Protection (Acts 16:35-40)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/30/2018 8:00 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  “Protection”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:35-40

            Message of the verses:  “35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out." 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”

            Paul had a great love for the little flock that began in Philippi when Lydia had first become a believer, and because of that love he wanted to do something to protect them.  The opportunity came about when on the next day “the chief magistrates sent their policemen to the jailer telling him to release Paul and Silas.”  Now one may have a bit of a problem understanding why what we see here as being a protection to the little flock at Philippi.  The answer to that question comes in verse 37 where we read that Paul said to these policemen “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans.”  This won’t be the last time that Paul will use his Roman citizenship to his advantage.  What they did to Paul and Silas as Roman citizens was completely against the Roman law.  There had to be a trial before anything like this could happen and even then Roman citizens were not to be beaten.  This was a total miscarriage of justice and Paul did not want to leave this town without getting this straightened out.  The rulers in this town would have to think twice about doing this kind of thing to any missionaries who would come there in the future.

            Paul was not doing this as much for himself as for this little flock and because of his love for them he wanted to do something to protect them. 

            John MacArthur writes about the consequences to those who had allowed this injustice to happen:  The consequences, both for the magistrates and for the city, were potentially very serious.  The magistrates could have been removed from office, and the emperor could have rescinded Philippi’s privileges as a Roman colony.”  These were some serious things that could have happened to these men and they had good reason to be fearful.

            Paul wanted those in control, those who had allowed this beating to take place to come and talk to he and Silas, and as stated earlier this would help protect this little band of believers and any other missionaries who would come later on. 

            When these men came to the prison the continued begging Paul and Silas to leave their town, as we know that these magistrates were in an awkward position as MacArthur adds “On the one had, they had no legal grounds for expelling two Roman citizens who were guilty of no crime.  On the other hand, Paul and Silas’s continued presence in Philippi could have provoked further violence.  Their self-exaltation of the day before suitably deflated; the humbled magistrates could only resort to begging.” 

            Paul and Silas would leave the city, but they would leave on their own terms, and that would mean that they would take some time to go to where this little flock would be and that would be at Lydia’s house, and so they went there and we read “and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”  Notice the word “brethren” and this means that there were more believers have been added, making this a church.

            Since this is the last SD for this 16^th chapter of Acts I want to quote John MacArthur’s last paragraph.  “Once again Satan’s plans were frustrated and overruled by God’s sovereign control of events.  The persecution Satan unleashed to destroy the Philippians church merely added another household to it and gained it protection from the city’s rulers.  For those who boldly preach the gospel and praise Him no matter what the circumstances, God stands ready to turn persecution into production.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I look at what MacArthur says about boldly preaching the gospel and praising the Lord no matter what the circumstances, and pray that this will always be what I desire to do when the Lord gives me opportunity.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to trust the Lord to guide may wife and I as we deal with her father’s circumstances.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rebekah” (Genesis 24:67).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which two men are considered to have authored the first sixteen chapters of Judges?”  (I have to admit that I have never heard the answer to this question which will be revealed in our next SD.)

Answer in our next SD.

4/30/2018 8:38 AM

           

 

Provision (Acts 16:33-34)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2018 8:46 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  “Provision”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:33-34

            Message of the verses:  “33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.”

            The first thing that I want to do is to compare what Lydia did right after she became a believer with what the jailer did right after he became a believer.  “15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us (Acts 16:15).”  “and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household (Acts 1633b-34).” 

            Now we will look at four evidences of the genuineness of the jailer’s salvation along with his household.  Now the first one is the washing of the wounds that the jailer did to Paul and Silas.  Next was to agree to be baptized by Paul or Silas after the wounds were washed, and this showed that he understood what he had done to be saved.  Next we see what I first wrote about as the jailer feed both Paul and Silas.  “14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself (James 2:14-17).”  The last evidence showing the jailer and his household were saved is that he “rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.”  It was long before this that the jailer was ready to commit suicide, and now he becomes a believer, is baptized, feeds the missionaries, and is rejoicing in the Lord because of what He had done for him and his household.  John MacArthur writes “Only the grace of God could effect such an instantaneous transformation.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Emmaus” (Luke 24:13-15).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was Isaac’s wife?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/29/2018 9:00 PM

 

Preaching (Acts 16:30-32)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/28/2018 12:03 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  “Preaching”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:30-32

            Message of the verses:  “30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.”

