Mar
06
2012
Force, hypocrisy, squabbling
“We have now seen the three tactics which the devil employed in his overall strategy to destroy the church. First, he tried through the Jewish authorities to suppress it by force; secondly through the married couple Ananias and Sapphira to corrupt it by hypocrisy; and thirdly through some squabbling widows to distract its leadership from prayer and preaching, and so expose it to error and evil.
If he had succeeded in any of these attempts, the new community of Jesus would have been annihilated in its infancy. But the apostles were sufficiently alert to detect ‘the devil’s schemes.’
We need their spiritual discernment today to recognize the activity of both the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit. We also need their faith in the strong name of Jesus by whose authority alone the powers of darkness can be overthrown.”
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts (Downers Grove, 1990), page 124.