Acts 18 details the cities that Paul visited on his way from Jerusalem to Greece and some of the highlights in those cities. While in Corinth Paul again has issues with the Jewish community there and instead finds a Gentile man named Titius Justus who was a worshiper of God. Paul also has a vision from the Lord saying,
“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (Acts 18:9,10)
I understand why Paul would need this encouragement with the number of cities that he had been thrown out of after annoying the local Jewish population with his message.
What I find interesting is the fact that Paul is the first missionary to set foot on the continent of Europe and just recently we read about the first convert in the area, yet even in this “heathen” land filled with idols and false gods God is working in people’s lives and has people who worship him. These people do not know the gospel and need to hear about Jesus desperately, but even without that knowledge they are seeking God and worshiping him. We see this today in many of the mission fields that we send people into. The people do not know about Christ, but it is obvious that God has been working in their community to prepare them to hear. This is why it is so important that we get out there and evangelize. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Then while traveling in Ephesus in modern day Turkey, Paul runs into a man named Apollos who was a Jew that knew his scriptures (Old Testament) thoroughly and knew only the message of John the Baptist. With only this information he was boldly speaking about Jesus and the fact that he was the son of God. He was off on some things, but he was on fire for God and was running with it.
These verses are encouraging because they show that you do not need to have everything figured out theologically in order to follow God. You don’t need a master’s degree or years of training for him to be working in your life. Now I do think that seeking truth should be an important part of any believer’s life, but all that is needed to get started with God is faith in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
-Chris Mattison
(Originally posted Feb 27, 2019 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection & Application:
If you heard the Lord speak to you in a vision do you think he would say, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent” or “Do not be afraid; START speaking, do not be silent” or something else?
Like Apollos, who didn’t first know the whole story, how has your understanding and knowledge grown? What and who has helped you in this area?
How, where, when and to whom do you think God wants you to share what you know about Him, His Son and His plan of salvation?
Today we had several scriptures on our journey to read through the Bible in a year. The ones that resonated in my heart were from Leviticus 22 and 23. Chapter 22 talks a lot about sacrifices, being clean for them and what you are able to sacrifice. What comes to mind for me at first is that God wants our best. He lays out the things that need to be done in order to come before Him.
The scripture also tells us what can be sacrificed – and what can not be sacrificed. It says in 22:19 & 20 “you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.” This makes me think of when I buy fruit or veggies at the grocery store, I stand in front of the strawberries looking for the best container I can get, no mold, nice and red, not soft and squishy, the best. God wants our best, unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to give him our best. We work or go to school all day, do homework, laundry, cook dinner…and the list goes on and on. The beauty of this is that Jesus died for us, we don’t have to be perfect to come to God. We just need to be children of God, have a relationship with Him, love Him and then love others. We should try to give Him our best, but we will fail (at least I do) and that is okay. We just need to keep trying.
Leviticus 23 talks about Festivals. The thing that stuck out to me was verse 3 “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.” During each of the festivals mentioned rest is a big part of it. Making sure you take the sabbath day to rest. The rest He is speaking about is not a nap. Although I love naps, and I think they are a great thing to do, He is speaking about resting in Him. Spend time with God. I will be honest with you; this is something that I need to work on. First,I need to slow down and rest, but most importantly, I need to rest in Him. Taking some time to stop your day to give your brain a break is great but are you giving Him your time?
Yesterday, I said I was going to skip over the Paul stuff, but we’re actually going to look at parts of his story today. There’s a theme in Paul’s story that I think is often overlooked but continues through with today’s story in Acts. I want to end my week of writing for you with a note on accepting others.
Ever since I was little, and heard the story of Paul, I’ve been struck by the seemingly minor character Ananias. It is important to note, the Ananias in Paul’s story is different from the guy in Acts 5. Not much is known about him through scripture and he is not mentioned anywhere else besides in association with Paul. I’ve always felt like he got very little credit for the role he played. God performs a tremendous miracle through him in restoring Paul’s sight. Ananias must have been a man full of compassion and courage. God tells him to go seek a man who has been persecuting people with Ananias’ beliefs. Never forget, the people in the Bible have free-will. Ananias could have said no. And, if not for God asking him to go, I’d say Ananias had every right to refuse – after all, Saul wanted to kill him (Acts 9:1). Even so, Ananias had compassion on Saul. Sought him out, healed him, and loved him. Much like Jesus does with us.
