You need to be MORE judgmental - but just do it correctly! SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Luke has been telling the story of Paul's second missionary journey, which landed him in a Philippian prison. Luke tells of how Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns at midnight with their feet in stocks, a violent earthquake toppled the prison, freeing them. Their jailer comes to faith as a result, and he and his family were baptized. After leaving Philippi, the missionary team ended up in Thessalonica, where jealous Jews incited a riot against them, forcing them to leave. Acts 17:10–15 (NASB95) 10 The brethren [in Philippi] immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Belgic Confession Article 29: The Marks of the True Church The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church— and no one ought to be separated from it. Summary After escaping the clutches of the cranked up Thessalonian crowd in the dark of night, Paul and Silas immediately fall back into the same pattern they'd repeated in so many other cities: when they arrived in Berea, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Even though angry and jealous Jews have caused so much hardship for them in the past, synagogues are so often where Paul begins his preaching, because it's there that they find people familiar with the Scriptures. It's important to note that prior Biblical knowledge is not a necessary prerequisite for faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. There's lots of people, even in the book of Acts, who came to believe without knowing a thing about the Bible before their conversion, not the least of which is the Philippian jailer and his family recorded in the previous chapter. But Paul's custom of beginning in each new city with Biblically literate people and reasoning with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead (Acts 17:2-3) shows the value in training our people - especially our children - in the Word of the Lord. We're not making them Christians by doing so - that's the work of the Holy Spirit. But we are instilling in them one of the ordinary means that the Spirit so often uses to bring people to know Christ as we teach of God's covenant faithfulness throughout history as it's told of in the Old Testament. Dig Deeper The people in Berea were different than what Paul encountered in so many other cities. Luke puts it quite bluntly: they were more noble-minded, especially compared to those in Thessalonica. One Greek lexicon defines the adjective Luke used here as having "a willingness to learn and evaluate something fairly—‘willingness to learn, to be open-minded." So they're described as having received the word with great eagerness. Now that eagerness to receive something new - being 'open minded', as the lexicon put it - isn't meant to promote an uncritical acceptance of every novel idea that comes your way. That's the attitude of the fallen world we live in, in which 'open mindedness' is equivocated to mean 'non-judgmental'. That's not at all what these Bereans were, and neither should you be. Rather, having heard this wonderful good news of Jesus Christ, they examined the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. In other words, they evaluated the truthfulness of Paul's claims. You could even say they judged them - but not by their own arbitrary standards or how what Paul preached made them feel. They judged what they heard by how well it conformed to the one and only absolute standard of truth: Scripture. This is just one more reason for you to increasingly know more and more about what the Bible says, so that you can properly evaluate - judge, even - the dozens of competing truth claims that come at you each day. Be like the Bereans: examine the Scriptures daily! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who through His Holy Spirit opens the minds of His people to see the truth in His Word; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that every day you come to know the Scriptures more so that you can wisely and properly discern truth; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

It's the Lord who opens your heart, but you must respond. SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... As the gospel grows, the Church develops growing pains. Rather than just ignoring the massive difficulties that came with integrating Gentile converts with Jewish traditions, the Church faced the issue and convened a council to provide clarity on how to live into the Lord's will. Having set a course forward, it was time to get back to the work of evangelism. Unfortunately, Paul and Barnabas couldn't find a path forward together. But God used the situation to form two missionary teams instead of just one. Now Paul has teamed up with his protege Timothy, and our narrator, Luke. Acts 16:11–15 (NIV) 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. Canons of Dordt Point III/IV, Article 13-14: The Way God Gives Faith ...Faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for people to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on them, breathed and infused into them... it is a gift in the sense that God who works both willing and acting and, indeed, works all things in all people and produces in them both the will to believe and the belief itself. Summary One of Luke's - the historian and fellow evangelist who wrote both the account of Jesus' life as well as the book of Acts - characteristics is his ability to convey lots of information using a small amount of words. He often throws in seemingly unsignificant details that end up adding deep insight to the story (conversely, when Luke doesn't include details, it's a big clue that that those things are not critical to understanding the story, even though we might be really curious about them). So when Luke mentions that they had to go outside of the city on the Sabbath to find people who worshipped God, and that the people who had gathered down by the river to pray were women, it tells us quite a bit about the spiritual condition