CONTRADICTORY RESPONSES

Acts 19:9a,18 ... "Some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude. ... Many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices."

      On his third missionary journey Paul came to Ephesus and for the span of three months preached in the Jewish synagogue where he managed to convert several of its members to the Way of Christ. Most of them, however, responded differently in the manner described in the text above. As a result of the mounting opposition it became necessary for the apostle to separate the disciples from the synagogue. Thus the church of Christ in Ephesus assumed its own identity and became visible as a religious organization separate from Judaism. For the next two years Paul continued in Ephesus. teaching daily in the School of Tyrannus, so that "all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks," (v.10). It seems that it was during this period that the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 were established, either by Paul himself or by men he trained in the School of Tyrannus and then sent out into the surrounding province to evangelize. As the months of this great spiritual activity continued, great numbers of people, mostly Gentiles, believed the gospel, confessed faith in Christ, and publicly repented of their evil deeds, especially the practice of magic, (v.19). The victory of Christianity over heathenism was so great that v.20 exults, "So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing."

      The two verses juxtaposed above vividly highlight contradictory responses to the same preaching. Paul and his assistants preached the life and doctrine of Christ as God's outreach to save man from sin and its destructive course in human life. They revealed God's love, concern, and grace for those who had been unaware of His existence and of their rebellion against Him. But there were two different reactions to this wonderful good news. Some hardened their hearts, refused to believe, and spoke evil against the Way of Christ in public. Others, however, put their faith in Jesus, confessed Him as Lord, and repented of their sins to live new lives of righteousness. We are made to wonder what caused this difference, for it still occurs among people when the gospel is preached today. Why do some people see Christ as Savior and as The Way to a better life in this world and then to eternal life hereafter, and others see Christ only as a nuisance, an enemy to be resisted, and a threat to the kind of world they want to live in, (disregarding, I might add, any serious consideration of another existence beyond the present one)?

      The answer has to lie in the nature of the human heart. We all know that the sun melts solid ice into easily flowing water, while it bakes wet clay into bricks so hard that houses can be built with them. The nature of a substance determines what effect the sun will have on it. In something of the same way the nature of our hearts determines what effect Christ and His gospel will have on us. The human spirit that is full of pride, self-will, arrogance, and bitterness will probably only be irritated and provoked when the gospel is proposed to it. But the human spirit, though otherwise sinful, that is not controlled by these attitudes is much more likely to be persuaded by the gospel to believe, repent, and render obedience. The next logical question is what set of factors produce these differences in our mental construction. It seems that the answer lies in the nature of our early education, when the basic constitution of human personality and character is being formed. It this be the case, it emphasizes all the more how essential it is for parents to "bring (their) children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord," (Eph. 6:4). The greatest "soul-winning" that the average Christian can do is to train young minds to be receptive to the gospel when they reach the stage of maturity to be accountable.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO A TROUBLED SOUL

Acts 18:9-10 ... "And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.'"

      Having established congregations of the Lord's church in Philippi, Berea, and Thessalonica in Macedonia, Paul proceeded on south into Greece as far as the great commercial city of Corinth. He made this trip alone, for Timothy and Silas stayed in Thessalonica to help the church there become stronger. A strange mood seems to have seized Paul's mind as he reached Corinth, for later, when he wrote an epistle to them and reflected on the beginning of his ministry there, he said, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." That mood of apprehension and fear became an impediment to his work for the Lord, so much so that it appears he was reluctant to preach in his usual manner of courageous boldness. The Paul who was fearless to face down an angry mob in Ephesus, (Acts 19:28-31), was afraid to speak out for Christ in Corinth where it seems there had been no resistance or threat against him at all. The text above is the inspired record that the Lord saw the need to speak to Paul in a night vision to boost him out of this trench of fear and encourage him to resume his ordinary style of aggressive evangelism.

      We do not know what came over Paul to induce this fearful paralysis. Like Peter walking on the water to Jesus, did he suddenly become self-conscious and begin to think about the waves of potential trouble sweeping all about him? Having disregarded awful dangers in Thessalonica, Philippi, Lystra, Jerusalem and Damascus, did he fail to remember that the Lord was always his companion in spirit? at least until the Lord reminded him in the vision at night? Sometimes God's servants are suddenly gripped by fear for reasons which they themselves do not understand. After a long time of working boldly for the Lord, even against hostile forces, they one day lose courage to do even easy tasks when no opposition faces them. Perhaps it is just a manifestation of our human weakness, facilitated by deepening humility, as we grow in the Christian graces.

