Bible Reading Challenge Blog

Saul approved of the killing of the first Christian martyr called Stephen.  It is in these first 3 verses that we see the perverseness of the one who would become the greatest evangelist of all time.  He not only approved the killing of Stephen, but he began a witch hunt against those who would call themselves followers of Jesus.   In vs. 4 we see the result of this persecution which is that the Gospel of Jesus began to spread from region to region.  Because Paul persecuted the Christians they had to spread out and go into the region to flee this persecution.  This spreading out allowed, as vs. 4 states, the Gospel to spread from region to region.  Then we are introduced to Philip.

The account of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch is probably my absolute favorite in regards to a strategy to evangelism.  Wait, I can’t skip over the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Sorry, back up, and let’s look at these very controversial verses that talk about a second gifting of the Holy Spirit, or at least what some would call a second gifting.  Philip is a powerful evangelist and so much so that he is able to singlehandedly convert Samaria.  Remember Samaria, it was there that Jesus and the woman at the well had an extensive conversation and brought the men of the town into it and allowed the town to be introduced and exposed to Jesus first hand.  You can find that in John 4.  They were ready for someone like Philip to come and reap what had been sowed a few decades earlier.  As a result of his success the heads of this fledgling Christian Church, Peter and John, had to come over and check out his work and make sure that everything was working out the way that it was supposed to work out.  They had to make sure that things were done decently and in order.  Vs. 16 is a puzzling verse for those of us who call ourselves Protestant.  How in the world can people who come to give their lives to Jesus not receive the Holy Spirit?  

The assumption that we make is that the Holy Spirit is given to the Christian Church, and so all believers, on the day of Pentecost which took place back in Acts 2, received the Holy Spirit.  We read this curious Scripture that says that they were only baptized in the name of Jesus and so had not, as of yet, received the Holy Spirit.  How do we baptize people?  We do not baptize them in the name of Jesus.  Look at Matthew 28:19 where we read that we are to go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  That is how we baptize, that is how every church that is part of this bride that we call the Church baptizes.  If a Roman Catholic comes to join our church they do not need to be rebaptized because they have been baptized as an infant in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The same is true if a Presbyterian were to go and join a Roman Catholic church, they would not need to be rebaptized.  This is such a crucial understanding to our faith.  So when we read that these believers were only baptized in the name of Jesus, I might be going out on a limb here, I’m guessing they are making up for a shortcoming that was in Philip’s practice as a pastor.  They began baptizing people in the trinitarian formula, because Philip was not, and so they had to teach him how to do it. 

Please be aware that this is me expostulating from what I believe is true.  I can be persuaded differently, but I do not see any need for a second baptism in the Holy Spirit that some denominations believe must take place.  There is no need for a second baptism because one in the name of the Trinitarian formula is enough and imbues every person with the Holy Spirit that was given to the church in Acts 2.  This is a really important concept because we would never want people to think that their baptism as an infant, or as an adult, is not good enough and we have to have another go at it.

Do we have time to talk about Philip?  As I said before, I love Philip and he embodies the perfect evangelistic approach.  Oh, I just updated yesterday’s post if you want to see, it has another Rembrandt on it.  But notice what happens in this sequence.  The Holy Spirit leads Philip to an Ethiopian who is returning from the temple.  He is a Eunuch, which means he was castrated and in charge of the treasury of the Queen.  He was very much of a VIP.  So Philip asks if he understands what he is reading.  He happens to be reading from Isaiah, and no, he does not understand.  He happens to be reading one of the Suffering Servant scriptures in Isaiah.  There are certain Scriptures in Isaiah that point to Jesus as being a suffering servant.  He foretells the coming of Jesus who is going to be someone so gentle that he will not break a bruised reed.  If you wanted to read all of the suffering servant passages then you can find them below: Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52, 53.