of the Jewish people in Philippi. Synagogues could be formed wherever there were at least ten faithful men, so the fact that these women were meeting alone in the open air tells us that the Jewish men of Philippi, a large and prosperous city in which there would have been more than enough men to warrant having several synagogues, had by and large abdicated their faith and calling from God to be the spiritual leaders of their home and community. Such lazy behavior by men has plagued the Church for its entire existence. Next, Luke keys in on a particular woman, sharing all sorts of details about her: where she was from, her name, and her occupation. From these details we can deduce that Lydia was likely a free woman (in a world where most people were enslaved) and that as a dealer of purple cloth, she was probably quite wealthy. In her faithfulness, she would go on to be a key patron and benefactor to the Church for years to come. Dig Deeper Of course we didn't come to this passage today just for a lesson in ancient Philippian history. We came because of the interesting way that Luke describes how it is Lydia came to place her faith in Christ. Each clause of this short sentence is worth digging into: The Lord opened her heart... - Of course Luke doesn't literally mean that God performed open heart surgery here! As one lexicon defines the idiom used here, Luke means that the Lord - a title most often given to Christ, but one that doesn't necessarily exclude the Holy Spirit - "caused someone to be willing to learn and evaluate fairly." ...to respond... - When the Holy Spirit breaths and infuses faith into people, it's not as if He turns people into mindless drones who no longer have agency over their will or can exercise any independent self determination; The Lord had opened her heart, but Lydia still needed to respond to Him on her own. Yet at the same time, it's not as if the Spirit simply granted her the potential to believe, but then awaited her assent. Rather, He produced in her both the will to believe and the belief itself. In other words, having had her mind opened and freed of sin's noetic effect, the grace offered to Lydia became irresistible, and she responded. ...to Paul's message. - It wasn't a carefully crafted and beautifully performed worship song that Lydia responded to, or a warm, fuzzy feeling that God would help her through whatever personal challenges she was facing, or the loving relationships she'd have with other Christians. She responded to the words Paul preached - the gospel message: Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, is now raised from the dead (2 Timothy 2:8). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gathers His people from all sorts of different backgrounds; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would respond to the gospel message all through your life, as Lydia did; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

God expects all Christians to be both a disciple and a discipler. When diversity becomes the primary goal in the church, diversity becomes its primary focus. However, when knowing Christ is a church's primary goal, like what it was Antioch, then diversity often is the ordinary result. SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Luke wraps his account of Peter's ministry, telling of how an angel miraculously sprung Peter from prison the night before he was to stand trial before Herod, and of Herod's subsequent sudden pride-fueled death. For the remainder of the book of Acts, Luke's focus will be on Paul's ministry. Acts 13:1–5 (NASB95) 1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John [Mark] as their helper. Belgic Confession Article 27: The Holy Catholic Church We believe and confess one single catholic or universal church— a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ being washed by his blood, and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end, as appears from the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without subjects. And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small in the eyes of men— as though it were snuffed out. For example, during the very dangerous time of Ahab the Lord preserved for himself seven thousand men who did not bend their knees to Baal. And so this holy church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain persons. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith. Summary Last week we were introduced to the church in Antioch, the community in which the disciples were first called Christians. Luke begins his narration of Paul's missionary journeys with a bit of a deeper look inside this early church. He begins by introducing us to some of its key leaders. At this point in church history, the concept of ordained church offices that we're familiar with, such as pastor, elder and deacon, really haven't been fully flushed out yet (although we did get some insight into the early stages of what God expects of deacons a couple of weeks ago in chapter six). Here, Luke simply refers to these leaders as being prophets and teachers, which happen to correspond nicely with what is expected from from church elders. But elders are not the only church members expected to speak prophetically - that is, to proclaim the word of God - and to teach. In one way or another, all Christians must prophets and teachers. All of us - everyone from seasoned elders to new Christians - are expected to simultaneously be disciples - a word that literally means learner - and teachers. The more you learn from those ahead of you in the faith, the more you can teach those coming behind. Dig Deeper What an interesting cast of characters, these prophets and teachers in the church that was there in Antioch: Barnabas - a man who we first read about way back at the end of chapter four, who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. His given name was Joseph, but over time he was given this nickname which means Son of Encouragement). Simeon, who was called Niger - His Latin surname suggests he was from Africa; Lucius of Cyrene - A city settled by Greek settlers in North Africa, a long way away from Antioch; Manaen - we really don't know much about him, except for what Luke tells us here in that he had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch. But that clue suggests that Manaen came from a very wealthy and privileged background; Saul - the persecutor turned preacher. Saul had been a rising star in the Jewish establishment before being dramatically commandeered by Christ. He had been educated at some of the highest academic levels. I dare you to find something in common between these four men! What an eclectic group the Lord gathered in this early church! If it wasn't for this church in Antioch, these four guys would have certainly never had anything to do with one another! We live in a society which places a high value on diversity. This is a good thing in and of itself, but even good things can often become problematic. When diversity becomes the primary goal in the church, diversity becomes its primary focus. And ironically, quite often churches that have made diversity their goal often never really become very diverse. However, when knowing Christ is a church's primary goal, like what it was here in Antioch, where Luke twice describes them as ministering to the Lord, fasting and praying, then diversity often is the ordinary result. So surround yourself with godly people, even if those people happen to be very different from you, and keep yourself busy coming to know Christ and doing the work to which the Holy Spirit has called you. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gathers His people from every nation, tribe, people and language (Rev. 7:9); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your focus and goal will be learning about Jesus so that you can teach it to others; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

The LORD inclines His ear to you, so you must walk before Him. The Bible App PSALM 116 1 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” 5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living. 10 I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” 11 I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.” 12 What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? 13 I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. 16 O LORD, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds. 17 To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people, 19 In the courts of the LORD's house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 44 Q. Why does the Apostles' creed add, “Jesus descended to hell”? A. To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. Summary Do you ever wonder if God hears your prayers? Our natural inclination when we pray is to spend most of our effort on the third A in our Triple-A prayer pattern - asking God for what we need. But so often it seems our requests get met with silence. So more prayers get offered up, maybe with a little bargaining thrown in as to how good we'll be if God comes through. This week's psalm comes as a reminder that God DOES hear your prayers, and has always given you what you need, and quite often what you want as well. In addition, Psalm 116 gives you a guide for living into this amazing truth. Your love for the LORD isn't unconditional. Neither was the psalmists, or anyone else's for that matter. Rather, we have good reasons for our love! For one thing, we love the LORD because He hears our voice and supplications! And the One whose name you call upon is righteous and compassionate, so you can trust Him to save your life when you get brought low. You can trust Him because He's already rescued your soul from death. Knowing that the God you love inclines His ear to you allows you to find the most elusive thing on earth: true rest. The rest of the world resides in anxiety and worry, never thinking they have enough. But you can say with the Psalmist, return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. Dig Deeper But this rest that you want so badly - not just now, at the end of another long work week, but from all the alarms and afflictions in this world in which all men are liars - looks quite different than you might expect. This rest is found only as you render your life to the LORD for all His benefits toward you. And this rest is quite vigorous - you must walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Obviously this involves more than just hitting an arbitrary step count goal each day; this walking metaphor gets used often in the Bible to reference day to day living. But this rest involves more exercise than walking; you must also do some heavy lifting, as you continually lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD. In other words, as you pray, you're always reminding yourself of the salvation that the LORD has given you, especially in Christ's sin-atoning death and resurrection, but also for delivering your eyes from tears and for keeping your feet from stumbling. You'll find this true rest as you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the LORD (God's benefits toward you are not predicated on the promises you make to Him as you pray, but He does expect you to keep them). This isn't something you do on your own, but rather in the presence of all His people (mentioned 2x), in the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of God's presence on earth. And guess what! You have the opportunity to find and be reminded of this rest once more, as you gather with the saints on the LORD's day, which is once again right around the corner. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who inclines His ear and hears our voice and supplications; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that, having had your soul rescued from death, that you would walk before the LORD in the land of the living; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

