Acts17:10-15 You're More Than Conquerors!

Acts17:10-15  As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.  On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.  Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.  But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.  The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.  Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

In the above focus we see Paul and Silas once again harassed and threatened by Jews.  These Jews were not from Berea, for they were open to the gospel message, but they were from the troubled city of Thessalonica.  These particular Jews from Thessalonica had rejected the Good News and were now passionate about stopping Paul and Silas from teaching in Berea that Jesus is the Messiah.  They were foes to the idea that Jesus had been sent from God, that He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, the Messiah.  This fervent opposition to Jesus was so prevalent in the Jewish communities that they were willing to persecute and murder his messengers.  Jesus prophesied about this situation when talking to the religious leaders of his day:  “You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?  Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers.  Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  (Matthew 23:33-35)  Paul was warned by Ananias that he would face this storm of opposition in his life after committing to follow Jesus.  After Paul’s conversion on the road of Damascus, he lived from that time on with a target on his back.  Many Jews would line up as his enemy, desiring to kill him.  In and out of these Greek communities in his second missionary journey, he was always in danger of being murdered.  In Israel, Jesus was always under the threat of being murdered.  Religious leaders followed him everywhere with murder in their hearts.  They tried to trick Jesus into saying something detrimental to the Roman rule.  They knew only the Romans could administer capital punishment, so they brought up a question about whether the Jewish people should pay taxes to Caesar.  Jesus avoided this trap by asking whose inscription was on a Roman coin, the legal tender of that age, used in the commerce of selling and buying in Israel.  Of course, Caesar’s image and inscriptions were on the coin, so He said for the Jewish people to pay in taxes what belongs to Caesar.  The religious leaders were always monitoring Jesus’ activity, always in the middle of the crowds, always willing to confront Jesus with difficult questions.  They were hoping Jesus would say something that would disappoint his large following.  However, Jesus did not only address their questions, but He also addressed their wicked and murderous thoughts about him, exposing before the public the rot in their souls.  We can assume that in the Greek communities, Paul and Silas were not challenged by the few religious leaders in these cities, for there were probably few of them residing in these communities.  We can assume that Paul and Silas’ opposition came from ordinary people.  John the Baptist called these Jews who came from all over the region to be baptized, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  (Luke 3:7)  HIs opinion of the Jewish community was not high.  Often large crowds gathered around John to be baptized, and large crowds gathered around Jesus to hear his ministry and to be healed.  Yet both men knew the chosen of God were in darkness with eyes covered and ears stopped to the truth, the way, and the life.  

Jesus faced this conflagration of opposition.  He went to Jerusalem when his disciples said for him not to go, for they feared for Jesus’ life and for their own lives.  But Jesus was willing to go into the bee's nest of hostility.  Eventually He was arrested, tried and crucified.  He gave his life for his beloved Jews who claimed Abraham as their father, but He knew their religious leaders' father was the devil.  These vipers turned the crowd from following Jesus to shouting  “Crucify him, crucify him!  The people, except a few of Jesus’ most intimate followers, left Golgotha that day, believing they had done God’s will.  The nemesis of the Jewish leaders had been put to death with great cruelty, satisfying the will of the people.  Now in these Jewish communities  the will of many Jews and Greeks was not to accept the Good News but to oppose it.  Probably some Jews rejoiced when their Jewish brethren were mistreated in Philippi by the Greek magistrates,  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  (Acts 16:22-24)  Paul and Silas were pushed on to Thessalonica.  There too the Jews had trouble accepting the news of Jesus being the Messiah and probably thought good riddance when the missionaries escaped to Berea to preach the gospel.  Paul and Silas, even though discouraged, even though knowing they had a target on their backs, and that any day could be their last, they pressed on, fulfilling Jesus’ words to his disciples.  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  (Mark 16:15-16)  Both of them had experienced what Jesus said about being born-again.  They had a new life, now walking as lights in a dark world.  They had once lived in abject darkness, feeling their way through life, but now they could see.  The mystery of eternal life had been given to them, and they knew life forever in God’s dominion came only through the door, faith in Jesus Christ and his divinity and his work on the cross.  They were not going back into that former life; they were not going to retreat; consequently, they pushed forward in their journey, from one Greek city to the next, proclaiming  the Good News that Jesus saves.  In Berea they found a Jewish community ready to hear this Good News. They were open to investigating what these disciples were ministering by going to the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible.  They were earnest in knowing the truth about the Messiah.  However, as Jesus predicted, some Jews would  pursue from town to town his followers.  But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.  God’s beloved Jews, those who possessed his precious promises that he gave their father Abraham, were now in the leadership role to quash the message that the Messiah has come to the world to redeem all people from their sin.

