The Carpenter's Chapel

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Acts 8: 1-24

“And Saul was consenting unto his death. (Saul/Paul was agreeing about the
stoning of Stephen) And at that time there was a great persecution against the
church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the
regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Verse 1

Saul went beyond agreeing with the stoning of Stephen, he revelled in it. He took
pleasure in it. He was resolute to put down this upspring collection of people who
were supposedly dedicated to God and went about telling people about the life of
Jesus. When you tell about Jesus and the world frowns upon you, do not be
discouraged. Much greater minds have behaved the same. It is also to be expected.
The devil may be defeated, but remember, the devil is neither omnipresent nor
omniscient; he is not everywhere at the same time and he is not all-knowing. He
thinks he still has a chance, and he will have his army do everything possible to
dissuade and discourage the saints of God.

What we learn from this passage is that the church becomes missionary minded.
When persecuted, it spread the message abroad. You will find that the church that
is strong on missions is generally strong in spirit. Without a heart in missions, the
church will grow cold, selfish and uncaring about a lost world. There is a mission
song that is appropriate here:

Ev’ry person in ev’ry nation,
In each succeeding generation;
Has the right to hear the news
That Christ can save.

Crucified on Cal’vry’s mountain,
He opened wide a cleansing fountain,
Conquered sin and death and hell,
He rose up from the grave.

Father I am willing, to dedicate to Thee,
Life and talent, time and money,
Here am I send me

(Sorry, I don’t know the author)

Later in this chapter we read that Stephen is buried and gone. All is lost. No!
When one is taken another arises. Verse 5 “Then Philip went down to the city of
Samaria. The church of Christ will never be without its standard bearer.

When Jim Elliot and his four companions were killed on the mission field, all was
not lost. In short order his wife, Betty, and Nate Saint’s sister, Rachel returned to
that same field and that same people and won them over to Jesus Christ. It is
believed that the entire Auca Indian tribe are Christian. Hope does indeed spring
eternal. Isn’t it a comfort to know that someone we have influenced is going on in
the work of the Lord? We never know when we are having this affect on people.
When I was a chaplain in 1956, I spoke to a youth group at a Baptist Church in
Barrie, Ontario. There were no great decisions that night and nothing stood out. In
the 1980’s, and I can’t recall the year, I was speaking at a local Baptist Church.
The pastor came to me after the service and asked me if I remembered speaking at
Emmanuel Baptist in Barrie. I said I did. It was then he said he commited his life
to Christ that night and felt called to ministry. All those years and I didn’t know.
The Lord knows exactly when to encourage us. My friends, it is happening every
time we preach. Someone is being influenced, one way or the other. Even when
the adversary is at his mightiest, our God is mightier, and the sword of the Lord,
the word, is a mighty weapon in our hands.

Help us, Lord, to always look to You for strength and wisdom and the courage to
always march forward in Your word.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Acts 8: 26-40

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying, Arise, and go toward the
south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”

In our modern era, we place such emphasis on crowds. We want to earnestly reach
the masses. Sometimes the Lord directs otherwise. Here Philip is directed to go to
the desert. How important to God is one soul. Philip is directed to leave the
populous area of Samaria and go to the isolated desert. I can recall just recently
getting a very strong urge to go to a specific site. I had not intentions on going to
that site, but I dropped what I was doing and went there. The moment I arrived
there was a total stranger who talked to me (It was a Christian chat site) and she
wanted prayer. When we open our hearts to listen to God, He has a marvellous
way of helping His children. We ought always to be open for the angel of God to
give direction. He does speak to-day. Some question whether God speaks to-day. I
would be suspect if someone made such a claim and included new revelation, not
covered in the bible. He does, however, speak to us in this manner.

In verse 27 “And he arose and went.” The true disciple of Christ must not only be
open for the leading of God, but must be prepared to obey. Obedience is such a
blessing. He may lead us in paths that seem out of the way (the desert) and in
isolation (one person) but He has purpose and we are wont to obey His voice in
whatever direction He leads. The result is always a blessing. You pray for God’s
blessings; obey His word. It never fails.

