"Then what baptism did you receive?"

(Acts 18-19)

Today's reading contains a telling of a story that might confuse many. At the end of Chapter 18, we are introduced to Apollos, a Jew who had been taught by either John the baptizer or one of his disciples. He was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and doing so "accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John" (Acts 18:25) He comes to Ephesus and begins to "speak boldly in the synagogue."  When two Christians, Aquila and Priscilla "heard him, the invited him to their home and explained to him the way of the Lord more adequately." (v 26)

There are several things we can learn from this encounter, first we see a preacher who needed conversion. Apollos was clearly a fine man, well schooled in the scriptures, but he had not learned about being baptized into Christ. He taught accurately about Jesus, but was teaching error about baptism. Secondly, we see that Apollos was a man with an awesome heart. Although he was well educated and knew the scriptures, he didn't think he knew it all. He held firm convictions, but when he was presented with truth, he listened. He loved truth and truth was more important to him than pride. These are rare qualities in a man. After his conversion, he was of great help to the disciples and helped convert many to Jesus.

In Chapter 19, we are introduced to some "disciples" of John the baptizer in Ephesus. Again, they had either been taught by Apollos (many believe this) or some other disciple of John. Paul encounters them and immediately ascertains their spiritual status. He asks them questions that make it clear what their current condition is. His first question is “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Simple question with eternal consequences. No one is a Christian without the Spirit. (Acts 2:38, Rom. 8:9, Tit. 3:5, Heb. 6:4) When they respond that they did not know that the Spirit was given, Paul moves to the next question, “Then what baptism did you receive?” (v 3) Paul understands that the Spirit is given in baptism (Acts 2:38) and so he questions their baptism. They respond that they only knew of John's baptism.

Luke gives us the "Readers Digest" version of Paul's teaching, but he records their response to what they heard. "On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (v 5) The twelve men who had been baptized into John's baptism were baptized again, this time into Christ. Why? If baptism means little or nothing and they had already been wet once, why do it again? Why had Paul connected their lack of having the Spirit to the baptism that they had obeyed?

John 3:5 tells us that "no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Paul understood that even though they knew about Jesus and even though they had been immersed into John's baptism, they were not yet Christians. (unless someone can be a Christian without having the Spirit) Again, like Apollos, we see that these twelve men were more concerned with obeying the good news than debating with Paul. Each of them were baptized again, this time for the remission of sin, in the name of Jesus. They were men of sincere hearts, wanting to be obedient to the truth regardless of the personal costs. Embarrassment... who cares when we are talking about eternity. Pride..... all of us only know what we have been taught. They wanted to be right with the Lord! I like that!

May we all be just like these thirteen men. May we be willing to change our beliefs whenever we find them in conflict with the scriptures. May we put aside pride and accept the pure truth of the Gospel. If you are like these men, if you find that you have been taught something that conflicts with God's word, make it right, make it right now!

You Should Be Sanctified

Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is filled with encouragement and instruction. He gives them assurance in the face of persecution and hope as they face death. In other words, hope in this life and the next. We need that, don't we. Sometimes it seems that life closes in and we can forget why we first believed and why we hold onto our faith. Life's curve balls can do that to us.

Paul calls their attention (and ours) to how they were to live in order to please God. In order to please God! He reminds them that their conduct should be based on the instruction they received "by the authority of the Lord Jesus". (ch4, v2) The Christians in Thessalonica were to be sanctified, set apart from the world. They were to live in world, but not be of the world. "It is God’s will that you should be sanctified". (ch4,v3) What does that look like? What does that mean to you and me? Thankfully, Paul doesn't leave this to our imagination; he gives us instruction on how to live "sanctified".

We are not to be "impure, but to live a holy life." (v7) This holy life is demonstrated through how we treat our fellow man and what we do with our bodies. Paul tells us that "each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable". (v4) We are to live sexually pure lives, controlling our lusts. That does not seem to be a popular lifestyle these days and I guess it was the same during Paul's life as well. He makes it clear that the Christian is to live a chaste, holy life that demonstrates the fact that we belong to God and His Spirit lives in us. What we do with our bodies matters! God gave us these vessels to live honorably and bring him glory.

"No one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him." (v6) How we treat other people matters! God calls us to great relationships. The world runs on people taking advantage of one another. Christians, on the other hand are to "look out for the interests of others". Our conduct toward our fellow man is to bring glory to God. When we treat others with dignity and respect, we are a living demonstration of God's love. When we use others for our own benefit, we are living by the world's precepts. The second greatest command is for us to love people and when we love people, we will tell them the wonderful story of Jesus and the salvation that He delivered to us.

