Devotionary

It seems that we’re going to have to continue our battle with the vocal chords today. I apologize in advance, but hope you’ll be able to weather the storm with me as we make our way through Acts 9:1-9. This passage contains the familiar story of Saul’s conversion. It’s often referred to as his Damascus road experience. It is a story that will be repeated over and over again in the Book of Acts, and, over the centuries, its retelling among believers, has made this man the poster boy for evangelism. But what’s fascinating about this account is that there were no witnesses, no apostles, or no other believers to share the good news of Jesus Christ with Saul. Unlike the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul had no Philip to who shared the gospel with him. No, in this case, Saul was met by Jesus Himself. He had a face-to-face, up-close-and-personal encounter with the resurrected Lord. So much about this story comes across as illogical, not just unusual. Here was Jesus, who had returned to His Father’s side in heaven, making a per

Today’s passage, Acts 8:26-40, brings us to the well-known encounter between Philip and a man referred to as an Ethiopian eunuch. This quintessential evangelism story is one with which most of us are very familiar. It is often used as a model for sharing the gospel. It’s also set up as an example of a divine appointment, one of those seemingly chance encounters in life that are actually the handiwork of God. But there is far more to this story than simply one man sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to another. Luke, in recording his historical narrative, to an audience that is primarily Gentile in nature, is methodically and purposefully illustrating how God was orchestrating the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. This most certainly was a divine appointment. But it reveals far more, as we see that the details regarding this man’s identity speak of the all-inclusive nature of the good news. It was open to any and all, regardless of the color of their skin, their country of origin, their physical

One of the greatest barriers the gospel faced in the early days of the church was the spirit of animosity that existed between the Jews and all those they considered Gentiles, or non-Jews. As the church began to grow and the gospel began to spread outside the confines of Jerusalem and Judea, more and more Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ. One of the first groups to be reached were the Samaritans, and this particular audience raised some critical concerns among the Jewish disciples. Samaritans were considered half-breeds by the Jews, because they were descendants of Jews who had intermarried with pagans hundreds of years earlier. They were still God-worshipers, but were viewed as damaged goods by the Jewish Christians. And yet, here was God opening up the door of the gospel to these very people, and they were going to respond in great numbers. This left the church having to deal with what appeared to be a conundrum. How would they treat these newfound brothers and sisters in Christ? Would they accept th

In the aftermath of Stephen’s martyrdom, the church faced increased and intensified persecution, which resulted in the scattering or dispersion of many of those who had come to faith since Pentecost. Some of these people fled from Jerusalem and returned to their native lands, taking the seed of the gospel with them. And the term, “seed” will play an important role in this section of Luke’s record of the church. He tells us that those who were scattered “went about preaching the word.” They took what they had discovered about Jesus and the gospel and carried it wherever they went. And if Acts 8:4-13, we have the story of Philip heading to, of all places, Samaria, in order to tell them about salvation made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection. What we have here is the first phase of a God-ordained and orchestrated dissemination of the gospel message beyond the walls of Jerusalem and borders of Judea. This is just the beginning of a growing movement of God to take the gospel to the nations, just as Jesus ha

Stephen finally finished his little dissertation on Israelite history and, when he had said his last word, the Jewish religious leaders lost it. They had heard more than enough. And when Stephen claimed to be seeing a vision of the resurrected Christ sitting at the right hand of God in heaven, that’s when the high priest and the members of the Sanhedrin ganged up on Stephen, dragging him out of town, where they preceded to stone him to death. While they had listened for a long time, they had not heard a word Stephen had said. They had not been persuaded by his rhetoric or convicted by his words of accusation. As far as they were concerned, Stephen was the guilty party. He was a blasphemer and a traitor to the Jewish faith. They thoroughly believed that his execution was appropriate considering what they believed to be his crimes. But Luke’s portrayal of this entire event creates a dramatic juxtaposition between the faith of Stephen and that of the religious leaders. They had faith, but it was misplaced. Their