What does Philip find? “and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunich of great
authority under Candace queen of the ethiopians, who had the charge of all her
treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in
his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Look here! The Lord led Philip to a most
influential individual in the wilderness. Win this soul and one has captured the
attention of a kingdom. During the war years in London, the princesses walked
through the streets as common people. Our present Queen drove lorries and
transported goods. I have an actual photograph of her changing tyres on a lorry.
Now, it is possible that not every one would recognize the Queen, then Princess.
What is they had witnessed to this one individual about our Lord Jesus Christ.
What an influence for good and for God. An opportunity not afforded in regalia,
but open in isolation. We must be open to use every opportunity to witness.
Obedience is the key. Obey the word; obey the still small voice of the angel of
God.

In verse 30, we notice the reaction of Philip. Not only did he obey, but he did it
instantly. “And Philip ran thither to him....understandeth what thou readest?” We
must not dilly dally when one is reading the word. Nevermind the trivialities about
the weather or the state of their health. Go right for the meat. “Understand what
you read?” Don’t leave off the word. Be ready always to give a reason for your
faith. Preach the gospel. Be instant in season and out of season. Be always ready to
grasp the situation.

Here we learn that the eunich was waiting for someone to explain what he was
reading. The word confuses the world. As a reaction to this confusion, they often
devise all kinds of alternatives. How best to answer the evolutionist, the atheist,
the unbeliever? It is rather simple. Speak of Jesus. Relate your personal experience
with Jesus. This then is not an argument, but a statement of experience. You have
experienced the Christ, and you should be ready to share that experience.

In this particular example, Philip is permitted to talk about the Lord Jesus, both
humbled and exalted. The Saviour who came to die for us and to be raised again.
“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.”...Philip
preached unto him, Jesus... How much time is wasted in pulpits preaching moral
sermons? My friends, never preach without talking about Jesus. When I can no
longer lift up the Saviour, my preaching days will have ended.

Obedience fills the soul with joy,
Then let us now obey;
Our heart believes, our duty’s clear,
And Jesus leads the way.

Lord lift our eyes that we may see Jesus.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I just realized I forgot to write the devotional to-day. In lieu of the regular devotional, I will type out this item I read to-day:

Called Back by the Shepherd

One bad thing about sheep is that they have a tendency to stray. They put their heads down and start grazing without watching where they are going. They have such poor sense of direction that they will graze right up to and over a cliff. So, if a sheep strays, it's generally in danger. The shepherd has to go out and find it and restore it to the flock.

Aren't we often like that? We simply wander off from our Shepherd. But even though we may stray again and again, when we say, "Lord, forgive me" He brings us safely home. (Ezek 34:16)

The Bible says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." (Isa 53:6) But the Word of God also emphasizes that we can be "returned unto the Shepherd." (1 Peter 2:25), the eternal loving God who calls us back to fellowship with Him.

Cheers, and God bless,

Jim

 

Very good, Roger. Thank you very much for contributing. I always enjoyed Pilgrim's Progress. It is such a telling story, and true to God's word. God bless.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Acts 9: 23-43

“And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.”
Most comentators believe “that many days” refers to the three years Paul spent in
Arabia. We see two things here. (1) How soon one of theirs becomes the hated one,
when he turns his life over to Jesus. Saul was the hero of the Damascene Jews and
the Nabatean authorities, which were also in the city. Do not expect your old friends
to stand by you once you have been converted to Christ. They will be puzzled. They
will think you have gone bonkers. There is a brick missing now. Once you partied
with them, enjoyed alcohol and puffed the weed, danced and cajoled. Now your
whole life is turned around and the old pleasures switched to vices alienating you
from spiritual things. They will abandon you. (2) Saul went off to gather his
thoughts and find out just what was happening to both his body and mind. Saul had
gone through radical surgery. He was a militant against the church and he now
shuns everything he knew and has completely turned about. He is facing a new
direction in his life. The new convert should be cautioned that a radical change will
happen and it will take some getting used to. It does not happen overnight. There
will be a period of doubt and dismay. You want to go and the spiritual body is
saying no. Allow this time to happen. This is when the Christian body must mentor
the new convert and not abandon him as did the Damascene Jews after Saul turned
his life around. Don’t be in a hurry. Saul took three years. He wanted to be alone
and I should imagine he witnessed to many in Arabia. The burning inside was too
intense to remain silent.