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (v7,8) Our purity of life is a demonstration of the Spirit living in us. Conversely, a life that is lived unholy is a rejection of God. Paul reminds us that we are called to live by a higher standard, the standard set by our Creator. May each of us examine our lives and make the changes needed to live honorably and holy.

Second Missionary Journey

(Acts 15-17)

Paul decides to return to the churches that had been established during his first mission trip to check on their progress. He and Barnabus had a dispute about taking John Mark with them and they separate. They separate as brothers and both go to do God's work in different places. We meet Timothy, a disciple from Derbe who figures large in Paul’s life from this point forward.

We read of the churches being strengthened as Paul, Silas and Timothy visit and bring additional teaching and understanding. As they travel, we are introduced to new converts to Jesus and new churches are established as they go from city to city. Of course, at this time there was only one church with one message, so if we look at what they did and what they believed, we will get the truth of the matter.

Jews are going to the churches that Paul had established, stirring up trouble, telling them that Paul is not an apostle and that they must continue to live under the Law of Moses. Paul deals with this charge and makes it plain that those that live under the covenant of Jesus are no longer under the old law. (Read his letter to the church in Galatia)

We get to meet "Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira". (Acts 16:14) She is a worshipper of God and listens to Paul teach about Jesus. We are told that "the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message" and that "she and the members of her household were baptized." (v 15)  What a blessing for us to see people becoming Christians and know that if we do what they did, we become Christians just the same. We can become part of God's story just like Lydia did.

Next we meet a slave girl possessed by a spirit. She follows Paul and his companions as they teach, yelling that "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved" (v 17). Without a doubt, this became annoying to Paul and he cast out the spirit from her. This angered the men that had been using her for profit and they had Paul and Silas arrested. They are taken and "severely flogged" and "thrown into prison"(v 23). They are taken to an inner cell and their feet are placed in stocks.

I don't know about you, but for me this would be a low point in my life.... arrested, beaten, severely flogged and in prison in stocks. But Paul finds this to be a time for worshipping God. We find him and Silas praying and singing at midnight. The other prisoners are listening to them... I wonder what they were thinking. Something truly amazing comes out of this situation... the prison is shaken and the doors fly open. The jailor wakes up to find the doors open and thinks that he has lost his prisoners. He prepares to kill himself, but Paul speaks up and saves his life.

Paul "speaks the word of the Lord" to him and his household and just like Lydia... "Immediately he and all his family were baptized" (v 33) I love that... after midnight, he comes to believe in God and is baptized for the remission of his sins and becomes a Christian. Same story over and over in Acts. People believe the message and make the life changing decision to make Jesus the Lord of their lives; they are immersed in the waters of baptism and are added to the church. Everywhere Paul went, the same story.... people heard the life-changing message of Jesus and made the decision to follow Him. Churches were established and grew as the gospel message was taught.

If this is not your story, you must ask yourself why. Why did you not come to Jesus the same way as Lydia, the jailor, Simon, the Ethiopian man, Saul and the 3000 on Pentecost? Are there many different gospels? Are the thousands of churches that exist today a product of people that want things their way? Jesus said "I will build my church". Are you a member of the church that He built or are you a member of a church that someone else built? These are tough questions, but they are questions that each of us need to consider.

Read Acts 2:40-47. Those that were baptized were added to their number and the Lord added to their number daily those that were being saved. Have you been added to their number, those that are saved? If not, don't wait. If you believe in the Lord and want to live with Him eternally, send me a message and I will provide you with the information that you need to respond just like Lydia and all the others did.

The Good News and Persecution

(Todays reading - Acts 8,9)

In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells His disciples that they would be His "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  I am not sure they understood His "great commission", because they seemed totally happy to stay in Jerusalem and teach. But God had other plans, plans that extend to you and me.

"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria." (Acts 8:1) So Acts 1:8 found it's fulfillment in Acts 8:1. In verse 4, we are told that those that were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Philip, one of the seven from chapter 6, went to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the gospel of Christ; the same gospel that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and the same gospel that had been preached throughout Jerusalem. And their response was the same, "but when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." (v 12)

Here we are introduced to Simon the sorcerer. He was the David Copperfield of his day and he amazed the people with his "magic". When he heard the gospel message of Jesus, "Simon himself believed and was baptized." (v 13) The exact same words are used to describe his conversion as all the others in Acts, so without some other evidence, Simon became a Christian the same as the others in Samaria. That is important for you and me. Why? Well, what he does next demonstrates several important things.

