Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 1-3.

On the day of Pentecost, the Believers were gathered together in one place when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.  The first thing of importance I want to note is that when they began speaking in tongues, it was in languages they had never learned but understood by people who were nearby.  I am not quite sure what happened here, but whatever it was it attracted to attention of people outside of the building they were meeting in.  As I tried to understand it today, it struck me that as people came to investigate the loud wind they heard, different ones among the disciples began explaining to them, in their native language, what had happened.  Before long, people began to notice that the speakers were all from Galilee and one or more of them was speaking in every language represented by those who came to investigate (or maybe just to gawk).  Which attracted still more people so that  things became very chaotic.  At which point, Peter and the Eleven (side note: even though they had appointed Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve a few days earlier, it was still “the Eleven”) stood up to bring order to what was going on.

So, points about this rather chaotic event I want to point out.  When the Holy Spirit caused the disciples to speak in tongues it was in order for them to speak to those who were present.  When things became chaotic, the leaders worked together to make things more orderly.  Finally, Peter promises that everyone who repents and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ will receive the Holy Spirit, not just those present, but their children and those far off, all who God will call.  This always reminds me of how weak my faith is.  This account, and other passages in the New Testament, convince me that the Holy Spirit will work miracles through those who receive Him in accordance with their faith.  I have never witnessed anything close to the working of the Holy Spirit described here and elsewhere and I know that is because I lack sufficient faith to truly believe it can happen to me.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 26-28

OK, I usually have a plan for what I am going to write when I start writing this blog.  Today, nothing “speaks” to me, but there are several elements which I feel worthy of some comment.  There are two tidbits from Paul’s audience/trial before Herod Agrippa.  When Paul began his “close” (a term from sales referring to when the salesperson makes the argument to which their listener will have no choice but to say “yes”), King Agrippa interrupts him to ask if Paul thinks he can persuade Agrippa so quickly.  Paul’s answer is one which we should strive for all of our non-Believer friends to be aware of, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”  We may not be in chains, but we should wish that those we interact with would share our faith in Christ.  Those we associate with should know that we desire for them to come to have the joy which our faith in Jesus gives us.

The other tidbit comes when the audience concludes.  King Agrippa says to Festus, the governor, that if Paul had not appealed to Caesar he could be set free.  We know that is not really true.  The reason that Paul appealed to Caesar was because he knew that Festus would bow to political pressure to transfer him to Jerusalem, where he would have been killed.  King Agrippa was certainly aware of the political situation and would have known that Governor Festus would not go so far as to stir up the political problems which would have arisen from releasing Paul.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 23-25

When Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin by the Roman commander, he called the high priest a hypocrite without realizing he was the high priest.  When someone pointed out to him that fact (that the man he called a hypocrite was the high priest), Paul apologized and quoted Exodus 22:28 in a way that we should all remember. Paul quoted that passage as saying that we should never speak evil of our rulers.  This is a challenging command to follow.  It is worth noting that Paul says similar things in his letters, which tells us that this does not just apply to the Jewish high priest. So, let us strive, especially in difficult times, to obey this command and refrain from speaking evil, or, as the passage in Exodus says, cursing our rulers.

Later in the passage, when Paul was before the Roman governor, I find a connection to current affairs in the charges which Tertullus made against Paul.  First, he accused Paul of stirring up riots among Jews all over the world.  In some ways this was true, but it was never Paul who encouraged people to riot.  It was always those who opposed what he had to say.  In the same way today we often see people being accused of stirring up violence because those who wish to silence them riot wherever they speak.  The more important accusation which Tertullus brought against Paul was that he was trying to desecrate the Temple when he was arrested.  I am sure that Tertullus, and those with him, believed this to be true.  It was what the Jews from Asia who stirred up the mod against Paul had alleged.  Again, based on what Luke writes, I am quite sure that they thought this to be the case when they stirred up the mob.  Again it reminds me of some violence which happened earlier this year, where the attackers believed that their victim had published writings on neo-Nazi blogs.  They were mistaken, just as these Jews from Asia were mistaken.  The lesson here for us is that we should be sure of the facts before we make accusations, and before we believe accusations made by others.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 21-22

