Bible Reading Challenge Blog

When you read Scripture I hope you know that it is a compilation of material that has been gathered over time.  We do not have the original Acts of the Apostles as it was written by Luke, but rather scraps and bits and pieces that were gathered from the middle ages on.  As a result there can be some inconsistencies that might seem alarming to some.  Chapter 16 contains some elements in its writing that can seem a bit disjointed.  The narrative switches from the third person to the first person where the author goes from speaking about “them” in vs.7 to speaking about “us” and “we” in vs.11 and following.  Don’t allow it to bother you.  It is obvious that Luke got this part of his story from someone who was very close to the action and so the account we have includes some great details that otherwise we would not have had if it had been just Luke writing.

We are introduced to Timothy in these first verses.  I think it is interesting that even after the Jerusalem council where it was decided that gentile Christians did not need to become Jewish first, Paul still had Timothy circumcised.  Paul knew what would be required and what the people of that area expected.  How far are we able to go and what are we able to do even if we don’t want to do it in order for the Gospel to be proclaimed in such a way that it can be heard.  If Timothy had not been circumcised then probably those in Lysta and Iconium, even though they spoke highly of him, would not have been able to listen to him because it would have been an obstacle to their hearing.  What do we have that might be an obstacle to others hearing the Gospel and we just simply do not want to let it go?

Paul’s conversion of the jailer is a classic as well.  Before that conversion they meet Lydia who is the dealer in purple and she becomes an iconic figure in Scripture.  Just a few weeks ago we went to the dedication service of my daughter’s graduating class.  One of the speakers went on to say how Jesus was rich and self funded the disciples.  I don’t think that could be further from the truth, at least the part of self-funding.  Throughout Scripture we find that the primary benefactors to Jesus’ ministry were women who supported him and his disciples.  If you look at Luke 8:3, by the way remember it is Luke who wrote Acts of the Apostles, you see that there is a whole host of women who supported Jesus financially, and this continues in the early church with Lydia and others.

When Paul and Silas drive out the denom from the young girl who had become a real nuisance to them it nearly gets them killed. Beaten and stripped and thrown into prison they were still able to pray and sing hymns to God (vs.25).  The earthquake that shakes the foundations of the prison sounds like a similar earthquake that we find in Scripture: Matthew 28:2 and then also 27:51 show an earthquake that took place at Jesus’ death and then another one at his resurrection.  But this earthquake was one which opened up all the doors of the cells and even unfastened the chains of Paul and Silas while they were in the stockade.  So the jailer had one job do to, and only one job.  When he wakes up and sees all the doors open he assumes the worst.  

I love how Paul tells him to stop from taking his life and leads him to Jesus.  His entire family is baptized as a result of Paul and Silas’ action which were to show him love and not hatred for his role in their imprisonment.  Again, another example of how far would we go to spread the Gospel, even if it meant staying in prison with the chance that we would be killed.  Of course they were set free, but they didn’t know it at the time.  Paul, again not my favorite, demands that those who put them in prison show them the respect that is due to them.  They do, and then they go back to stay at Lydia’s home.  Don’t forget Timothy, he comes up later and he is a very important figure in the New Testament.  

Do you remember when I mentioned that the first century church was not a perfect church by any stretch of the imagination?  This chapter contains an account of a time when the church was not of one voice on an issue and their attempt to resolve the dispute.  This is the one and only council meeting in which we see the early first century church take part.  Here was the problem.  I think I mentioned it earlier.  There was a group of Christians, they were from the believers who were Pharisees by background.  Now when we call someone a Pharisee it is not a bad term.  A Pharisee was actually a very learned religious leader who followed a certain school of thought.  Today we understand that when a church body calls someone  a priest, or a pastor, or a minister, or a reverend it all basically means the same thing.  Each denomination has their own way of identifying their spiritual leader.  A Pharisee came from that school of thought within the Jewish community which was more legalistic than, say, the Sadducees.  They also tended to appeal more to the masses and were not considered the elite of society, like the Sadducees were.  Paul was trained as a Pharisee, and so this was important.  He would have been going against many who believe similarly to what he believed.

So on to the issue at hand.  The Christians who came from the Pharisee school of thought believed that anyone who came to know Jesus had to follow all of the Jewish laws which included circumcision, dietary restrictions, wearing of certain clothing…and other incredibly restrive forms of living.  Paul, Peter and others thought that all which was necessary was as vs. 11 states: “On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”  Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is all about the grace of Jesus, and not our ability to follow Jewish law, or any laws for that matter.

