Plymothian

²³ About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. ²⁴ A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. ²⁵ He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. ²⁶ And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. ²⁷ There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

²⁸ When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. ³⁰ Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

³² The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. ³³ The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.³⁴ But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? ³⁶ Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. ³⁷ You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. ³⁸ If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. ³⁹ If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰ As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” ⁴¹ After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

Commercialism vs. Reality

Commercialism emphasizes making a profit.  We see it today in the sweat shops that exist so that owners can pay as little as possible to maintain their factories.  We know that it is a truth that many of our garments or play-things were made in countries where people are exploited, but we still turn our back on that truth so that we needn’t feel too bad when we put on our designer clothes.

Ephesus had a booming tourist industry, which was the lifeblood of the city in the time of Paul because the other sources of commerce were becoming less.  The tourist industry was centered around the many breasted goddess Diana.  The artisans of the town made their money by making replicas of the goddess which were probably used as idols.  Paul came to Ephesus preaching a god who deplored idols and showed them as nothing but the false creation of human imagination.  As people converted to Christianity they had no need for the false god and her trinkets.  The fears of the artisans would not be so much that their god was defamed, it would be more that their source of income was drying up completely.  Given the reality that Diana was a false God, they would rather stick with the false god and maintain their income.

Money makes the world go around, we are told.  I was astounded after 9/11 that one of the major messages coming out of Washington was that America should keep going to the mall and spending money.  The economy would suffer too much if we gave way to fear and stopped shopping.  However, the reality was that a great spiritual struggle between Islam and Christianity had reached our shores.  Muslims, in many cases, still harbour resentments about the crusades.  We live in a physical reality that is underpinned by the spiritual.  Battles rage in the heavenlies which we are ignorant of.  When the veil is pulled back and we see the consequences of self-interest and exploitation we run to the mall or the Amazon.com for solace.

Lasting solutions to the world’s issues are found in God.  We can not replace God with any idols of our own choosing.

Prayer

Father, may we look beyond the day-to-day falsehoods that we depend upon – the security from the state, the right to make a profit out of anything and everything – and may we depend primarily on you.  May we be suspicious of being called consumers and may we not buy in to rampant consumerism.  For your glory.

Questions

1. Who was frustrated with Paul?
2. Why?
3. What did the conflict represent as a clash of worldviews?
4. How have capitalism, consumerism, and commercialism become accepted even in Christian circles?
5. What would a church which shunned capitalism, consumerism, and commercialism look like?

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴ Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸ Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. ¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

²¹ After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” ²² He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

Contrasting Miracle Workers

I am a firm believer that there is more to this world than the physical.  Our minds are so complex that some atheists believe that a spiritual world has emerged from the complexity of evolution.  However, I think that such a view does not do justice to the nature of the spiritual realm.

If there is a supernatural element to life, it might be accessed in various ways.  People of different faiths have supernatural experiences and miracles happen in other religions.  However, just because supernatural events happen in other faiths, it does not mean that they point to the truth.  We live in a world of good and evil and just because a religion does a good act that transcends the physical, it does not mean that it is ultimately good.

Paul performed miracles in the course of his day-to-day.  His primary calling was to serve Jesus, talk to the Gentiles and see them reconciled to God through Jesus.  The motives of other miracle-workers in the Book of Acts is less noble.  Some perform miracles for money, others perform miracles for status, some perform miracles because they are enslaved.

A group of Jews found that using the name of Jesus allowed them to perform miracles.  However, this group did not have the foundational relationship with Jesus that the Apostles have.  When the demons that they are up against realise this, they attack the Jewish miracle-workers.  This shows the primacy of the position of the Apostles.  Without a relationship with Jesus, we are playing with forces beyond our control.  With Jesus, we should expect safety and security when we encounter the supernatural.

Prayer

Father, first let us be more aware of the world as you see it.  Let us see that the physical world that is immediate to our senses is the tip of the iceberg of reality.  Help us to life more aware of the spiritual underpinnings and origins of this world.  Let us know when the supernatural is to break through and let us ask for miracles with confidence.

Questions

1. Which city was the focus of this passage?
2. Why did Jewish miracle workers get beaten up?
3. What does the fact that Paul and the Apostles did not get beaten up teach us about Christianity and the supernatural?
4. How aware are you of the spiritual realities that operate beyond the five senses?
5. How can you see more supernatural living in your life?