Barnabas is a more well known member of the early church in Acts. If I’m being honest, my interest in this character does stem from the fact my grandmother, Gayle Ross, named a cat after him. He was my favorite cat, next to the orange tabby named Buster, whom Barnabas (the cat) coincidentally reminded my grandma of so much she got the cat’s name officially changed to Barnabuster several years later. Alas, my curiosity over his namesake led to a love for this character. Again, like Ananias, Barnabas had to be a pretty compassionate and courageous person. When Saul initially arrived in Jerusalem as a changed man, many church members were afraid of him. Once Barnabas befriended him, he took him along to meet the apostles. It was then people started to take Saul’s change of heart seriously. Barnabas took Paul under his wing, encouraged him, and supported him. Not only is this Christ-like but also something Jesus commands us to do in his teachings.
Ananias’ and Barnabas’ attitude of acceptance matches that of Peter’s in chapter 10. There are incredible connotations for Peter’s actions in visiting and eating with Cornelius. These will be further discussed in chapter 11. For now, it’s important to note there was a division between Gentiles and Jews and thus between Gentile believers and Jewish believers. Peter starts to break down this barrier with his actions in Acts 10. He even tells Cornelius “I’m a human being just like you!” (verse 26 NLT) Peter is displaying love and acceptance just as his predecessor once showed a stinky, rowdy, uneducated fisherman.
There are some Christians who have been complaining about the Super Bowl’s He Gets Us commercials. I understand some of their arguments. Perhaps the ads give off a Jesus that is accepting of sin or tolerant of sinful lifestyles. However, I think these critics might be missing the point. I think the purpose of these ads were to show the side of Jesus that is sadly overlooked in mainstream culture today. The Jesus that ate with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus’ change of heart occurs AFTER his visit with Jesus, not before. Jesus doesn’t wait for Zacchaeus to be ready for him. He eats with this lying cheating tax collector despite his sordid reputation. In doing so, Zacchaeus is changed after experiencing the Savior’s mercy. Jesus was not accepting of Zacchaeus’ lifestyle, but he did accept Zacchaeus as a man and saw him as someone worth sharing a meal.
It is so easy to forget that while we are called to not be of this world, we are called to still live in it. This means loving the people who love the world. Who disagree with us. Now, trust me, loving is not the same as tolerating or condoning unrighteous behavior. Having said that, here’s something I have learned from my work with kids. It is so much easier to discipline once you have built a loving relationship. We need not accept sin, but we should be accepting of the sinner. It is through our example and how we treat people Jesus will be made known to the world. What sort of Jesus do you want to preach? A judgmental king or the bridge between a holy God and an unholy people.
Notes on Leviticus 12 and 13: As someone who firmly believes in the teachings in Galatians 3:28 I was perplexed to read about differences in the purification process for women after delivering a baby. Should a woman deliver a boy, she had to wait 33 days until she could be declared ceremonially clean from the bleeding of childbirth. If she delivered a girl, she would have to wait 66 days. I found an interesting and reasonable commentary on why there was a difference. Basically, the reason a woman had to wait twice as long was because she was not only waiting for herself to be purified, but the second waiting period was symbolic of her daughter’s purification period for her future menstrual cycle and childbirth bleeding. It’s not so much God is being unfair in demanding a longer waiting period. Rather, this was a way of honoring the importance of a woman’s role in Israelite culture to bring children into the world by having her mother account for a purification process on her behalf. Another thing I found interesting was the rules for skin diseases. Turns out, the same protocol the priests used is the same daycares use when it comes to Hand Foot and Mouth disease. If the sore is open, oozing and bleeding, it’s unclean and the child must be sent home. If the sore is closed up with a remaining scab, the child is good to remain at school.
-Emilee Ross
Reflection Questions
Who has been accepting of you? What can you learn from them? From Ananias? Barnabas? Peter? Cornelius? Jesus?
What sort of Jesus do you want to preach? A judgmental king or the bridge between a holy God and an unholy people.
Did you read Psalm 37 every day this week? What can be learned, remembered and treasured from this Psalm?
Today’s reading in Acts is the conversion of the Apostle Paul, once called Saul. This is a huge moment for the church. This man once persecuted Christians. Remember, he was there nodding in agreement when they stoned Stephen to death. After His encounter with Jesus, he became a servant to the Gospel. He wrote many books in the New Testament and was instrumental in spreading Christianity to the Gentiles. He is an important figure. However, I’m not going to focus on him today. I felt a little guilty about skipping over his story, but I’m reasoning most of us know Paul. Paul’s been taught many times to us and will be many times again. Instead, I want to share some insight I gained after doing a word study years ago on a verse in Psalms 37.
