlines two things: all Christians have been given a spiritual gift; God expects this gift to be used for the good and edification of others in our church.

In other words, there should be no spectators in KFC. We are a family. We’re not meant to come to church passively, let others shoulder most of the work, and then go home. What does that do? It puts more pressure on those who are helping. Or perhaps you do a little in the church, but you could be doing so much more. There are even those who are probably doing too much, and need to take a step back in case they burn out. Again, focus on yourself. Ask yourself, how can I serve Jesus by serving others in the church here? Speak to the elders if you’d like to do more in the church.

3b. Preachers must not divert their attention away from the Word of God.

‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.’ (Acts 6:2) For myself and Geoff, as pastors, we are constantly asked to use our time in certain ways. We could easily fill our week with good things, such as being chaplains of all sorts of different groups, helping out at community initiatives, helping to run clubs and cleaning and janitorial needed in the church and admin like the website and Facebook and church lunches and fundraising and school lunch clubs. But these things must not be our focus. Our focus is and must continue to be preaching God’s Word and prayer. Of course, we can do a certain amount of the other stuff, and we do, but there’s always a danger of becoming distracted, and the good pushing out the best. The good is often the enemy of the best.

I’m thankful to the Lord that, as ministers, we do have time assigned to us during the week to focus on sermon preparation.

“Men must give themselves wholly to these matters, devoting themselves single-mindedly to reading, teaching and preaching, and to prayer. They must fan into flame the gift God has given them, making it their foremost determination to be workmen who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. How else can they be prepared to preach the Word in season and out of season, correcting, rebuking and encouraging?” (Donald Macleod)

What is the first point of our vision statement? ‘To train and develop church leaders for the future, for the deacons’ court, kirk session and preaching.‘ Friends, it is vital that we train future leaders and then allow them the space to use their gifts to do the worship of teaching and preaching. And I’m excited that we now have five men in our church who are preaching God’s Word. More than ever before, we are helping one another to become better preachers of the Word. Please do pray for us, that our confidence would be in God’s Word and in God’s power.

There’s another challenge here – if the preaching of the Word is stressed so much in the Bible, are you making the most of the opportunities to hear the Word? Are you regular in church? Do you prepare your heart before you come? Do you make use of the evening service? It’s so encouraging to see what often happens when the church majors on the major things: ‘So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.’ (Acts 6:17)

3c. We must always be caring well for the needy and vulnerable in the church.

Our last, but by no means least point of our vision statement is this: ‘To grow closer as a loving church family, through mutual support and practical care.’

In modern Scotland, there is a welfare state, and so there is not the same need to financially provide for widows, in the way that there was in the days of the apostles. Does that mean that we have no one in need? Does that mean widows have no needs? Of course not! There are times when some of us need to be helped financially. There are times when we are lonely and need to be visited. There are times when we are in hospital and need to be helped in practical ways. Sometimes people need meals or help with their children or help to learn English, or help to apply for a job. Someone could be made unemployed and have a temporary financial need. As a family, we help one another. ‘They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.’ (Acts 2:45)

The question is, what are the needs within KFC today? May the Lord help us to have open eyes, so we will see the needs which exist and meet them as we can. Perhaps there are isolated people you can visit. Perhaps there is someone you can drop some food off to. Perhaps there is someone hurting and by going round for a cup of tea you show your care.

‘There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 15:11)

‘Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.’ (Galatians 6:10)

Sermon: Sunday, 14 January, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Acts 5:17-42

Throughout the book of Acts there is an unseen battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The Lord Jesus has ascended into Heaven and sent his Spirit, to enable his people to share the gospel to others. ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)

Being Jesus’ witnesses through living holy lives and through speaking about Jesus to others is one of the main tasks of the church. It is one of our main tasks today. However, while this is going on, Satan is doing all he can to stop Christians from speaking about Jesus. He does this by distracting Christians, by persecuting them and by trying to lead them into living sinful lives, as we saw with Ananias and Saphira. This is a huge part of the drama of Acts: God wants the good news of his Son scattered far and wide, while Satan does all he can to silence Christians. What are we like this morning, generally speaking – are we speaking Christians or silent Christians?