Once the eunuch hears from Philip who this suffering servant is then he turns his life over to Jesus and spontaneously says upon seeing water: What is to prevent me from being baptized?  Oh, how I wish it were that easy for me.  I have had so many times when people tell me that they want to be baptized but I can’t until I confab with session and make sure that everything is the way that it is supposed to be.  Nothing should prevent people from being baptized, even if it is not decently in order.  I love Philip.  I love how God uses him.   The evangelistic approach which Philip teaches us is to wait until those who need to hear Jesus ask us about Jesus.  It is that simple.  We will see it again later in Acts.

Here we find a brief mini-series on the disciple known as Stephen.  Now, keep in mind that he was not one of the original twelve who had walked with Jesus, but rather he is chosen in these very specific verses to be a deacon.  That’s right, I said a deacon.  Let’s go ahead and talk through these verses and try to understand what is happening.  As we mentioned before the early Christian church was composed of primarily Jewish believers, but there were some who came from a culturally Greek background which was prevalent among the Roman Empire in those days.  Those who came from a Greek or pagan/gentile background were called Hellenists.  If there were a pecking order in the early church then the Hellenists would have been at the bottom of this order simply because they did not come from a Jewish background.  They were the newest arrivals at the church.  If we used First Presbyterian as an example then we could say that the Jewish believers were those who had been members of FPC for generations while the Hellenists, the newcomers, are those who have just started coming with the advent of the second service.  It is a bit of a stretch but I have to make it relevant somehow.

Well, the widows who had come from the generational believers and the widows from the newcomers all had a chance to eat at church in order to have their needs met.  They needed this meal to survive.  But, as tends to happen in most cultural settings, those with preferential treatment were getting all of the food while those widows who were the newcomers were being overlooked.  The Apostles noticed this and wanted to put an end to it.  They needed to appoint 7 people in order to ensure that everyone behaved and everyone got the same amount of food.  The reason why I said that Stephen is the first deacon is because these verses are referenced as the first time the role of the deacon is mentioned in Scripture.  The Apostles were responsible for the preaching of the Word and for prayer while the deacons, these seven people, were responsible to make sure that no one was overlooked.  So the origin of the office of deacon is found here in Acts 6.

But once we get past the beginning of this chapter we see the role of Stephen changing, and we see him in chapter 7 become the first Christian martyr.  But from verses 8-15 he no longer is serving table, the task to which he was assigned, but rather preaching the Word of God.   It is important to not see a progression of roles that goes deacon is the preliminary step in order to become an elder.  No, they are two separate offices with two separate and distinct callings.  But here in these verses Stephen moves from being called to be a deacon to that of being the preacher of the Word, which we call an elder.  

It is interesting to note that the author specifically lifts up the fact in vs.7 that many  priests came to believe in Jesus as Savior and so were added to those who were of the Christian faith.  The message of Jesus continues to spread.

Our stewardship motto for this year is going to be: “Give or Die!”  Not really, but if we based it on Acts 5 we could choose that route if we wanted.  I warned you that this was going to be a bit of a disturbing chapter.  We have two main stories in this chapter, the first is the death of these two disciples who lied to the apostles about how much profit they took in from the selling of their land.  I think the key verses for deciphering what happened as  result of this event can be found in vs. 11 and vs. 13.  Great fear seized the whole church, I assume this includes the disciples who were not directly involved in the death of the two, and as vs. 13 states: “none of the rest dared to join them”.  Ananias and Sapphira without a doubt lied to the disciples, and for all intents and purposes lied to God.  The punishment was immediate and real.  We don’t know the backstory, we just know that they sold their land for more than what they said, they had a chance to tell the truth, they chose not to, and so they died.  Interestingly enough we don’t read that God killed them, we don’t read that the people gathered around them laid a hand on them to facilitate their death, we just read that they fell down and died.  The image above is Raphael’s depiction of this biblical scene.  There is so much going on in that painting, do you see the woman being helped by the disciples, do you see the keys in Peter’s hand, do you see another woman counting her money, could that be Sapphira?

