Be Still And Know

Acts 16.25-26 NLT 'Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations.' The ministry of Paul and Silas in Philippi soon hit the buffers when they healed a slave girl who was a fortune teller. She had made good money for her owners until she was healed. They were furious when they realised that their source of income had disappeared. They dragged Paul and Silas into the market-place, where they got the support of the magistrates to beat and imprison them. I wonder how you or I would have responded to this. Paul and Silas had been severely flogged and must have been very injured and bruised. Having had a very specific call from God to serve him in this Macedonian area, you wouldn’t be surprised if they were feeling very let down by him. But there they were in a top security prison cell praying and singing hymns to God! What amazing men they were! To cap it all, th

Acts 16.15 NLT Lydia and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed. Paul’s first convert in Europe was a businesswoman. Lydia came from what we now know as western Turkey and was a dealer in the purple cloth for which her home area was famous. As Paul travelled around he normally began his ministry in a synagogue but it would seem that there wasn’t one in Philippi. So he went to the river where he met up with a group of women who met together to pray. As Paul spoke with them Lydia responded to his message and was baptised. It is fascinating to see that her first response was to offer hospitality, and it seems that she was very insistent. Hospitality was crucial for the early church because there were no Christian buildings for many years. The only way they could meet would be if people generously opened up their homes. Our homes are interesting places aren’t th

Acts 16.9-10 NLT 'That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once.' We should never put a limit on the ways in which God might choose to speak to us. Yesterday we saw God putting a block on Paul’s plans. Today he makes it crystal clear where Paul should go next. In a vision he saw a man from Macedonia pleading with them to go and help. We receive no information about what this vision was like although we might presume that it was whilst Paul was dreaming. I wonder how you interpret your dreams. Much of the time dreams are, in my experience, extraordinary and impossible to unravel. If I can remember them at all beyond breakfast they don’t seem to have any lasting significance. But dreams play an important role in many parts of the Bible and so we should definitely be open to the possibility that they will, from time to time, reveal God’s plans to us. Paul was clear

Acts 16.6 NLT 'Next Paul and Silas travelled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.' This is a remarkable moment. Paul clearly had a carefully worked out plan for his missionary journey but, at the same time, was intensely sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. Here we meet him in what we know as central Turkey heading towards Ephesus but then the Spirit prevented him from going in that direction. So he then set off north until, in the next verse, the “Spirit of Jesus” told them not to enter Bithynia. We have no idea how Paul received this guidance. Perhaps it was through a dream or a word of prophecy. We don’t know and, what is more, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Paul was ready to go wherever the Lord led him, and he was eager to respond immediately to the breath of the Spirit. Planning is good. It is wise to think through plans for the future whether we are thinking about family holidays, c

Acts 16.2-3 NLT 'Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.' This is a fascinating moment. Paul has just come away from the Council of Jerusalem where the decision has been clearly made that it is unnecessary for Christians to obey the Jewish law. He, more than anyone, passionately believed that it was not necessary for men to be circumcised and in his letters he is scathing of those who insisted on it. So why does he insist that his new companion, Timothy, should go through a ceremony which he believes is entirely unnecessary? The answer is clearly that he believed that their priority was to preach the gospel and that they must ensure that nothing got in the way of that. If Timothy was to work effectively amongst Jews then it would be much more helpful if he were to be circumcised. Timothy’s

Acts 15.37-39 NLT 'Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated.' This is a painful moment, but I’m so glad that Dr Luke recorded it. I am sure that he could quite easily have airbrushed it out of the story, but he didn’t. Paul and Barnabas fell out over taking John Mark on the next missionary journey. It’s impossible for us to know exactly the reason for this, although we do know that Paul was disappointed by the way that John Mark had deserted them on the first missionary journey. Because we know that Barnabas was a great encourager, it is easy to presume that he was all for giving John Mark a second chance. But these things happened a long time ago and there may well have been other factors of which we know nothing. The fact remains that they split up. Splits are never easy. Even when there is a speedy recovery, the pain of separ

Acts 15.28 NLT “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements.” It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of the Council of Jerusalem that we read about in Acts 15. The early church had hit upon a massive problem and they needed to find a way to resolve it. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, it came upon a huge gathering of Jews and so the first Christians brought with them the richness of their Jewish traditions. However, very quickly, the Gospel spread to people from a non-Jewish background. This set up enormous tensions because there were many Christians from a Jewish tradition who believed that non-Jews were welcome to Christian faith on the condition that the men were circumcised and that they all abided by Jewish law. The Council had to work out what to do, and it came to the peaceful and clear conclusion that those from a non-Jewish background did not need to accept all the law. They were simply urg