In our new vision statement, we have 7 areas to focus on. The 3rd one reads: ‘Equipping and encouraging members in personal evangelism.’ So, what I want to do is, through this passage, to see how we can be inspired by the apostles to be speaking Christians, rather than silent ones. If we are honest, we need to admit that it is far easier to be silent than to speak about Jesus.

1. Speaking about Jesus will bring you trouble

There is always opposition. This is as true today as it was for the apostles back in the book of Acts. ‘Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’ (2 Timothy 3:12) In chapter 4, we saw that Peter and John were imprisoned and threatened before the Sanhedrin. These powerful men had commanded them to be silent. They must have been raging to find out that the apostles had ignored their threats and carried on speaking about Jesus. We’re told (verse 17) that they are ‘jealous’ of the apostles. Thousands have been placing their trust in Jesus. Great crowds listened to the apostles. The sick were being healed. The Sadducees are used to being the ones in control.

In verse 8 we read that the apostles are imprisoned again. And even when they are supernaturally released by an angel of God, the persecution continues, and the Sanhedrin once more command them to ‘shut up’ and to stop speaking about the Jesus. The Sadducees hate Jesus and the message of the gospel so much that they cannot even bear to speak his name. Instead, they say: ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’ (Acts 5:28) And when they realise that the apostles are more concerned about obeying God than their wrong commands, the Sadducees reach boiling point: ‘When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.’ (Acts 5:33) Even when Gamaliel manages to calm the situation down and persuades the Sanhedrin to let the apostles go, they suffer once more for the sake of Jesus: ‘They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.’ (Acts 5:40)

Let’s go back to our vision statement. We want all the Christians in Kirkcaldy Free Church to be prayerfully and boldly speaking to others about Jesus, as we have opportunity. But we must be prepared to suffer for Jesus. If you are silent, Satan already has you where he wants you and won’t need to bother you as much. But as soon as you start to pray for opportunities to witness and start taking them, expect to be laughed at, mocked, and be the odd one out. Remember Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ (Matthew 5:11-12)

You might think Jesus’ call for us to rejoice when we suffer for him a bit ‘over the top’. However, that’s exactly how the apostles do respond here: ‘The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.’ (Verse 41) Is that how you respond when people mock your faith? Or does such a response seem unrealistic? It is only possible if we are regularly asking God for courage to share our faith, and asking for his help as we do it. It is only possible if we ask for strength to keep going, even when others turn against us.

In all of this we must keep perspective. Our suffering is not a waste of time. In fact, we shall be rewarded in Heaven! How wonderful! Think of Christians in countries which face severe persecution for evangelising, and who like the apostles and are told by the authorities to stop. What keeps them speaking out? What keeps them sharing the good news of Jesus even when they might be imprisoned? Surely, they are being upheld by God’s grace, and have been on their knees in prayer. Are we serious about telling others about Jesus in this church? Are you serious about it? Then pray for boldness and for the right attitude and perspective when we face opposition from others.

2. God will build his church no matter what

At the prayer meeting on Wednesday, we were reminded of Jesus’ promise: ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not overcome it.’ (Matthew 16:18) Just when it looks like Satan has the upper hand, and has managed to silence Christians by having the apostles imprisoned, God sends his angel to effortlessly open the doors of the jail, so that the gospel can keep on spreading. Of course, this does not usually happen to imprisoned Christians. But we must not miss what God is saying through this act: it is a sign that the gospel is unstoppable. God’s word cannot be chained. Yes, for a time it might seem like Satan has the upper hand. His threats, imprisonments, mockery and moral attacks will have an impact. However, Jesus is always one step ahead. What an encouragement to us today.

I love what the angel says to these men: ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ (Verse 20) Remember, the apostles have just been imprisoned for speaking about Jesus. Now the angel says, go back and keep on doing what you were doing! God is saying, in effect, ‘My message of eternal life will be heard!’ The strategy is exactly the same for us today – we keep on telling people about Jesus. They desperately need to hear about eternal life, and that’s much more important than any temporary persecution we might face. The message is a matter of spiritual life and death for people. If we really believed that, we would talk to more people about Jesus.