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. ¹⁹ They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. ²¹ But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. ²² When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

²³ After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴ Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

²⁷ When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸ For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Apollos

This is what the Holman Bible Dictionary has to say about Apollos:

(ay pahl’ lahss), meaning “destroyer,” names an Alexandrian Jew who came to Ephesus following Paul’s first visit and was taught Christian doctrine by Priscilla and Aquila. An educated man, Apollos handled the Old Testament Scriptures with forcefulness. However, he was lacking in a full understanding of the way of God, so Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and instructed him (Acts 18:26 ). Apollos became even more successful in his ministry. He went from Ephesus to Greece with the encouragement of the Asian believers and a letter of introduction (Acts 18:27 ). He greatly strengthened the believers by using the Scriptures to demonstrate that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:28 ).

Apollos is last mentioned in the Book of Acts as being in Corinth (Acts 19:1). Paul referred to Apollos frequently, particularly in 1 Corinthians. Here the majority of the references (1 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 3:4-6,1 Corinthians 3:22 ) have to do with the schisms in the Corinthian church centering on personalities. Paul noted that some believers championed Paul; some, Apollos; and some, Cephas. What is important is that believers belong to Christ, not to individual leaders. Such references show that Apollos must have been a dynamic figure to be compared with Paul or Peter. In 1 Corinthians 4:6 Paul placed Apollos on the same level as himself. They both sought to defeat the arrogance and superiority which comes from being self-centered rather than Christ-centered.

Paul referred to Apollos in 1 Corinthians 16:12 as “our brother,” showing how much Paul considered him as one of the team. This is also demonstrated in Titus 3:13 where Paul asked Titus to help Apollos on his way. A learned and gifted preacher, Apollos was willing to receive more instruction and be part of the team.

Because of Apollos’ knowledge of the Old Testament, Luther suggested that Apollos might well be the writer of the Book of Hebrews. See Aquila and Priscilla; Ephesus; Corinth; 1Corinthians; 2Corinthians .

Prayer

Father, may we be teachable like Apollos so that you can use us for great things that we do not yet anticipate.

Questions

1. With whom did Paul sail?
2. Who did Paul’s companions meet?
3. How was God strategizing the future of the church?
4. How has God used friendships that you have had to develop his church?
5. How could you be teachable like Apollos?

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. ⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷ Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. ¹³ “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

¹⁴ Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. ¹⁵ But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” ¹⁶ So he drove them off. ¹⁷ Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.

God Uses the State

Separation of  church and state is often used to say that God has no place in politics.  A superficial reading of the passage above might lead a person to conclude that Gallio’s judgment about matters of the faith reinforces the idea that faith is a private mater and has no place in the public sphere.  However, the account is written in the Book of Acts.  We are told that an angel delivered word to Paul that he would be safe in Corinth.  This means that the outcome of the trial was God ordained, not godlesss.

Court cases deal with issues of good v. evil.  The good, in the perspective of a Christian, can only be tallked about in relation to God.  Good is that which conforms to God’s will.  Evil is that which twists or perverts the order of creation as God would have it to be.  Unfortunately, because mankind is evil, many of the cases which go through our legal system decide in favour of evil.  We have often bought into the idea that a jury decision will be for the good because it involves more individuals.  However, when a society becomes as corrupted as ours and begins accepting more and more evils, the majority on a jury may decide in favour of something that is out of line with godly, biblical principles.

In Corinth God worked out his plan through the law courts and Gallio’s approach to Christians is reported with approval.  We must cover our legal system with prayer.  We need to ask God to use the legislature to promote good.  Abandoning public life is not the answer.  Behaving the same as others in the public sphere is also not good.  To be good is to prayerfully bring godliness to society by standing for a view of the world as God sees it.  This needs to be consistent in all spheres of life.

An explanation of a decline in church attendance recorded by Pew Charitable Trust is that the church has become too political.  What does that mean?  I am not sure that we have been hypocritical by being involved in politics.  I think our hypocrisy lies in the way we have communicated a very individualised and personal faith and then we have applied it to the public life of politics.  MLK was very political and very religious, yet we hold him up as a hero.  Why the inconsistency?

