Recap

So far in Acts, we've read through the introduction, the disciples' time in Jerusalem, the church spreading into Samaria, and then started the missionary trips to the ends of the earth. Acts, a sequel to Luke's gospel, explores the early church's birth and growth. Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread the good news from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

After his ascension, the Holy Spirit came as wind and fire, making believers God's new temples. Empowered to speak in different languages, the disciples amazed the crowd, and Peter led over 3,000 to salvation. The church was born, and believers lived in community, sharing all they had.

Peter and John healed a lame man at the temple, explaining that God’s presence now dwelt in his people. This led to conflict with the priests, who warned them to stop preaching. The believers prayed for boldness and shared their possessions. As struggles arose, the Apostles appointed seven men to manage daily tasks, and the church grew.

Stephen, one of the seven, performed miracles but was accused of blasphemy. He highlighted how Israel had rejected God’s chosen, including Jesus. This enraged the crowd who stoned him. His death triggered persecution, forcing Christians to spread the gospel to Judea and Samaria.

Philip helped spread the gospel in Samaria and was led by God to assist an Ethiopian man with scripture. Meanwhile, Saul, on his way to arrest Christians, was blinded by Jesus, healed by Ananias, and filled with the Holy Spirit. He began preaching immediately, despite opposition. The disciples in Jerusalem were initially wary of Saul, but Barnabas vouched for him.

Peter received a vision about not calling what God made clean, unclean. He preached to Gentiles, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This led to the Gentiles being included with the believers. A multi-ethnic church was established in Antioch, supported by Saul and Barnabas.

This marked the outreach to the ends of the earth. Paul and Barnabas travelled to Cyprus and Asia Minor, preaching to Jews and Gentiles, seeing many saved but also facing opposition. Despite the challenges, they established churches. Returning to Antioch, they reported their success, and the believers praised God.

A group of believers argued that Gentile converts must become Jews and be circumcised. Circumcision had been the sign of belonging to God since Abraham. The believers held a council, where James noted that the Gentiles had already been filled with the Holy Spirit. This was a better seal than circumcision. The apostles agreed and sent a letter to the churches. It stated that Gentiles didn’t need to adopt Jewish customs but must reject things offensive to God.

Paul and Barnabas then began separate mission journeys after disagreeing over taking John Mark. Paul went north, eventually led by the Holy Spirit to Macedonia. There he preached to women and then a jailer after being arrested.

Acts 17-18

Arriving in Thessalonica, Paul begins to teach in the synagogue each Sabbath. During the time, many Jews and Greeks become believers, but there are other Jews that are angry at Paul, and try to get rid of him.

Unable to get to Paul directly, they decide to attack the owner of the home they’re staying at, Jason. They take him before the local officials and accuse him of causing trouble. The officials fine James and send him off.

Realising the increasing threat, Paul and the others decide to move on to Berea, where they are warmly accepted. Many Jews and Greeks here become believers. But it doesn’t take long before the Jews from Thessalonica get word of this and travel to Berea to cause trouble for Paul.

In these two towns, we get two very different responses to hearing new teaching. Those from Thessalonica were angered by the new teaching, acting emotionally. Those from Berea were intrigued and made sure to weigh up this new teaching against scripture.

We often have an emotional connection to the things we believe, so when someone tries to teach us something different we react emotionally. As believers, we don’t know everything, we’re all still learning, so it’s important that when someone brings something new that we’re open to it but always weigh it against scripture.

Moving on to Athens and Paul is in the heartland of Greece. Athens was one of the centres of Greek thought. Luke even notes that many Athenians just spent the time thinking and listening to others (Acts 17:21). Paul started preaching in the synagogues but soon moved to the Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill, a prominent place within Athens for teaching and debate.

There we get a detailed version of the speech Paul gave. He starts with something from their own culture, a recognition that there is probably a god they don’t know that deserves worship.

Building from this, Paul argues that the God of the Old Testament is that God. He is the supreme God, in charge of all things. Paul draws on Old Testament passages to show that God is not far away, in fact our very existence depends on him (see Job 12:10, Daniel 5:23).

And then he draws on a Greek poet called Aratus. Aratus wrote a poem called ‘Phainomena’ which describes human as the offspring of Zeus. Paul uses this to point out that they’re right about being children of god, but just wrong about which God.

He then uses this line of thought to encourage them to change their ways. The Greeks loved their idols, but Paul points out that if we are truly children of this creator God, then idols don’t do him justice.

He calls them to turn away from their idols and turn to God, because while God has let this all slide for now, there is coming a time where God will judge the world. The way to make sure you end up on the right side of this judgement is by believing in Jesus, and God made this clear by raising Jesus from the dead.

While some disagreed with Paul many others became believers that day. In this we see a masterclass in evangelism. Paul roots the entire gospel into their worldview, drawing on things they already believe and challenging other things.

Leaving Athens, Paul moves on to Corinth. As usual, he started sharing about Jesus in the synagogues. But the Jews’ opposition to him was so strong that he changed his mind and decided to dedicate all his time to reaching the Gentiles in Corinth.This meant that the church in Corinth was significantly more Greek in culture than many of the other churches that Paul established.

God speaks to Paul to encourage him to continue and be bold in Corinth. Some might oppose him, but God won’t let them stop him. So Paul spends eighteen months building the church in Corinth.

The Jews try to stop them but end up only embarrassing themselves. While there he meets Priscilla and Aquilla, a husband and wife who had left Rome. These two join Paul on his journey.

After this, Paul travelled back west, visiting a number of the churches on his way before arriving back in Antioch. Missions journey number two complete.

While in Antioch, a young man named Apollos began teaching there about Jesus. He was eager and eloquent, but wasn’t fully informed. He only knew about John’s baptism in water, not Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Rather than rebuke him, Priscilla and Aquilla take Apollos under their wing. They teach him through the scriptures so that he might better help others understand. Now better equipped, Apollos goes on to the province of Achaia and becomes a blessing to the believers there. He is able to help them understand the scriptures and defend themselves from the Jews opposing them.

Psalm 125

This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and is named as a psalm of ascent. These psalms were sung by worshippers as they ascended to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Tabernacles) or possibly by the Levites as they ascended the steps of the Temple. Psalm 120-134 are all psalms of ascent.

Psalm 125:1-2 - Trust in the Lord

Psalm 125:3-5 - The wicked will not last but will be removed

In this ascent journey we’ve gone from being far from God's presence (Psalm 120), to seeking God’s presence (Psalm 121), and then to reaching God’s presence (Psalm 122). From there, the psalmist has asked the Lord for help (Psalm 123) and then praised the Lord for his protection (Psalm 124). Now, within Jerusalem, they begin to reflect on the nature of righteousness and wickedness (Psalm 125).

The psalmist starts with an encouragement to trust in the Lord. Those who trust in the Lord will be secure. Standing in Jerusalem, the psalmist points to the mountains around them and explains that in the same way the Lord surrounds those who trust in him.

In contrast are the wicked. They will not rest in the land, but will be removed. This is to stop them from encouraging those who are righteous to do wrong. Therefore, do good because anyone who does wicked will be removed from among God’s people.