Stephen is on a roll. He is still letting the high priest and the Sanhedrin have it with both barrels, accusing them of being just like their ancestors, who had rejected Moses, the rescuer God had sent them. From Stephen’s point of view, the religious leaders of Israel we just as guilty, having rejected Jesus, even ensuring that He was put to death by the Romans. And now that His disciples were making noise and drawing crowds by preaching, teaching and healing in Jesus’ name, they were rejecting them as well. Acts 7:44-53 contains the portion of Stephen’s message where he lets his audience have it due to their inordinate love affair with the Temple, the city of Jerusalem and their special status as God’s chosen people. None of that was going to make any difference if they continued to reject God’s work being done in their midst. And it wasn’t helping their cause that, when all was said and done, they were actually resisting and rejecting the very Spirit of God – a dangerous game to play. What the Jewish relig

Stephen continues his little history lesson, attempting to provide his audience with some insights into their not-so-stellar past that reveal that their spirit of rejection and resistance was inherited. They were fruit that had not fallen far from the family tree. But Stephen’s goal in all of this was to get them to realize that they were worse off than their ancestors because they were resisting their Messiah, the very one promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and who alone, could make them acceptable before God. They had killed Him, but He had returned. He had risen from the dead and, upon returning to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower His disciples. And in rejecting them, the high priest, the Sanhedrin and the Jewish nation, were really rejecting Jesus, their Messiah. Jesus had come to bring release to those held captive by sin and death. He had come to open the eyes of the spiritually blind and to provide a means for the spiritually lame to walk in the ways of God. He was active in their

In Acts 7:17-29, we have Stephen continuing his history lesson on the Jewish people and, his audience, made up of Jewish religious leaders, had to be scratching their heads as to what his point was in this little exercise. He wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t already know. Or was he? Upon closer inspection, we see that Stephen was retelling the story of Israel’s past, but in a way that highlighted some glaring flaws in their corporate character as a people. While the high priest and the members of the Jewish council would have bragged about their love for Moses and the law, Stephen was subtly exposing that they were just like their ancestors, who had been stubbornly resistant to the very one God had sent to deliver them. They had rejected Moses’ original offer to help free them from the oppression of the Egyptians, forcing him to flee to the Midian wilderness, where he would stay for 40 long years. Moses was God’s choice to be the deliverer of the people of Israel. God had arranged for him to be rescue

Stephen is on trial. He has been accused of blasphemy against God and Moses. On top of that, he has been charged with what is no less than insurrection, declaring that Jesus had promised to destroy the Temple, the very house of God. And yet, as Stephen begins his defense, he will use the very history of the Israelites to prove to them that the God they revered sometimes works in ways that are difficult to understand. Throughout their history, God had made a habit of accomplishing His will for them and fulfilling His promises to them in very bizarre and sometimes, nonsensical ways. Acts 7:2-16 contains Stephen’s recounting of all God’s interactions with men like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon. Throughout Israelite history, there were countless examples of God speaking and acting in ways that would have appeared to be illogical. Why did He choose a man to begin a nation who was already old and who had a wife who was barren? What could have been the reason for God allowing Joseph, a descendant of Abra

What happens when the gospel spread? The church grows. But so does the opposition against it. As we will see in Acts 6:10-7:1, Stephen found himself facing some pretty stiff resistance from some Hellenistic Jews who were members of the synagogue of the Freedmen. These Jews were unimpressed with Stephen’s message regarding Jesus and became so incensed that they concocted false charges against him and drug him before the Jewish council for interrogation. There, they paraded a line of false witnesses before the high priest and the Sanhedrin, who each level charges against Stephen, accusing him of blasphemy against God and Moses. They even claimed that Stephen had taught that the resurrected Jesus was going to destroy their revered Temple. Stephen had simply been doing the will of God. He had been performing great signs and wonders among the people, and he had done so under the indwelling influence of the Holy Spirit. But here he was on trial for doing exactly what God had commanded Him to do. And when the Freedm