      The Lord, however, does not want His servants to be hindered by fear for long. A brief bout with this paralyzing emotion is beneficial in teaching the Christian that he ought not "to think more highly of himself than he ought to think," (Rom. 12:3), but when that lesson is learned the mood should be overcome. Something of this sort happened to the prophet Elijah. After a most courageous public ministry in opposition to the king and queen and the prophets of Baal in their promotion of idolatry, Elijah was suddenly terrified when Queen Jezebel threatened his life. In fear he fled Israel and did not stop until he had crossed a barren desert and taken refuge in a cave at Sinai. Then the Lord took measures to snap Elijah out of his mental oppression. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" the Lord twice asked him, (I Kgs. 19:9,13), as though to say, "Elijah, I did not commission you as My prophet to hide in a cave four hundred miles from home!" Then He commanded, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Syria," (I Kgs. 19:15). Although this was a commission to strike fear into the prophet's heart, since Syria was Israel's mortal enemy, Hazael was her military commander, and Elijah was, in effect, inducing a man to overthrow the reigning king and seize his throne, the prophet proceeded to do it fearlessly. The Lord's encouragement indeed "put his heart back into him." The same was the case with Paul in Corinth. And the same will be the case with the timid Christian today who takes his fear to Jesus in prayer.

THE TERMINAL POINT OF TIME

Acts 17:31 ... "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed."

      It is said the ancient Greeks believed in what is called a "circular view" of time.  After the passage of a vast number of years, an "aeon," history begins to repeat itself. The events of an aeon duplicate those of the preceding one. When Paul came to Athens and spoke on Mars Hill before the assembly of Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, he introduced them to a new concept of time, which is called the "linear view." According to it, time moves in one direction along a line from a definite incipient point to a definite terminal point. The initial point is the creation of the universe by God, (Gen. 1:1); the terminal point is that referred to by Paul in the above quotation. Its occurrence will be marked by the appearance of "a Man," Jesus Christ, in the zenith of the sky with a host of accompanying angels, (I Ths. 4:14-17). Cataclysmic events immediately follow, including the resurrection of the dead, (Jno. 5:28-29), the dissolution of the universe in "intense heat," (II Pet. 3:7-12), and God's judgment of both men and angels, (Rev. 20:12; Jude 6). From the beginning of time backward was eternity past, and from the end of time onward is eternity future. Eternity signifies infinite duration. What we call "time" is therefore only a finite segment of the infinite line of unmeasured eternity.

      Paul's revelation to the Greek assembly did not explore the details of this novel truth in opposition to their former understanding, for he made only this single statement regarding it. Rather, he called attention to the need of everyone to make preparation for this climactic "day," which God has already "fixed," when He will judge each and every human life. We are now somewhere moving along the timeline toward that special day, and are much closer than 2000 years ago when Luke wrote these words of Acts 17:31. Our forward course is inexorable; nothing can alter the progression thereof but God, who will terminate it. Human infidelity, doubt, and denial cannot stop it. Neither our ignorance of it nor indifference toward it can change it. In Acts 17:30 Paul said that "having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." The End is coming whether we know it or not, whether we admit it or deny it, whether we ignore it or seriously contemplate it.

      The present age is one of lack of faith and denial of Biblical revelation, but even universal accord in such denial in no way changes the substance of reality. There is this admonition given in II Pet. 3:3-4, "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'" Scoffing at Biblical revelation and public questioning of divine announcements does not make them null and void. It is easy and simple to deny any proposition, especially if spoken by one who is noted for great mental ability. A denial of truth, however, does not make it false. The future in becoming the present will prove which is real, the proposition or the acclaimed denial. Many people resolutely deny there will be a Final Judgment, because there is great relief in the conclusion that they will never be held accountable for how they behaved in this life.