What is fascinating to me is that Peter says his thing and then the debate continues.  We have always been told that it is Peter who is the head of the church (Remember the picture with Peter holding the keys?).  But who brings this debate to a close.  After Peter speaks there is silence and then finally James speaks up.  Look at vs.19.  We find James saying: “Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God”  He reached a decision?  He made the final call?  Where have we ever heard in church history that James was the head of the church?  Here, in Acts 15:19 we find that it is not Peter who makes the final decisions for the church, but it is James.  There is no other debate after his declaration and the verses continue as if this is the end of the council and the discussion was finished and what James said was installed as policy of the early church.  It is absolutely stunning to me that James has not taken on a much more important role in the history of the church than what we have been taught.

So you would think after this council and people have made a decision that everything would work out just right.  Well, not so much.  Look starting at vs.36 and you will see that there is a bit of a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul.  Remember back in chapter 13:13 when John was accompanying them and then he abruptly leaves?  Well, apparently there is more to that story and it is continued here in chapter 15.   Paul and Barnabas decide to go back to the church that they had founded to check in on the believers.  Barnabas wanted to take John who had been instrumental in setting up the early churches.  But Paul says they should not take someone who had deserted them in the work.  I’m not the biggest fan of Paul.  He seems to carry a grudge.  I love Barnabas.  He decides that he is going to move forward with John even if it means that he and Paul have to go separate ways.  Vs.39 says that the disagreement became so sharp that they had to part company.

This week begins the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 222nd General Assembly.  It is a time when every two years leaders from our denomination gather to decide on issues that ultimately affect the life of the church.  Two years ago when the general assembly met it was a very contentious and difficult meeting.  It was one that produced a decision on gay marriage which I simply cannot and do not support.  But like the disciples I continue to believe in the church that was created by God and do not go off and sulk and take my toys and go home.  I believe that God is still working powerfully through our denomination as I see daily God working powerfully through our church in Strasburg.  If you wanted to livestream the General Assembly or just get information on what is going on here is the website that you can use: http://oga.pcusa.org/section/ga/222nd-general-assembly-2016/

Paul and Barnabas continue in their missionary journey and they bring a whole crew of Jews and gentiles to the faith.  As it did in other places, it caused quite a stir.  The scene in Lystra starting at vs.8 is an important scene.  We find Paul and Barnabas heal a man crippled from birth.  This is again a reminder to us that healings and miracles still take place after Jesus has ascended into heaven.  So miracles are still a part of the reality in which we live.  Don’t let anyone tell you that God  simply does not work that way any longer.  God absolutely does work in this way and continues to work in a way that astounds us and leaves us thinking: with God anything is possible.  But the people of that region had not seen anything like it before.  They reverted back to that which they knew, which was the worship of their gods, so they began worshipping Paul and Barnabas.  As you would expect, Paul and Barnabas turn their attention from their own selves to the resurrected Jesus Christ.  What a great strategy.  How do we turn the attention of people away from us and toward God?  A bit of time passes and the crowds turn on Paul and Barnabas and try to stone them but they slip away after they are left for dead.

Starting at vs. 21 we see a great model for church planting where at first they preached the Word and people were won over for Christ.  The next step after that which we find in these verses is they then appoint elders in each of the churches to oversee them.  They then went back home, recounted their missionary journey, and stayed with the disciples in the church for some time.  It was a fitting ending to a very, very successful missionary enterprise.

So today the worst mass shooting took place in the history of the United States.  The angry young white man is replaced by a radicalized twenty something with a cause.  Dylan Klebold has been replaced by Omar Mateen.  

Before we begin Paul’s journeys we must stop and reflect upon vs.1 because it is significant.  We find the believers of Antioch pointed out and some individuals lifted up as leaders in the church.  Out of these leaders Paul and Barnabas, we have seen them before, are called out to go forward on an overseas missionary journey.  But let’s look at those who were in the community and stayed home.  We have a Simeon who was called Niger.  What Luke does here, and we have already mentioned that he loves details, is that he lifts up the race of Simeon as something particular and distinctive.  Simeon was someone whose ancestry came from Africa.  This is not completely unusual, we have Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, remember where Ethiopia is…Africa.  But it is unusual enough to be able to comment and say this just might be the first reference to a church that is intercultural, interracial, and interethnic in the most positive of ways.  I’ll never forget the day that an elder in a church that I once served came to me and said flat out: “Black people have their place and it is a place that is inferior to white people.  They should not be in our church.”  It was a reality check for a very young pastor who thought everyone thought the way that I thought.  I wish I had mentioned Simeon called Niger (literally the black one) and the church in Antioch who casually mentions him along with Paul and Barnabas as leaders in the church.  

