Posts that reference the book of Acts

Lydia

Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Acts 16:14

Lydia was a seller of purple.
She was engaged with the people around her. She was a businesswoman, and the nature of her business put her in contact with the upper class.

She worshipped God.
In spite of being grossly outnumbered by idolaters and pagans, she held to her faith in the one true God, even though there was no synagogue and no support network.

She was receptive.
Because she was already worshipping God regularly, He responded with a deeper revelation of Himself and His ways.

She was obedient.
Immediately after she believed in Jesus, she was baptized.

She was influential.
Her whole household was converted and baptized as well.

She put her resources to work.
She offered her home and hospitality to support the missionaries in their work.

We can be engaged, devout, and responsive, too.
We can be like Lydia.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. Acts 2:2-3

On October 8, 1871, a cold front moved across the upper Midwest generating strong winds. These winds caught small brush fires farmers had set to help clear land. A firestorm ensued, meaning superheated flames more than 2000 degrees F were pushed by winds over 110 mph. The firestorm engulfed the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and eleven other communities. One eyewitness described how the fire seemed to jump the Peshtigo River. The fire generated its own tornadic winds and resulted in an area twice the size of Rhode Island burned. A conservative estimate of fifteen hundred lives were lost. It seemed nothing could stand in the conflagration’s way. It was the most destructive fire in U.S. history.

Wind and fire are an unstoppable combination.

Forty days after His resurrection, in some of Jesus’s final instructions to His disciples, He said they were to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the power from on high (Luke 24:49). Ten days later, when that power manifested, it came as wind and fire. Thousands upon thousands were saved. It was the most amazing day in the life of the church. From there the wind and fire pushed outside the city limits to the surrounding country and eventually the entire world.

On Pentecost by using wind and fire to mark the arrival of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God teaches us that nothing can stop the spread of the Gospel. Furthermore, its impact is unmistakable. Wind and fire harnessed and used for God’s purposes are powerful and productive.

Today the Peshtigo Fire has largely been forgotten. Buildings have been rebuilt. Survivors have passed on. The loss isn’t felt as urgently. Even in 1871, the tragedy was overshadowed by the Chicago Fire that happened the same day.

Today we know the name Pentecost, but other things have been built on top of it. People who felt the power have long since passed on. We don’t feel the need for it as urgently.

Wind and fire. They are still in use, still available. Pray we don’t become firebreaks and wet blankets.

A Holy Priesthood: Anointed

By Paula Wiseman

Peter says believers are a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5), drawing parallels with the priesthood established under the Law. Peter packs a lot of information and theological truth in that one metaphor. So let’s take a few posts to break down what Peter wants us to understand. The first thing is God has cleansed us from our sin. We are specially clothed. Next priests are anointed for service.

Old Testament priests were anointed for service.

Leviticus 8:12-30 tells of the ceremony God directed Moses to use to install Aaron and his sons as the priests for the nation of Israel. There were sacrifices to consecrate the priests as well as the altars that would be used. The men were anointed. They ate a ceremonial meal and then remained separated from the people for seven days while continuing to offer more sacrifices.

The anointing was a visible sign to everyone that the priests was chosen, set apart and empowered to carry out his duties by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was the Anointed One.

The Hebrew word for anoint is mashach. The noun form, when transliterated into English is a word you no doubt recognize: messiah. The Greek equivalent word is christos. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended on Christ at His baptism. A close reading of the Gospels shows the Jesus Himself attested to the Holy Spirit’s power and influence in His earthly ministry. The early church recognized that as well. It was one of their regular sermon points.

[H]ow God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Acts 10:38

Believers are also specially anointed.

Paul explains:

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
2 Corinthians 1:21

And John confirms

The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as He has taught you, remain in Him.
1 John 2:27

God has given us a special anointing, the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised us in the Upper Room that the Spirit would come. We don’t have to wait for a special ceremony though. The Spirit indwells us at the moment of salvation, enabling us to understand and carry out the mission God has for us. Paul and John both needed that Holy Spirit anointing, and so do we. That enables us to intercede, minister, and teach the truth about Christ to others.

Once we’re prepared, there is one key that will determine our success. Next week we’ll consider it.

Given

By Paula

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. John 3:27

If you took geometry in school, you may recall working through proofs. At the beginning, before you begin to line out a strategy for attacking the problem, you have a set of pre-conditions, a set of givens. These are your starting points. The things you know for certain. Then you work step-by-step from those givens, incorporating other things you know for certain, the theorems and so forth, until you arrive at the solution, the proof. (Hopefully I didn’t stir up any bad memories.)

