Devotionary

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Ep 442 – Acts 21:37-22:5 Mar 03, 2018

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Enthusiasm can be a wonderful thing. It can produce some pretty incredible outcomes when applied in a positive way. But enthusiasm can also lead to wrong outcomes when it is motivated by misguided or mistaken conclusions. In today's episode, based on Acts 21:37-22:5, we're going to hear the apostle Paul use his own life as a testimony to that fact. Before coming to faith in Christ, Paul had been a devout Pharisee who had been on a personal mission to eradicate the world of Christians. And according to him, he thought he was doing it for God. In fact, he describes his enthusiasm as zealousness. He was a highly motivated, extremely dedicated persecutor of the Way. Nothing and no one was going to stand in his way or prevent him from accomplishing his mission of mayhem. If ever there was a case of misdirected zeal, it was this man-on-a-mission known at the time as Saul. But something happened that changed not only Saul's mindset, but his entire life's focus. He came to discover that he had been enthusiastically wrong. His mission to destroy the church was not from God and, therefore, his efforts did nothing to please or honor God. As we have seen in our day, religious zeal, however well-intentioned, can be used to accomplish atrocities of all kinds. Over the centuries, countless crimes have been perpetrated in the name of God and for the cause of religion. But Paul, formerly known as Saul, had come to discover the truth, in the form of the Son of God. He had learned that misdirected zeal for God can never replace obeying the will of God.

Ep 441 – Acts 21:27-36 Mar 02, 2018

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Paul was back in Jerusalem, where he found himself taking part in a cleansing ceremony along with four other Jewish men. They were completing a vow they had made to God, and James had suggested that Paul join them, in order to convince the Jews that he was still a God-fearing, law-abiding Jew. In Acts 21:27-36, Luke provides us with an up-close-and-personal glimpse into the growing resentment that the Jews harbored against Paul. They saw him as a threat. Even believing Jews, who had placed their faith in Christ, found Paul to be a less-than-attractive character. To them, Paul was little more than a heretic who was out to destroy Judaism. After all, he had just returned from his latest missionary journey, where he had been, according to rumors, speaking out against Judaism. They had heard that Paul was trying to convince Jews to avoid the Mosaic Law and to stop circumcising their infant sons. None of it was true, but that didn't seem to matter. What Paul was experiencing was the pushback that comes with the faithful proclamation of the gospel. Paul had broken no laws. In fact, he was in the process of trying to prove that He had an affinity for the law of God. But the Jews were not convinced or impressed. In fact, they were so angry at Paul, that they demanded his death. He was a radical whose teachings were heretical and whose message was unacceptable.

Ep 440 – Acts 21:17-26 Mar 01, 2018

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Wherever there are people, there will be conflicts. And that reality was true of the body of Christ in the 1st-Century. As the church continued to grow, so did the potential for disagreement and disunity, because the church was being formed out of a disparate mix of people from all walks of life and every conceivable religious and racial background. There were Jews who had come to faith in Christ who were natives of Israel and Jews who had been converted to Judaism out of paganism and then had become Christians. There were Gentiles of every imaginable stripe, from Greece and Rome to Asia and Galatia. They spoke a variety of languages and brought a diverse blend of social, ecclesiological, and political baggage along with them. And one of the major point of conflict the church would face in the first centuries of its existence was the one that loomed large between the Jewish believers and their Gentile counterparts. God-fearing, law-keeping Jews who had come to faith in Christ were adamant that Christianity was a Jewish religion, requiring adherence to Jewish laws and customs. But Paul, as a Jew, would stand stubbornly opposed to this way of thinking, demanding that the gospel was based on grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It was Jesus plus nothing. And the leaders in the church in Jerusalem had agreed with him. But maintaining unity while protecting the gospel's integrity was going to take diplomacy. And a willingness to sacrifice personal rights for the cause of Christ.

