New Testament Bible Study by John Stanko

Acts Study 26: 20:30-21:19

Dear Student of the Word,

Happy New Year!  I hope your holidays were restful and enjoyable and that 2012 is off to a good start for you.  I also hope that your New Year's' goals and resolutions included something that will take you deeper into God's word.  As we continue our study of Acts, this week we look at Paul's address to the Ephesian elders when he informed them that they would see him no more.  This week I wrote in part four of this seven-part installment:

Study Twenty-Six, Part Four

4 Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. 7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

21:4 – This is an interesting verse, for it seems to say that the Spirit was warning Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  Perhaps the Spirit was simply warning Paul what was ahead in Jerusalem, and it was the disciples who were urging him not to go.  The Spirit does speak through other believers, but it is always the job of the recipient to judge the message to determine the meaning and relevance.  There are two tendencies with prophecy:  one is to accept it without judgment and the other is to reject it outright.  Both are wrong.  Prophecy is to be carefully considered and only accepted when it bears witness with the recipient’s spirit.  Here is a quick reference to Paul’s instruction on prophecy in the church:

Do not treat prophecies with contempt (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). 

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39-40). 

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said (1 Corinthians 14:29). 

21:5 – The believers didn’t exist in large numbers in many of the towns mentioned in Acts.  Here we see that whole families escorted Paul out to the ship, kneeling to pray on the beach.  This probably wasn’t a large crowd.  Yet look how bold and open they were to kneel down in public to pray.  You have probably watched Muslims kneel down to pray in airports or Jews praying in public, standing and rocking back and forth from the waist up.  When you see these folks doing what they do without being self-conscious, it perhaps makes you think of what Jesus said:

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26-27). 

How bold are you to publicly demonstrate your faith in Jesus?

21:6&7 – It’s almost like Paul is on a farewell tour of the local churches as he goes to Jerusalem to face his trials and hardships.  The Spirit gave him some measure of joy to see the saints before he entered into the next chapter in his ministry, which would take him to the Roman government  It was like the Spirit wanted Paul to see firsthand the fruit of his past labors, perhaps as an encouragement for what was about to come.  It’s important at times to review what the Lord has done in your life and how He has used you.  Someone once recommended that every person have an “atta boy (or girl)” file—a place where you can put stories, reminders and letters that tell how the Lord used you for good. 

Do you have an “atta boy” file?  What do you do to encourage yourself when you’re down?  Have you done enough to warrant an “atta boy” file?  If you don’t have one, why not consider starting one, or doing something to keep track of how the Lord has used you for His purposes. 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 26

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2012 TRIP TO ISRAEL: Time is running out for those who would like to go to Israel this coming May.  I am attaching the brochure below, but if you are even remotely interested, I need to hear now so I can have the airline save space. The dates are May 19-29.  Drop me an email at johnstanko@gmail.com or respond to this post as soon as possible, and then consider joining me for the trip of a lifetime!

Download ACAC Israel Brochure 2012

Acts Study 25: 20:1-29

Dear Student of the Word,

I am on vacation in Arizona, but I could not resist sneaking in one more update on the Acts study series we started at the beginning of 2011.  This week we go with Paul as he travels back through the churches he helped found to encourage the saints.  While he is doing so, he found it necessary to speak all night at a meeting and one young man fell out of the window after he fell asleep.  This week I wrote in part three of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty-Five, Part Three

9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

20:9 – Do you know how to remember the name of the man who fell out of the window while Paul was preaching?  “You’d have cussed, too” if you had fallen out of the window!  His name was Eutychus.  All right, enough with the bad humor.  As mentioned yesterday, this young man was at the meeting, but he was tired and fell asleep.

We know that Paul wasn’t a great speaker by his own admission:

I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way (2 Corinthians 11:5). 

 Yet we know that Jesus was a great speaker because of the insight that He shared with the people:

The large crowd listened to him with delight (Mark 12:37). 