The apostles arrive in Samaria to pass on the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. Simon sees them pass on this gift by laying their hands on people. He wants to have that power also and offers money to purchase the ability. (v 18, 19) Important Point #1 - Only the apostles have the ability to give someone the ability to perform miracles. Philip, who was a great preacher and one of the "seven”, was unable to do this, so Peter and John went to Samaria to pass on the gifts to enable the people there to teach with the confirmation of miracles. When the last apostle died, the ability to pass on miraculous powers died with them and when the last person that the apostles had given that power to died, the ability to perform miracles died with them.

Peter responds to Simons request with a straight forward rebuke. “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (v 20-23) Important point #2 - After we become Christians, we still sin and have the ability to lose our salvation. Simon is told that because of his sin, he will perish. The word translated perish is much stronger than the English translation, what Peter tells him is "may your silver go with you into eternal destruction". Some will say Simon was never saved, but the text says otherwise. He was converted the same as everyone else in Samaria, he believed and was baptized. (read Hebrews 6:1-6; 10:26-31)

Peter tells Simon to "repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord". (v 22) Important Point # 3 - As Christians, we have access to God and can pray for forgiveness when we sin. Simon has the ability to repent of his wickedness and pray for forgiveness. That is great news to us because no matter how good we think we are as Christians.... we are still sinners in need of forgiveness and that forgiveness is available upon repentance and prayer. (read 1 John 1:5-10) Simon turns from his wickedness and asks for the prayers of the apostles. Another interesting note... the word simony finds its origin here. (look it up)

The eighth chapter closes with the story of a man from Ethiopia who is taught the gospel of Jesus and makes the decision to follow him while riding along in a chariot. I love this story. It is the story of an honest heart. He was a Jew that had been to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home is taught by Philip. Not many hearts are this honest and will respond immediately to the good news. As they ride along, they come to a stream. He commands the chariot to stop and he and Philip go down into the water and he is baptized. He believed and was baptized. Philip is called away and he goes on his way rejoicing. Wet to the bone, riding along rejoicing that he has found his Savior. No excuses, I have a long trip, I will be baptized later. He understood the need for forgiveness and wanted it right then and he got it.

Chapter 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion. Same story as all the others, he believed and was baptized. (also read his account of his conversion in Acts 22) Many say that he was converted on the road to Damascus and I agree that he met the Lord there. But he was not a Christian until Ananias came and taught him the gospel.  His sins were not forgiven until he obeyed the gospel. (22:16) I like the words to the Toby Mac song.... "Since I got that call, no more Saul, now I'm Paul". No more Saul.... now I'm Paul. I like that, after his encounter with the Christ, he was changed so completely that he even got a new name. May it be so with us, may we be changed so radically that the people who know us best ask us who we are. Better yet, whose we are. God bless you as you walk in Him. 

"A Man Full of Faith"

In Acts 6, we read that the church has grown dramatically and with the growth, problems have arisen. Some feel that they are not receiving adequate attention and complain to the Apostles. They in turn decide to appoint seven men to serve the needs of the people. They select men that are "known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom" and turn over this work to them so that they can continue to teach and preach. One of these men was "Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit".

We hardly get to know Stephen before we see just what kind of man he is. He is going around doing "great wonders and miraculous signs" when the Jewish leaders confront him. They cannot defeat his wisdom, so they plot to silence him in another way. They bring him before the Sanhedrin and make false claims against him. All the while, Stephen sits quietly and is at peace. "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." (v 15)

He is finally given the chance to speak and he follows the example of the Master. He gives them scripture! He tells them the story of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He reminds them that the Jews had been a rebellious people throughout the ages and always rejected God and His prophets. Then in closing, he tells them that they are responsible for Jesus' death. This didn't sit well with the people. When people are confronted with their guilt, they respond one of two ways... sorrow and repentance or anger and retaliation. These people chose anger and retaliation.

Stephen is taken out of the city and stoned to death. I don't know much about stoning, but I can imagine the pain of each rock hitting my body. Each stone tearing a chunk of flesh from my head, my face. Slowly, each blow begins to take its toll, until my body collapses and the final blow of a large stone crushes my skull and I die. There I am, bloodied and beaten; the piles of rocks that have taken my life surround me and the frenzied crowd cheering. That is what Stephen endured. That is what his faith in Jesus cost him.