I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  (Revelations 3:8)  Paul and Silas knew that God had opened a door to salvation that no man could shut.  Their purpose was to reveal this door of God’s mercy and grace through Jesus Christ and this work on the cross.  Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham.  Jesus would bless all nations; many would come to him from many lands.  All would be given a new Canaan, an eternal dwelling place.  Jesus fulfilled the throne of David, always doing the will of God the Father.  David always attempted to do the will of God; that throne Jesus would sit on.  All Christians would be in the likeness of Jesus, seeking the way of life, God himself.  The Jews, God’s chosen from all people, represent God’s eternal love for all people.  Even his chosen, those he blessed with supernatural happenings in their existence, could not hold the line of obeying the Creator at all times.  They failed so miserably that God drove them out of Canaan.  They incessantly violated God’s command not to serve other gods, but in their hearts and minds, they served images and ideas coming not from God but from their own wills.  As Ezekiel in chapter 8 reveals, "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.”  Jesus tells the religious leaders, that their minds are deep in rebellion to God’s will;  their lips say the right thing but their minds are drawing from their father the devil.  Why is there this rebellion from God’s beloved people?  Maybe to reveal to the world that even the best of people, the chosen, are bound by the condition of sin.  They are the quintessential example of how much God loves his creation: men and women.  The rest of creation reveals God’s glory, but men and women reveal his image, and He will not turn away from his image.  His mysterious plan of salvation that He revealed to Paul would be spread throughout the world.  Yes, the Jews chased Paul and Silas from one town to the next; yes, if they could have, they would have closed the door to salvation, the Good News to the world.  But they are no worse than all people.  After Noah’s time, God knew the nature of mankind: Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.  (Genesis 8:21)  God would redeem his own image through the work of Jesus Christ, his Son, on the cross.  He would bring his beloved back to him, the Jew first and then the Gentiles.  He would call these newly born, out of a world of darkness, his children.  His Son would introduce them to his Father.  Jesus referred to his people with terms of endearment: brothers and sisters.  After his resurrection, Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.  Go instead to my BROTHERS and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  (John 20:17)  The kingdom has come: now we who are IN CHRIST are his brothers and sisters, part of the family of God forever.  The message of the Good News is the message of eternal life with God.  God’s chosen, the Jews, were actively fighting this plan, but they were not alone: the majority the Greeks allied themselves with the Jews.  The devil was the foe of Paul and Silas.  The disciples were fighting the unseen principalities of the underworld.  However, in the midst of so much opposition, Paul and Silas were more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 8:37)  We too around this breakfast table are more than conquerors.  Our fight is never over, the contest between the devil and God is on our battle field.  Is our banner raised high, knowing we are fighting a winning battle, or are we limping back to the rear of the fight with sorrow on our brow.  Paul and Silas said, “Never.”  We know you around this breakfast table shout the same thing: NEVER!  Amen!            

 

 

Acts 16:31-40 Corrupt Leaders!

Acts 16:31-40  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.  When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.”  The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released.   Now you can leave.  Go in peace.”  But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison.  And now do they want to get rid of us quietly?  No!  Let them come themselves and escort us out.”  The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.  They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.  After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.  Then they left.

Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown in jail illegally, for they were Roman citizens.  A Roman citizen was always entitled to a trial before punishment was administered and could not be tortured or whipped before they faced their accusers in a court of law.  The citizens of Philippi were guilty of a great sin against Caesar by beating Roman citizens with rods and throwing them in jail without a trial.  The magistrates that ordered such actions were in danger of being punished harshly by Rome, maybe even facing death.  So when they found out Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, great fear fell upon them.  Paul was not going to allow them to release him so easily from jail.  He would confront them with the reality that they had belittled Roman law by mistreating them as they did.  “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison.  And now do they want to get rid of us quietly?  No!  Let them come themselves and escort us out.”  Paul and Silas had been stripped and beaten unmercifully.  They were publicly shamed in front of a Greek community, their bodies were bruised and bleeding; now the Greek magistrates wanted Paul and Silas to go in peace.  Paul had no intentions of going in peace, for the leaders had violated the Porcian statute: entitling a Roman citizen to a trial before punishment was administered.  In this situation we see Paul confronting leadership for violating the sanctity and role of leadership that comes from God’s hand.  Paul wrote, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  (Romans 13:1-2)  Leadership of any community, state, province or country is placed in control to prevent people from living in chaos, for chaos is utter darkness, destructive in nature.  But leadership that is wicked and leads to hurt and biased actions should not be obeyed.  Paul and Silas were confronting leadership that had its origin in the devil's schemes.  The devil hated the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, and he intended to stop this message by destroying the messengers.  Paul was not going to allow the devil to get away with his scheme of stopping the message of THE WAY.  Consequently, Paul put fear in the magistrates by reminding them of their illegal act and that he could report them at anytime in the future.  Then he kicked sand in the devil’s face by going back to Lydia’s house where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.  Then they left.  The devil was not given any chance to rejoice because of this situation, for Paul went back to the believers and encouraged them to continue spreading the Good News.  

As happened Cornelius' household, we now see in Philippi a Greek jailer’s household saved.  The jailer wanted to know the way to God.  After the earthquake that freed  the prisoners and opened the doors of his prison without one prisoner fleeing, he wanted to know how he could find the God that Paul and Silas served.  “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  Paul’s refrain was simple but profound in its efficacy for new creatures would be made that night in the jailer's household. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  Believers rejoiced about this wonderful happening that night; new members in the family of God were created.  Jesus said you must be born again, and now in the household of the jailer, new born-again Christians would live in the Greek community of Philippi.  These people in the household were not given ideas of where to find God; they were not given activities to perform to please God.  The Greeks were steeped in philosophy, ideas of how to view life, how to find peace and satisfaction in life.  But Paul and Silas did not say to them that there are avenues of thought one must follow in life to know God or Greek philosophers you must adhere to to know the purpose of life.  NO, they need not go anyplace to find God for He can be found at their lips.  But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”  (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  (Romans 10:6-10)  What must I do to be saved? asked the jailer.  Paul tells him to believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.  Salvation is an act of God.  Rightness with God is his act and not man’s act.  All a man or woman needs to do is to believe in God’s work of salvation on the cross, rightness with God will be his or her eternal inheritance: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.  Justification does not come from works: it has to be a heart change, a new heart.  Any other way than a new heart will not bring transformation; it has to BE CHRIST IN US AND WE IN HIM.  This oneness with God brings permanent change in a person’s existence.  In the Old Testament Moses tells the Israelites that they have the ability to obey all the laws and regulations.  They do not need to go anywhere or ask for any additional help from anyone.  Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.  (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)  The knowledge of how to please God, to be like him, was in their hearts.  It was in their mouths as they repeated the law and its regulations in the temple.  It was in their minds, their hearts, but they were never able to satisfy the requirements of the law and its regulations because their hearts were not transformed by the mercy and grace of God: Jesus Christ on the cross.  Their rebellious nature, innate within them, would not bow down to all the rules and regulations of the law.  Moses said you have the ability to please God, but he prophesied that they would seek their own way and be punished for it, and finally dispersed to all the nations around them.  However, we see in Philippi new lives being created, for the jailer and his household proclaimed in their hearts that Jesus is Lord.  No longer will they live for themselves, but they will live for Jesus and through the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit.  Works could not tame the rebellious nature within mankind, but Jesus as Lord not only tames the inherited rebellious and sinful nature of mankind, He circumcises the soul.  