Are you using what you have to do God’s work?  Are you working to perfect what God has given you so that you can be even more effective?  If people are “falling asleep on you,” is it a problem with them or with you and your style?  What price are you willing to pay to get better at what you do?  What is your plan to do so?

20:10 – Paul wasn’t offended when the young man fell asleep because Paul had no ministry ego.  Paul ran down and threw himself on the young man, bringing him back to life!  Are you willing as a Christian leader to throw yourself into the problems and weaknesses of those whom you serve?  Are you willing to acknowledge that your ministry style and message may not be to everyone’s liking?  Can you still love those people and help them as they struggle with their own humanity?

20:11 – A man had just fallen to his death trying to listen to Paul as he went on and on.  Paul revivds him and then went right back to resume the meeting.  What’s more, Paul spoke until sunrise.  Just another day at the office!  On one hand, that seems a bit much to put the people through.   On the other hand, why shouldn’t we engage in the work to obtain the knowledge of God even if it means losing sleep?  Are you willing to lose sleep for the cause of Christ?  Are you willing to listen to a speaker who knows Jesus but who isn’t the most dynamic speaker?

20:12 – The people certainly went home greatly comforted.  They could finish the meeting with Paul because they didn’t have to go home and prepare a funeral!  We are so frail, so weak.  Only one small step, one breath separates us from being here or being on the other side of this existence.  Are you making the most of every day?  It may be your last on earth.

"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8). 

O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?  Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psalm 144:3-4). 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 25

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HELP NEEDED! This week I received a $750 matching grant toward The Big Blessing for Kenya to help feed children like those pictured here. The grant offer expires, however, on December 31 and I have received $50. The grant means for every dollar you give by December 31, you are actually giving two dollars. Don't miss this chance to be a blessing and to double your gift.  You can give through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Remember to mark your contribution "Matching Grant" and I will take care of the rest. Thank you and Happy New Year!

Acts Study 24: 19:13-41

Dear Student of the Word,

I had a goal to finish the study in Acts this year, but obviously I did not make it! Yet we are well along into chapter 19 and will just continue our work in 2012.  I thought I would do at least this one study prior to the end of the year, and I pray it is a blessing to you.  This week we look at the riot that took place in Ephesus as the followers of the goddess Diana protested Paul's success in their city.  This week I wrote in part four of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty-Four, Part Four

25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

19:25&26 – Demetrius was the ring-leader of this uprising and he called together the silversmiths and others from related trades.  He wanted to discuss a strategy of how they could combat the growing interest in Jesus in their city.  This was about money and nothing else here, although probably some of the artisans were committed to the worship of Diana.

Paul was the focal point of Demetrius’ presentation, blaming the apostle for the business downturn.  Paul had done such an effective job that large numbers of people were turning to Jesus.  Of course, hell would not just allow this to happen without any response whatsoever.  And hell won’t allow you to make progress without some opposition as well.  It is our opposition that enables us to learn to trust the Lord and to worship Him more completely and purely.  If you don’t think that’s true, just read some of the psalms and see how those believers poured their heart out to the Lord to save them from their enemies.  You can’t understand what the psalmists were talking about until you experience the pain of suffering yourself.

What is your favorite psalm?  Do you have one?  Why is it your favorite?   Do you read the psalms just to read, or do you let them speak to you and your situation?  If you are going through a tough time, read Psalms 13, 35 and 86.

19:27 – Demetrius would have made a good preacher for the Lord.  He was passionate, articulate and persuasive, but he was on the wrong side in this dispute.  Did you ever wonder  how Luke found out what he said?  Was Luke there?  Did he interview someone who was?  Could Demetrius converted at a later date and told this story?  We are not told how, but somehow Luke got hold of the transcript of his remarks. 