For us today, this image of the prison door being miraculously opened is a simple but powerful reminder that God wants his church to be telling people about new life in Christ, no matter what will happen to us. And when we do share the message, we can be assured of the smile of our Heavenly Father upon us.

3. As a church, we must focus on obeying God rather than pleasing people

But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’ (Acts 5:29)

This ought to be at the front of minds as we go into the rest of this year. We must be God-pleasers. We must obey God. We are not called to be people pleasers. Our ultimate aim in life is not to please ourselves, or our boss, or our spouse, or our children. We must concentrate on being God-pleasers.

Telling people about Jesus pleases God. Often it will displease our family and friends and work colleagues and neighbours. They probably won’t mind if we speak to them about Christmas shoeboxes or collecting for the foodbank, or even how friendly our church is. But as soon as we start to talk about repentance and forgiveness of sin, as the apostles do here in verse 31, many will want us to be silent. It goes against the grain of our pluralistic society to speak of Jesus as the only Saviour. It is offensive. It goes against the grain to speak about our accountability to God. Let’s make no mistake, there’s real pressure on Christians in Scotland today to privatise their faith. Don’t give in to the pressure. Aim to please God and keep on talking about Jesus.

Even when we humbly answer people’s questions about what we believe, some will accuse us of being bigots. Some will see us as being totally out of touch. Some will get angry with us for no good reason.

‘And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.’ (John 3:19-20)

The ESV brings out the angel’s command more clearly. The apostles are to speak ‘all the words’ of this life. In other words, don’t change the message. Don’t tone it down because of the trouble it keeps getting you in. Be faithful and true and keep on speaking about Jesus as the only way to be saved. We see the courage of apostles as they immediately obey this command. And we also see their courage before the Sanhedrin. They do not mince their words: ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.’ (Acts 5:30-31)

Again, such courage can only come when the Holy Spirit is giving us the words to say. We must depend on God when we are witnessing to others, praying as we speak.

Sermon: Sunday, 7th January, 2024
Speaker: Elijah Brook
Scripture: Acts 5: 1-16

It’s been awhile since we’ve been in Acts and I’m excited and honored to preach on this part of God’s Word today. This passage feels intimidating. It may also feel embarrassing. You might find it confusing and difficult. You might find it cruel, brutal, and unjust. You may be asking, ‘Why in the world is this in the Bible?!’ Let me remind you of what the Apostle Paul says, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17) ALL of Scripture. We do not need to fear this passage.

We do not need to explain it away or get God off the hook. We DO need to read the story of Ananias and Sapphira and engage with it and dive deeply into it, because it really isn’t about Ananias and Sapphira – it’s about God. When we do so and allow the Holy Spirit to pull back the blinders of our fear, confusion and sin, we will be able to see and know our good and HOLY God more.

Holy – this word is central to understanding this passage. This passage is all about holiness. God’s holiness, holiness of his people, the Church; the holiness of the community depends on the collective holiness of individuals. God is holy, God wants and has called (commanded) his people to be holy and what is revealed to us here is that God also preserves the holiness of His Church.

What is Holiness? It’s important to define holiness: for Christian’s it’s a word know and use and just seem to understand, but when we’re asked to define it we pause, think, think some more, and then get worried because we can’t really define it. When we do, we usually (and others do too) land on something like moral purity and perfection. That’s part of it, but a secondary part, primarily, holiness is about being ‘other’, literally ‘set-apart’.

When we say God is holy (Scripture testifies that God alone is holy), we’re saying that there is nothing or no one remotely like God, at all. There are different types of people – short and tall, people of different ages, ethnicities, etc. – but at the end of the day, all people are fundamentally the same (men and women made in God’s image, with a need to know God, same basic needs.
There are different kinds of dogs – all sorts of different breeds of dog, but at the end of the day they’re all dogs not cats, or fish, or anything else. We can’t perform the same exercise with God; he is not one of many of the same kind

‘There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.’ (1 Samuel 2:2 – Hannah’s Prayer) There is no one like God. He is on a completely unreachable, untouchable level; no one can obtain his status, because they are not him.

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ (Revelation 4:8 – John in the Throne Room) Everyone and everything has a beginning and an end, except for God; and he is the same forever.

