Tag Archives: Acts 9-10

November 15, 2023 Bible Study — God Uses Times of Persecution and Times of Peace to Grow the Church

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 9-10.

As I was reading today my attention was drawn to something I never thought about before.  So, after Stephen was martyred, the early Church was heavily persecuted for a period of time.  This led to the Believers being scattered around.  The scattering led them into contact with more people causing faith in Christ to spread to new areas.  Saul was apparently a leader in the persecution and he followed the Believers to where they went in order to continue the persecution.  Then after his conversion, his confrontational approach to trying to convert those Jews who did not believe in Christ kept things going.  However, after the Believers convinced Saul to leave Jerusalem and go to his home town of Tarsus, things calmed down.  So, the persecution scattered the Believers and led the Church to grow, but the peace which came after Saul’s conversion and “exile” also led the Church to grow.  This helps us to see that God brings trials upon us in order to spread the Gospel, but He also uses times of calm to do the same thing.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 15, 2022 Bible Study — The Church Needs To Be More Responsive To The Holy Spirit Today

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 9-10.

When I wrote about Philip preaching the Gospel to the Ethiopian yesterday I did not mention how the Ethiopian immediately requested to be baptized, and what that tells us about bringing people to Christ.  However, today we have two more incidents involving baptism.  Immediately after Ananias laid his hands on Saul, restoring his sight, Saul was baptized, even before he got something to eat.  Then Saul spent a few days with the Believers with the implication that they spent those days confirming that Saul’s belief was consistent with Jesus’ teaching.  We, also, have the story of Peter going to Cornelius’ house to preach.  There the Holy Spirit came upon those to whom Peter was preaching and Peter baptized them.  After which Peter spent a few days confirming that they had a solid grounding in Jesus’ teachings.  All three of these stories (the Ethopian from yesterday, Saul’s conversion, and Cornelius’ household) have one thing in common, the new believers were baptized immediately upon their confession of faith.  It was only after their baptism that the Church made an attempt to give them in-depth training about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  These accounts also tell us that the Holy Spirit had filled these people when they received the Gospel message.  We need greater spontaneity in the Church today, when the Spirit moves we need to follow.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 15, 2021 Bible Study — An Example Of Loving Your Enemies

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 9-10.

Sometimes I think we do not pay enough attention to the bravery of the Ananias in the account of Saul’s conversion.  I think that there are two reasons for this.  The first being that the account is about Saul’s conversion and Saul plays such a major role later in the Book of Acts (and the development of the Church), while we know nothing more about this Ananias than what we are told here.  Additionally, we tend to think of the other Believer named Ananias, the one who, with his wife, conspired to pretend he had given more to aid the poor than he actually had.  That being said, let us look at the actions of this Ananias.  He had clearly heard that Saul was persecuting those who followed Jesus and testified in His name.  Further, it seems likely that he had heard that something had happened to Saul on his way to Damascus.  Perhaps he was even feeling that he should go to Saul and offer prayer for his sight to be restored in Jesus’ name.  However, he was afraid to do so, until he had a vision telling him to do just that.  Let us think about the situation.  Word had either gotten to Damascus ahead of Saul, or perhaps spread after his arrival, that he was coming to imprison Believers and take them back to Jerusalem for punishment.  When Saul arrived in Damascus word quickly spread among the Jews, including the Believers, that something had happened to him on the road to Damascus and now he was blind.  The Believers in Damascus must have felt great joy at Saul’s misfortune, hopefully, not for his suffering but because it meant he would be unable to impose suffering on others.  But Ananias felt compelled to relieve Saul’s suffering and attempt to call him into service to Christ.  When we see those who have chosen to be our enemies, let us strive to follow Ananias’ example.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 15, 2020 Bible Study The Other Ananias

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10

Just a note about the theme I have noticed about the confrontational style of many of the early believers: here in the account of Saul’s conversion and his early preaching we discover that in both Damascus and Jerusalem Saul quickly stirred people up so that they wanted to kill him.  However, I really want to focus on Ananias.  Usually when we talk about Ananias we are referring to the man who conspired with his wife to lie to the Church about how much he received for a field he sold.  That is kind of a shame because this Ananias deserves our praise.  We often hear commentary on the fact that when Saul later arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas was initially the only believer to give Saul a chance.  Yet, before that, when Saul arrived in Damascus, God sent Ananias to him to complete his conversion (actually, conversion is the wrong word, but I will go into that another time).  Ananias knew that Saul had come to Damascus with the intention of arresting any followers of Jesus he was able to find.  Nevertheless, he knew the power of the Holy Spirit and was willing to accept the Spirit’s leading that Saul had changed.  We need to be like Ananias and Barnabas, giving people a second chance, and as Jesus taught even a seventh chance.