      The choice of whether to believe anything is an ability God has granted us the liberty to exercise. But God has also endowed us with a mental capacity called WISDOM; and when allowed, wisdom will counsel you to believe that this earth will not always be here and that its dissolution will come with God's judgment of man. Wisdom urges you to live each day with a view toward the time when "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," (II Cor. 5:10). This spiritual sensitivity will guide you in thought, in speech, and in conduct. It will motivate you to interpret life within the context of God's grace and then reverence God whose Presence is all pervasive. It will also regulate your interaction with people about you, (Mat. 25:31-40). It is the ultimate tragedy of human life to wait until the Final Judgment to concede that it is, after all, a reality, (Rom. 14:10b-12), for then it will be too late to prepare for it. In lovingkindness and great mercy God has revealed to us the approach of this Terminal Point of Time.

MASTERING ADVERSITY

Acts  16:25 ... "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."

      Paul and Silas, led by the Holy Spirit, came to Philippi to preach the gospel and encourage the citizens to accept Christianity. The converts were Lydia, a business woman, and members of her household. The evangelists were given lodging in her house while they continued their work in the city among the people. One day Paul cast out of a young girl a demon called a "spirit of divination," (literally, a "Pythian spirit"). She was being exploited by some greedy men, who were using her soothsaying power to their profit. Paul's exorcism of the spirit eliminated this power and terminated the men's source of income. Becoming enraged, they proclaimed that Paul and Silas were disturbing the peace of the city and, to make the situation worse, were Jews. The two gospel preachers were quickly arrested, beaten, and thrown into prison. Also, their feet were fastened in stocks, probably forcing their legs apart into a wide angle that soon produced great discomfort. There they sat in darkness through the rest of the day and into the night, in the midst of other prisoners who were likely criminals, aching from the cruel beating and their lacerated backs covered with clotted and dried blood. They had come to Philippi with the offer of eternal salvation, but they had been incarcerated for the humanitarian act of releasing a poor girl from evil affliction. They had done nothing for personal gain, nor anything to hurt anyone.

      There is an important lesson for Christians here. When we have done our best to live for Christ and carry on His service, terrible  things may yet happen to us. Then we search for an explanation and can find none. For all appearances it seems we have been rewarded cruel treatment for the good we have done. Suddenly we find our trust in the Lord being put to a severe test. We have come to the proverbial "fork in the road." One path is the way of continued faithful service to God, in spite of the horrible hand that has been dealt us. The other path is the way of abandoning Christian effort and considering bad luck as only an impersonal turn of fate. When serving as minister of a congregation in Arkansas, this writer was asked to visit a couple who had once been faithful, zealous workers in the church, but had then become spiteful and contemptuous of the Christian religion. My visit in their home was most congenial until I brought up the subject of their returning to the church. In rather angry tones they explained to me why they had forsaken Jesus and His church a few years before. Their only child, a six year old boy, had died while undergoing a simple tonsillectomy. They said God had been cruel to them, repaying them evil for the good they had done in His service in the church. They resentfully declared they wanted no more to do with God and made it very clear that I had best leave them alone. Sadly, I had no choice but to do that.

      Paul and Silas had sufficient cause for adopting such an escapist attitude and turning away from further service to Christ. Instead, they found reason to pray and sing praises to God. Their attitude was that God rules in this world and knows what is best for man. In the case of Christians, whom He claims as His children, He can and will turn the worst situation into a blessing, if they adhere to the faith and truly love Him. Paul and Silas survived their ordeal in Philippi, and later Paul wrote to the church in Rome, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God," (Rom. 8:28). In human experience it is premature to judge God cruel and revile Him for bad things that come upon us. We are assured in Jas. 1:13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." Cruel turns in life are not "acts of God," at least not in the sense of being stumblingblocks thrown into the path of the faithful to see how they will react to them. When such adversities appear, in due time God will act to reduce them and bring success to those who love Him and continue steadfastly in the faith.

THE US AND THEM PROBLEM

Acts 15:8-9 ... "God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith."

