Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going through the book of Acts and reviewing the history of the early Church. Luke methodically takes us through the growth and maturity of the Church. The wonderful thing about Acts is that it provides us with a Biblically based template of what an Awakening looks like and then we can stamp this template on our own timeline. We can see the importance of the impartations from the Spirit of the Lord and the impact these impartations made as the Church interacts within the confines of the world system.

 

Acts is full of excitement as it presents us with both a thrilling historical narrative and a rich spiritual account of the early Church; it’s really a wonderful read. There’s intrigue and nail-biting moments as we see God miraculously deliver His people from imprisonment, save them during shipwreck, give them grace as they endure beatings and imprisonments, and we even have the privilege to witness Jesus standing at Heaven’s Gate as He awaits Stephen’s entry as he is martyred for the sake of the Gospel.

 

In addition, we see the unbelievable courage and perseverance of the writers of the New Testament as these events come to life through the pages of Acts.

In keeping with that theme of courage and boldness, I’ve titled today’s message: “Casual Christians Need Not Apply.” 

Today, we are going to focus on the arrests, interrogations, and imprisonments of Peter and John.

 

The first occurs after the lame man is healed at the gate beautiful. The second is after it’s discovered that they’ve continued preaching the name of Jesus despite the threats by the religious leaders to cease and desist.

First arrest:

Let’s briefly break this down:

• Peter and John pray for a lame man to be healed; he was.

• This serves as a catalyst to preach a powerful message to the people coming into the Temple; 5000 are saved.

• Peter and John are arrested.

• The interrogation provides opportunity to preach the Gospel to the religious leaders; instead of seeing or receiving the Truth, the leaders threaten them to not speak the name of Jesus any longer.

 

But why? These are supposed to be the highest-ranking members of the Jewish faith. Why are they opposed? Who are the rulers involved? 

Acts 4:5-6 tell us who was present.

• Elders

• Scribes

• Sadducees

• Annas the high priest

• Caiaphas, John, Alexander and other family members of the high priest.

Luke writes of these same leaders in the Gospel of Luke 22:47-52 who interrogate Jesus. Only months earlier, just prior to His passion, this same group of people interrogated, and brutally beat, Jesus. In fact, we read in Luke’s account that Peter, who followed discretely, was challenged and ultimately denied he knew the Lord that night. Witnessing this much brutality must have been too much for him and likely provoked a great deal of fear for his own safety. John stood as close to Jesus as possible while He endured this horrific punishment for our sins.

 

Peter and John were now face to face with Jesus’s accusers. As they stood there, they had to be experiencing flashbacks of watching Jesus’ interrogation. Months earlier, they saw such a brutal beating of the Lord, the flaying of His flesh, the ripping of His beard from His face and ultimately, His crucifixion. Faced with the same possibility, what would they do? How would they respond? Would they cower at the prospect of similar brutality? Or would they rise up with the courage and faith that God opened this door for a witness?

Yes! This is the record of Peter’s courage in the face of adversity! His redeeming moment in the Scriptures! It also serves as a defining moment in the early Church! Empowered by the Holy Spirit, he and John stood boldly before this council and declared “we cannot BUT speak the things which we have seen and heard!”

 

Peter and John return to the Church. Not to cry and receive blankies and condolences for their suffering, but to boldly proclaim the truth of the Gospel and the privilege they had to speak to the very people who tried, convicted, and crucified Jesus!

 

Not only that, but they also pray corporately for more boldness to speak His Word! MORE boldness that might get them arrested! MORE boldness to pray for the sick so that signs and wonders may be done in the name of Jesus! These are not casual Christians who hide their Bible or shy away from sharing the Gospel, they are bold men of God born with a destiny to live and die for the sake of the Gospel!

Peter and John’s actions serve as an example of what we are supposed to be doing today. We are to be bold as lions! Why? Because we are not called to be casual Christians. We are called out of the world and into His Kingdom work. We are called to embrace the discomfort of speaking truth and trusting God to give us the boldness to walk through the challenges when the opportunity arises!

 

As Christians, we often think that we will stand up and boldly declare the Gospel in times of persecution, but if we have not been people of the Word and people of prayer, we will buckle under the weight of oppression and be crushed under the burden of persecution. We need the boldness and courage that only time with Him and His Word will grant us.

 

So, that was the first time they were taken before the council, let’s look at the second time:

Again, Luke deals with both the inner workings of this explosion of the early Church and then he deals with the Church in respect to outsiders. He will use the first half of Acts 5 to deal within the Church when it comes to Annanias and Saphira; the couple who sold their property and tried to deceive the Apostles about the amount they were given. This was not just about them withholding a portion of the funds, this is about the deceit that the enemy was attempting to bring into the Church. Again, this was pivotal, God had to nip corruption and potential for it in the bud on the spot. There was enough corruption in the religious sects, He did not want this in His Church.

 

Why is this an important line?