‘But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.’ (Isaiah 5:16 – self-evident holiness) God’s holiness is part of his nature. Doesn’t come from the outside. Is made visible in all his works.

Isaiah 6 (God’s glory and perfection): God is so perfect that Isaiah immediately knows he is unworthy to stand before this God who is so gloriously perfect.

The glory of God’s holiness is that he makes us holy; the Church is God’s set apart people, chosen by Him to be holy, to be different, to be set apart from the ways of the world and sin.

God sets the context at the beginning of the Book of Acts. He has created a people (the early Church) for himself, and we’ve seen previously (once in Acts 2 and at the end of chapter 4) that they’re living together in holy harmony caring for each other, sharing with each other their gifts and possessions, even in some instances selling things or land in order to meet needs as they arise! Why? ‘All of the believers were one in heart and mind…’ (Acts 4:32)

J.C. Ryle: Holiness is the habit of being one mind with God, according to as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgement, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measures everything in this world by the standard of His Word.

Charles Spurgeon: If you think you can walk in holiness without keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a great mistake. If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus.

God has made them holy (set-apart) and their holiness is OBVIOUS to everyone around them, BECAUSE they were determined in following the Lord and being near to Him. We have a holy God who in His grace has made a holy people, who are living a holy and beautiful life together. It is into this scenario that this story takes place.

The sin

We’ve got a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira, visibly part of the early Church in Jerusalem, and they have sold some of their land. They’re seemingly ordinary people, doing a deed that was not unusual at that point, however, there is one major difference. We have a conspiracy on our hands; not a righteous holy deed, but deception. Together, Ananias and Sapphira hold back some of the money, giving the rest to the apostles.’ (Acts 5:2)

Why is this so bad?: Peter’s words to Ananias make it clear, ‘You have lied to God.’ Evidently, Ananias and Sapphira promised to sell some land (which was not required of them), give all the money to the apostles (also not required of them), and went back on their word in keeping some money for themselves. This act was never about serving other Christians or being holy, it was about serving themselves, gaining a good reputation, being well thought of, and getting to add a little to their wallets

We’ve got a word for this sin: Hypocrisy. This is not when a Christian trips up and sins. The reality of the life of the Church is that we are simultaneously saved, justified before God and sinners. Although we should always be striving for holiness, we are not perfectionists. Hypocrisy is when one professes faith, pretends to pursue Christ with all they are, and yet is faking it the entire time in order to gain status, a good reputation, or to meet some other goal rather than godliness. Like a pimp uses women as prostitutes to make money for himself, so hypocrites seek to use the Church and Christian faith to steal God’s glory for his or herself.

That’s how serious real hypocrisy is; it’s part of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, the unforgivable sin. (see Mark 3:28-29) Ananias and Sapphira have said this act we are doing is holy, it is of God, the Spirit has lead us to do this, all the while in secret they have planned together, hearts filled by Satan himself.

The judgement

Severe sin means severe judgement. Now, there are some things to mention about this sin in general.

1. This example is not normative: On this occasion this is how God has judged Ananias and Sapphira in their sin of hypocrisy, but this is not the way we should be expecting God to do so. This judgement took place in this way, at this time, for a specific reason: These were the beginnings of the Church, infant stages, holy and devout, and Satan is attempting to sow seeds of chaos in order to thwart God’s plans.This sin left unchecked would have absolutely destroyed the community and character of the Church; they would have lost the unity of heart and mind, the holy community and distinctiveness.

This is really a moment of grace. By this judgement God prevents His people from being corrupted by evil of how God would continue to protect and preserve His church from sin and hypocrisy,

2. It demonstrates just how holy/righteous God is and how awful and terrible sin is. The nature of sin is horrible. We must know this and it is a glorious act of mercy that God would AGAIN be so clear! Sin has separated us from God, it’s corrupts us, dehumanizes us, mutilates us, defiles us, literally kills and destroys us! And yet, often times we don’t take sin seriously enough!

