Scripture

Instantly an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Observation

Herod starts to persecute the church by having James put to death. This pleases the Jewish leaders, so he has Peter arrested. The night before Peter’s trial, an angel of the Lord comes to release him and lead him to safety.

The people of Tyre and Sidon send a delegation to make peace with Herod. Herod makes a fine speech which the people present proclaim to be the speech of a god not a man. Because Herod accepts this false worship, the Lord strikes him down with sickness, and he dies.

Application

Many people like to think that God does not punish people, that He does not judge sin. Of course this is nonsense. The Bible is full of warnings against the judgement of God.

Here Herod is struck down with a fatal illness because he is praised as a god. It is interesting that it is this blasphemous pride rather than the murder of James and the attempted murder of Peter which God punishes.

While few of us would be tempted to think that we are gods, many can be prone to pride at various times. We might be proud of our abilities, proud of our talents, proud of our ministry.

At these times, we run the risk of being judged by the Lord.

Every now and again we hear of pastors falling into sin of some kind, sometimes even committing a crime. Very few of them start off in ministry with this or other immoral goals. But pride, even a sense of entitlement, starts to find its way in. Eventually they find themselves doing things that once they would not have considered themselves capable of doing.

God’s judgement is real, but not because He gets pleasure from inflicting pain on us. God judges because He loves us and wants us to turn to Him before it is too late.

Prayer

Father, please help me to walk in your ways every day. May I live in a way that honours you. Amen.

Scripture

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith.

Observation

The persecution in Jerusalem scatters the believers to many places, but they preach only to the Jews. Some believers arrive in Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene and start preaching to the Gentiles. The power of the Lord is with them, and many are saved.

The church at Jerusalem sends Barnabas to Antioch. He sees that God is doing great things there and he goes off to Tarsus to fetch Saul. They both stay in Antioch for a year, teaching large crowds of people.

A prophet called Agabus predicts a huge famine, so the believers in Antioch collect money to help the church in Jerusalem.

Application

I can’t think of any better honour than to be described, like Barnabas, as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith.

This three- fold description is something we can all aspire to, because they are all choices that we make.

To be a “good man” or woman really depends on the choice to stand firm in the Lord. This goes beyond moral choices to the concept of integrity. A good person is one who knows what is right in every situation and who operates from conviction. A few years ago there was a fad on the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” which is a good way to remind us to always act in a way that honours the Lord.

To be full of the Holy Spirit is also a choice. It means that we constantly seek the Lord in prayer, asking Him to direct our steps. Christians are meant to be always aware of the Holy Spirit. Cultivating that awareness of the Spirit goes a long way to being full of the Spirit.

To be strong in faith means both prayer and action. Every issue in our life, every non-believer, every local and national problem should be brought before the Lord in prayer. As we do this, we learn to see that we have authority in the Lord. We start to pray bold and faithful prayers. Having prayed and listened to the Lord, we can act confidently, ministering the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to be a Barnabas: good, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. 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

Peter arrives back in Jerusalem, having shared the gospel with Cornelius’ household. Some of the Jewish believers criticise him for entering the home of a Gentile. Peter recounts the story of how he had the vision of the animals being lowered from heaven, his visit to Caesarea, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles.

When the others hear this, they stop objecting and start praising God. They rejoice that God is giving the Gentiles the opportunity to repent and believe the Good News.

Application

How often our preconceptions of what God will do prevent us from seeing what He is already doing. The Jewish believers thought that God would only save people like them, but God’s plan is much bigger.

Sometimes we get mentally locked in to a picture of the way God acts. It can be about people being saved- we might have a hard time believing that a particular people group can encounter God and believe the gospel.

Sometimes we think that a certain prayer or a way of praying is the only way to get a healing or some other miracle. Some people get fixated on a person- only the pastor or a particular celebrity preacher can pray for them.

Amazingly, God is much bigger than our preconceptions of Him. He will save anybody who turns to Him. He will use any prayer from any person to achieve His purposes..

Prayer

Lord, teach me how to see things as you see them, and not through the filter of my preconceptions. Amen.

Scripture

Evan as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message.

Observation

Peter starts to share the gospel message. He shares how God has shown him that he accepts all who fear Him and do what is right.

Peter goes on to say that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit by God and went about healing all who were oppressed. He was crucified, but God raised Him to life on the third day.

