U.S.—Scientists across the nation are racing against time to develop a vaccine against the deadly COVID-19 virus. Despite significant progress, researchers have hit a snag. Sources confirm an effective vaccine is ready to mass produce except for one problem: manufacturers have so far been unable to give it the power to cause autism.
“Like any good vaccine, this one needs to give autism to some kids,” said Phil Mipockets, CEO of a major pharmaceutical firm. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if we put something on the market that was totally safe and didn’t ruin some people’s lives.”
When the Coronavirus pandemic began spreading around the globe, the vaccine industry rejoiced at the opportunity for another excuse to hurt more children. “We hit a lull recently, since our vaccines basically eradicated polio, smallpox, and many other deadly infectious diseases,” one researcher told sources. “We needed a new reason to pump kids full of harmful toxins.”
“Thanks, Coronavirus,” he added.
Vaccine-makers say it could be early 2021 before they can mass produce an autism-causing shot that meets industry standards.
The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord.
Observation
Saul begins to preach about Jesus in the city of Damascus. His preaching becomes more powerful, and some of the Jews plot to kill him. Some believers lower him over the city wall in a basket at night to escape.
Saul travels to Jerusalem, but the apostles do not believe he is truly a believer. Barnabas works as a go-between smoothing the way for Saul’s acceptance.
The church has peace for a while and grows in the Holy Spirit.
Meanwhile Peter travels from place to place, preaching and healing the sick. He heals a lame man in Lydda and raises a girl from the dead in Joppa. Many people come to believe the Good News.
Application
With Saul, the chief persecutor, being saved, the church experiences peace and grows stronger.
The christians started to grow in their understanding of walking with Jesus. “All the believers lived in the fear of the Lord.” This does not mean they were terrified of Jesus. Rather it means they carried an attitude of reverence- worshipping and obeying the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To seek to live our lives the way God intends is indeed very wise. Many people who claim to be christians are theoretical believers. They hold on to an intellectual belief in the facts about Jesus, but they don’t allow those facts to change their heart. They live with sin and tolerate their sin as a normal part of their life.
As the believers lived for Jesus, the Holy Spirit brought people to faith. It is interesting that there is no great evangelistic campaign, just believers living for Jesus, and the Holy Spirit bringing a harvest.
While it is true that the church often thrives through persecution, it is also true that times of peace can also bring growth for the church.
Prayer
Than you Lord that whether times are tough for christians or easy for us, you are the Lord of the church. Help me to surrender entirely to you, to be used for your purposes. Amen.
But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.
Observation
Saul is obsessed with persecuting christians. He goes to Damascus to arrest any that he finds there.
On the road, a light from heaven shines down and a voice calls out, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” Saul is struck with blindness, and his companions lead him into the city.
A believer named Ananias is sent by the Lord to go and find Saul. Reluctantly Ananias goes, and he lays hands on Saul, and Saul’s sight is restored.
Application
It must have been somewhat scary for Ananias to hear that the Lord wanted him to go to see Saul, the great persecutor of christians.
According to the world, a leopard cannot change its spots. A criminal is always a criminal, a sex offender always a sex offender, a liar always a liar.
While it is true that we cannot change ourselves, it is also true that when we encounter Christ, rapid and dramatic change is possible.
Saul, the great enemy of the church was transformed into Paul, the great apostle of Christ.
In this verse, the Lord describes Saul as His chosen instrument. The zeal for truth that drove him to persecute christians was the same passion that enabled him to withstand imprisonment, beatings, and shipwrecks for the sake of the gospel.
Paul would later take the message to the Gentiles and to kings. He would carry it to the heart of the Roman Empire, form where it would spread right across the world.
Prayer
Father, may I be so consumed by your grace that I take your Good News to my friends, my family and my neighbours. Amen.
“Let me have this power too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay hands on people they will receive the Holy Spirit.”
Observation
Simon, the former magician, sees how the Holy Spirit is given when Peter and John lay hands on people. He offers them money to buy the power. Peter sternly rebukes him and tells him to repent, which he does.
