Acts 23

Paul’s time before the ruling Jewish religious council did not start out all that well. He simply stated that He had lived his life “in all good conscience up to this day.” In other words, He was not a person who had a callous disregard for the Law of God, and He claimed that His behavior, even since becoming a part of the Christian Jews, was in accord with a true understanding of the Law. Apparently the high priest Ananias took exception to this remark, and instructed that Paul be hit on the mouth. Paul then called the high priest a “whitewashed wall.” He backed away from this remark when he found out who it was that had commanded this unjust beating. In any case, this was not a meeting of Paul’s supporters, or even a gathering of those who wanted to give a fair hearing to this arrested leader of the Christian Jews, this group that had grown so remarkably in Jerusalem since the time of Christ’s resurrection.

Yet it was not as if there was universal and monolithic agreement within the circles of the anti-Jesus Jewish leadership at this time. Paul was aware of this, and he used this understanding to change the dynamic here from a meeting where he seemed to stand alone, to a conflict between Pharisees and Sadducees, the familiar fault line that we have heard about from the gospels. In that division, Paul the Pharisee was in the company of others who believed in the resurrection of the dead. Paul changed the direction of the discussion through this assertion: “It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” This not only yielded the apostle a few more sympathetic ears, but it also brought the topic of the resurrection before the entire assembly. At some future date, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Sadducees would diminish in importance, and the major controversy in first century Judaism would be between the remaining Pharisaic Judaism that rejected Jesus as the Messiah and Christian Judaism. Paul had come from the former, but now he had been claimed by God for the latter.

The God who called Paul to be an apostle was the same Lord who spoke to Paul soon after this meeting. The word that came from Jesus was greatly encouraging. This man who had given a true witness about Jesus among the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem would also one day testify about Him in Rome, the capital of the empire. Yet it would take years of imprisonment and many other experiences before that word would be fulfilled.

God’s promise was that Paul would go to Rome, but men were hard at work to ensure that he would die a swift death before he had a chance to do or say anything more. More than forty men felt so strongly about this that they were willing to take a vow, fasting until they had killed Paul. At least some of the leaders of the Jewish council were aware of this plot and even had a part to play in the planned deception. Yet they would not achieve their goal. With overwhelming force, Paul was taken to Caesarea in the middle of the night, and handed over to Felix, a high civil official in the Roman province where these events were taking place. In this way the plot of some angry murderers was thwarted. Presumably they lived to eat another day.

A letter from the tribune, whose name was Lysias, gives us his assessment on the events that have transpired. From the days of Pilate forward, the spiritual controversies surrounding the Name of Jesus of Nazareth have been greatly perplexing to civil rulers. They have felt their own inability to judge these matters brought before them by those who had so much heat and so little light, men who only seemed determined to murder their religious enemies, straining any evidence they could discover or invent that might help to present their targets for murder as a great threat to society.

This Lysias had heard the interchange between Paul and the council, and had come to the conclusion that the argument between them was about “questions of their law,” meaning Jewish law, and that Paul had not done anything that would justify the death penalty or imprisonment according to Roman law. Nonetheless, because of the plot against Paul, the tribune had decided to send him to a higher official, Felix, a governor in Caesarea, where any true complaints could presumably be adjudicated. Paul would get to Rome eventually, but not first and foremost by the will or power of men.

This all has such a familiar sound to it. We have heard about it in the story of Old Testament Israel, and we know about it from every era of church history. It especially reminds us of what Jesus Himself faced, yet with one very important difference. Jesus was killed in Jerusalem. Pilate did not come to the rescue, sending him off to a better legal venue. What is the similarity then between what happened to our Savior and what happened to Paul? In both the case of our Lord and that of his apostle the will of the Almighty would be accomplished, whether through lawless men or in spite of them. The story of Paul has inspiring echoes throughout the centuries that follow. The One who gave His Son for us, continues to exercise His special providence over the affairs of the church, so that the Word of salvation through a Redeemer will be heard throughout the entire earth. As the atonement could not be stopped by the powers of men, neither shall the proclamation of that one sacrifice be kept from the ears of God’s elect.

Acts 22

When we left the apostle Paul at the end of Chapter 21, we were in the middle of a single episode. Paul was being taken into the barracks for his own safety, since some Jews from the province of Asia had dragged him out of the temple and wanted to kill him. As the crowd became involved, the confusion increased, so that those who had him in their custody were quite unclear as to who he really was, and what he had done. He requested an opportunity to speak to the crowd prior to going inside, and it is in this chapter that we hear his words to them. He called those who were trying to harm him “brothers and fathers,” and as he spoke to them in Hebrew, some measure of order was restored.

He told them His story. Paul was a Jew, and remained a Jew. What kind of Jew was he? He was a part of that segment of Judaism in the first century that had embraced Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, who we might call Christian Jews. Earlier in his life he had been trained by a man, Gamaliel, who was a respected Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council. Paul had once been a zealous enemy of Christian Judaism, which he called in this address “this Way.” There were those among the religious authorities who could testify to his past beliefs and actions.

But something had happened to him. God visited him in an amazing event, a “theophany,” a visible manifestation of God’s presence. Visible and audible in this case, Paul heard these words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul had been troubling Christian Jews, but now the Lord who appeared to him, identifying Himself as the risen Jesus of Nazareth, informed Paul that when Paul was being difficult with the church, he was persecuting Him, the Lord of the church. Because of the brightness of the light, Paul could not see, but he was instructed concerning what he should do. It was Christian Jews who helped him in his weakened condition, including one Ananias, through whom he had miraculously received his sight.

Paul did not present the events of his new life as somehow divorced from Judaism. He said that he had come to learn from these Christian Jews that this had everything to do with “the God of our fathers,” with His divine will, and with the Messiah, the “Righteous One” promised in the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul had heard from Jesus, and this Jesus was not against Jews, but for Jews. This Paul was to be a witness of this Jesus to everyone, a witness of what Paul himself had seen and heard. He was under orders from the God of the Jews, in the person the Jewish Messiah. The orders included Christian baptism, and a calling upon the Name of the Lord, a Lord he would proclaim to many. His sins had been washed away, and while there was certainly a new life given to this man, that new life was built upon an old foundation that did not need to be rejected. Paul did not have to hate true Judaism in order to follow the Way. The doctrine of Christ was the completion of Judaism and not the rejection of true Judaism.

Paul then revealed something that we did not know before. He had experienced something in the temple in Jerusalem years ago after returning from Damascus. The Lord had once again spoken to him, and had revealed that Paul’s testimony would not be accepted in Jerusalem, and that he should leave, which he did. Paul had not immediately understood this rejection, insisting that he was known by many to have been a violent opponent of Christian Judaism. He thought that this fact, and his approval of the stoning of Stephen, might at least win him a hearing among other Jews who still held the opinions that had once been Paul’s own. But it was then that God had spoken these important words to Paul: “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”

It was this sentence that caused a dramatic eruption among the crowd. This confirmed the word that God had spoken so many years before, a word Paul had seen fulfilled not only in Jerusalem, but in synagogue after synagogue throughout his various missionary travels. Many Jews rejected not only Jesus, but also the very notion of going to the Gentiles with a message of salvation based on a Jewish Messiah. This produced a vicious reaction among the crowd that day, so much so that the tribune cut off this address, and returned to his early plan to bring Paul into the barracks. The enhanced plan was to flog Paul, and in doing this to find why all these people were so strongly against him.

We are told that they had stretched out Paul to be whipped, when he informed the centurion that he was a Roman citizen. We are also told that the decision was eventually made to have Paul appear before the Jewish ruling council. Paul chose to use the fact of his citizenship in certain situations, just as he chose to use his heritage as a Pharisee in certain situations. He did not run away from these facts, but recognized that the same God who had sent His Son to die for our sins, the God who had appeared to him and spoken to him on a number of occasions, the God who had made him such a fruitful teacher in the places where He had sent him, this God had given him the heritage that he had as both a Roman citizen and a Pharisee of Pharisees.