Luke was a detailed, orderly writer. This probably came from his scientific, medical background.  God was able to use the personality of each writer of Scripture, keep their style, yet inspire His word to be written. He did not dictate what they wrote, nor were they “taken over” as those in a trance or as robots. They exercised freewill, yet God directed their every word.

Notice how Luke described the process that produced his writing:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4 emphasis added). 

Luke didn’t say the Lord moved him to write; he just investigated and wrote an orderly account.  Did he know that the Spirit was inspiring his work?  We are not sure whether he did or not. He was just being Luke and God used Luke to produce His inspired word.

What you and I do today is not the same as writing the inspired word of God.  That was a unique event that will never be duplicated.  Yet God today still uses you and me to do His will, but in such a way that it sounds, looks and tastes like us to those who encounter us.  Are you spending time trying to change who you are so God can use you?  The truth is that God can use you as you are right now. 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 24

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URGENT: I just received a $750 matching grant toward The Big Blessing for Kenya to help feed children like are pictured here.  The grant expires, however, on December 31. That means for every dollar you give between now and then, you are actually giving two dollars. Don't miss this chance to be a blessing and to double your gift.  You can give through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Remember to mark your contribution "Matching Grant" and I will take care of the rest. Thank you and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Acts Study 23: 18:12-19:12

Dear Student of the Word,

My time in Africa is growing short, but there is always time to do some study in God's word.  This week we take a look at Acts as Paul worked in Corinth and Ephesus, made a return trip to Jerusalem and then came back to Ephesus.  Paul was a man on the go, but he was a man on a mission and he did not know how long he had before that mission would be complicated by Roman opposition.  This week I wrote in part five of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty-Three, Part Five

19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."  3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied.  4 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus."

19:1&2 – Paul now returned to Ephesus, as he had indicated he would do—if it was God’s will.  He came upon some disciples and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit.  It is fascinating that Paul found these men (presumably) who had not received or heard of the Holy Spirit.  Could God have orchestrated Paul’s steps in such a way as to bring his premier apostle to the Gentiles and these men?  It is entirely possible and quite a testimony to God’s grace and care.  He did not leave these men in their incomplete state, just as he didn’t leave Apollos in his.  Instead, God saw their hunger for Him and satisfied their hunger with the full truth of the gospel.  

"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” (Mark 4:24-25). 

These men had probably done the most with what they had heard and now God was giving them more.  Have you been faithful with what you’ve heard?  Are you walking out the truth that you know?  If so, then be certain that God will give you more.

19:3 – Here is another example of those who had received John the Baptist’s teaching and baptism and had from that bore witness to Jesus being the Christ.  That is quite a testimony to John’s ministry!  John had been clear in his teaching that he was not the Christ, as some supposed.   God had honored his witness and here were some disciples, probably 25 years later, who were still walking in the truth of John’s teaching—incomplete as it was.

19:4 – Paul explained that John’s baptism was one of repentance, which meant that the people were to turn from their sins toward God.  As they did, they would come face to face with Jesus.  Repentance literally means to turn around and walk in another direction.  While repentance unto salvation is a once-and-for all act, repentance is a way of life for the believer.  As God reveals to us attitudes and behaviors that are sinful, we are to turn from those attitudes and acts and walk in the newness of the life we have in Christ.

Do you have need to repent of some behavior or attitude?  Don’t be proud and resist God’s grace.  Ask God to forgive you and then by His grace, walk in another direction.  You never outgrow your need to repent. 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 23

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I NEED $350:  If I receive another $350 before I leave Kenya on December 11, I can give two of our orphan ministries $1,000 each to buy food. Can you help me out?  If you can, please do so through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Write and tell if me if you send a check and I will front the money until I get home. Thank you and God bless you!