Psalms 37:23-24 says, “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall.” (NLT) In the English language, the words “stumble” and “fall” mean the same thing. A look at the original Hebrew text for this verse reveals something different.
The Hebrew word used for the term “stumble” in verse 24 is the word “Qual” meaning to fall or lie down. The Hebrew word for the term “fall” in verse 24 is the verb “Hofal” which means to pitch, reel, cast down. In fact, the word Hofal is used throughout the Old Testament to describe objects being thrown. A more literal translation for this verse is: “Though they [the godly] fall, they will not be thrown out.” Or in other words, “down but not out!”
Understanding this verse in its original language reveals God’s amazing grace. Even when we struggle, even when we fall, God has not abandoned us.
We will make mistakes. We will sin. Earlier this week we read Leviticus 4 and 5 which gave instructions on the proper sacrificial offerings for unintentional sins. Sometimes our sin is not always deliberate. Sin can be the result of a broken heart.
Several years ago, I went through a very difficult breakup. I was mad at God. Mad at myself. Mad at the boy. In my anger, I threw a tantrum.
I witness tantrums on a daily basis. Let me tell you, there is a difference when a young child throws a tantrum and when a young child is deliberately disobedient.
When a young child throws a tantrum it is in anger because something did not go his or her way. In the early years of development, children are still learning how to handle big emotions. Instead of quietly moping or dealing with it, children whine, scream, throw themselves on the floor, talk back, run, hit friends, hit you, throw things. Literally ANYTHING to make it clear they are unhappy with you and the situation, while at the same time trying desperately to get your attention because they still need your affection. As mad as they are at you, they don’t want to be left alone.
During that period of my life, I fell, and I fell hard. Though I never walked completely away from God, I definitely ran around on fire screaming at God but refusing to jump into the refreshing pool of living water that could heal me. I took the long road towards healing. While it may have made me a more understanding teacher, I definitely would not recommend.
Once I was ready to properly deal with my disappointment and work through things with God, it took me twice as long to recover. I had to deal with the breakup and deal with the damage I caused while being angry with God. Thankfully, amazingly, God does not leave us. He does not cast us out. Though we may sin, struggle, fall along His righteous path, He does not throw us away. Our freedom to continue along His righteous path is bought with the precious blood of His son. In the words of Dr. Joe Martin “Hallelujah! Praise God! Amen!” *slam a table or wall*
-Emilee Ross
Reflection Questions
This Psalm was written by David. What did he know about the godly stumbling? What could a full fall (or throwing out) have looked like for David? How was God holding his hand?
When have you stumbled? Did you throw a tantrum? What could have a full fall (or throwing out) looked like in your situation? How was God holding your hand?
What characteristics of God make Him really good at holding the hands of the godly, even when they stumble. What role does Jesus play? Be thankful!
Almost the entirety of Act 7 is Stephen’s response to the charges brought against him from our previous reading. Stephen gives a beautiful sermon, outlining the history of the Israelite people. His sermon shows how time after time, the Israelites were unfaithful and persecuted the prophets. He asks the leaders of the high council when they will stop resisting the truth. Stephen forms a sound argument with the tools of a great orator utilizing ethos, logos and pathos. However, I want to just focus on one small line today.
Stephen retells the story of when Moses went to Mount Sinai and the Isrealites rebelled. He says the Israelites, “made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed and celebrated over this thing they had made.” (Acts 7:41 NLT). Celebrated this thing they had made. That caught my attention.
How often do we get carried away with our own success? How often do we put value in material things? How often do we forget Christ’s words to seek first the Kingdom of God? (Matt 6:33). We live in an age where knowledge, entertainment, and relationships are literally at our fingertips. Not to sound like a broken record, but it is so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives, the things we can make, things we can buy. God needs to be made a priority in our lives. He is someone we need to communicate with daily, thank and praise. Otherwise, we run the risk of celebrating over the things we have made and turning those things into idols.
These things may not be physical. They also may not always be bad or wrong. Sometimes the thing we are trying to make is a dream or notion of something. Maybe a job promotion, an engagement, a family. It’s when these desires become our only focus a problem occurs. The Greek term used in Stephen’s statement is the word euphrainó which literally means to “cheer, make merry.” Our happiness should not be placed solely in these things.
