Pharisee-felt spiritually superior; held themselves to the strict letter of the law; observed traditions to be as binding as the written word.
Sadducee- wealthy upper class; didn’t hold to tradition; denied there was a resurrection of the dead… which is why they were Sad-you-see
Sanhedrin- Jewish court of justice. Made up of both Pharisees & Sadducees.
When the commander realized Paul was a Roman citizen, he wanted to unload this problem in a hurry. When brought before the Sanhedrin, Paul took the bull by the horns. As a Pharisee, he focused on an issue he knew was divisive: resurrection. So strong were their differences, the groups came to blows and even plotted to assassinate Paul.
Violence is never the answer. In our dealings we must remember to represent our humble Lord.
Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath”. Paul calmly stated his belief. He didn’t shout down the opposition.
James 1:20 “Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires”.
I Corinthians 16:14 tells us to “Do everything in love”. Paul didn’t bully people into his way of thinking. We are called to preach the kingdom. God will change men’s hearts.
-Annette Osborn
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
How was God working through this situation so that what He wanted done would be done? (see verse 11 and the rest of the chapter)
What groups today are in sharp dispute with one another, sometimes leading to violence?
How will you practice a “soft answer” and “doing everything in love” next time you are in the middle of a dispute?
A personal story is an effective way of connecting with others, often opening doors to intimate conversations. I often felt that I was missing out on something by not having a “come to Jesus” moment to tell others. Raised in church, I knew right from wrong. Though I didn’t always choose wisely, I never veered too far from the path. What’s encouraging about that?!
I found some pointers for writing a faith story…
Think about your life before your baptism. What was missing?
What did you do to feel fulfilled and accepted?
What led up to your decision to be baptized?
Was there a person, event, scripture that opened your heart?
How has your life changed?
How is God meeting your needs?
What is your relationship with God today?
And this tip from 1 Peter 3:15-16 “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
-Annette Osborn
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
See questions above… 🙂
Who do you personally know who could benefit from hearing your story? How will you make opportunities to tell them?
How can you share your story (or pieces of it) with others beyond your closest friends and family? When? Where?
Unlike many Jewish leaders, James and the elders were not jealous of Paul’s success among the Gentiles. But they were aware that not everyone was so accepting. To head off problems, the elders asked him to pay the costs of men completing a vow. Likely a Nazirite vow, this voluntary, temporary commitment to total dedication to God required extensive sacrifices, including a female lamb, a male lamb, unleavened bread, loaves of bread, crackers, oil, and a grain and drink offering.
Paul wasn’t buying acceptance. In 1 Corinthians 9 he writes “19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” He had one and only one goal….to win others to Christ. Let’s be as focused as Paul.
-Annette Osborn
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
If people who knew you were to guess what your main goal was, what might they guess? Would they be right?
How have you become “like others” (while remaining true to Christ’s law) in order to be able to share the good news with them?
What group(s) of people would you want to be accepted by, so that they are willing to hear from you about Jesus Christ? How can you go about this mission?
What was Paul willing to do, and willing to give up, in order to reach more people with the saving gospel? What are you willing to do, and willing to give up, for the same purpose?
Paul has so much to share and so little time to share it. His ministry has taken him from Ephesus to Macedonia, to Greece, to Troas. It’s a farewell tour. He preaches all night, knowing it’s his last chance to convey the essentials of salvation.
I’m struck by the caring urgency that Paul has. He’s spent weeks (even years) with these people and developed relationships. Shared joys and sorrows. He wants to be sure they “get it”; the truth of the kingdom of God. The shared hope of eternal life binds us together over time and distance.
Blessings abound when God’s people gather. Whether for a long weekend at a retreat, a few days at a camp or a conference, we build friendships that last. “What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.” We’ve all experienced that pang of parting. But oh the joy of knowing we WILL see each other again as we reign with Christ in his glorious kingdom.
Feel the urgency!
-Annette Osborn
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
What do you most admire about Paul?
What attachments have you made to Christian brothers and sisters that have bound you together through time and distance?
How would you rate your “Caring Urgency”? If it’s a little low, what can motivate you to bump it up?
No one wants to look bad. The perfect example of this is social media. No one is ever like I want to post that picture that is the most authentic version of me. We want the absolute best version of us on the internet, with all the cropping and filters and perfect lighting we can find. I definitely understand why. The internet is forever. This does go into our real lives though, too.
