“The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.” Psalm 92:15
It’s amazing the number of people there are who say things like, ‘If God allows babies to be born deformed/natural disasters to kill people/etc. then I don’t want to have anything to do with Him - He must be evil.’ It’s hard to reason with such a person, although the answer is simple: the world we live in has been corrupted because of sin, and God isn’t responsible for these tragic events that happen.
The Bible teaches us over and over again about the character and nature of God. Today’s verse is one of the key cornerstones: The Lord is upright, and there is no wickedness in Him. Everything God does is right, pure, good, perfect. He is the definition of what is good (see Mark 10:18). But every now and then we are tempted to think, if we were God, we would do something different, and better. We would have answered that particular prayer by now. We would have saved that child from being injured, or contracting that disease. By thinking this, we are saying that what God has done in the situation is not good. The truth is, if we think there is any wickedness in God, then we are the ones who need to change.
I’m not trying to pretend that we can understand or explain everything that happens. The Bible says, God works all things together for good for those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). I once heard of a Christian man whose wife was raped in their home one night while he was out at a prayer meeting. How can God use this awful thing for good in their lives? I don’t know – but I know that He can, because He is God, and He is good. The verse doesn’t say that everything that happens to us will be good, but everything works together for good. When tragedy strikes, God is not the one responsible. We live in a fallen world, under the influence of Satan, the wicked one. But God is able to bring good out of it. And that’s all I need to know.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Paul's unfinished sermon
“‘Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’’ The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!’” Acts 22:21-22
In yesterday’s post we saw how Paul began his speech to the Jews after they had seized him in the temple and beaten him. He had been accused of preaching against the Law of Moses, and for bringing Gentiles into the temple (Acts 21:28). Neither of these were true, and it would seem that Paul was intending to address this in his speech. But he was only able to share his testimony: how he was once as zealous for the law as all of them, persecuting the church and putting believers to death (Acts 22:3-5). Then he went on to tell them how Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:6-11), how Ananias, a righteous man, had prophesied to him concerning his mission (Acts 22:12-16), and how after this the Lord Himself had appeared to Paul, telling him to go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:17-21).
Most likely, if Paul hadn’t been interrupted, he would have gone on to talk about God’s grace and how the Gentiles had received it – and how these Jews listening to him could accept it too, and become complete. He later wrote, “salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (Rom. 11:11).
Abraham was given a promise by God: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3). But over the centuries, the Jews developed a superiority complex. They looked down on Gentiles, and thus anyone – like Paul – who associated with them, much less ministered to them and taught them the word of God, was a traitor to his nation and to God. This is why their response was so extreme.
Let’s finish with some more of Paul’s words: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” (Rom. 11:25-27).
In yesterday’s post we saw how Paul began his speech to the Jews after they had seized him in the temple and beaten him. He had been accused of preaching against the Law of Moses, and for bringing Gentiles into the temple (Acts 21:28). Neither of these were true, and it would seem that Paul was intending to address this in his speech. But he was only able to share his testimony: how he was once as zealous for the law as all of them, persecuting the church and putting believers to death (Acts 22:3-5). Then he went on to tell them how Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:6-11), how Ananias, a righteous man, had prophesied to him concerning his mission (Acts 22:12-16), and how after this the Lord Himself had appeared to Paul, telling him to go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:17-21).
Most likely, if Paul hadn’t been interrupted, he would have gone on to talk about God’s grace and how the Gentiles had received it – and how these Jews listening to him could accept it too, and become complete. He later wrote, “salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (Rom. 11:11).
Abraham was given a promise by God: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3). But over the centuries, the Jews developed a superiority complex. They looked down on Gentiles, and thus anyone – like Paul – who associated with them, much less ministered to them and taught them the word of God, was a traitor to his nation and to God. This is why their response was so extreme.
Let’s finish with some more of Paul’s words: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” (Rom. 11:25-27).