You might read this passage and think, ‘Well, God’s being a bit harsh isn’t he?’ No! Ananias and Sapphira have essentially done what Adam and Eve did in the Garden. Undoubtedly they’ve heard the good news of Jesus, they’ve heard that in faithful response they too must walk in righteousness, and they ignored it all. They’ve communicated that they believe they’re better at being god than God is! They’ve said what matters is my glory, that the Church serves my aims! They’ve proclaimed themselves Lord, directly going against what they have undoubtedly heard, THAT CHRIST ALONE IS LORD!

When we excuse sin as not being all that bad or when we live in sin as if God wasn’t holy (or let alone real) then we do the very same thing. We mock God the Father, we mock Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. We mock the Holy Spirit.

Kevin Deyoung: The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it.

An absolute shame because God is holy, and we’d better care about at. He certainly does. He cares enough about your holiness to send His one and only, holy Son to die for us. You think this passage is rough? You haven’t looked at the cross enough or at all.
‘Have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.’ (Ephesians 5:11) How seriously do we take that command? More often than not we don’t take it seriously enough. God takes sin seriously, he takes our holiness seriously – we ought to as well

So what is to be done? Repent. Notice that Sapphira gets a chance, but sin has so hardened her heart, she holds God in such contempt that she doubles down (don’t double down, God is faithful and just…), confess your sins to each other: wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends, etc. otherwise sin will fester and holy fellowship among us will be spoiled. Stay close to Christ: we will never be holy if we never look to the one who is holy.

The judgement was necessary because God is holy and judges wickedness, and in order to direct and preserve his people (fear of the Lord).

The result

God’s judgement also yielded one other MAJOR result: the Church grows. Now, this is seems surprising doesn’t it? Two people have instantly fallen over and died. Under any other circumstance, you’d turn tail and run and, indeed, some do. ‘… no one else dared to join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.’ (Acts 5:13) but what about verse 14: ‘Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.’

Why? Because God’s holiness is beautiful. When God’s holiness is on full display its captivating and breathtaking. It demonstrates that God is faithful and dependable. His holiness shows us that there is something else beyond our frail ideas, philosophies, and desires. He proves that he is worth following. He demonstrates yet again that His people will never be overwhelmed, let down, lead astray, or defeated. We are reminded that the gates of hell will never prevail against His church.

God’s holiness makes a lasting impression on those who see it. The many people who, by faith, were added to the Church’s number saw it and bent the knee in joyful adoration. They couldn’t help it. Even the few who didn’t dare to join did so because they knew that following Christ was serious business.

Our own holiness as a people: in those days the Church was few in number and was for persecuted for centuries. Today we find ourselves in that minority position too. Because of that you will hear people rightly talk about evangelism and mission – the spreading of the Gospel.

Praise God for that; what Christians have always been about.But what about our own holiness? What is it that drew people in and made the Church stand out? What made people see the power of God’s truth? God’s holiness fleshed out in the lives of the Church

All our evangelism, all of our outreach, all of our strategies, all our churches will not make a difference in the lives of the lost and in the world at large if the holiness of God has not first changed us. We must first be holy just as God has called us to be, as he makes us to be.

Elizabeth Elliot: Holiness has never been the driving force of the majority. It is however, mandatory for anyone who wants to enter the Kingdom.

God’s holiness and the holiness of his people always speaks louder and more effectively than we think it does. So what are we to do?

1. 1. Reckon with God’s holiness and by faith make him the Lord and center of our lives,

 

1. 2. Do not let sin reign in your life and in the Church (repent, continually confess, do not knowingly let brothers and sisters dwell in sin)

 

1. 3. Stay near to Christ. God’s will for you is your sanctification. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:3) He has given you the means by which you are made holy (Holy Spirit, His Word, prayer).

 

4. Be holy together. Is this your primary community? How could it be? How could we together continue to make Kirkcaldy Free Church a thriving place and people? How can we be a holy and warm alternative to the fellowships of the world? Be of one heart and mind together in Christ Jesus so that the world may see and know that our God reigns, that He is good, that He is holy.

Sermon: Sunday, 26th November, 2023
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: Acts 4:32-37

What would you say was the biggest display of generosity you’ve seen? Maybe on an individual level, someone’s been over the top generous and kind towards you. Perhaps at a community level, recently in Buckhaven there was the fireworks display but that was not going to go ahead because of the sheer expense of it, yet within 24 hours, the community had a whip round to raise £7,000.