We all have video cameras on the front of our phones. I am very thankful that I grew up in an era where if you said something dumb only the people within earshot knew. People in general are more afraid of trying new things publicly because they are afraid of it ending up on snapchat or insta or as a meme. I think most of us realize that many of the stories or memes we see don’t reflect that whole person’s life.
We all make mistakes. I feel like our flow chart for mistake making is in the wrong order though. The first thought for me is either towards the person or towards God and then we normally don’t want anyone else to find out. Once again no one enjoys looking bad, not even me.
In Acts 19.11-20 Paul is in Ephesus and an incident occurs where the sons of a Jewish priest try to perform an exorcism. Exorcists were common during this time period. Exorcists would claim a name of high power, during their exorcisms, thinking the higher power the name, the higher the percentage chance of an exorcism . The sons of Sceva made an error this time. They claimed the name of Jesus as the source of their power and they weren’t following Jesus. They said it works for Paul and it should work for us. That really isn’t how the name of Jesus works though. The man with the spirits attacks the sons of Sceva and beats them and sends all seven running away naked. That was a bad day for those brothers.
Word of this incident spreads around the region and in v. 18 “Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.” People realized how wrong the magic arts were after hearing about the sons of Sceva. These were people who were already believers and still had these books and maybe were still practicing magic arts.
I admire the people of Ephesus for this one. When they figured out something was wrong, they confessed and divulged their practices. When there is a sin that has more power in our life, we don’t come and confess it. We want to have victory over it or be healed of it before we confess it. We want to have a problem, fix it ourselves and then tell everyone about it. This is to our detriment. In darkness sin can grow. If you confess it to someone, your problem will not magically go away but, it’s the start in the right direction.
Most alcoholics don’t think they have a drinking problem. The first of the twelve steps in recovery is admitting that you cannot manage your own life. (I actually wonder if many Christians get past this first step.)
Admitting you have made a mistake is half the work. You can find a trustworthy individual to talk about what you are struggling with and in doing so you can take a little more ground on the thing that you are working on.
Everyone likes confession until they have something to confess. It is worth the time and the embarrassment. The church in Ephesus after they burned their magic books kept growing. It says in v. 20 that “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightly.” I want that for my church and for myself. Bite the bullet and let’s take some medicine and see God work.
Thank you for sticking around. I have enjoyed writing for you guys this week.
-Daniel (Dan, Danny) Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
How does this relate to your everyday life? What is your experience with confession – or not confessing?
What is the problem with believing but not confessing?
What is the power of confessing? Prayerfully consider if there is something you need to confess.
Paul leaves Athens and arrives in Corinth at the start of Acts 18. Paul meets Priscilla and Aquila and works with them as tentmakers in Corinth. Paul visits the synagogue and tries to appeal to the Jews and Greeks. He was reviled in the synagogue and then shakes out his garments and declares that he will only speak to the Gentiles. Even with the ruler of the synagogue being converted he still faces danger in the city.
Paul had been chased from the towns of Thessalonica, Derea, and Iconium. I am sure Paul must have been wondering if this was his time to get chased from this city as well. The anxiety of knowing that in every new city he came to there was a chance of being thrown out of it and physical harm coming to him would have been a lot to bear.
God comes to Paul in a vision. God giving Paul this vision is an act of grace towards Paul. God is trying to comfort Paul and give him direction. God starts out with the simple statement of “Do not be afraid”. This feels a lot like Joshua 1.9. God gives Paul two more commands; Go on speaking and do not be silent. Paul has probably realized that most of his trouble befalls him when he speaks and he is not silent. The same thing is true of me except it normally isn’t because I’m preaching the gospel. God gives three commands and the unique thing about this vision is God also gives Paul three reasons why he should do those things.
We have plenty of commands of God and God very often gives us the reasons why we should follow his command. Sometimes we aren’t willing to look hard enough for the reasons but there are almost always reasons. Sometimes we won’t find out the reasons until later or maybe we find out the reasons why in the kingdom. There is an element of faith in following Christ.
God’s reasons for why Paul should obey his commands are that God is with him. God being with you may result in a kind of fearlessness. God’s next reason why is that no one will attack Paul to harm him. This statement must have relieved a lot of anxiety from Paul. God’s third reason why is that God has many in this city.
God makes good on his promises to Paul. In verses 12-17 Paul is brought before the proconsul of Achaia, the ruler of that region, by the Jewish rulers and the new ruler of the synagogue. He is accused of persuading people to worship God contrary to the law. Just as Paul was about to speak the proconsul says that because it is a quarrel about words and there is no wrongdoing that he refuses to rule on this. The proconsul drives all of Paul’s accusers away. The mob that had formed ends up beating the new ruler of the synagogue, one of Paul’s enemies, in front of the proconsul.