            I want to begin with that the question that this jailer asked is the most important question that anyone can ever ask, and the answer that Paul gives along with other things that he writes is the answer that is correct and can not only change your life, but also change you eternal destination.  John MacArthur says “The jailer’s question expressed the deep longing of his heart to be right with God.  Having undoubtedly heard the testimony of the demon-possessed girl (v. 17), either in person or from others, he believed Paul and Silas had the answer.”

            The answer to his question was given by Paul who said simply “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”  As we compare this question and answer and the hearts of two people, one being the jailer, and one being the “rich young ruler” from Luke 18:18-23 we see a difference in their hearts as the rich young ruler did not have a heart that was ready to receive the truth, while the jailer did have a heart that was ready to hear the truth.

            Allow me to give a series of verses to show that the truth of salvation is wholly by fait in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that this truth permeates the Scriptures:  “"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).”  I will not quote all of the following verses, but just give the references (Acts 2:38-39; 5:14; 8:12; 10:43; 11:17, 21; 13:12, 38-39, 48; 14:1; 15:11; 17:12; 18:8).  John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  Now we will look at references from other epistles (Rom. 3:20-25; 5:1; 1 Cor. 6:11; Gal. 2:16; 3:24; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 3:15; Titus 3:7).

            Now the following quote from John MacArthur is a very important one:  “To ‘believe in the Lord Jesus’ means first to believe He is who He claimed to be.  The apostle John wrote, ‘These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name’ (John 20:31).  Second, it means to believe in what He did.  Paul succinctly summarized the work of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:

‘3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’

To the Romans he wrote:

‘If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.’”

Now we see in the later part of our section that not only did the jailer believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior, but his entire family did also.  There has been some misuse of this section of verses as some think that because the jailer became a believer that so did his household, but we must read on as according to the two missionaries they “spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.”  This shows us that they not only spoke to him, but to his entire household, who also believed.  Remember God has no grand-children, only children.  Just because a father is saved does not mean his son or daughter is saved, as salvation is an individual thing, each one has to believe in order to be saved.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I read and study this passage I cannot help but remember when I became a believer way back in 1974, and as I have stated before this changed my life and it will never be the same.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will use my spiritual diaries to show others the need of salvation, and that the Lord will use them to bring many souls to Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Judas Iscariot” (Matthew 26:15).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where were two men going when Jesus joined them after His resurrection?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/28/2018 12:36 PM

PT-2 "Praise" (Acts 16:25-29)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2018 10:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  PT-2 Praise

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:25-29

            Message of the verses:  “25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26  and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.”

            I stated in our last SD that I wanted to continue looking at joy and so I once again want to quote from MacArthur’s commentary:

“The key to having joy in every circumstance of life is to be filled with the Spirit.  Joy is a part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and yielding to His control produces songs of joy (Eph. 5:18-19).  The problem with sad, miserable Christians is not their circumstances but the lack of living a Spirit-controlled life.

“Paul and Silas’s reaction underscores another vitally important truth in living the Christian life:  How Christians live is directly related to their concept of God.  No one expressed the truth more clearly than A. W. Tozer:

‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

‘The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God…

‘A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well.  It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.  I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.  (The Knowledge of the Holy).’”

            I have to say that I have read “The Knowledge of the Holy” a couple of times and it is such a wonderful book, as it speaks to the attributes of God.  One cannot worship God in the right way without understanding who He is, and to know who He is can only be found by studying His attributes.

            Now as we think about Paul and Silas we must understand that they did not base their theology on their circumstances.  What they did instead was they evaluated those very circumstances in light of what they knew to be true about God.  We have to believe that both of them knew God very well as they knew Him by understanding His attributes.  As they sang their songs they expressed confident trust that the God they were serving would use those very circumstances for their good and also for His glory (Rom. 8:28).  Paul and Silas did not have to wait long for God to act.