Monday, March 5, 2012
Paul's desire to reach the Jews
“Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic: ‘Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.’” Acts 21:40-22:1
Reading about Paul in the book of Acts shows what an incredible man he was. In an earlier post (Paul’s calling), we looked a little bit at his unique life story that enabled God to use him in such a mighty way.
In the early church, it was acknowledged that Peter was to be the apostle to the Jews, while Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:8-9). But Paul didn’t give up on his dream of preaching the gospel to his own people. He wrote to the church in Rome: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Rom. 9:2-4). Paul’s desire to see the Jews saved was so intense that, if it was possible (which it’s not), he could give up his own salvation if it meant they could gain eternal life.
We see this desire not only in his words, but in his actions. The crowd in Jerusalem had just been trying to kill Paul (Acts 21:31), and yet he still wanted to witness to them and tell them about the love of God that led to the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Here’s the kicker for us: do we love people this much? Most Christians – unfortunately, myself included – are generally content to live in the knowledge that they are saved, and don’t go out of their way to witness to others. Sure, not everyone is called to be an evangelist or missionary, as Paul was, but we can still share our testimony with others, and tell them about the difference that God has made in our lives.
Reading about Paul in the book of Acts shows what an incredible man he was. In an earlier post (Paul’s calling), we looked a little bit at his unique life story that enabled God to use him in such a mighty way.
In the early church, it was acknowledged that Peter was to be the apostle to the Jews, while Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:8-9). But Paul didn’t give up on his dream of preaching the gospel to his own people. He wrote to the church in Rome: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Rom. 9:2-4). Paul’s desire to see the Jews saved was so intense that, if it was possible (which it’s not), he could give up his own salvation if it meant they could gain eternal life.
We see this desire not only in his words, but in his actions. The crowd in Jerusalem had just been trying to kill Paul (Acts 21:31), and yet he still wanted to witness to them and tell them about the love of God that led to the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Here’s the kicker for us: do we love people this much? Most Christians – unfortunately, myself included – are generally content to live in the knowledge that they are saved, and don’t go out of their way to witness to others. Sure, not everyone is called to be an evangelist or missionary, as Paul was, but we can still share our testimony with others, and tell them about the difference that God has made in our lives.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The next generation
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10
Here at the very start of the book of Judges, we find a verse that sets the scene for the rest of the book. The theme of the book of Judges can be summed up in Judg. 17:6 and Judg. 21:25 – “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Despite their glorious beginning of total reliance on God, bringing them out of Egypt, it was only a few generations after Joshua led the people into the Promised Land that a generation grew up having no knowledge of God.
We see this today, to varying degrees. There are kids growing up who have only ever heard the name of Jesus used as a curse word – and use it as such themselves, because they are copying their parents and people on TV. Can they be held accountable for this? This is a difficult question to answer... please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. On one hand, the Bible tells us that “the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name” (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11). But we also know about the age of accountability, that a child who sins prior to this age of knowing right from wrong, will not be held accountable. During this time, it is up to their parents to train them in the right way – and this includes teaching them about what is right with regards to the use of the name of God.
It pains me deeply when I hear children using foul language and blasphemy. But often, all I can do is pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
Here at the very start of the book of Judges, we find a verse that sets the scene for the rest of the book. The theme of the book of Judges can be summed up in Judg. 17:6 and Judg. 21:25 – “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Despite their glorious beginning of total reliance on God, bringing them out of Egypt, it was only a few generations after Joshua led the people into the Promised Land that a generation grew up having no knowledge of God.
We see this today, to varying degrees. There are kids growing up who have only ever heard the name of Jesus used as a curse word – and use it as such themselves, because they are copying their parents and people on TV. Can they be held accountable for this? This is a difficult question to answer... please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. On one hand, the Bible tells us that “the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name” (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11). But we also know about the age of accountability, that a child who sins prior to this age of knowing right from wrong, will not be held accountable. During this time, it is up to their parents to train them in the right way – and this includes teaching them about what is right with regards to the use of the name of God.