When we follow God’s lead and direction it will put us into positions where we get to see God work in situations. This situation for Paul worked out well for him. He didn’t even need to do anything to get out of the situation. He relied on God and God worked it out. The proconsul responded in his favor before Paul spoke. God was clearly at work in this situation because after that his enemy, the ruler of the synagogue, ended up being killed by the mob. His enemy was killed by the people who had originally intended to kill him.
When we join God in what He is doing we will see this provision for us as well. There will be suffering and some pain but there will also be moments where we get to see God do God things and experience Him through those events. That’s part of what makes Christianity so exciting, fulfilling and awesome.
-Daniel Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Can you think of a time you didn’t speak up for God, perhaps because of fear or discomfort? What promises of God might you have missed out on with that failed opportunity?
When have you had the pleasure of “see(ing) God do God things and experience(ing) Him through those events”
What can we learn from Apollos and Priscilla and Aquila later in this chapter?
Paul starts out in Acts chapter 17 arriving in Thessalonica and speaking in the synagogues for 3 Sabbaths. He proclaims that Jesus needed to suffer and be raised from the dead. The Jews corner Paul and he is forced to leave the city after paying the officials. Paul and Silas depart for Berea. The Berean Jews listen to him and study to see if what he is saying is true and many of them believed. The Jews from Thessalonica find out Paul is in Berea and come after him there.
Paul is immediately sent away by the brothers in Berea and Paul arrives in Athens. Paul doesn’t take a break while in Athens. Paul seeing the city full of idols almost can’t help himself. Paul starts going into the marketplace and reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue and preaching to them about Jesus resurrected. They bring Paul to the Areopagus, a court of philosophy, and Paul launches into one of the most cultured speeches or sermons in the New Testament.
Paul starts out with the general declaration that God has made everything in v.24. God doesn’t live in a temple, made of human hands. He instead dwells within all of us. This is in abstraction to all the gods of Athens who needed a temple, a place for them to dwell. Our God when a house is built for him it was only supposed to represent God’s presence with his nation, Israel. It was a symbol for his people.
Paul makes his third statement about God’s sovereignty in v. 25. He doesn’t need us to serve him. For there is nothing that he needs from us that he can’t do for himself. He instead involves us and allows us to serve him for our own good. Our service to God is a matter of grace from God to us. It is letting us love him back. We are like children using the money mommy gave us to buy something for daddy.
Paul then makes a statement about the whole world’s dependence on God. He says that God gives to us life, breath and everything. Life: many of you may think of this as coming from your mom and dad; but as at least some of you may know, pregnancy is a miracle in and of itself. Either way God gave you your life. Have you had any enjoyment in it? Praise God because he gave it to you. Breath: God has provided you the air in your lungs right now and all the air you have ever used. He gave you the air you used to praise him and the air you used to sin against him. Everything: Everything you have ever interacted with – like that piece of cake or your mama. He made all that as well.
Verse 26 says that God providentially gave to each a time and a place. Verse 27 Tells us exactly why he did this. He gave us our time, place, life, breath, and everything that we have and everyone we love that we would SEEK Him and FIND Him. This statement is so significant if we look at it from Paul’s audience’s perspective. God made everything and gave everything, that we would find Him. He did it, so it would point us to Him.
The good things that he gives to non-Christians and the good things he gave to us, when we didn’t love him, were all done for us that we would seek and find Him.
We are going to skip down to verse 30. Paul tells us he has overlooked our ignorance and is telling them to repent and that he will judge the world by a righteous man. Paul then says that we have assurance of this because Christ was raised from the dead.
This is the third time in this chapter Paul talks about Christ’s resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is paramount to the Christian faith. If Christ isn’t raised we have nothing. His resurrection gives us Christ in us and God in Christ and therefore God in all of us. By his resurrection, not just his death, we are justified (Romans 4.25).
-Daniel Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
How can you be more mindful of all that God has made and done for you today?
How will you seek Him?
Who do you know who still needs to hear about and know the “unknown God”? How can you introduce them?