Luke 7 shares a lovely story about a prostitute and her love for Jesus.  Jesus is in the household of a Pharisee, a member of a  religious sect who believe it is very necessary to rigidly follow the commandments and regulations given by Moses.  For some reasons of his own, he invited this apostate, Jesus, into his home to share a meal.  A woman of ill repute comes and kneels behind Jesus, weeping profusely.  When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.  (Luke 7:36-38)  She attentively and tenderly treats Jesus as a gift from God.  The Pharisees’ thoughts about this situation were very critical of Jesus because Jesus allowed this wicked woman to touch him and weep over him, as she poured expensive perfume on his feet.  He thought if Jesus were from God, He would never allow such a woman to touch him.  Jesus knows his thoughts, and his thoughts are wicked.  Jesus brings up a scenario of two men who had to obtain a loan from a rich man.  One needed a loan of 500 silver pieces, equivalent to 500 days of wages.  Another needed only 50 silver pieces to satisfy his need of money.  The loaner of the silver pieces eventually discovered that each of them could not pay back what he loaned them.  He forgave both of their loans, not requiring them to pay him back the money they owed him.  Jesus asked the Pharisee who would be the most thankful to the loaner for not having to pay back his loan.  The Pharisee answered correctly: the one who owed the most.  Jesus then tells him the truth about his time in the Pharisees’ house.  He says to the Pharisee, you did not give me the accustomed honor of offering me water to wash my feet.  You did not give me oil to anoint my head.  You did not give me a holy kiss when I entered your dwelling.  You failed to honor me at all.  But look at this woman who is detested by you.  She has not stopped weeping over my feet, washing them with her tears, and because you did not give me a towel, she dries my feet with her hair.  She has brought to me a gift of expensive perfume, she has anointed me with that gift of love.  She has not stopped kissing my feet because of her affection towards me.  Who does God honor most for treating me with respect this day, you or her?  She has great love for me, you have little love for me.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.  But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”  Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7:47-50)  Her faith as the jailer's faith in Jesus Christ as Lord has brought her into a  position of being right with the Father God.  Jesus confronts this supposed leader in knowing God.  He explains clearly to him that he is in need of knowing the righteousness and perfection of God.  He is in need of knowing the mercy and grace of God.  His self-righteousness, and maybe in our context, his church-going ways carry no weight with God.  Love, caring, and empathy for this woman of the streets carry weight with God, but he lacks these characteristics in his soul.  In Philippi Paul confronts the leadership of that community, for they disrespected the laws of Rome.  By doing so they were out of the will of God, for God wanted his servants to be honored not beaten with rods.  This Pharisee, a leader in his community, was out of the will of God.  As Peter said to the Sanhedrin, we say, we must obey God rather than human beings!  We must treat the outcast, the poor, the disgraced with the mercy of God for we ARE CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH.  Amen!  As children of the Most High, how do we treat the needy in our world?   

 

Acts 16:19-30 Walk in Freedom!

Acts 16:19-30  When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.  They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!”  The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul and Silas had been thrown in Philippi’s jail because they had cast out a demon from a woman who was making money for her owners.  This demon possessed woman was the meal ticket for these men.  Because Paul had destroyed the way for them to make money, they lied about the disciples' activity in Philippi.  They stirred up trouble for the two disciples, causing the Philippian magistrates of the city to arrest the disciples, stripping them and beating them severely with rods.  After their flogging, they were placed in the inner cell of the jail, with their feet fastened in stocks.  The jailer on the threat of his own life was commanded to guard these two Jewish men carefully.  To be a jailer was a great responsibility within any community in those days, but the position also carried with it a death sentence if any of the prisoners escaped.  When Peter was delivered from jail by an angel, the sixteen guards who were responsible for guarding Peter were all killed by Herod because Peter had escaped from his confinement.  The Philippi jailer knew his life would probably be taken if these two disciples escaped from the deepest part of his jail.  However, God intervened in the circumstance of the disciple’s confinement by causing an earthquake to happen in Philippi.  This earthquake freed the prisoners from their chains and flung open the doors of the prison.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  This earthquake in the middle of the night crumbled the prison walls, opened the doors of the dungeon.  Because of this disaster, the jailer believed his prisoners had escaped.  He drew his own sword to take his life, not waiting to be executed by the magistrates the next day, but Paul yelled out in this clouded darkness of dust and debris, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!”  They were probably there because all the prisoners had heard Paul and Silas in their broken and bruised bodies praying and singing hymns to God.  These other prisoners understood that something supernatural had just happened and that these two disciples of prayer and praise had caused their God to intervene on their behalf.  The prisoners did not flee; they were in awe of this God of Paul and Silas.  The jailer also knew that Paul and Silas’ God had intervened that night on the behalf of two ordinary men.  The jailer's response to this unusual event was to call out to the disciples, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  How can I know the God that you know?  How can I know the God who keeps men with broken and bruised bodies singing and praising him in the depths of a dark and dank dungeon?  What must I do to know such a powerful God in my life?  Paul and Silas led this frightened man and his family to Christ Jesus, baptizing them in the name of Jesus that night.  