It pains me deeply when I hear children using foul language and blasphemy. But often, all I can do is pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Warning signs
“I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” Acts 20:23
As we know, Paul faced many hardships during his ministry. He told the Corinthians about some of these: imprisonment, floggings, death threats, beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and dangers while travelling (2 Cor. 11:23-29). He told Timothy to expect persecution for living a godly life (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus warned us of this also (Mark 10:30, John 16:33, etc.).
Paul was warned about these hardships, through others prophesying to him (e.g. Ananias, Acts 9:15-16, Agabus, Acts 21:10-11) and through the Lord speaking directly to him. As Paul was determined to head to Jerusalem, it was only natural for his companions to see these warnings as signs from God that Paul should not go. But this wasn’t necessarily the case. By this stage in Paul’s life, he was well-attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The warnings were there so that he would be prepared for the mistreatment that he would receive. It was through the uproar that ensued in Jerusalem because of Paul’s preaching to the Jews, that he was able to appear before the governors (Felix and later, Festus), as it had been prophesied to him (Acts 9:15), which led to him appealing to Caesar, and then travelling to Rome (Acts 23:11).
If we are doing the will of God, we will face opposition. Jesus never said that following Him would be easy – rather, we need to be prepared for it to cost us everything. But if we have the mind of Christ, then none of that matters, only doing what God wants, knowing that our true rewards are waiting for us in heaven.
As we know, Paul faced many hardships during his ministry. He told the Corinthians about some of these: imprisonment, floggings, death threats, beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and dangers while travelling (2 Cor. 11:23-29). He told Timothy to expect persecution for living a godly life (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus warned us of this also (Mark 10:30, John 16:33, etc.).
Paul was warned about these hardships, through others prophesying to him (e.g. Ananias, Acts 9:15-16, Agabus, Acts 21:10-11) and through the Lord speaking directly to him. As Paul was determined to head to Jerusalem, it was only natural for his companions to see these warnings as signs from God that Paul should not go. But this wasn’t necessarily the case. By this stage in Paul’s life, he was well-attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The warnings were there so that he would be prepared for the mistreatment that he would receive. It was through the uproar that ensued in Jerusalem because of Paul’s preaching to the Jews, that he was able to appear before the governors (Felix and later, Festus), as it had been prophesied to him (Acts 9:15), which led to him appealing to Caesar, and then travelling to Rome (Acts 23:11).
If we are doing the will of God, we will face opposition. Jesus never said that following Him would be easy – rather, we need to be prepared for it to cost us everything. But if we have the mind of Christ, then none of that matters, only doing what God wants, knowing that our true rewards are waiting for us in heaven.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Remembering what God has done
“Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled.’” Joshua 24:16-17
Here in the last chapter of the book of Joshua, we see Joshua’s final address to the people. He warns them against turning away from the Lord and following other gods of the pagan nations around them. As we know from reading the rest of the Bible, it wasn’t long before they were doing this, during the time of the judges, then on into the time of the kings, ultimately leading to the captivities of the northern kingdom in Assyria (from which they never returned), and the southern kingdom in Babylon. All this, despite the people promising at the time that they would never forsake the Lord.
Their intentions were good at the time. They had seen the miracles that God had performed on their behalf – crossing the Jordan, the conquering of Jericho, the provision of manna. They had heard about the plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the destruction of Korah, and so forth. Yet they still turned away from God.
There’s a lesson here for us. We all need to remember always what God has done for us in the past. One thing that can really help you with this is to keep a journal of what God does and says to you, insights you find in the Word, prayers He has answered. It doesn’t need to be every day. But it becomes a wonderful reminder, for those times when God seems to be acting aloof. We can be deceived into thinking that we’re not like these Israelites, we’ll never turn away from God. But how can we be so sure? Better to stick close to God; the way to prevent becoming lukewarm is to stay hot.