The enemy is unrelenting. Vs 24 “And they watched the gates day and night to kill
him.”No fooling around here. They planned to kill him. They wanted to silence the
one who could not be silenced. Cities were walled about and had a common gate for
entry. This was designed to protect the occupants of the city from attack. Guard the
gates and you were relatively safe. What the enemy didn’t count on was the fact that
Saul knew they were there, and having been one of them, knew very well their
intentions, and a certain amount of ingenuity would be used. Saul was lowered
through a window in the guest house by a “basket”. This basket might have been
like a fishing net. I can’t think of a basket large enough to be used. We have a
similar event involving Rahab and the spies in Joshua where a rope of scarlet thread
was used to lower people from the walls. If the Damscene Jews had had an ounce
of spirituality about them, they might have recalled the Old Testament story and
guard the walls. When one is intent on mischief, he often forgets or neglects many
points. This is how crooks get caught. They are not so clever and do stupid things.
The unsaved are the enemy of Christ and they often do foolish things. When
Christians abandon the need for a prayerful life, they often do foolish things as well.
We need to stay spiritually in tune all the time, and guard the walls. Don’t let the
enemy enter into our tabernacle of joy and peace.

I will save the remaining portion of this text for Thursday.

Lord, help us always to be alert and in tune, lest we fall prey to the Devil and his
dastardly angels.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Acts: 9: 26-43

When I left Saul, he was being lowered in a basket, over the wall, for his own
safety. His former friends were out to slay him. This must have been a shocking
lesson for Paul to find himself suspect by his new friends. The new people were
afraid of him. “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself
to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a
disciple.” verse 26.

Do not be surprised when Christians are suspect of you when you are newly
converted and on fire for God. We have the blessing of God and of those who
experienced that time in your life when the Lord took charge. There are two lessons
here. (1) We need time to prove ourselves before the church that we are true to the
Lord; (2) As new converts, we need a friend to lead the way. We ought to pay
particular attention to new converts. We need to lead them along. How many times
have you seen the great joy of a congregation when a young person receives Christ
as Saviour and just a few weeks later that wamth of soul has cooled down.

Verse 27, “But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared
unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and
how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” This was the
brotherly thing to do. New converts indeed need a friend.

Now, “when the brethren knew, they brought him down toCaesarea and sent him
forth to Tarsus.” He now had the blessings and trust of the disciples. The church
people had accepted Saul as being genuine in the Lord. Once he was suspect, now
he is trusted. What a marvellous transformation. There are results when the new
convert is resigned in the Lord, and the people respond accordingly. “Then had the
churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified.” The
churches were not ready to be taught until they trusted the teacher. The new pastor
of a church must be presented to the congregation, and then he must gain their trust
before the teaching can begin. Oh how many times the young pastor has landed
himself in deep trouble at the beginning. The new pastor needs time and the new
congregation needs time. Let your light so shine at these times that only Jesus is
seen. Then will the church be ready to be taught and edified and grow in the things
of Christ.


“And walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were
multiplied.” From the fear of man, Saul, to the fear of God they are then multiplied.
It is only when the church has this reverance for God, this holy respect, that it can
grow and see the blessings of God. Are we prepared to do this? Are we prepared to
bow before Him and feel that comfort? It is not a vacation. It is a time demanding a
lot of work on each of our part. The pastor and people must be one if that church is
to experience God’s presence and power.

The next section of this passage of scripture deals with a rather special woman
called Dorcas. It is a lesson on how the church functions. In this case, Peter applied
the healing powers especially given to the early church, and Dorcas clothed the
poor. Many women’s organizations in the early church were called Dorcas
Societies. But Dorcas died. The members were distraught and peter was called.