All of the facts of who we are, though they are nothing compared to the glory of what we shall be, are part of the Sovereign work of God, and are an important fact of life. He has made us to live in a given time and place, and we need to use our heritage for His glory. Jews do not need to run away from being Jewish in order to receive the Jewish Messiah. Citizens of Rome or of any other city do not need to think that they are excluded from the opportunity of being citizens of heaven because of their past. Our heritage has a place in God’s economy that may be very useful for the present, particularly once we come to embrace the central fact of life: that Christ Jesus came to save sinners, and that means that He came to save me.

Prayer based on Leviticus 19

Father God, we must be holy, for You are holy. Help us to turn away from all idolatry, and to love and serve You as a matter of first importance. Grant to us such an overflowing love for You that we will love our neighbors with generous hearts. Help us to love the weak and even our adversaries. Guard our hearts and our tongues. We should be honest in our communications and kind to others. Grant that we would be pure in all of our dealings with others. Help us to look to Christ moment by moment for the strength that we need to live disciplined and godly lives. Protect our families from a world full of depravity. We will turn away from all false religion and oppression. We will also pursue justice and truth in all our commerce with one another. Forgive our many sins through the mercy and love of Christ.

Prayer based on Lamentations 4

Lord God, what has happened to Your church? We were precious stones in Your holy temple. Where are our children? Where have our companions gone? Where are those who once professed faith in You? How is it that they have gone out from us? Were they never part of us? Have mercy on us, O God. Your people are deeply bruised by an enemy that we cannot see. Brutal men and angels must be all around us. How could we have become a people that seem to be cursed by You? We look for help from far off. Where is our help, O Lord? The enemy seeks the ones He may devour. Yet His day of punishment will surely come. Help us, O Lord.

Acts 21

When Paul left the Ephesian elders and set off with hope of reaching Jerusalem by Pentecost, he began a journey that took some time, necessitating stops along the way. This gave the apostle and his companions the opportunity to greet the churches at places like Tyre and Ceasarea. Even prior to this trip, but certainly as these stops were made, one constant theme was expressed by those who had gifts of the Spirit, enabling them to understand certain things from the Lord: Paul was heading into trouble. This was something that the apostle himself had said during his address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. His conclusion concerning the announcement that there would be danger ahead was quite different than that of his companions and various visitors along the way. They took this revelation of a great impending trial as a warning that he should not go to Jerusalem. Though he knew that he was walking into trouble, he insisted that he was “ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” They eventually realized that he would not be moved on his resolve to continue on to Judea, and so they were all finally able to conclude that this decision of Paul’s was actually the Lord’s will.

When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he greeted James and the elders of the church there, and when they heard about all that God had been doing among the Gentiles, they gave glory to God regarding these developments. This meant that they not only agreed with Paul that the success of the mission to the Gentiles was a good thing, but they also recognized it as an achievement that could only have come by the Lord’s power and grace.

The leaders of the church in Jerusalem did have one concern. An incorrect report had circulated among many of the new Jewish Christians all over Jerusalem, suggesting that Paul was against Jews following the ceremonial laws of Old Testament life. It was easy to see how such a story might be considered authentic, since Paul was continually making the case that Gentiles should not be required to follow these laws. But the apostle himself continued to observe many Jewish customs as one who had been raised with those traditions. Not too long ago we understood that Paul was doing something with his hair in fulfillment of a vow. We were not provided with many details on this, but this was proof that Paul himself was not against such things for Jews. Not only that, he was the one who had instructed that Timothy be circumcised, so he was obviously not against circumcision in every situation. In any case, a plan was made for Paul to show his support for those who were still keeping these laws during this period when the temple in Jerusalem was still standing, in the hope that this would refute some of his opponents.

This may have seemed like a good plan, but it did not at all have the desired result. Paul had many enemies among the Jews from the provinces in the northeast Mediterranean where he had been laboring for several years now. Many people from these places travelled to Jerusalem for the required annual festivals, and they filled the temple during these times. The nature of their disagreements with Paul had been substantial. They considered him to be a great enemy of their faith. His divisive impact upon the peace and fellowship of many synagogues was undeniable. The gospel that he preached claimed that Jesus was the Christ, the suffering Messiah, and that only through faith in Him could anyone have true peace with God. This message had always created division. Those who loved it, loved it greatly, and those who hated it sometimes expressed their hatred with violence.

With these facts in mind, it should not have been a surprise if some of the Jews who knew and hated Paul from his ministry in their home areas might have recognized him as an unwanted invader in the temple. This is exactly what happened, and from that point, mob confusion took hold. He was falsely accused of “teaching everywhere against the people and the law and this place,” and of defiling the temple by bringing Gentiles into it. This disturbance spread into the city, as people were actually trying to kill Paul after he had been dragged out of the temple. Only a group of soldiers and centurions were able to restore order. They determined to bring Paul back to their headquarters for further questioning, and the crowd cried out, “Away with him!”

This may have seemed like a good plan, but Paul was seeking a different resolution. He wanted to address the crowd. In one of the more humorous biblical lines in the midst of a very dangerous situation, the tribune said to Paul, “Are you not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” Angry mobs generally bring confusion, and our God is not a God of confusion, but order. He sends His servants into many dangerous situations where we seek to bring the Word of truth. This does not always mean that people will like what they hear. The death of Stephen is a witness to that fact. Yet it is our hope to bring order to the chaos of this fallen world through the proclamation of Jesus and the resurrection.

We leave the Apostle at this point until we consider the next chapter in this book at another time. For now, we can say again that it is the job of the servants of Christ to travel in the way of their King. It is not our first goal to preserve our own lives at all cost, nor was that the goal of our Savior. He willingly went to the place that Scripture and the Holy Spirit assured Him would be the place of His death. He did that on purpose. He was willing to suffer and die to eventually bring not only order, but restoration, to a chaotic and fallen world. It is our honor to follow Him, and to be “ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 20

After the uproar that took place in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul determined to continue with his plan to leave that city, travelling throughout the region with an intention to eventually make His way east to Syria and Jerusalem. During this time we see various names associated with Paul as companions and fellow-laborers in Christ for the gospel. If we add to this the information that we have from Paul’s letters, we cannot help but be impressed with the number of men that were involved in this great mission. There is no doubt that this work was consuming, not only for those who spoke the Word, but also for those who were learning and growing in the church. Why did people give themselves over to such a task, and why did others become so enthralled with the words they heard that they stayed all night to hear what Paul was teaching? This did not happen because Paul was such a great orator or because he had such a clever ministry strategy. It was the message and power of Christ that took hold of these lives.

What was this message all about that so captivated both the speaker and the hearers? We have a very good idea of the answer to that question because of the farewell speech that Paul gave to the elders in Ephesus who came to meet with him in Miletus toward the close of what we know as Paul’s third missionary journey. This message, delivered in humility with tears and in the midst of trials, publicly in larger gatherings, and in the smaller worship settings of individual churches that met in homes, was the message of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Jews and Greeks needed to hear this Word. The needed to hear God’s righteous Law and repent “toward” Him, and they needed to hear of the way of hope for them through a surrendering trust in Jesus Christ. Why was this such a wonderful message for the church? It was a God-focused message that showed forth the Lord’s greatness in both justice and mercy. In this message people heard what was necessary for peace with this great and holy God, and they rested in all the wonder of Jesus the Lord, His blood, and His righteousness.

The time for Paul’s teaching throughout all these regions was coming to an end. There were a large number of others who had been trained in both the Word and the lifestyle of Christian missions. Their day had come. Paul was knowingly heading straight into trouble as he traveled east. He was looking toward the finish of his race, a journey that would eventually take him further west. These other men needed to move forward with the good news of God’s grace in this place. Christ had given this message to Paul, and he was entrusting the message to them, knowing that they might never see him again on this earth, at least not in this age.

After some years of ministry among them, he was able to declare his own innocence. How could any man in such a position declare himself innocent of their blood? Only because He had brought to them the whole counsel of God. Using all of the Old Testament Scriptures, He had proclaimed the gospel of grace through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. He also used these same inspired writings to press upon His hearers the ethical demands of the life to which Christ has called His followers. For these elders, they had a special duty to care for the flock under their charge, watching out for their own spiritual health, and guarding the church from false teachers, some of whom would even arise from their own number.