Acts 21:1-16 Feb 28, 2018

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All of us want to know the will of God. But when His will doesn't mirror ours, we can find ourselves in a quandary. Do we accept His will even though we don't like it? Do we question whether it really is His will? And do we consider disobeying it if we decide it's something we would prefer not to do? The apostle Paul faced this dilemma. Well, if the truth be told, it wasn't so much him, as it was his well-meaning Christian friends who found the will of God for Paul's life, as revealed by the Spirit of God, to be hard to comprehend and accept. But Paul would remain resolute and committed to the will of God for his life, even when it wasn't exactly pleasant. In Acts 21:1-16, Luke begins his description of Paul's journey to Jerusalem, where, according to a vision from the Holy Spirit, Paul will face suffering and persecution for the sake of the gospel. But rather than resist or recoil from such news, Paul accepted it as God's will and set his mind to go exactly where the Spirit had told him to go. And as he made his way, the message from the Spirit was confirmed by others. But rather than encourage Paul, they attempted to get him to avoid Jerusalem altogether. In other words, they tried to get him to preserve his life by rejecting God's will for his life. But that was not something Paul was willing to do.

Ep 438 – Acts 20:28-38 Feb 27, 2018

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Every believer in Christ is only given so much time on this earth. And God is the one who knows the length of our days. In fact, in the midst of all his loss, suffering and sorrow, was well aware of that fact, stating, "You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer" (Job 14:5 NLT). Paul understood the brevity of life and the sovereign control that God maintains over the lives of all men. Which is why he was determined to prepare leaders to take his place when his predetermined time on earth came to an end. Raising up and training new leadership was a constant focus for Paul. And in Acts 20:28-38, as Paul makes his way to Jerusalem, not knowing what awaits him there, he calls the elders from the church in Ephesus and imparts to them some last-minute counsel and encouragement. He wanted these men to take their role seriously and to live their lives soberly, fully embracing the cost of their calling and the vital importance of their position as shepherds of God's flock. Godly spiritual leadership is essential to the well-being of the church. Discernment and wisdom are critical attributes of those who are called to shepherd. And it isn't enough to lead well, these individual are to live well, modeling what it means to be a faithful follower of Christ, exhibiting integrity, selflessness, love, and an unwavering commitment to the cause of Christ, regardless any opposition they may face.

Ep 437 – Acts 20:13-27 Feb 26, 2018

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The Christian life can be difficult at times. We can encounter situations and circumstances that make living out our faith more than a bit tricky and trying. And no one knew that better than Paul. Ever since his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul had experienced a litany of faith-testing difficulties, all the way from verbal assault to stoning. He had been falsely accused, beaten with rods, flogged with a whip, and repeatedly forced to flee for his life. And in Acts 20:13-27, Luke will begin to chronicle Paul's efforts to make his way to Jerusalem, where he knows suffering awaits him. He had been informed of his fate by the Spirit of God and warned by his friends not to go. But Paul was determined to do what he felt compelled by the Spirit of God to do – in spite of potential suffering and even with the distinct possibility of death looming on the horizon. Paul refused to shrink back from the difficulties of life. He would not run from the commission given to him by Jesus. If death was his lot, he trusted that God knew best. And he did everything in his power to pass on that sense of determination and dedication to obey the will of God, encouraging the elders from Ephesus to follow his example and shepherd those under their care with an eye to their future reward. Things in this life are going to be tough at times. But we are to not to shrink back in fear or give up hope. Like Paul, we are to remain committed to spreading the gospel message, regardless of the circumstances we may face in this life.

Ep 436 – Acts 20:7-12 Feb 25, 2018

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When God works in or around your life, do you find yourself shocked or surprised? If something out-of-the-ordinary or totally inexplicable takes place, are you prone to write it off as strange or do you immediately give God the credit? We live in a day and age when the miraculous seems ludicrous. The supernatural is dismissed as impossible or, at best, improbable. But as we read through the Book of Acts, we see miracle after miracle take place. Blind people have their sight restored. Individuals who have been unable to walk their entire lives, suddenly discover they can walk and run. And the further we delve into Luke account of the growth of the church, we see a certain expectation being exhibited by those in the church. Their shock over the unexpected taking place in their midst clearly dissipates as the miraculous became more commonplace. And in today's episode, based on acts 20:7-12, Luke provides us with a look into a truly remarkable story of the death of Eutychus. This young follower of Christ fell asleep while Peter was preaching and plunged to his death out of an open window. He was pronounced dead on the spot, a fact confirmed by Luke, who happened to be a physician. But Luke treats what happened next with a certain flippancy that is truly surprising. Peter brings the deceased young man back to life. In an instant. And Luke treats the whole affair as if it's nothing more than business as usual. And it was. The people of God were growing accustomed to seeing miracles performed in the power of God. And as a result, they expected the unexpected.