Two things jump put at me in today's reading. First, Stephen tells us that "he looked up to Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." (v 55) I am thankful that Luke records that for me. My heart rejoices to know that our Savior, our Master rose to His feet when His servant Stephen faced death for his faith. Not many get to see Heaven open in this life, but Stephen did. He paid a tremendous price for his beliefs, but it was worth it all to see the Son. Yes, his physical life ended on that day, but Stephen understood that this was not the end; rather, this was just the beginning. And for his faithfulness, Stephen got a standing ovation from the creator of the universe. Not bad!

Second, just before Stephen dies, he prays for those that are murdering him. (sound familiar?) In the midst of the skull shattering pain, Stephen hits his knees to pray for the people that are killing him. I am convicted by what I read here. I want to be like that. I want to "love my enemies and pray for those that persecute me." (Matthew 5:44) That is what Jesus told me to do, us to do. If I am truly His disciple, then I will follow Stephens’s example and live out the message of love taught by my Savior.

Chances are we will never have to die for our faith. But what we can learn from Stephen is this.... whatever situation we may find ourselves, demonstrate love! Show them Jesus! When you stand for your faith, when you are confronted and do not surrender, Jesus stands for you. And when people persecute you, hit your knees and beg God to open their hearts to the life changing gospel of the Christ. I thank God for Stephen. What an example we are given in a few verses in a couple of chapters in the book of Acts. He was "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit"!

"Brothers, what shall we do?"

Last week’s reading was difficult. Jesus died. No, He was murdered. If the story ended there, we would not be talking about it today. If His body was still in the tomb, the story would be over. But it isn't and so we have something to tell our friends and neighbors. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." (1 Corinthians 15:3-5) The Bible calls it the gospel, the good news... Jesus died to take away our sin and its consequences. He was buried and remained in the tomb for three days to fulfill prophecy. He was resurrected to demonstrate His divinity and give us the hope of life after our own deaths. That is good news and it must be shared!

The Apostles stay in Jerusalem waiting for Jesus to send His Spirit. Fifty days after His resurrection, the Spirit arrives and the world is changed. (Acts 2) The day is called Pentecost, a time of celebration for the Jews. It is the celebration of "first fruits". I like that; on the day of the celebration of first fruits, the first fruits of the Kingdom of Christ are harvested. Jews from every nation are in Jerusalem for the party and the Spirit enables the Apostles to speak to each of them in their native language and they hear the story of Jesus and are confronted by their guilt.

They are guilty of His death even though many of them were not in Jerusalem at the time of His crucifixion. They were guilty the same as you and I are guilty.... their sin, our sin is what put Jesus on the cross. We bear the responsibility for His death. You and I and them, we all stand before the cross of Christ and see the consequence of our sinfulness. And just like them, if we understand our guilt, our hearts will be cut. And just like them, we must ask "Brothers, what shall we do?". (Acts 2:37) What shall we do about our guilt? What shall we do about our sin? What shall we do about our responsibility for  the death of an innocent man?

In the midst of this scene, people with broken hearts and guilty hands, Peter stands up to give them God's answer to their question, His remedy for our sin problem. For many, the prescription for the sickness is not acceptable. For many, Peter's words are not sufficient. And for some reading this today, you will not accept the simple way that we are to respond to the gut wrenching, heart rending gospel of Jesus the Christ. Here we go.... Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38) That is it!

Our response to the gospel of Christ is to change our direction and start following Him; we must repent. And then we are to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of our sins. Of course the water doesn't remove the sin; I know that. Our obedience to God is the key here. He calls on us to repent and be immersed and in our obedience to Him, our sins are washed away and we receive the gift of the Spirit. Once we are cleaned up, our sins forgiven, God takes up residence in us. He comes to live with us. So there you have God's plan, we are to change our direction through repentance, we are to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of our sins and God comes to live in us. It is the plan revealed by Jesus before His ascension (Matthew 28:18, Mark 16:16). It is the plan revealed to Saul (before he was Paul) and the plan he obeyed (Acts 22:16). Take an hour and read through the book of Acts and look at the conversions. Same story, time after time. Repent and be baptized.

Many today reject that simple plan, substituting one created by humans. They call baptism a symbol, even though the Bible never calls it that. They tell us to pray Jesus into our hearts, even though the Bible never tells us that (not once). I don't know the outcome of all this; my hope is that all who love Jesus will be saved. That is my hope. The bigger question for us today is simply this... why not do what the Bible teaches? That is what they did for hundreds of years after His death, burial and resurrection. Take a moment to read the 6th chapter of Romans, the 2nd chapter of Colossians, the third chapter of 1 Peter. This is too important to leave to chance, this has eternal consequences. May we all be in prayer about this and seek to obey Him in all things.

