Acts 28: There is Always Hope

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 
They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 
But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar —not that I had any charge to bring against my own people. 
For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” - Acts 28:17-20 NIV

After much opposition in Jerusalem, being brought before the different rulers and being shipwrecked, Paul finally arrives in Rome to learn his fate.  The first thing he does is call together the leaders of the Jews and present the gospel to them.  He is bound in chains, yet he can speak to them of hope, the hope of Israel. 

It is often when we are in chains that we are able to convey hope the best.  Years ago I had a friend who was the only Christian in her family.  She witnessed to them for years to no avail.  Then one, day, she was diagnosed with cancer and began the long and painful process of being healed.  In the midst of her ordeal, one of her family members told her 'you know, we have listened to you talk about your faith for years, but it is now, while you are going through this crisis that we see your faith is real.'  We are called to be witnesses of the good news, and that good news often is most inviting when we ourselves are undergoing our most excruciating trials.  It is in our weakness we display the Lord's power.  As Paul himself said,

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong - 2 Cor. 12:8-10 NIV

Rather than trying to break our chains, we should remember that often, it is because of the hope of Israel that we are bound in chains...to show that there is hope.  There is always hope.

Acts 17: Noble Character

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. -Acts 17:11 NIV

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ -Acts 17:26-28 NIV

We need to have the noble character of the Bereans.  They heard the message and took it to heart, but they didn't stop there.  They searched.  They examined the Scriptures daily.  They did not accept the gift they had been given lightly.  Instead they knew that this gift required something in return.  They knew that even after finding God, they still had to reach for something higher.  Something that could be revealed only by the scriptures.  This truth was not delivered by any preacher or evangelist, not even the Apostle Paul.  It was not received by reading another Christian novel, not by reading any of the many books that fill the Christian bookstores, it was not even to be found by reading the greatest Christian apologists of the time.  The truth, the closer relationship with  God was only to be found by examining the scriptures. 

God wants his people to reach out for him, to seek him, to find him.  Do we have the noble character which that requires?

Acts 13: Filled With Joy and the Holy Spirit

The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God–fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.  So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
 -Acts 13:49-52 NIV

We expect too much.  We expect for the gospel to be joyfully received by all, but it's not.  While the news of Jesus' death and resurrection is and always has been the good news, some will not see it that way.  Some see it as a fairy tale.  Some view it with suspicion.  Some see it as absolutely archaic.  Some will even take it so far as to persecute those sharing the good news.  What are we to do?

Our response should be what Jesus told the disciples to do.  After all, he predicted that there would be many that would not respond  to him.  'Shake the dust from your feet', Jesus said, so his disciples did just that.  In return, they were filled with 'joy and the Holy Spirit'.  What a marvelous compensation!  We need to remember this when we encounter opposition and even persecution.  We have been warned , we have been given the response, and if we act accordingly, we will be rewarded with joy and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  While it may sting to see others not responding to the gospel, their fate is not in our hands. It should not stop us from sharing the good news and if we do so, it will not stop us from being filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 37: Do Not Fret

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
-Psalm 37:1-13 NIV

Do not fret, David says, and Jesus echoes his words centuries later.  How then have we as Christians become such worriers.  We worry about things we cannot control.  We worry about the weather, we worry about the political situation,  we worry about our health, and now Obamacare, as if it was in any one human's hands to control the outcome.  'Do not worry', Jesus says.  To paraphrase His words, 'Not a hair of your head will be touched unless my father wills it.  Who can add one day to his life?'

It is vanity to think that anyone can right a wrong situation, that any politician, doctor, lawyer, soldier or policeman can make our life any better. Our minds invest too much power in those who really have no control of the outcome,  who cannot add even one day to our life.  While most of those who propose hope would have us think they are only considering our own good, in truth, as David says, they are trying to throw off the influence of God in our lives.m They want to free us from the 'shackles' under which we have been laboring....the shackles of His love.

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band against the Lord and against his anointed saying, " Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles" - Ps. 2:1-4 NIV

When Jesus says not to worry, it's not a matter of  'Que sera, sera',  but a matter of  'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven'.  God's will is being done in heaven and is being done here on the earth if we only have eyes to see it.  It may not be the outcome we imagine, but it is His will none the less.  Not a hair of our head will be touched unless our Heavenly Father wills it. 

Acts 10: Forgiveness of Sins

 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” -Acts 10:43 NIV

Most of the time, I go blithely on my way, doing what I am accustomed to doing, but sometimes something stops me right in my tracks and I have to face the facts.  The fact that I must face today is that I am a sinner.  There is no other word for it.  In spite of all my self perceived good deeds, I am nothing but a sinner; always have been, always will be.  That's why the message of the cross is so important, so liberating.  It gives me something that I can't obtain on my own.  It gives me forgiveness, absolution, freedom...something that is not to be found in all of my good acts.  Just like Cornelius, being good, doing good deeds, even praying is not enough.  That is why he called for Peter to come.  All of us still feel the need for something more and realize it cannot be found in any of our actions,  it is only found by believing in the one about whom the prophets testified. All of us need to hear the truth of Jesus.  There is no other means for finding forgiveness for our sins.

Acts 5: Bold Acts

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” -Acts 5:29-32 NIV

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 5:41 NIV

Acts contains exactly what it says it does...the acts of brave men, the followers left behind after Jesus' death and resurrection, who acted in spite of vocal and sometimes life threatening opposition.  It's in contrast with our tepid response to opposition today.  No wonder, we see so few miracles.  We have so little faith.  We don't have the faith that accrues from seeing people healed or raised from the dead.  We don't have the faith that grows from persecution and ostracization, the faith that God's people have had through the years.  Joseph, Moses, the prophets, even, David, felt ostracized, and faced it head on.

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. -Ps. 36:1-6 NIV

Sometimes, I want to say bring it on.  Bring on the ungodly, unbelieving, unrepentant, society and governments that will cause my faith to grow.  Bring on the persecution that would force me to stand up boldly for my faith.  Bring on opposition and ridicule.  Build my faith, bring it on!

Acts 1: All We Need to Know, All We Need to Do

So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:6-7 NIV

We spend an awful lot of time worrying about the times and the seasons, when it's really not our concern.  All we need to know is what Jesus promised, and his promises were many.  Most importantly, he promised us he was going to prepare a place and he would come back again.  Knowing when is not important.  Acting is and Jesus told us to be his witnesses to the end of the earth.  That is enough for us to concentrate on.  Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit and the power to do the job.  That's all we need to know, that's all we need to do.