Acts 14
Religious leaders guilty of poisoning minds verse 1- 7
And it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together
into the synagogue of the Jews – and so spoke
that a great multitude both of the Jews
and also of the Greeks believed
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles
and made their minds evil affected against the brethren
Long time therefore abode you speaking boldly in the Lord
which gave testimony to the word of HIS grace
and granted signs and wonders
to be done by their hands
But the multitude of the city was divided
and part held with the Jews
and part with the apostles
and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles
and also of the Jews with their rulers
to use them despitefully – and to stone them
They were ware of it – and fled unto Lystra and Derbe
cities of Lycaonia and to the region that lie round about
and there they PREACHED the gospel
Paul heals man who never walked verse 8- 10
And there sat a certain man at Lystra – impotent in his feet
being a cripple from his mother’s womb
who never had walked
the same heard Paul speak – who steadfastly beholding him
and perceiving that he had faith to be healed
said with a loud voice – Stand upright on your feet
And he leaped and walked
People wanted to treat Paul as a god verse 11- 13
WHEN the people saw what Paul had done
they lifted up their voices
saying in the speech of Lycaonia
The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men
AND they called Barnabas – Jupiter
and Paul – Mercurius – because he was the chief speaker
THEN the priest of Jupiter – which was before their city
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates
and would have done sacrifice with the people
Paul and Barnabas refused worship verse 14- 18
WHICH when the apostles – Barnabas and Paul heard of
they rent their clothes and ran in among the people
crying out and saying
Sirs – why do you these things?
We also are men of like passions with you
and PREACH to you that you should turn from these vanities
unto the living God – which made heaven and earth
and the sea – and all things that are therein
WHO in times past suffered all nations to walk
in their own ways
NEVERTHELESS, HE left not HIMSELF without witness
in that HE did good
and gave us rain from heaven – and fruitful season
filling our hearts with food and gladness
And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people
that they had not done sacrifice unto them
Paul is stoned by crowd verse 19- 20
And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium
who persuaded the people – and having stoned Paul
drew him out of the city – supposing he had been dead
Howbeit – as the disciples stood round about him – he rose up
and came into the city
and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe
Elders appointed over churches verse 21- 24
And when they had PREACHED the gospel to that city
and had taught many
They returned again to Lystra – Iconium – Antioch
confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith
and that we must through much tribulation enter
into the kingdom of God
And when they had ordained them elders in every church
and had PRAYED with FASTING
they commended them
to the Lord on WHOM they believed
AND after they had passed throughout Pisidia
they came to Pamphylia
Missions report given in Antioch verse 25- 28
And when they had PREACHED the word in Perga
they went down into Attalia – and thence sailed to Antioch
from whence they had been recommended
to the grace of God
for the work which they fulfilled
And when they were come – and gathered the church together
they rehearsed all that God had done with them
and how HE had opened the door of faith
to the Gentiles
AND there they abode long time with the disciples
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. (2559 “evil affected” [kakow] means oppress, afflict, harm, embittered, poisoned, cause to dislike, vex or maltreat)
DEVOTION: People who didn’t like the message of Paul weren’t tolerant of it. The liberals in Paul’s days wanted people to listen to their message but they didn’t want to let them hear the message of Christ.
Religious people can be tolerant of someone else’s beliefs at times but that is not true even today. Many liberal “Christian” churches want to let society continue to move on a downward slide because they think that it being progressive.
The Bible isn’t progressive. It states what the LORD wants us to do in any given situation and that hasn’t changed for thousands of years. HE wants us to honor life. HE wants us to honor marriage between a man and a woman. HE wants us to not be prejudice toward those of different nationalities.
The Jews didn’t like the Gentiles at all. They were an exclusive group but the LORD wanted them to reach the world with HIS message in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.
God picked one group and that was the group that was supposed to honor HIM. Adam was to honor HIM. Abraham was to honor HIM. Paul was trying to honor HIM.
Poisoning the minds of some people is becoming a normal thing in our society. The poisoning of the mind toward those who hold to a Biblical worldview is happening in elementary schools today. Easter or Christmas is no longer being even acknowledged as a celebration of the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Even religious people who write books about the Bible or Jesus Christ take away from the supernatural and call them just stories with moral applications. The Bible is not full of stories. It is full of Biblical accounts about how God treats HIS people. It is full of examples of people who have tried to follow the LORD.
