Application in Acts: Week Three

Day 15: A true believer of Jesus Christ will feel the Spirit leading them to witness to the people they come in contact with. (Acts: 8:26-40)

As a believer of Christ Jesus, have you ever heard the Holy Spirit telling you to witness to somebody? How have you responded to it? Let's take a look at Phillip in this passage. When the Holy Spirit told him to go and join the eunuch in the chariot, he RAN to him. Are you ever that eager to follow what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do? You really should be.
The eunuch was reading Scripture and asked a question, this gave Phillip the perfect opportunity to preach the gospel. Phillip "opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture told him the good news about Jesus." The Holy Spirit leads for a reason; don't ever ignore it.


Day 16: A true witness of Christ Jesus will realize that their conversion was only brought about by the sovereignty of God in their lives. (Acts 9:1-9)

In this passage we see that character from before, Saul.
The conversion of Saul may seem like something of an interruption in the Acts narrative, since in this section of Acts (chs. 6/12) deals primarily with the witness of Jerusalem church to the dispersed Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) and the apostle Peter. Saul's conversion fits into this time frame, however, and as a Greek-speaking Diaspora Jew he was a "Hellenist" himself and eventually the prime leader in their outreach to the Gentiles.
Saul's conversion has always been a very interesting one to me. He seems like the least likely person to be converted to Christianity because of his constant persecution of the church. God had a different plan, though.
He had a plan for Saul, and when God has a plan, He will carry it out.
And now we come to a scene where Saul is actually getting permission to go to Damascus and find people that belong to the church to bind them up and throw them in jail. But he meets Jesus on the way. Jesus had literally revealed himself to Saul and was instructing him to go into the city. I have always wondered if Saul was the only one in the group that Jesus was calling to. There were other men with him, yet they were "hearing the voice, but seeing no one" (v. 7) It never says whether or not they were converted, but it seems unlikely. Jesus was there for Saul.
And Jesus had to do a similar thing to us. While we were deep in our rebellion against Him, He came to where we were and brought us to Himself. Is this free will? Hardly. But aren't we glad it's not based on our will? Without God intently choosing him and coming into his life, Saul would have continued persecuting the Church and would have never written half of the New Testament we have today. Similar stories could be said of us. "If God had never chosen me and come into my life I would still..." You fill in the blank.
Praise God that he decided to redeem such sinners as we!


Day 17: A true witness of Jesus Christ will realize that sometimes God may use them to tell others of His call in their lives. (Acts 9:10-19)

Now the scene switches to a believer in Damascus, a man named Ananias.
I feel it's important to stress that this is not the same man from chapter five because, obviously, he's dead this point. There has been some misunderstandings when it comes to that.
God tells Ananias to go and find Saul so he might lay his hands on him so he may regain his sight. At first Ananias wasn't so sure. He knew about Saul and what he was doing to the church. But our Lord's answer was one that is amazing in my mind, he said, "go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name". Saul was chosen, and God chose Ananias to inform Saul of the calling.
Ananias laid his hands on Saul and three things happened: he was filled with the Holy Spirit, something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight, and he wanted to be baptized.

Day 18: A true witness of Christ Jesus will not delay in spreading the truth. (Acts 9:20-31)

After Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his reception of the Holy Spirit inside the city, the first thing he did was proclaim Jesus. He didn't wait a couple of months and go through a "new member workshop", he didn't even wait a couple of days. The Bible says that "immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is the Son of God'" (v. 20). Saul knew the urgency of the message, he understood the importance of the gospel. It wasn't something to just keep to yourself and "wait for the right time" to tell somebody. It needed to be said NOW.
People had their doubts about Saul's conversion (given his background), and despite that he " increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ."
This obviously did not make the Jews happy, so they plotted to kill him. But word of their plot came to Saul and he escaped Damascus. He had entered the war. He now knew that if he was to follow Christ it would come at a cost, yet not without a reward, which I'm sure he kept readily in his mind.

Day 19: A true witness of Christ Jesus knows that miracles can happen, with the ingredients being faith and prayer. (Acts 9:32-43)

Now, for time being, the Bible turns our focus back on Peter.
Peter now has started heading throughout the coastal towns to preach, but first he heads to the saints in the towns. Here two miracles are preformed.
The first miracle was the healing of Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years. All Peter said was "Jesus Christ heals you, rise and make your bed." (v. 34)
The second miracle happened in the town of Joppa. In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha, which translated, means Dorcas. At that time she had become ill and died. So a couple of the men from Joppa came and got Peter and told him what was going on.
When Peter arrived, he sent all the people out of the room and kneeled to pray. He then turned to her and said "Tabitha, rise".
This is amazing. Once she heard it, she opened her eyes and sat up! She was alive! Peter had no supernatural power in his own words, but the Lord had shown him what He was going to do in response to Peter's prayer, and He imparted to Peter's heart the knowledge and faith that he was going to restore Tabitha to life as Peter spoke. Why don't we have such faith in prayer? Why don't we lean on the power of God to do miracles? Jesus said we can do miracles if we have faith, but why don't we? Imagine what we could accomplish... We could bring people from the dead, in order to proclaim the glory of God and bring people to Christ! But I believe "you have not, because you ask not." (Jam. 4:2)

Day 20: A true witness of Christ Jesus knows that the Holy Spirit will sometimes bring people to him. (Acts 10:1-48)

There was a man named Cornelius who was a centurion of the Italian Cohort. He was a God-fearing man who prayed and gave to the poor. One day he saw, in a vision, a messenger of the Lord tell him to find Peter.
At that time Peter was praying and had a vision. And while he was pondering the vision, the Holy Spirit spoke to him saying, "three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them." The Holy Spirit was intentionally sending Cornelius to Peter.
Who has the Holy Spirit sent to you? Have you proclaimed Jesus to all who the Spirit sends to you? Look for people who you feel the Spirit is leading and speak the gospel with them, God will do the rest.


Day 21: A true witness of Jesus Christ will take opportunities to show the glory of God through their testimony. (Acts 11:1-18)

The final scene of the Cornelius narrative takes place in Jerusalem, where some of Peter's fellow Jewish Christians questioned his acceptance of the Gentiles. Peter defended his action by retelling the events of the Gentile conversions with an added ephasis on God's leading. This section is basically a summary of chapter 10, with only a few added details.
As Peter told the testimony of the Gentiles, he really pounds down the fact that God had given them the gift, and who was he to stand in God's way. The telling of a testimony is all about God's victory over our selfish deceitful heart that He now calls holy. It's not about us. It's about God.
So what was the result of all that? What was the point? It's all in verse 18, "When they heard these things they fell silent, AND THEY GLORIFIED GOD, saying, 'then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life'".


For the glory of God,
Zayne Allen