At this amazing juncture, which is truly the close of years of missionary effort, Paul commended these men who represented the next generation of leadership for the church in this region to two things: to God, and to the Word of His grace. He commended them to God, knowing that only the Lord could bring about the safety and prosperity of His Kingdom in a dangerous world. He commended them to the Word, because the preaching and teaching of that Word would be the primary tool established by God for the spiritual health of His people. That Word was called a Word of grace, since any interpretation of the Word that turned it into a system of works would be a fundamental misunderstanding of the purposes of God.

Paul had set them an example of sacrificial ministry. He had worked to support himself and those with him. He was a giver, not a taker, as was the Lord he had proclaimed to them. There might be others who would attempt to use their leadership position as a way to get money and possessions, but they knew well that Paul could not credibly be accused of this.

This deeply moving gathering was closed with prayers and tears, as the men knelt together and spoke to God. It was amazing what the Lord had accomplished throughout the provinces of Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia, and this was the man that God used in that day, a unmarried Pharisee, who had been arrested by the grace of God, and pressed into the service of the Man who served His with His own blood. The message that Paul spoke is still the right message today. The God of grace can still be trusted to help those who would be sent out by Him with that great Word. And it is still the right thing for all people everywhere to surrender to His love, giving themselves over to Him in repentance, with faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Acts 19

The author of the letter to the Hebrews speaks of baptisms and the laying on of hands as among the elementary things of Christ, but we might as well to admit that we have found these things to be matters of some complexity. It may help us to consider why it was that these could be considered elementary matters by the earliest community of faith. Even those who had received very little instruction in the Scriptures or in Christian theology knew about their own life experiences. There were common experiences among the earliest disciples in Judea. Many had received the baptism of John, a baptism of repentance, a preparation for the coming of the Messiah to Israel. When people heard the gospel preached, it was a normal thing for those who believed to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. This was often connected with the laying on of hands which might also be a separate experience. This blessing of the apostles was associated with the giving of spiritual gifts, such as tongues and prophecy. These things were a part of the common order of life in the early church.

Here Paul, travelling in a more remote area on his way to Ephesus, encounters some disciples who have only received John’s baptism. They then received Christian baptism, and Paul laid hands on them, at which point they showed sign of the receiving of miraculous gifts. While this may seem different from our own experience, we are dealing with a time of transition between the age of the Law and the era of the gospel. Major revelatory events have taken place in the coming of Christ, things that John had spoken of when He prepared the people for the One who would come after him. During this foundational period of New Testament life, God identified the authorized apostles through there ability to lay hands upon others for healing and the bestowal of special spiritual gifts. The first New Testament gospels and letters were being authored at this same time, and there were many miraculous attestations of all of these great new developments that signaled the turning of the ages.

Not that everything that the apostles and the church did was miraculous. In Ephesus, for instance, even though amazing deeds were performed, and various events, both good and bad, caused many there to have fear and respect for the church and for the Name of Jesus Christ, it was through the daily teaching of the word of God over many months that the disciples in that city were built up in the faith. This regular teaching of the truth was leading to changed lives, where those who had once been dedicated to occult practices were willing to burn their valuable scrolls as a testimony of their rejection of the lives they once lived. As with Antioch, Corinth, and many other places, Ephesus became a city of which it could be rightly said that “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” The influence of this great work of God was felt throughout the entire region of Asia.

Towards the end of Paul’s long stay in that place, something happened that conclusively demonstrated the profound impact of all this teaching and preaching on the city. So many people were listening to Paul’s contention that man-made idols were not gods at all, that it hurt not only the pride of those engaged in the business of idol manufacture, but also upon their economic prosperity. Led by a group of artisans who made their living in crafting Artemis statues, a large crowd was so stirred up, that it was the judgment of the disciples and of others that Paul should not even be permitted to go into the theatre where the mod was congregating. They all shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,” in what began to look like a case of raising the volume on a less than persuasive point that very few people still genuinely believed.

Finally, a government official was able to quiet the crowd and convince them that they were in danger themselves of being charged with unruly conduct, and they were all dismissed. Nonetheless it became one of those powerful points of evidence furnished by the enemies of the gospel, showing us that the Word was having enough of an impact to cause quite a stir in this city.

We have seen events like this in previous chapters that focused on the anger of those who were worshipers in the local synagogues. But in all of these cities the Jews and associated God-fearers were still a distinct minority. It would take a massive movement among the Gentiles to hurt the economy of a whole region like this, and to cause a disturbance among all the inhabitants of such an important place.

All of this took happened because Jesus came not only to save Jews, but to save the world. Those who once thought it undeniable that Artemis was someone great, and that having her silver statue at hand couldn’t be a bad thing, were now turning away from these false objects of devotion because they had come to know Jesus Christ. Artemis would not be queen of Ephesus very much longer. All pretenders of divinity will eventually have to fall beneath the weight of the God-Man Jesus the Messiah, who has atoned for the sins of His people. He is God of miracles, who has changed the world through the preaching and teaching of His Word.

Acts 18

We hear of the apostle Paul going from one place to another throughout these chapters, and we have to conclude that the Lord gave him the strength necessary to keep on going in this amazing mission. We are reminded again back to those first moments in his life as a new man in Christ when a word was given to the one who would baptize him concerning this Saul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My Name.” All of that was happening now. Wherever he went, he entered the synagogues and brought a bold message that would be received by some, and hated by others.

Along the way he was granted many fellow-laborers in the cause of Christ, people like Aquila and his wife Priscilla, with whom he lived and worked. We see from passages like Romans 16 in his various letters that these warm friendships of common Christian endeavor were a great blessing to him. Nonetheless, the strain of the work that he was called to perform must have been very difficult. In Corinth, as in other places, the message of Christ tore apart the synagogues. This was inescapable. There could be no possible compromise between a Judaism that recognized Jesus as the Christ and a Judaism that rejected Him. In every place there were Jews and God-fearing Greeks that believed in Jesus, and there were others who vehemently and even violently opposed the message of the gospel.

Paul’s word to his opponents in Corinth who opposed and reviled him is worth considering. He said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.” This is reminiscent of similar passages from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. The one who is the Lord’s messenger had a responsibility to clearly deliver the Word of God to the people. If he would not do this, then their blood was said to be on his head. If he faithfully presented the Lord’s Word, but was hated and rejected, then their blood was on their own heads. Our response to the message of the Lord is still a matter of life and death, and this is why the apostles and prophets spoke of it as a question of blood. When Jesus was proclaimed in the synagogues as the Christ, some received the word, believed, and were baptized; others rejected the message, and even became strong opponents of the Word. While he was in Corinth, Paul had a vision in which the Lord Himself assured the apostle, “I have many in this city who are my people.” The instruction from above was clear, “Do not be afraid. Speak. Do not be silent.” Paul kept on teaching there for many months, bringing the message of Jesus not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles. The message of God to Paul was clear. “I am with you. No one will attack you to harm you.”

This did not mean that all danger was completely gone. There was still much opposition against the church, and there were efforts to stop Paul through legal channels, though these were unsuccessful. Though some within the church would face even physical attacks, there continued to be progress in the faith, not only in Corinth, but in many other places. Paul, now accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, visited Ephesus, where Priscilla and Aquila helped a gifted teacher named Apollos to be even more fruitful in His work for the Lord. Paul moved on throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, “strengthening all the disciples,” and Apollos would be sent on to Achaia, where he was used in great ways in the churches there, and was able to refute the attacks of those Jews who continued to oppose the Christian message.

We are treated here to glimpses of a powerful work of God in evangelizing a sizeable region. We have been able to follow this story of suffering and triumph through the synagogues and marketplaces of the Northern Mediterranean. We are seeing the promise that God made to Abraham now coming to fruition in the preaching and teaching of a man who was once an enemy of any other message beyond Pharisaic Judaism. Jesus had assured His disciples that the fields were white unto harvest, and now the harvest was being gathered in lands that were once considered to be so far from the covenant promises of God.