Acts Study 22: 17:19-18:11

Dear Student of the Word,

Greetings from the continent of Africa, specifically Zimbabwe. I had some time today, so I thought I would continue our study from over here - otherwise we will be studying Acts well into next year. This week we look at Acts 17 and Paul's ministry in Athens.  Many believe Paul preached a magnificent sermon, yet saw little in the way of converts.  I discuss that and much more in this week's installment.  This week I wrote in part two of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty-Two, Part Two

24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

17:24 – This seems like a basic statement of truth, but the Epicureans and to some extent the Stoics believed that the world was a random accident of creation, sort of like the Big Bang Theory that is popular today.  Paul confronted their atheism head on by declaring that God is the Creator.  Then Paul took a swipe at the Greek panoply of idols, which was a collection of petty, vain, conceited, erratic and vengeful beings.  The Greeks fashioned their gods after the fallen nature of man.  The stories of Greek mythology often portrayed humans as being more noble and righteous than their gods! 

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them (Psalm 135:15-18). 

The Greeks fashioned petty gods and, true to Psalm 135, they became just like them.  Paul came to deliver the truth so they could be set free from their idolatrous bondage. What are you doing to deliver others from their individual idolatrous bondage?

17:25 – Paul was undoubtedly familiar with Jeremiah’s words: 

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.  They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.  Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good”  (Jeremiah 10:3-5). 

God gives breath to all living things because He is life and the source of life.  We worship God not because He needs our worship (as was true with the Greek gods), but because He is worthy of worship.  Do you see the difference?  God needs nothing from man; He is self-sufficient.

17:26 – Since we are descendants of Adam and Eve, we share in a common humanity and nature.  Furthermore God establishes when and where we will live, so our ethnicity and life isn’t a random act, but the will of God!  God chose your nationality, so you can exalt in your ethnic origin as a gift of God.  Don’t idolize your heritage, however, for there is no one people group who is superior to another.  They are all the same in the sight of God.

17:27 – The Gentiles had to grope after God, for up to this point, God had not chosen to reveal Himself to many of them.  Yet He is not far from every man, and Paul was there to declare the way to God in Christ.  While there was a season when the Gentiles had little access or knowledge of God, that season was now changing due to the work of Christ. 

17:28 – This is one of the most basic verses for me:  “In Him we live, move and have our being.”  God is all and all.  We exist because of Him, whether one knows Him or not.  We are His children by creation, but only salvation in Christ connects a person to the Fatherhood of God.  Until then we are objects of God’s wrath, cut off from God’s grace by sin:

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). 

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath . But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:3-5). 

Don’t ever be lulled into thinking that everyone shares in God’s grace, whether they are in Christ or not.  They may share in the common grace of life and physical existence, but they are cut off from eternal life without Christ.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 22

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I NEED $500:  If I receive another $500 before I leave Kenya on December 10, I can give two of our orphan ministries $1,000 each to buy food. Can you help me out?  If you can, please do so through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Write and tell if me if you send a check and I will front the money until I get home. Thank you and God bless you!

 

 

KENYA TIME:  After Zimbabwe, I will be in Kenya for a week. I will be conducting a three-day seminar from December 5-7 for The Pacific Institute and then a one-day seminar on Saturday, December 10 for Royal and Rich.  I am attaching the Royal and Rich flier to this post (click on it to enlarge).  If you are interested in The Pacific Institute, I can send you plenty of material that describes exactly what that is - which is quite simply the best training for goal setting and change with which I have ever been involved!  Write me for more information and then invest in yourself at one or both of these outstanding seminars.

 

Acts Study 21: 16:29-17:18

Dear Student of the Word,

I am in the Atlanta airport, heading to Zimbabwe.  This seems like as good of a time as any to send off the next Acts Bible study.  This week we go with Paul to Philippi, where he and Silas are singing hymns to God while they were under lock and chain.  This week I wrote in part three of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty-One: Part Three

17:1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

17:1 – Why did the team pass through these two cities? Perhaps because there was no synagogue.  Paul’s ongoing strategy was to visit the synagogue, because he knew there were Gentiles there who rejected polytheism and embraced monotheism.  Thessalonica could conceivably have had the only synagogue in Macedonia.  After they were so badly treated in Philippi, maybe they wanted to get back to a place where they at least had a chance to build relationships with those who had an awareness of the Old Testament.