In Chapter 15 Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement and they end up parting ways. Paul ends up taking Silas and departing on Paul’s second missionary journey and goes back to Derbe and Lystra, where Paul had been stoned on his first missionary journey (read Monday’s devotion for the details on that). In Chapter 16 Paul and Silas revisit some of the cities of Turkey that Paul had previously visited and Paul is forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach in the rest of Asia (which includes the western part of Turkey). Paul is then visited in a vision by the Macedonian man. The man from Macedonia asks Paul to come over to Macedonia. Paul and Silas then immediately seek to go to Macedonia believing God called them to preach there.
In the city of Phillipi there was a slave girl, who had a spirit of divination. This spirit had caused the owners of the girl to profit by fortune telling. This spirit had caused her to follow Paul and Silas and cry out in a loud voice. Paul heals this girl. Her owners become angry because they can no longer profit off her fortune telling. They have Paul and Silas imprisoned.
Paul’s behavior in this chapter is definitely weird. Paul, a missionary to Gentiles, goes through all these Turkish towns, Gentile towns, and doesn’t preach the gospel to them. This is a man who won’t let a stoning stop him from preaching the Gospel but walks through all these cities without speaking a word. Paul was truly led, guided, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel. It says that in verse 7 that the spirit of Jesus didn’t let them preach in those regions.
The next extremely weird behavior in this chapter happens in this prison scene(v.25-40). Some of you may remember in Acts 5 when Peter is imprisoned and an angel opens the doors of the prison and sets him free. What happens to Paul and Silas is similar except for a couple of details. There is an earthquake that sets all the prisoners free but instead of leaving the prison Paul and Silas stay (v.26). Actually they do something even more radical than just staying in prison; they keep all the other prisoners from leaving the prison (v.28).
Pretend, you are imprisoned for preaching the gospel. Imprisoned with no privacy, no family and no wifi. Also you are imprisoned with people who have actually committed crimes. Probably not a low security facility either. I am talking about the type of crimes that make Law and Order. So, you survive the first day and there is an earthquake and you and all the prisoners can escape. You decide not to leave and also decide to keep all the actual criminals inside the prison as well. Does this sound like something you would do? No, me neither.
When the jailer awakes and sees all the doors open for the cells he pulls out his sword and is about to kill himself when Paul yells out that the prisoners were still there (v.27). Remember the jailer is the guy that is supposed to keep you in prison. The jailer killing himself means that you could leave. The jailer killing himself would be very advantageous to you, as someone in prison. The jailer was going to kill himself because that was the only honorable move for a Roman soldier after presumably losing all his prisoners.
Paul must have been completely and totally reliant on God’s spirit through this for leading, guidance, and power. Immediately after this Paul is given the opportunity to preach to the jailer and he and his family were baptized that night.
At many points during this Paul could have just escaped; he could have escaped right after the earthquake or let the jailer kill himself. Paul decided to stay in his prison cell. Even when it would have been easy for him to get out of that situation; Paul decided to stay where God had put him. He did this throughout his missionary journeys. Paul continually decides to stay where God wants him. Even when it is to his own physical harm or it could lead to his death he continually decides to stay.
If we decide to go with God we could end up in similar positions. Positions where harm to us is possible to us whether physical, or mental. We, like Paul, have to decide whether to stay where God puts us or is leading us or go our own way. Our own way is so much easier and is almost guaranteed to involve less pain (at least for the moment).
Paul stayed though. He stayed where God wanted him.
His reward … bringing a whole family to know God and His Son Jesus.
-Daniel Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Have you ever felt God wanted you to stay in a difficult situation? If you did stay, what were some positive blessings that came as a result – for you and/or others?
Why is the easy path not always the best?
After reading Acts 16, what are some adjectives you would use to describe Paul? Which of those adjectives could also be used to describe you? Which is not a strength for you, but something you would like to develop more? How so?
Acts 15 is a chapter of disagreements. Our first disagreement comes within the larger church and is about the rules for Gentiles regarding circumcision. Some of the church had been instructing new Gentiles to be circumcised and debate arose amongst the apostles and elders. Paul, Peter and James all make statements that are recorded in this chapter.
I’m going to bring up a couple of highlights from this chapter that may or may not be related. In verse 8 the marker that Peter uses that Gentiles are now welcome to the family of God is that the Gentiles recieved the Holy Spirit, the same way that the Jews did. The Holy Spirit being a marker for Gentiles is a significant statement about how critical the Holy Spirit is to Christianity. This statement shows that the apostles had a high view of the Holy Spirit.
At McGintytown we are currently revising our constitution. If any of you have been a part of one of these committees you know how much work it is. One of the questions that gets brought up is how much power should each individual person or group have over the church. Acts 15 is an interesting case study of this because of the scope of the decision being made. The decision the apostles and elders are making for Gentiles is going to affect ALL Gentiles. The apostles and elders are representing God for his people.
