Scripture

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved– you and your household.”

Observation

A slave girl possessed by a spirit of divination follows Paul and Silas for several days calling out, “these men are servants of the Most High God who ar telling you the way to be saved.” Finally, Paul casts the spirit out of her.

The owners of the slave girl realise their opportunity to make money has been taken from them. They seize Paul and Silas and taken them to the authorities. Paul and silas are flogged and thrown into prison.

About midnight, Paul and Silas are praying and singing, when there is an earthquake that opens all the prison doors. The jailer is about to kill himself, but Paul tells him the prisoners are all still there.

The jailer taes Paul and Silas home where they shre the gospel with his family, and they are all saved.

Application

The gospel is so simple that the least educated of people can understand it.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

There is no complicated formula or initiation process. No great knowledge is required. Just an understanding that we are sinners, and Jesus is our Saviour.

One small point needs to be stated about the word “believe.” It really means trust. To believe in Jesus is to trust Him and to accept that our lives now belong to Him. It is not about believing in some facts, but believing in a person.

If you have never put your faith in Jesus as your Saviour, do it now.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you for paying the price for my sins. I put my hope in you and I trust you to show me how to live for you. Amen.

Scripture

When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

Observation

Not long after Peter visited the house of Cornelius and the household was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, news gets back to Jerusalem. When Peter arrives there, he is criticised for eating in the homes of Gentiles.

Peter recounts the story of his vision of unclean animals, the command to eat and the subsequent visit to the home of Cornelius. He tells how when he began to speak, the Gentiles believed and received the Holy Spirit.

Application

At first, the believers were all Jewish, and they understood Jesus’ ministry in the context and the culture of Judaism. It does not appear to have occurred to any of them that Gentiles could be saved. The next big issue that plagued the church was whether Gentiles needed to become Jewish in order to live as a follower of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit kept on showing them that the gospel was bigger than anyone could have imagined.

Salvation is for everyone who will repent- that is turn away from their sins- and follow Jesus.

The gospel is freely available to all people. In Revelation, John talks repeatedly about people from every tribe and nation and ethnic group.

There are no prerequisites for following Jesus, apart form a heart that loves God. God’s grace is like a flooding river that flows right over the top of human distinctions.

“God so loved the world” means the whole world. Every human being from the North Pole to the South, and all the points in between is loved by God.

We are all candidates for heaven if we accept Jesus as Lord.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your great and amazing grace that is so big that it even includes sinners like me. Amen.

Scripture

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning towards the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

Observation

This passage records two miracles by Peter. Firstly a paralysed man named Aeneas is healed.

The second miracle is the raising of Tabitha, a disciple who had done many good works. Peter goes in, prays and then commands her to get up. She opens her eyes and then sits up.

Application

Peter was obviously a man of great faith. As a true disciple, a follower of Jesus, he was able to do the same kinds of miracles which Jesus had done.

Peter knew the resurrection power of Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he was bold enough to preach and to enact the word of the Lord.

We look at these passage for tips on how to heal people or how to pray. This passage is not about those two things.

Peter clearly had a very intimate relationship with God. Like Jesus he was able to say, “I only do what the Father is doing.”

In order to see the miracles of God working in us and through us, we need to pursue that kind of relationship with the Lord.

Daily prayer and scripture reading, exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit, listening to God and obeying Him, are the simple paths to this intimacy with God.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to walk in your ways. Help me to have that close relationship with you that transforms lives daily. Amen.

Scripture
The Holy Spirit had not come on any of them, for they had only been baptised in the name of Jesus.

Observation
Many people are turning to Jesus in Samaria under the preaching of Philip. The apostles send Peter and John to investigate what is happening. They find that none of the believers have received the Holy Spirit because they have only been baptised in the name of Jesus.

Peter and John lay their hands on the believers, and they receive the Holy Spirit.

Application
Many christians, and many pastors, are blasé about the words used in worship and in prayer. We all want to be spontaneous and led by the Holy Spirit.

I would not want to get trapped into a liturgical mind set where the words are recited by rote and with little care for their meaning. Yet, there are times when the words that are spoken are important to the Lord and so they should be important to us also.

The disciples in Samaria believed in Jesus and were baptised, but they lacked the Holy Spirit. This lack was so obvious that the visiting apostles saw it straight away.

The problem was that they had been baptised only in the name of Jesus and not in the full Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A failure in words led to a failure in the sacrament.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul takes the church to task for its inadequate expression of the Lord’s Supper. He even states that because they failed to celebrate Communion with the right spirit, some of them had died.

Words in worship carry significance.

Prayer
Lord, purify me heart and my lips so that when I come before you to worship I do this with an undivided heart. Amen.

Scripture

Everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave hem the ability.

Observation

It is the Day of Pentecost, and all the believers are in one place. Suddenly there is a noise like a mighty wind and something like tongues of fire settle on each one.

Everyone present is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to speak other languages in the power of the Holy Spirit. People hearing the commotion come running and are perplexed to hear the disciples praising God in various languages. Some ascribe it to God, others to drunkenness.

Peter stands up and points the hearers to the prophet Joel who had prophesied that in the last ays the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh.

Application

How awesome it is that every believer has the ability to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is God’s Spirit dwelling in us and empowering our speech to God’s glory.

Everyone present was filled- there were no exceptions. The gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all ages, to women and men.

The outward sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit was the gift of tongues; the ability to praise God and to pray in a language you don’t know, a special prayer language.

When we don’t know how to pray, praying in tongues is a means by which the Holy Spirit in us intercedes on our behalf.

The presence of the Holy Spirit was not just for the believers who were there. It was for unbelievers also- those who heard the noise but did not know what it meant. This event led to the hearts of many being softened and prepared for Peter’s message so that 3000 people were saved that day.

The power of the Holy Spirit changes everything.

Prayer

Come and fill me Holy Spirit. Let my tongue be used to praise you and my heart set on fire by your love. Amen.

Scripture:

Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.

Observation:

It is in the gap between the return of Jesus to heaven and the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes.

One day, when 120 of the believers are present in the one place, Peter tells them that they need to replace Judas as an apostle.

They nominate two men, Matthias and Justus. After praying they cast lots, and Matthias is added to the eleven.

Application:

It seems an odd way to choose an apostle, that is by casting lots. To our way of thinking it seems a little casual to make such an important appointment in this way.

Both Matthias and Justus meet the criteria that were established and both were equally qualified for the position.

If we believe that God directs the courses of nations, then it should not be too hard to believe that He directs the selection of the apostles.

After Pentecost, we do not read of this method of selecting ministers again. We have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, dwelling in us. Surely we can believe that He will lead us in every important decision.

The important factor of course is prayer. When we pray and include listening in the prayer process, then God will lead us in every decision that we submit to Him.

Prayer

Lord God, please help me to submit every decision to you, and please lead me into the right choices. Amen.