CHALLENGE: We need to stir up the minds of the next generation to honor Biblical standards and examples. Be an example to the next generation. Tell them all nationalities need the LORD.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. (4160 “had done” [poieo] means make, to carry out or perform an action or course of action, to practice, to make, accomplish, tangible, or bring about)
DEVOTION: Today we have people who worship their sport hero or their favorite actor or actress. This can also be true of some believers who seem to be able to speak more about their pastor or favorite author than about Jesus.
People like to worship someone or something they can see. We can’t see Jesus today physically. It makes it hard to worship HIM at times. But we are supposed to worship HIM alone.
Paul and Barnabas faced the challenge of having people want to worship them because of the miracle God did through them of healing the man who had never walked.
If we are involved with an occasion when we see God do a miracle in someone’s life we have to make sure that we give God all the glory and don’t take any for ourselves. God is the one who can heal anyone. We can pray for them. We can anoint them with oil but it is still the LORD who should receive the glory.
Too often people who can be used of God want to take the credit for something that HE has done through them. Today we have instructions in the book of James that tells us that the elders are to be called to pray for someone to be healed. They are to anoint them with oil. God will then do what HE thinks is best for the individual who is sick. HE is still the divine healer.
Watch out for people who want you to praise them for gifts that the LORD has given them. Some might not be even gifted of the LORD but from another source.
CHALLENGE: We are to test the spirits of those who do great things.
____________________________________
: 17 Nevertheless HE left not HIMSELF without witness, in that HE did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (267 “without witness” [amarturos] means without testimony, unattested, or characterized by lacking any evidence by which something is affirmed to be true)
DEVOTION: God wants everyone to understand that HE created the world for our enjoyment. HE gives rules for our life here on earth but HE also provides the things that we know to be good.
One of the good things that HE provides for all people, whether they are believers or not, is rain. HE gives the seasons of the year for the enjoyment of all the humans that live on the earth.
HE knew what was necessary for us to live our life while we are here. We need food and drink. HIS creation is a witness to HIS goodness. HE provides the ability for us to be glad. It is part of our being. Gladness is hard for some people to understand. They look at their circumstances and think that they should have more. They are never satisfied and therefore gladness is not found in their life.
True gladness in our hearts can only come from a proper relationship with God. Then we can appreciate all that HE had done for us in the past and what HE is going to have prepared for us in the future. This makes it possible to truly be glad with what is happening to us in the present. We are commanded to “rejoice in the LORD always.”
Share this truth with someone who is a believer and complaining about something in their present situation. Take them to the LORD in prayer.
CHALLENGE: HE is the only one who can bring GENUINE peace to that person’s life.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (1991 “confirming” [episterizo] means to support further, confirm, strengthen, or to render more firm)
DEVOTION: Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey. They took John Mark the author of the Gospel of Mark with them. He returned home when the going got tough.
Each of the cities visited had converts to Christ but also crowds that were against the message they were preaching. They started in the synagogue first and then preached outside the synagogue to the Gentiles who were willing to listen to their message.
Paul was stoned and thought dead. He was raised up to continue his journey to preach in other cities. He warned the disciples that there would be suffering involved in serving the LORD. He called it much tribulation.
One of the priorities of the early church was to make disciples. The starting point was the preaching of the gospel. Those who choose to follow the Lord were baptized. Then came the priority of making disciples. Too many churches are emphasizing conversion but not training in what it means to be a disciple. Many of those who come forward in churches and at rallies are never followed up.
Here we find Paul returning to the churches he started and strengthening the individuals who chose to follow the Lord. He wanted to make sure that those who were followers of Christ grew in their knowledge of the Lord. He taught them doctrine. He taught them disciples of the faith. They ordained men who were mature in the faith. This was done by picking men full of the Holy Spirit and that the believers voted into office. Before they ordained them, they prayed with fasting. They not only taught the disciplines of the faith but practiced them in the decision-making process of the church.
Are we following their example today? What kind of follow- up program is your church using after someone chooses to follow the Lord? Do we find mature people in our churches or many people who have been saved a long time who are still babes in Christ or carnal Christians?