 

We have become too casual in our walk with God. In the casual handling of our purpose in this life, we have put the Lord, the Creator God, the One the Bible says decrees when the sun and the moon will rise and fall, the one who can hold the ocean in the palm of His hands, the One who sent His Son to be the Sacrificial Lamb, in this position of either very casual relationship or in more of a “break glass in case of emergency” status. We only call upon Him when we need something. We do not honor God as the One who sent His Perfect and Holy Son to die for our sins. We don’t even acknowledge our sin. Too often, we are more comfortable with sin than we are with the Holiness of God. We flippantly say of our sin “it’s under the blood, not to worry…” when our lack of repentance prevents that very thing from becoming truth.

 

We don’t see our sin—“sin” is that which separates us from God—and cry out “brethren, what can we do?!” as those men did who heard the message on Pentecost. Our hearts are not pierced, and we do not turn from that sin.

 

This results in greater fear of man than fear of our Holy God. So, when given the opportunity to stand for Him, we don’t have the courage or the boldness that only He can grant us to stand.

 

Peter, John, and the Apostles feared God, and that’s why He used them the way He did, right in the middle of the current religious system… Not long after this, we see Peter and John back at the temple.

 

Again, here’s another pivotal moment for Peter, John and several other Apostles, would they obey or flee? Last time it was a verbal assault, this time it’s imprisonment for the night, next time… will that bring brutal beatings? Will they too be crucified?

Okay, now things are really heating up! The leaders are fearful, their very existence as religious leaders is being threatened by this wave of unprecedented miracles occurring right before their eyes and they could have none of that disrupting their order or their positions within that order! These common men, Galileans at that, were now eloquent speakers who spoke of the very man that these leaders crucified as the Source of their power to pray for the sick and see them healed. How can this be?!? And now, these men are missing from a locked and guarded prison! How can this be?!?

Remember the last group who were cut to the heart repented. That’s the piercing I spoke about three weeks ago. When we are cut, what’s inside the cut oozes out. If it’s a healthy area, blood rushes out and it needs to be sutured, if it’s infected, well, that oozes out and needs to be cleaned up as well. At times, it may even need to be left open so it can properly drain out the infection. Remember that… if it oozes out with a cry “what shall we do” there’s still hope. This group, however, has no intention of repenting. When their hearts are pierced, rage oozes out. The religious system is in jeopardy—and these leaders were NOT going to allow these men and their message to jeopardize that effort!

 

Now, Peter and the other apostles, empowered by the Spirit of the Lord because they’d maintained relationship with Him, carried an understanding of His will and His ways. They knew the Lord raised them up as defenders of the faith to take the Church to the next level on this eternal journey. Because of this, they were able to stand their ground and boldly proclaim: “we out to obey God rather than men!” Peter and John have seen this trial before, and it ended in Jesus’ crucifixion. Death was a very real possibility here, but every time they overcome the persecution, they are granted greater boldness for the next round of interrogation. This time however, the same leaders are taking counsel to slay them. Is their commitment strong enough to sustain them? Yes, they would be willing to face death if need be!

It's as I said, “Casual Christians need not apply,” they must stand for truth, every time, even if they perish.

This is so exciting to read, God is birthing a new thing in the earth, every pivotal moment is being captured by Luke in his account, and this is indeed a pivotal moment! Defenders of the faith arise!

Now that they stood their ground, God raised up a defender right in the middle of their accusers:

The response to Gamaliel’s wisdom. Paul himself records that he sat under Gamaliel’s teaching. It is likely, that in the midst of these private talks between the elders, Paul was present. He was a pharisee of the pharisees remember. He probably filled in the blanks as Luke writes this account.

 

How many of us would rejoice? How many would continue to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ right in the middle of the Temple Mount? How many of us recognize the time is short, and the need for believers to press into God and fearlessly preach His holy name has never been greater than it is today? How many of us realize that the reason we are here today, in this hour, is by Divine appointment? This moment we are living in today is every bit a pivotal moment as Acts 4 and 5 were to the very foundation of the Church.

 

We are praying for a Nation to be saved from the grip of the Cabal. Why? I know some are just waiting for the Lord’s return. Others are crying out for judgment on this land so they can high-tail it out of here. But God has different plans for this nation. There’s a whole generation looking for answers, yearning for something to ignite a fire within them, a sense of purpose and hope. An entire generation of broken-hearted youngsters, the fatherless, the wanderers, the activists, they have yet to be saved and have their hearts ignited by God. They don’t want a faith that is casual, they want the fire of God to pierce their hearts and forever transform them!

 

On Wednesday 11/30/22 I awoke from a dream that speaks to this very thing:

 

 

I dreamt I was staying in a community arena. At first it appeared to be a hotel, but then as time progressed, I saw a community coming together. It became quite large but remained a tightly knit community complex.

 

I was in a small apartment in the center of this complex which gave me the opportunity to oversee the whole complex from my apartment.

 

There were people of all ages, and all races involved however, there were two that really stood out in the dream—black and Asian. 

When I saw them, I could see chains that had once been on their minds keeping them bound in deception. They were filling those places where chains once occupied with His Word. They would read and then come to me and ask if this was true and then ask for greater detail, for revelation, for understanding. They were devouring the Word, night and day, allowing it to fill their hearts and minds with truth. They were absorbing the Word and it was transforming their souls.