      As the church leaped the boundaries of Jewish culture, and congregations that were essentially Gentile sprang up, a dichotomy developed among Christians which tested their spirituality to the utmost. For some time there was a real possibility that the church might divide into a Jewish branch based in Jerusalem and a Gentile branch based probably in Syrian Antioch. The tension did not seem to be so much a Gentile phenomenon as the effort of Jewish Christians to impose a form of Judaized Christianity upon Gentiles. The apostle Peter, himself a Jewish Christian, admitted this in v.10 (just after the above quotation) when he said, "Now why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" Previously, some Jewish disciples had traveled all the way from Jerusalem to Antioch just to make a partisan demand of the Gentile brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved," (v.1). Being themselves products of bigoted and myopic Jewish training, Paul and Barnabas realized the danger to the church in the unbridled course of these visitors. They therefore engaged these men publicly in "dissension and debate," (v.2). At last, the church in Antioch decided they should appeal directly to the source of the problem, the brethren in Jerusalem. Consequently, they "determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue," (v.2).

      When this delegation reached Jerusalem, they met with the apostles and elders to discuss the full scope of Gentile deference to Jewish Christianity. The conclusion reached by this "council" was, in reality, a  judgment by the Holy Spirit (v.28); Gentile Christians were relieved of any deference to Jewish brethren beyond four essentials: -1- abstaining from the pollutions of idols, -2- abstaining from fornication, -3- not eating animals having been strangled, and -4- not eating or drinking blood, (v.29).

      In his speech before this assembly Peter made the statement quoted above (vs. 8-9). It addresses a perennial problem in the church, which in turn reflects an ever present problem in the world at large. It is typical of people to look at others and think in terms of us and them, (note Peter's use of this phrase). At one time "us and them" is black and white, at another time male and female, or old and young, or rich and poor, or educated and uneducated, and so on. But "us and them" is not a Christian attitude, notwithstanding Peter's use of the phrase. (See Gal. 2:11-14 to find the trap into which it led Peter.) This attitude impedes Christian fellowship and stifles love, kindness, compassion and the other Christian graces. In Gal. 3:28 we are taught that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." But because of the persistent "us and them" mentality we have been unable through the past to realize this ideal of "no difference between us and them ... for we are all one in Christ Jesus." Consequently,  the church has divided and subdivided time and again along the lines of whatever "us and them" happen to be. As a result, the appeal of Christianity to the people of the world has been greatly diminished, just as Jesus in Jno. 17:21 inferred it would be when His advocates are divided. As Christians we must learn not to draw lines between groups of people where God has not Himself drawn them.

THE WITNESS TO GOD'S EXISTENCE

Acts 14:17 ... "He (God as Creator) did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your heart with food and gladness."

      In I Jno. 4:12 the apostle stated that "no one has beheld God at any time." The God who created the universe, who created man, and who maintains our existence in favorable circumstances, is a God who is invisible to us. Seeking and adoring a God whom we cannot see in our life on earth demands great faith in us. Some people are unwilling to worship and serve a God whom they cannot see and therefore turn to appealing attractions they can see. One of Jesus' apostles, Philip, even dared request of Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us," (Jno. 14:8). A friend of mine attempted to open conversation with a young lady on a train in Germany. She had no faith in God's existence, and each time my friend made a statement, she would answer, "Doch kann ich Gott nicht sehen!" that is, "But I cannot see God!" We all can wish that God would reveal Himself to us visibly, so that the faith of believers would be confirmed and full confidence in His reality established in the heart of non-believers. God will not, however, grant this supreme experience to us while we live in earthly bodies. Though He wills that we draw near to Him, He also wills that our approach be through faith. We are told in Heb. 11:6 that "he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Those who do put their faith in God and conform their lives to His will, shall receive the reward for it in heaven when it shall be granted to them to see God directly. Those who enter heaven are promised in Rev. 22:4 that "they shall see His face."

      Although God does not allow us to look upon His being with physical eyes, (an experience our earthly frames could not withstand!), He has nevertheless revealed overwhelming evidence of His existence to man whom He made in His image. Paul was speaking to idolatrous Lacaonians when he made the statement in the lead text above. He told these people who worshiped Jupiter, Mercury, and other imaginary deities that there is only one true God; and though He is invisible, He has given in the phenomenon of nature witness to His being. The regularity of rainfall, the progression of the seasons, and the fruitfulness of the earth all testify to God who established in the beginning the laws of nature that regulate and maintain the systems upon which our physical life depends. The eye is dim and the mind is dull which refuses to detect the hand of a caring God behind the capacity of nature to sustain life on earth, which is hardly more than a rocky sphere covered with a few inches of topsoil and encapsulated in a relatively thin packet of atmosphere.