17:2 – To visit the synagogue was Paul’s custom and not a directive from Scripture. If it was, we would still be obligated to follow this pattern.  Paul acknowledged his debt to Judaism and always wanted to repay his people, but they would not allow him most of the time.  Instead, they resisted him as an apostate.  Even the believing Jews didn’t trust his regular contact with Gentiles.  Therefore Paul’s greatest effectiveness was among Gentiles, but his greatest burden and love was for the Jews. 

This points out some interesting aspects of life purpose.  Paul wanted to go to the Jews, but God sent him to the Gentiles.  First, you can’t choose your purpose; it is assigned to you.  Secondly, Paul never had much fruit from his work among Jews, but he had a lot of fruit among the Gentiles.  God will help you identify your purpose by blessing your purpose endeavors. As you examine your life and work, where are your greatest results?  How can you maximize those results?

17:3 – What did Paul do when he went to the synagogue?  He argued that Jesus is the Christ, proving it from the Scriptures.  Paul had to address the issue of Jesus’ death and resurrection, because that issue was difficult for Jews to comprehend:

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:22-25). 

Paul did not shy away from the controversial aspects of Jesus, but faced them head on.  He did not sugarcoat the gospel, but went to the Scriptures and then trusted the Spirit to do His work in the hearts and minds of people.

17:4 – God honored Paul’s work in Thessalonica with fruit!  Some Jews and a lot of Gentiles came to Jesus—and many of these were women.  Nothing has changed in 2,000 years; women tend to be more spiritually sensitive than men. 

Nothing is more exciting than to see the fruit of your labors in the Lord. Do you know the joys of God using you?  Doing what?  If not, what can you do to capture that dynamic in your life?

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 21

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ZIMBABWE, HERE I COME:  I will be back in Zimbabwe for the first time since December, 2007 starting this Sunday, November 27.  If you would like to be part of my visit, you can read about my schedule here.  I look forward to seeing all my friends there when I return. 

NEED FOOD MONEY:  I departed yesterday for Zimbabwe and Kenya.  I can certainly use more cash to distribute to the orphans and widows there.  If you can give a special Thanksgiving offering, please do so through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Thank you and God bless you!

 

 

KENYA TIME:  After Zimbabwe, I will be in Kenya for a week. I will be conducting a three-day seminar from December 5-7 for The Pacific Institute and then a one-day seminar on Saturday, December 10 for Royal and Rich.  I am attaching the Royal and Rich flier to this post (click on it to enlarge).  If you are interested in The Pacific Institute, I can send you plenty of material that describes exactly what that is - which is quite simply the best training for goal setting and change with which I have ever been involved!  Write me for more information and then invest in yourself at one or both of these outstanding seminars.

 

 

Acts Study 20: 16:1-28

Dear Student of the Word,

It's' that time again, your regular portion of devotional study from the Acts of the Apostles.  We move on from the Jerusalem Council, where the apostles endorsed Paul's mission to the Gentiles.  Paul's response to that Council is the focus for the rest of the book. This week I wrote in part seven of this seven-part study:

Study Twenty, Part Seven

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

16:25 – These men had just been severely flogged hours earlier, and then they were awake at midnight singing hymns!  What’s more, they were keeping everyone else awake!  What great men these were!  How committed to their cause!  How powerfully the grace of God was with them!

16:26 – God was so impressed with their singing, or perhaps the conditions surrounding their singing, that he began to tap his foot to the music and started an earthquake! This was no ordinary earthquake, however, for it was one that released everyone from their chains!  Did you ever think that your praise in the midst of difficult times would release other people from their bondage?  It can happen!

