The Chapter-A-Day thread. (3)

[brinny]

Ananias and Sapphira were both profoundly wicked.

It would have been better if they had been honest in all of it.

What also is profound here is that neither one repented, and for all intents and purposes did not intend to.

Tragic.

Acts 6:

So here we have Stephen, and he is testified to be a man of God and full of the Holy Spirit, yet some rose up against him, and for no good reason, except that their own motives in coming against a man of God, were evil.

"And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." ~Acts 6:8

"Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
~Acts 6:9-10

"Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." ~Acts 6:11-15

They blatantly lied against Stephen.

How wicked is THAT??!!

 

[FredVB]

In Acts of the Apostles 7, Stephen recounts to the council where he had been taken forcefully events from the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, putting together what he understood of those in his own words, with mentioning the conquest under Joshua, and David and Solomon, with focus on Yahweh God choosing his people, and those people of Israel being continuosly with rebellion among them. This he connected with the stubbornness of the leaders there of that generation having Jesus taken to be crucified, in the time recent to that. As he said, "Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers."

Those of the council, who wanted the apostles and followers to no longer mention Jesus and the power from him, were furious, and Stephen was immediately sentenced and taken to be executed, being the first we know of from among followers of Christ to be killed for the faith and professing it. Stephen didn't condemn any of them, and voiced the appeal to God to be forgiving toward them. And Saul of Tarsus was there at that execution of Stephen, where he was stoned, being involved with his consent for that killing.

 

[brinny]

Acts 7:

They become enraged and murderous, and they stone Stephen, and Saul was on the sidelines, securing the clothes of those stoning Stephen:

"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stonedhim: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." ~Acts 7:51-60

 

[brinny]

In Acts of the Apostles 7, Stephen recounts to the council where he had been taken forcefully events from the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, putting together what he understood of those in his own words, with mentioning the conquest under Joshua, and David and Solomon, with focus on Yahweh God choosing his people, and those people of Israel being continuosly with rebellion among them. This he connected with the stubbornness of the leaders there of that generation having Jesus taken to be crucified, in the time recent to that. As he said, "Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers."

Those of the council, who wanted the apostles and followers to no longer mention Jesus and the power from him, were furious, and Stephen was immediately sentenced and taken to be executed, being the first we know of from among followers of Christ to be killed for the faith and professing it. Stephen didn't condemn any of them, and voiced the appeal to God to be forgiving toward them. And Saul of Tarsus was there at that execution of Stephen, where he was stoned, being involved with his consent for that killing.

LOL! we both posted on chapter 7, awesome!

good post!

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Acts 8:

So here we have Simon, who, being a sorcerer and thinking in his heart as one, being blind to anything of God, and thus a double abomination, seeing that the Apostles, in their laying of their hands on many, gave them the Holy Spirit, asked to "buy" this same power to "give" the Holy Spirit.

What is most interesting here is how Peter responded, most notably in verse 20:

"But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."

Here is the rest of his response:

"Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me." Acts 8:21-24

This highlights just how subtle deception is, and how "self" must be laid waste (put to death) if one is to be truly one of God's own. Simon desired to still be a Sorcerer, and take God's Spirit and use Him in His sorceries.

Abominable.

 

[brinny]

Acts 9:

So here we have Saul, bound and determined to get those Christians as he continued what he believed was "God's work".....but he was in for quite a surprise, wasn't he?

Come to find out, just WHO exactly was he persecuting?

"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." ~Acts 9:1-5

 

[brinny]

Acts 10:

Now God is preparing Peter to accept and minister to the Gentiles, for, although Peter didn't have a clue yet, God was going to use him mightily with the Gentiles.

Precious.

"On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, thatcall not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven." ~Acts 10:9-16

 

[brinny]

Acts 11:

This is precious, in that Peter, after being accused of eating with Gentiles, testifies how God opened his eyes to the Gentiles, that God's salvation was also for the Gentiles, and thus it opened the eyes of his brethren also, that uncircumcised Gentiles are to be preached to and converted and welcomed to the Body of Christ.

Isn't God glorious?

 

[brinny]

Acts 12:

So here we have King Herod persecuting the Christians, partly because it pleased the Jews, and he kills James with the sword (i gotta admit, i have been unfamiliar with the details of how James died, because i've never really delved into the book of Acts).

So here we have the tragedy of how James died.....soooo sad:

then he goes after Peter, and puts him in prison. But much to everyone's shock, this is what happened:

"And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying." ~Acts 12:7-12

Awesome!!!!