We are here on this earth to strengthen one another. We are here to encourage one another. We are not responsible to find every fault we can with one another. We are to support one another. Are we being supportive? Are we being good teachers of the doctrines and disciplines of the faith?
CHALLENGE: If you are a church leader – establish a good follow-up program for those new converts to Christ in your church. If you are a soul winner – have a good follow-up program to invite them to join. Don’t leave them to the wolves!!!
_________________________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Prayed with fasting verse 23
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayed with fasting verse 23
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Synagogue of Jewsverse verse 1
Speaking boldly verse 3
Preached the gospel verse 7, 21
Preach verse 15
Confirming verse 22
Exhorting verse 22
Preached the word verse 25
______________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of HIS grace verse 3
Gospel verse 7
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God verse 15, 22, 26, 27
Living God verse 15
Creator verse 15, 17
Kingdom of God verse 22
Grace of God verse 26
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
Lord verse 3, 23
Word of HIS grace verse 3
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Iconium verse 1, 19, 21
Greeks believed verse 1
Gentiles verse 2, 5, 27
Lystra verse 6, 21
Derbe verse 6, 20
Cities of Lycaonia verse 6
Healing of crippled man verse 8
All nations verse 16
Antioch verse 19, 21, 26
Pisidia verse 25
Attalia verse 25
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Unbelieving verse 2
Evil verse 2
Use despitefully verse 5
Stone disciples verse 5
False god verse 11
False god: Jupiter verse 12, 13
False god: Mercurius verse 12
Priest of Jupiter verse 13
False worship verse 13
Vanities verse 15
Sacrifice to humans verse 18
Stoned Paul verse 19
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Believed verse 1, 23
Brethren verse 2
Spoke boldly verse 3
Testimony verse 3
Signs and wonders verse 3
Preached the gospel verse 7, 15, 21, 25
Faith verse 9, 22, 27
Healed verse 9
Turn verse 15
Witness verse 17
Taught verse 21
Much tribulation verse 22
Ordained elders verse 23
Prayed with fasting verse 23
Grace verse 26
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jews verse 1, 2, 4, 5, 19
Jews believed verse 1
Rulers verse 5
Witness verse 17
Church (New Testament people of God)
Apostles verse 4, 14
Paul verse 9, 11, 12, 14, 19
Chief speaker
Stoned and thought dead
Barnabas verse 12, 14, 20
Filling our hearts with food and gladness verse 17
Disciples verse 20, 22, 28
Confirming the souls of the disciples verse 22
Exhorting to continue in the faith verse 22
Suffer tribulation verse 22
Ordained elders verse 23
Prayed with fasting verse 23
Gathered the church together verse 27
Mission report: First Missionary Journey verse 27
Opened door verse 27
Last Things (Future Events)
Kingdom of God verse 22
__________________________________________________________________
DONATIONS
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
______________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
14:26–28 The first missionary journey was completed with the return of the apostles to Syrian Antioch. Verse 26 forms an inclusio, or bracket, with 13:2f. It was the Antioch church that had commissioned the apostles, committing them to the Lord by prayer and fasting and identifying with their mission (“work”) by the laying on of hands. The work was now complete, and the two missionaries gave their report to the sponsoring congregation. Verse 27b marks a transition. The subject of opening “the door of faith to the Gentiles” would be the main topic of the Jerusalem Conference in the next chapter. It summarizes the primary significance of the mission in chaps. 13–14. Evidently the report of this mission did not immediately reach Jerusalem, and Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch for “a long time” (v. 28). (Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 320). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
_______________________________________________________________
Gathered the church together (συναγαγοντες την ἐκκλησιαν [sunagagontes tēn ekklēsian]). Second aorist active participle of συναγω [sunagō]. It “was the first missionary meeting in history” (Furneaux). It was not hard to get the church together when the news spread that Paul and Barnabas had returned. “The suitability of the Gospel to become the religion of the world had not before been put to the test” (Furneaux). Doubtless many “wise-acres” had predicted failure as they did for William Carey and for Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice. Rehearsed (ἀνηγγελλον [anēggellon]). Imperfect active. It was a long story for they had many things to tell of God’s dealings “with them” (μετʼ αὐτων [met’ autōn]) for God had been “with them” all the while as Jesus had said he would be (Matt. 28:20, μεθʼ ὑμων [meth’ hūmōn]). Paul could recount some of the details given later in 2 Cor. 11 And how (και ὁτι [kai hoti]). Or “and that” in particular, as the upshot of it all. He had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles (ἠνοιξεν τοις ἐθνεσιν θυραν πιστεως [ēnoixen tois ethnesin thuran pisteōs]). Three times in Paul’s Epistles (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3) he employed the metaphor of “door,” perhaps a reminiscence of the very language of Paul here. This work in Galatia gained a large place in Paul’s heart (Gal. 4:14f.). The Gentiles now, it was plain, could enter the kingdom of God (verse 22) through the door of faith, not by law or by circumcision or by heathen philosophy or mythology. (Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Ac 14:27). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.)
