Week 6, Day 2
Today’s Reading: Romans 1-2
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
The book of Acts ends without us being able to hear the whole story. We never find, from the inspired account, what happens to the apostle Paul. This is perhaps another one of those “Paul Harvey” moments, where we wish we had the rest of the story. However, we can be assured that God has provided for us all that we need. He showed us much of the work that Paul did through his travels, and through his imprisonments.
We can be fairly confident that Paul was not executed on this stop in Rome. For example, the letter to the Philippians was written during this two year stay in Rome. Paul told the Philippians that he would be coming to see them again, which implies that he had full expectation of being released from his confinement, and would be able to go and visit with them again. Historically, we learn that Paul served 2 stints in prison in Rome. The first time, he was released, most likely after having his court date before Caesar. The second time, he was put to death because of his teachings as a Christian.
Though Luke’s account concludes before the life of Paul was completed, Luke does leave us with some valuable information about what Paul was doing. He stayed for two full years in Rome, held at house arrest. During that period of time, he was not bemoaning his situation, nor was he complaining about how bad things had gotten for him. He didn’t think of himself as being useless to the kingdom now that he was arrested. Instead, he spent the time “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” Paul used the opportunities that he was given, so that the gospel might be preached and souls might be saved! Consider what he wrote to the Philippian brethren, while in this circumstance in Rome:
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
–Philippians 1:12-18
Paul was, it seems, the eternal optimist. How many of us would consider our circumstances to be ideal for teaching the lost if we were cast into prison? How many of us would even think about sharing the gospel with the guard if we were in such a situation? Or with the prisoner in the next cell? Paul used whatever circumstances he was in to spread the gospel message. It was all about looking for those open opportunities. When they were presented to him, he stepped up and took advantage of them. How often do we do that? May we open our eyes, and see the opportunities that are presented to us daily!
Popularity: unranked [?]
Week 6, Day 1
Acts 27-28
Some thoughts from Friday’s reading…
Have you ever tried to put yourself in the place of the Bible characters? Often, you can imagine putting yourself in the place of characters on both sides of a given situation. However, in chapter 26 of Acts, I want you to consider for a moment that you are in the place of King Agrippa. This man sat and listened to the apostle Paul proclaim the gospel message. Paul laid out for Agrippa the background of his own conversion, and expanded his teaching to include more information about Jesus and His resurrection. He used facts that were well known among the Jews, and had obviously been heard by Agrippa himself.
Paul, as he concluded the message before Agrippa, brought the point home quite clearly. He challenged Agrippa with his teaching, forcing Agrippa to make a decision with the gospel message. He asked him directly, “Do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!” Agrippa was put on the spot. He had heard the gospel, and he had the opportunity to either accept it or reject it. Paul had done his job!
We have the same job today. We have the obligation to teach the gospel message plainly, and pointedly so that hearers have the opportunity to either accept or reject the pure gospel message. Far too often, we are timid with our presentation (or at least I am). We lay out the instructions of God’s will, but we are afraid to drive the point home. We teach that one must repent, but we don’t tell the specific person we are studying with what they have to repent of, or that they are the ones who need to repent. We speak in generalities, instead of speaking in specifics so that we don’t make people feel too bad about their circumstances. But, if that is the case, then we have missed the whole point. Paul made Agrippa feel uncomfortable with his circumstances. Unfortunately, Agrippa never obeyed the gospel. It is our job to teach plainly enough that those we teach are made uncomfortable.
So, put yourself in the place of Agrippa. Think about what he felt as Paul was teaching and especially what he must have felt when Paul asked him directly whether he believed or not. That is the very feeling that we want to instill in every person that we have the opportunity to teach. Bring them to the pont that they have to make a choice. To do that, we have to teach them clearly the simple message of the gospel. Once we have done the teaching, it is up to the hearer to make a choice of whether to accept or reject. But, we want to make sure that we do not conceal the gospel because we are afraid of offending someone.
Popularity: 37% [?]
Week 5, Day 5
Today’s Reading: Acts 25-26
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Occasionally when reading through the Bible, I come to an account where I would like to know the “rest of the story” (as Paul Harvey puts it). One such account comes in chapter 23 of Acts. There was a conspiracy to put Paul to death, and a group of about 40 men devised a plan to achieve this end. They decided that they were going to send for Paul, having the Roman authorities bring him down to the Jewish council so that they might question him further. However, they were going to lie in wait, and attack Paul on the way, and put him to death. They made the agreement among themselves that they would not eat nor drink anything until they had put Paul to death.
Of course, we discover by reading the rest of the chapter that they were unsuccessful in their plot because word got out and Paul’s nephew was able to warn Paul, as well as the Roman authorities about the plan. It was going to be quite a while before Paul would be put to death in Rome. So, I wonder what happened to these 40 men? Did they fulfill their vow, thus starving to death because they were unable to trap Paul and kill him? I doubt it! If these men were so unscrupulous as to make a vow like this in the first place, and attempt to put an innocent man to death, then I doubt that they endangered their own well being in the fulfillment of such a vow. But, it would be quite interesting to know what the outcome of this vow was!