            What happened? “Suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.”  We remember from studying Acts 12 that while Peter was in prison that an angel came an unlocked the doors, doors that everyone though were safe to keep their prisoners in, and so we see that Paul and Silas were put into the inter part of this prison house with their feet in stocks, seemingly safe, but when God wants to act He will do what He wants to do.  My thoughts were that Paul and Silas were not really praying for God to let them free by an earthquake, but He did.  Perhaps they were not thinking that God was about to save many people in that prison, but He did.  Paul and Silas were worshiping the God they knew and the God they knew did all of this because He chose to do it.

            We have this prison house and probably next to it was where the jailer lived and so the earthquake jolted his house too, which woke him up, and of course he was startled thinking that all of the prisoners would escape and he would be killed.  He rushes into the prison and is about to take his life, but Paul stops him.  “27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!’”

            The jailer knew that if a Roman soldier allowed a prisoner to escape that he would be killed and so he decided to kill himself.  This was what is called a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but I guess he did not want to face what this problem was going to do to him.  Paul stops him from killing himself and this temporary problem he faced turned out to be the best day of his life as we will see in our up-coming SD.

            “29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.”  John MacArthur writes “The tables were turned, and the jailer fell to his knees before his prisoners.  He was no doubt aware of the message Paul and Silas had preached, and he regarded the earthquake a supernatural confirmation that they spoke the truth.  That supernatural confirmation of the preachers and their message led the jailer to view them as speaking divine truth and to seek the salvation they offered.  As in the case of Paul (cf. Acts 9:1 ff.) it took a striking manifestation of God’s power to bring the jailer to his knees.  His defenses had been stripped away, and his heart was now his heart was now opened to respond to the preaching of the gospel.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to this teaching from the Word of God on joy.  I am beginning to understand more and more about what it is and am eagerly ready to learn and practice more joy in my life.  God is able to change me in order to use me for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the forgiveness that God gives me each and every day.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Ten” (Luke 19:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you’?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/27/2018 11:31 AM

 

PT-1 "Praise" (Acts 16:25-29)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/26/2018 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  PT-1 “Praise”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Acts 16:25-29

            Message of the verses:  “25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,”

            We looked at a definition of what joy is in an earlier SD, and as I read over this passage I have to think that although this may not be a definition of joy, it certainly does show us exactly what joy is.  In the book of Hebrews chapter 12 we read “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Jesus gave us all the example of joy, and now we see Paul and Silas also demonstrating joy.  We find Paul and Silas not able to sleep because of the beatings they had just received, and we also find them in the center of this prison with their feet in stocks, having their legs spread wide apart.  They were obviously in great pain, and yet we see them singing hymns of praise to the Lord.  Now because of their situation the other prisoners were listening to them.  I can totally understand why these prisoners were listening to them, and it is because of their circumstances, and I am sure that the prisoners knew what had happened to them, and yet they found Paul and Silas singing praises to the Lord.  As I think about this I can’t help but think that probably most if not all of their fellow prisoners were idol worshipers, and because of that these prisoners would never sing to their idols if something similar happened to them because they would have thought that they had done something to offend their gods and therefore would not want to sing to them.  I think of Elijah as he is on Mt. Carmel surrounded by idol worshipers who were calling on their gods to bring fire down from heaven to set fire their sacrifices to them.  Elijah was actually teasing them saying that perhaps their goes were sleeping or perhaps they had to go to the bathroom.  These men were cutting themselves in order to get their gods attention, and yet nothing happened to them.  Elijah poured a great amount of water on his sacrifice and the Lord answered him by having fire come down from heaven licking up the water and burning his sacrifice.  We see the difference between idols and the Living God that Elijah worshiped, and therefore the difference between the idols that these men in the prison worshipped and the Lord Jesus Christ that Paul and Silas were praising and worshiping in a very difficult time in their lives, and these prisoners noticed this.