A 'Christian' is simply a loyal follower of Christ. SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Both Apostle Peter and the centurion Cornelius had simultaneous visions from God calling them together. After word got out that the Jewish Peter had visited and stayed at a Gentile's home, it caused quite a stir, which was dampened when it became clear that God was at work expanding His Church. Now Luke, our narrator, steps back in time a bit to catch us up with other things that had been happening. Acts 11:19–30 (NASB95) 19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. 25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 32 Q. But why are you called a Christian? A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity. Summary Persecution, for as often as we properly pray against it and hope it will never happen to us, ironically can be quite beneficial to the Church. Its testing strengthens and solidifies Christians as they cling more tightly to their Father and Savior in times of trouble, and, as Luke notes here, persecution forces the Church to scatter. As the early Christians were forced out of Jerusalem after Stephen's execution, they ended up moving north to cities like Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. These refugees eagerly told the good news to their new neighbors, but Luke makes a critical distinction: they spoke the word to no one except Jews alone. This wasn't really all that odd - refugees and immigrants always tend to stick to their own cultural communities, plus, Judaism had always been a very insular religion. So these fleeing Jews simply told other Jews about their Jewish Messiah. Makes sense. But turns out the Greeks were pretty interested in this Christ as well (the word Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah), having had men who came to Antioch begin speaking to them too, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord! News didn't travel quite as fast then as it does now, but it still moved pretty quickly and didn't take very long to reach the ears of the church at Jerusalem - the apostles, who had stayed put in the midst of the persecution. Not sure what to make of it, they sent Barnabas up to investigate. Luke makes it clear what Barnabas found when he showed up: he witnessed the grace of God. He saw considerable numbers being brought to the Lord. Barnabas, another in a long line of men Luke describes as being full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, recognized that God was at work. But Barnabas was an encourager, not a preacher. So he left for Tarsus to look for a man who was: Saul. Dig Deeper What do people witness when they come to your church? Do they see the same grace of God that Barnabas witnessed in Antioch? Why or why not? What do you think the grace of God looks like? Certainly God's grace manifests itself in a myriad of different ways in different places, but there's also lots of counterfeits that seem like aspects of God's grace but aren't. Luke includes a fascinating tidbit in today's episode that will help you answer those critically important questions in any setting and enable you to recognize true grace amongst the pretenders. Luke tells us that those people up in Antioch coined one of history's most famous terms: the disciples were first called Christians there! But to those who first started calling them that, it probably didn't seem all that unique. After all, people who affiliated with a particular political leader were often called by his name, like the Herodians or the Caesarians. That's what the name that you have hopefully attached to yourself means - a Christian is simply one who who follows and is loyal to Christ. And communities of loyal Christ followers - Christians - will quite naturally and genuinely demonstrate the grace of God that Barnabas saw in Antioch. So if you want the grace of God to be evident in your own life and church, be sure to do what those early disciples did so long ago in Antioch: be a loyal follower of Jesus Christ in a way that's evident to all. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who controls and uses all things - even persecution - to grow Christ's Church; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'd be a strong Christian in the original sense of the word; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

God always keeps His covenant - but often in surprising ways! Acts 10:1–23 (NASB95) 1 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; 6 he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, 8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. 17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” 21 Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” 22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.” 23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 54 Q. What do you believe concerning “the holy catholic church”? A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member. Summary Who is today's episode primarily about - Cornelius, or Peter? Luke actually tells us quite a bit about Cornelius, to whom we're introduced for the first (and only) time in Acts 10-11. First of all, he's a centurion - an impressive post for sure, but somewhat of a middle management position in the Roman military. More importantly, he's a devout man and one who feared God. No matter what else you've accomplished in life, there's nothing better that could be said about you than this! It's what you ought to aspire to! But Luke is imparting more than a compliment with these words as he describes Cornelius; what he meant in calling him a devout God fearer was that Gentiles like Cornelius worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but weren't really full fledged Jews. They literally were kept outside the Temple looking in. So is this episode about how devout people would now be welcomed in as full participants in God's covenant, or is it about how those who'd always been God's people suddenly needed to let go of traditions and customs that had been their identity markers for centuries? That's exactly what Peter's vision is all about. We've come to know Peter well - he's a central character all throughout the New Testament. So when we see the otherwise