In verse 41 we learn that Peter kneeled down and prayed. Not even the apostles
could accomplish anything without prayer. How we must learn this lesson. There is
no need for distress in the Christian life if we at once learn that all things are
preceeded by prayer. We must enter into communion with God if we are to know
His peace and His power and His presence.

May the Dorcas Society of God so touch us that we are always clothed in His
righteousness, and that we never forget the poor in our richness.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Monday, February 23, 2004

Acts 10: 1-23

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band
called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house,
which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.”

Up to this time, the church, the Israel of God, consisted of Jews, proselytes, and
Samaritans. The veil between Jews and Gentiles had been broken by the death of
Christ, but evangelism had been to the Jews. The time of the Gentiles has come.

There are some who claim the church is a parenthetical thought in the mind of God,
but nothing in the mind of God is parenthetical. Now is the time to bring the
Gentiles into the body of Christ.

It is not an accident that God chose a captain of the centurions. A captain had some
100 men under his command, and held great respect and authority in the Roman
system. The only Gentile to whom Jesus addressed the gospel was also a centurion
(Matthew 8:11 and Luke 7:2)

Polybius has this to say about centurions: “Centurions are required not to be bold
and adventurous so much as good leaders, of steady and prudent mind, not prone to
take the offensive or start fighting wantonly, but able when overwhelmed and
hard-pressed to stand fast and die at their post.”

The very character of man we need in the church to-day. It is no wonder that God
chose Cornelius to be the first Gentile Christian. A man of character, a good leader.
Oh that God would raise good leaders to-day. Men that we could follow for the
right reasons and dedication of spirit.

Cornelius was, by the standards of the day, a devout man, who feared God, prayed
and gave of his wealth. The very qualities we look for in the Christian journey. He
had religion, but lacked that one essential commodity; a knowledge of Jesus n his
heart, so to speak. What a lesson here for many to-day who dare to follow a path of
human righteousness, but lack the indwelling of the Christ. They do all the right
things for the right reasons, but there is a missing ingredient in the formula. My
friends, everything we do is for nought if we have not Christ in us, the hope of
glory. All our righteousness is as filthy rags. We need the cleansing power of an
indwelling Jesus. This goes beyond a mere head knowledge. We can do all the right
things, and say all the right things, and we can fool the right people, but we cannot
fool God. Until that head knowledge is driven a few feet lower and overwhelms the
heart, the seat of being, we are as filthy rags before an holy God.

Now to effect this ministry, Peter, the Jewish leader must be taught a lesson. He is
clinging to the old Jewish ways of the old covenant. He was still adhering to old
laws under the Jewish religion regarding foods. He is hungry, and God provides a
feast. Peter says he doesn’t want the food because it is unclean....he doesn’t want
the Gentiles because they are unclean....the time of the Gentiles is come. It is time to
realize the church is the church of Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile, it is the Bride of
Christ and no laws from a former generation will suffice. There is but one sacrifice,
and Jesus did it all on the cross. He provided the means of salvation sufficient for
all. Peter learned that the gospel is for all peoples of every nation in all the world.
So foreign missions started with Peter, and the church would do well to learn the
vitalness of missions in the ministry. The church that does not have a reaching heart
will fail locally as well.

Cornelius was instructed by the angel of God; God’s messenger, to send men to
Joppa, to meet at the home of one Simon, a tanner. A lowly person, but Cornelius
did not hesitate to seek the witness of a poor, working man. Far better the scene of
poverty than to remain in ignorance, especially when God is speaking. In ministry,
it was often the quiet, humble soul who gave me the greatest courage to do battle
for the Lord. I knew that they were praying and holding up my arms in prayer
during my weakest moments.

Christians should have an open home and an open heart even when they are poor
and of modest lodging. To a starving man, a crumb of cake is as good as a steak of
beef, and either would be remembered. Let us always be ready to offer the crumbs
of the gospel to the sojourner, the seeker.

Lord lift us up and help us to see before us the mission field of missed
opportunities. Let us do our little that in so doing we are doing the most.

Cheers,

Jim