Simon is Rebuked

October 4, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 8:9 – 25 Lesson Passage: Acts 8:9 – 24 Old habits are difficult to break. Even after we are saved, there is something about the comfort of the familiar that attempts to sneak back into our daily routines. How easily we are derailed from the truth of the gospel and turned again to the works of the flesh. Simon of Samaria is not one for us to look down on or hold in contempt as though we are better than him. Simon, for many of us, could easily be our alter ego. Simon, like many of us, attempted to combine his previous lifestyle without Christ with his recently received new birth in Christ. Before his conversion and regeneration, Simon was well known and respected as a magician. Many accepted Simon’s magic as a sign that he was approved of God. One could say that he was admired by all from the well-heeled to those without shoes. It’s not easy to walk away from a lifestyle that has that type of notoriety. After Simon heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed, he was baptized and began to spend time with Philip the Evangelist. He was impressed with the great signs and miracles wrought by God through Philip. As a practicing magician for a very long time, Simon knew that the miracles of God were real. For many years Simon gained fame by using magic to deceive people. Now he had the pleasure to be around someone who had the true power of God operating through him to work miracles. Philip’s preaching brought a spiritual revival to Samaria. The word of this got back to the church in Jerusalem. The apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to Samaria—probably to confirm and strengthen the faith of the new converts. Peter and John prayed for the Christians of Samaria to receive the Holy Ghost through the manifestation of signs. We know that all who receive Jesus Christ are sealed with the Holy Ghost. Today’s lesson shows that being saved and sealed does not necessarily equate to being empowered with signs and wonders. Peter and John prayed that the salvation of the Christians in Samaria would be clearly shown with signs and wonders. After the apostles prayed, they laid hands on them and the Samaritans received the signs of the Holy Ghost’s presence in them. This was beyond what Simon had been seeing in the work of God through Philip. Now, Samaritan Christians were demonstrating the presence of the Holy Ghost in them and Simon wanted what the apostles had. Simon wanted to be able to lay his hands on people and see the gifts of the Holy Ghost operate in them. Simon offered to purchase this ability from Peter and John. Simon apparently missed the step involving prayer to God that the Samaritan Christians might receive the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This was done prior to the laying on of hands. Simon wanted to be able to just lay his hands on people and they receive the infilling to show forth the presence of the Holy Ghost in them. Peter rebuked Simon for such a selfish request. Simon’s request did not consider God’s will in the administration of spiritual gifts. He wanted that right for himself. At this point Simon set a great example for any Christian who gets out of line. Simon requested prayer of the apostles that God would forgive him and not punish him for his error. The Holy Ghost gives gifts as He wills to those He chooses. Simon made an error and was rebuked. How do we respond to being rebuked for our error? Robert C. Hudson September 21, 2015

Standing Firm Against Opposition

September 27, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 7:1 – 53 Lesson Passage: Acts 7:2 – 4, 8 – 10, 17, 33, 34, 45 – 47, 52, 53 Let’s face it, it is easy to stand firm when there is no opposition. However, when there is opposition, then firmness often becomes relative depending on the threat of consequences from the opposition. Put another way, when there is no opposition, can we really be sure just how firm our stance is? If opposition does nothing else, it tests our fortitude. Andrae’ Crouch wrote “For if I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that He could solve them, I’d never know what faith in God could do.” This is very much in line with the thinking of the Apostle James who declared that faith without works is dead. “Faith talk” is always “good talk” when opposition is perceived to be a long ways off. But when the challenge is before us, faith must reach beyond our knowledge and comprehension into the spirit realm where God’s perfection flourishes with little opposition. In the spirit realm, we must gather the strength to trust God for things we don’t know to ask of Him. That is to say, through faith, we must believe that whatever God does on behalf of the person who places his trust in Him will always be the right thing and indeed the perfect thing. So it is when it comes to standing firm against opposition. We don’t know what others are thinking or what actions they will or will not take. Neither do we know what God will or will not do. But through faith, we trust God with the outcome. We yield ourselves to His will and we joyfully accept His decisions and actions or inaction. By faith we know that God knows what is best for us. We must evaluate ourselves and our situations to determine if we are facing opposition because we are in God’s will or is it because we are living or acting against God’s will. When we know we are doing our best to live in submission to the will of God, then we understand that opposition does not come to oppose us but to oppose what God is doing in and through us. The opposition is there to oppose God. Oftentimes we don’t comprehend what God is doing in and through us until it is over and we look back. The presence of opposition can be the first indication that we should look around to see God’s plan unfolding in our midst. Here’s a news flash: We are not responsible for God’s plan. God is responsible for His plan and He will not let any form of opposition frustrate His plans. That’s where we come in. We should not allow opposition to frustrate us either. Or if we do become frustrated, we should stop and evaluate our emotions to see why are we getting frustrated rather than allow God to defend His own plan. If God is not frustrated with the situation and we are trying to follow His will, then why do we allow ourselves to stay frustrated in the midst of those who oppose God? This is a lesson we can all learn from Moses. We should never become more upset at a situation that arises against God than He is. If God is standing firm, then we should do our best to do likewise. This was Stephen’s attitude in our lesson today. With this attitude, we can also stand firm against opposition. Robert C. Hudson September 10, 2015