Acts 14.23 NLT 'Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.' Paul’s first missionary journey is incredibly impressive. Having been nearly lynched in Iconium, they went on to Lystra where Paul was so badly stoned that some people thought he was dead. However, he summoned the strength to go on to Derbe where he and Barnabas preached and got a wonderful response. Then with massive courage, they headed back to Lystra and Iconium where there had been all the problems. You wouldn’t have blamed them if they had given those cities a wide berth. Not so. On their return journey they did what they had failed to do on their first visit and appointed elders. They knew that, it they were to flourish, these young churches needed leadership. As we watch the amazing growth of the early church, there is no question that leadership was an integral part of God’s plan. And if you look at the church toda

Acts 14.14-15 NLT But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings— just like you!” After Paul and Barnabas were rudely bundled out of Iconium, they fled 19 miles south to the small Roman city of Lystra. They may well have presumed that Paul’s status as a Roman citizen would mean that they would receive more respect there. Paul was involved in the healing of a man who had been lame from birth and the people were so excited that they concluded that Paul and Barnabas must be gods. The missionaries were slow to understand what was going on because the people were speaking in their own local language. Things went from bad to much worse when the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, turned up with bulls and wreaths in order to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. Paul was determined to put the matter straight as soon as possible. He was

Acts 14.2-3 NLT 'Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord.' Paul and Barnabas were having an amazing time on their first missionary journey. A large number of people were accepting their message and becoming followers of Jesus. At the same time they were meeting fierce opposition. At Iconium, in central Turkey, the mob was stirred up against them and after a while the situation became so dangerous that they fled the city. There was every possibility that they were going to be stoned to death. But I love the fact that, amidst the intensity of the opposition, their message was one of grace. It must have been very tempting for them to turn on the crowd and to speak out a message of judgement and condemnation. But they chose to speak about the grace of the Lord. Grace was a dominant theme in Paul’s ministry. In Ephesians 2.8 he wrote, “God saved you

Acts 13.5 NLT 'There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant.' This is the start of the first missionary journey. It was an incredibly important moment for the Christian gospel and it started on the island of Cyprus. Saul (who suddenly becomes known as Paul) was happy to preach about Jesus anywhere, but it was his usual custom to start in the synagogue and work out from there. I find it fascinating that on this most sensitive of missions he and Barnabas took young John Mark with them. We have already met John Mark in the previous chapter. He was clearly well known to Paul and Barnabas, but it was a major initiative to take him on this strategically important missionary journey. You can think of many reasons why it might not be wise to take a young and inexperienced person on such a crucial mission. But they were convinced that his presence was important. It’s impossible to know exactly why they took him, but it i

Acts 13.2-3 NLT One day as these men were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. This book of the Bible is often referred to as the Acts of the Apostles. A much better title for it would be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Important as the apostles undoubtedly were, they were powerless without the Spirit. Nothing got going until the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and as history unfolds the power, wisdom and guidance of the Spirit shaped every step of the journey. Here in chapter 13, we come to a decisive moment as the Spirit tells the church to set Barnabas and Saul apart for a new ministry. Nothing has changed. The church today still relies upon the Spirit but his guidance isn’t automatic. It is perfectly possible for the church to be driven by tradition, human plans or budgets. It is only as a church deliberately

Acts 12.14-15 NLT When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.” What do you expect to happen when you pray? Does it occur to you that God might dramatically and immediately answer your prayer? Clearly, that thought hadn’t occurred to this fervent group of prayers! Peter, the leader of the church, had been imprisoned by King Herod and the church was understandably scared. It is not surprising that they met together for a time of worship and you can imagine their impassioned prayers for Peter’s release. But when Peter turned up at their front door, they were quite sure that it couldn’t possibly have happened. Rhoda, the servant girl, who had answered his knock at the door, clearly fully grasped the situation and was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the door!! You couldn’t make it up! When she in