Prayer

Our political system is legislating pleasure and entitlement.  The rich can manipulate the system as much as the poor.  Our law courts do not appeal to natural law but to the consensus of the majority and the majority grope around in darkness.  Lord, let your light shine to expose the corruption in the heart of man.  Use the legal system to support and empower your church.  Bring a revival that affects all of life.

Questions

1. Which city did Paul enter in Acts 18?
2. What kind of city was Corinth?
3. How did the political system support the growth of Christianity?
4. What legal decisions in the 21st century hamper Christianity?
5. How can the church show how church and state, although separate, can work well together?

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teachingis that you are presenting? ²⁰ You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” ²¹ (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

²² Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’^[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’^[c]

²⁹ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹ For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³ At that, Paul left the Council. ³⁴ Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

Engaging the World on Its Own Terms

Some say that Paul’s visit to Athens is an example of what not to do.  They say that because he was not bold enough about the gospel, God did not work as powerfully through him.  He does not mention Jesus by name and, so they say, the Spirit does not work through him as powerfully as in other locations.

However, I think that it is a great example of how to engage with the world.  In many cases we do not see masses of people converted all in one go.  Paul starts by making points of connection with the world.  The truth that Paul knows is about the God who created the world that the Athenians lived in.  They should know basic truth from their experience of day-to-day living in God’s world.  The result is that Paul uses points of connection to start to tell a story.  It is the story of the way the world is and why it is that way.  His points of connection are the Athenian’s religious nature and the writing of their own poets and philosophers.

Many Christians I know today would say that Paul is too worldly.  He knew both the religious practices of the Greeks and he knew what was written in their books.  He had studied pagan culture and God used it to show the Greeks the truth embedded in their own insights and practices.  However, their understanding was incomplete and did not connect with the one, true God.  Paul is not saying that he knows everything about everything, but he is saying that their own learning and experience of life points to different conclusions than the ones they have drawn.

Some well know preachers say that we should not engage with the world’s truth.  I would say that the world has no truth of its own.  It has plenty of lies and it has truth that belongs to God.  It is essential that we see all truth as God’s truth and then we reconcile it with its author.  This is Paul’s basic strategy with the Athenians.

Prayer

May we be in the world but not of the world.  May we see your truth in beautiful movies and well-crafted books.  When music from godless artists raises our spirits, may they be raised to you.  May we communicate clearly that you are the author of all beauty, hope and wonder.  May the connection lead wayward people back to you.

Questions

1. Describe Athens as Paul observed it in the first century.
2. What is Paul’s strategy in Athens?
3. Would you declare Paul’s visit to Athens a success or a failure?
4. How do you engage people with different worldviews than your own?
5. How well do you know other religions and philosophies?  What truths do they contain? What lies?

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silasand Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Checking Out the Preacher

I, like many people, am more than a little insecure.  I feel a little like an impostor sometimes because I lack confidence.  So, when someone contradicts me or checks that what I am saying is true, I can get a little defensive.  However, the problem is with me and my insecurity rather than with the ones who are verifying what I have to say.  We are all held to an accountability to God and his word.  The Bible is accepted by many Christians as the bedrock of how we know things.  It is special revelation to the masses which reveals to us all the nature of God and his story throughout time and eternity.  If a preacher speaks words that do not conform to the pattern of the Bible, the preacher is to be dismissed not scripture.  Although it doesn’t always feel great to submit to scrutiny, I want those who hear me preach to look at scripture for themselves and verify that what I am telling them is true.

The Bereans in the passage above are famous for not taking Paul on face value.  They searched the Bible to verify what they had been told.  Many of us are much more lazy with our preachers today.  We accept or dismiss them based on how we feel or what we think we know, rather than checking out our disagreement to see how it stands up to the Bible.