While I’m very thankful that life is NOT a geometry proof, it is essential to understand that as believers, we operate with a set of givens. They are so much better than a list of theorems and postulates. These are things God has given us. No matter what we come up against, these need to be our starting points. These are things we know for certain.

1. We have eternal life.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:11

We have so much more than what we see around us.

2. We have the Holy Spirit.
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Acts 5:32

We are never alone. God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit lives not just with us, but in us. He sees and He knows exactly what we’re going through.

3. We have an understanding of Christ.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20

Maybe not full understanding, but we know enough to grasp that Jesus loved us and wanted us with Him forever, and He was willing to go to the most extreme lengths for us.

4. We have everlasting consolation and good hope.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace. 2 Thessalonians 2:16

Consolation is comfort. And it’s everlasting. I like to think of it not just lasting forever with respect to time, but never running out. Not only that, but good hope, a confidence that there is more to come and it is better.

5. We have a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

We are not helpless, but we are able to accurately assess our situations in light of who we are in Christ and then respond, not out of fear but out of love for others, like the love Christ has shown us.

6. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness.
As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 2 Peter 1:3

We have all the resources we need to live the life God has called us to.

7. We have great and precious promises.
By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4

Not just the promise of eternal life, but promises that He’ll never leave us, and that He hears us.

Whatever it is, wherever you are, start with these givens. They’ll lead you from your questions and doubts to what you know and finally to the One who knows all.

Jesus Is the Prophet

By Paula Wiseman

Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you (Acts 3:22).

Jesus Christ is greater than Moses.
Moses delivered the Law.
Jesus proclaimed grace.
Moses led Israel from slavery in Egypt.
Jesus rescued us from bondage to sin.

Moses miraculously provided bread in the desert.
Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life.
Moses interceded for the people when they faced God’s wrath.
Jesus took that wrath on Himself and satisfied God’s justice.

Moses spoke the words of God with the authority God gave him.
Jesus Christ spoke the words of God with His own authority.
But Moses knew Christ was coming.
Moses said we must listen to every word Jesus would say.

Hear every word.
Proclaimed by the Prophet, Jesus Christ.

Words like, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life,” (John 3:14-15).

The Spirit Helps in Our Witness

By Paula Wiseman

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. We’re in the middle of our closer look at what He does, learning how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). This week we’ll look at how the Holy Spirit helps in our witness.

One way to think about helping with our witness is that it’s the other half of helping with salvation. We saw in the first post that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of the hearer. He also works in the one doing the speaking, preaching, teaching, testifying or witnessing. This fits with the Spirit’s purpose of bringing glory to Christ. After all, someone coming to Jesus for salvation brings Him glory.

The Spirit helps our witness in a at least three ways.

The Spirit gives us clarity.

Paul explains, “We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people” (1 Corinthians 2:13). When the truths of God–especially the gospel–are delivered in a way that they connect with the hearers, the Spirit is at work. We see examples in the early church like Stephen in Acts 6. He made his case for Christ’s messiahship so strongly, it was irrefutable. They didn’t believe but they couldn’t argue with any of the truth Stephen presented. Another example was Philip in Acts 8 who was able to clearly trace the gospel through the eunuch’s reading in Isaiah.

In the same way, the Spirit can help us with just the right word or example when we need it. (This is not to say we should be lazy or unprepared.) But we shouldn’t be afraid to speak up when an opportunity arises. We’ll come back to this in just a moment.

The Spirit gives us power.

We shouldn’t conflate that Spirit-given clarity with just gifted oratory. We’ve all heard captivating speakers or even storytellers. But when we witness for Christ, there’s more going on. Even the Apostle Paul experienced it. “My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

When we witness, people will never be convinced or persuaded solely because of the compelling argument we make. The words have power because the Holy Spirit’s power infuses them.

The Spirit gives us the opportunity.

“When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father — he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27). The Spirit is at work in and through our encounters with others. He prepares the hearts of the hears and then once the prep work is done He moves us to speak.

Because of this we can have confidence when the Spirit nudges us to tell our story. Now this doesn’t mean that if a conversation doesn’t end with someone professing faith in Christ that the Spirit wasn’t in it, or we spoke out of turn. It means our job was to plant a seed, or even water it. Someone else will be there to see the fruit. We never have to feel pressure to “close the deal” when we tell someone about Jesus. Our responsibility is to be obedient and faithful. The Spirit is responsible for the results.

Let’s resolve to take the opportunities and speak what the Spirit gives us to say in His clarity and power.