            John MacArthur writes the following:

“How could the two missionaries praise God under such conditions?  They understood what many Christians seem to forget—praising God does not depend on circumstances.  ‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’ wrote Paul to the Philippian church (Phil. 4:4; cf. 1 Thess. 5:16, 18).  Christians do not rejoice in their circumstances; not even Paul did that.  He knew what it was to experience affliction so severe that he was ‘burdened excessively’ and ‘despaired even of life’ (2 Cor. 1:8).  Christians rejoice in the glorious truth that the sovereign God controls every circumstance of life.  They ‘know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who live God, to those who are called according to His purpose’ (Rom. 8:28).  When trials come, believers can take comfort in the truth expressed by Peter in 1 Peter 5:10: ‘After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.’  Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 they can say:

‘16  Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.’

He adds in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.’”

            In our next SD we will begin by looking at the key to having joy in every circumstance.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to believe that the Lord is talking to my heart about having joy in every circumstance, something that I have studied before, but probably never truly understood, and so I am thankful to the Lord for His teaching through these Spiritual Diaries and also from our Pastor teaching us about joy as he preaches through the book of Philippians.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as we see the downward spiral of my wife’s father.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Those of the house of Chloe” (1 Corinthians 1:11).

Today’s Bible question:  “In the parable of the pounds, how many pounds did the first servant’s pound gain?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/26/2018 10:23 AM

PT-2 "Persecution" (Acts 16:19-24)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/25/2018 8:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “Persecution”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:19-24

            Message of the verses:  “19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans." 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

            As we begin this SD we see the charges that were brought against Paul and Silas “"These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews.”  What I notice in this section is the highlighted part “being Jews.”  I remember that when we began this section of Paul and his missionary team going into Philippi that there were not enough Jewish men in that city to form a Synagogue, and this kind of makes me wonder if the Jews were really not welcomed there.  At any rate what we see here is Anti-Semitism.  John MacArthur writes that this “was not a modern phenomenon but has its orgins in antiquity.  At about this time, Emperor Claudius issued an order expelling the Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2).  This anti-Semitism may explain why only Paul and Silas were apprehended, since Luke was a Gentile and Timothy a half-Gentile.”

            The charges that were brought against Paul and Silas were technically true, “proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.’”  The law being discussed, although rarely enforced, was that Romans could not practice any religion that was not sanctioned by the state.  That may be the charge, and it may be technically true, but the real reason for the charges had to do with money, and the men who were taking advantage of this demon-possessed woman must have had friends in high places to get done what we see happening here.  One thing for sure is that Paul and Silas and the rest of the missionary team were not causing mass confusion in the city of Philippi.  Like I said it is all about the money, and so even though the charges of causing mass confusion were false the reaction stirred up the crowd and they mindlessly “rose up together against” these two missionaries.

            We know what a mob can do to a weak leader as Pilate was a weak leader, who caused the crowd to sway what he really wanted and should have done in the case of Jesus, and so it was the same with Paul and Silas as the next thing we see is they were stripped and beaten with rods.  Two things caused this money and hatred for the Jews.  The magistrates had the “policemen” beat Paul and Silas with rods that they carried, which ironically were the symbol of Roman law and justice.  According to 2 Corinthians 11:25 Paul had been beaten with rods three times, and this was probably the first time, however I am not positive as not everyone is mentioned in Scripture.

            We see that they were beaten many blows, and then they were thrown into prison after this merciless unlawful beating, as they were both Roman citizens which we will talk about later.  After being beaten and thrown into prison we can be sure that the one in charge of the prison was not going to take any chance to have them escape, and so he put them into the safest place, in the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks.  They were as safe as they could be as far as not getting out on their own.  However the authorities at Philippi were soon to learn that no prison can hold those whom God wants released.