November 15, 2019 Bible Study — God Decides What Is Clean

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10

The nature of Saul’s conversion is not uncommon.  Often times those who are the most loudly and violently opposed to the faith become some of its most vocal and forceful proponents when the Holy Spirit reaches them.  In Saul’s case, we see someone who used violence and torture against those whose arguments he could not refute.  Saul was a student of Gamaliel, the man who advised the Sanhedrin that if the Jesus’ teachings were not of God His followers would disperse now that Jesus had been crucified.  So, in persecuting the Believers, Saul was going against the advice of his own rabbi.

The key phrase from the account of Peter visiting Cornelius comes from Peter’s vision: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”  There are many different ways in which this can be interpreted, but let’s look at how Peter interpreted it.  Before having this vision, Peter viewed Gentiles as unclean for failing to adopt Jewish cultural practices.   After the vision, Peter realized that anyone who fears God and does what is right is clean.  Peter felt this way when he began preaching.  Then the Holy Spirit validated his understanding by falling upon the Gentiles listening to him.  Also, let us note that these Gentiles were devout: they gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly.  Peter did not need to preach to them about this.

November 15, 2018 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10.

    As I read the account of Saul’s conversion, one question comes to my mind. Did the men with Saul actually hear what the voice said to him? My understanding has always been that they heard a voice, but not what it said to Saul. Luke’s failure to identify them suggests that none of them became believers. Luke’s attention to detail leads me to believe that if they had become believers he would have sought them out and used their memory of the incident to flesh it out.

    The other aspect of Saul’s conversion I want to spend time on is two characters to whose role here we pay less attention than we should: Ananias and Barnabas. In Ananias’ case that is probably because his name is the same as the man who died for lying about how much money he received for a plot of land. However, Ananias of Damascus is someone we should strive to emulate. When God told him to go to Saul, he was wary because he knew that Saul had come to Damascus to persecute believers. It was Ananias, at great risk to himself, who delivered God’s healing to Saul and helped the Holy Spirit finalize Saul’s conversion. We do pay more attention to Barnabas, but most of that attention has to do with his role in Saul’s missionary journeys as Paul. However, when Saul returned to Jerusalem after his conversion it was Barnabas who was willing to believe that he had changed. It was Barnabas who introduced Saul to the Apostles and thus brought him into the Church. Barnabas was willing to accept that Saul had changed when no one else was.

November 15, 2017 Bible Study — Call No One Unclean

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10.

    Here we see two examples of Luke changing the name he uses for people. As I said the other day, I believe that Luke changes the names he uses as part of his attention to detail. The two people mentioned are Saul and Barnabas. Earlier, Luke referred to Barnabas by his given name, Joseph, but told us that he was also known as Barnabas. Further on in this book, Luke switches to referring to Saul as Paul (and explains at that point that Saul was also called Paul). If Luke were making this up, it would make an easier story to tell if he just used the same name throughout. The only reason I can imagine for using the different names is so that his readers could more easily corroborate what he was writing. At the point in time being described in today’s passage, everyone knew Saul as “Saul”, at the time of events described later people know him as “Paul”.

    Luke’s description of Peter’s vision and his visit with Cornelius are absolutely critical for us to read and learn the lesson they contain. Luke is not at all bashful in making sure we understand the lesson here. The only thing Luke could have added to make his point even more clear was a reference to Genesis 1:26. Peter as a good and conscientious Jew would have considered Gentiles to be unclean and that associating with them would make him unclean. Peter got the Holy Spirit’s message, no one created in God’s image should be considered unclean. Martin Luther King, Jr got it right, we should judge people by the content of their character not by their ancestry. Actually, we should judge people by their reaction to the Holy Spirit. When Peter saw the Holy Spirit fill Cornelius and his household he recognized that they should be baptized. I want to emphasize that anyone who judges people based on anything other than their actions is not following the clear direction of God…and when judging people based on their actions we need to be prepared to forgive them…even if they sin repeatedly.

November 15, 2016 Bible Study — Call Nothing Unclean Which God Has Declared Clean

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 9-10.

    As is often the case, Saul went from being an enthusiastic persecutor of the Church to one of its biggest proponents. And, as is also often the case, those who had supported Saul when he was a persecutor of the Church became his enemoies as soon as he started to preach on behalf of the Church. They did not take his conversion as a reason to re-evaluate their position. Instead they became hostile to Saul. Interestingly, Luke tells us that after Saul converted and departed for Tarsus, persecution of the Church died down. It is also worth noting that Saul was not converted by someone preaching to him. He was converted by direct intervention from God. Something we may want to keep in mind when facing strenuous opposition.

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    There are some things about Cornelius that are worth noting. He was a God-fearing man who gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly. Cornelius was seeking God when the Gospel came to him. He is an example that those who seek will find. However, as most people observe, the most important part of the story of Cornelius is the message God gave to Peter. Peter realized that he should not consider any person as impure or unclean. That is the main point of this story. In God’s eyes, everyone is clean. We should not refuse to associate with anyone, no matter what. There may be people with whom, for one reason or another, we should only associate with in the company of others, but there is no one we should refuse to associate with. If they refuse to associate with us, that is on them not us.