This isn’t the first time that God released his people from prison.  He did it for Joseph, Daniel, Peter and now Paul and Silas.  God didn’t prevent these men from going to jail, but He did release them once they got in.  Some of them were in longer than just one night!  God doesn’t promise to keep you from trials, but He does promise to deliver you from them. 

16:27 – The jailer had been charged to keep the prisoners, so when he awoke and saw the doors opened, he assumed they had all escaped.  Since he protected them with his life, he was ready to forfeit his life.  God wanted him to forfeit his life, but not in the way he thought.  Paul’s jail time had served to release the other prisoners from their chains and was about to free the jailer from his chains of sin.  When you surrender your life to God, it’s no longer yours.  He can do with it what He chooses.  Here God chose to send the team to Macedonia, to encounter a slave-girl with a demon, to send them to jail and then to release them by a dramatic and miraculous earthquake.  What is God doing in your life?  Have you surrendered your life, future, reputation and self-determination?   Can you trust Him even in the darkness of your financial, relational, vocational or ministry “prison?”

16:28 – Paul must have seen what the jailer was about to do and he cried out to stop the man from killing himself.  This is some commitment in and of itself.  The jailer was a man of integrity.  Instead of running away, he was ready to face the consequences for what he considered a failure to fulfill his duties.  You can see why God wanted to reach this man.   God cared enough about this jailer to send his very best Gentile apostle to reach him.  And God cared enough that he put Paul and Silas through a bit of hell so that this man could reach heaven.  This tells you a lot about God, doesn’t it?  Are you ready for God to use you?  If so, be prepared for the adventure of a lifetime!

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 20

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KENYA UPDATE: I posted an entry explaining that we raised our money for the matching grant, which you can read here.  We need more, however, and I tell you how you can give in the same entry. 

ZIMBABWE, HERE I COME:  I will be back in Zimbawe for the first time since December, 2007 starting November 27.  If you would like to be part of my visit, you can read about my schedule here.  I look forward to seeing all my friends there when I return.

Acts Study 19: 15:13-41

Dear Student of the Word,

I am not sure whether or not it is time for another installment from our Acts study, but I know I feel some urgency to edit what I have to publish it soon.  I appreciate your patience as I use this site to spur me on to finish the Acts' study, and that means you may be getting more installments than you have in the past year.  I hope that's not a problem for you. This week we look at the dispute in Jerusalem as to whether or not the Gentiles had to follow the Law of Moses, followed by the split of the Barnabas and Paul ministry team. This week I wrote in part six of this seven-part study:

Study Nineteen, Part Six

35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord. 36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.

15:35 – Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch and, since the Gentiles were freed from the shadow of Judaism, the church grew in numbers and wisdom.  Notice that Paul and Barnabas didn’t have an exclusive “franchise” in Antioch, for many others taught and preached the Word.  We can’t have too many workers in the field, and that is why it is so baffling to see some churches oppose church growth and church planting. 

No one should be able to plant a church any time they choose, but every church should have some kind of plan in place for multiplication.  What’s more, every church must pay attention to the development of men and women in ministry and that means opportunities for people to release and develop their spiritual gifts including preaching and teaching. Ultimately, however, every person is responsible for his or her own personal and ministry development.  What are you doing to develop your gifts and ministries?

15:36 – Paul then proposed to Barnabas that they return to visit the churches they had started during their first journey together.  This sounded like a reasonable request, borne out of concern for the believers there. 

15:37&38 – Obviously, Barnabas agreed they should do this, but wanted to take John Mark with them again.  If you remember, John Mark went with them on the first journey, but left the team rather abruptly (see Acts 13:13).  We are told in Colossians 4:10 that John Mark was Barnabas’ cousin.  We can only speculate why John left in the first place and why Barnabas wanted to give him another chance.  It would make sense that Barnabas favored him because he was his relative. 