Another thing of interest in this section of the book of Acts is to notice how the people involved with Paul rewrote history to try and make themselves appear better. For example, the commander changed the account of the arrest of Paul to make himself look better. In verse 27, he made the claim in his letter to Felix that he had swooped in and rescued Paul from the Jews, who were about to kill him. But, if we go back to the inspired account (and thus the accurate account) we see the truth. In chapter 21, verses 32-40, we see that Paul was indeed “rescued” by the commander, but it was not because he was a Roman. The commander did not even find out about Paul’s Roman citizenship until chapter 22:24-29, where he nearly had Paul beaten (which was illegal to do to a Roman citizen). He simply rewrote the history to make himself look much more favorable.
The same thing can be said about the Jews. The High Priest, Ananias along with one of the lawyers, Tertullus, came down to bring charges against Paul before the governor. They made the claim that Paul was a “plague” and a “creator of dissension among the Jews.” They also claimed that Paul had tried to defile the temple (presumably by trying to bring Gentiles into the area where they were prohibited). But, of course, none of this was true. Perhaps the argument could be made that Paul had caused dissension, but certainly not in the manner they tried to imply. He had certainly not tried to defile the temple! They had rewritten the history of the circumstance to fit what they wanted to believe, and what they needed to be true in order to accomplish their own desires. Watching the news today, we can certainly see that not much has changed over the last 2000 years! The trustworthy account is not what the characters changed the story to, but rather the inspired account of events, as told to us by Luke.
There are two good lessons that emerge from these observations. First, don’t make hasty vows. The first point we observed was that these men made the vow that they would not eat until they killed Paul. Obviously they had not taken into account that they might fail! We should learn that we ought not make vows that we don’t intend to keep. God expects us to keep that which we have vowed! (See Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
Secondly, we need to remember that we shouldn’t try to change history to be more favorable to us. If we change the facts of something, and then base an argument on our convolution of that history, we don’t do anything for ourselves. We show ourselves to be dishonest, and we build up some illusion that will fall when the truth is made known. This commander was going to be in trouble when the truth of his actions were made known. He would be punished by his Roman superiors. The Jews too would be in trouble when the truth was made known. If they failed to be honest, they would cause innocent men to suffer wrongfully. That was condemned in the Law, but it would also be punished by God when the final judgment came.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Week 5, Day 4
Today’s Reading: Acts 23-24
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Watching the character of Paul develop after his conversion is very interesting. We are able to witness his tribulations and trials through the writing of the inspired writers. By the time we reach chapter 21, we are able to see the maturity of Paul in the face of dying as a martyr. Of course, he has already gone through at least one near fatal attack, which showed that he was indeed ready to die for the cause of Christ. But, in chapter 21, what we see is a difference between Paul and the other Christians. I believe it shows a difference between his maturity as a Christian, and their maturity. Paul’s actions/reactions in this chapter helped the other Christians to make strides toward reaching the same level of maturity that he was at.
In verses 10-14, Paul was told by the prophet Agabus that he was going to be bound by the Jews when he returned to Jerusalem. Those who were with Paul, who heard this prophecy, began to weep, and beg Paul to change his plans, avoiding Jerusalem. Paul, as we have seen over the last couple of chapters, is trying to get to Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost. Most likely, he was trying to get to Jerusalem while there would be a lot of people in the city, giving him even greater opportunities to preach. He was determined that he was not going to change that plan. He told his companions in verse 13 of our text that he was ready to go and be bound, and yes, even to die in Jerusalem if that is what was required of him.
Finally, in verse 14, we see that the group of friends come to Paul’s understanding. They stopped trying to argue with him, they stopped trying to change his mind. Instead, they adopted his attitude: It was now in the hands of the Lord. Whatever His will for Paul was would come to pass.
This portrays a great attitude. Whatever God wills, that will be done. We must continue to do what we know the word of Lord teaches, and then be prepared for whatever consequences might come. That doesn’t mean that the things we face will always be easy. But, that doesn’t matter, because there is a greater goal that we are looking forward to, beyond anything that we might face in the here and now. And, through his strength, Paul was able to bring the rest of the disciples to the same point of acceptance that he had already reached.
One final point on this account. Notice that Paul was warned beforehand that he would be persecuted in Jerusalem. This gave him plenty of time to avoid that persecution–he could have easily gone somewhere else, and avoided Jerusalem all together. However, he knew that he was supposed to go to Jerusalem, and he knew there was work for him to accomplish there. Even if he were going to be arrested, he knew there would be work for him. He did not shirk that responsibility. Make sure to watch over the next few chapters how Paul was used by the Lord even though he was in chains. He had opportunities to teach people after he was arrested that he never would have come in contact with other wise. This is yet another great lesson for us! We try to pick the best circumstances for us to have opportunities in, but the Lord does not always provide those opportunities in the circumstances that are good for us!
Popularity: unranked [?]