 

Two black men:

The first was a very tall basketball player who kept coming to see me. He was so tall he had to duck to enter the threshold of my home. His feet were huge, two times the length of mine. He was so humble, his first visit he was sheepish, he would ask about verses, whole passages of Scripture and then leave. Every time he came, he stood closer to me, courage was welling up within him to ask about the deeper things in the Word, and then he would leave with greater joy and hope. The last time I saw him before I awoke, he was bounding with joy over what God was doing through the Word.

The second man was an educator. He was much shorter than the first man, but he was dressed in a very nice jacket, with a bowtie and wore glasses commonly seen in the 70s. He himself was highly educated with several degrees. He too came and went, having devoured chapters and even entire books of the Bible, but he wanted to know more, to have Truth enter every area of his soul. He kept saying, “for all my education… I just didn’t know. I was so deceived; His Word is everything…”

The Youth:

The youth came in great numbers, they were so exciting to watch as they developed and grew in God tremendously each day. Their ages ranged from about 4 to 11. They were so excited about the Word. They all had Bibles, and like the others, they devoured the passages on the pages. As they opened their Bible, I could see the passages they’d devoured. When they looked up at me, I saw light coming from their eyes. Each day, that light grew brighter and brighter as the Word of God burst within them.

 

The Asian families:

There were several groups of Asian people who would come and see me. They were in groups of 5-8. They clustered together and moved almost as one. They had huge smiles on their faces every encounter and like the children, I could see the passages of Scriptures they’d consumed since the last time I’d seen them. Light began to pour out of their eyes and even as they spoke, I could see the Word filled them up to capacity for that day.

 

Watching each of these precious people come into the wonder of God’s Word was a remarkable thing to behold.

 

I spoke to Mom about this and she told me that many years ago the Lord told her that the Revival that’s coming will be a Revival that encompasses a revelation of the Word unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

 

I am stirring the Spirit of Revelation within those who seek My face. This is part of the Revolution that will occur in Ecclesia, in Government, and finance. I will open the eyes of the blind, speak into deaf ears, and give those bound the ability to RUN!

I saw Him stirring His Spirit of Revelation within His people, unlocking Mysteries of His Kingdom with deep Revelation from His Word.

 

This will be Acts book two, where new levels of His Kingdom poured out upon the people. Jew and Gentile received the revelation of the Gospel and Believed. Their eyes opened to His Spirit, prepared to seek Him, to live for Him, to die for Him. Wave upon wave poured out among the people uniting Jew and Gentile alike, bringing them into Covenant -the New Covenant.

 

Then I saw the faith of children stirring up the generations, they carried a special anointing and possessed a firm belief in what God is and will be doing in the earth. It was tangible, it appeared as a whirlwind and spiraled upward and through the generations capturing the heart and soul of young and old alike.

This is going to be a time of fierce warfare, but it’s not just to make America great again, we are fighting for the soul of the nation. We are fighting to set captives free! We are fighting for the release of God’s promises! This is going to be a season like nothing we’ve seen before! This is the revolution the Lord spoke of, this is the revival, and this my friends IS the Awakening.

 

I close by reading an excerpt from an article in Christianity today about the Revivals occurring in their midst and the great need of the young people for this revival:

The Ohio State University holds a special place in my heart as we walk into 2025, not because I attended the school, but because, as a matter of fact, I did not. However, I do live in and absolutely love the state of Ohio. Truthfully, I have never been a die-hard fan of the Buckeyes, that is, until this year. I don’t believe I’m alone in this. When the Ohio State Football team declared this as the “Jesus Won” year, I was all in.

 

As someone who has experienced the radical change and spiritual revival of the heart that happens by coming into a relationship with Jesus, I couldn’t wait to see what would unfold in the hearts of this younger generation. Aside from what we have been seeing take place on social media, there is undeniable evidence that the Holy Spirit is moving in this place. Gen Z is hungry for truth, seeking an anchor to put their hope in, and ready to give their lives to the one person who can set them free.

 

The Holy Spirit is stirring, and the revival is on fire. It has taken me back to my early days of walking with Jesus, reminding me of when I first experienced the darkness being taken over by light and new life was brought forth by God’s incredible grace. Seeing the football team and entire campus encountering revival ever since brings a great joy to my heart. I am thrilled to be witnessing it and honored to claim the title - a Buckeye! Jesus is winning over hearts, and the Good News of the gospel is spreading like wildfire.

 

This message is entitled, “Casual Christians need not apply”, because today, especially today, our young people desperately want the fire these truths bring forth in the heart! God is going to heal their minds and when He does, they will be on fire for Him! When the revelation of God reaches their hearts, they will outpace and outrun the casual Christian so fast it will make everyone’s heads spin.

This is not the time for apathy or casual Christianity, no, it’s the time for emboldened believers to rise and run this race full speed ahead, just as we were created to do!

 

The question is, will we press in on their behalf? Will we be the example for them to follow? Will we stand against the enemy for them to receive the revelation of who Jesus is? Will we, in the face of adversity or persecution boldly declare Truth, and our obedience to God over man?

 

Blessings and love,

Ricci Johnson-Wilson