Acts 9:1-43
Saul the persecutor become Paul the Apostle (13:9). What a great turning-point this was in the life of the early Church! When we read of Paul’s missionary journeys (13:1-28:31), we may be tempted to think, ‘What a great man Paul must have been’. In his letters, Paul insists that we must not think like this. He tells us that ‘nothing good dwells within’ him. Paul never forgot his ‘past’: ‘I cursed Him, persecuted Him, and acted arrogantly toward Him’. Paul describes himself as ‘the worst of sinners’. Paul gives his testimony: ‘The grace of God was poured on me abundantly’(Romans 7:18; 1 Timothy 1:13-15). God’s true servants direct our attention to Christ. Ananias said, ‘The Lord Jesus... has sent me...’(17). Saul ‘preached boldly in the Name of Jesus’(27). Peter said, ‘Jesus Christ heals you...’(34).
Acts 10:1-11:18
'When the Holy Spirit comes on you... you will be My witnesses... to the ends of the earth’(1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’(10:45; 11:1,18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’(11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (10:44; 11:15). In God’s Word, we read of (a) God’s love for the whole world (John 3:16); (b) God’s Son who died for ‘the sins of the whole world’(John 1:29; 1 John 2:2); (c) God’s command that ‘the Good News’ should be preached to ‘everyone’(Mark 16:15); (d) God’s purpose that there should be disciples of Christ in every nation (Matthew 28:19). ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the News that Christ can save... Here am I, send me’(Youth Praise,128). ‘Go forth and tell!’(Mission Praise, 178).
Acts 11:19-12:25
Barnabas ‘was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord’(11:24). Let’s be like Barnabas, giving ourselves to the Lord and asking Him to make us more useful in His service. Great things can happen when ‘earnest prayer’ is ‘made to God by the church’- God ‘is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think’(5-7; Ephesians 3:20). Give all the glory to the Lord. Herod ‘did not give God the glory’. He accepted the praise of the people - ‘This is the voice of a god, not of a man’. Herod’s sudden death - ‘an angel of the Lord struck him down’- is a warning (12:22-23; Proverbs 29:1). ‘Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap’. ‘Walk humbly with your God’(Galatians 6:7; Micah 6:8).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
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