Paul didn’t think it wise to take a man with them who had left them once before.  What’s more, Luke used the word “deserted” here, so it seems that John Mark’s departure on the first trip had been sudden and, at least from Paul’s perspective, unwelcome. I’m not sure what role John Mark had on the original trip, but his departure did not sit well with Paul. 

Paul was a great man, but not an easy man to get along with.  He was brash, strong-willed, unyielding and stubborn.  That is what made him so successful, but also made him a man to whom it was difficult to relate.  Paul had trouble in Jerusalem, in Corinth and lists more than a few people in his letters to Timothy who had deserted or disappointed him.  He confronted Peter as he described it in Galatians and caused riots and uproar wherever he went.

We need not have any romantic ideas about Paul, but should respect and admire him for the work he did in the power of the Spirit.  He was a difficult man, but one greatly used by God.  God used Paul to do great things, but Paul wasn’t perfect.  This is an important lesson because some people are waiting for God to change them (or at least improve them) before they feel they are ready to be used.  This is bad thinking.  God is ready to use you now!  The New Testament model is one of action and involvement soon after conversion; there was no patience for anyone to wait 10 or 20 years to fulfill their purpose.

Barnabas was simply being true to his name, the son of encouragement, in this case.  He probably couldn’t stand the thought of hurting John Mark, who had probably made a mistake and was ready to go back on the field with the missionaries.  Every cell in Barnabas’ body was devoted to encouragement and he couldn’t do something that would have discouraged.   Both Paul and Barnabas were great men and God used them, weaknesses and all, to do great things.  Are you ready to be used today?  Not in five years, but today?  Are you ready to allow God to work His strength through your weakness?  Can you move your self-awareness to God-awareness so that you can accomplish something for God?

Download Acts Study 19

Acts Study 18: 14:14-15:13

Dear Student of the Word,

In this week's installment, we continue to look at Barnabas and Paul as they make headway for the gospel in the Gentile world. As they progress, they encounter increasing opposition, which is why I have often half-jokingly said that the Acts of the Apostles could just as easily be called The Acts of the Opposition.  This week I wrote in part three of this seven-part devotional and study:

Study Eighteen, Part Three

23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.

14:23 – It is a surprised that they appointed elders, for these churches and their members would have been young in the Lord.  The team didn’t put their faith in these elders, but rather in the Lord who was the overseer of the church with or without elders.  They punctuated this trust with prayer and fasting, which testifies to the solemnity and importance of the appointments.

This is strikingly similar to the appointment of Barnabas and Saul as a missions team in Acts 13:1, which was also accompanied by prayer and fasting.  These were not committee or honorary appointments, but rather an expression of the Holy Spirit’s work in building the church.  Do you serve in any leadership capacity in the church?  Do you take that work seriously?  Do you do your homework?  Pray and fast for the church? 

14:24&25 – On their way back to their home base, the team ministered in several other areas, but we don’t receive any reports of their progress or success in these areas.  Perhaps they didn’t see the results they had seen in the other cities, or perhaps they didn’t spend the time there to get the same results.  The impressive thing about the team is that they didn’t try to over-manage the churches.  They preached the gospel, got them started, appointed elders and then moved on.  All this expressed their confidence in the Lord who started the churches in the first place. 

The apostles saw themselves as God’s agents, but they didn’t allow the churches to become overly dependent on them.  They did, however, seem to make the churches totally dependent on God, which is a good thing.

14:26 – The team had come full circle, returning to Antioch, from which they had started this first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul.  It’s always good to have a home church.  Do you know where your home base is?  Does the home base know you?   Local churches are not perfect places, yet they are still the basic piece in God’s plan for His people.  Remember the instruction from the writer of Hebrews:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

Are you faithful in church attendance and involvement?  Are you being encouraged or encouraging others?  If not, what can you do to be more involved?  Are you in the right church for you, or are you in one that is more convenient to attend because of your family or because you have attended that church for a long period of time?