Acts 12.11 NLT Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” At this time the early church was growing fast and this was making King Herod increasingly nervous. He was determined to tighten the screws and so he arranged for the killing of James, the brother of John. This went down very well with the Jews and so he decided to arrest Peter, the leader of the church, and kept him under the closest possible surveillance. He was guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, and that night he was chained as he slept between two of the guards. King Herod must have assumed that nothing could possibly go wrong but he hadn’t taken God into account! That night, an angel woke Peter up and led him out of the prison. I love the next bit. Having been miraculously set free, Peter suddenly realised, as our text reveals, that it was all true. Not unreasonably, he had assumed that it was a

Acts 11.25-26 NLT 'Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)' Barnabas’ famous gift of encouragement was not only expressed in words. He also took action. He could see that the church in Antioch desperately needed a good leader and he was convinced that he knew the right man. Antioch, in Syria, was a busy commercial centre and it had a very mixed population. There were many Jews in the city and an increasing number of people from a non-Jewish background who were following Christ. It was crucial that a good appointment was made and Barnabas was sure that Saul had exactly the right qualifications. So he set off to search for him in his hometown of Tarsus in Southern Turkey, as it’s known today. It was now 14 years since Saul’s conversion and so he had had a long period in which to grow as a follower of Christ, and to develop his teaching ministry. Having tracked down Saul, Barn

Acts 11.22-23 NLT 'When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.' When the church leaders in Jerusalem heard about the rapid growth of the church in Antioch they had lots of questions. Because the church in Jerusalem was strongly Jewish in character there were some who were deeply suspicious of what was going on in Antioch. Their concern was that the followers of Jesus should follow the Old Testament law. Others were excited to hear the news but wanted to know exactly what was going on so they sent a representative and their choice was a crucial one. They needed to choose someone who would be able to understand the non-Jewish background of most of the new converts in Antioch and who could give them plenty of encouragement. They made a very good choice when they selected Barnabas. Barnabas came from Cyprus. He had a much wider unde

Acts 11.2-3 NLT When Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticised him. “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said. Criticism always stings. It must have been so hard for Peter to face a barrage of criticism when he returned home to Jerusalem. God had given him a vision and opened his eyes to a new world in which God was wanting to welcome everyone to himself, whether or not they were Jews. This turned all Peter’s previous thinking on its head and this discovery clearly excited him. How discouraging it must have been to face up to his critics, but we can learn a lot from the way that he did so. He would have fully understood where his critics were coming from because, before his recent revelation, he would have been saying exactly the same things. So he patiently went through his testimony. He told them about the remarkable vision and the way in which the Gentile visitors from Caesarea had come and received the gift of salvation. Peter’s hearers in Jerusalem we

Acts 10.44-45 NLT 'Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too.' This has often been described as the Gentile Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in Jerusalem it was on the occasion of a major Jewish festival. But Jesus made it clear that the Good News belonged to the world and so it was necessary for it to be firmly established that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon non-Jews. And that’s exactly what happened here, to the great astonishment of the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter. Peter, himself, had already learnt that God has no favourites and that the doors had been flung open to non- Jews. However, there were many Jews who still struggled to believe that God would do such a thing. The book of Acts tells us how the Good News of Jesus moved from its Jewish beginnings in Jerusalem al

Acts 10.34-36 NLT Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favouritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” This might not sound revolutionary but you need to understand that Peter’s world had just been turned upside down. He had been brought up with the Old Testament law and he knew that there were very clear rules about what a Jew should and shouldn’t eat. However, he had just had a vision in which he had been told to do the unthinkable. He had seen a large sheet containing four-footed animals, reptiles and birds and told to eat them. His response was exactly the right one for any Jew. He said no. But then the voice said to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times and then the penny dropped. God was telling him that the Good of News of Jesus was no longer limited to the Jews. The door

Acts 10.1-2 NLT 'In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household.' He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. Cornelius is a fascinating character. He wasn’t a Jew and neither was he a follower of Jesus. He was a God-fearer and the most positive things are said about him. He was generous, prayerful and willing that God should use him on this crucial mission to meet up with Peter. Peter was a faithful Jew and struggled to imagine that God could work outside the Jewish nation. Cornelius was going to be the means of helping Peter to see God’s greater plans. Centurions were immensely powerful army officers and by this time they normally had command of eighty legionaries. It is interesting that centurions played a significant part in Jesus’ ministry. On one occasion a centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant and had complete confidence that if Jesus only said the word, t