_______________________________________________________________
On their return trip to Antioch, the missionaries were engaged in several important ministries.
First, they preached the Gospel and made disciples (“taught many”). It is difficult to understand how they got back into the cities from which they had been expelled, but the Lord opened the doors.
Second, they strengthened (“confirmed”) the believers in the things of Christ and encouraged (“exhorted”) them to continue in the faith. Continuance is a proof of true faith in Jesus Christ (John 8:31–32; Acts 2:42). Paul made it very clear that living the Christian life was not an easy thing and that they would all have to expect trials and sufferings before they would see the Lord in glory.
Third, they organized the churches (Acts 14:23–25). The local church is both an organism and an organization, for if an organism is not organized, it will die! Paul and Barnabas ordained spiritual leaders and gave them the responsibility of caring for the flock. If you compare Titus 1:5 and 7, you will see that “elder” and “bishop” (overseer) refer to the same office, and both are equivalent to “pastor” (shepherd).
The word translated ordained means “to elect by a show of hands.” It is possible that Paul chose the men and the congregation voted its approval, or that the people selected them by vote and Paul ordained them (see Acts 6:1–6).
Finally, they reported to their “sending church” on the work God had done (Acts 14:26–28). They had been gone at least a year, and it must have been exciting for them and for the church when they arrived back home. They had, by the grace of God, fulfilled the work God had given them to do; and they joyfully reported the blessings to the church family.
This is perhaps the first “missionary conference” in church history, and what a conference it must have been! A church officer once said to me, “I don’t care how much money you want for missions, I’ll give it; but just don’t make me listen to missionaries speak!” I felt sorry for him that his spiritual temperature was so low that he could not listen to reports of what God was doing in the difficult corners of the harvest field.
As you review Paul’s first missionary journey, you can see the principles by which he operated, principles that are still applicable today.
He worked primarily in the key cities and challenged the believers to take the message out to the more remote areas. The Gospel works in the population centers, and we must carry it there.
He used one approach with the synagogue congregations and another with the Gentiles. He referred the Jews and Jewish proselytes to the Old Testament Scriptures; but when preaching to the Gentiles, he emphasized the God of creation and His goodness to the nations. His starting point was different, but his finishing point was the same: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He majored on establishing and organizing local churches. Jesus had the local church in mind when He gave what we call “The Great Commission” (Matt. 28:19–20). After we make disciples (“teach”), we must baptize them (the responsibility primarily of a local church) and then teach them the Word of God. Merely winning people to Christ is but fulfilling one-third of the Commission! It takes the local assembly of believers to help us fulfill all of what Jesus commanded us to do.
He grounded the believers in the Word of God. This is the only source of strength and stability when persecution comes, as it inevitably does come. Paul did not preach a popular “success Gospel” that painted a picture of an easy Christian life.
The amazing thing is that Paul and his associates did all of this without the modern means of transportation and communication that we possess today. Dr. Bob Pierce used to say to us in Youth For Christ, “Others have done so much with so little, while we have done so little with so much!” The wasted wealth of American believers alone, if invested in world evangelization, might lead to the salvation of millions of lost people.
Paul and Barnabas announced that the “door of faith” had been opened to the Gentiles.
That door is still open, to Jews and Gentiles alike—to a whole world! Walk through that open door and help take the Gospel to others.
