THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2013
1 Chronicles 11:1–12:18
Acts 28:1–31
Psalm 9:1–12
Proverbs 19:1–3
“‘Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!’… For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance, he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 28:28–31)
These verses form the capstone to the Book of Acts. Please think back to Chapter 1 of Acts, in which we found a fairly terrified bunch of disciples in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ had promised them in Acts 1:8 that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Despite facing murderous threats from Saul and potential divisions over the Gentiles’ inclusion in the Gospel, the early church had flourished by the power of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, His presence provided the power source for the advance of the Kingdom.
As Pastor Scott frequently points out, this band of 120 disciples in 30 AD would become millions by 312 AD, at which point the Roman emperor Constantine would establish Christianity as the legal faith for the Empire. During this nearly 300-year period, Christ-followers would face heavy, sometimes systematic, persecution. Yet, the Gospel would continue to spread, often watered by the blood of martyrs. As Elton Trueblood summarized in The Incendiary Fellowship, the early church lived and breathed for the Kingdom’s advance: “All the early Christians were missionaries. They did not leave the evangelistic task to professional evangelists or to pastors to whom they paid salaries, for these did not exist… The early Church did not have a missionary arm; it was a missionary movement.”
Indeed, the apostles anticipated and embraced suffering as a natural outcome of their active witness: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin [after a flogging], rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:41) Jesus had foretold of the strife they would face: “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23)
In Acts, we also witness a geographic spread of the Gospel: from the Jewish capital of Jerusalem to the Empire’s capital, Rome. Paul would have occasion to write, in Romans 15:17–19, of the widespread track of his ministry: “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” Translated into an American figure of speech, we might render his phrase “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum” as “from sea to shining sea.”
Furthermore, the Gospel spread across ethnic, class, and gender lines: “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11) Acts records how the early Jewish Christians to proclaim the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul’s greetings, particularly in Romans, highlight the importance of and honor given to women in the early church. In Philippi, Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, opened the city to the Gospel. As with her case, the Gospel would spread through entire households, touching both the wealthy and their servants alike.
While Acts 28:28–31 provides a coda to Acts, its tone suggests an ongoing, living story. Many commentators suggest that Luke may have authored the Book of Acts for the purpose of serving as a court testimony to the ministry both specifically of the imprisoned Paul and more broadly of the early church. The character and integrity of Paul and his brothers would provide the best evidence against the shoddy accusations that he had faced.
In brief, the age of the church would usher in a broader covenant. In Acts, we see the apostles’ extension of Jesus’s teaching that the Gentiles would become interwoven into God’s chosen people as a result of their acceptance of the Gospel. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and wholehearted commitment of the early Christians, the Gospel had indeed reached the Gentiles. And the church, here represented in the person of Paul, had presented this testimony openly and boldly.
In terms of takeaways, it appears that we may glean the following:
1. The Gospel message will always remain relevant. Since each person has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, we stand rightly condemned. We have broken God’s law and commands and deserve punishment. Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ loved us so deeply as to take on the penalty that we should have received. By trusting in Him and His promise, we receive eternal life through His forgiveness and lovingkindness. This wonderful message has the same impact and relevance in Stamford, Dubai, Beijing, or Sydney and for folks of any skin color, age, economic situation, or cultural background. The Book of Acts and the living witness of the 21st-century church demonstrate these truths.
2. We should intently listen to follow where God leads. In Acts 16, Paul responded to the call of the Macedonian man, while, more broadly, the early believers radiated from Jerusalem to the fields into which God wished to place them. As with Jesus’s instructions to His disciples in Luke 10, the apostles would encountered resistance or apathy and may have needed to report: “‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’”
3. There are no wasted days in God’s economy. Sometimes, we may be tempted to think of certain periods as “boring” or “uneventful.” In waiting to hear God’s voice, find another job, or meet that special someone, we may feel “tuned out.” As Paul’s jail-time ministry shows, God may use the most challenging circumstances for His glory. Let us submit our daily lives to God, asking: “How would You like me to serve today, Father?”
Father God, thank You for allowing us to hear the Gospel and understand its relevance. Give us Your Spirit, that we might honor You above all else and have boldness to proclaim the Truth of Your Word as boldly as Paul and his cohorts. We are grateful that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Give us eyes of faith to appreciate Your lovingkindness and to see where You are working today. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
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