The Israelites made the golden calf when Moses went to talk to God at Mount Sinai. Moses was their leader and connection to God. Suddenly, to the Israelites, God felt distant. It is then they began to see what joy they could offer themselves and celebrate with their own idols. Sometimes, God may feel distant. At times we may face periods of loneliness, sadness, even anger. When this happens, we MUST heed the words in Psalms 37:4 “Take delight in the LORD.”
The rest of that verse in Psalms offers us a promise: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” I am not saying God always answers prayers for those who put their true delight in following Him. He does not. I know many godly people who have given their lives in faithfulness to Him and still face difficulty and unanswered prayers. However, I do sincerely believe when we start to delight in the LORD, when we celebrate Him, something in our hearts begins to change. We still have dreams and goals, but our heart’s desire becomes wanting a true connection with God, a deep relationship with our creator, the one who gave us those very dreams we have.
Several times in my life I have felt defeated, lost, and alone. I have had to grieve lost dreams, goals, relationships. I’ve had to mourn a life I imagined for myself. The lyrics to Phil Stacey’s song “You’re Not Shaken” describes this feeling of helplessness perfectly: “When every little thing that I have dreamed would be/ Just slips away like water through my hand.” That’s what brokenness can feel like at times. Like reaching out your hand and trying to cling to something that isn’t there. In these moments it’s imperative we take our delight in the LORD. Slowly, He will fix our gaze on something better than what we had lost. Even when that thing we lost was good.
What in your life have you made (or are trying hard to make), but in the process you have celebrated it so much, and raised its priority above seeking God’s Kingdom, that it has gained idol status?
When have you felt God was distant?
What does it look like for you to “Take delight in the Lord”? Is this a priority to you? How could you do it more often or more deeply?
Today, we’re going to take a break from Psalms 37 and focus on our passage in Acts. Though a short chapter, two very important events take place in chapter 6. To set the stage, here’s a quick mini review of Acts so far.
Acts 1 – Jesus leaves the apostles and Matthias is chosen to replace Judas of Iscariot. Acts 2- Holy Spirit comes, pentecost. Acts 3 – Peter heals a beggar and preaches in the temple.
Acts 4 – Leading priests and elders get mad. Peter, John, and believers began to worry about oppression but pray for courage and continue preaching. Believers begin to unite in one heart and mind, caring for each other by acting as generous givers.
Acts 5 – Ananias and Sapphira lie about being generous givers and are struck dead. The apostles heal many people. More officials get mad at apostles and arrest them. An angel of the Lord sets them free and they continue preaching.
In Acts 6 we see the church has grown and the apostles feel overwhelmed with responsibility. So, like all great leaders, the apostles delegate. Seven men are chosen to be in charge of caring for widows, food distribution, and other administrative duties. This enables the apostles, those who had lived with Jesus and witnessed his resurrection, to continue their preaching and teaching.
I love this story because it shows how all people are useful within the church. Not everyone is meant to be a preacher. Not everyone has a surplus of money to donate to the church. Not one role is more important than the other. This is where we start to see the church operating as a body.
As a little girl I was always in awe of my Aunt Christy. I got to really see her at work when she took over directing Minnesota State Youth Camp. My first camp job was making sure my cousin, her toddler son, “stayed out of the lake” as his parents put it. During that time of babysitting my cousin, I saw a lot of the behind the scenes work Christy did. I was impressed. There is a lot more that goes into running a camp than one might think. I told her how she was so good at her job and she laughed in humility. Then she told me something I’ve never forgotten. She said the secret to being a good leader is finding the things other people are good at and putting them in charge of those things. In Acts 6 that is exactly what happens for the early church.
Sometimes I think we are too harsh on ourselves. We compare ourselves to others and guilt ourselves for not serving like them. The thing is we all have different roles to play. We need not feel bad about our role. It takes all sorts of people to run a church efficiently. We are given this example in Acts 6.
The second important event in Acts 6 is Stephen’s arrest. His arrest leads to his death in Acts 7. This is significant as it is the first recorded execution of someone preaching the Gospel in Jesus’ name. Present at Stephen’s execution is the first time we see the man Saul who would later become Paul the Apostle. Before he is stoned to death, Stephen delivers a beautiful sermon. One line in particular stood out to me but we will look at that tomorrow. For now, I encourage you to find ways to serve within your church community, using your unique God-given gifts.