We have been witnesses through this account, not only of bold preaching in synagogue after synagogue, but also of the opening up of hearts among Jews and God-fearing Greeks in these synagogues, and then the favorable response even of Gentiles who were so far off from the message of the God of Israel. Not only have the followers of this way increased greatly, but new ministers of the word have been raised up, and they were being sent off to help churches throughout this region. This work was not being coordinated by the church in Jerusalem, or even by the apostles. It was beyond them. There were centers of great Christian activity in Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. Each of these places had many individual gatherings of worship, and there were elders in these places who gathered together and were making their own conclusions concerning who would preach and teach, and how the work should move forward in their areas and beyond. A man like Apollos came from Northern Africa, strong in Christ and in the Word, and two companions of Paul were able to instruct Him in matters concerning the Holy Spirit, so that he became an even more effective servant of God, and was now being sent forth to Achaia to be a blessing to the church there. We have the sense that what was recorded here was just a small part of the work of Christ through the apostolic church. This was the kingdom of God moving ahead in joy and suffering, and no earthly power could stop it.

In all of these places that we have heard of, and in many other cities and towns, a Word was going forth with power from the Scriptures. The Christ that Moses, David, and the prophets wrote of had come. He was everything that God said He would be, and He died for us and then rose again, bringing forth a whole new resurrection age. Hearts and souls were already being made alive through the proclamation and demonstration of this truth: The long-expected Christ of the Jewish Scriptures is here, and His Name is Jesus.

Acts 17

What exactly was Paul’s method of bringing the message of Christ out into the Gentile world? We join him in the middle of what we have come to know as his second missionary journey. Joined by Silas, Paul was travelling throughout Macedonia, first going to Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath day, wherever possible. We need to pay close attention to what he did in those synagogues. He expounded the Old Testament Scriptures, fully opening up a message that was once closed to the understanding of those who were gathered there. He expected his listeners to consider his reasoning concerning the inspired text. It was from God’s Word that he would prove to them the necessary facts concerning the expected Messiah; particularly that the Christ had to suffer, and that He had to rise again from the dead. Further, he wanted them to embrace the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was this expected Christ. It is a deeply moving and impressive thing when we can see God’s Word clearly showing us these central facts of redemption.

Some of those who listened over the course of those Sabbath days were persuaded by what they heard, and we are told that they joined Paul and Silas. This group also included many of the Greeks who had been interested in the Jewish faith, and some of the leading women of the city. But, as we have seen in the past, the reaction was not universally positive. In fact, those who rejected the message of Christ became quite violent. Their jealous wrath was not only against Paul and Silas, but also against any that were supporting them. These enemies of the Word were ready to use the civil authorities against Paul and the others. Their charge was that these visitors had “turned the world upside down” through the preaching of Jesus as king. This claim of insubordination against civil authority seems often to be very impressive to those in authority. The end result of this strategy was that Paul and Silas and their company were forced out of Thessalonica after only a few weeks with the new church there, which gathering that had to leave behind in a deeply hostile environment. This forms the context that helps us to understand Paul’s two letters to this church recorded for us in the New Testament.

Paul and Silas went from there to Berea, and to the synagogue in that place. Once again Paul ministered there in the same way, teaching from the Old Testament Scriptures the necessity of Christ’s suffering and His resurrection. Too often we assume that the way that Jesus fulfilled prophesies regarding Himself was largely a matter of specific personal details that confirm Him as the Messiah. These were interesting, but far more prevalent and powerful was the overwhelming weight of the Old Testament teaching us of the One who would come to save the many. He would be both Man and God, He would suffer and die, He would rise again as a source of great strength and courage to the many who would look to Him and live, and He would be the key to the establishment of the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, and the reunion of heaven and earth. These are the kind of things that Paul taught through the Scriptures in places like Berea, where people were willing to search biblical passages daily to see if these things were true. This teaching ministry in Berea came to something of a crisis point when the enemies of Christ from Thessalonica came to that neighboring city trying to stop the Jesus movement there. Paul went on to Athens, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea at least for a short while, undoubtedly strengthening the new church there.

The final missionary adventure of this chapter was quite different from that of Thessalonica and Berea. Although Paul began teaching the Jews in Athens (and others who attended the Jewish worship), the focus of the account of His time in this famous city had a strong Gentile orientation. This all started because something was troubling Paul. All these idols and so many smart people… He brought the message of Christ directly to the marketplace. That message was the same in essence and direction: “Jesus and the resurrection,” but the starting point was different, as we learn from the extended account of His words at the Areopagus.

He began by referring to their own monument and literature, finding in these things whispers of the truth that men already know within their hearts, that there is a God who made us and all things, and that our worship of our own ideas and the objects of our hands cannot possibly be anything that He needs, since He is the Giver of every good gift. Establishing that the time for this kind of ignorance was now over, He called them to repent of their foolish worship of idols, in light of the coming judgment through Jesus, the one Man appointed as Lord of that coming day, a fact attested to by God through His resurrection from the dead.

It was this fact of the resurrection of the dead that proved to be so offensive and laughable to the earth-bound mind. Nonetheless, some of those hearing believed this message, a word preached with no reference to Scripture, but now recorded for us as Scripture. The answer for philosophical Gentiles was not any different than that for Law-catechized Jews. There is only one answer for all of mankind. There is only one Man who could ever repair the breech between heaven and earth that has come to us through God’s judgment against sin. There is only One who can bring about the resurrection of the dead, the Man who has Himself risen from the tomb. He who is able to solve the deepest need of all the nations of the earth is the only answer for the salvation of any individual within any of those nations. We should not think of Him as so far off from any of us just based on the fact that we have not yet known Him as He really is. He is nearer than we normally admit. “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Prayer based on Leviticus 18

Lord God, You are holy. We must not walk in the ways of this world. We live by faith in Christ. Help us to follow Him. Father, we are surrounded by manifold temptations and snares. Keep us away from those who would lead us in paths of immorality. Protect Your children, and especially our Young adults. Restrain the evil man who would abuse the weak and hurt their lives. Bring healing and hope to those who have been attacked ruthlessly by those who are perverse. Thank You for the hope that we have in Christ. We know that there will be forgiveness for all manner of sins. Purify our hearts and our lives through Your Word and Spirit.

Prayer based on Lamentations 3

Sovereign Lord, we have faced great tribulation. We cry for help. Do You not hear us? Where is Your help? O God, we hate our sin. Father, we feel no hope in our hearts. Yet we remember Your steadfast covenant love, Your mercy, Your great faithfulness. We should wait patiently for You when it seems like we have no future. Help us to take this affliction now. This will not last forever. You are not vicious toward us, O God. You must have a purpose in this day of testing. Help us to turn now from all sin. Grant us a very large repentance. Surely there is something good that will come from all these tears. There must be some good in this horrible loss. Do not close Your ear to our cries for help. Through Christ, You have surely redeemed our lives from complete destruction.

Acts 16

What is it like to be a part of a mission team proclaiming the story of the cross? For Timothy, it meant that he needed to be circumcised. This is something of a surprise, since the previous chapter in this book settled the fact that no one needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Almost immediately after that account Paul finds a new ministry partner and we find Paul himself circumcising the young man. This sign of the Jews was not administered to Timothy for any good that it could have done to him, but to remove any possible offense as Paul and his team occasionally went into places where only Jews were allowed. This willingness to accommodate the weak while refusing to surrender any of the truth of salvation by grace is a fitting example of the life of sacrifice that men are called to who would represent the Lord to others.

Young Timothy will soon be further away from home than he might have expected. This was not due to Paul suddenly changing his mind on where they should be going. It was Paul’s intention to travel north to the Roman province of Bithynia. In the mystery of God’s providence, the Lord would move them west to Macedonia, and to the city of Philippi. We are not told exactly how that all happened. We are told that it came from the “Holy Spirit” and from the “Spirit of Jesus.” We do know that God granted Paul a vision which he obeyed, where a “man of Macedonia” called him to “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” The help that Paul would bring would be the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Savior.

The first true person of Macedonia that would be the fruit of Paul’s gospel labors there was the businesswoman Lydia, a worshipper of the Jewish God, though not herself a Jew. We are told that the same Lord who led Paul in a different direction than he himself had planned was the One who opened this woman’s heart to pay attention to what Paul said. Lydia was not a native of this region, but she had established a residence there, and was probably a person of some means. We are told that she was soon baptized, and then hosted Paul and the others in her house. This is how the ministry to Macedonia began.