An event takes place in the life of the church that marks it as this type of a church.  This is a church that holds each other accountable…to the extreme!  What a huge swing that is from today’s church where we really don’t hold each other accountable in any way, shape, or form.  We may talk behind someone’s back if they are doing something of which we disapprove, but we would never consider approaching them and calling them out for their sin.  Who are we to judge?  That’s the most common response we would give and that we hear from others.  Oh for a church that would hold each other accountable in love and grace.  I say this as the primary offender, by the way.  The pastor, that’s me, probably has more insight into the life of people than most, and yet for some reason I feel ill equipped to confront a member of the church with a sin that might be a very visible and obvious part of their life.  At the root of this reticence has to be the distance that there is between members of the church.  We do not all live together, we do not share everything in common, I am not selling my house and my cars and giving the proceeds to the single mom who just needs to be with her kids.  We are not a church in the same sense of the word that they were in the 1st century.  Am I making excuses for our inadequacies?  Probably, but I hope we are also thinking about possibilities that we may find in our lives to reach out to the ones we love, our brothers and sisters in Christ, with encouraging insights into how we can all walk more like Jesus.

We move from the dirty laundry of the early church to the disciples healing and even their shadows having a salutatory effect.  But at vs. 17 we see the religious leaders of the day have had enough.  The Sadducees had already had their run in with Peter and his crew and had already thrown him into prison overnight back in chapter 4.  Enough is enough.  The text says that they were filled with jealousy because all the people were following them.  There is nothing worse than jealousy in religion.  If you are upset because more people are going to someone else’s church then your perspective is a bit skewed.  Why would we not celebrate when a church increases in number?  Why would we not celebrate if more laborers are coming into the field?  But the Sadducees had the power and were terrified of losing it or of Rome coming in and blaming them for whatever trouble these followers of Jesus might stir up.  Time to put a wrap on it, so let’s put them back in prison.  Here we have one of the many jailbreaks that take place at the hand of an angel of the Lord.  

Let’s look at one phrase that I have used repeated in my ministry to try to understand what God’s guidance and direction might be at a certain time in my life.  When I am faced with decisions that might be either personal or in relationship to the church I try to follow God’s guidance by going through the first door that might be opened.  From there I see what other doors and opportunities might be opened and then I go through those doors.  Gamaliel says the following in vs. 38-39 in regards to Jesus and his followers: “So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”  This is so true.  If what we plan for the church is just our plan and we have not bathed it in prayer or asked for God’s intervention in a powerful way, it will fail.  But if it is of God, then God will bless it.

I have found throughout my ministry that those programs and activities that we are involved in will be blessed if we ask for God’s intervention.  When we step out in faith and get involved in something we should know fairly soon if it is of God or not.  I can tell you of two times when this was evident in my ministry.  The first was in Florida, where we had a preschool that we thought was God’s desire and intention.  It ran for a number of years but at a certain point it became obvious that it was losing money big time and conflict and strife were the primary defining aspects of this ministry.  We shut it down, it failed, it was not of God.  It was obvious to the session and to everyone in that room that this was not of God.  The second example was in Russia, where we stepped out in faith to open a second soup kitchen targeting moms and their children.  We only had half the money we needed, but we were convinced that this was of God.  The council decided to move forward in faith.  The next morning the German Embassy called me and promised the remaining funds.  Both have to do with money, and unfortunately, I do believe that funds are a great barometer for whether God is blessing a ministry or not.  If the Holy Spirit is moving then I have experienced that people know it and are more apt to give and get on board with something that is of God.  Is that a bad thing to say?  I hope not.  Well, the wise words of Gamaliel have held true, the Christian movement has certainly been of God, even, at times, in spite of us.

You need to remember where we were yesterday in order to pick up the flow from today.  Remember Peter and John are hanging out in Jerusalem and they heal a man, a beggar, who was crippled.  He got up and walked and jumped for joy and then clung to Peter refusing to let him go.  That is where we find ourselves today.  Peter and John are in the Temple with this man who was healed and a crowd of curious onlookers have gathered.  The disciples take this opportunity to preach about Jesus.  There is an important aspect of 1st century Christianity that we need to remember.  To the outside world there was hardly any distinction between the Jews of the temple and the Jews who believed in Jesus.  Belief in Jesus was to many just another manifestation of a Jewish thought and theology.  It fell squarely within Jewish practice, and so when the believers in Jesus were in the temple they worshipped and prayed and acted as any other Jewish person would have.  This is crucial but it is here where Christians begin to take on a distinction that would eventually force them out of the temple and out of the synagogues, and out of mainstream Judaism forever.