14:27 – The team gave a complete report to the local church.  Perhaps this was because they were accountable to that body and because they wanted to encourage them with stories of how God was moving among their fellow Gentiles throughout the world.  It’s always good to share stories and testimonies of what God is doing with you and your ministry.  What are you most recent testimonies?  With whom have you shared them?  If you don’t have any recent stories, why not?  If you have them but haven’t shared them, why not? 

14:28 – There is ebb and flow, activity and rest in any well-paced ministry.  You can’t always be giving out; you must also receive and refresh.  The team rested from their travels and ordeals, getting ready for their next assignment.  Can you rest?  Do you rest?  Do you take time to invest in yourself?  After all, you are what God uses to do His work, so you are deserving of things that will make you more effective for Him.  Do you feel guilty when you take some “down time”? 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 18

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I NEED FEEDBACK:  I am in the middle of revising my book, So Many Leaders, So Little Leadership and posted some definitions of leadership, team and purpose on my blog.  If you have a chance, take a look at them here and tell me what you think of how accurate they are and/or how they can be improved.

Acts Study 17: 13:36-14:13

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been two weeks since I sent the last installment so it's time to get back on track with your study of the Acts of the Apostles.  In still part, we look at another incident from Barnabas and Paul's first missionary journey to the Gentiles.  Here is what I wrote in part seven of this seven-part study, the remainder of which you can download below:

Study Seventeen, Part Seven

11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

14:11 – As stated earlier, the crowd had no biblical background for Paul’s message or this miraculous healing.  They were Gentiles, so they attributed the miracle to their gods.  If you ever travel to Israel, you will be where everything is so exciting because it is so biblical.  If you ever go from there to a place like Athens, you will be where everything is spiritually insipid with statues of false gods everywhere!  This scenario must have provided Paul with something of the spiritual “shock” as he left the comfort of Judaism to embrace his work in and among the heathen.  Yet Paul never complained and embraced his purpose and call with vigor, even though it must have been tough for him to do. 

While your purpose is exhilarating, where and how you express it may be the work of the cross in your life.  You do what you love, but in ways and with people that you’d rather not be with!

14:12 – The people did what they knew to do:  They inserted their current experience into the mental framework or worldview they had.  This was of course a worldview that included the Greek gods, which they believed had come down to them in the form of these missionaries.  What foolish thinking!  Yet this is the power of what’s called a paradigm—a model for understanding the reality around you.  Not only did Paul have to preach salvation; he had to teach his converts a whole new way of thinking, which is called discipleship.  Have you been discipled, or do you still have old ways of thinking that you are trying to fit the new things of God into?

14:13 – In some ways, this was a test for Paul and Barnabas, and of course they passed the test.  Would they receive any of the glory for what they had done, or would they give it all to Jesus?  The crowds were ready to designate them as gods.  The priest was ready to incorporate what they did into the framework of their local religions.  Paul was always clear that what he did was for Jesus and Him alone.  He wrote the Corinthians:

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake (2 Corinthians 4:5). 

Paul was far away from “home” and could have allowed some of the glory to be attributed to him and his ministry, but he did not!  That is why God used him so powerfully, for Paul was a true servant of God.  He saw his calling in the context of the Old Testament prophets. He was continuing their work and message, but to an expanded audience of Gentiles.  What a great man Paul was!  Jesus was even greater and Paul’s legacy is that we worship Jesus the Lamb while doing greater things than Jesus did, which Jesus had promised would take place for anyone who believed in Him (see John 14:12-14). 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Acts Study 17

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KENYA UPDATE:  I posted the latest pictures and update from Kenya, indicating that Pastor Peter signed the lease and is ready to prep the space for the library. You can read about it here and then please give generously here to make this project and others like them (described here) a reality when I return next year.  I can't do this without you, so don't delay in sending your financial help.  The children pictured here (click on them to enlarge) need you to help them prepare for a succcccessful future through reading and studying. Thank you!