impusively courageous Peter, of all people, hesitate to take a bold step, it's a key indicator of how massively shocking Jesus' command that came down with a meat laden sheet was. Dig Deeper But as fascinating as what the two protagonists in today's story are, neither one of them are the primary actor. That role falls, of course, to the Triune and Living God, who sovereignly set two men, who would have never otherwise crossed paths, on a collusion course that would change history. Up until this point, the Church has revolved around a very Jewish orbit. Sure, there's been a convert or two that was welcomed in from the outside, but for the most part, Christianity is shaping up to be Judaism 2.0, exclusively centered around a particular ethnicity. But it's here in Acts 10 that God makes good on a promise He'd made two millennia earlier: that through God's covenant, all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who always remains faithful to His covenant promises; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'd be devout like Cornelius and obedient no matter what like Peter; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

God has worked all things for you to have faith, just like He did for Paul SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Last week we read about how the seemingly refined and cultured Sanhedrin completely flipped out as Stephen preached to them. While yelling and covering their ears, they drug him out of the city stoned him to death, all under the approving eye of a young up and coming leader named Saul. Acts 9:1–9 (NASB95) 1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Canons of Dordt Point III/IV, Article 14: The Way God Gives Faith Faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for man to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on man, breathed and infused into him. Nor is it a gift in the sense that God bestows only the potential to believe, but then awaits assent - the act of believing - from man’s choice; rather, it is a gift in the sense that he who works both willing and acting and, indeed, works all things in all people produces in man both the will to believe and the belief itself. Summary I like how Luke puts it; Saul wasn't just occasionally speaking out against Christ and His Church every now and then, he was continually breathing out threats and murder. Most people don't demonstrate such violent symptoms, but be aware of how invasively sin seeps into your entire being when you detach yourself from the Truth. Temptations that begin as isolated thoughts or comments can so quickly become the very air you breath if left unchecked! Saul is so affected by sin that he wasn't content to just root out Christians - or as the Church was first known as: those who belonged to the Way - in Jerusalem, but he asked the high priest for authority to conduct raids way up north in Damascus. He intended to bring these rebels, both men and women, bound and back to Jerusalem. But everything changed on that now famous road to Damascus, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, knocking Saul to the ground. Then he heard a voice, which didn't say much, but said enough, simply asking Saul why he was persecuting Me. Saul immediately wanted to know who this mysterious Me was, and the answer was stunning. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. And then Jesus flipped the script on Saul. Saul would no longer be giving out orders - he'd now be taking them. And that first order for this newly minted member of the Way was to get up, enter the city, and wait to be told what you must do. Dig Deeper Very few, if any, of us reading this have experienced a dramatic come to Jesus moment at all, much less one as amazing as what Saul, who of course is better known by his Roman name Paul, had happen to him on his way to Damascus. In fact, it's far more likely that you don't even remember your 'conversion experience' at all, so maybe you're a bit like me and have always been jealous of people who, like Paul, have an awesome story to tell about how Jesus saved them. But just like you, Jesus began working in Paul's life long before He stood before him in a flashing light from heaven. The Bible first introduces us to this young man named Saul as he gives his nod to Stephen's stoning, and it's in this introduction that our author Luke, slips in one of his characteristically cryptic clues. Back in 8:58, we read that the witnesses at Stephen's 'trial' laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Saul was a celebrity for a reason - he was the star student of Gamaliel, one of Judaism's most famous and respected rabbis and member of the Sanhedrin. God had sovereignly worked out all things in such a way that His primary apostle was given top notch scholarly training and was recognized as an expert in Scripture. Paul's expertise is on display in all of the epistles he wrote which still form and guide our theology today. So, while it's not likely that your back story and conversion experience are as unique as Paul's, you can be absolutely assured that whether you came follow the Way all at once, or had the blessing of a life long Biblical education, that God has been at work in your life just as much as He was in Paul's. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sovereignly works out all things for our salvation; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be able to see and live into all of the ways God has been at work in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Ordinarily, the Spirit works through ordinary people (like you!) in ordinary ways. Acts 8:26–40 (NASB95) 26 ...An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. 33 In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.” 