These messengers of God faced some unusual demonic opposition from a young girl who they came to see was oppressed by some spirit. The girl kept on crying out for many days that these visitors were “servants of the Most High God,” proclaiming “the way of salvation.” Paul did not need a crazed and possessed fortune-telling girl as part of his advance team, and he eventually cast this spirit out of her with a word of authority in the Name of Jesus Christ. The girl was delivered, but her captors were livid, since they made money through this pitiful slavery. They brought their violent hands against Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace.

God’s servants were soon carried off to prison on the order of the magistrates under the charge of being disturbers of the peace. The word of bullies and their mob was enough to have the Lord’s ambassadors stripped, beaten with rods, jailed, and placed in the stocks. But it was from this place of humiliation that Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God, with the other prisoners listening to them. Suddenly there was a strange shaking of the earth that led to the opening of the prison doors and the falling off of all prison chains!

This had to be quite an impressive thing to see and to consider. When the jailor woke and thought that everyone had escaped, he was about to take his own life, when Paul called out to the men, telling him that none of the prisoners had run away. In another impressive scene the jailor was completely humbled before the apostle and sought from him the way of salvation. We see from Paul’s simple words that the way that whole households were brought the blessing of eternal salvation was through trusting in the Lord Jesus. These people were baptized that very night, and they rejoiced as those who now believed in God.

But when the next day came, and Paul and Silas were permitted to make a quiet exit, they refused to do so. Revealing that he was a Roman citizen, Paul insisted on having the magistrates come to the prison and lead them out of the city. They had suffered unjustly at the hands of men, but they had also experienced the joy of seeing people respond to the Word of Christ. They were a part of something most unusual, the dramatic opening up of an entire imprisoned region to the King who died for sinners. They were able to experience the power of God leading them to this untouched mission field, where captives from the prison house of sin were delivered from death through faith in Christ before their very eyes.

This is what Jesus does. He is able to meet the oppressed and to free them. He can give strength to his own servants in the most wretched situations, so that they lift their voices in prayer and song as those who know that they are truly free even when they are in chains. And He can make a man who considers himself very free see the true chains of sin that entangle him, so that he will eagerly long for a new freedom, crying out for all to hear, “What must I do to be saved?”

Acts 15

For so many centuries, the organized worship of the Lord had been almost exclusively a Jewish enterprise. The Jews were given circumcision, the temple, the festivals, and especially the oracles of God contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. The idea that people could now worship Yahweh without being Jewish was a very radical idea for many people. Some were so passionate about this issue that their response to Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was to go directly to the churches that had been planted in Syria with the hope of convincing them to be circumcised. They presented this as the only way of salvation.

This was a matter that Paul and Barnabas were completely unwilling to concede, a fact that cannot surprise us the more we understand about the closing of the age of the Law in the death of the Messiah. To insist on circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses was a significant error, one which minimized the work of Christ and the coming of the new age of resurrection. The church considered this a matter that could not be ignored. They determined to send Paul and Barnabas and some others to the church in Jerusalem, probably because those who were insisting on circumcision were presenting themselves as having been sent out by that church. Meanwhile, as they travelled toward their destination, and even when they arrived there, all of the believers rejoiced in the full report of what God was doing among the Gentiles. Nonetheless, some of the Pharisees in Jerusalem who were now believers continued to insist that Gentiles should be instructed to become Jewish Christians.

There was much debate, followed by three important speeches that seemed to persuade the assembled apostles and elders. The first of these speeches was from Peter, who recounted what God had done some time before this in the matter of Cornelius. By giving the gift of the Holy Spirit to Gentiles, the Lord had authenticated that they could be true worshipers of God. Peter also made the case that neither the Jews of their day nor their forefathers had been able to keep the Law, and that the way of salvation for everyone could only be by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was immediately followed by the second speech, where Barnabas and Paul recounted the signs and wonders that God had performed among them, further attesting to the ministry and message of these men.

The final word was spoken through James, building on what Peter had said, but now making something of a closing argument based on the words of the Old Testament prophet Amos. The passage quoted is about God rebuilding the tent of David, which must be a reference to the coming of Jesus as the Davidic King, and perhaps more specifically to the resurrection of His body, since it was in the body of the Lord Jesus that God tented among us, and this one great Tabernacle of the Holy Spirit was restored to life. It is through this one Man, and through His death and resurrection, that the “remnant of mankind,” those “Gentiles who are called by My Name,” would seek the Lord. The point here is that it was known to God from of old that Gentiles would be called by His Name, not that Gentiles would become Jews, and then would be called by His Name. Despite all this, which settled the issue that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, James argued that there were certain things that Gentiles should be taught to abstain from (things associated with idolatry, sexual immorality, strangled animals, and blood) with this reason given: the almost universal reading of Moses in the synagogues which would have apparently made certain practices offensive to many.

This was put in the form of a letter from the apostles and elders in the church in Jerusalem to the Gentile brothers in the Lord in Antioch in Syria, and a nearby city, Cilicia. Certain points were forcefully made in that letter. First, those who brought the message to Antioch claiming to be sent out from the Jerusalem church had not in fact done this based on the instruction of the church. Second, Barnabas and Paul were affirmed as men who had “risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These men, together with two respected men of the church, Judas and Silas, brought the advice of the Jerusalem church that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit” and to them, that no requirement of circumcision and complete dedication to the Law of Moses was warranted for these Gentiles, but that they should abstain from certain behaviors offensive to many Jews, behaviors particularly associated with pagan idolatry.

This was well received by the church in Antioch, and the ministry of the two men from Jerusalem was also appreciated. Acts 15 closes with a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul regarding their next mission, with the result that two teams head off in different directions rather than just one. Through all of these missionary enterprises, it is the Lord that is our focus, and not the opinions or peculiarities of men, those these things are a part of our present experience in the church. We should keep this in mind: Our teaching and preaching is the teaching and preaching of the Lord. The Word that is proclaimed is the Word of the Lord. The strength and encouragement that true ambassadors of Christ impart is the grace of the Lord. Though challenges might continue to come for many decades, this careful consideration of Gentile conversion is a milestone in the history of the church. The church could never again credibly deny this fact: Christ shed His blood not only for the salvation of the circumcised, but for the salvation of even elect Gentiles throughout the earth.

Acts 14

Paul and Barnabas were messengers of Jesus Christ, entrusted with greatest news ever given to men. It is news that the Jews, of all people on the face of the earth, had been especially prepared to receive. As those who had the Old Testament Scriptures, synagogue worship, and some understanding of a coming Messiah, there was much in the heritage of their faith that should have been an aid in their understanding of the gospel. Some within the synagogue in Iconium did respond to the message of Christ with faith, but faith was never the universal response to the preaching of the Word.

Those who were against the message in that place recruited allies among the Gentiles, apparently predisposing them against these visitors. Still, we are told that Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time, and that they spoke boldly for the Lord, and God granted attesting signs and wonders by their hands. People who are actors know how to produce the pretense of boldness and even sincerity, but these things are tested when the one who speaks faces significant suffering as a result of the message proclaimed. Sometimes a true messenger may have to sound the alarm for a strategic retreat. The actor will use this as an excuse to find a different part in another play. The committed servant of the Word will continue to proclaim the truth boldly wherever the Lord provides an open door.

Among the Gentiles in Lystra, Paul and Barnabas found an open door for teaching, and they amazed the people there by a miraculous healing of a man who had been lame from birth. The pagan worshipers, including the priest of Zeus, became convinced that Barnabas was Zeus, since he was the quieter of the two men, and the Paul was Hermes, and they wanted to sacrifice to them. This was not the kind of reaction that Paul and Barnabas desired. In fact they tore their clothes in an expression of righteous grief.

We laugh at this incident, but we need to realize that to receive the worship of the weak and the ignorant is a great temptation that has destroyed many men who went into some wilderness with the purpose of doing good things for others. Paul did not do this. He spoke of their common nature with the residents in that place. They also were men, but the one true and living God was alone to be worshipped. He is the Creator. He is the Almighty, the Provider of rain and food.