But often times generosity has limits and that is partly to do with our limited resources but also partly due to our hearts. It can be very easy for there to be an end of generosity but here we see an extravagant display of generosity in the early church. We see here remarkably:

‘Nobody claimed possessions as their own, but shared everything they had.’ (Acts 4:32)

‘There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.’ (Acts 4:34)

‘Joseph… sold a field and brought the money and laid it at the Apostle’s feet.’ (Acts 4:37)

There are three things which mark the giving of believers in Acts 4; it was selfless, sacrificial & voluntary.

1. Selfless

‘Nobody claimed possessions as their own, but shared everything they had.’ (Acts 4:32)

We see here the selflessness of the believers. What a different mindset in 2023 where our goal can easily be to build our possessions with the emphasis on ‘our’. But actually, the Bible brings to light that for believers, our possessions aren’t our own but are to be shared with others.

You see, God is the giver of all good gifts. What we have is not our own as if we are our own provider. Incidentally, last Sunday night I talked about mindsets sneaking into the church and we’re just so used to it that we don’t think anything of it. It’s possible that possessions is one of them where it might never enter our minds to share with those around us.

Yet, many of the disciples didn’t have that mindset, they never counted any of their possessions as their own but shared everything they had. And this is a selfless attitude in the church. Not selfish, but selfless. Putting others ahead of yourself.

How easy it is for the mindset to be, ‘Ah, another online subscription service to stream more films and tv shows. Let’s get it to join my 5 other subscription services I have.’ Or the newest and swankiest phone on contract or new car on lease. Maxing out the vast majority of our spending on ourselves. It’s very easy to do that.

Now, I’m not saying we should never spend on ourselves or never have an online subscription to Prime or Netflix or whatever, but is our spending also outward on other people. So can we say that a big focus of our spending or our time is on others? Is the giving of our money, resources, time, and talents selfless?

Are you asking: Is there a need? Can I meet that need? Then I will share with you what I have and I can meet that need for you.

So often, it’s easy to be marked by selfishness rather than selflessness, but its what we see here.

2. Sacrificial

I’m sure you can think of things you have that you wouldn’t mind giving away, or times you wouldn’t mind helping out with your gifts and talents. But there would be some things you would really struggle to get rid of, it would be costly and sacrificial.

‘They shared everything they had.’ (Acts 4:32)

How striking is that? Nothing was off limits. They shared all that they had. Which surely means as well as being selfless and other-centred that it was also sacrificial. That’s got to cost at some point. There’s got to be something you come across which you didn’t want to give away. A sacrifice would be made. It would be costly.

Think of all your possessions, think of your most treasured possesions, all of it shared with your church family as they have need. That’s going to be costly, that’s going to hurt. Yet that’s exactly what the believers did.

We also see people selling houses or land and bringing the proceeds to the Apostles to distribute to the needy (verse 34) and also a guy called Joseph who sold a field and brought the money to the Apostle’s feet. (Verse 36) So it’s not just possessions that they had that is to be shared, but also anything they gained had to be shared.

So say you come into a bit of money perhaps through inheritance or like the people in this passage that you sell land or houses and you gain something, that immediately is to be seen through the lens of giving away, of sharing.

That’s massively sacrificial. Think of the amount coming in for land or the amount coming in for houses, that is going to be costly to be thinking, ‘Right, I’m going to share this now.’

’Really? Can’t I just enjoy it?’

Think of how much you could do with that if you kept it to yourself. Think of the nice new house you could get, the fancy car, the extravagant holiday, think of it! But the sacrifice of it all is that for the believers, anything gained was straight away to be thought of in the context of. ‘How can I share this with my brothers and sisters?’

Not only is the giving displayed by the disciples here selfless but it is sacrificial. It cannot possibly be selfless if things are hoarded all to themselves, it cannot possibly be sacrificial if only some things are on the table. But we see that the giving of the believers is selfless and sacrificial.

3. Voluntary

Lastly, giving is to be voluntary. This all sounds slightly like Christian communism and totally bizarre. In a world of self, it actually sounds slightly threatening and upsetting to our lives ‘Really? Sharing everything?’