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” {37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”}a 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. a Some of the earliest Greek manuscripts do not include verse 37 Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 65 Q. It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings: where then does that faith come from? A. The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. Summary "Go where?!?" That must have been the first thing Philip thought to himself when an angel of the Lord told him to go to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. Luke even confirms the audacity of this request, parenthetically informing us that this is a desert road. It was a harsh environment in the middle of nowhere. It certainly wasn't the place for a leisurely stroll. But Philip, like so many heroes of the Bible before him, immediately responds to the Lord's instruction, so he got up and went. And it doesn't take long before he discovers the Spirit's purpose in sending him on this field trip, for there, right in the exact same forlorn place at the exact same time, there 'just happened' to be a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians - an African empire so powerful and wealthy that Rome couldn't conquer them. And this wasn't some middle management bureaucrat. He was in charge of all Candace's treasure. Interestingly, he was Jewish proselyte, for he had come up to Jerusalem to worship. The Spirit had been at work in this man for quite some time, slowly moving him from paganism to Biblical truth. Certainly the Holy Spirit didn't need Philip's or anybody else's help to bring the Ethiopian's conversion to completion, as we'll see when we read about Paul's dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus tomorrow. But ordinarily, the Spirit works through ordinary people in ordinary ways, as is demonstrated here today. The Spirit only gave Philip two prompts: go to the desert road, and go up and join the chariot. The rest He left up to Philip. Dig Deeper The eunuch asks Philip one of the Bible's most profound questions as he 'just happened' to be reading from Isaiah 53 - How can I understand what I'm reading unless someone guides me? Theology books explain a doctrine called the perpiscuity of Scripture, which means that even though there are aspects of the Bible that are really hard to make sense of, the overall message of Scripture can be understood by even the simplest of minds. But even so, ordinarily the Bible is used best when it's proclaimed and explained. This is why Reformed churches emphasize preaching as the ordinary means of grace by which the Spirit conveys salvation. But not all preaching comes from behind a pulpit. Sometimes it comes from a preacher jogging alongside a chariot in the middle of the desert. The Ethiopian official invited Philip to join him, for he wanted to know who it was that was led as a sheep to slaughter, silent as a lamb before its shearers. Was this Isaiah himself, or someone else? So right then and there, Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. Would you be ready to do that today - that is, to succinctly explain how all of the Bible points to Jesus to a friend, coworker, or anybody else that you 'just happen' to come alongside today? Certainly you can count on the Spirit's equipping (which He's promised), but the best way to prepare yourself is to, just like Philip, know what the Bible says and what it means as best as you can. Practice, practice, practice. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who leads and guides us through His Spirit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll be ready to preach Jesus from Scripture to all whom the Spirit leads you to; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Do you ever feel stuck in reverse? Psalm 115 can help! It's hard to look cool when backing a boat stuck into reverse into the marina. Keep this in mind before you go boating with Pastor Chad. PSALM 115 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; 7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the LORD, The small together with the great. 14 May the LORD give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD! Belgic Confession Article 23: The Justification of Sinners We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare that man blessed to whom God grants righteousness apart from works. And the same apostle says that we are justified “freely” or “by grace” through redemption in Jesus Christ. And therefore we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him. Summary I once had a boat that would get stuck in reverse. It's hard to look cool cruising into the marina backwards... it was always a humbling experience (I'm ashamed to admit that experiences like this are fairly common on my boats). Sin causes humanity to be stuck in reverse - going away from God in every regard. But most people can't sense the silliness of their situation, and rather than being humbled by it, they're actually quite proud. Psalm 115 calls out the absurdity of living life in reverse and shifts our lives back into a forward gear. The opening couplet of the Psalm captures its entire message: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Notice the repetition of the phrase not to us in the first line. Our egos are so stuck in reverse that this basic concept needs to be repeated. We want the glory, having mistaken our blessings as being purely products of our own doing rather than the LORD's provision. But to enjoy the blessed life that Psalm 1 points us toward, our lives must be pointed toward the proper purpose: glorifying the name of the LORD, simply because of who and what the LORD is: full of lovingkindness and truth. An idol is anything that gets glorified in the place of the true and living God. Although idols have taken various forms throughout the ages, they all have one thing in common: idols are the work of man's hands. Your idols may not seem as silly as those described here in Psalm 115 by what they cannot do (a phrase repeated six times), but remember that ultimately an idol is anything that you put your trust in. Ultimately, those who make idols - that is, those who are stuck in reverse - ultimately become like the false gods they put their trust in: defined by what the cannot do. Dig Deeper