No doubt you believe that God is at work in and around your life. But sometimes it may appear that He is either distant or distracted. The nature of your circumstances can leave the impression that God is nowhere to be found. And this usually happens when things don’t appear to be going particularly well or quite as we had expected them to. What we have in the first nine verses of Acts 6, is a scene where the newly found church of Jesus Christ runs into some unexpected conflict. And what makes this scenario especially surprising is that the conflict came from within. It was an internal struggle, between fellow believers. And it would be easy to assume that this was outside the will of God. After all, Jesus had prayed that His followers would be one, just as He and His Father are. But we must look closely when examining a text like this one. There is much going on that we don’t see at a cursory first-glance. There is little doubt that God was at work in those early days of the church. He was working behind the

Nobody likes to suffer. No person in their right mind would seek it out. But in Acts 5:27-42, we are going to see Peter and his fellow apostles actually rejoice for having been given the opportunity to suffer on behalf of Christ. In fact, they would see it as a privilege, an undeserved right to suffer just like their Savior had. But even that sounds odd to us. It comes across as a less-than-normal way to view life. It’s unrealistic and unnatural. But for the apostles, it was business as usual. They were convinced that suffering was going to be a normal, everyday part of their lives as followers of Christ. Jesus had told them it would happen, and they took Him at His word. They had watched Him suffer and even die on their behalf. So, they saw no reason to think that they would not endure the same treatment at the hands of men. And they were glad to do so. Suffering was the least they could do for all that Christ had done for them. They had been given eternal life and had been justified before God, their sins h

Who in their right mind would stand opposed to God? You would think the answer would be, “No one.” But the truth is, over the centuries, millions upon millions have chosen to call God their enemy rather than submit to His will and acknowledge their need for the gracious gift of His Son’s offer of salvation. Today, in Acts 5:19-26, we find the high priest and the Sanhedrin choosing to stand against God by continuing to reject His Son as their Messiah and the apostles as His emissaries of the good news. It is one thing to decide you want nothing to do with God and His offer of salvation, but it is quite another to do everything in your power to stand opposed to them both. The members of the Sanhedrin, while claiming to be the spiritual leaders of the people of Israel, were doing everything in their power to put an end to all the talk about a resurrected Jesus and His offer of eternal life. They had killed Jesus. Now, they were doing everything they could to rid themselves of His troublesome disciples. But they

The church continued to grow. And as we will see in Acts 5:12-18, so did the opposition toward it. As the reputation of the disciples and their ability to perform miracles spread, their popularity increased, but so did the animosity of the Jewish religious leaders. The disciples were about to discover that the commission given to them by Jesus was going to be a battle of wills – theirs against the Sanhedrin. But it was also going to be a spiritual battle of epic proportions that pitted the Spirit of God against the powers of darkness. Soon, they would find themselves suffering arrest and interrogation, beatings and threats, all because of their faith in Christ and their determination to spread the gospel. But even as the opposition grew and the intensity of the enemy’s attack increased, God was blessing His church. He was growing the congregation with each passing day as more and more people came to faith in Jesus Christ. This portion of Luke’s account provides us with a transition, as the church begins to ou

Today’s passage, Acts 5:3-11, contains one of the most disturbing and potentially confusing stories in the New Testament. In the midst of all the wonderful things taking place within the context of the newly formed church, there appears a sudden and unexpected tale of two disciples whose lives end tragically in death. But, surprisingly, these two didn’t die for their faith. They died because they lied to the Spirit of God. Or was it because they sold some land and then claimed to be giving all the proceeds to the church, all the while holding back some of it for themselves? The text accuses them of both. But what’s really going on here? And why did these two have to die for their sin? Obviously, they can’t be the only ones who ever lied to the Spirit of God. And they can’t be the only two who ever tried to deceive others in the church in an attempt to make themselves look good. So, why does Luke include this story and why did the Holy Spirit inspire him to do so? What we have in this story is the description