Here in the last chapter of the book of Joshua, we see Joshua’s final address to the people. He warns them against turning away from the Lord and following other gods of the pagan nations around them. As we know from reading the rest of the Bible, it wasn’t long before they were doing this, during the time of the judges, then on into the time of the kings, ultimately leading to the captivities of the northern kingdom in Assyria (from which they never returned), and the southern kingdom in Babylon. All this, despite the people promising at the time that they would never forsake the Lord.
Their intentions were good at the time. They had seen the miracles that God had performed on their behalf – crossing the Jordan, the conquering of Jericho, the provision of manna. They had heard about the plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the destruction of Korah, and so forth. Yet they still turned away from God.
There’s a lesson here for us. We all need to remember always what God has done for us in the past. One thing that can really help you with this is to keep a journal of what God does and says to you, insights you find in the Word, prayers He has answered. It doesn’t need to be every day. But it becomes a wonderful reminder, for those times when God seems to be acting aloof. We can be deceived into thinking that we’re not like these Israelites, we’ll never turn away from God. But how can we be so sure? Better to stick close to God; the way to prevent becoming lukewarm is to stay hot.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
God's justice
“But just as every good promise of the Lord your God has come true, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.” Joshua 23:15
Many people are quite happy to receive the blessings of God (and not even thank Him for them), but when it comes to receiving punishment for sin, they complain that He isn’t fair. But fairness, or justice, is one of God’s primary attributes that we see in the Bible.
God’s holiness means that He cannot tolerate sin – it is repulsive to Him. His justice means that He must punish sin – it would not be just or fair to allow it into heaven. If He allowed, say, lying, into heaven, on what basis could He refuse to allow stealing? We see various sins on a kind of spectrum of ‘badness’ – murder is worse than stealing; adultery (cheating on your spouse) is worse than lying. But all of them break God’s standard of holiness, which is perfection.
On the other hand, think about it this way: was it fair that Jesus was punished for all of our sins? Not at all! But He bore them willingly, because of His love and the Father’s love for us. God’s love is another of his primary attributes shown to us throughout the Scriptures. It is only because of His love and patience that the earth still endures and hasn’t been judged yet.
I heard an interesting thing the other day. God’s love is spoken of as being everlasting, but not His grace and patience. There comes a limit. If we reach that point and still refuse to accept the forgiveness of sin found in Christ, God cannot let it go. This is not unfair – He gave us plenty of time and opportunity to take action, when He didn’t need to give us any in the first place.
Many people are quite happy to receive the blessings of God (and not even thank Him for them), but when it comes to receiving punishment for sin, they complain that He isn’t fair. But fairness, or justice, is one of God’s primary attributes that we see in the Bible.
God’s holiness means that He cannot tolerate sin – it is repulsive to Him. His justice means that He must punish sin – it would not be just or fair to allow it into heaven. If He allowed, say, lying, into heaven, on what basis could He refuse to allow stealing? We see various sins on a kind of spectrum of ‘badness’ – murder is worse than stealing; adultery (cheating on your spouse) is worse than lying. But all of them break God’s standard of holiness, which is perfection.
On the other hand, think about it this way: was it fair that Jesus was punished for all of our sins? Not at all! But He bore them willingly, because of His love and the Father’s love for us. God’s love is another of his primary attributes shown to us throughout the Scriptures. It is only because of His love and patience that the earth still endures and hasn’t been judged yet.
I heard an interesting thing the other day. God’s love is spoken of as being everlasting, but not His grace and patience. There comes a limit. If we reach that point and still refuse to accept the forgiveness of sin found in Christ, God cannot let it go. This is not unfair – He gave us plenty of time and opportunity to take action, when He didn’t need to give us any in the first place.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos
“[Apollos] had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to spak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” Acts 18:25-26
In Acts 18 we are introduced to Apollos. He was a Jew from Alexandria, who, given his name, had obviously been born into a Grecian culture. He had learned about Jesus, and clearly believed in Him, else he would not have been speaking about Him, but we read “he knew only the baptism of John”. That is, the message that John the Baptist preached: “I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). In Acts 19 we see that in Ephesus, likewise, there were people who only knew about John’s baptism of repentance (Acts 19:3-4). They did not know about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).