-Emilee Ross
Reflection Questions
What God-given gifts have you been given?
How can you use those to serve within your church community?
Is there a job you have been doing for the church that might be good to share with someone else?
What benefits are there to giving responsibilities to others?
Yesterday I touched on how one remedy for financial insecurity is to look to the future promises of prosperity for those who put their faith in the LORD. Our understanding of this future is to be the Kingdom of God. Psalms 37 also talks about how God helps his people in the here and now. We saw this briefly at the end of Acts 4. Today, we are going to discuss generous givers.
The church can be a very generous place. The example of pooling resources and caring for each other is set for us by the early church. It is discussed also in Psalm 37: “The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers” (verse 21 NLT). Having grown up in the church, I have heard many many stories of how God uses generous givers to care for and look after His people. I have been the recipient of such generosity several times in my life. Just last week, my sister-in-law surprised me by sending me money for my expensive prescription. We were at a birthday party and I was telling her of all the craziness it had been trying to track down this medication at a price I could attempt to afford. As we left the party, I looked at my phone and saw a notification. She had sent me the exact price for the prescription. I insisted she did not have to do that. She said “I know, but I felt like I should.” She felt God nudging her, and listened to the call. I have also tried, with my limited resources, to be generous to others. For example, before inflation got crazy and my dog got fat–needing a pricey special diet, I used to save $10 of every paycheck to give to my younger sister in college.
My grandparents, Scott and Gayle Ross, are the two most generous people I know. Psalms 37:26 reminds me of them: “The godly give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.” My grandparents are generous with more than just money, but their time, wisdom, love, home, and coffee. One Saturday morning I was dropping my dog off to stay with them as I had a long day of dance classes to teach. I remember frantically calling them to ask if they could prepare a to-go cup of coffee as I hadn’t time to make or get any before class. I rushed into their house, dropped off my dog, grabbed the coffee and hugged them both saying if there was one thing I can count on my grandparents for, it’s free coffee and free babysitting. Many times have my grandparents also been on the receiving end of generous givers. It is an endless beautiful cycle of generosity God has set for his people.
The generosity in Psalms 37 contrasts dramatically with the story of Ananias and Sapphira we read in Acts 5. It is important to note what Ananias and Sapphira’s sin was. This story is not meant to scare people into giving money to the church. Peter states, “The property was yours to sell or not to sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away.” (verse 4 NLT). Ananais and Sapphira’s sin was that they lied about how much money they were giving. The pair tried to elevate themselves and produce their own reward by gaining status in the church for being generous givers while still retaining some wealth. This is the opposite of what is described in Psalms 37:37, “Look at those who are honest and good for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.” It was not a lack of giving that caused God’s wrath on Ananias and Sapphira, but a lack of honesty.
Not everyone all the time can afford to be generous givers monetarily, but there are always ways we can be generous with each other. This could be donating our time and talents to the church, which we will look at more tomorrow. For now, I encourage you to reflect on the generous givers in your life, thank God for them, and ask God if there are ways in which you can be generous to others.
Special Note on Leviticus 2: In the instructions for grain offering it is listed that the bread be made without yeast. While this could be symbolic of the first passover, when the Israelites had to leave Egypt quickly and did not have time to put yeast in their bread, there is also a practical reason to leave out yeast. A bread that does not have yeast will last longer. Leviticus 2:10 explains how the remaining grain offering will be given to the priests as their food. Making this bread without yeast preserves it longer for the priests to consume. That is also why in Leviticus 2:13 God instructs his people to never leave salt from a grain offering, as salt is a preservative. The priests did not have regular jobs or land to farm. Their source of food came from the portion of the people’s offerings God allowed. In God’s infinite wisdom he instructs these offerings only be made in a way that ensures quality. How cool is that!
-Emilee Ross
Reflection Questions
Who are some of the most generous people in your life? How have you seen them give? How can you thank them for their generosity?
When did you generously give? How did it feel?
What do you have to give right now? Who would you like to give to?
I am struck by the stark contrast of the priests of God in our reading today. In Exodus we are shown the beginning of the priesthood. The LORD sets apart Aaron and his sons. They were called, consecrated and ordained to serve Him. These men were anointed to serve the Lord and their anointing was to be a priesthood that could have continued “throughout their generations.”