Having pointed out the problem in the first half of the psalm - that is, we're stuck in reverse when we glorify ourselves rather than the LORD, the second half of Psalm 115 recommends a remedy, telling us three times over to trust in the LORD! The rationale is repeated three times as well: He is our help and shield. I kept trying to fix my boat's reverse problem with duct tape and zip ties. But the issue kept coming back at the worst possible moments because I never got it properly fixed - indeed, with the limited tools and experience I had, I couldn't fix it. The New Testament describes people who are outside of Christ as being dead in their sins, and today Psalm 115 explains that the dead do not praise the LORD. In other words, people stuck in their sin are stuck in perpetual reverse, unable to fulfill the purpose they're created for of glorifying God, with no way to fix it on their own. But this week's Psalm gives us good news. Even when we were stuck in reverse, 12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us. And He has blessed us by sending His Son, who didn't just repair our sketchy transmission, but in a very real sense, gave us a whole new boat (ok... I think we've stretched the boat analogy as far as it will go). So as one who's been made new in Christ, don't get stuck in reverse! Instead, 18 as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, He is our help and our shield! ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Memorize and pray today's opening verse: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

You can't control the world's chaos, but you can have peace in the midst of it. SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Stephen, one of the men described as 'full of the Spirit and wisdom' and selected as the first deacons, was arrested by the religious establishment on false charges. He responds to their charges with one of the most amazing sermons in the New Testament, in which he shows how all of Biblical history shows how Israel continually rejected the LORD's prophets, just as they were now rejecting Christ. Stephen now concludes his speech: Acts 7:51–8:1 (NASB95) 51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” 54 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep. 8 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Belgic Confession of Faith Article 37: The Last Judgment [At the final judgment] ... the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honor. The Son of God will “confess their names” before God his Father and the holy and elect angels; all tears will be “wiped from their eyes”; and their cause— at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers— will be acknowledged as the “cause of the Son of God.” And as a gracious reward the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the heart of man could never imagine. So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Summary Luke uses one of the Bible's best figures of speech to describe the Jewish establishment's reaction to Stephen's sermon: they were cut to the quick - a phrase that lateral means "to be sawn through - to be angry to the point of rage—to be furious, to be enraged" (source). This is exactly what the truth does to those who've set themselves against it, and this is exactly why you see so much rage even in our age when you hold to Biblical truth. Notice the massive contrast that Luke describes. On the one hand, there's the Sanhedrin - men so angry that they're gnashing their teeth at Stephen. They're not carefully listening to what he says and evaluating it according to God's Word, rather they're crying out with loud voices, and covering their ears as they rushed at him with one impulse - literally, this was a mob mentality. Notice what happens when people stop listening and thinking for themselves: emotionally driven chaos is almost always the result. But over and against all of their noise and bluster stood Stephen, gazing intently into heaven, where he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Even as the mob of supposedly erudite Sanhedrin members drove him out of the city and began stoning him, Stephen had a peace that transcends all understanding, a phrase later written by Saul, who at this time was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death. You probably won't have face down an angry mob attempting to stone you for preaching the truth to them. But you will face increasing fury from friends, neighbors and even relatives who both literally and figuratively cover their ears to God's Word. As you experience this more and more, like Stephen, keep your eyes focused on the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Dig Deeper Luke makes clear why it is that Stephen could keep his wits about him in the chaos he endured: Acts 6:3 - Stephen was one of seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom; Acts 6:5 - Stephen was chosen as a deacon because he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; Acts 6:8 - Once again, Stephen is described as being full of grace and power, as he performed great wonders and signs among the people; Acts 6:10 - Those arguing with him were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen was speaking; Acts 7:55 - As the establishment's anger builds, Luke once again describes Stephen as being full of the Holy Spirit, as he gazed intently into heaven; Could Luke possibly make this any clearer? If you want to have the same peace that Stephen had, even as the stones were hurled at him, make it your prayer that you too would be full of God's power and Spirit, and make it your practice to strengthen the Spiritual disciplines that God has ordained to fill you. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who fills His children with His power and Spirit through the preaching of His Word, administration of His sacraments, and the discipline of His Church; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that like Stephen, that you will be filled with God's power and His Spirit; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: