Thoughts From Acts 9 - Part 1

 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 9:1-9

        What are the greatest events in the History of the World? Viewing things through the Kingdom of Heaven mindset we would have to say the incarnation of Jesus where God invaded this planet as a human to save us. Secondly, Jesus death on the cross where He made a way for all mankind's sin to be forgiven and a relationship restored with our Maker. Third, the resurrection where death was defeated and God made a way to live forever with Him. And fourth, the sending of the Holy Spirit so we can be made spiritually alive with God living inside us. There are more to come but after those four not many events are much more significant than what happens here in Acts 9, the conversion of Saul. The gospel was spread completely throughout the known world because of his faithfulness. When we get to Heaven, Paul's family tree of believers is going to resemble Noah's family tree of humans. And where would we be without Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon and possibly Hebrews?

      I am big into free will where a person is headed one way and repents of their sin being convicted by the Holy Spirit, and turns and chooses to follow Christ. Here is an instance where God invades and does the turning. God sees who He wants and knocks him off his donkey and sends him the other way. I still see it as free will though where Father God, not the Godfather, makes him an offer he can't refuse. 

       Why Saul? He was perfectly suited for the task. He had a zealous personality. Like a dog sniffing a scent, Paul's scent would be evangelizing Gentiles, and nothing could stop him. He also was multilingual being highly educated, which would serve him well as he crossed continents with the Gospel. He was a Roman Citizen which got him a "Get out of Jail Free card" in a few instances. He was an Old Testament scholar so once his wrong thinking got turned around as he sat in darkness for three days, he "saw" the scripture through the eyes of Jesus being the prophesied Messiah who would come two times; the first as a suffering savior and the second as a conquering triumphant king. This enabled him to preach while reasoning effectively from the scriptures and write epistles that effectively transitioned new believers from the old covenant to the new covenant.

      You may not be a Saul but God has knocked you at some point off your donkey and headed you in a direction following Jesus for a unique calling that only you can perform. Are you zealously, faithfully performing it? Do you even know what "it" is? Paul said, "We are His workmanship whom God created to perform previously ordained for us, good works." God has given us gifts and abilities to perform these. Are you just sitting around in the dark or are you up and doing them?

Thoughts From Acts 8 - Part 4

 So he (Philip) started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. Acts 8:27-40

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6

            One of the objections to Christianity is, "What about the innocent native in Africa who has never heard about Jesus? Are they going to spend eternity in the torment of hell? That's not fair!" There are a lot of different ways to go at that objection, but in this passage, we have the innocent native in Africa who has never heard of Jesus. Yet he knew there was a God and chose to worship Him. He also realized that he wasn't innocent, because no one is, and he had "pilgrimaged" to Jerusalem to atone for his sins. So the first way to answer this objection is, "There is no innocent native in Africa because 'All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God' Rom. 3:23"

       Second is that we don't go to hell, which by the way a number of solid Evangelical Christians don't believe the Bible teaches Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT), for rejecting Jesus but rejecting God. Romans 1:18 through the end of the chapter makes this abundantly clear. If rejecting Jesus was what got you to hell, everyone born BC would be in hell. Also, please don't send out missionaries because no one is going to hell until we tell them about Jesus and they reject it according to this reasoning. Leave them alone if rejecting Christ sends you to hell. No, it's rejecting God and worshipping the created rather than the creator that earns us eternal separation from Him in Hell. This Eunuch, although a sinner, was a worshipper of God and was not going to hell. But was he going to Heaven? No. At this point he was an Old testament believer who needed to hear about Jesus' atoning sacrifice for his sin. So if he had died without knowing Christ, where would he have gone? I have no idea. All I know is God is good and will do what is right.

        So maybe a better question is "How can people get to Heaven who haven't heard about Jesus?" First of all, this question should drive us to use the rest of our life to get the Bible to the masses in all languages (note the Ethiopian had a "Bible"), and second to send missionaries to tell them about Jesus. We have to believe, like Hebrews says, that if someone is diligently seeking God, like the Ethiopian or Cornelius (spoiler alert), God will send a Philip to him. Was Philip a real person? Yes. Did the Ethiopian tell people that a person came and talked to him? I don't know. The fact that Philip showed up in the middle of nowhere supernaturally running as fast as his chariot, knew his language, explained the word, found water to baptize him in the middle of the desert, then disappeared would make the Ethiopian wonder if he had a dream or a vision or an angel visited him. I believe that all those methods are possible means of God reaching those who are diligently seeking Him. Even today, a number of Muslims are coming to the Lord through dreams of Jesus. These outlier methods, however, do not relieve us of the primary plan of God for us believers to tell the good news.

           Are you available to be sent? Are you funding missionaries and Bible distribution? Are you even mentioning the name of Jesus to those you rub shoulders with daily? There are a number of religious people all around you who don't know Jesus. Tell them from the Bible. Be a Philip!

Thoughts From Acts 8 - Part 3

  When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  Acts 8:14-17,26

    Yesterday we looked at Simon the sorcerer and questioned was he truly saved? I have to believe that like the other Samaritan believers, he received the Holy Spirit when the Apostles with apostolic power and authority, laid hands on believers. I think he was one of them. The problem is, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit still battles against our flesh. If not, you and I would be sinless. Simon's sin was that he wanted to be that guy that could lay hands on people. He wanted to buy his way into apostleship. He wanted to be somebody. Is that you? Is that me? Are we content with being nobodies? In Luke 17, the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, and he tells them a story about servants waiting on everyone and then He asks the disciples, "What should they do when they're finished - sit down and have the master wait on them? No, keep serving." The way to increased faith and increasing responsibility in kingdom matters is to prove yourself a worthy nobody. Annanias and Saphira wanted to leap over nobodies, too, with money. They wanted to be up there with Barnabas. Money talks in the Kingdom of Earth but it shouldn't talk and doesn't talk in the Kingdom of Heaven.

       Unfortunately, money does talk in today's church. The quickest path to church leadership is to be the biggest giver. If you prefer organ music to guitars and drums, donate a pipe organ with pipes worth tens of thousands. If you want an "in" with the pastor, let him vacation for free at your house in the Keys. Fly him to conferences on your private jet. As a person with means or influence, it takes a deliberate effort to be a nobody. Simon went from being a somebody to being a nobody and his flesh didn't like it.

      Are you content with being a nobody, an anonymous servant of Christ? Am I? Now actually in the whole scheme of things we aren't nobodies, we are children of the King. But the king has a million children. Are you content with being one in a million? The history books of the Old Testament are full of accounts where children wanted to rise above others. I'm watching House of Dragons right now at one of the resident's suggestions and though I don't know what's going on because I jumped in at season 3, one thing I can tell is that all the white-haired siblings are fighting to be superior. There would be no drama and no show if this wasn't the case. There should be no drama in the family of God. In fact, the only stories or documentaries you see about the church are based on people wanting to rise above being nobodies - being servants. What a boring story that would be if we all considered others more important than ourselves. That's what Jesus wants - He isn't into drama.

Thoughts From Acts 8 - Part 2

 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” Acts 8:9-13,18-24

         Simon and Philip, the two disciples, right? Nope. Different guys. Simon was a sorcerer in Samaria who was an important person due to his abilities to do sorceries. He wasn't like David Copperfield doing sleight of hand, but picture Baalaam in the Old Testament or Jannes and Jambres, the ones who turned their rods into snakes or turned water to blood in Moses' days. Somehow, these men had tapped into powers of the unseen world, maybe demons or maybe even angels. Philip was one of the seven "deacons" commissioned by the apostles to serve the church. The apostolic power flowed from the apostles to Philip through the laying on of hands which enabled him to perform supernatural signs that like the conjured-up snakes of Moses' time, the wonders done by Simon were totally devoured by Philip's. It appears that because the apostles gave him the ability to perform signs and wonders, Philip could lay hands on people too, and they also would receive the ability to do miracles.

           First off, you have to admit this was an unprecedented time. As the gospel went out it came with powers of signs and wonders to confirm it was the truth. We don't see this today. Maybe if a missionary went into an unreached area, God would give preachers apostolic power initially but after that faith comes through hearing, not seeing miracles. Jesus told the rich man who died and was in Hades, that even if they see a man rise from the dead they won't believe; they have the Bible (law and prophets), let them listen to that.

          Second, what kind of faith does it produce? I have a friend who went to a signs and wonders conference, I think it's called power evangelism, and saw so many things that, like Simon, he believed. Now he is discontent with all churches he goes to because he isn't seeing enough miraculous happenings. He thinks none of them are spirit- filled. Simon saw these things, knew it was real and as Jannes and Jambres said, "We can't do this, this must be the hand of God", and Simon believed. He then wanted to do the "stuff" but in order to have this power, Philip needed to lay hands on him. Who was Philip laying hands on? It appears that he was also given the gift of knowledge to look into someone's soul and see them for who they are. He probably gave it to people like him who were full of faith and would use these gifts to further the gospel not just to draw attention to themselves. Drawing attention to yourself is not necessarily a bad thing if once you have a crowd you preach to the crowd about Jesus. Philip discerned that Simon, who loved attention just wanted power for the wrong motives.

      Will we see Simon in Heaven? I kind of think so although I'm probably in the minority. I think it says he believed and was baptized but his old man needed to die and it was harder for him because he had fame and had dabbled with evil forces that they still might have had a grip on him. He had a lot of growing to do but the last verses showed that he knew it and was confessing his sin of pride. I'm hopeful that I will see him there among the many other Simons not with the Simon that invited Jesus to his house where the prostitute washed Jesus' feet.

Thoughts From Acts 8 - Part 1

 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city Acts 8:1-8

      Jesus had told the disciples that they would be witnesses for Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth. Little did they know that what would send them off was persecution. It was like in the shows I watch; "Honey, kids, pack up your bags; we have 5 minutes to get out of here." "Where are we going?" "I don't know, just far away." A lot of the places where they ended up, they had freedom to share the gospel, and it spread in those regions. Unfortunately, Saul was so zealous that he was not content with just wiping this "heresy" out in Jerusalem, he would travel great lengths to play "whack-a-mole" everywhere a church popped up. It was pack up and run time again when Saul came to town.

        The amazing thing is that everywhere they went, despite the hardships and persecution, they told everyone about Jesus. I wonder if that's our mentality. When is the last time you mentioned Jesus outside of your house not in a church related event? Are we being witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea, or Samaria? Chances are we've grown cold while the brand-new believers were still on fire. Chances are we've quenched the Spirit while He burned in their hearts. I was blessed the other day by seeing a guy standing in an airplane preaching the gospel to a captive audience. You may have a problem with that, but that guy truly believed in the truth and urgency of the gospel.

      Maybe we think that people will hate us or think we're weird. Maybe. Probably. But in one city in Samaria the gospel came, and the city was filled with joy. Christianity doesn't bring problems, it solves them. In societies where Christianity is illegal there is oppression, lack of freedom, life is treated cheaply, degradation of women and the poor, totalitarianism, loss of human dignity, rights and worth. The gospel comes to bring life, freedom, peace and joy. Don't share it apologetically but boldly proclaim it so joy might come to your city.

Thoughts From Acts 7 - Part 2

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. 

         Stephen was a Christian. In the passages to come, that was a derogatory term invented by opponents to Christianity that meant little Christs or in effect little Jesus'. Stephen not only was full of faith, wise, full of the Holy Spirit, servant to the poor, used the scripture to defeat the devil, radiated God's glory, didn't defend himself, but at the end said the same things Jesus did on the cross - "into thy hands I commend my spirit" and "forgive them they know not what they do". No wonder Jesus left His seated position at the right hand of the Father to stand in eager anticipation of Stephen getting there. He was extremely proud of Stephen for glorifying Him by being just like Him. It's even possible that Jesus was so eager that He took Stephen's spirit a little early, so he didn't feel all the blows.

          Meanwhile, on Earth, what people saw was a tragedy. They saw a good man, possibly a husband and father, in the prime of life, have his life ended prematurely. If only he had just kept his faith private. If only he wouldn't have said that people were wrong, he would still be alive. But if you could see it through Heaven's eyes you would see Jesus standing up watching the whole thing and ready to say well done and give him a hug. You would see the Father being glorified because nothing gives Him more glory than wanting to be like His Son. You would see heavenly saints and beings giving a standing ovation as Stephen went from death to life without fear. And you would see Stephen receiving robes of white, eternal life in Heaven, and crowns and a mansion, and a seat of glory near Jesus.

            Don't you want an ending like that? Yes and no. We want the glorious rewards but we want a safe life here liked by everyone, comfortable, living to a ripe old age. Jesus calls us to lose our lives for Him. What does that mean to you? I think most of us would have to admit that we are holding on a little too tightly.

Thoughts From Acts 7 - Part 1

 “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings

    forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
    and the star of your god Rephan,
    the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

“‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be?

Has not my hand made all these things?’

51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” Acts 7:42-53 (I left out the first 41 verses if you want to read them on your own)

              How well do you know scripture? Stephen, to answer his accusers, ran through the whole Old Testament, even quoting Amos (can you even find Amos in your Bible?) making his defense and then going on the offense. He was accused of teaching people they didn't have to obey the Law, and he makes the point that we as Jews have never been able to obey the Law. Even at our prime when we had God living with us in a tent and the Ark of the Covenant going with us, we built a golden cow and worshipped it.

      Stephen was accused of blasphemy claiming that Jesus was God and to be worshipped. He answered them by taking them through their rejection of Moses who prophesied that another deliverer like him would come in the future, and their rejection of Joseph by all of Jacob's children, yet his rejection brought about their salvation. Then he pointed out that likewise, once again, they have rejected the leader in Jesus that God had sent them.

       Stephen was also accused of saying that the temple would be torn down and Stephen answered by telling them that God doesn't even dwell there nor did He even want David, the one He loved, to build it. They acted like it was the center of worship, but God is the center of worship, and they had chosen a building over Him and His Son.

         In the last blog I mentioned how much we could see Jesus in Stephen. This message reminds me of how Jesus addressed the Pharisees in Matthew 23;

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 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. 35 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. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Matthew 23:29-39

     Jesus quoted 2Chronicles and Psalms here and when He was tempted by Satan, answered him with 3 verses from Deuteronomy. Stephen answered with the Bible and Jesus answered with the Bible and we have teachers telling us the Old Testament isn't that important anymore. We need to know our Bible so we can fight the devil. We need to teach our children and grandchildren the Bible. We tend to teach more how to live out Christianity than the building blocks. It's like building a house on the sand - it looks good, but when Satan's storms come, it has no foundation. It doesn't know why it believes what it believes.

     Stephen knew the word and it flowed from him. Do you?