"When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, 'We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.' But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'"
— Acts 5:27-29 (NASB)

You have either just awaken from a coma or not paid any kind of attention to the news for a long while if you do not know that the place Christians in America are presently being persecuted the most is within the judicial system. On the one hand there are many "woe is me" Christians who see this as a sign to implement a political action committee and join the TEA Party. If that is what God is telling you to do, please do not allow me to in any way hinder you. I just want to offer that we need to consider  what a tremendous opportunity this is to frankly preach the Gospel in truth.

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"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?'"
— Acts 5:1-3 (NASB)

It is important to bear in mind that the actions of Ananias and Sapphira come from people accepted as full members of the church. Up until now Satan has tried to bring pressure on the church from sources distinctly outside of it. So we should pay particular attention to the fact that God actually demonstrates His extreme displeasure by executing immediate judgment on this behavior as an object lesson for the rest of us. They are representative of the worst brand of deception that corrupts the church in the worst way: they take what is normally a good and loving thing and twist it so that it no longer glorifies God but self.

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"'Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.'"
— Acts 3:19-21 (NASB)

Even to this present time one of the reasons most often given by unregenerate Jews as to why they ultimately reject Jesus as the Messiah is because He did not fulfill the prophecies associated with HaMashiach Ben David — "the Messiah the Son of David" also known as "the Conquering King". These are all the prophecies we associate with Christ's Second Coming when He will literally establish His kingdom on earth, elevate Israel's place in the world, and rule for a thousand years from Jerusalem. In one of his earliest recorded sermons, Peter is actually explaining that those things are yet to come, that He first had to come and fulfill the prophecies associated with HaMashiah Ben Joseph — "the Messiah the Son of Joseph" also known as "the Suffering Servant", who must first undertake the work of the cross before engaging in the work of the Millennial Kingdom.

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"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
— Acts 2:42 (NASB)

Here we are provided a very telling list of how to identify a Holy Spirit filled church. There are a lot of ways to parse this, and one way is to note how each of these, when carried out biblically, sets God's people apart as a visible testimony of changed lives. I am not at all convinced that their first concern was anything but how they should personally live now that they were regenerate Christians. New Spirit-filled Christians are often a vivid reminder to the rest of us who over time seem to forget that with new birth comes the obligation to live a new life according to the terms of the One who regenerated us.

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"They questioned Him, saying, 'Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?' And He said, 'See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, "I am He," and, "The time is near." Do not go after them.'"
— Luke 21:7-8 (NASB)

I am quite sure that not a year has gone by in my life, and perhaps not even a month, without learning of someone who is the latest to claim either that they are the Christ, or that they knew the precise date of His return. Jesus Himself says that one of the primary signs of His impending return is a rise in false Christs. The leader of the Moonies claims to be such, David Koresh claimed such, National Geographic followed such a claimant and his flock for a year in their New Mexico compound — the list is practically endless. I am sure that there has never been a point in time during any historical period when there have not been at least one of these posers, but the sign Jesus speaks of is quantity: "Many will come in My name". We are experiencing the same kind of multiplied increase which occurred at Jesus' First Coming.

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"'Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.'"
—Luke 20:18 (NASB)

One of the ways I can tell that the cross is at least marginalized in many churches or even omitted entirely is when people speak of dealing with personal issues rather than nailing them to the cross. It is probably the infilitration and influence of psychology and related disciplines which advocate re-visiting one's past or getting "in touch with the inner child". The true Gospel message is to be "broken to pieces" and become a new creation in Christ. The world wants to improve upon the existing man, Christ wants to re-create him completely.

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"While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately."
—Luke 19:11 (NASB)

I find this one little verse to be utterly fascinating and filled with a mountain of information. For the vast majority of my life I have believed we are living in the shadow of the Last Days and, to that end, have spent a lot of time and energy not just studying Scripture but reading books and listening to sermons on the topic. But from the very beginning, there has been one related topic more than any other with which I have been obsessed: If so many did not recognize the fulfillment of prophecy the first time, why do we think we are so gifted this time around?

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