An angel sends Philip to the desert road, and he meets the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch, who is reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. Philip starts a conversation and tells him the Good News. The eunuch asks to be baptised. As they come out of the water, Philip is snatched away, appearing in the town of Azotus
Application
The ability to lay hands on people and have them filled with the Holy Spirit must have been quite spectacular for a man like Simon to offer money to purchase it.
This is n quiet warming of the heart. This was Pentecost power being released into the lives of the believers. There must have been manifestations taking place through these believers- tongues, prophecy, healing, miracles and so on.
Simon had a good heart. He repented immediately when rebuked. His problem was that he did not understand God’s economy.
Human economics is about scarcity- we allocate limited resources by price through the laws of supply and demand.
In God’s kingdom there is no scarcity. The key word in God’s economy is abundance. There was no need for Simon to pay Peter for the gift because it is freely given.
When christians are afraid of losing their possessions or worry about whether they have enough, they show that they are not really trusting God’s provision.
When christian ministers demand money for their services, they also show they are not really trusting God- even when they own several personal jets.
We have received, and continue to receive, so much from God’s hands. This grace constantly pours spiritual gifts into our lives, if only we will receive.
Salvation is free.
The Holy Spirit is free.
The gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit are free.
Why? Because God gives freely and abundantly.
Prayer
Lord, as we approach the Easter weekend with all its depiction of grace, help me to rejoice in you regardless of circumstances. Thank you Father that your grace is always free. Amen.
The return to good rainfall after a couple of years of drought has certainly inspired the local butterflies to get breeding. It is like being in one of those tropical butterfly farms in our garden.
Although the white ones are most prolific at the moment there are others as well. At one stage I found myself in a swarm of maybe 100 butterflies all fluttering by me.
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:3. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.
Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath.
We were all sinners before we were saved. We also lived among them, that is, sins and transgressions. We were not born innocent, but had what theologians used to call “original sin.” We were born sinful from the start.
Our lives have all been different in many ways, but every person has this tendency to sin. Paul calls this the “sinful nature” or in some translations” flesh.” In some people this is seen in obvious acts of immorality and criminality. In others the sinful nature operates in more respectable ways. However, it is all sin.
Flesh or sinful nature is not related to our bodily make up. Is a concise expression for the part of our nature which always tends towards sin or rebellion against God,
We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. There is no exception apart from Jesus.
Pleasing the sinful nature is the default setting for humanity. Unless we consciously intervene, we will inevitably sin.
A car with its wheels incorrectly aligned will drift to the left or the right unless the driver constantly steers the vehicle the opposite way. An intervention from the driver, and ultimately a mechanic, is necessary.
We all veer towards sin unless we choose not to. But even our thoughts and desires are tainted by sin so that we cannot always make the right choice. We need to be made over by God.
So until we come to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to adjust our thinking we are doomed to sin, even if we try to do what is right.
Before we were saved we were living in sin and transgressions, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.
It is not hard to work out what these cravings of the flesh nature might be. In fact psychologists define a hierarchy of needs which is, in fact, a guide to the fleshly nature.
We have a physical needs such as food, water, shelter, sex and so on. The need for food easily changes to gluttony as we feed the body as much as possible when food is available. The drive for sex turns to last when it is unrestrained.
Then there are issues that relate to safety. but our self-directed sinful nature demands that need his meeting ways that are harmful to others.
As we go up the hierarchy of needs we discover that, although these are God-given drives that exist in all of us, they so easily lead us to sinning if we live independently of God. This is particularly true of the higher order needs of self- esteem and self- actualisation. These are driven by self- a code word for flesh.
We were once in that place of being led by the flesh, the sinful nature, that lives independently of God. We once lived in rebellion against God.
Because we are born with this sinful nature, and therefore default to sin, before we were Christians satan had very little to do to secure our destruction. We were left to our own devices, and as we lived in sin, we would have died in sin, and ultimately we would go to hell. It should not be a surprise that it is after we are saved we become subjects of satan’s attacks . These take the form of temptation, persecution, and so on.