            We have mentioned that this was a satanic inspired persecution, and this persecution did not affect Paul and Silas as he thought it would, as we will see in our next section which will be called Praise.  When Paul wrote to the Philippians later on the theme of the letter is joy.  I mentioned that our Pastor is just beginning a series on this letter to the Philippians and his definition, and he calls it an ongoing definition as later on in the series there may be things added to it, but so far this is what he has come up with in his description of joy:  “Joy is a positive emotion that is rooted in our confidence that our good God is in sovereign control of the circumstances of our lives for our good and His glory, enabling us to praise Him!”  We will see that Paul and Silas certainly had this kind of joy as they were beaten and unlawfully put into prison.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to have the kind of joy that Paul and Silas had during this period of time in his life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to listen to the series on Joy from our Pastor in order to learn more about joy so that I can be better at living it out in my life each day.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Timbrel” (Exodus 15:20).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who reported the Corinthian contentions to Paul?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/25/2018 10:00 AM

 

 

PT-1 Persecution (Acts 16:19-24)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/24/2018 9:51 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-1 “Persecution”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:19-24

            Message of the verses:  “19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans." 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

            As we begin to look at verse nineteen we see that the masters over this woman had no compassion over the fact that she had had the demon removed from her and were now a normal person, and so this actually shows the cruelty of the institution of slavery.  Slavery can be a cruel thing as long at the masters over the slaves are cruel people.  During the days of the Roman Empire there were many slaves who were doctors or teachers and their masters did not treat them cruelly.  If one is a slave of Jesus Christ then there is nothing wrong with that and everything right with that, but the masters over this woman were cruel, looking only for the money that she had made for them.  There is another story that is similar to this one and that is from Mark chapter five where we see Jesus casting many demons out of a person and then He allows the demons to go into the pigs who immediately went into the lake and drowned.  After that the people there saw that the man was completely normal, and yet they asked Jesus to leave their town, not really caring about the man, only about their loss of money due to the pigs drowning. We read the following in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

            John MacArthur writes “Enraged at the loss of the income she provided, the girl’s masters ‘seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities.’  That was an interesting turn of events for Paul, who before his conversion had made a career of ‘dragging off man and women’ to ‘put them in prison’ (Acts 8:3).  The agora (market place) was the central public square.  It functioned not only as a marketplace, but also

‘as the social center of the city.  Here the unemployed waited for suitable work, the sick were healed, and the magistrates judged court cases.  In those days, a plaintiff could drag a defendant into court and ask the judge to pass a verdict (James 2:6).  The owners of the slave girl were acting according to Roman law when they laid their hands on Paul and Silas and put their grievance before the city authorities. (Simon J. Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary:  Acts).’

            One more point and that is that Luke, the author of Acts further describes the authorities as “the chief Magistrates.”  “(Stategos; praetor in Latin), Every Roman colony was governed by tow of these men, as was the case at Philippi.” (MacArthur)

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Being a slave of Jesus Christ is what all of us believers are and that is actually the best, and the total opposite of being a slave to sin.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to find the best place for my father-in-law to live out the rest of his life.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Leviticus.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What musical instrument did Miriam use after the Red Sea crossing?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/24/2018 10:18 AM

 

PT-2 Intro to Acts 16:19-40

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/23/2018 9:57 AM

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  PT-2 Intro to Acts 16:19-40

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:19-40

            Message of the verses:  “19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans." 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

    25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

    35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out." 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”

            We have been looking at some verses that show that God truly does bring about good things to those who seemingly have gone through some very difficult times.  We talked about Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery, but God used Joseph to save his family from starving as it was God’s will that they come to Egypt.  We also talked about the Lord Jesus Christ, as His example is the best found in all of Scripture.  Jesus died a horrible death, and yet God used it to save all the people that He had chosen before the foundation of the world, save them from the horrors of hell, and will bring all of them into heaven to be with Him forever.

            We will look again at the killing of Stephen which was a terrible thing to have happen, and yet after that killing and the persecution that went on the church began to expand and to grow “19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.”

            We bring all of these thing up because in this 16^th chapter of Acts we something similar that happened.  As I have read over this section of Scripture many, many times I am still in awe of how Paul and Silas preached and sang praises to the Lord after being severely beaten in an unlawful manner. 