This would have seemed to be a great platform for further preaching of the truth about God and the Messiah, but at that point Jewish enemies of the gospel arrived from the other towns where Paul and Barnabas had previously preached, Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium, and they stirred up the recently adoring crowd against these two ambassadors of Jesus Christ to such a degree that they not only held off from worshipping them, but now thought it a reasonable course of action to stone Paul, formerly thought to be Hermes, to death. In fact, this is what they thought they had accomplished when they dragged his seemingly lifeless body out of the city. But he was not dead, and the Christian movement in those towns was not over. In fact, these bold messengers of Christ went back to these other places, and strengthened the disciples as those who were themselves willing to suffer in order to move toward the celestial city.

These kinds of trials are somehow appropriate for those who proclaim Jesus as King, and who genuinely call others to enter His glorious kingdom through the pathway of suffering. Before they left this region, Paul and Barnabas were able to appoint elders in these cities, entrusting them and the churches they would serve to the Lord, with prayer and fasting. The only way that anyone would be able to suffer this way, and continue to come back to the scene of the crime with any measure of joy is through belief in the Lord who suffered for us, and was victorious over sin and death. Without the truth of Christ and the message of salvation through Him, none of this would make any sense.

After these shocking events, Paul and Barnabas eventually made their may back to Antioch of Syria, and to the church there. It was by the grace of God that they had been sent out from that place some time before, and it was by the grace of God that their work was fulfilled. It was God who did this work through them, opening a door of faith for the Gentiles, but look at the way that God does His own kingdom work in this world! Victory comes through much opposition and through significant suffering. We might reasonably ask ourselves why the Almighty, who has created everything, and who gives us rain from the sky, fills our tables with good food, and is perfectly capable of filling our hearts with joy, should choose to do His great work of announcing the coming of the Age of Resurrection through so much pain.

We are reminded again that the pathway to victory matches the message of the kingdom and even the way of the King. We are also reminded that such trials authenticate the truth of the messengers who proclaim the message, so that when a door for the Word is truly opened by God, those who hear can see plainly that the ambassadors of this great Word believe it in the depths of their hearts, and that they are not merely good stage actors. They are willing to suffer so that others will know of this one King, who Himself suffered death for the glory that was set before Him.

Acts 13

We begin now the story of the missionary work of Saul of Tarsus, who was also called Paul. Though we have heard of this Saul before, everything prior to this point has been something of a preparation for what is about to take place. It is in this chapter that Paul, and his companion Barnabas, are sent out. They are sent out by the leaders of the church in Antioch, where they were serving with a number of men who were prophets and teachers, but it was the Spirit of God Himself who made His will known on this matter when the men were worshipping God and fasting. It was the Holy Spirit who gave His own command, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” God was the One who called them to this missionary enterprise, they were to be set apart for God, and the work was His work that He had spoken of years before in Damascus, when He had said about Paul to Ananias, “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

They went to the island of Cyprus, and taught in the synagogues there, and they eventually faced opposition from a Jewish false prophet. Paul spoke against this man to his face, and even indicated that this deceiver would be made blind by the hand of the Lord. This happened just as Paul had said, and it had a profound impact on the proconsul who had earlier expressed interest in the faith. We are told that when this miracle of judgment took place, the proconsul believed. It appears that the missionary team set sail very soon after this remarkable event, so this was simply the first taste of challenge and victory that Paul and His companions faced, in what would be a long story of suffering for the Name of Christ.

After this Paul and his companions came to a different Antioch in a region called Pisidia (not in Syria), and they again went to a synagogue on the Sabbath and were invited to address the gathering. Paul did so, briefly surveying the story of Israel from the Exodus, through the wilderness years, and into the conquest, the period of the Judges, and all the way to the early monarchy. The purpose of this brief history was to get to the figure of King David, since the Lord had said that in David, He had found a man after His own heart who would do all the Lord’s will. It was from this man’s offspring that God had brought to Israel the promised Savior.

The coming of a Messianic descendant of David after so many centuries might seem absurdly abrupt and impossible to believe. But the Lord had prepared the way for the Son of David through the ministry of John the Baptizer. John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance, and had identified the imminent arrival of the promised One, the Man of worthiness. Then when that Messiah came and did what only He could do, He sent forth His apostles with the message of salvation. That was why Paul and the others were in the synagogue that day.

The story of Christ proclaimed to them included that fact that this Jesus was rejected by the leaders of the Jews, handed over to Roman authorities, put to death through crucifixion, and buried in a tomb. These facts would seem to be the end of the story for new hearers, were it not for two salient points. First, these things were accomplished in fulfillment of the Scriptures, and second, Jesus rose from the dead. It is this second point that might seem to be the most difficult to believe, yet this was from reliable witnesses who had been with Him, and was also a fulfillment of Psalm 2 and Psalm 16. This anointed Son of God would not see corruption, and could not possibly be King David, but must be the promised Son of David, the One through whom the forgiveness of sins was being proclaimed before them that day. Paul ended with a warning that they be careful not to fulfill the Scriptures yet again by being those scoffers who would reject a true message of Messiah, even when someone brought it directly to their ears.

The reaction to this proclamation was astounding, both immediately and then especially on the next Sabbath. We are told that one week later “almost the whole city gathered to hear the Word of the Lord.” Once again, there would be controversy, as jealousy filled the hearts of some who began to contradict the apostolic message, and reviled Paul as the chief messenger. Paul then announced that they would bring the message to the Gentiles in accord with Isaiah 49:6, “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Christ, through His church, was bringing His salvation beyond the Jewish world to the Gentiles.

This last news caused the Gentiles to celebrate, and we are told that “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” The message started to spread throughout the whole region, but the Jews who rejected the Word stirred up much trouble for messengers, and they were driven out from that place. Paul and the others performed that sign of judgment against the city that Christ had commanded in the gospels, shaking the dust from their feet, but the new disciples who remained behind in that place had heard what they needed to hear about a salvation that had come to them from the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and they were filled with joy, and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 12

There have been many contests recorded in the Bible between men of worldly strength and those of faith who are weak. We think of the patriarchs and the prophets, and of the Messiah himself. The apostles are in that train of unlikely victors; sometimes, like James the brother of John, finding their victory in losing their lives. Others find victory like Peter, remaining to fight the fight of love on earth another day. Here the one who would like to use Peter to please those who desire the apostle’s death is Herod. Emboldened by his murder of James, he seizes Peter and turns him over to a number of soldiers charged with guarding him. But something else is also going on in a different place of power. The church is praying fervently to God for Peter’s life.

What happens then is very unusual. An angel of the Lord is sent into the prison cell where Peter is sleeping, chained between two guards. The apostle receives a poke in the side and an instruction to get up and get going, his chains fall off, and they pass through two guarded checkpoints and are out on a side street that leads into the city before Peter finds himself fully awake, dressed, alone, and free! It was only then that Peter understood that this was not a vision but a heavenly visitation that brought about his freedom from prison. He was not only freed from the hand of Herod, but also from the expectation of many Jews who were against the Christian Jewish movement.

Meanwhile, when Peter made his way to a house where many were praying together, he had a hard time getting anyone to believe that he was there. They came to the conclusion that the servant who reported this was insane, or that it must be an angel somehow doing Peter’s bidding. But as he persistently knocked at the gate, they finally let him in, and there was no doubt that it actually was him, and everyone was shocked. Peter related the whole story, saying that it was the Lord who had done this thing, and instructing them to tell the news to James, the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem, and the others with him that he calls here “the brothers,” which may be a reference to the church as a whole, or the apostles and elders.

While this was very good news for the church, it was very bad news for the guards who were charged with keeping Peter in the prison. Naturally they were shocked to wake up without their prisoner, and his chains right there connected to two of their own men, but Peter gone from between them! Herod was not amused. When it was proved conclusively that Peter was not in custody, the guards who had been entrusted with this mission were led away, apparently to their own execution.