      How fragile is our existence on this planet! Of the nine that constitute our solar system, ours is the only one that can sustain life. A little closer to the sun and our life systems would be extinguished in the greater radiation received. A little farther into space and the reduction of solar energy would be devastating to the maintenance of life. A little less gravity and our atmosphere would escape. A little more gravity and the delicate balance of nature would be radically, disastrously tilted.The atheistic materialist considers these intricate systems and attributes them to a quirk of fate ... "Such things just happen!" It is the conviction of this writer, however, that it takes as much faith to believe that random chance produced the wonderful material context in which we live as it does to believe God created it. Whether people will accept it or not, God has declared that He left His signature in the design of the universe and that He expects us to see it and accept the Person who wrote it. Those who will do that have a foundation upon which to stand and receive the rest, yea, the greater part of God's revelation --God as He is presented in the Bible, and also, God as He is seen in the Person of Jesus Christ. The more that a person accesses the knowledge of God in these revelations, the more he becomes like his Creator, (II Cor. 3:18).

THE JOY OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

Acts 13:52 ... "And the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit."

      The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Acts relate the events that highlighted the missionary tour of Paul and Barnabas across the island of Cyprus and into the southeastern part of what is now Turkey. John Mark, a nephew of Barnabas, accompanied them as far as Perga, the seaport where they entered the mainland. There he left them and returned to his home in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas, however, proceeded inland to Pisidian Antioch and preached the gospel in the Jewish synagogue there. From v.5 through v.41 of this chapter Luke records in some detail the sermon Paul delivered, one that seems to have particularly affected those who were proselytes to Judaism. A week later when they convened for the Sabbath service, "nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God," (v.44), which Paul again proclaimed.  Envious of the large audience, the Jews began to contradict and blaspheme Paul. They continued this hostility day after day until it became necessary for Paul and Barnabas to move on to another city, but not before "the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region," (v.49).

      When they departed, the two evangelists left behind a church of Christ in Antioch to continue the work of the Lord and radiate the light of truth and salvation to the country about it. At this point the inspired writer reports that "the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit." Born in the fire of adversity, and with their mentors driven away, these young Christians were nevertheless enthused and buoyant with joy. Their response to the reception of the gospel is common in the New Testament and should likewise characterize anyone today who experiences the benefits of the gospel.

      These people had lived in ignorance of the true God, but now they had learned about Him. With this knowledge they saw for the first time that the idols they had been worshiping were imaginary, vain, and impotent. These new disciples discovered that they had been living in sin, estranged from the God who loved them, and doomed to eternal destruction. But Paul had announced to them that "through Him (Christ) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things," (vs. 38-39). Upon hearing this, they had put their faith in Christ, and in that faith had obeyed the gospel unto the remission of their sins. For these young Christians of Antioch it was as though a dark night of ignorance had suddenly passed and a bright new day of truth had dawned upon them. It was as though lost children had found their Father and been reunited with Him. It was as though they had been between the teeth of a lion (Satan) and then snatched way to safety at the last moment. As these realizations became ever clearer to them, the joy that could not be disturbed by hardship filled their souls.

      The experience of the Christians in Pisidian Antioch in the mid-first century should be the same for Christians anywhere at any time. To this writer there is a difference between joy and happiness. The word "happiness" is derived from the root "hap," which expresses chance, something occurring at random. As good fortune comes to you by chance, you are made happy; but when it is followed by misfortune, as so often it is, you become unhappy. Happiness will rise and fall with the tide of daily experience. But true joy is the product of blessings bestowed by God upon those who believe and obey His word revealed by Christ. These blessings are invariable; they do not operate by chance, because their source is God with whom there is "no variation or shifting shadow," (Jas. 1:17). In war or in peace, in hunger or in fullness, in want or in plenty, Christians can still be filled with joy when they consider the great spiritual treasures and privileges they have in their Lord Jesus. It is from this perspective that Paul wrote Php. 4:11, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." With much or with little he always rejoiced that he had a Savior to secure him, a Father to love and claim him, and an eternal home in heaven awaiting him at the end of this earthly sojourn, (II Tim. 4:6-8).