Good preaching should be a gateway to good Bible study.  It should whet the appetite.  I am frustrated sometimes when a preacher communicates their three points in such a way that it communicates that they have done all of the hard work so that we don’t have to.  It is akin to saying that they have a relationship with Jesus on our behalf and they have us covered.  The invitation is to a relationship with God through deeper communication.  Whilst we pray and sing to God our own thoughts and requests, God reveals his deep thoughts and requests to us primarily through scripture.  Searching the scriptures is like looking searchingly into a lover’s eyes rather than skimming a telephone directory for a correct phone number.  The difference between those who are diligent and those who are flippant is one of character.  According to the passage, those who search the scriptures when they hear a preacher are of noble character.  They do not look to undermine the preacher through their study.  In this case they verify that the speaker is true.  In other words, they can rejoice because they have found a brother who is in harmony with God.

Prayer

May we be ever diligent in looking through the Bible to see whether what we have been told is correct.  May we be humble and secure enough to be glad when people search the Bible to see if what we are communicating is true.  In all of our efforts may we end up with more harmony in the body of Christ and with You.

Questions

1. What reception did Paul receive in Berea?
2. In the passage, what denotes a noble character?
3. What did the people find when they searched scripture?
4. How do you verify if someone is communicating truth to you?
5. How do people in your church respond to the preaching?

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. ⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵ But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ⁸ When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. ⁹ Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

Sowing Seeds of Division

When there is a social change on the scale of Christianity, there will be opposition and division.  In this socially accepting age we avoid the kind of conflict that lets ideas wrestle for supremacy in the market place.  We have reduced all religious ideas to an equal level of hopeful nonsense.  Each religion gives us something positive to say over someone’s grave when they have died.  However, religion is more and more marginalized from public life.  We contend that each person is allowed to believe whatever they want behind closed doors, in the privacy of their own home.  However, that is not the story in the book of Acts.  In Acts Paul and his companions go straight into the public square and they look for other religious and social gatherings to infiltrate.  then, when at all possible, they speak out truths that directly contradict the teachings of the majority.

The secular humanism that we have adopted as our majority religion today is not compatible with Christianity.  Pure capitalism and consumerism exploits people and works with people’s greed and not against it.  The ideas that control public life in the west are not Christian, they are part of a godless belief system that exalts the individual and promises pleasures without responsibility.  When authentic Christians challenge the madness that runs the world we are called intolerant, bigoted, or hateful.  The problem is that when you love people and you find them in error, it may seem arrogant, but it is cowardly and unhelpful to leave the lies which we live by unchallenged.  It is also contradictory that people who say that we should all allow everyone to have their own beliefs will not allow us to have ours.  Of course, they can’t.  Their universal dictate is that everyone leaves everyone else alone.  Our universal dictate is that we are all interconnected and because that is so, we bring grace and truth.  People love grace when it affirms the choices they are making.  They often hate truth when it brings them from the darkness into the light.

Things were no different in Paul’s day.  When some people saw their deeds in the light of God’s truth, they repented.  Others fought bitterly against what they perceived was a new way – yet it was the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan of salvation.

Prayer

May I allow you to challenge and change me in accordance with your truth.  May I not hide your presence in my life when I live in public.  May I not be a coward when conflict arises.

Questions

1. Where did Paul go in this passage?
2. What was the initial affect of his preaching?
3. Why did conflict arise?
4. Where do we see conflict between the message of the world and the gospel?
5. Why don’t we see more conflict between people who want to proclaim God in public life and those who want to hide?

¹⁶ Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

¹⁹ When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. ²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

³⁵ When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” ³⁶ The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

³⁷ But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸ The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. ³⁹ They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.⁴⁰ After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house,where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

Control in Chaos

The scenes in today’s passage may have seemed like chaos.  There was a mob arrest, an unjust flogging, and an earthquake.  While most of us would have curled up in a fetal position and sobbed our hearts out, Paul and Silas are singing praise to God.  How do they remain so much in control of themselves when all around them is in meltdown?  They have a strength that comes from an eternal perspective.  They see that people around them are only acting as God allows them to.  Paul himself wrote to the Romans that all things work for good of those who love him and work according to his purpose.

In the middle of this chaos, a jailer and his whole family come to Jesus.  The town sees that justice is done to Paul and Silas – they leave with dignity.

God allows chaos in our lives so that good may result.  For many of us good = good feelings.  However, there are times when good does not feel good.  Good is that which is in line with God’s will.  Ultimately God’s will is our good.  If we live for him and we are sacrificed for his good it may not feel good.  However, how we love God and others in the midst of being sacrificed will speak very loudly in ways that don’t happen on Easy Street.