There They Crucified Him

“There they crucified Him”. Four simple words that changed everything. Jesus had taught his disciples their last lesson and he had gone to Gethsemane to spend some quiet time with His Father. He prays for His followers, including you and me, for our safety, faithfulness, unity and an uncommon love to be shared among us. As death approached, He was struggling with what was to come, but in the midst of His struggles, He was thinking of us and praying for us.

He is betrayed by his own disciple and is taken captive by the Jews, who in turn place Him in the custody of the Roman Government. They accuse Him of crimes and demand His death. Pilate wants nothing to do with Jesus’ death, but finally gives in to the crowd's demands and hands Him over to his soldiers to be crucified. “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” (Matthew 27:27-30) Then they led Him out to a hill called Golgotha and “there they crucified Him” (Luke 22:33).

Having spent my entire life in the church, these words had lost some of their meaning, their impact. How many times have I heard or read about Jesus’ death? How many times have we sung the words to a song that talked about His crucifixion? How many times have you seen a cross around someone’s neck or on a church building? How many times have we looked through the windows in our building without seeing the crosses?

If we are not careful, our hearts can become dulled to the amazing meaning of those four words. We look at a cross and don’t even think about what it means to us. To non-Christians, the cross is a joke, even something to be ridiculed, but to us... it is the symbol of our victory. It was on a cross that Jesus paid the price for our failures and because He dealt with our sins, we have the gift of forgiveness. “There they crucified Him” because of me! We need to make it personal. “There my sin crucified Him”. “He was pierced for my transgressions, he was crushed for my iniquities; the punishment that brought me peace was upon him, and by his wounds I am healed.”  (Isaiah 53:5, emphasis mine)

The next time I sing a song about His death, the next time you see a cross or the next time we read a scripture that deals with Jesus’ crucifixion, let us remember that He did it all for us! Jesus paid it all that I might live. Take a moment to read the words to "Jesus Paid It All" (922)" or "He Paid a Debt" (376) and slowly let the words settle into your heart. May we never allow the cross to be just jewelry or architectural decoration; may it always be the symbol of our hope, our savior. It was on that tree that my sins were forever forgiven by a living savior that willingly chose to die for me. Praise God!

The Greatest Command

Sometimes I forget that Jesus told us that the Bible contained "the greatest command" and the "second". I start thinking that everything carries the same weight of importance; when I do that I get it wrong. If Jesus was able to sort through all the commands and give us the "most important commands", they demand our attention.

Jesus finds himself in a discussion with the religious leaders of His day and as usual, they are trying to trip Him up in hopes of discrediting Him. One of the teachers of the law heard His responses and saw wisdom in His answers and decided to test Him with a question. He asks Jesus "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36) Now I don't know about you, but when Jesus speaks, I tend to listen. HE is "the way, the truth and the life" and He is the "word" and through Him "we know the truth and the truth sets us free". Since He is the "word", He is the one who can tell us which command is the most important. They all belong to Him!

So, Jesus, without hesitation tells us that the greatest command is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind". (v 37) He then tells us that "love your neighbor as yourself" is the second greatest command. (v 39) Love God and love people. He goes on to say that every other command finds their origin, their basis in these two commands. He says they "hang" on these two commands. Without these two, the others lose their meaning. For example, a door is not a door if it is not hung on hinges that allow it to operate within the door frame. It loses it's purpose and has no function.

We are the same as the door, without love for God and love for people, what we do loses it's basis. Why do we worship only God? Why do we feed the hungry? Why do we help the sick? Why do we clothe the naked? Why do we tell the truth? Why are we faithful to our spouses? Simple answer, we love God and we love people. When I love God and love people, it changes what I think and how I act. It changes the purpose of my life. I am no longer a plank of wood, sitting on a shelf; I am a door swinging freely on the hinges of love for God and my fellow man.

What I do privately and what I do publicly demonstrates my love for God and people. What I think and how I speak flows from my love for God and people. Everything in my life (or as Jesus put it, my heart, soul, mind and strength) either shows the love that I have or it displays my lack of love. We all know people that display this kind of love. We want to be near them and have them touch our lives. If our lives display this uncommon love, people want us to be involved in their lives. Who we are is a direct correlation to whose we are. If our hearts belong to Jesus, our love for people will overflow. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.(1 John 4:20)
May we determine to make God the love of our lives and make our lives a tribute to Him as we love others. The next time someone asks you, "why are you different?", just tell them you live by the greatest commands ever given. They will want to know more..... and love demands that you tell them.