There are people today who speak openly and publicly about spiritual things, and show that they have some level of understanding, but perhaps not as intimate a relationship with the Lord as they could have. It seems that was the case for Apollos. It’s important to note what Priscilla and Aquila did: they invited him to their home and explained to him in private the truth of the whole gospel message. They did not point out the shortcomings in his understanding of who Jesus was, in a public setting. Like them, we are to show grace and hospitality to others who might only have half the story, rather than humiliating them or treating them like a heretic.
In Acts 18 we are introduced to Apollos. He was a Jew from Alexandria, who, given his name, had obviously been born into a Grecian culture. He had learned about Jesus, and clearly believed in Him, else he would not have been speaking about Him, but we read “he knew only the baptism of John”. That is, the message that John the Baptist preached: “I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). In Acts 19 we see that in Ephesus, likewise, there were people who only knew about John’s baptism of repentance (Acts 19:3-4). They did not know about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).
There are people today who speak openly and publicly about spiritual things, and show that they have some level of understanding, but perhaps not as intimate a relationship with the Lord as they could have. It seems that was the case for Apollos. It’s important to note what Priscilla and Aquila did: they invited him to their home and explained to him in private the truth of the whole gospel message. They did not point out the shortcomings in his understanding of who Jesus was, in a public setting. Like them, we are to show grace and hospitality to others who might only have half the story, rather than humiliating them or treating them like a heretic.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Paul preaching to Gentiles
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” Acts 17:24
In the book of Acts we have several of Paul’s sermons recorded for us. They give us some insight into his mind and his methods of preaching the gospel – which we can all learn from.
The way Paul preached to Gentiles was quite different compared with how he preached to Jews (for an example of this, see Acts 13:16-41). The first major difference is the foundation from which he starts. For the Jews, who had the law of Moses, Paul began there. He refers to the Scriptures, especially those prophesying the coming of Messiah, then presents Jesus as that Messiah. But the Gentiles have no such background. Instead, Paul starts at creation. He introduces God as the creator, separate from and above His creation and therefore above man, not made by man. Then he says how God can be found by man, and how at some time in the future God will ultimately judge the world. We will be spared from this judgement if we repent and come to faith in the One He sent to save us – Jesus Christ.
There are many evangelism programmes and courses out there in the church today. But I don’t think there’s one that suits everybody. It’s no good starting off with a discussion on ‘Why did God send Jesus?’ if the person doesn’t believe in God in the first place. If in doubt, start at the beginning: creation around us shows the existence of God (Rom. 1:20), who made everything perfect. But sin entered the world and brought pain and death, and man was separated from God. We are all sinners and fall short of God’s righteous standard. God is holy and righteous, and His justice requires punishment for sin. But God sent His Son to take that punishment on our behalf and make a way for us to return to Him, so that we might spend eternity in heaven instead of in hell. All we need to do is confess our sins to Him, and believe that Jesus' death has paid for our sins.
In the book of Acts we have several of Paul’s sermons recorded for us. They give us some insight into his mind and his methods of preaching the gospel – which we can all learn from.
The way Paul preached to Gentiles was quite different compared with how he preached to Jews (for an example of this, see Acts 13:16-41). The first major difference is the foundation from which he starts. For the Jews, who had the law of Moses, Paul began there. He refers to the Scriptures, especially those prophesying the coming of Messiah, then presents Jesus as that Messiah. But the Gentiles have no such background. Instead, Paul starts at creation. He introduces God as the creator, separate from and above His creation and therefore above man, not made by man. Then he says how God can be found by man, and how at some time in the future God will ultimately judge the world. We will be spared from this judgement if we repent and come to faith in the One He sent to save us – Jesus Christ.