Now onto Paul’s journeys.  

His first journey we find is laid out above in a fairly comprehensive way.  Just beware, and I fell for this, the map above is a reflection of his journey which takes place over chapters 13 and 14.  So tomorrow you’ll have to cover the cities inland which chapter 13 does not cover.  All along the way they make friends and they make enemies.  I had a member of a church tell me at one time: “I just want people to like me.” I think I also mentioned that when I was in college and played basketball if we were up by a certain number of points then it would look promising for me to go in.  Once we were up by about 15 the crowd started chanting: “Bob is nice.”  It was kind of their signal to the coach that it was time for me to go in.  It was…nice.  But I have come to realize that no matter how nice we are, and we are called to be nice by the way, people are still not going to like you all the time.  I’m going to change a quote around that maybe you’ve heard in reference to fooling people but I’m going to substitute it with people liking you.  You can have some of the people like you all the time, you can have all of the people like you some of the time, but you can’t have all of the people like you all of the time.  Yeah, I think that works.  How about that for Biblical exegesis?

All of that to say is that Paul and Barnabas and John were accepted and rejected.  The both attracted and repelled.  Our goal should be to attract, but it simply is not going to happen all the time.  I want you to notice vs.13 where we have John leaving Paul and Barnabas.  This comes up later in Acts and it is actually a disagreement and one of the first times that we see a conflict in the church.  It doesn’t say that here, but we do learn about it later.  Keep it in mind.

Paul’s sermon is powerful, especially vs.39 which lays out for us the simple Gospel message.  Jesus came and died for our sins, all of our sins.  As  a result we have eternal life.  It doesn’t get any simpler than that.  We also have here a transition of the Gospel message from strictly being preached to the Jews to then being opened to the gentiles.  Are you sensing this theme being stressed repeatedly?  Look at the reaction of the gentiles in vs.48 as we get our first glimpse of predestination.  We will speak about predestination later when Paul addresses it in Romans.  My prayer for all of us is that we would live our lives as a reflection of vs. 52: “And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”  What could be better?

Who said Luke doesn’t have a sense of humor?  He begins with the tragic announcement that the brother of John, James, one of the original twelve disciples and the first of the twelve to die a martyr’s death, was executed by Herod.  Herod then arrests Peter and the assumption is that the general population was so pleased with the execution of James, that they would be equally, if not more, pleased with the execution of Peter.  This would probably be his last night in jail, and his last night on the face of this earth.  Then the humor starts.

Peter is so sound asleep in prison that the angel has to tap him on the side to wake him up.  Now, I’ve never been in prison, much less slept in prison, but I’m guessing that if you have a sneaking suspicion that this might be your last day alive, you just might have a wee bit trouble sleeping.  Instead, the angel comes, his light shines mightily, and Peter is still snoring away.  WAKE UP!!  He taps him on the side and then the details of his escape should not go unnoticed.  The angel explains to Peter how he should get dressed.  Fasten your belt, put on your sandals and make sure you wrap your cloak around you, would hate for you to catch a cold.  He leads him past the guards and then out the main gate of Jerusalem.  Just in case you were wondering, the gate opening of its own accord simply was a miracle.  It would have taken an act of congress to open that gate in the middle of the night.  No, seriously, it would have taken an act of the Roman congress to open the city gates at night. 

But the adventure doesn’t end.  Everyone is gathered at John’s house, the one who had just lost his brother at the hands of Herod.  That is where the disciples and the believers are gathered, down a country lane away from the general population so no one could see them or hear them worship.  Peter arrives at the gate and knocks.  The maid recognizes Peter’s voice and … leaves him standing out in the road to go and tell the others.  I absolutely love this scene.  I would love to see it depicted in Hollywood where you have a very irate and anxious Peter saying: “Rhoda, open the gate, open the gate Rhoda.  Please, open the gate.”  Eventually she does and there is a happy reunion.  There is much to laugh about in these verses, but certainly not if you are related to the Roman guards who did not experience a happy ending.

What you see above is the amphitheater in Caesarea Marittima which is where Herod went after this event in Acts 12, and then he dies after speaking to the crowd and the worms eat up his body.  No explanation.  Just don’t make yourself like a god.  Bad things happen. 

You never know how you are going to react in a crisis until a crisis comes upon you.  We received a phone call this morning at 6am from our eldest, Rachel, who said she had fainted and was feeling terrible and was worried.  We told her to call 911 and we rushed down to the emergency room in Springfield, PA.  She was fine, there is a little history with her and fainting which is a genetic trait she acquired from her mother, Stacy.  But as you can imagine the fear and uncertainty were pretty palpable as we made our way to see her.

The Apostles lived daily lives of fear and trepidation wondering who just might turn them into the authorities.  It reminds me so much of Soviet, and even now post-Soviet Russia with Putin in power.  You never knew if you had a bad day with your neighbor if he would call the secret police, make up a story, and they would ship you off to Siberia.  There is still today a fear within the Russian culture of your neighbor.  The feeling is that you have to be careful not to share too much with them out of fear that maybe, just maybe, they would use that against you.  The early Apostles were especially fearful of the Romans because they were the ones who could, and did, set you up for a death sentence.

So when the word got out that Peter had welcomed gentiles, or Roman citizens, into their family of believers, it was not welcomed with open arms in the church.  They ask Peter in vs. 3: “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”  There was real danger in getting too close to these people.  But Peter explains in detail the dream that he had and how God had spoken to him and how God has now opened up the kingdom of God to all people from all nationalities.  He says to those who asked him: “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”  Those who questioned Peter were silenced, in fact they rejoiced that the family was now a broader family than ever before.

I think all of us would rejoice that God has cast the net wide and that we are all welcomed into the family of believers.  Now is that the same in regards to our nation?  Why do we want to make the net smaller so that only a limited number of people might come into our country?  In every country where I have traveled people want to come to our country, and most even want to stay here permanently.  I think it is an incredibly interesting conflicting reality that we live in as believers and Americans.  I hope and I pray that we want God to cast the net over everyone so that all would be covered by His grace.  What is our thinking as Christians, put aside your nationality and your patriotism, but what is our thinking as believers in Jesus Christ when we want to limit those who might be our neighbors, literally?  

Moving on, this chapter remains consistent and speaks about even more gentiles coming into the fold.  This chapter speaks very directly as to the cause of why the Good News proliferates as it does.  If you look at vs.19 the martyrdom of Stephen is lifted up as the cause for the Gospel having spread across the known globe.  When Barnabas came to check out the incredible growth in the church he celebrated because he recognized that the numbers were mind boggling and the vast majority of those coming to Jesus were very different from Barnabas and the Apostles.  They were uncircumcised gentiles. It is at this point that believers are called Christians for the first time.  Look at vs.26 and we see the first mention of this word in all of Scripture.  Pretty neat to be able to point to one time and place in history and say that the word Christian was first used in the first century in Antioch as the people described the belief system of those like Saul and Barnabas. 

We find in vs. 27 the first charity mission that the believers were involved in on a denominational wide basis.  I know, there weren’t denominations back then, but here we see all of the churches banding together to help the poor and the starving in Judea.  Barnabas and Saul were the disaster assistance heads of the church at that time.  I wonder if they saved some of the money for a rainy day fund when things might be needed a little later on.  I’m guessing that they did since it is very common practice in relief work to not spend more than is needed at the time and save for later what might be needed for later.  I love how Saul jumps right in there and is being used extensively by the Apostles for all kinds of work.

Things are starting to be shaken up now.  We are no longer doing things the way they have always been done before.  Remember in past blogs I had mentioned that the Jews were the chosen ones and the gentiles had not been tapped to receive salvation as of yet.  This all changes in this chapter.  We have Peter, who is considered the primary apostle, who is in Joppa sitting on a roof digesting his lunch.  Peter is a key character in Acts and has throughout history been considered the one through whom Christ has established his church.  Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:18 where some see this as a confirmation of Peter’s primacy.  There is no denying that Peter played a central role in the development and in the decision making of the early church.  Here is a picture of Peter as represented in art history by Reubens:

You’ll notice that he is holding literal keys because of Jesus’ words in Matthew.  You can always pick out Peter in art history because he is the one in all works of art holding the keys.  This is the Peter that is mentioned here in Acts 10.  It is in this scene that the gates of heaven are opened to the gentiles.  