But at this stage Peter and John  were just Jewish men who believed in Jesus which really didn’t make them all that different.  From the very beginning of today’s verses we find an encounter between these disciples and the Sadducees.  It might be helpful at this time to read Matthew 22:23-46.  We find that one of the points of contention between the Pharisees and the Sadducees is this issue of the resurrection.  The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.  Luke points out very directly that what they took issue with in regards to Peter and John here is not that they are preaching Jesus, they could deal with that, but that they were preaching the resurrection of Jesus.  This was a real problem for them.  Big problem.  Oh, in case you missed it, 5,000 people came to believe as a result of the healing and the words and work of Peter and John.  It seems like Luke adds this as an afterthought.  Can you imagine the headlines if this were to take place today?  But Luke here just casually mentions it.  It really isn’t about numbers, it is about the possibilities that we are given to let people know about who Jesus is and who he can be in our lives…if we would just give him a chance.

So Peter and John are put into prison overnight.  The next day they are put on trial and asked by what power are they preaching and performing these miraculous acts.  They say by the power of Jesus.  In fact, in vs. 12 we find the exclusive claim once again, as we see in John 14:6 that solely in Jesus is there salvation.  John states no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.  Here it is a similar approach as Luke has Peter state: “There is salvation in no one else.”  Remember the word for salvation can also mean wholeness and healing.  So really there is a double message here in Peter’s words.  There is no healing, there is no completeness, there is no reconciliation, there is no peace, there is no eternal life, there is no…” you get the picture and there is probably more than just a double message.  This exclusive claim can be disconcerting to some who want to cast a wide net and have an open tent for all to enter the kingdom of God.  That is my prayer every night that my understanding of salvation is wrong and that God’s grace far exceeds my limited understanding.  In fact, just yesterday, or the day before, I said never, ever judge who is saved or not saved.  That is not our job.  This is all still true, but we have words in Scripture that point to an exclusive claim in salvation in Jesus and in Jesus alone.  There are not many paths to God, there is only one, and that is the path of our Savior Jesus Christ.  

I hope you also recognize that this exclusive claim to salvation has as its partner the inclusive net of those for whom Jesus came in the first place.  For God came to save the world.  This is as inclusive as it gets.  So here is the tension.  There is this enormously inclusive welcome and invitation for all to come and live under the grace of God through Jesus Christ.  But there is this exclusive claim that only those who do claim that promise will get to the Father.  It is a tension, but it makes sense to me and it works for my limited understanding.

Now Luke sets the stage for what is going to happen in chapter 5, and it is one of the more disturbing chapters in the Bible.  Remember Acts 2:43-47 where we get a glimpse into the life of the earliest disciples.  They had everything in common, they met every day for worship and praise.  Here in chapter 4:32-37 we are introduced to some of the details of what living together and having everything in common actually looked like.  Everyone sold what they had, laid it at the apostles’ feet, and then the apostles’ distributed the proceeds according to the needs of people.  It sounds like a recipe for disaster doesn’t it.  Can you imagine if we did that at First Presbyterian?  I don’t think we would need to worry about new members classes.  Often people ask me why we don’t do certain things when theologically we seem to be commanded to do them.  Unfortunately, the answer often is because we are pragmatists, we tend to do that which is the most convenient and the least uncomfortable for those around us.  We are called to live like the earliest disciples, but we don’t because it isn’t practical.  This really isn’t a complaint, just a recognition that we simply do not live up to what we espouse as our ideals and our goals.  Keep that in mind the next time you hear someone say that we have compromised our principles.  Yes, you are right, we have, and every single day every single person makes decisions on how much we will compromise, and how little.  Again, this is not a justification, just reality.

We are also now introduced to Barnabas.  We will see much more of him later.  Just remember what his name means – the encourager.  He is one of my favorite biblical characters because he lives out his name time and time again.  We will see how we all need to have a Barnabas in our lives, as well as the times that we need to be the Barnabas in someone else’s life.  On to the next day, just brace yourself for chapter 5.  It is a doozy.

Acts 3 probably counts as one of those chapters of the Bible that is easily forgotten.  We tend to forget that Jesus was not the only one in the Bible who performed miracles and turned the attention of people to God through these miracles.  Remember in John when we saw that Jesus’ miracles were called signs and these signs were markers always pointing back to the God of all creation?  Peter does the same thing here.  In vs. 12 he reminds the people who have gathered as curiosity seekers that it was not through human hands that this person was healed, but rather through the power of Jesus himself.  What a great strategy that whatever we are able to accomplish we can redirect it to Jesus, the one who gives us the ability.

Every time that I read this Scripture I think of my approach to those who are in need and ask for monetary gifts on the street.  The word we normally use is “beggars”.  Every day someone would bring this beggar and deposit him by the beautiful gate.  It was a gate that people would frequently use and so it was really an ideal setting for someone who relied upon the generosity of people for their welfare.  Below you will find what some scholars believe to be the Beautiful Gate but most people call it the Golden Gate.  It is another John Faltin picture taken at our last trip to Israel.

One thing you should notice about this picture is that the gate is completely sealed.  It has been sealed since the 12th century primarily because of the belief that when the Messiah comes back he will come back through this gate. Those who sealed it did not want people to be tempted into thinking they could orchestrate a second coming and so create continuous unrest as each generation raised up its own “Messiah”.   The reference to this thought is found in Ezekiel 44:1-3 where the gate is commanded to be closed until the servant of the Lord were to come back.  Over the years there have been attempts by Christians to kind of try to force the coming back of the Messiah by physically attempting to open that gate which would in some way require the second coming of Jesus as the Messiah.  It is almost as if they are trying to force God’s hand.  Needless to say it has not worked.  

Let’s get back to the Scripture…so what is our approach when a beggar comes to us and asks for money?  It is something that has often bothered me so I have come up with an approach that is not Scriptural, unless you want to use this Scripture as a template.  I never give money to those on the street.  I have many times taken them for a meal, or bought some things that they have asked for, but never do I give money.  It is the cynic in me that says maybe, just maybe, you can’t trust what they are saying.  I know many people take the approach that you give them the money and then let God sort it out.  I totally get that and I am in no way saying that is the wrong way to approach the same situation.  It is just not the approach I take.  Peter healed the man, I can’t really do that, or at least I don’t think I can do that.  Maybe if I just had a little more faith in God and in people I would take that approach.  

So once Peter heals the man the man clings to him (vs.11) as Peter gives another sermon.  So this is the second time that Peter preaches in Acts.  To Susan Roe’s comment, it does seem like he is coming into his own as far as a leader of the 1st century church.  Without Jesus around they realize they need to be the go to people.  The message he gives is the same.  The prophets were sent to let us know about the coming of the Messiah.  The Messiah came in Jesus.  We killed the Messiah.  But the Good News is that we now know who the Messiah is and we are able to believe in him.

It is a simple message, but it is one that he repeats.  Peter calls Jesus the righteous and Holy One (vs.14), he calls Jesus the author of life (vs.15).  Peter attributes the beggar’s healing to his faith in Jesus (vs.16).  Wait, where did that come from?  We didn’t see his faith.  How do we know if he had faith in Jesus.  Isn’t that the point?  We so often second guess where a person is in their faith.  We so often make the judgment call and try to distinguish between believer and unbeliever.  Do me a favor, all of you who may be reading this, do not ever, ever try to be the one to figure out if a person is a believer or a nonbeliever.  John Calvin teaches us to treat all people as children of God.  That has to be our approach in life, it does make life so much easier.  So yeah, the beggar did believe in Jesus and so he was healed.  Praise be to God!