Before we are saved, while we are still under the dominion of the flesh, we are “objects of wrath.” This refers to God’s wrath.
We think of wrath as being anger that is out of control, rage on steroids.
Gods wrath is rightly understood as judicial fury against sin. God is not angry with people. In fact He loves people. He loves sinners, but he is furious about sin and the deeds of the flesh.
Sin separates us from God. It is no wonder that He has wrath towards it and towards its practitioners. He has determined that all who rebelled against him and continue to rebel will be punished. This is justice- a forensic form of wrath.
When cases are brought to court that are notoriously evil or depraved, we expect that the perpetrators are rightly punished. Our anger at the awfulness of the crime demands it.
God sees the awfulness of sin and how it alienates us from him and results in us hurting one another. As long as we continue to sin we are objects of wrath, candidates for great punishment .
There can be no more fearful punishment for sin then total removal from God’s presence. This is what Hell is like. It is a place of total separation from God and from everything that makes life enjoyable. Hell is the place where sin reaps its ultimate harvest .
God will give us all a chance to repent, an opportunity to turn to Him and receive His forgiveness. But all who refuse his grace remain under his wrath.
Key points in this verse
We were all sinners before we were saved by faith in Christ
The sinful nature always defaults to sin unless there is an intervention
Gratifying the fleshly nature results in sin, even when all we are doing is trying to meet our needs
All who are living in sin are objects of God’s wrath
The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Observation
Following the stoning of Stephen, a great wave of persecution breaks out, scattering the believers everywhere. Saul is a part of this persecution.
The scattered believers take the gospel, preaching about Jesus wherever they go.
Philip goes to Samaria, and many people receive Jesus there, including a man named Simon who had previously performed many acts of magic.
The apostles send Peter and John to find out what is happening in Samaria. They discover that the people had not received the Holy Spirit because they had only been baptised into the name of Jesus. When Peter and John lay hands on them they receive the Holy Spirit.
Application
A great revival is taking place in Samaria. Even people practising the occult are hearing the gospel and being saved.
In all the happy chaos, people are receiving a baptism that is not quite right, with the result that they do not receive the Holy Spirit when they are baptised.
It is hard to fathom this. We tend to think that words and liturgy don’t matter that much because God looks at our heart.
But clearly the Lord thought there was something lacking in the practice so that He withheld the baptism in the Holy Spirit from the new believers. They came up out of the water without speaking in tongues.
Fortunately, there are a remedy available- Peter and John laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
So our words matter. If we only baptise in the name of the Lord Jesus and not of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) then our practice lacks something. The person may not receive all that God wants for them. This is not to say that God is limited by our words, but it may be that our words limit our ability to receive.
The Lord is not reluctant to bless us, often we just have to ask with an expectant heart.
Prayer
Father God, pour out your Holy Spirit on me. Baptise me, fill me, overshadow me, anoint me. Please pour out every grace into my spirit so that I can more readily honour you and point people to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand.
Observation
Stephen continues his narration of the history of Israel.
Moses was rejected by the people who wanted to return to Egypt. Stephen says they carried pagan idols as well as the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness.
He goes on to say their ancestors rejected all the prophets, and now the Jewish leaders have also rejected the Messiah the prophets has foretold.
The leaders are infuriated by Stephen’s message, and they drag him outside to kill him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, has a vision of Jesus in heaven.
Application
Stephen, throughout this show trial, was focused on God. At the beginning of his speech, we are told his face was as bright as an angel’s. Now, at the end, facing imminent death, he is full of the Holy Spirit and seeing Jesus at God’s right hand.
When we are most under pressure, facing opposition for our faith, it is then that the Holy Spirit fills us and enables us to speak for God or pray in faith, or whatever the need is at the time.
Many christians who have been imprisoned or tortured for Christ have reported that in their moments of greatest suffering, Jesus has been particularly real to them.
Stephen sees Jesus in heaven standing at the right hand side of the Father’s throne. What an amazing vision to have right at the moment of his death! It’s as if Jesus is cheering him on, “Come on Stephen! Just a few minutes and you will be here with me!”