Today’s passage continues with Luke recounting how the Holy Spirit inspired someone at almost every stop on Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem to prophecy that he would be arrested if he returned there.  Some years ago I became convinced that the Holy Spirit was warning Paul to not go to Jerusalem, that God gave Paul the choice to avoid the persecution he suffered after arriving there.  I, also, believe that Paul knew he had that choice.  Nevertheless, he chose to go to Jerusalem.  Paul did not go to Jerusalem, knowing he would face suffering if he did so, because God directed him to go there.  He went to Jerusalem because he embraced suffering for serving Jesus.  Paul could have remained faithful to Christ and avoided the suffering he experienced, but his faith was such that he embraced the suffering in service to Christ.  We may be given similar choices.  The greatest joy will come to those who, like Paul, embrace the suffering.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 19-20

As I read this passage, and what was in yesterday’s passage about Ephesus, when Paul first visited Ephesus on his way back to Antioch of Syria he only spoke to some Jews there, but not enough to convince them to become Believers.  He did leave behind Priscilla and Aquila, and a few other Believers from Corinth.  However, the first Believers in Corinth appear to have been converted by Apollos (or perhaps another follower of John the Baptist).  From there we have an interesting progression.  When Paul returned he discovered these Believers who had not yet received the Holy Spirit, he laid his hands on them and they spoke in tongues.  From there people began to experience miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit such that people saw Paul as a magic worker.  They began to view Paul as a powerful sorcerer who channeled the power of Jesus, which they could integrate into their systems of magic.  When it backfired on some well-known practitioners they realized how wrong they were and turned from the practice of magic.  This turning away from the practice of magic impacted the worship of Artemis, in particular the sale of items related to her worship which were used in magic rituals.  Many of those who had been practicing sorcery would have denied that they were doing so until they heard what happened to the sons of Sceva  and realized that their dabbling was dangerous.  What forms of idolatry do we practice bits and pieces of, thinking it is just an innocent diversion?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 17-18

I noticed something interesting today.  Those who opposed Paul and Silas’ teachings formed a mob and started a riot.  Then they went before the city authorities to complain that Paul and Silas were disturbing the city.  We should be alert to people who stir up trouble and then blame it on those they oppose.

Every time I read this little snippet about Apollos I am intrigued.  What exactly did  Luke mean when he said that Apollos only knew John’s baptism?  My understanding of this passage is that Apollos was a disciple of John the Baptist (or of one of John’s disciples), who had heard about Jesus and come to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah without having ever heard a Believer preach.  If that is the case, it lends support to what Paul preached in Athens, and later wrote about in some of his letters, that God had revealed Himself through the world around us.  Apollos was able to come to Christ through His study of Jewish Scripture and the stories about Jesus’ teachings which had become common knowledge.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 14-16

I want to look at the dispute between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark accompanying them on their second trip.  The more I think about this disagreement, the more I think that they were both right.  We do not know for sure, but Paul’s position seems to be that John Mark was too immature and did not have enough “stick it out”.  Barnabas, based on his earlier mentions in the Book of Acts, seems to have taken the position, “everybody deserves a second chance”.  We know from John Mark’s role in the Church later, including writing one of the four Gospels, that Barnabas was right to give him a second chance.  However, there is a good chance that part of what brought about the change in John Mark was Paul’s unwillingness to travel with him.  Further, this disagreement between Paul and Barnabas led to them each conducting separate trips to build the Church and encourage the Believers.  As a result, they reached more people for Christ than they would have if they had continued to work together.  God’s work was furthered by this disagreement between two men.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 11-13

Years ago I heard that a sermon should always have three points.  Since I started this blog this has bothered me because I tend to find myself with two points to make when I write these, not three.  Today, I actually do have three points, although I am not sure how in depth I will be on all of them.