Be daring! (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 460–461). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
____________________________________________________________
Ver. 27. And when they were come, &c.] To Antioch: and had gathered the church together: which was in that place, and who came together at their request; for as they were sent out by them, they judged it proper to call them together; and give them an account of the issue of their work they were recommended by them to the grace of God to fulfil: and being come together at their usual place of meeting, they rehearsed all that God had done with them; and by them, as instruments; what grace and strength he had given them to preach the Gospel; what numbers of souls were everywhere converted by it; what miracles were wrought by them for the confirmation of it; and what persecutions and sufferings they had endured for the sake of it; and what deliverances were vouchsafed unto them: and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles; the phrase, the door of faith, seems to be Jewish; it is to be met with in Jewish writings: it is said, “there are two women found in the world, that express the praise of God, so as all the men of the world have not; and who are they? Deborah and Hannah: Hannah, according to 1 Sam. 2:2 there is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee; and all proclaim that she פתחת פתחא דמהימנותא לעלמא, opens the door of faith to the world, as ver. 8 he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, lo, the door of faith; to set them among princes, lo, the faith that is above.” The sense here seems to be, that God had given an opportunity to the apostles to preach the doctrine of faith unto the Gentiles, and the Gentiles had had an opportunity of hearing and embracing it; God had opened the mouths of his ministers to preach to them, and he had opened their hearts to attend unto it, and receive it; for it may be understood of his giving of them the grace of faith, by which they received Christ, and his Gospel, into their hearts: so a like phrase is used by the Targumist on Jer. 33:6. who paraphrases the words thus; “behold, I will bring unto them healing and redemption, and I will heal them, and I will reveal, or open to them, תרע תיוכא, the door of repentance;” that is, I will give them repentance: so here, when God is said to open the door of faith to the Gentiles, the sense is, that he had given the grace of faith to them, which came by hearing the word of the Gospel, which he sent them; and gave them encouragement to believe in Christ; so the phrase a door of hope is used in Hos. 2:15. (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 2, p. 280). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
_______________________________________________________________
What a missionary meeting that must have been. What Paul left out Barnabas filled in. On Cyprus confounding the magician and converting the magistrate; at Perga the loss of Mark and the lure of the mountains; at Pisidian Antioch the Jewish blasphemy and Gentile belief; at Iconium the multiplied conversions and malicious contention; at Lystra deification and death; at Derbe more souls and more goals; the homeward way, skirting perils, selecting pastors. Thus the story unfolded, showing the decisions, the difficulties, the dangers of pioneer work on the mission field, and how to deal with them all. (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary (Ac 14:27). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
_________________________________________________________
Thus ends the first missionary journey which lasted between one and two years and in which Paul and Barnabas traversed more than 700 miles by land and 500 miles by sea. But more than that, it demolished the wall between Jews and Gentiles (cf. Eph. 2:14–16). The two apostles had been committed by the church at Antioch to God’s grace (cf. Acts 15:40) and they saw His grace at work (cf. “grace” in 13:43; 14:3).
Probably Paul wrote the Book of Galatians from Antioch shortly after his first missionary journey and before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). (Toussaint, S. D. (1985). Acts. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 393). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
____________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
Treasures from the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest
This love is the love spoken of in Galatians 5: 22, produced in the heart of the saint who is definitely subjected to the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit Himself. This is the love that God is. This is the love that should saturate the friendly love which saints have for each other. Without it, the fellowship of the saints with one another becomes a selfish unsatisfactory thing, but amalgamated with it, this friendly love becomes a thing of heaven. The secret of the fullness of this divine love, is in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And this is why God exhorts saints who are already loving one another, to be loving one another.
The translation reads as follows: “Wherefore, having purified your souls by means of your obedience to the truth, resulting in not an assumed but genuine love for the brethren, love that springs from your hearts by reason of the pleasure you take in them, from the heart love each other with an intense reciprocal love that springs from your hearts because of your estimation of the preciousness of your brethren, and which is self-sacrificial in its essence.” (p.60)
____________________________________________________________
Signs of Christmas
“Moreover the LORD spoke again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.” (Isaiah 7:10-11)
Although “the Jews require a sign” (1 Corinthians 1:22), and this attitude was rebuked by Christ when He said that “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 12:39), God has given three specific signs with respect to the incarnation of Christ. There were other signs too, no doubt, such as the star of Bethlehem, but three events were specifically called signs.
