Sunday 29th September
Read Psalm 76
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
This psalm is a song of honour to God who has been victorious in battle for his people Israel. The writer realises that the victories were never theirs but God’s and God is viewed as one to be feared, “Who can stand before you when you are angry? From heaven you pronounced judgement, and the land feared and was quiet” (V7,8).
God is a God of love but he is also a fierce opposer of those who do wrong that’s why the writer says, “Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise” (v10). Our anger is so often because of lack of control and comes from self-centredness, but God’s wrath is not like that. He is astoundingly patient. The apostle Paul warns not to, “show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”. However if repentance does not come, his final acts in judgement will be sure and certain. Let us bear that in mind when we see and hear of horrendous things happening.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
It appears that the reception of the Holy Spirit exhibited signs such as those seen in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. The people had seen great signs performed by Philip when he came first but now, in receiving the Holy Spirit, certain signs were now seen in the people. It is of note that Simon was not one of those people; he was clearly not a believer as far as true saving faith was concerned, indeed anyone who has to encourage people to call them Great shows a godless heart. When he saw what was happening to the people around who were true believers he wanted to boost his ‘Great’ reputation by offering Peter and John money for them to give him the ability to do the same.
Peter who was filled with the Holy Spirit’s gift of insight told him in clear words that he had no part with them and that his heart was full of bitterness and captive to sin. The church always needs to beware of those who seek to grow a spiritual reputation and influence in the Church for it merely shows a lack of the Spirit. Holy writ merely leaves Simon here though he is spoken about as a bad influence in some early writings in the following century.
We come here to the lovely story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch who was a high official in charge of the treasury of the Kandake (Candace) who was the royal woman, possibly the sister of the King but in the matrilineal system of descent she would be the mother of the next King.
The official had been given leave of absence to go to Jerusalem to worship which may mean that he was a Jew or part Jew, or a proselyte, a Gentile drawn to the Jewish scriptures, which would give the reason for him owning a portion of the scriptures which would have cost a great deal of money. His bafflement about the passage he was reading in Isaiah – Chapter 53, possibly the greatest Old Testament passage on the Messiah – gave Philip the ideal opportunity to engage him in conversation and explain to him who it was all about and why.
We will rarely be in such a position in our lives but we should, as the apostle Peter says, always be able to “give a reason for the hope that is within us” (1 Pet 3:15-17)
After his baptism Philip is whisked away, slightly reminiscent of Jesus vanishing after the breaking of the bread in the house following the Road to Emmaus discussion with the disciples.
We come to the story of Saul. We knew of him earlier in that when Stephen was martyred he was noted as the young man who looked after the cloaks of the witnesses who stoned him. He was complicit in that event and he grew from the angry young man into a determined opposer of all the early believers. Because many believers had scattered from Jerusalem he wanted authority from the High Priest to follow some of them, the ones who went to Damascus, and bring them back as prisoners to Jerusalem. He obviously had some henchmen with him because they were on the road when the bright light and the voice cast Saul down and spoke to him. The men weren’t privy to what he heard because, like Mary in the Garden, the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, recognition of Jesus wasn’t given them. The knowledge of Jesus only comes through his power not our control of our perception.
In answer to his question about who he was persecuting he heard, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do”. This experience affected all of Saul’s future and would certainly be at the root of his theology of the power and will of God being the cause of salvation and not any of our decisions.
We are introduced to a man called Ananias who was a disciple living in Damascus at the time. He was possibly not one of the Christians who fled Jerusalem because of the persecution. Paul later says of him he was “a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews that dwelt in Damascus” (Acts 22:12). He was given a vision in which, like Samuel of the Old Testament, he is called by name and told to go to a house on Straight Street because a vision has been given to another man called Saul living there, telling him that Ananias would come to restore his sight.
When we think of this we realise how much of divine interference in the lives of these two men came together in the conversion of Saul. In all three cases the names of the men are spoken by God – the light on the Damascus Road, the vision given to Saul, the vision given to Ananias. There was a chorus I remember from days at Crusaders (a boys’ Bible Class) which went like this:
“There’s a work for Jesus, ready at your hand,
’Tis a task the Master just for you has planned.
Haste to do His bidding, yield Him service true;
There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.”
We should never consider ourselves just one among many, but special people, known by name, and called by God. Listen to God’s call for you and heed it.
Ananias was not just puzzled but hesitant about this message he was given because he had heard word about Saul from people in Jerusalem, very probably from some of the believers who had fled from there. Saul had obviously been very active in Jerusalem and information from the leaders in the Council had obviously travelled about his intention to travel seeking to arrest and bring believers back to prison and possibly worse.
God tells Ananias that he has chosen this most unlikely man to be his instrument to spread the gospel. How astounding, yet the choosing of Saul shows that even the most unlikely of people from the world’s perspective can be used by God. Ananias did what he was told and going into the house in Damascus laid his hands on Saul saying that he had been sent to give Saul his vision and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The latter shouldn’t be taken that Saul jumped up and spoke in tongues or gave some such manifestation (the text doesn’t say that) but that the profound meaning of having the Spirit of Jesus become the heart of one’s soul happened then.
Ananias disappears from the picture after this just like Albert McMcMakin after inviting a young 16 year old boy to an evangelistic meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. The young boy became Billy Graham who spoke the gospel to multitudes across many countries during the 20th Century.
Saturday Acts 9:20-25
Within a short time he began to preach in the synagogues; it wouldn’t be the developed theology we see later in his letters but it was that “Jesus is the Son of God” which is at the start and heart of the gospel. The dramatic change in the man was noticed because from causing havoc in Jerusalem and now arriving at Damascus the changed message from his lips was completely opposite from what it had been before. His skill in preaching and debating was noticed as he baffled the Jewish leaders showing that Jesus was the Messiah
#perhaos we feel unable to speak to others about Christian things but maybe his starting point about Jesus and God, linking the two together can be a good starting point for us if we become involved in conversation with others. Speak about Jesus.
After a while he became notorious among the Jews who planned to kill him yet finding out their plan he was spirited away one night being lowered from the city wall and so escaping.