Things had been going so well. The gospel was spreading and the church was growing. Thousands of new converts had been added and the Spirit of God was working mightily through the apostles. Yes, there had been a tense encounters with the high priest and the Jewish council, but they had come out of it relatively unscathed. But now, in Acts 4:32-5:2, we get a stark reminder that the early days of the church were not all rainbows and unicorns. In other words, the Spirit-filled and directed atmosphere in which the church was birthed, had another influence: The sin nature of man. While faith in Christ eliminates the penalty for sin, it does not eradicate its presence. Even those who know Christ as their Savior still wrestle with the indwelling presence of their old sin nature. The flesh, as Paul would later call it, is an ever-present reality for any and all believers. And that was true in those early days of the church. The story of Ananias and Sapphira provides us with a sobering reminder that the presence of th

Peter and John had been arrested and forced to appear before the Sanhedrin. All because they had performed a sign, healing a man that had been lame since birth. The high priest and the Jewish council, not knowing what to do with these two men, commanded them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, threatening them with further action, if they didn’t. Upon release, the two apostles made a beeline to their fellow disciples, informing them of all that had happened at Solomon’s Portico. And in Acts 4:23-31, Luke provides us with an insider’s view of what took place next. You would expect that the news of Peter and John being arrested and interrogated would have sent shockwaves of fear through the rest of the disciples. It would have been normal for these people to go into the early stages of a mild panic, questioning just exactly what was going on. You wouldn’t be surprised to read that they began to argue among themselves as to what they were going to do next. But what Luke points out is that they reacted to the

When God’s people are faithful to share the gospel as He has called them to do, it will always cause a reaction. It won’t always be a good one, but rarely is the gospel met with indifference. People either love it or hate it, receive or reject it. But they seldom simply ignore it. In the case of Peter and John, their preaching of the good news regarding Jesus was accepted by many. There were thousands who had come to faith in Christ as a result of their preaching. But there were others who found what they had to say not only unbelievable, but unacceptable. The Jewish religious leaders were having a case of déjà vu all over again. They had been through this same scenario before, with Jesus Himself. Now they were having to experience the frustration of a new rash of so-called “missionaries” for the Way. And they weren’t happy about it. Acts 4:13-22 continues Luke’s record of the interrogation of Peter and John by the Jewish council or Sanhedrin. What they had seen and heard regarding these two men and all that

What if you found yourself standing before a governmental authority who had the power to throw you in jail, punish you severely, even put you to death, just for your religious beliefs? And what if they demanded you to vocalize what it is you believe, incriminating you and possibly resulting in a severe beating, if not death. What would you do? What would you say? Would you refuse to speak up or would you tell them what they wanted to hear, in an effort to save your own skin? For most of us, this scenario is pure conjecture. It will never happen. So, we have nothing to worry about. But for millions of Christians around the world, this kind of occurrence is not only possible, it’s a part of their daily lives. They live with the constant threat of persecution and even execution for their belief in Jesus. And, as we are beginning to see, that was the case for the apostles as they began to speak up regarding their belief in Jesus. Obedience to His command to make disciples was going to cost them. Proclaiming the n

In Acts 4:1-4, Luke provides us with the ramifications of Peter’s message that day. There were those who were enraged by what they heard, and there were those who believed. Two completely opposite responses to the very same message. And as Luke continues his recounting of the early days of the church, he will come back to these two disparate responses, showing that the gospel of Jesus Christ always got a reaction, but not always a positive one. Yet, there were always those who believed in the message of the gospel. The word concerning Jesus as Savior and the work of the Spirit through His disciples always elicited a response. Sometimes it resulted in the arrest of those who preached. Other times it resulted in the salvation of those who heard. What was the difference? Why did some respond positively while others responded negatively? The animosity against the church was mounting. The religious leaders were growing increasingly more hostile. And yet, there were many who were accepting Christ as their Savior. O