But it wasn’t forced, it wasn’t under compulsion, there was no arm twisting. They gave of their own possessions willingly, gladly, freely, generously. Now what could possibly generate this kind of generosity? What could possibly lead people to sell what they had and share with all?

‘And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.’ (Acts 4:33b)

God’s grace intervenes and disrupts the cycles of selfishness and causes an unthinkable generosity amongst his people.

When we consider the famous hymn ‘When I Survey’ – the words ‘love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life my all.’ – we are reminded that Jesus was not stingy towards us, he didn’t hold back, he didn’t give part of his life, he didn’t give some of his life or even most of his life, he gave everything, even his life on the cross to die for us. He has given us everything, how can we respond with anything other than radical generosity with what we do have?

And that really is the key to generous giving that is selfless, sacrificial, and voluntary: the voluntary, selfless, and sacrificial giving of God, giving his son for us on the cross that we might know him, love him, and serve him, giving in selfless, sacrificial, and voluntary ways.

There is no coercion or forced giving here, it is in response to the good news of the resurrection of Christ they share and the grace of God that worked so powerfully in them.

God so lavishly pours out his kindness on us day by day, how can we respond with anything other than a heart which shares with those in need? Receiving such kindness does not lead us to store up and hoard all of our things from God to ourselves, but leads us to have an open hand of generosity to anyone in need around us. God, in his grace, does not have us as individual Christians but he gives us one another, we become family, we become as one, united in heart and mind. In other words, we have others to be generous to!

And the love that that fosters to have unity with believers creates a certain desire to show that in practical ways. We have not only the ability to give and be generous, but in the church we have the people to be generous to!

And that is exactly what we see in Acts 4. We see Christian love being worked out in generosity towards each other as they are ‘one in heart and mind’, in love they show generosity towards each other to the extent there is not a needy person among them. What an incredible thing that would be.

So there is no compulsion, there is no being forced, nor is their acts of religious piety some way of buttering up God to appease him. Their hope is not in their religious efforts, it is in the resurrection to which they testify, it is in the grace of God so powerfully at work among them and their love is for one another.

And that is the powerful combination which leads to such radical generosity. The resurrection of Jesus, the grace of God at work among them and the love they have for one another. It is when these things come together in unison that we see generosity on a selfless, sacrificial, and voluntary level.

This passage gets us to ask these two questions followed by this one answer: Is there a need? Can I meet it? If I can, let’s go for it.

‘Do good to all, especially those of the household of faith.’ (Galatians 6:10)

What might this look like for us today in Fife in 2023? I want to preface this by saying there are some of you who do a tremendous job at supporting and caring for one another. Thank you for how you serve the Lord by serving others in the church, I am often just praising God for the kindness some of you show to many in the church.

But what can this look like? Maybe there’s someone in the congregation who doesn’t have a car who isn’t so able to get to church by themselves on foot, can you bless them by taking them to and from church? I’m so pleased to see this already happening on a couple of occasions.

Or maybe there are other ways we can do this. For example, Jessie and Elijah are about to welcome another baby Lord willing early in the new year. Are there any knitters out there? You can use your gifts and your time to bless baby Brook when, Lord willing, he makes his appearance by knitting a jumper or a hat.

Perhaps a burnt out Mum would appreciate some childcare so she can get 5 minutes to herself.

Maybe there is someone in the congregation who is on their own, could you give them your time, a precious commodity in life today, to spend time with them and keep them company? In the middle of a loneliness crisis in this country, it is a bigger need than we think it is, even amongst those with us here.

There is a multitude of needs even here in Kirkcaldy Free Church, yet there is a multitude of possessions here in Kirkcaldy Free Church. Be that time, money, physical possessions, gifts and talents, whatever that is, you have it and your fellow church member needs it.

So what are the needs? Can you meet them? If you can, may I just encourage you to go and to share freely and liberally what you have to meet that need. This is our calling as Christians and the very natural outworking of having received generous kindness from God ourselves in giving us his Son and giving us one another. Let us give selflessly, sacrificially, and voluntarily towards one another out of love for God and love for one another.

I’ll end with a quote from John Wesley, author of hymns such as ‘And Can it Be?’ said this:

“Do all the good you can by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”