Acts 5:12-15 NKJV “12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”

This passage of scripture absolutely jumped out at me and has rolled through my mind so many times. The people highly esteemed the apostles and yet the words here suggest that it was by their choosing not to out of fear/intimidation something and not by a limitation set by God Himself. I am about to quote some rather inconvenient, often ignored verses.

What exactly is an apostle you might ask? This link gives you the definition: https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/apostle

So an apostle is simply one who is commissioned (sent) by God to preach the gospel to the nations.

Now do consider the “Great Commission”:

Matthew 28:18-20 AMPC “18 Jesus approached and, [a]breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).”

So there are those who believe but refuse to take up the great commission of doing EVERYTHING that Jesus commanded the apostles to do but believe that Jesus is Lord.

Matthew 10:5-15 KJV “5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12 And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”… Now do keep in mind that this indicates initially He sent them only to the Jews, but by the end of Matthew He has revealed His whole plan to preach to all the nations including the gentiles and Samaritans. We know this as clearly Jesus preached to the gentiles and Samaritans Himself.

John 14:11-13 AMPC “11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the [very] works themselves. [If you cannot trust Me, at least let these works that I do in My Father’s name convince you.] 12 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father. 13 And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.”

Before anyone panics, please let me clarify a very important point. We are only responsible for what the Lord has revealed to us thus far. If we are sincerely seeking Him and spending time in the Word of God faithfully, we can say truly with our whole hearts and sincerity that we simply cannot and do not grasp every grain of truth in our first, second, tenth, hundredth reading of the verses . I am continually amazed at how God can show me a new depth, a new revelation, deepen my understanding on a verse that I was thoroughly convinced I already knew so well that it was simply impossible to glean more from it. The key concept is that we are responsible for what has been revealed to us directly and not for that which we remain ignorant of (unless of course it is by willful, refusing to read the Bible and study the Word of God, that we are ignorant).

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” (Deuteronomy 29:29, NLT)

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.“ (Luke 12:48, NLT )

Hebrews 5:1-3 “5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; ² can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is clothed in weakness; ³ and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins for himself, as well as for the people.”

Hebrews 5:12-14 NET “For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.”

Here it is again, we are supposed to progress from being students to teaching others, to start as believers who need to be fed and led and to grow up into those who feed and lead others.

There are many passages that indicate this distinction. Most recently I am meditating on John 11: The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Those who believe, though they die will rise again. HOWEVER, there is a possibility of believing AND LIVES IN Christ to never die. What does this all mean? Is this why Elijah and Enoch never died but simply transitioned without passing through death?

John 11 “11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.””23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Now not dying is not the point of course. The point is that we can serve Christ by degrees. Those who remain babes were rebuked by Jesus Himself. At this point, someone often brings up the thief on the cross and how God chose to save even this man in his eleventh hour. Now of course, the thief died within hours of this exchange and really had no time to “grow up”. We cannot use the excuse that this man had as we do have time to grow and mature in Christ, to “train our perceptions by practice to discern both good and evil”. Many are simply choosing to be pre-occupied with other pursuits.

Let’s consider the Words of our Lord Himself regarding those who walk this way.

Matthew 11:15-20 KJV “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

Titus 1:15-16 KJV “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”

James 1:26 KJV “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”

I recommend Matthew 25 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=KJV regarding the parable of the talents. When God assigns us a responsibility, to be stewards of His Word and His teachings, He absolutely expects us to tend to the matters He has delegated to us. Meditating on these passages I believe is a wise investment of our time. There is great reward given to the faithful servants.

Isaiah 1 “…15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! 17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

Some verses to meditate on and consider anyways. My hearts prayer is to be faithful in the small things so God can multiply me and mature me to be faithful in the bigger matters. That my whole heart and being and life and laid down to serve my Lord with everything I am and have to the uttermost, that is my only life goal and purpose.

With much love in Christ.

For some this post might feel like total overwhelm.. For those who felt that way, this is strong meat for those who have been walking with the Lord for some time. I highly recommend taking the first step of meditating on the parable of the talents in Matthew and also the parable of the sower in 13.