INNER RESURRECTION POWER

INNER RESURRECTION POWER

Continuing in the Book of Acts Chapter eleven we see in verse nineteen the great changes to the church in Jerusalem because of the persecution of the church.
Acts 11:19 The believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. 
That time of persecution prompted an outreach of the Gospel from Jerusalem into the Roman Empire. When some of the Jewish and Gentile disciples travelled to Antioch and began sharing the message of Jesus with the people there the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas, a Hellenist from Cyprus, to Antioch to investigate and provide support. Antioch was a prominent cosmopolitan city in the Roman Empire and a cultural melting pot with a diverse population - and Barnabas the bridge-builder helped in bringing unity between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile believers in Antioch and providing teaching and discipleship to the new converts. 

Barnabas knew he needed Paul to help establish and grow the church, because he knew that God had given the ministry of the Gospel for the Gentiles to Paul, so he took the journey of over five hundred Kilometres to Tarsus in Syria where Paul lived. They returned together to Antioch, where they spent a year together teaching and ministering to the growing congregation, and it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus Christ were first referred to as "Christians". 

In Acts 11:27-30 we read that about this same time some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem, and one of them named Agabus stood up one day and, prompted by the Spirit, warned that a severe famine was about to devastate the entire country. So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their poorer fellow Christians in Jerusalem to help out, and they sent Barnabas and Saul to deliver the collection to the leaders in Jerusalem.
We now move on to Acts Chapter twelve.

Acts 12:1 That's when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He killed James, John's brother with the sword. When he saw how much it raised his popularity with the Jews, he arrested Peter too - all this during Passover Week - and he had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public execution after Passover. All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jail, the church prayed for him most earnestly.

James’ death served as a rallying point of prayer for the believers, inspiring them in their faith. In the sovereignty of God it was not time for Peter yet - he was imprisoned, and the chapter goes on to describe a miraculous event which highlights the unceasing intervention of God in ruling over the affairs of his Church. 

While Peter was sleeping in the prison, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up, instructing him to get dressed and follow him. The chains fell off Peter's wrists, and the angel led him past the guards and through the locked gates. 

Just as James’ laying down his life for God is a symbol of Jesus laying down his life for us as the Passover Lamb, Peter's escape from imprisonment could be seen as a symbol of resurrection - Jesus emerged from the tomb, Peter emerges from the prison. Both of these apostles were willing to fulfil to the utmost the words of Jesus. 
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 16:24)

What we find is inner resurrection life

Meanwhile, back at the house of Mary the mother of John Mark, many believers were fervently praying for Peter’s safety, aware of the danger he was in. 
As Peter followed the angel, he thought he was experiencing a vision rather than reality. They passed through the city streets until they reached the house where the believers were praying. Peter knocked on the outer door, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. She recognized Peter's voice but was so overjoyed that she left him standing outside and rushed back to tell the others that Peter was at the door.

But they wouldn't believe her, dismissing her report. "You're crazy," they said. She stuck by her story, insisting. They still wouldn't believe her and said, "It must be his angel." All this time poor Peter was standing out in the street, still knocking on the door. Finally, they opened up and saw him—and went wild! Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James (the other James – the brother of Jesus) and the brothers what's happened." He left them and went off to another place for safety.
At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" When Herod sent for Peter and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea.

Peter leaves the pages of the book of Acts at this point except for one mention in Chapter fifteen. After this chapter the Book of Acts deals with the missionary journeys of Paul

Acts 12:20-23 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon because of their appeal for food supplies. So the people sent a delegation to make peace with him because their coastal cities were dependent upon Herod’s inland fields in these times of famine. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. The people knew they had to flatter him and gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a disease because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died. 
We again see the unceasing intervention of God in ruling over the affairs of his Church in miraculous mercy and in judgement of evil. 
At one time the mother of James and John had asked Jesus if her sons could sit on his right and left hand in his Kingdom and the Bible says that Peter was indignant at those two brothers for thinking that. But Jesus said that was not his place to decide that question, but he did ask the twelve disciples if they were willing to drink the cup of his suffering that he would drink of, speaking of his laying down his life for us on the cross (Matthew 20:20). They all said yes, they were willing - and we read here in the Book of Acts that some years later (between 41AD to 44 AD), at the Feast of Passover James drank from that cup of suffering that Jesus spoke about. 

We have been given the same words of Jesus that James and Peter were willing to fulfil – to deny ourselves for Jesus’ sake and take up our cross. Theirs was a dramatic fulfillment of this and has been immortalised in Scripture, but ours, while being worked out in a less spectacular way in our everyday lives releases the same resurrection power of Jesus.

We have been given the risen life of Jesus within us to live out from. Jesus does not dwell within us as a bystander. Jesus wishes to express the beauty and strength of his glorified spiritual human self through our spiritual human self. Our soulish self can easily have rule over us and choke off the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which is the love and peace and joy that harmonises our entire being with the Being of God. 

This is what denying our self means – it is for his sake, not only for our sake. Self-denial should not be reduced to some kind of unnecessary self-depriving virtue signal that we can proudly congratulate ourselves for – No, we ask for our soulish life to stand aside for our spiritual life in Christ to come alive in us, and we need God’s help to do that and it is the desire of God’s heart to do this for us and with us, as the Bible says ‘Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us yearns jealously for us”? (James 4:5).
And this cannot happen on the run – we need to be still and know that he is God – God within – who waits patiently for us to give him our time – time for our heart and mind to get to know him personally – not just read about him or hear about him in sermons.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon :: August 1855 - Morning Reading
"Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide." — Genesis 24:63
Very admirable was his occupation. If those who spend so many hours in idle company, light reading, and useless pastimes, could learn wisdom, they would find more profitable association and more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms for them. We would all know more, live nearer to God, and grow in grace, if we were more alone with God. Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed.

Christian Meditation is an act of faith with a purposeful intention – giving thanks for being in the loving presence of God and that Jesus is now powerfully at work for our good in the unseen realm. This purposeful movement of our faith gradually overrides the random emotional agitation and distracting thoughts and impulses of our soulish mind. This makes room for our spirit to be open to hearing what Jesus may be saying to our hearts and minds. This results in a steady growth of faith, and over time it results in our soul becoming more responsive to God and less reactive to everything that happens in our everyday situations.