I call this scene in Acts “Pigs in a blanket”.  As Peter is digesting he sees a vision.  The consequence of this vision is that we get the green light to eat all that which God has made.  No longer do we have to follow the Levitical laws which differentiate between clean and unclean animals.  We also get the green light to know that God has chosen all of humanity to have a relationship with him.  Peter states in vs. 28: “God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”  I wonder if that applies also to those who might have leprosy or other diseases which would keep them out of the temple.  It is at this point that the Gospel becomes accessible to all who would believe in Jesus Christ.  Later on we will see the debate that arises over once they are accepted into the fold then how much do they have to become Jewish in order to be fully accepted.  Do they need to be circumcised?  Do they need to follow the Jewish laws?  All of these questions are answered at the Jerusalem council in chapter 15 of Acts.  We are almost there.

The scene continues in vs. 44 with the Holy Spirit falling upon these gentiles and they speak in tongues as the Spirit gives them power.  Cornelius is welcomed into the fold not only in baptism but with the Holy Spirit.  Those with Peter were amazed at this very visible exhibition of the power of God that would fall upon the gentiles.  I guess I need to go back from the beginning and say that Cornelius is a centurion which is a Roman soldier, and not just any Roman soldier, but he was of the Italian Cohort which would have been the Navy Seals of the day.  They were the best trained and the most loyal troops to the Emperor.  This is so significant because it is becoming more and more obvious that the Gospel message is reaching out to all people from every demographic group.  This will be even more the case as time progresses.  He would have been a member of the Way with substantial influence once he came into the fold.  

If you followed the 90 Day Challenge you will know by now who my favorite artist is.  Caravaggio who painted during the Baroque era has stolen my heart.  Here is his depiction of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.

Imagine if 5 years ago you were told that Osama bin Laden was coming to your house in Strasburg and the Lord commanded you to heal him from a sickness.  I think we would all have mixed feelings about that.  It is a similar situation that faced Jonah when he was called to minister to the Ninevites, the arch-enemies of the Israelites.  But if they repent, then God will spare them.  Not something I want as part of my legacy, the person who spared our enemies from defeat.  This was the predicament that Ananias had to face.

When we were in Florida we began what we hoped would evolve into a church.  That goal was never realized but some of my best memories were going on a Sunday evening and bringing Rachel along as a young elementary aged kid as we worshipped and celebrated God.  We called the church Damascus because don’t we all have an opportunity to meet the Lord on whatever road we find ourselves?  This is what happened to Saul.  He took the initiative to find ways to persecute the Christians even more than what was currently possible.  He petitioned the high priest for letters to be able to randomly seize and put in prison Christians.  These letters would have amounted to warrants.  He saw it as his mission to track down Christians.  It was his holy mission as a devout Jew.

A funny thing happened on the way to Damascus.  He was confronted by the Lord.  A few things that are of interest in this story.  First of all, nowhere do we read that he was riding a horse and that he was thrown off it.  That has always been my image of the story primarily because art history has depicted it in such a way.  We also find in vs. 2 the first name that the Christian movement is given which is The Way.  You can imagine that it was taken from Jesus’ self-identifying attribute of being “the way, the truth, and the life”.  But Saul is thrown to the ground and he hears God’s voice which chastises him for persecuting the Christians.  He then goes three days without food and water.  One of the most moving pieces of music that portrays the beginning of this chapter is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKhbD37ysQ

In the town of Damascus is a disciple who was a believer and he is also visited by the Lord.  This Saul, who was responsible for the vast majority of Christian deaths in that region, had become a believer!  Is it possible?  Ananias lays hands on him and Saul is healed, receives the Holy Spirit, and is baptized.  From there he immediately goes into the synagogues, where they knew him well, and began preaching about Jesus the Messiah.  No greater conversion has ever taken place in the history of Christianity.  It is not as if Saul was more important than anyone else, but he certainly was one of the most destructive forces to Christianity until his conversion.  

Peter’s healing of Tabitha closes out the chapter.  This chapter is a crucial one as we make our way through this 90 Day Challenge II.  We will be referring back to Saul’s conversion.  We will see how he becomes not only a disciple but one of the Apostles as well.  But this step has yet to come.  Vs. 27 in this chapter is crucial because it reintroduces us to Barnabas (remember the encourager) who becomes the go between for Saul and the other Apostles.  Needless to say not everyone received Saul, soon to be Paul, with open arms.  How many families who lost loved ones on 9-11 would receive Osama bin Laden with open arms if he came to know Jesus and said that he had changed his way?  I would guess not many.  The same was true back then.  Saul’s conversion was not completely received by the entire church.  It continues to be a sore spot throughout his ministry.  We will see this in Acts and also in his letters.

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.