There are many evangelism programmes and courses out there in the church today. But I don’t think there’s one that suits everybody. It’s no good starting off with a discussion on ‘Why did God send Jesus?’ if the person doesn’t believe in God in the first place. If in doubt, start at the beginning: creation around us shows the existence of God (Rom. 1:20), who made everything perfect. But sin entered the world and brought pain and death, and man was separated from God. We are all sinners and fall short of God’s righteous standard. God is holy and righteous, and His justice requires punishment for sin. But God sent His Son to take that punishment on our behalf and make a way for us to return to Him, so that we might spend eternity in heaven instead of in hell. All we need to do is confess our sins to Him, and believe that Jesus' death has paid for our sins.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Being led by circumstances
“During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to sail for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 16:9-10
Here in the book of Acts, we see one of the most common ways God guides us – through circumstnaces. Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the unreached and tried several possible avenues – Asia and Bithynia – but were kept from entering by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-7). What this means, exactly, we don’t know; but they must have faced some sort of opposition. Then one night Paul saw a vision encouraging him to go to Macedonia. It’s interesting to consider what happened next. Paul went ahead, and travelled to the capital city of Macedonia: Philippi (Acts 16:12). Now usually when Paul arrived at a city, he would seek out the Jewish synagogue there, if there was one. But we see no mention of Paul going to a synagogue in Philippi, so we conclude that there wasn’t one. A synagogue was founded when there were ten Jewish men, so we conclude there were fewer than ten Jewish men. If there was no synagogue, the Jews would meet together for prayer, often by a river, so this was Paul’s second stop (Acts 16:13). Even there, we don’t read of any men being present, only women, including Lydia (Acts 16:14).
But after this initial discouragement, things got worse: Paul and Silas were flogged and put in prison (Acts 16:22-23). If I was Paul, I would probably be wondering if the vision had really been from God. But these events all led to the jailer and his whole family coming to salvation. Later Paul wrote to the church at Philippi: it is one of the most encouraging, joyous letters among the epistles.
There’s a lesson here for us: sometimes God will lead us, through circumstances, into tight situations. But He doesn’t just lead us into them, He leads us through them. It’s all for His glory. We just need to stick close to Him, persevere, and keep doing what He has called us to do.
Here in the book of Acts, we see one of the most common ways God guides us – through circumstnaces. Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the unreached and tried several possible avenues – Asia and Bithynia – but were kept from entering by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-7). What this means, exactly, we don’t know; but they must have faced some sort of opposition. Then one night Paul saw a vision encouraging him to go to Macedonia. It’s interesting to consider what happened next. Paul went ahead, and travelled to the capital city of Macedonia: Philippi (Acts 16:12). Now usually when Paul arrived at a city, he would seek out the Jewish synagogue there, if there was one. But we see no mention of Paul going to a synagogue in Philippi, so we conclude that there wasn’t one. A synagogue was founded when there were ten Jewish men, so we conclude there were fewer than ten Jewish men. If there was no synagogue, the Jews would meet together for prayer, often by a river, so this was Paul’s second stop (Acts 16:13). Even there, we don’t read of any men being present, only women, including Lydia (Acts 16:14).
But after this initial discouragement, things got worse: Paul and Silas were flogged and put in prison (Acts 16:22-23). If I was Paul, I would probably be wondering if the vision had really been from God. But these events all led to the jailer and his whole family coming to salvation. Later Paul wrote to the church at Philippi: it is one of the most encouraging, joyous letters among the epistles.
There’s a lesson here for us: sometimes God will lead us, through circumstances, into tight situations. But He doesn’t just lead us into them, He leads us through them. It’s all for His glory. We just need to stick close to Him, persevere, and keep doing what He has called us to do.
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