            Remember that Paul and his missionary team were led by the Lord through a vision to come into Europe and the very first person saved in Europe was a woman named Lydia, the liberated woman, and then we talked about the demon-possessed woman who Paul cast the demon out, and as a result of him doing this her “owners” were going to lose a lot money and the result of that was Paul and Silas being beaten and put into prison.  Philippi became the first “beachhead” in Europe for the gospel to move forward.  As I look at Europe today along with our own country I see that we need more beachheads for the gospel to be brought up by the Spirit of God.

            John MacArthur concludes his introductory comments: 

“Satan was quick to react, first attempting to infiltrate the young fellowship with a demon-possessed medium.  When Paul’s miraculous power thwarted that attempt, Satan tried to destroy the church through persecution.  Those are always his two avenues of attack: infiltration-attacking the church from within; and persecution, attacking it from without.  Verses 19-40 record the failure of Satan’s attack through persecution, marvelous turning of persecution into triumph unfolds in five sequential stages:  persecution, praise, preaching, provision and protection.”

            So we see our outline in these five ways, and Lord willing, we will begin to look at the persecution in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will give us grace to determine how we are to take care of my wife’s father in the days to come.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Miriam” (Exodus 15:20).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book contains the record of legislation given at Sinai that was not set forth in the laws and regulations found in Exodus?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/23/2018 10:29 AM

 

PT-1 Intro to Acts 16:19-40

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2018 5:05 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 Intro to Acts 16:19-40

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:19-40

            Message of the verses:  “19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans." 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.   25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. 35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out." 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”

            John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary “Turning Persecution into Production.”  As we read through this section we can understand why he chose this name for this chapter as there is unwarranted persecution found, and yet we also see production as we read towards the end of this 16^th chapter of Acts. 

            As I look at these verses it reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter eight and verse twenty-eight:  “28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  John MacArthur writes “A very reassuring aspect of God’s sovereign rule over the universe is His ability to bring good results out of bad circumstances.  That is especially true when His people undergo persecution.” 

            I now want to quote Genesis 45:5-8 “5  "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”  This passage speaks of how the bad thing that happened to Joseph was turned into a good thing for the children of Jacob, God causing something seemingly bad to be worked out for good and for His glory.

            We will look now at what is the most heinous crime ever committed and that was the murder of God’s Son, and yet out of that evil act God brought salvation.  Peter speaks of this in his sermon that we looked at very early in our study of Acts.  “22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know- 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

            We will continue to look at other examples in our next SD from this section of verse.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In Shunem” (2 Kings 4:8-10).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was the sister of Moses?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/22/2018 5:27 PM

PT-2 "The Enslaved Woman" (Acts 16:16-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2018 11:15 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 The Enslaved Woman

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:16-18

            Message of the verses:  “16  It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.”

            John MacArthur speaks about what this woman was saying in verse seventeen:  “This was a subtle and dangerous attack, a bold attempt to infiltrate a deadly tare among the wheat, because what the demon-possessed girl was saying was absolutely true.  The demon even used biblical terminology.  The term ‘Most High God’ was an Old Testament designation of the God of Israel (Ps. 78:35; Dan. 5:18).  She also spoke of ‘the way of salvation.’”  We know that Satan is the father of lies as Jesus said in the 8^th chapter of John, but he will even use the truth when it benefits himself.  Some of Satan’s most effective and diabolical work is done in the name of Jesus Christ, as he will often use a little truth in order to ensnare people in a false religious system.  Perhaps many of the people who were following the missionaries as they were preaching and teaching thought that this woman was one of them, but we know that she was not because of the narrative written by Luke.  If this were the case then she would have been in a position to do harm to the cause of Christ.

            When Jesus was on earth He never wanted publicity from Satan as seen in Mark 1:34 “And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”  Luke 4:41 “Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”  Paul did not want publicity from Satan either and so as this woman kept on saying what she was saying about Paul and his team, Paul finally had enough of it as he became “greatly annoyed.”  I suppose that one of the reasons that he ended this woman’s talking as she was, was because he probably felt sorry for her, for after all she was a demon-possessed woman.  Paul under the authority of being an apostle of Jesus Christ cast the demon from this woman, and the demon left that very moment.  There was nothing gradual about it as once Paul says, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,” that is when it happened, he left her, he had no choice.