Paul and Silas were in the center of God’s will that night.  They were in the center of God’s will that day when the were experiencing a severe beating with rods.  They were in the center of God’s will when these Greek thugs were enjoying the flaying of the disciples’ skin with rods.  They were in God’s will when their bruised and limp bodies were dragged to the dungeon.  They were in God’s will when the chains were cruelly and hurtfully fastened on them.  They knew this was God’s will for them, so they were singing and praising God in the suffocating air of the inner dungeon.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  Paul goes on in his letter to the Romans, Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword separate us from the love of God, his concern for us?  No!  Never!  But it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  (Romans 8:35-36)  Even though this is true, we know in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 3:37)  Paul and Silas knew this cup of suffering they were experiencing was for the cause of Christ.  But only Jesus had THE CUP that must be drunk for the deliverance of mankind from the prison of sin.  When Peter tried to prevent Jesus from drinking the cup of suffering for mankind, Jesus commands Peter, “Put your sword away!  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”  (John 18:11)  Now in the Philippi dungeon, we see Paul and Silas drinking the cup of suffering because of ministering to the Philippians the deliverance message that comes through believing in the works of Jesus Christ.  Paul, not Silas, knew he would drink this cup of suffering many times in his life.  He was told after his conversion on the road to Damascus that suffering for the Lord would be part of his life experiences.  But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  (Acts 9:15-16)  As Paul moved from one community to the next, preaching the gospel, he met resistance to the Good News he was preaching.  He met threats on his life, in and out of these cities.  He was never secure, knowing his life could be taken from him any day.  He understood the Good News he preached also brought a sword to each community.  The Good News requires men and women to make a decision about Jesus as Lord.  Nothing else but acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord by faith would establish eternal life in them.  Rejection of Jesus as Lord would bring eternal damnation to their lives.  This news was not good news to the rebellious and sinful.  The path of life for these recalcitrants would not lead to being a child of God, but would lead to eternal damnation.  Jesus promised Paul hatred from the Jew and Greek alike, not love, acceptance, and praise from them.  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.  Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.  (Matthew 10:21-23)  We see in the Philippi jail, Jesus’ promise to Paul, You will be hated by everyone because of me.  

But in truth, Jesus brought the love of God to all mankind.  He alone paid the horrendous price of freeing men from the consequences of sin: DEATH.  The cross paved the way for all men and women to escape eternal death.  The cross alone reveals clearly God’s everlasting love for his creation that He made in his image.  This plan of God to bring into his presence children made holy by the cross was the essence of his plan for Adam and Eve from the very beginning.  Through the cross, God’s love and grace would be unveiled.  Even the law of Moses was draped in grace and mercy.  Obedience to the laws and regulations would satisfy God’s demands on mankind.  The chosen had received knowledge of God.  The rest of the world was in darkness and deception, trying to find the reason for life through other means, even through idol worship of many gods.  But Jesus came to reveal a Father God of love, unadulterated love.  This love is revealed clearly in the scene at Jesus' empty tomb.  In this scene, we hear two angels from heaven asking Mary about what she is doing there and why is she crying.  DEAR WOMAN, why are you crying?  These two angels are stating what heaven (God) feels about this human, Mary.  Their sensitivity with this woman and her broken heart shows heaven’s love for her.  Later, she meets someone she thinks is the gardener.  The “gardener” also expresses a love for Mary,  DEAR WOMAN, why are you crying?  Jesus, still a resident of this world is expressing the love of the Father to her by addressing her as dear woman.  She is considered as precious as the disciples or men, as highly praised in the Old Testament as King David.  On the cross Jesus addresses his mother in the same way, When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “DEAR WOMAN, here is your son.”  (John 19:26)  One of the most beautiful stories in the New Testament is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.  Her accusers were right about what should be done to this woman who betrayed her husband.  She should be stoned to death.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,”  they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  (John 8:3-5).  Her case of adultery had not yet been adjudicated by the Sanhedrin, but still she was definitely guilty.  The verdict from Jesus’ mouth should had been: stone her to death.  Instead He writes in the dust and then says the one without sin should throw the first stone.  The law says the people who caught her in adultery are obligated to throw the first stone.  The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in.  In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.  (Deuteronomy 17:7)  The law goes on and says, if the high priest finds her truly guilty, that it is a proven fact, the stoning should be carried out exactly as the sentence dictates.  No grace and mercy should be allowed in this situation.  The punishment must be carried out exactly as stated by the leaders.  Anyone who does not follow through with this sentence of the high priest is to be killed.  As we know by this story all who walked away from stoning of the woman were breaking the law, and they should be killed.  After they have interpreted the law and declared their verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed; do not modify it in any way.  Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the Lord your God must die.  In this way you will purge the evil from Israel.  Then everyone else will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly.  (Deuteronomy 17:11-13)   Now in the above focus, we see Paul and Silas walking free from the bondage of the law of the Philippians.  They do not have to fulfill the requirements of the law on their lives.  God gave them grace and mercy by having an earthquake show up that night.  They did suffer, but their suffering brought a jailer and his family to God’s kingdom.  Jesus gave grace to the adulterous woman, not stoning her, but leading her to the kingdom of God.  Dear friends around this breakfast table, you do not have to fulfill the requirements of the law on your souls.  You can walk out of the dungeon of your life, the darkness and deception of life.  The first stone need not to be cast toward you, for Jesus is near, the kingdom of God is near, and the label of being a child of God is on your soul.  Paul and Silas spoke of this freedom in every community.  Jesus has not come to condemn you, but to free you today from sin, to walk in the freedom of the bright and morning star, Jesus Christ.  Rejoice in that freedom.  

Acts 16:11-18 Stand Tall!

Acts 16:11-18  From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.  From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.  On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.  We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.  One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth.  She was a worshiper of God.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.  “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”  And she persuaded us.  Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.  She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.  She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”  She kept this up for many days.  Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”  At that moment the spirit left her.

In the above focus we see Paul and Silas now discontinued their ministry in Asia and proceed on to Europe.  Paul reacted quickly to the Spirit of God’s leading to go across the Aegean Sea to Europe.  During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  (Acts 16:9-10)  We know Paul was not satisfied in building upon someone else’s ministry; he wanted to reach new lands, places where people had never heard the Good News about Jesus Christ.  Consequently, the vision inspired him to go to Europe.  In Macedonia he goes to the largest city in the area: Phillippi.  There he bedded down for the night, probably in a place without the conveniences of a home, for we see his first convert, Lydia, invite him and Silas to her home.  As we see Jesus moving from one place to another in his travels around Israel, He sometimes bedded down in places that were out in the open, with few conveniences, such as the olive grove where He was arrested.  Once a teacher of the law who was convinced Jesus was a rabbi worthy of following asked Jesus if he could join his retinue.  Jesus revealed the cost of attaching to his ministry to the Israelites.  When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.  Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.  ”But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”  (Matthew 8:18-22)  Paul and Silas are now in a Roman city, in an unknown environment, willing to follow Jesus without really knowing where to lay their heads down at night.  They only knew that they MUST FOLLOW JESUS wherever He leads them.  They are in Phillippi for several days, not easy days of enjoying the climate and their new surroundings, not a sight-seeing, touring experience.  Instead, we see them going to a place where they can pray, probably concerning what they should do in Phillippi.  At the river on the Sabbath, they meet some Gentile women who are probably washing clothes.  They began to speak to the women who had gathered there, one of them was  Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.  We see in this narration that Luke the writer of Acts was also invited to her house.  Now these Jews were in Lydia’s home where they could further their ministry in Macedonia.  Their place of ministry was not in a temple or synagogue but at the river.  

One day when Paul and his companions were going to the river to pray, a woman met them who was demon possessed.  She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.  This seemed to be a wonderful message to shout out to the crowd, something like a billboard pointing  the way to a church or explaining the way of salvation: John 3:16.  What a great way to open Phillippi to the Good News!   However, this demon possessed woman was a tool of the devil.  She was a slave of a man who earned his money from this woman’s ability to predict the future.  This soothsayer, worked in the arena of the dark world, a seer who could tell people their future for money.  Even today, this occult ministry is very profitable; many people get involved with this New Age business.  For many days, Paul tolerated her incessant exposition of them being people sent by God to explain the way to be saved.  He knew the origin of this woman’s words; they came from the pit of hell.  She, an instrument of the dark world, was sounding out a discordant message for the people knew she was demon possessed.  Finally, Paul could not tolerate this situation of sweet water, a positive message, coming from a bitter spring.  “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”  Of course the power of Jesus’ name delivered her from this demon immediately.  At that moment the spirit left her.  This acknowledgment of the devil that the disciple carried the Good News to people, troubled the world of darkness, a world of deception and utter evil.  With the Good News in the world, the devil’s dominance over people would be challenged.  The devil and his cohorts, the demons, knew their time was short: eternal judgment would fall on them soon.  What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted.  “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”  (Matthew 8:29)  After the fall, mankind slipped into darkness, so much that in Noah’s time, the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  (Genesis 6:5)  After the flood, the Lord said that every inclination of man’s heart was contaminated.  So darkness and confusion about life existed in humans until Abraham’s time.  Then Abraham’s choice of believing God’s words that life would come from his seed through the dead womb of Sarah brought light into the world.  Later on in the wilderness this light was manifested in the law and regulations.  Man failed to live up to the light, but the promise of Isaac, the SEED lived through the descendants of the Israelites, and culminated in Jesus, the Son of God, who would reveal forever to mankind the goodness and light of God.  Some people will try to bring the light of God to people by another way, other than complete dependence on the name of Jesus.  We see the sons of Sceva in their exorcism of demons combine Paul’s name with Jesus’ name.  They were becoming well known by their ability to  exorcise demons.  One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”  Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.  He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.  (Acts 19:14-16)   The devil and the demons know where the power of God rests, and it is in Jesus’ name alone.  Paul uses Jesus’ name to deliver this woman from the darkness that had inhabited her being.  James tells us the demons shudder at the knowledge of God.  They know the reality of God, and that we too should know the reality of God by faith, but this knowledge existing in us and through us leads us to good works for the sake of God being revealed to mankind.  But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.  ”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God.  Good!   Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  (James 2:18-19)