 

[brinny]

Acts 13:

So here we have Barjesus (also called Elymas), a sorcerer, attempting to prevent Sergius Paulus , the deputy of Paphos, from being converted and/or hearing Paul's message of salvation. So Paul intervenes:

"And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord isupon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." ~Acts 13:6-12

 

[brinny]

Acts 14:

So Paul and Barnabus are run out Iconium, and go to the city of Lystra where there is a lame man, who had been lame from birth, who embraced in his heart all that Paul preached, and Paul, perceiving this, told the lame man to stand up on his feet, and not only did the lame man stand, but he LEAPED and WALKED!!!!! hahaaaa

Awesome!

BUT the people seeing this were convinced that Paul and Barnabus were gods. They called Barnabus Jupiter and Paul they called Mercurius. Then the priest of Jupiter brought oxen because he was fixin' to sacrifice before Barnabus and Paul (cuz they thought they were gods) and horrified, Paul and Barnabus rent their clothes and cried out that they were not gods, and then some Jews from Antioch and Iconium show up and got the people stirred up and they stoned Paul, an d thinking he was dead, dragged him out of the city, BUT Paul rose up and went back in the city, where the next day he and Barnabus went to Derbe.

Whoa!!!!

There is some thought here that Paul actually DID die when he was stoned, and this is when he saw the third heaven that he speaks of later.

Poor Paul....

 

[brinny]

Acts 15:

There were some who insisted that the Gentile believers be circumcised, and the apostles and elders came together to resolve the matter. After much discussion and testifying, including Peter's testimony that Gentile believers are not obliged to get circumcised, there was the Decree of the Council of Jerusalem that Gentile believers did not have to be circumcised.

 

[brinny]

Acts 16:

So here we have a business woman (just like the woman described in Proverbs 31). Her name is Lydia and she's a seller of purple, and she becomes a believer and gets baptized, but not just Lydia, but her ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD gets baptized. Then she INSISTS on Paul and Silas and Timothy abiding at her house, so she could minister to, and bless them.

Precious.

"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." ~Acts 16:14-15

(There's more, in that Paul is followed by a woman who is possessed by a spirit of divination, a soothsayer, who brought her bosses/owners(?) lots of money because she did this, and who grieved Paul until he finally commanded the spirit to come out of her, and it did. Well her bosses were livid b/c they had just lost their "gold mine" (this woman), so they take Paul and Silas to the magistrates and say that they are causing a ruckus and they're Jews anyway, and shouldn't be saying or doing such things, being everyone is Roman.

Soooo they're beaten and thrown in prison. But THEN, there's an earthquake, they get out of prison, and go to Lydia's house.

Praise God for Lydia and her hospitality.

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Acts 17:

So Paul is in Athens, and he is stirred/distressed in his spirit as he sees that the entire city is given over to idolatry. He then sees an altar to the "unknown god" and he stood on the middle of Mars hill (Areopagus) and preached about the one, true, and living God. And from his sermon, some believed, among them was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris.

 

[brinny]

Acts 18:

So Paul comes to Corinth and he meets up with Aquila and his wife Priscilla, believers, and he stays with them, for they were tent makers, just as he was.

Later, Aquila and Priscilla minister to and teach a fellow believer who was in need of mentoring, named Apollos. And Apollos, after much instruction from Aquila and Priscilla to win many Jews to Christ.

Halleluia!!!!!!

 

[brinny]

Acts 19:

Whoops!

LOL!

So these vagabond, "copycat" Jews, "exorcists", who were the seven sons of Sceva, the chief high priest, called over those who were possessed of evil spirits and tried to do as Paul did, and cast out an evil spirit. But the evil spirit said that Paul it knew and Jesus it knew, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit dwelt, leaped on them, and beat them merciless, and they all fled, all wounded and naked, and this was know to everyone, and the fear of the Lord fell on them after hearing this.

 

[brinny]

Acts 20:

This verse is a bless-ed and fitting summary of chapter 20.

Amen.

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." ~Acts 20:24

 

[brinny]

Acts 21:

I didn't know Phillip had four daughters who prophesied. And i had never heard of Agabus (who warned Paul). It's also interesting and rather endearing to read that Paul stayed in Phillip's house.

"And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver himinto the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem." ~Acts 21:8-12

 

[brinny]

Acts 22:

(from Acts 21) Paul is accused of "polluting" a holy place. The Jews pulled him out of the Temple, and beat him, planning on killing them. Soldiers intervene. He is arrested. The chief captain allows Paul to speak to the people. He speaks to them in Hebrew, which silenced them, as they listened. Paul testifies how he met the Lord Jesus Christ and was blinded, and converted, and how God restored his sight through Ananias.

The Jews cry out against Paul, and the centurion takes Paul to scourge him, but Paul tells the centurion that he is a Roman. The centurion then cautions the chief captain that Paul is a Roman.

This put fear in the chief captain.

 

[brinny]

Acts 23:

Paul is in prison and most likely weary, and discouraged, and Jesus shows up to encourage and strengthen and sustain Paul.