The verses that follow tell us the rest of the story of this Herod. He was angry with some of the people of the north in Tyre and Sidon. Herod was not a man to have as an enemy, it was thought, and so the rebels found a way to make peace with him, knowing that they needed the food that came to them from the countryside that was under his authority. When Herod came in all of his royal finery, and was seated in the place of power, he gave a great address. Whether through flattery, or because they were so impressed with the man and his voice, they shouted out the cheer, “The voice of a god, and not of a man.” In perfect fulfillment of Psalm 82:5-6, written against abusive judges and rulers, these words came to pass, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”

The man Herod fell like any man, perhaps faster than most. The words used to describe his death speak of his decay and of the judgment of heaven against him, since it was an angel of the Lord who struck down this god. Earlier in the passage, it was an angel of the Lord who poked a poor fisherman in the side and told him to get up, get dressed, and get going. Peter was freed from Herod’s prison, and soon after that Herod faced the prison of his own death.

The great words of the man who toyed with Peter’s life for the pleasure of his subjects had come to an end. The fact of death is before all of us, but not every death is entirely the same. James, the brother of John died. Peter would eventually die too. So would the other James, Barnabas, Saul, John Mark, and all the brothers and sisters who spent the night praying for Peter; but not on this day, and not with quite the same story. The story of these other apostles and of the church that they served would be the story of the Word of God moving forward into the world.

It is a story of the Word made flesh who dwelt among us. It is a story of His death for sinners, and of our life in Him. This Word of Christ increased and was multiplied. The pride of men has its moment of glory, and then it is gone. The Word of the Lord endures forever, because the King of kings, who died on a Roman cross, is reigning from the highest seat of power, and He will not allow tyrants and oppressors to have the last word.

Prayer based on Leviticus 17

Lord God, we want to give our lives to You in worship every day. Help us when we gather together as a church to recognize our unity in Your Son. From the strength of that weekly assembly help us to offer up our bodies as living sacrifices every day. The blood of Christ has made atonement for us. We do not want to treat the blood of the covenant as a common thing by walking away from Your holy assembly. We cannot bear the guilt of our iniquity. Your Son has done this for us. We live for Him.

Prayer based on Lamentations 2

Glorious Father, have You utterly forgotten us? In Your just wrath, You send Your devastating judgments. What must the cross have been like for Your Son? You came upon Him with the fullness of punishment. He was the spotless sanctuary of Your presence. He had no sin. Yet He took all our filth and rebellion upon Himself on that awful day of atoning death. Your wrath came upon Him for us. Lord, we are in horrible trouble now. We are in need of basic things that we might be able to stay alive here and now. Feed us from heaven. Our false prophets are removed from our midst, but our enemies are still all around us. They think that they have complete victory over us. What can we say to You? Our cries are too deep for words. We are in distress. We have had such trouble beyond anything we ever expected. There is terror on every side.

Prayer based on Hebrews 2

Our Father, help us to pay close attention to Your Word. From the sanctions of the Old Covenant it was clear that obedience to Your Law was a serious duty. How much more serious is the gospel, as the very Word of Your Son! You have put everything in subjection under the feet of Jesus Christ. He was made lower than the angels for a little while in order to face the suffering of death. Now He has been highly exalted forever. We are the children of the age to come, who have all been redeemed by the blood of Christ. He is our merciful and faithful High Priest. He made propitiation for our sins, and is able to help us through every temptation.

Acts 11

A major new step in history of redemption had just taken place, and not everyone was convinced that it was a good thing. People heard about Gentiles receiving the Word of God, but some were concerned that Peter had perhaps done something wrong by eating with uncircumcised men, an action that was against Jewish tradition. It may surprise us after the deep conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees recorded in all four gospels that these issues that caused such tension in His day had still not been entirely resolved, even in the minds of all those who had identified themselves as followers of the Messiah. Many believed that the only pathway for Gentiles was to first become Jews, so that they could then receive and follow the Jewish Messiah. This issue would not be fully solved for some time as we will see in the chapters to come.

When Peter was challenged concerning his behavior, he gave an orderly account of the events that had taken place as described in Acts 10. He especially focused on the Lord’s revelation to Him, and on God’s sovereign gift of the Spirit to Gentiles apart from the laying on of hands. Peter emphasized how unwilling he had been during his vision to eat unclean foods that came down to him from heaven, but how he learned from God that he was not to call anything unclean that the Lord had made clean. This was why he agreed to go with six other brothers to the house of Cornelius. It was something he would not have done, except by direct revelation from God.

Not only that, God had also insisted on this course of affairs through His special Word to Cornelius, causing that man to send for Peter according to the Lord’s instruction. But it was the baptism of the Holy Spirit that was particularly impressive. This phrase of being baptized by the Holy Spirit is used by John the Baptist as a statement of prophecy concerning what the Messiah would do, and then it is noted as being fulfilled in two places, both as corporate events, and not as private experiences. The first of these was for Jews, described in Acts 2, and the second was for Gentiles, in Acts 10. These two amazing events were divine attestations of the New Covenant Word, inaugurations of something wonderfully fresh and powerful. The point of all this testimony is that these were things that were clearly done by God, and not by men. How could the church say no to this? To do so would be to attempt to stand in the Lord’s way.

This report was apparently persuasive to those who heard it. Luke records that those who were originally concerned “fell silent.” This is often the first step in a major religious paradigm shift. We must be willing to hear something new, and take it in for what it really is. Then we need to see the goodness in this unexpected development, and to recognize the Source. We are told that they glorified God, and that they were able to draw the correct conclusion, that “to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” The issue would come up again as the ministry of Saul would move forward, and as self-appointed monitors of His missionary activities would incite controversy on the matter of Gentile Christians in the years to come. Yet the church would be able to return to this event of God’s sovereign work among Cornelius and his assembled guests, and they would see again in the Scriptures the plain fact that the Lord had always intended that Gentiles would call upon His Name.

This was apparently the Lord’s appointed time for the mission to the Gentiles to move forward. Something had started with the persecution of Stephen that would never be stopped again. This was a good leaven that would proceed through many people who had come to love Christ and the gospel. While some went forward speaking only to Jews, soon there were many who were speaking to Gentiles. Remembering that in Jerusalem there were both Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking Jewish Christians, it should not surprise us that those who were scattered would eventually be sharing their life-changing message with Greek-speaking Gentiles. Once again, we are told that “the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” In particular, the city of Antioch in Syria became a center of a vital Christian movement. The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas there, and he soon brought Saul of Tarsus to that place.

It was there in Antioch where the believers began to be called Christians, a very good name for us, reminding us of what our life is all about. As the church teaches the Word and cares for one another, as she moves forward throughout the world, and as the message of the Savior is preached and believed in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, everything that we are and do comes back to one Man alone, Jesus of Nazareth. We are persuaded that this Man who died for our sins, and was raised for our justification, has become for us the Source of every blessing. He has won us over to God by His Spirit, and having been found by the love of God, we have been moved to love one another, and to proclaim the truth of forgiveness to all kinds of people throughout the world.

Acts 10

The name of the centurion Cornelius would not make it on anyone’s list of top ten Bible characters, but he certainly had a very significant place in the history of redemption. Since the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the worshipers of Yahweh who were able to be full covenant participants in the community of faith were almost entirely limited to the Israelites and their descendants. We celebrate the generous hints of a redemption that would go beyond the borders of Israel in the mention of the “mixed multitude” that left with the Israelites out of Egypt, and in the stories of people like Rahab, Ruth, and Naaman the Syrian. Yet these are exceptions to the strong pattern of a more narrow covenant life. It is with this man Cornelius that a move of the Spirit of God is started, where the whole fabric of church life truly begins to change, for here we have a large company of Gentiles openly being brought into the fold of the Israel of God, not by becoming Jews first, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

This Cornelius was one of many who had an observer’s interest in the ways of Judaism. There were many Gentiles, so called “God-fearers,” who more or less attended to the ways of Judaism but were unwilling to be circumcised. They attended synagogues throughout the Roman world, and would soon be one of the key groups to respond to the message of Jesus the Messiah, who is the Savior, not only of Jews, but of Gentiles as well. Cornelius was a devout man, a man who led his entire household in the service of God, faithful in prayer, and generous to the poor. This centurion receives a vision with a message addressing him directly, and instructing him to send for the apostle Peter, though the purpose of this was not immediately disclosed.