The devil knows the reality of the Good News; he does not want THE WAY taught in his land of darkness, but the disciples will do just that.  They will teach of the Good News, wrapped up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, telling people everywhere that eternal life has come to them through faith in Jesus Christ.  But along with the giving of the Good News will come pain.  Paul and Silas will soon be confronted with suffering in Phillippi.  But as he tells Timothy,  My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  (2 Timothy 2:1-3)  Paul is in chains as he writes this to Timothy but he is not finished with announcing the Good News to all who would trust in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Paul is still on the offense.  He tells Christians, who are in a foreign land, owned by the devil, to put on the whole armor of God.  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:10-12)  The devil was using this woman who was possessed by a demon to confuse the people of Phillippi; he was scheming to confuse these Roman citizens.  But Paul stood his ground; he knew she was part of the devil’s attack on him and the message of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of all mankind.  The full armor of God has defensive equipment and offensive equipment.  To stand your ground, wear the belt of truth around you; have the breastplate of righteousness in your life; and your feet fitted with the shoes of peace.  However, when you go into enemy territory, have the shield of faith to deflect the arrows coming against you, make sure your head is protected by the security of your salvation, use the sword of the Spirit, to even separate the marrow from the bone in people’s lives.  And in everything, either on defense or offense pray continually.  Paul and Silas were praying continually.  They were moving into enemy territory.  They, (the Gentiles) are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.  (Ephesians 4:17)  Paul and Silas were instruments of light, a brilliant contrast to the dark world of the Romans.  As  Paul said to Timothy, to be a vessel of Jesus Christ, you must be willing to die with him, to endure life's perplexities with him, to face ongoing hardships with him, to remain faithful to him as He is faithful to you all the time, and then, finally you will reign with him.   Christian companions, the blessings of a Christian’s life are many, but also concomitantly present are the hardships and the perplexities of life.  The road of a Christian is often not easy.  Jesus is not for quitters or those who retreat.  Jesus says,   Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.  (Matthew 10:37-39)  So often when the road becomes difficult in life, we consider as the Israelites didd to go back to Egypt, even as slaves, for at least in Egypt they could understand their existence.  But we who are on the threshold of eternal life, we will never go back to Egypt.  We will put on the full armor of God, when being attacked and when on the offense.  As Paul encouraged Timothy, endure all things, stand tall, let people know you are a child of the Living God. 

 

Acts 16:1-10 Be Filled with Joy!

Acts 16:1-10  Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.  The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.  Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.  As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.  So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.  Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.  When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.  So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul's second missionary journey was now with Silas and not Barnabas.  Barnabas and John Mark set out for Cyprus, which was Barnabas’s home area, but Paul went through Syria and back to the cities in Turkey that he and Barnabas had ministered to on the first missionary trip.  For some of these communities this is the third time Paul will visit the believers in Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch.  Paul and Barnabas had met fierce opposition in all three of these cities.  In Antioch, the Jewish leaders of that community, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.  So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.  And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 13:50-52)  Then in Iconium, after performing many miracles and doing good to the people there, the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.  (Acts 14:4-5)  They fled to Lystra; and in Lystra they healed a man who had been lame from birth.  Initially because of this mighty miracle, the people of Lystra believed these two disciples were two Greek gods, for only their mythical gods could perform such marvelous, supernatural deeds.  When Paul and Barnabas heard that the Greeks were proclaiming them to be two of their gods, they persuaded the people to understand that they were just ordinary humans, not gods.  Understanding that the two disciples were but humans, they then turned on them viciously.  They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.  But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.  (Acts 24:19-20)  In these three communities in spite of much opposition to the Good News, many Greek and Jewish people came to the Lord.  In Lystra, Timothy, a young man, joined Paul and Silas in their missionary journey to other communities.  Timothy's mother was Jewish and a believer but his father was a Greek.  Because of the delicate nature of ministering to the Jews in these communities, he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.  The divide between the Jews and the Greeks was an ongoing struggle in these communities.  Their relationship with each other was tentative at best, so Paul did not want Jews to reject the Good News because of their prejudicial ideas about Gentiles.  By kowtowing to the Jews, he was altering in some ways the  promise given to Abraham that he would bless all nations through his descendants.  Jews and Gentiles would become one in the name of Jesus.  The Good News was for all people everywhere; therefore, both the Jews and the Gentiles would become God’s children, his special people, enlivened by the Holy Spirit within them.  As Jesus said, born-again people.

We might consider that the opposition to the message of THE WAY was not in God’s plan for the disciples.  But we know the Holy Spirit was leading these evangelists on an intricate path.  In their visitations in these communities who just recently had displayed much opposition to Paul's ministry, there were many believers.  Therefore, they desired to give these believers in these communities the news from the Jerusalem council about circumcision, a divisive teaching that had invaded the church.  This message from the elders in Jerusalem was very direct, simple, and cohesive in manner: telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.  For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.  (Acts 15:20-21)  This good news was happily received, strengthening their faith.  After delivering this message to the established churches in Turkey, Paul and his companions were seeking out new territory in Asia to preach the gospel.  As of yet, the disciples' ministry was primarily in Asia.  Now in Troas on the coast of the Aegean Sea, Paul receives a vision for a new area to minister the Good News.   During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  For Paul this was a sure sign that the Holy Spirit wanted him in Europe.  He would cross the Aegean Sea and spread the Good News of redemption to the communities of Europe.  Since being led by the Holy Spirit, one might think that the ministry would meet little opposition, but this is not true.  They immediately ran into adversity in Phillippi.  They were stripped and beaten with rods because they had cast out demons from a lady who was making money by her divination for a man who controlled her.  This man complained to the Phillippi authorities that these disciples had ruined his life by casting out the demons in this lady.  The disciples were thrown in jail and beaten.  However, the gospel made inroads into Phillippi and Europe.  Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, became the first convert in Europe.  Spreading the Good News from the beginning was always dangerous to the apostles.  At the very beginning when Peter and John healed the lame man at the temple gate, danger and threats to their lives entered into their existence.  They were arrested, put in jail, and then came before the Sanhedrin, and were warned not to speak the name of Jesus again in the streets of Jerusalem.  Of course, they refused to be quieted.  They were released, but they knew they would need boldness to continue their ministry of spreading the Good News of eternal life to all who would believe in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Therefore, they prayed for this boldness.  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.  After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  (Acts 4:29-30)