The first point has to do with what Barnabas did after he had a chance to evaluate what was happening in Antioch of Syria.  He went and brought Saul back to Antioch.  Why?  Well, Antioch of Syria was the first place where believers preached the Gospel to those not already familiar with Judaism.  Saul was highly educated in Jewish law and tradition.  In fact, Saul was probably the most highly educated believer, at least by Jewish standards of education, at this time.  As I read what Luke wrote about Saul, before he became a believer Saul was being groomed to become a member of the Sanhedrin. So, Barnabas went to fetch Saul because he considered him to be the most qualified to teach these new believers the parts of Jewish law and tradition which formed the basis of Jesus’ teachings.

From there I want to go into the roots of opposition to the Gospel message which Paul and Barnabas faced on their missionary journey.  The first instance of opposition which they faced occurred in Paphos.  Perhaps I am reading something which is not there, but it seems to me that Elymas the sorcerer was taking advantage of the governor’s curiosity about Judaism to manipulate him.  When Paul and Barnabas arrived and began teaching the governor the actual word of God, he felt threatened.  Elymas likely did not have more than a very rudimentary understanding of Jewish law and tradition, despite being Jewish.  He attempted to get the governor to stop listening to Paul and Barnabas because he realized that what they were saying would quickly reveal how much of a fraud he was.

The next time Paul and Barnabas faced opposition was from Jews who were upset at the attention they received from Gentiles.  In this case Luke tells us that those who opposed Paul and Barnabas were jealous of the large crowds they attracted.  This jealousy led them to oppose everything Paul and Barnabas had to say.  Again, I am reading between the lines a little bit, but it seems to me that Paul’s opponents here started out with some disagreement with his preaching.  I think their jealousy was twofold.  First, they were jealous that Paul and Barnabas were able to attract such large crowds to their preaching.  But the second was probably just as important.  They were jealous that Paul and Barnabas did not put all of their effort into trying to convince them.  Perhaps the most important part of what Luke tells about this incident is that these opponents went from arguing about the points on which they disagreed to opposing everything which Paul and Barnabas said.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10

Just a note about the theme I have noticed about the confrontational style of many of the early believers: here in the account of Saul’s conversion and his early preaching we discover that in both Damascus and Jerusalem Saul quickly stirred people up so that they wanted to kill him.  However, I really want to focus on Ananias.  Usually when we talk about Ananias we are referring to the man who conspired with his wife to lie to the Church about how much he received for a field he sold.  That is kind of a shame because this Ananias deserves our praise.  We often hear commentary on the fact that when Saul later arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas was initially the only believer to give Saul a chance.  Yet, before that, when Saul arrived in Damascus, God sent Ananias to him to complete his conversion (actually, conversion is the wrong word, but I will go into that another time).  Ananias knew that Saul had come to Damascus with the intention of arresting any followers of Jesus he was able to find.  Nevertheless, he knew the power of the Holy Spirit and was willing to accept the Spirit’s leading that Saul had changed.  We need to be like Ananias and Barnabas, giving people a second chance, and as Jesus taught even a seventh chance.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 7-8

So, now we have Stephen, the first martyr and another confrontational character.  First he got into an argument with members of the Synagogue of Freed Slaves.  When those men could not defeat his logic, they got some people to lie about what Stephen had said (sound familiar).  On the basis of these lies about what he had said, Stephen was arrested.  Then instead of responding to the allegations, Stephen began preaching to the council.  His sermon was even more confrontational than the two sermons by Peter I talked about two days ago.  Stephen accused those to whom he was speaking of deliberately disobeying God’s law.  He did not back down from this confrontational approach even as they stoned him to death.

I want to take a close look at Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, especially how it contrasts with Stephen’s approach (and why).  Philip was led to take the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.  As he was walking along he observed the eunuch traveling by chariot.  Again we are told that he was led to approach him.  When Philip heard the eunuch reading the Scripture, he asked him if he understood what he was reading.  Philip then began explaining the good news about Jesus.  Philip is not confrontational.  Why? Well, the eunuch was seeking answers, he knew that he did not know.  Both Stephen and Peter were preaching to audiences who thought that they knew the answers.  So, when speaking to those confident of their righteousness, we must confront them about their sinfulness, but when speaking to those seeking God, we should meet them where they are and show them the path from there to salvation. The challenging part is knowing the difference.