Day Sixty-Five

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 13:42-52

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

I recently went on a trip to Uganda with a group from the church my parents belong to. Sometime after this trip we fed back about our trip to the church. When you feedback from a trip like this it can be difficult to know what to say. So much has happened that it can be hard to decide what to include and what to miss out, what to focus on and what to skip over. You can, in fact, perhaps tell quite a bit about a person by their selection in this regard.

For example, whenever I tell people about my trip I always make sure that I get in the fact that I taught at a Bible college. I think this is because this was an opportunity I could not believe I had been given! To be asked to do it was affirming of the longer-term direction I would like to go in and was one of the biggest privileges of my life.

If anyone looks like they are up for listening for a bit longer, I then make sure I get in the story about staying overnight at a safari park and waking up to a grunting and munching sound. My roommate and I got up and rushed to the window to see two massive hippos about a metre away! If we had been bolder (/more stupid!) we could have reached out of the window and touched one of them, it was that close!!! I have always, somewhat bizarrely, been a massive fan of hippos so this was a life highlight for me!

John Stott (this week’s commentator of choice!) argues that although Luke sketches the full itinerary of their trip the three incidences he highlights specifically demonstrate Paul’s versatility. He seems ‘equally at ease with individuals and crowds, Jews and Gentiles, the religious and the irreligious, the educated and uneducated, the friendly and the hostile.’[1]

• Do you feel equally at ease with a wide range of people or are there some you find it difficult to be around? If the latter, does this matter? If so how could we grow more like Paul in this?

If you have a bit longer :-)

Write out in the space below a Luke-style summary of the last year of your life. What do you include and why? (I realise that I asked this a couple of weeks ago but I thought if I did it again and this time with a box to write in we might feel more inclined to give it a go!)

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[1] John Stott, “Acts,” pg. 225.

Day Sixty-Four

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 13:26-41

26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. 32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ 34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ 35 So it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ 36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. 38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: 41 “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

Regarding this speech, John Stott argues that: ‘Luke is evidently anxious to demonstrate that Paul’s message to the Jews was substantially the same as Peter’s.’[1]

• Do you agree with him? If so, why might Luke be keen to do so?
• Reread Paul’s whole speech and imagine you are a Jew listening to it. How do you think you would have responded?

If you have a bit longer :-)

Here Paul is speaking to people living in Galatia.[1] In his letter to the Galatians we discover that he was sick at this time. It is not clear exactly what his illness was but clearly it affected his eyes (Gal. 4:15). Further there is the suggestion that it was highly unpleasant as people could have been tempted to mock him (Gal. 4:14). Elsewhere in Acts it is clear, however, that God used Paul to perform many miracles (e.g. Acts 19:11).

• Why then does God not heal Paul now? Is there anything we can learn from this?
• How do you think you would have felt if you were Paul and God was using you in incredibly powerful ways and yet you were painfully sick? Have you had experiences like that? If so, how did you respond?

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[1] John Stott, “Acts,” pg. 225.

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[1] John Stott, “Acts,” pg. 222.

Day Sixty-Three

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 13:13-25

13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.” 16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ 

Since Judaism and Christianity are now separate religions, it is easy to assume that the early Christians viewed themselves as breaking off from their Jewish past – a bit like in the manner shown below:

However, when we examine the speeches that the early Christians made amongst their fellow Jews, it is clear that in their mind it was the other way around!

This is not to say that what God did through Jesus was not different from what he had done before – it was! However, from the early Christian’s perspectives, it was fully in line with all that had come before it. To their minds, they were the ones who had tracked with what God was now doing and, in particular, the way he had fulfilled the promises found within the Old Testament. The Jews who would not acknowledge their true Messiah were the ones who had gone off on a tangent!

It is Messiah language that is very much at the heart of Paul’s summary of the Old Testament – particular in the section we’ll read tomorrow. “Jesus is the one you have been waiting for!” Is the overarching proclamation. And he is a Messiah who fulfils all that has gone before him.

• Reread this part of Paul’s speech. Are you familiar with the stages in Israel’s history that he describes? If not, maybe it would be worth doing a bit of research and finding out more about them.

If you have a bit longer :-)

• Why do you think John Mark left them at this point? Why do you think Paul was so upset by it? (We are not told at this point that he is upset but what follows in Acts 15 demonstrates that clearly he was.)

Day Sixty-Two

If you have  5 minutes!

Read Acts 13:4-12, Genesis 50:20 & Romans 8:28

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

(Joseph speaking to his brothers) “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Here we have a conflict between God’s agents and a man presumably led by something more sinister. God is triumphant and even uses the opposition against him to lead someone closer to him.

• What opposition do you think there is against you at the moment?
• Can you see any ways in which God might use this opposition for good?
• Do you think you would ever be as bold as Paul was in this situation?
• Is there any particular significance to the fact that God caused Bar-Jesus to go blind for a time, as opposed to some other ailment?
• Do you think there could be times today when God might lead someone to call down a physical infliction on someone else?

If you have a bit longer :-)

John Stott notes that they might have gone first to Cyprus because that is where Barnabas was from.[1] What do you think? In other words, how much do you think Paul and Barnabas went to places because they specifically heard the Holy Spirit direct them there and how much do you think they decided through their own human (but God-given!) reasoning and wisdom? Are these two things mutually exclusive? If not, how might they have worked together for Saul and Barnabas? How might they work together in our lives today?

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[1] John Stott, “Acts,” pg. 218.

Day Sixty-One

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 13:1-3

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

There was a period of time over the recent Bible Overview Course when we were meeting in King’s Church and in the room next door was the Lent Prophetic Course run by Sally Ann. We were chatting beforehand one week when Sally Ann commented on how appropriate it was that Bible and prophetic courses should be running in adjacent rooms and joked that we just needed to get rid of the wall! I agreed; the Bible and prophecy need to go hand-in-hand.

It is not clear here whether the five men listed were all “prophets and teachers” or whether some were one and some the other. It is noteworthy, however, that the two functions are listed together. What is also noteworthy is the diversity amongst those listed. Two are from North Africa, Simeon and Lucius – the first of whom could conceivably be the Simon who carried Jesus’ cross.[1] There is Saul, the Pharisee, who was from Tarsus in what is now southern Turkey. There is Barnabas the Levite from Cyprus (4:36) and then Manaen a close childhood friend of Herod’s![2]

• What is prophecy?[1]
• Why is it important that the Bible and prophecy go together (if, indeed, you agree that they should)?
•  Is there any significance to the fact that one of Herod’s childhood companions is listed in this group?

If you have a bit longer :-)

When I read in the Bible about God speaking to someone, I often find myself wondering what that experience was like. Was it an audible voice? Was it an instantaneous unshakable conviction? Or was it more like the way I believe he often speaks to me? A growing conviction over time or a gentle nudge inside their heads, which they think is God but might not be?!

Well, as is usually the case in the Bible, we are not told. We just know that he did!

•  Do you believe that God speaks to you? If so in what ways?
• When we believe that we have heard from God, how do we know if it is him speaking or not? What degree of certainty should we have before acting on what we we’ve heard?
• How can we help one another in this?

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[1] The definition of the Greek word, profeteia, is: “discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.” From Accordance, an NT computer programme.

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[1] John Stott, “Acts,” pg. 218.

[2] “Brought up with Herod” in the TNIV does not fully indicate the closeness of the Greek word used (suntrofos), which means something like, childhood companion.