Paul and Silas were now in Europe because of the leading of the Holy Spirit.  However, they found themselves in jail, stripped and beaten.  If you were in their shoes what would you be thinking, body sore from the beatings, shamed because you were stripped naked, and now lying in a dank and dark dungeon.  You might be thinking is God good or is this truly the message God wants us to spread to the world?  But this is not what they were thinking; they were singing and praising the Lord in their shackles, so loudly that all the other prisoners were hearing their worshipping of God.  But from the very beginning in fulfilling God’s commission to believers, pain and hardship accompanied this task.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)  The question is, is God with these two disciples as they sit in this dark dungeon, in pain and bruises?  Yes!  Jesus had promised them, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  To the natural unredeemed man or woman, their situation does not seem to fit well with God’s great commission to them.  But God has always demanded faith, in the wilderness without food or water or in Canaan, where the land is rich and the water cool.  Now we see the disciples in Europe, seemingly without the blessings of God on their lives.  But the Holy Spirit was with them, singing out the praises of God in that horrible place of confinement.  When we see God’s leading, we need to see his leading necessary in every part of our lives, good or bad.  The disciples faced this difficult situation right away in their propagation of the word, serving the will of God.  The disciples met every day at the Temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.  They were attracting large crowds.  This caused the Sadducees angst, for the Temple was their responsibility.  These rebels were contaminating the Temple with their constant teaching about Jesus being the Messiah.  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.  But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”  (Acts 5:17-20)  Why should they go back into the Temple and minister about this new life?  Why place their lives in danger, to even be killed by the authorities.  But these twelve men heard an angel tell them to go back to the temple and tell the people all about this new life.  This next step in their lives was God’s will for them.  This next step also got them arrested again, and this time the sentence came down from the Sanhedrin to kill all twelve of the disciples.  Gamaliel, a highly respected Rabbi, Paul’s teacher, convinced them not to kill the apostles.  But still, God’s will for them was to be beaten and then released.  It might have taken some time to beat all twelve, but they were finally released, with the threat, do not speak of this Jesus again to the people.  However, after their release from a place of extreme danger, we see them rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.  (Acts 5:41-42)  Now Paul and Silas are called by the Holy Spirit to Europe.  The disciples after their imprisonment will go on throughout the regions of Greece to preach the gospel.  They will go with the name of Jesus on their lips.  They will face other difficulties in other communities, but the name of Jesus will never fail to escape their lips.  Dear friends, the calling of God is not always easy on our lives, and especially the name of Jesus on our lips will cause us opposition.  So often friends, we omit the name of Jesus when we testify of our Christian walk.  We tell others how our lives have improved because of Christianity.  We tell others that our Christian beliefs have brought peace and success in our daily walk.  The world will accept that as just another belief, just like the many beliefs they have, but when you mention the name of Jesus and the necessity of believing Jesus as Lord and Savior, opposition will rise.  Critical words will be spoken and maybe even curses will be hurled against you, for Christ is the dividing point between eternal life and damnation.  This name of Jesus is a necessary component of the Christian life, but it is not often well received by a sick and dying world.  Thank the Lord today that He has brought you from darkness into the light of his mercy and grace through the name of Jesus Christ. 

 

Acts 15:30-40 Encourage and Strengthen!

Acts 15:30-40  So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.  The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.  Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.  After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.  But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.  Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”  Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.  They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.  Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.  He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.  

In this focus, we see Paul and Barnabas separating over whether Mark should accompany them on their next missionary journey.  Paul was upset that Mark abandoned them on their first missionary trip.  We may assume this was part of God’s plan, separating these two pioneers of missionary work for the furtherance of his kingdom.  In going their separate ways, they could minister the Good News to more people.  We do not know who was right in this dispute, but we do know that God worked out the situation for his glory.  Barnabas and Paul were fervent believers, fearless in presenting the Good News to a dark and dangerous world.  Both of them had faced persecution and harassment from the opposers of THE WAY.  They preached that Jesus Christ is God’s answer for eternal life and that his death on the cross delivered men and women from their sins.  This was a strange message to the Greeks, for they were embedded in the ethereal notations that the meaning of life came through the discipline of thought and the controlling of natural instincts.  They revered their philosophers who taught that people should establish their ways of living on foundational ethics of life: virtue, wisdom, justice, moderation.  To be truly happy and prosperous, one must live lives of positive thinking, controlling the errant desires of the fleshly body.  For them, thoughts and philosophy carried the meaning of life, of a happy existence.  For the Greeks to think of a physical man bringing eternal life to them was unimaginable.  So to the Greeks and Romans who based the meaning of life on their philosophies, the idea of faith in the man Jesus and his works bringing meaning to their creation was extremely strange and maybe dangerous.  To the Jews, the law and its concomitant good works was the only journey to God—no other way could please a righteous God.  Works preeminent was their way to God; every other way was too easy and unimaginable.  Both the Greeks and the Jews had what they thought good reasons to oppose this religion of following Jesus Christ, the man.  For them their opposition to THE WAY was quite reasonable.  They both pressured the ministers of the Good News to leave them alone.  However,  Paul and Barnabas were willing to advocate Jesus as the redeemer of mankind even under the threat of death.  Some of the early believers in this new religion wanted to combine their old religion with Christianity.  The Jews interjected circumcision as necessary to be a valid Christian.  The Greeks proposed Jesus as just being somewhat of a hologram, carrying good thoughts and ideas, but not being a real man in flesh and blood.  John railed against this belief that Jesus did not come in the flesh as a man.  He categorized this belief as anti-christ, against the purity of the gospel of Christ the man, living and dying for the sake of mankind.  For John, claiming that Jesus was an apparition of some sort was destroying the truth of the gospel, for Jesus had to die as a man to be the true ransom for men and women’s souls.    Every belief that contaminates the message of Christ alone as the sufficient sacrifice for the sins of men and women is an anathema to a righteous God.  Belief in Jesus and his works is the only way to a holy and perfect God.  The philosophies of men or the works of men will never satisfy a holy God.  These efforts of men will always fall short of pleasing the Creator who has no shadow of injustice or lack of holiness in his being.  God’s perfection is presented to mankind through the sacrifice of his sinless Son on the cross.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  (Romans 3:22-24)  Paul and Barnabas are divided physically, but not in their message to the world.  They both will carry this message of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, to a lost and angry world.