While Peter is speaking, the Holy Spirit comes on the hearers. They start speaking in tongues and praising God. Peter orders that they should be baptised since God has given His Holy Spirit to them.

Application

While Peter is speaking, the Holy Spirit came on the hearers. Of all the reasons to have a sermon interrupted, this would have to be the best!

It was a shock to the Jewish believers that the Gentiles should receive the Holy Spirit like this. They were still thinking of christianity as a Jewish thing. But here was a bunch of people who were not Jews suddenly receiving the Holy Spirit as they responded to the Good News.

God often catches us by surprise. The least likely people get saved sometimes, while those we think are on the edge of believing remain stubbornly on the edge.

Like on the Day of Pentecost, the sign of the Holy Spirit being poured our is that these new believers speak in tongues and praise God.

Speaking in tongues or, as Paul calls it, praying in the Spirit, means surrendering our voice to the Holy Spirit for Him to use.

Praising God means using our voice , along with our mind, to focus on speaking good things about God.

Both of these together are signs of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Come Holy Spirit and fill me again. May my heart and mind be totally filled with you, and my tongue devoted to our praise. Amen.

Scripture

“ So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.”

Observation

After seeing the vision, Peter is told by the Holy Spirit that three men have come to the house, and Peter is to go with them. He goes downstairs where the men explain why they have come.

The next day they leave for Caesarea. There, Cornelius has gathered his friends and relatives together to hear the message.

Peter explains his realisation that he should not call any person impure or unclean, despite the Jewish laws. Cornelius then recounts his experience of seeing the angel, and the message the angel gave him.

Application

After their respective experiences, Cornelius and Peter were both expecting God to do something powerful. Cornelius had even invited friends and relatives to hear Peter’s message, even though he did not know for sure what the message would be, or even if Peter would come.

Wouldn’t it be different if each Sunday in church everybody came with the sense of anticipation? We don’t know what the preacher is going to say, but we know that the Holy Spirit is leading him and it will be awesome!

As a pastor, I sometimes get my hopes up that God will do something this week. Sometimes He chooses to do visible healings and miracles; sometimes lives are changed by the Holy Spirit applying the message to people’s hearts.

I am sure that if we gather together with an expectation that God is going to do something, He will be more likely to act.

As I talk to people, they are already excited about getting together for worship after the lock down ends. I hope that the expectation is about meeting God as much as it is about meeting people.

This is the kind of expectation that God will use.

Prayer

Please help me Lord to grow in expectation that you will meet with me at any time and in any place, but especially when the church meets together. Amen.

Scripture

But the voice spoke again, “Do not call anything unclean if God has made it clean.”

Observation

A devout, God- fearing man called Cornelius, a Gentile, has a vision in which he sees an angel. The angel tells him to send some men to Joppa to find Peter. As soon as the angel leaves, Cornelius sends some servants and a soldier.

As Cornelius’ messengers are approaching Joppa, Peter goes to the roof of the house where he is staying in order to pray. He falls into a trance and has a vision of a large sheet being lowered from heaven. The sheet has all kinds of animals on it, and a voice tells him to kill and eat. Peter refuses, saying that the animals are unclean. The voice rebukes Peter for calling unclean what God has called clean. The vision is repeated three times.

Application

I am often amazed at Peter’s boldness. In this passage he is not afraid to tell God that He is messed up with His command to eat unclean food.

The Lord had to make it clear to Peter that it was a new era now. God was working with the Gentiles, not just the Jews. It was time to adjust his thinking about what and who is clean, and what and who is unclean.

There are many christians who carry a similar, religious point of view. There are aspects of culture that they declare are sinful, even though the Bible is silent on the issue. Many have looked down on people who like contemporary music, dancing, playing cards, alcohol or whatever. They ask, “How can you be a christian and do that?”

Some aspects of our culture are misused, twisted by sin. But not all of them are.

As christians we must not fall into the trap of thinking that if I don’t like something, then it is not of the Lord; if one song is overly sexualised then it condemns a whole genre of music.

There are many things that God has declared to be good, which we might in our zeal to be holy, declare to be unclean.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to be slow to judge and quick to accept others. Help me to discern what you call clean or unclean, and to walk in humility with you. Amen.

Scripture

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.

Scripture

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.

Scripture

“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.