Meanwhile, Peter was receiving his own message from heaven in the midst of prayer, where he was instructed by a voice from beyond to eat food being lowered down to him from the skies, food that was unclean according to the Mosaic Law. Peter refused to do this out of what he thought was a good impulse to follow God’s Law. The instruction was clear: “What God has made clean, do not call common.” The incident was repeated three times. In Genesis, when Pharaoh had two dreams that were truly one, the patriarch Joseph explains to Pharaoh that the “doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.” Here is an experience that happens three times. It is important, certain, and near. God is cleansing people who used to be classified as unclean, and Peter must do what God instructs.

The meaning of this experience becomes somewhat clearer very shortly. At that exact instant the visitors from Cornelius arrived. They tell what they know, and in the morning Peter goes off with this delegation to see Cornelius himself, who has gathered together friends and family in anticipation of, he knows not what. In fact this is one of the most striking things about this account. The apostolic Jewish delegation travels by God’s command to see the Gentile delegation at the home of Cornelius. They are waiting for the Jewish Christians at the command of God, but no one but God seems to know exactly what this is all about.

Cornelius shows such deference to Peter that the apostle has to correct him mildly. Peter knows that he is just a man, just like Cornelius is a man. God is the only one to be worshiped. They each proceed to tell their own piece of the story, and then what? What will God do now that they have all come together, and now that the Lord has fully prepared Peter to treat these Gentiles as those who are clean? Cornelius has everyone there. He is ready to hear from God. He indicates that willingness, saying, “We are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Peter’s message is inspiring. A new and long-anticipated day has come. God shows no partiality, but has made a way of peace for people of all nations for “anyone who fears him and does what is right.” This is a shockingly broad message of acceptance, though one wonders this: Who has done what is right? Peter speaks the Word of good news that went first to the Jews, but now comes to the Gentiles as well. Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, is Lord of all. His history of spiritual and miraculous deeds is known. Peter is a very reliable witness of these things, so that he can assure the assembled congregation that what they have heard is true. This Jesus was put to death, but God raised Him on the third day. The Lord chose those who would be ambassadorial witnesses for Him from among those who were with Him, particularly after His resurrection, even eating and drinking with Him in a body that could never die. This Jesus Christ is to be preached everywhere, and He will come again as the Judge of the living and the dead. Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

The importance of this message deserves our careful consideration. The Lord will accept those who fear Him and do what is good. How can we who have sinned be judged to be those who have done what is good? The answer is proclaimed even to a very good Gentile like Cornelius. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives the forgiveness of sins. This is justification by faith, and this is what the apostles were commanded to preach. People everywhere who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through His Name.

This is the right message, a new Word for the world that sets before all men the most significant redemptive acts since the beginning of creation. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Believe and be forgiven. This is the message that the Holy Spirit of God then attests to with a second Pentecost. There is another baptism of the Holy Spirit, this one on the Gentile hearers of the Word, just as there was earlier on the Jewish hearers of the Word, with the same manifesting signs of a great work of God. This entire event was brought about by the Lord Himself. It only remained for the His appointed ministers to gladly mark with water, those whom God Himself had marked with His own Holy Spirit. God had made these new believers clean through faith in Christ. The church could no longer look upon them as common. The day of Gentile salvation had fully come.

Acts 8

We ended Acts 7 with the first words in the Bible about a man who was to be the mentor and companion of the author of this book. Paul, known earlier as Saul, was, after Jesus, and maybe Peter and John, the most significant leader of the church in the first century, certainly in terms of the expansion of the gospel throughout the Mediterranean world. His impact on Christianity goes far beyond those early decades because of his New Testament letters. This great man of faith was once an enemy of the gospel, rather than its champion. This Saul approved of the execution of Stephen. More than that, we are told that he was “ravaging the church,” dragging off men and women, and putting them under arrest.

There was a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem at this time, and this had an important impact on the progress of the Christian message, since it was through this trial that the church began to be scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Everywhere they went, they were preaching the word. What this means is that the very actions that were taken to try to end the Christian movement were the means that led to its dramatic expansion.

The remainder of this chapter tells the story of the growth of this message through Philip, who was one of the seven deacons chosen and ordained in Acts 6. Philip went to the city of Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and a place of great religious confusion for many centuries. The message that he brought there is easily summarized; he “proclaimed to them the Christ.” Jesus as Messiah (Christ) is the message of our faith, and it is a rich message because of all of the centuries of preparation granted to us by God in the Old Testament Scriptures, helping us to see the sufferings and glory of the One who would be the Messiah. There is so much to say about Him, about His person, His divine and human natures, His works, His offices, His future return in judgment and glory, and the way that someone can be counted as being “in Him.” All of this and much more is contained in the concept of proclaiming Christ, and this is what Philip was doing in Samaria.

As we look over the whole of biblical history, there are certain periods of central and objective revelatory events (like the deliverance of Israel from Egypt), that are marked by the speech of God (such as the giving of the Law through Moses), which are then accompanied by authenticating signs, (as in the miracles associated with the leadership of Moses and Joshua during their lives). This is precisely what is happening in the gospels, the book of Acts, and the early letters of the New Testament. People in Samaria not only heard the word of Christ preached by Philip, they saw miraculous signs that authenticated the fact that this new revelation was from God, the same kind of resurrection signs that Jesus did. The result of all of this was that there was much joy in the city. We know from John 4 that there was at least one Samaritan woman who was expecting that the Messiah would come. Now, through the proclamation of Philip, the message of the Christ is bringing joy and new life to many people.

Even in situation of great gospel progress there can be significant spiritual struggles that come upon the church from surprising directions. In the case of this Samaritan mission, we are told the story of a magician who was brought to profess faith, and was baptized. During a visit by Peter and John from Jerusalem, the apostles laid hands upon certain people, and we are told that people “received the Holy Spirit.” Simon wanted to buy this power to give the Spirit to others in this apostolic way that apparently even Philip could not do, and was strongly rebuked by Peter, after which he seemed to repent of his evil request, and asked Peter to pray for him. Simon’s magic and his money were not the way for kingdom progress. The pathway of the faith would come in the preaching of Christ and the kingdom of God, and the baptism of those who believed the message. The attesting signs and miracles that took place in these early decades still move us today, further confirming to our hearts and minds the reality of what was then, a new message.

In the final episode in this chapter, we hear the story of an even more surprising recipient of Christian preaching and water baptism. Philip is sent by an angelic messenger to a place where he meets an Ethiopian official who is reading Isaiah 53, and wondering what it all means. Here is the message of Christ before him in the written Word, but someone is needed to open up these words plainly before His soul. Beginning with that Scripture of a suffering Lamb of God who died for us, Philip is able to bring this man good news about Jesus. Isaiah 53 has been fulfilled. The Lamb that the prophet wrote about so many centuries before has come. He was led to the slaughter with deep humiliation, and justice was denied Him. It would have seemed that this great Servant of the Lord would have had no hope of any future descendants, because His life was taken away from Him, all of this in accord with the words of Isaiah.

Yet Isaiah went on to speak of the great victory of the Lamb who died. This Ethiopian man who heard these words believed, and so many Samaritans believed, and even Saul believed, and in believing they find life in the Name of Jesus, the Messiah. This Jesus who was wounded for our transgressions, has made us sons of the living God in Him. The news of this Messiah is being preached everywhere, and many believe in Him, receive Him, and are baptized. Together we have become the spiritual children of Jesus Christ, and believing, we rejoice, and go forth with the good news of Christ and the kingdom of God.

Prayer based on Leviticus 16

Father God, a way into the holy place has been made for us through Jesus Christ. We have been clothed with His righteousness as a most holy garment. We have a perfect atonement for ourselves and for our houses because of the blood of Jesus Christ, our sin offering. The guilt of our sin has been sent away far from us so that we may live. We offer up to You our prayers now with boldness. We shall not die. Our bodies may rest in the grave, but we will live. In Christ we have gone beyond the veil. He has made atonement for the holy place. Our sin made this necessary. Now we have a great Friend who is in Your presence, and we have a wonderful union with Him. All of our sins were put on Him. All of our iniquities were carried by Him. We have been fully cleansed in the most wonderful baptism. You have granted us Your Spirit, and our guilt has been washed away. We have a new life now, and a great expectation of resurrection in Your holy city. We are clean before You. Your Son now lives forever to intercede for us. There is no need for Him to repeat His work of atonement year by year, for He died the death that we deserved once for all time.