DAILY REMINDER – Today, November 18’s Bible reading is Acts 14-15.
NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, November 19’s Bible reading is Acts 16-17.
May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.
ACTS MOMENT – (18NOV19) “At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual
into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number
of Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the
other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and
Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who
confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and
wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others
with the apostles” (Acts 14:1-4).
Paul, who went from being a
persecutor of Christ to an apostle for Christ went about the countryside with
Barnabas preaching, teaching, and performing signs and wonders in witness of
Jesus Christ. Paul had been chosen by the Lord to help Gentiles come to Him as
well as the Jews. Paul and Barnabas went to the synagogues and spoke boldly through
the leading of the Holy Spirit which yielded a harvest of both Jews and
Gentiles. Unfortunately, there were always Jews who made themselves available
to stir up dissention to try to undo the Lord’s work and destroy the foundation
that had been laid. Nevertheless, this did not deter the apostles from doing
the work that was needed for the salvation of souls.
On one occasion, a certain sect of
Jews came from Judea to Antioch to teach the Gentiles that they must be circumcised
to be saved. This started a huge debate between the apostles Paul and Barnabas
and their opposers; therefore, they made a trip to the church in Jerusalem
where the Apostle James was located so that the matter could be settled. After Paul
told the church about the Holy Spirit leading the Gentiles to salvation,
without them having been circumcised, the Apostle James gave the following
response: “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should
not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Instead we should write
to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual
immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in
every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath”
(Acts 15:19-21). The Holy Spirit was giving
salvation to the Gentiles not because of their obedience to the Mosaic law, but
because of their faith. God sent Jesus to die for the whole human race and not
just the Jews. His plan of salvation was in motion long before He spoke to
Abraham concerning his future descendants. Yet, the Law was established to lead
man to Christ and not as a gateway to piety.
Just as there were debates in the
early church, there are many going on today. Unfortunately, many of the debates
that believers have will not be settled until Jesus comes back. Some believers,
for example, believe that there is a pre-trib rapture, while others believe in
post-trib. Some believers believe in celebrating Christmas, while others believe
that all holidays are pagan. Some believers believe in being “once saved always
saved”, while others believe that one can lose his/her salvation. Some
believers believe that women should not be preachers, while others believe that
God uses women in all ministry areas. Most recently, the debate has been
regarding rather Kanye West’s claim of conversion to Christianity is real. Some
believers believe that God told them he is a fraud, while others believe that
God told them that his new walk is genuine. Rather he is sincere or not, that is for the Lord to judge what's inside his heart. So, how are we to operate when
there are disagreements and divisions in the body of Christ?
For starters, the Bible
lets us know that we are one body. Therefore, we are to be united in Him
regardless of religious affiliation. The Bible says: “Now the full number
of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of
the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common”
(Acts 4:32). The early church operated as one until some of the Jews
came in to cause dissension. Nevertheless, when the Holy Spirit came upon the
believers on the day of Pentecost, they were all on one accord. The Bible says:
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). The
Holy Spirit would not have come upon them if they were busy fussing, fighting, name-calling,
and bitter towards one another. The believers were not just together in a
physical location, but they were united as fellow brothers and sisters in the
Lord. Therefore, they were properly prepared in their hearts, minds, and bodies
to receive His visitation.
Another important fact is how the church
handled the dispute when Paul and Barnabas took the matter to Jerusalem for it
to be addressed. The church “listened” to what Paul and Barnabas had to say
before they came to a decision. The Bible says: “Everyone listened
quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God
had done through them among the Gentiles. When they had finished, James stood
and said, ‘Brothers, listen to me….’ “ (Acts 15:12-13). Communication
is key when trying to resolve disputes in any relationship rather it is in the
church, on the job, or in a marriage. The church listened and then the Apostle
James responded afterwards. When we operate in such a manner, we can peacefully
resolve conflicts and work towards a diplomatic solution in alignment with the
Word of God. It is not about being right, but as a Christian, it is about being
humble.
As the body of Christ, we are to do
our best to be peaceful towards one another. Paul and Barnabas had a conflict
that arose, and they had to separate for a while. When the Church cannot agree,
rather than attack one another, which is often done on social media, we should
be praying for each other. We can speak the truth, but we are to also operate
in the Spirit of love and not the Pharisee spirit which Jesus often rebuked. While
speaking to a crowd, Jesus said: “The teachers of religious law and the
Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice
and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t
practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands
and never lift a finger to ease the burden” (Matthew 23:2-4). Jesus was
letting the people know that it was easy to give laws to others, but do not fall
short of adhering to them yourself so that you will not be a hypocrite, which
was how the Pharisees operated. They were also guilty of not helping people in
their observance of the Law. As Christians, especially when it comes to new
believers, we are to help them to grow and not attack them for not being where
we think they should be spiritually. Just like a baby is not born walking on
his own, a new believer does not immediately know how to walk this Christian
journey on their own. Many Christians are still needing assistance some twenty,
thirty and forty years later with their walk in Christ. None of us have fully
arrived, and we all have to experience spiritual growth to do as long as we are
on this planet. Therefore, let us walk with our Christian brothers and sisters to
help them as they help us along the way. Something to ponder….
No comments:
Post a Comment