Jesus addresses the idea of some Greeks believing reality comes through the spirit of man and his thinking processes and not through a real Creator.  Reality for them exists in a disciplined mind, controlled by goodness, positive thinking, spiritual awareness.  Jesus to them might not be anything more than some 3-D hologram, a collection of right thinking or good ethics, not a real flesh and blood person.  In John 9, Jesus destroyed that idea about him being just some apparition or spirit.   In this chapter we see that the man blind from birth who Jesus healed was thrown out of the synagogue by the religious leaders.  Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the SON OF MAN?”  “Who is he, sir?” the man asked.  “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”  Jesus said, “You have NOW SEEN HIM; in fact, HE IS THE ONE speaking with you.”  Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.  (John 9:35-38)  Jesus says clearly in this passage, I am man!  I am not a collection of good thoughts or right ethics; I am the man who healed you, and subsequently the man worshipped him.  The man, Jesus, possessed supernatural powers, changing what was to something different: blindness to sight.  This powerful miracle disturbed the priests greatly; in fact, they asked the blind man a couple of times, how did Jesus do this?  Did he do this with some incantations or a witchcraft brew?  How did He do this, for He is but a man just as we are men.  Yes, they were right, but wrong, for Jesus was imbued with the power of God, the fulness of the Holy Spirit.  His authority came from God his Father; He always did what the Father asked him to do.  Even his death on the cross indicated his faithfulness to his Father.  God made Jesus the caretaker of his loved ones.  Jesus is the shepherd of God’s flock.  The sheep know his voice and follow him.  Jesus knows their names, each one’s name.  Jesus is the gate to their freedom.  They are no longer confined to the sheep pen.  Maybe this is analogous to our dwelling on earth.  But the sheep follow the shepherd, go with him, go where He is, where green grass and cool waters exist.  However, on the journey through life there are wolves who bother the sheep.  They are aggressive and desire to destroy the sheep.  Sin is aggressive, destructive and leads to death.  Jesus, the Shepherd, places his body in-between the destructive nature of sin and his sheep.   The Father asked his Son to place his life between the wolves of death and the sheep.  Jesus died on the cross.  He ransomed many from the terror of the wolves.  Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people: (He gave himself for all the sheep.)  (1 Timothy 2:6)  Jesus, the man, gave his life for men and women, so that they need not to die for their sins.  He suffered the agony of death for others, so that they who are part of the sheepfold would not have to face death, only sleep in their demise.   Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”  (John 11:11)  Later Jesus talks about death to Martha.  Jesus knows his death will pay the price for all people’s deaths.  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  (John 11:25-26)  This is the good news that Barnabas and Paul were spreading throughout the world; God through the man Jesus Christ and his death has paid for the sins of people, giving all who have faith in his works, eternal life.   

Before the split of Barnabas and Paul, the church was together in gladness, knowing the idea of circumcision was put to rest.  Faith in Christ's works alone brought the kingdom of God to them.  They had some stipulations given to them by the Jerusalem Council: abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.  For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”  (Acts 15:20-21)  The Jewish converts were very familiar with these regulations, for they were taught in their synagogues every Sabbath.  So to keep cohesion within the church of Greeks and Jews, they asked all believers to obey these few stipulations.  Paul emphasizes the need for continuity when it comes to eating and drinking within the context of the church.  If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.  But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.  I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours.  For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?  If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?  (1 Corinthians 10:27-30)  Paul concludes his remarks on eating and drinking by saying that all things should be done for the glory of God.  In the Corinthian church, Paul desired togetherness; he did not want believers to be judging others for what they ate, for the sake of cohesion, they should allow some of their freedom to be curtailed.  The people in Antioch were encouraged by the news from the Council.  The Jerusalem elders substantiated their Christian walk.  In addition, they received encouragement from the two prophets: Silas and Judas.  These prophets said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.  The church in Antioch because of this struggle about circumcision comes out much stronger, sending out evangelists to propagate the Good News everywhere.  They were a large church, so they had many who functioned strongly in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We who are around this breakfast table are an extension of the early church.  They had many struggles as they learned Christ.  We too struggle sometimes as we battle for the truth in our communities of believers.  But in all things we should rest with the purpose of God, to spread the Good News to all people everywhere.  We will not let our egos or sensibilities get in the way of cohesiveness.  We do not major on disruptions and trials, but we major on the grace and mercy of God that has been so freely given to us.  Yes, Paul and Barnabas split, but the purpose of God to spread the Good News was not quelled by this division; it was expanded.  The gospel message went forward as God intended just as He wills today.