Those momentary visions of heaven or of Jesus should be life- changing for us. It was a vision of Jesus that led to my salvation. The same vision has given me strength to continue walking with Him when tempted to give up. How could I turn my back on the one I had seen with my own eyes?
Not everyone has a literal vision of Jesus, but as we seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we see Jesus more clearly and follow Him more closely.
Prayer
Lord, as I stand firm in you there will be opposition, even persecution. Grant that I may gain a clearer vision of you and grace to persevere no matter what the cost. Amen.
“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people’”
Observation
Stephen continues his defence of charges of blasphemy that have been brought against him.
He now tells the story of Moses, how he was chosen by God but rejected by the people and forced into the desert for forty years. God spoke to him in the burning bush and commissioned him to be their ruler and saviour.
Application
Jesus was the prophet whom Moses had foretold. Moses was the greatest leader that Israel ever had, and he was closer to the Lord than anyone in history.
To say that God would raise up another prophet like him, Moses was looking forward to Jesus who was constantly in close relationship with His Father.
As followers of Jesus, we must also seek to walk closely with the Father. We do this through things like prayer, Bible reading, corporate worship, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and so on.
What I have noticed is that many of us reach a place of discipleship where we are comfortable. We might have a routine of prayer and Bible reading, a ministry in the church. We reach a place of ease so that there is no challenge to move higher.
But God is constantly calling us higher.
God’s aim is for intimacy with us, that close relationship that Jesus shared with the Father. That means stripping away everything that gets in the way.
Some of these things are not necessarily bad things. Sin obviously blocks our relationship with God. Sometimes it is things that are not of themselves sinful, but they do distract us from the main goal. They take time and energy that we should be devoting to the Lord.
What is the focal point of my life? Where does my attention go to?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the Prophet Moses foretold, but even more so. Please help me to yield to you all that stands in the way of a truly surrendered relationship. Amen.
Authorities have begun seizing Chinese-made faulty face masks and other protective clothing that is being exported to Australia to help halt the spread of coronavirus.
Key points:
An official has dubbed some of the intercepted Chinese personal protective equipment “dodgy”
Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands have rejected Chinese-made protective equipment
Australia has banned face masks, gloves, gowns, goggles, alcohol wipes and hand sanitiser exports
The ABC has learnt that in recent weeks, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers have intercepted several deliveries of personal protective equipment (PPE) that have been found to be counterfeit or otherwise faulty.
One law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the ABF had already seized 800,000 masks with a combined value of more than $1.2 million on the Australian market.
“We started seeing this stuff arriving roughly three weeks ago when news of the pandemic was really taking off,” the official told the ABC.
“The dodgy material is coming via air cargo because there is a backlog of sea freight at Australian ports.”
The ABC has approached the Department of Home Affairs and the Minister for Home Affairs for comment.
The Department refused to comment and the ABC is yet to receive a response from the Minister’s office.
The Federal Government today officially banned the exporting of protective equipment such as masks, gloves and gowns from Australia during the coronavirus outbreak.
It foreshadowed the plan last week, and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Health Minister Greg Hunt have now signed off on the new regulations.
New rules are also stopping people buying up supplies of protective equipment to then resell locally at an inflated price.
It has also sought to boost supply by opening up the nation’s emergency medical stockpile and increasing domestic production.
In Victoria, Army personnel have been deployed to manufacturer Med-Con to help double the factory’s production of face masks.
Several European governments have rejected Chinese-made equipment designed to combat the coronavirus outbreak in recent days.
Thousands of testing kits and medical masks are below standard or defective, according to authorities in Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.
The Dutch health ministry announced it had recalled 600,000 face masks on March 28.
The equipment arrived from a Chinese manufacturer on March 21 and had already been distributed to frontline medical teams.
Dutch officials said the masks did not fit and their filters did not work as intended, even though they had a quality certificate.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has rejected suggestions the country’s exports were faulty.
“A large number of Chinese manufacturers are working around the clock to help other countries save lives,” she said yesterday.