Speaking up for God

September 20, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 5:12 – 42 Lesson Passage: Acts 5:27 – 29, 33 – 42 Our lesson’s topic hardly seems like a challenge in today’s environment in America. Even those who do not consider themselves religious by any stretch of the imagination wear Christian emblems on jewelry as a modest fashion statement. There is no threat to one’s well-being for openly embracing Christianity either through what we choose to wear or the conversations we have. There are many who claim to be Christians without any fear of repercussions except disparaging remarks by other Christians if they don’t appear to be Christian “enough” based on church attendance or the amount of their financial contributions. Other than that, Christianity in America is a fairly benign profession of religious faith. On the other hand, the Middle East has recently become a different world altogether for Christians. There are many persecutions of Christians reported in the media and no doubt many more persecutions and threats that go unreported in the Middle East. Those persecutions today in the Middle East and the persecutions of the first century church bear one striking similarity. The persecutions come from members of another religious faith. It is truly amazing what people are capable of in the name of religious faith. In our lesson today, the apostles were being arrested, beaten, and threatened for teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus. This mistreatment came at the hands of the Jewish leaders. The leaders of the Jewish establishment were defensive because the witness of the apostles pointed towards them as the instigators who led to the crucifixion of Jesus. The Jewish leaders were determined to not take the blame for Jesus’ death. They did not want Jesus’ blood on their hands. Meanwhile the Christians continued to gather in the Temple to be taught by the apostles. Perhaps this was adding insult to injury. The apostles were not out in the highways and byways but right there under the noses of the Jewish leaders. The last round of persecution came because of many acts of miraculous healing by the apostles and this drew a lot of attention to the apostles and their message. The Jewish leaders were finally rid of Jesus but now his followers had taken up where Jesus left off. Their message was more inflammatory because it included the testimony of the wrongful arrest, indictment, sentencing, and crucifixion of Jesus. And that testimony pointed right to the Jewish leadership as the perpetrators. The Jewish leaders did not seem particularly bothered by the working of miracles or the gathering in the Temple. The preaching of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection was altogether a different matter. The Jewish leaders did not want to be held accountable for Jesus’ death although they orchestrated it. But they were missing the good news of the gospel message because of their defensive stance concerning Jesus’ death. It seems that there are those today who would readily embrace Christianity if Jesus could be removed from it. The threat to the apostles was clear. Don’t speak in the name of Jesus anymore. They added to the threats by beating the apostles before they let them go. This backfired because the apostles celebrated being whipped for the sake of Jesus’ name. No amount of threats or beatings would stop the apostles because they were determined to speak up for God. Robert C. Hudson September 9, 2015

Sharing with Sincerity

September 13, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 4:32 – 5:11 Lesson Passage: Acts 4:34 – 37; 5:1 – 10 There is much to love and fear about the original group of Christian believers in Jerusalem. Individuals freely shared all that they owned with fellow believers. There is no written record in the bible that this was required—or asked of them. This free flow of benevolence is admirable. On the other hand, today’s lesson shows that lying could be punishable by death when the individual purposely lied to deceive the church. These are certainly two extremes not to be found in a “normal” Christian congregation today. One hundred percent sharing of everything by members of a congregation today would be looked upon as a sure sign that the group is a cult. And if word gets around that members of a congregation are dying today as a result of lying, then that group will come under suspicion of being a radical sect operating outside of the law of the land. There are several governmental agencies that would not allow that group to continue to exist and the leaders would be prosecuted in a court of law. What is extreme to us today existed quite readily in the first century church for a reason that is quite logical. The first century Christian congregation believed that Jesus was going to return for the church in their lifetime. As a result of their thinking, it made no sense for a Christian to be burdened with the cares of this world any longer. So those who owned houses and land sold them and brought the proceeds to the leaders, the apostles, to be distributed for the benefit of the body while they waited for the rapture to occur on any day. Their thinking was short-term and therefore revolved totally around their faith. Each member of the congregation had expressed saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apparently, they believed that they would all be leaving for heaven at the same time. Why not focus on the immediate needs of each other until that time came? There was no need to think about what would be going on five or even ten years into the future. The most precious thing to them was the testimony and preaching of the apostles. The hearing of the word of God engendered faith in them and all of their hope rested on this faith. It seems as though they expected their salvation to be for the express purpose of heavenly living and not for earthly service or work among the unsaved. They were saved and it appears as though they were ready to go to heaven to be united with Jesus eternally. As is typical with group psychology, it would have been the expectation of the group that each member conform to the same thinking and aspirations. If one shared all that they owned with sincerity of heart, then each of them would have been expected to do the same. After all, this was their demonstration of faith in the promises of God. To be insincere was to not be of the same faith. The congregation did not protect this uniformity of faith but rather the Holy Ghost did it. The Holy Ghost did not allow persons to live in the community of faith while only pretending to be of the same faith as the group. Being a hypocrite was a dangerous position within that congregation. It is frightening to think what would happen in our congregations today if that was still enforced the same. Although their thinking concerning God’s plans was not correct, nevertheless, their faith in God was rewarded because it led them to share everything they had with sincerity of heart. Robert C. Hudson August 31, 2015