First, to the unwilling King Ahaz, He said: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel means “God with us,” and the sign of the virgin birth, biologically impossible without a mighty miracle of divine creation, assures us that the omnipotent God has entered the human family once for all.
That entrance was not made in an emperor’s palace as a great conqueror, however, but in the very humblest of human circumstances, and this also was a sign. “And this shall be a sign unto you,” said the leader of the angelic host; “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
And there was a third sign. When the infant Jesus was brought to the temple, the aged prophet Simeon said: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against . . . that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
That is, the God/man would Himself be God’s great sign to Israel and the whole world. The attitude of men and women to God, in Christ, would reveal the state of their hearts and seal their eternal destiny, whether rising again to everlasting life or falling forever away from God. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
__________________________________________________________
WHAT IS WRONG?
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2
Psalm 51 is a classic statement on the whole matter and doctrine of repentance. Because so many people do not realize the biblical teaching concerning sin, they fail to realize so many other things that are contained in the Christian gospel. So many people today say that they do not see the need of the incarnation, that they do not understand all this talk about the Son of God having come down to earth, that they do not understand this talk about the miracles and the supernatural, that they cannot follow this idea of the atonement and terms such as justification and sanctification and rebirth. They say that they do not understand why all this seems to be necessary.
They would argue like this: “Isn’t it the church that has evolved all these theoretical, purely abstract ideas? Aren’t they things that have been conjured up in the minds of theologians? What have they to do with us, and where is their practical relevance?” I would like to point out that people who talk like this do so because they have not realized the full meaning of the biblical teaching about sin. They have not realized that they themselves are sinful. But the Bible, in sharp contrast, constantly insists upon this from the beginning to the end.
Here we are in this modern and perplexing world; we are conscious that something is wrong, and the question is, “What is wrong?” Politicians do not seem to be able to solve our problems. Philosophers are asking questions, but they do not seem to be able to answer them. All our efforts do not seem to put the world right. The Bible says, “You are ignoring the one thing that is the key to the situation! It is sin. Here is the cause of the trouble in individuals, in intimate human relationships, in international relationships everywhere. This is the difficulty.”
A Thought to Ponder: People who talk like this do so because they have not realized the full meaning of the biblical teaching about sin.
(From Out of the Depths, pp. 18-20, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
__________________________________________________________
“I got you a present!” my two-year-old grandson shouted excitedly as he pressed a box into my hands. “He picked it out all by himself,” my wife smiled.
I opened the box to find a Christmas ornament of his favorite cartoon character. “Can I see it?” he asked anxiously. Then he played with “my” present for the rest of the evening, and as I watched him, I smiled.
I smiled because I remembered gifts I had given loved ones in the past, like the music album I gave my older brother one Christmas when I was in high school that I really wanted to listen to (and did). And I realized how years later God was still stretching me and teaching me to give more unselfishly.
Giving is something we grow into. Paul wrote, “But since you excel in everything . . . see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7). Grace fills our giving as we understand that all we have is from God, and He has shown us “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
God generously gave us the most unselfish gift of all: His only Son, who would die on a cross for our sins and be raised to life. Any who receive this ultimate gift are rich beyond measure. As our hearts are focused on Him, our hands open in love to others.
(By James Banks, Our Daily Bread)
__________________________________________________________
Revelation 4
John describes an astounding vision of the throne of God in heaven.
INSIGHT
At Christmas our thoughts are on Jesus’ birth, focusing on His humanity. By radical contrast, this Christmas Day we see the throne room of heaven and the surroundings which magnify His deity. In the center is a throne – behind which an emerald-colored rainbow arises. Dignitaries dressed in white robes and gold crowns are seated around the throne. The floor of the massive room is like crystal. Unusual looking creatures constantly give verbal praise to God and the dignitaries form a celestial choir, worshiping and praising God. This is the normal abode of God’s Son. Yet we usually think of Jesus as a child in Bethlehem, a teacher on a hillside, or the One who bore our sins alone on a cross. Revelation balances that picture with a glimpse of Jesus’ majesty and grandeur. (Quiet Walk)
____________________________________________________
Use of the words Israel and church shows clearly that in the New Testament national Israel continues with her own promises and that the church is never equated with a so-called “new Israel” but is carefully and continually distinguished as a separate work of God in this age.
(p. 150, Dispensationalism by Charles C. Ryrie)
____________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.