But as we travel forward through the centuries to the time of Christ in Matthew 26, we see the high priest, chief priests and elders scheming to secretly arrest and kill Jesus. They are counting out the 30 pieces of silver to be given to his betrayer. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence to condemn Jesus to death. Rather than leading his people in the observance and the true meaning of Passover the high priest is interrogating Jesus. The high priest commands, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus replied, “You have said so. But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This truthful statement is met with the high priest tearing his clothes and pronouncing Jesus as a blasphemer. The leaders declare that he is worthy of death. They even go as far as slapping him, striking him with their fists, mocking him, and spitting in his face. How could these religious leaders fall so far from God? They were prideful of their positions and were so filled with jealousy, and hatred that they could not recognize the Son of God.
But praise God that we know our Lord Jesus is the Son of God and we know that God called him to serve as our High Priest. The book of Hebrews explains, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”(Hebrews 4:14) As Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice, we should offer our lives to God. We will follow the example of our High Priest, Jesus Christ so we may be known as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession.”
-Rebecca Dauksas
Reflection Questions
What was the job of the priests, and specifically the high priest?
How is Jesus the perfect high priest?
In what ways can you now serve as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession?
I have never had a baby. Shocker, I know! As a male member of the human race the act of childbirth has and will forever elude my lived experience. However, as a father of eleven Fletchers, I have spent many years of my adult life in the company of pregnant women, or more precisely, a pregnant woman. I was there for all eleven births and I caught most of them (the last one came so quickly that I caught him solo). All this is to offer to you my credentials that, although never directly experiencing labor, I have been present for enough births to recognize the various stages that women go through in childbirth. Fun fact, for women who have more than one baby the Braxton Hicks contractions (otherwise known as false labor) can come several weeks or even months before the baby is actually born. Braxton Hicks contractions are one way that the body prepares itself for labor. It’s like an athlete doing warm up exercises before the actual event. Muscles tighten and relax as they practice for the real thing when it comes.
Today’s devotion isn’t really about childbirth, it’s about being prepared for the return of Jesus Christ, the end of this present age and the preparation for the age to come, the Kingdom of God. Matthew 24 is known as the “little apocalypse”. Apocalypse is another term for Revelation. In the Bible the book of Revelation is 22 chapters long and goes into a lot of detail about the end of this age and the coming of Jesus. Matthew 24 is a condensed version, kind of a mini-sermon Jesus preached to his followers shortly before he went to the cross. (You will run across parallel or “synoptic” passages when we get to Mark 13 and Luke 21).
Jesus’ purpose here is to prepare his followers to be ready for times of great tribulation or distress that would come immediately prior to his return. If you’ve ever read or heard a sermon about the apocalypse or the end of the world or Armageddon you probably are aware that Jesus warned that before things get amazingly better- ie. The New Heavens and the New Earth, Christ returning to rule over all the world bringing a final end to all sin and death and setting free the whole earth from the “curse” of death… before things get amazingly better, there will be a time when they become incredibly hard.
A brief study of the history of the Church for the last 2000 years will show that Christians have gone through hard times a lot. In the first 2 centuries the problem was the Roman Empire. Followers of Jesus were often told that they had to renounce their loyalty to Jesus and declare their loyalty to Caesar alone. When they refused, some of them were thrown to the lions or burned at the stake.
Since Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire it has faced challenges in many parts of the world at different times. In the 17th century Christian missionaries in Japan were killed for their faith. In the 1930’s Christians in Germany who failed to support Hitler faced severe persecution and some, most notably Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were executed for resisting Nazism. Christians in Communist China and the Soviet Union experienced incredible persecution during most of the 20th century. There are places in the Islamic world today where Christians who attempt to proselytize Muslims face the threat of execution.
Every generation of Christians since the first century could look at what was happening in the world and see the potential for the end of the world. Jesus’ own disciples asked him right after his resurrection, before he ascended to God, “Is it NOW, Lord?” (Acts 1:6).
2020 was a really challenging year with Covid, racial division, murder hornets, wildfires and hurricanes. I had a lot of people asking me if I thought the end of the world was coming. Perhaps you’ve wondered that yourselves.
Matthew 24 is a great place to go when you start wondering if this is the end. Like a woman who is going to have a baby, she may have “birth pangs” for a long time before the baby is actually ready to be born. The same is true with the coming Kingdom of God. I think every generation of Christians experience some amount of persecution or “natural” disasters or other tragedies that leave them wondering if the end could be near. Just as Braxton Hicks contractions are God’s way of preparing a woman to give birth by having her muscles practice for the big event, God permits every generation to experience a certain amount of trials and tribulations to help prepare God’s people for the final “great push” that will occur right before Jesus returns.