            Some think that they have authority to do this kind of thing today, but what believers need to do is to keep their spiritual armor on as seen in Ephesians 6:10 and following.

            MacArthur concludes his commentary on these two women by writing:  “These two women typify all of humanity.  Everyone is either liberated by Jesus Christ or enslaved by Satan.  The only path to freedom is that followed by Lydia—of seeking God, listening to the gospel, and having a heart opened to respond by the Lord.  Those who do so will not be disappointed, for the Lord Himself promises in Jeremiah 29:13, ‘You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Remember to always begin the day by putting on my spiritual armor.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring about what He wants us to do as far as care for my wife’s father.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Joshua” (Joshua 4:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did the woman live who built a chamber for Elisha?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/21/2018 11:40 AM

PT-1 "The Enslaved Woman" (Acts 16:16-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/20/2018 9:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus: The Enslaved Woman

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:16-18

            Message of the verses:  “16 It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.”

            We have been studying about the birth of the churches for a number of months now and one thing that we have seen after a church was successfully started was that there would be some kind of satanic attack on that church.  We saw this in Samaria from the 8^th chapter of Acts and also in Cyprus in the 13^th chapter of Acts.  What this is, is a clash between light and darkness and one of the things that we should remember is that the Lord Jesus Christ said that He would build His church, remember that promise as Jesus Christ will never fail in the building of His church, not in Philippi or any other places where His church is found.  I know that in many cases that churches cease to survive, but there will always be a church in this world up until the time when the Lord will come in the clouds above the earth and call His church home to be with Him.

            Yesterday I was talking to our Pastor who took some time to answer a couple of questions that I had concerning my Sunday school lesson.  He began a new series in our morning service.  He will spend the next four months or so in the book of Philippians and began last week by talking about the very verses that I was going over last Sunday morning from Acts chapter 16.  I mentioned to him what I learned as to why Paul and his team went to the river, which is because that is where the Jewish people would hold their prayer and worship time since there was no Synagogue.  He then told me about something their guide from Israel stated to him while they were there last month, and that was that around the temple site there were many little places that held water for cleansing purposes for people to be cleansed before entering the temple, and they were also found near Synagogues, and so the reason that Jewish people worshiped near a water supply when there was no Synagogue was because of this need for cleansing, and that is why Paul and his team continually would go to the river to teach and to preach.  Now while they were there doing this they encountered this “enslaved woman” as seen in our verses for today.

            Speaking of the kind of spirit this woman had John MacArthur writes “The Greek text literally reads ‘a python spirit.  That designation derives from Greek mythology, in which the Python was a snake that guarded the famous oracle at Delphi.  Eventually, the Python was killed by Apollo, the god of prophecy.  Since it was believed that Apollo spoke through the oracle at Delphi, the term ‘python’ came to refer to anyone in contact with Apollo.  In modern terms, she was a medium in contact with demons.  Luke notes that the demon-possessed girl ‘was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling.’  Such people were believed to be able to predict the future, a valuable commodity by the Greco-Roman culture.

‘Greeks and Romans put great stock on augury and divination.  No commander would set out on a major military campaign nor would an emperor make an important decree without first consulting an oracle to see how things might turn out.  A slave girl with a clairvoyant gift was thus a veritable gold mine for her owners. (John B. Polhill).’”

            Now as I read through this commentary about this woman I cannot help but think of Hitler who was sought these kind of things from the occult to help him, and also we know that the Antichrist will also use the occult as it is believed that he will actually be possessed by Satan.

            I think it best that we conclude this section in our next SD.  I have been trying to keep the length of my Spiritual Diaries to be less than what they use to be in order for those who follow my blogs to not have to spend so much time reading them. 

            Spiritual meaning my life today:  Believers need to be looking out for the ways that Satan tries to tear churches apart, mostly by causing division among church members.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray for unity in our church.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Will sup with him and he with me.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/20/2018 10:06 AM