Ep 435 – Acts 20:1-6 Feb 24, 2018

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Do you have any spiritual progeny? Can you claim any sons and daughters in the faith whom you have helped to raise in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Many of us have biological children, and we have a responsibility to point them toward Christ and to mirror the love of Christ in front of them. But we also have a God-given charge to make disciples. And that commission, given to us by Jesus Christ Himself, goes far beyond the initial point of conversion. We are to see to it that our children in the faith grow in their faith. We are to lovingly push them towards maturity and encourage them to take up their cross daily and follow Christ. One of the things we learn about the apostle Paul, as we examine his life in the Book of Acts, is that he had a passionate desire to see people come to faith, but an equally intense desire to see them grow spiritually. In Acts 20:1-6, Luke is going to introduce us to seven men whose lives had been influenced by Paul. They were his disciples, his sons in faith. We know little about most of them, but they were men who had placed their faith in Christ as a result of Paul's dedication to sharing the gospel with Gentiles. But Paul had not been content to see them come to faith. He wanted to help them grow and watch them carry on the ministry of spreading the gospel to the four corners of the earth. Paul knew that his days on earth were numbered and that the future well-being of the church was dependent upon the spiritual leadership he and the other apostles would leave behind.

Ep 434 – Acts 19:21-41 Feb 23, 2018

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When we talk about salvation, we tend to address it in terms of the impact it has had on the life of the individual for whom faith in Christ has become a reality. We discuss how it brings about life change and results in a new way of living marked by behavioral transformation. But it's interesting how often Luke describes the end result of salvation in terms of its group impact and communal influence. As we open up Acts 19:21-41, we are going to see the apostle Paul preaching and teaching in the city of Ephesus. And his efforts would not go unrewarded. There would be many who came to faith in Christ and, as we will see, these new believers began to have a powerful impact on the rest of the community. So much so, that the local idol trade had been negatively impacted. People were placing their faith in Christ and recognizing the illogical and unhelpful role that pagan, lifeless gods played in their daily lives. People were discovering Christ and, at the same time, realizing that the hope they had placed in the saving power of their false gods had been highly misdirected. As a result, they were making significant changes in their lifestyles that were impacting others around them, including both the saved and the lost. While the majority of the citizens of Ephesus remained unsaved, they were seeing and feeling the influence of the gospel's transformative power. Like yeast in a batch of dough, the new believers in Ephesus were slowly spreading their influence throughout the city, eliciting a range of reactions, from positive to negative, but rarely indifferent.

Ep 433 – Acts 19:2-20 Feb 22, 2018

Show notes

Christianity is meant to be life-changing. It is not a religion to be practiced, but a radical new way of life, empowered by the Spirit of God, and intended to be lived out in the sight of a lost and dying world. In the early days of the church, as the gospel continued to spread, many people were coming to faith in Christ and experiencing the redemptive, transformative power of the Spirit of God as He regenerated their hearts and began the process of molding them into the likeness of Christ. In Acts 19:8-20, Luke provides us with a glimpse into the gospel's life-changing capacity by revealing the impact it had on the people of Ephesus. This was a town with a reputation for witchcraft and sorcery, much of which was directly tied to demonic activity. So, when Paul began to proclaim the availability of new life in Christ made possible by His sacrificial death on the cross, people not only placed their faith in Christ, they underwent dramatic transformations, resulting in behavioral change that was visible and measurable. Ephesus was a spiritually charged city, where the remarkable and sometimes inexplicable were standard fare. But what began to happen when Paul arrived in town and the good news of Jesus Christ began to make its way around the city, was like nothing these people had ever seen before. They were seeing something new and many of them were becoming new creations, and experiencing the life-altering joy of new life in Christ.

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