Jesus himself said that no one knows exactly when he will return. He said that even he doesn’t know. That is something that only God knows. What Jesus does say to his disciples then and to us today is that we need to stay ready, we shouldn’t fall asleep in our faith. He warns that as troubles and persecution increase and as the world becomes a less loving and more violent place that many of his followers would fall away:
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-12).
Jesus might come very soon. I can’t predict when. All I can do is make sure that I’m ready whenever he does come. I must make sure that I stay faithful and don’t turn away even if the persecution gets really bad. I think Christians living in the United States are getting ready to face some real persecution in the near future. In fact, I think we already are. There is a lot of pressure to conform to the changing norms of society. Cancel culture will not have any respect for Christianity. Some of the things that the Bible teaches about how we are supposed to live, particularly in areas of morality, sexuality and gender norms are considered anathema by the current progressive climate. As people place more value on becoming “woke” more followers of Jesus, young and old will be persecuted if they fail to change their values. Remember, Caesar doesn’t like to be rejected as God, neither does the devil, and neither do the progressive elites. In the wake of the coming persecution Jesus our Lord tells us to “stand firm.”
-Pastor Jeff Fletcher
(originally posted January 24, 2021 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
Make a list of what Jesus warns us of in Matthew 24. How does it help to know what to expect?
How can you guard against the deception of false christs and false prophets?
Have you already seen a bit of the increase of wickedness and the love of most growing cold? Has it affected you personally? What temperature is your love?
What can you do today to help prepare yourself to stand firm to the end? What can you do today to help prepare others to stand firm to the end?
Today’s reading of Exodus 19 & 20 is probably one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible for it includes the Ten Commandments. It is important to understand the context of these commandments. God entered into a covenantal relationship with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. God promised to bless and provide for his people and in exchange His people promised to be faithful and obedient to God and worship God alone.
After 400 years of slavery, Israel has grown from 12 sons and their immediate family to millions of people. These people, God’s covenant people, will be settling in a land where they will need to live in community. They are no longer slaves. They are now responsible to live in that community in peace and productivity. They need help to know how to live together. God provides His people with the structure of how to live together as God’s people. The Ten Commandments and subsequently nearly 600 additional laws were all designed to help them be healthy and blessed representatives of God to the rest of the world.
God loves all people. We must never falsely believe that God only loves certain people. God considers all human beings His children and loves them all. God wants to be in a right relationship with all of his children; however, many are disobedient and have no willingness to be in a relationship with God and many deny that God even exists.
So God needed to start with one group of people and prepare them to be a special, chosen people who would bring the knowledge of God to others. Exodus 19:5-6 says, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A priest is one who helps connect people and God. God would go on to designate priests in Israel to help the people connect with God, but His expectation for Israel was that the whole nation serve as priests to help other nations connect with God. Because the whole nation was being set apart by God to be priests for the world, they needed to live holy or set apart lives. There were behavioral expectations that they were to follow. They had to be exclusively loyal to God, they could not murder, steal, lie, cheat, they were to be respectful and honoring of parents and not misuse God’s name.
Now we are completing what God began in Israel. Through Christ we have entered into a covenant with God. We are now the covenant people, we are called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. That is the Church’s role. And God expects us to live lives of holiness as we are set apart to serve God. As you read through the many laws in the Old Testament, recognize that some applied very narrowly to the Nation of Israel and do not necessarily apply to us. Dietary laws and sanitary laws were important in Israel at the time they were given but are no longer applicable. However, some of the laws which pertain to morality have been reaffirmed by Jesus Christ for the Church. In other words, as Christians we are free to eat pork and worship on Sundays, but we are not free to practice polygamy or murder.
God is truly a God of grace and mercy, but God is also a God who hates sin and punishes sin. In this way we are still to live in fear of the Lord: Exodus 20:20 “the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Jeff Fletcher
(originally posted Feb 5, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
Looking at each one of the Ten Commandments, what can you learn about God? Why do you think He included each one in this list?
Which of these commandments do you need to look at more closely in your own life? What will help you abide by them better?
Looking at Matthew 23, the scribes and Pharisees Jesus was speaking about had worked hard at following the Ten (and additional commandments). But Jesus was not pleased. What were their problems? How can you avoid these problems?
Seek Grow Love 