Acts Life Study: God's Move & Satan's Frustration

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    God's move and Satan's frustration always seem to go neck in neck.  When I read through the New Testament, I saw in the Gospels how over and over the Pharisees and scribes were either plotting to kill Jesus or  spying on Him and stirring up the people against Him.  In Acts we shouldn't think that it's going to be smooth sailing and Satan's just going to lay back and let the gospel spread without causing any turmoil. 

    In Acts 14 there are several accounts of the gospel being shared through Saul and Barnabus in the Gentile cities of Iconium (v. 1) Lystra and Derbe (v. 6), and Perga (v. 25).  But we also see that while this was going on, Satan was stirring up some Jews to frustrate the spread of the gospel to the Gentile nations.  Acts 14:2 says, But the Jews who were disobedient stirred up and ill-affected the mind of the Gentiles against the brothers.  And then in Acts 15:1 and 5 we see that some believers that had been Pharisees before were trying to force the Gentile converts to be circumcised. This might not mean anything to you because I didn't quite get it until I read what Witness Lee shares about this account in Acts Life Study message 42:

Actually when this heresy concerning circumcision arose at Jerusalem in the very beginning, Peter should have exercised the gift that the Lord had given him to clear up the cloudy situation in Jerusalem concerning God's New Testament economy [see Ephesians 3:9-11], according to the revelation that the Lord had given him and the other apostles in Acts 1:8 and the vision he had received at Joppa in Acts 10 concerning the Gentiles.  If he had done this, the Judaic heresy would have been cut off at the very beginning in Jerusalem and would not have spread to the churches in the Gentile world.  But he failed to do this, so Paul had to rise up and perform the surgery to cut off the  racial cancer that would have destroyed God's New Testament economy and killed the Body of Christ (Acts Life Study, Page360).
 

It almost looks like as God moves, Satan gets an idea of what's happening and starts plotting a counter attack.  I really like the revelation in this Life Study because the importance of what Paul did here didn't really touch me until I saw what was at stake. God needs  the Body of Christ--a Body that is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles of many races and languages--to be built up and testify that God has made them one and has broken down all the middle walls of partition.  This is the testimony that God needs on the earth.     


Other Blogs on the Life Study of Acts:


What is Christ Doing in His Ascension?

Acts Life Study - The Early Church in Acts

What is the Purpose of the Lord's Ruling Over the Earth?

How Did the Lord Spread the Gospel in Acts?

The Gospel Reaches the Gentiles!

Acts is a Book on God's Move & Prayer

God's Move & Satan's Frustration