In verse 28 we have the reason provided for this decision. The apostles told the Gentiles that it seemed good to them and the Holy Spirit. If I were them I would want some sort of lighting bolt or some Gideon like signs or maybe having God rewind time like he did for Hezekiah. The apostles and elders feel good imposing only four rules on the Gentiles.
How could the apostles be so confident that they were doing what God wants? In Dallas Willard’s Hearing God he presents the idea that the same way that you may know what a friend or spouse or boss would want done in a situation, that as we progress in our spiritual lives, that we should know what God wants. This is why having a daily progressing relationship with God is so important. It is impossible to know what God would want if we don’t know God. This doesn’t mean God won’t continue to speak to us, it just means that we don’t need to be paralyzed by decisions. That is as long as you feel you know what God would want.
We encounter situations that the Bible doesn’t necessarily give us a direct command about. As long as we are spending time with God and have a sense of where he is leading us we don’t need to wait for some miraculous sign to make a decision. Being led by the spirit doesn’t mean having to pray what cereal to eat, what route to take to work or how to handle work decisions. We can lean in to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and proceed.
-Daniel Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
In this chapter, what can we learn about handling disagreements that arise in the church? Consider how they handled the question of circumcision as well as the debate over John also called Mark.
How do you tend to handle disagreements? What can you put into practice next time?
Would you consider yourself more Spirit led, or self led? What’s the difference? When making decisions and living your life, how important is it to you to be doing what God wants? How do you work at knowing what He wants?
Paul and Barnabas continue on their first missionary trip in Acts 14. They continue on land through modern day Turkey making stops in various cities through the region. Paul’s first missionary journey goes through the island of Cyprus and then goes to Turkey. Paul returns the same way that he came except he bypasses a stop at Cyprus on his way home.
In Iconium an attempt was made by some Gentiles and Jews to stone Paul and Barnabas, they fled for Lystra and this is where their lives start to get interesting. Paul and Barnabas are hailed as gods because they heal a crippled man. After Paul addresses them with a beautiful statement about the general revelation of God to the Gentiles in v.17, the people who had attempted to stone him in Iconium find him in Lystra.
The Jews from Iconium find Paul and drag him out of the city and stone him. We can’t really completely understand what it is like to be stoned while trying to preach the gospel. The experience of being hit with stones on your body and head from many people until they think there is no way you are alive is unfathomable for us. The purpose of a stoning was to kill a person. It is completely a miracle by the grace and love of God that Paul survived this attack.
Paul’s friends come to him. We must assume that this is hours after Paul is stoned and left for dead because if the Jews had seen his friends Paul’s friends probably would have been stoned. Paul endures this stoning more than likely by himself.
Paul’s legend grows here. After his friends gather around Paul he goes back into the city, where all the danger would have been. If you get beaten so badly that people think you are dead it would take a few days(probably weeks) to recover. The next day Paul goes to another city to preach the gospel. We see in this incident Paul living out Philippians 4.13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Paul demonstrates an enormous strength just continuing on the next day.
Paul’s example of strength and boldness didn’t stop here. Paul after preaching in Derbe returns to the city he was just stoned outside of to encourage those disciples. Then he goes to the city where the people who stoned him lived and strengthened the disciples there. Paul’s lack of regard for his own safety is by all measures of today reckless. Paul demonstrated that he found more value in strengthening his disciples than in his own safety. Paul believed that he could do and make it through whatever lies ahead because God’s spirit was strengthening him.
The first thing to take away from Paul in these incidents is Paul did not stop. I think too many people walk around setting artificial limits on themselves. We don’t face our problems thinking I have Christ in me and God’s spirit strengthening me. When problems arise my first thought is maybe I should take a break. There is power available in God’s spirit that lives within us (Acts 1.8).
The second take away from Paul in Acts 14 is courage. I think Paul’s courage came from his death to himself. Paul’s motto was to live is Christ and death is gain. When death is viewed as gain and you lack fear of it, being courageous is much simpler. For Paul’s own words on this subject read Philippians 1.18-26.
-Daniel Wall
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
What limiter are you putting on yourself that God didn’t put there?
Are you depending upon God’s spirit working in you for strength in your life?
In what areas of your life are you living for yourself and therefore lack courage?
Do you believe Paul was made of the same dust of the ground that you are?
Seek Grow Love 