Paul and Silas may have thought it was good to break out of jail when the jail shook to pieces.  However, their submission to the law brought about a greater work than if they had run away.

I know that I often want the pressure that I endure to go away. I sometimes wish that my life had an assured income with few responsibilities.  However, this sin-corrupted world puts us all in the crucible.  The question is whether we are walking with our eyes fixed on the God who is in control or on the chaos.

Prayer

Father, I am prone to fear and doubt.  I am weak and want an easy life.  Show me the path that you want me to walk.  As you use me for your glory, grow me in your strength.

Questions

1. How does a riot develop in Philippi?
2. How does God use chaos in Philippi for his glory?
3. How is Silas and Paul’s conduct different from many of us?
4. What hardship are you enduring?
5. How might that hardship work for good?

 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

A Woman of Means

There don’t seem to have been enough Jewish men in Philippi to start a synagogue so the few faithful Jews would go down to the river to pray.  Paul went down to the women there and shared the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  Lydia responded favourably.

Lydia was a woman of means.  A trader in purple cloth would have been a high-end textile merchant.  To make the colour purple required collection of rare sea creatures to create the dye.  the capital needed to start the business would have been no joke, but the turnover in a town populated by retired Roman soldiers and other Roman citizens might have been high.  As is common in Acts, not only Lydia but her whole household were baptized.

Because she was a single woman who was creative and entrepreneurial, she had resources at her disposal which God could use to further his ministry.

Professional women today have to manage a work schedule with home life.  It is no easy road to travel.  Women who go through a divorce often gain custody of the children and so need to be the primary care-giver whilst also holding down a job.  Our society is more amenable to women in these circumstances than it once was.  The Good Wife illustrates this by showing a lawyer played by Martha Plimpton who often has to bring her child with her into the workplace.  She uses the child to manipulate judges and juries in her favour, but she is shown as a shrewd professional who is also a caring mother.  Many women are fighting for better daycare and other allowances for their circumstances.  However, society is still trying to make sense of what the role of a woman is.  Can a woman be a minister, a breadwinner, a housewife, and a mother?  Some women have aspirations to be a jack of all trades, but then they may be a master of none.

Lydia may have been unmarried and devoted to her business.  Her business may have been what we might call a cottage industry run from the home.  However, her influence for The Kingdom of God extended beyond her home.  She is an example of how God can use women and their capital that they have generated with their own hands.

Prayer

Father, women today try to do the best they can with so little.  Sometimes women are overlooked, oppressed and unappreciated.  Thank you for the example of Lydia.  Thank you that a woman responded in faith and became the first convert in an important church.  We thank you for all those women who are living in faith and leading their families in wisdom and service.

Questions

1. Where had Paul traveled?
2. To whom did Paul preach?
3. How was Lydia used?
4. How does God use people of means today?
5. How are professional women viewed in your church?

⁶ Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

None Shall Pass!

In Monty Python’s The Holy Grail a black knight bars the path of King Arthur.  King Arthur tries to recruit the knight to his cause but is met by silence.  Meeting with silence from the mighty champion, Arthur tries to move on and is greeted with the powerful words, “None shall pass!”    In the famous book Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Gandalf faces down a fiery demon Balrog in Moria.  He defies the Balrog by saying, “You shall not pass!”  The Spirit of Jesus seems to stand in the way of the Apostle Paul in a way that brings these images to mind.

However, unlike in other movies or books, the Holy Spirit always blocks the path forward for the greater good.  We often do not have the insight of Paul when a door closes in our faces.  He has our good in mind, though.  Our highest good is to serve Him.  Sometimes ways that seem to require sacrifice and harm do not serve our own agenda for living, but they serve God, which is our highest calling.

Which pathways is The Spirit blocking in your life right now?  Which direction does that force you to go?  Can you see God working in redirecting you?

Prayer

Father, when you tell us that we should not go in one direction, but we should go in another help us to accept that it is all for the good.  Help us then to walk faithfully down the new path.

Questions

1. Where does Paul plan to go?
2. How is he prevented from going that way?
3. Where do his new plans take him?
4. Where would you take your life if God did not direct it?
5. How is God directing your life recently?