SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/5/2018
9:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Acts 13:1-13
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 13:1-13
Message of the
verses: “1 Now there were at
Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and
Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been
brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to
the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and
Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then, when they had
fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they
went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they reached
Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews;
and they also had John as their helper. 6 When they had gone through the whole
island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose
name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of
intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word
of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing
them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also known as
Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, 10 and said, "You who are full of all
deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will
you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? 11 “Now, behold,
the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for
a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went
about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul
believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the
Lord. 13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to
Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.”
John MacArthur entitles this first chapter in his second
commentary on the book of Acts beginning with chapter thirteen “The Character
of an Effective Church.” One of the
things that I have been passionate about since I have become a believer is the
work of full time missionaries. We have
had many missionaries in our house for meals or to stay with us over night and
have loved listening to them tell stories of their lives as they were called by
the Lord just as Paul and Barnabas were as seen in our verses for today.
I can’t help but quote the first paragraph from John
MacArthur’s commentary as to me, it has great meaning and so I want to pass it
on. There is much truth in the humorous
adage that some people make things happen, others watch things happen, while
still others are left wondering what happened.
What is true of individuals is also true of churches. Some churches are dynamic, aggressively
reaching out with the gospel to make an impact on the world. Some know God is moving in other churches and
wonder why they aren’t experiencing that power.
Still others just barely exist, languishing while the spiritual (and
maybe even physical) weeds grow. They
make an impact only on their members’ social lives.”
We have been keeping an eye on the church at Antioch as
we have moved through chapters eleven and twelve and now chapter thirteen. The church began after the stoning of Stephen
as many Jewish believers left Jerusalem and a group of Hellenistic Jews brought
the good news of the gospel to Antioch.
We saw that Saul and Barnabas ministered to this church for a year and
we also learned that believers were first called Christians at Antioch even
though at that time its meaning was different than it is now as it was a
derisive term that the believers wore as a badge of honor. Most of the believers in this church were
Gentiles but there was love there no matter whether Jew or Gentile. We know this is true as they sent relief to
Jerusalem because of a famine that took place there.
I suppose that the greatest factor that made this church
special was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, both the members along
with its leaders. “2 While they were
ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for
Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 4 So,
being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there
they sailed to Cyprus (Acts 13:2, 4).”
One may wonder what a Spirit-filled church looks
like. MacArthur writes “A Spirit-filled
church may be defined simply as one whose members walk in obedience to the will
of God. Since God reveals His will in
Scripture, a Spirit-filled church must be deeply committed to the Word of
God. Indeed, a comparison of Ephesians 5
and Colossians 3 reveals that being filled with the Spirit and letting the Word
richly dwell in one’s life produce the same effects. Therefore they are the two sides of the same
spiritual reality.”
We have mentioned that the first twelve chapter of the
book of Acts focused on Peter’s ministry and chapters 13-28 focus on Paul’s
ministry. Another difference is that
under Peter’s ministry the majority of believers were Jewish and under Paul’s
ministry the majority will be Gentiles.
We will see that the book of Acts began in Jerusalem and will end in
Rome as the Gospel message would be penetrating the Roman Empire. Now as far as the gospel reaching out to the
Roman world it began to spread from the dynamic, doctrinally sound, growing,
Spirit-controlled church at Antioch.
MacArthur writes that this church had “Spiritual leaders, with a
spiritual ministry, who went on a spiritual mission, faced spiritual
opposition, and experienced spiritual victory.”
Those are the different subjects we will be looking at as we follow the
outline from MacArthur’s commentary.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I spoke about
Christ opening a door in our Sunday school class yesterday. Christ has to open the doors, but as a believer
I have to go through that open door as I am obedient to what He has called me
to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord, through His Spirit to lead
me where He wants me to go, and accomplish through His power what He wants me
to accomplish.
Memory verse: Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For
You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Bilhah” (Genesis 35:25).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who were a semitic people
that manifested their bitter enmity to Israel as were descendants of Esau?
Answer in our next SD.
2/5/2018 10:54 AM
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