Podcast: Season 3

Episode NT52 – An Important Decision

Story 52– An Important Decision

Based on Acts chapter 15 verses 1 to 35

Previously, the young church had had to face attacks from the enemy, such as when the apostles were beaten for talking about Jesus, or when Stephen was murdered because he loved Jesus and wouldn’t stop sharing with others that Jesus was the Messiah. Then, even greater trials came as Herod had the apostle James murdered and sought to do the same thing to Peter, only for the Lord to send an angel to free Peter and save the church from sorrow upon sorrow. However, in all these attacks and trials, even though the church suffered and was hurt, at the same time it overcame and grew – certain of the love of the Lord Jesus and knowing that nothing could happen to them that was outside His control.

Since that time, Paul and Barnabas had been sent out from a church at Antioch in Syria and had travelled to quite a few places to tell Jews and Gentiles about Jesus, establishing churches in places where there had never been any before. Although, as we know, there had also been a lot of opposition from those who refused to believe their message about Jesus.

But then, perhaps one of the greatest threats to the church arose and found itself the focus of attention for that church in Antioch of Syria. Because, into the church, which was made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers, came Jewish teachers from Jerusalem with a message that caused a great deal of pain and confusion. They taught that a person wasn’t really saved unless, in addition to believing in Jesus, they were also circumcised and obeyed the Jewish law given to Moses. In other words, they were saying that believing in Jesus wasn’t enough for the Gentiles – that they needed to become Jews as well.

Needless to say, this caused a lot of pain and suffering for the believers in Antioch who had always thought that they were saved simply by believing the message about Jesus dying in their place on the Cross and that His death was enough to save them from the punishment they deserved for the sin and failure in their lives. These Jewish teachers were in sharp disagreement with Paul and Barnabas who did not accept what they were saying and argued strongly against them. It was a situation that couldn’t carry on and needed to be urgently resolved. So, wisely, the leaders of the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas, along with a number of other people, to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and elders of the church there to get the issue resolved once and for all!

As they travelled to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas met with the various churches along the way and encouraged them by telling them all about the things the Lord had done during their missionary journey, and that Gentiles, too, were believing their message. When the churches heard their news, they were all filled with great joy.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders, and they were able to spend some time telling them about what had happened on their missionary journey. This raised the question about what was required by Gentiles in order to be saved. So, the same issue that had been raised in Antioch was now being raised in the church in Jerusalem, as some believers who were also Pharisees stood up and said, ‘These Gentile converts need to be circumcised and told to obey the teachings of Moses,’ which, of course, Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with!

So, the leaders of the church gathered to discuss the issue in some depth! It was a long discussion but, at the end of it, the leaders came back to the church to deliver their findings.

Peter was the first to speak and started by reminding the gathered church that, some time ago (probably 10 years or so earlier), God had chosen him to be the person through whom the gospel would be preached to the Gentiles. This happened when Peter went to see the Roman soldier, Cornelius, who had been given a vision of an angel telling him to send for Peter, so that Peter could deliver this important message to them. Then, Peter reminded the church that God had confirmed He’d accepted those Gentiles by giving them the exact same sign as He’d given to the Jews when they’d believed. That sign was the baptism of the Holy Spirit and their ability to speak in languages they’d never previously learned! He pointed out that God hadn’t made ANY distinction between those Gentiles and the Jews. God had accepted them, and made them clean based solely on their belief.

Then Peter asked a rhetorical question, which is a question that doesn’t actually need an answer because the answer’s obvious. He asked, ‘Why are we challenging God by trying to put the same heavy burdens onto the Gentiles’ shoulders that neither we nor our ancestors could bear?’ He finished off by stating clearly, ‘We believe that we are all saved in exactly the same way, by the underserved mercy and love of the Lord Jesus!’

That in itself was fairly compelling but, after Peter had finished, Paul and Barnabas told the whole church about all the amazing signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

Lastly, James stood up as the senior elder of the church in Jerusalem. This wasn’t James the brother of John, as he’d been murdered by Herod some time ago. Instead, this was James the son of Mary and Joseph, and so a sort of brother to Jesus.

‘Everyone, listen to me,’ he began. ‘Peter has told you all about the very first time God reached out to save the Gentiles and to take from them a people for Himself.’

These words would have meant a great deal to the Jews listening to James, as the Jewish Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament, often use the words, ‘to take from them a people for Himself,’ to refer to the calling of the Jewish people to their special relationship with God. So, the fact that James was using it for Gentiles was very significant.

But then James went on to explain further, quoting prophecies from the Old Testament that looked forward to that very time – a time when Gentiles would join the Jews together as people belonging to God. He quoted a passage from the book of Amos that firstly talked about God rebuilding His house, which they understood to have taken place when God raised Jesus from the dead. The passage then goes on to talk about all humanity coming to the Lord, including Gentiles! And not Gentiles who had become Jews, but Gentiles who had always been Gentiles, but who would still become His people.

‘So, it is my conviction that we should not make it more difficult for these Gentiles who are turning to God,’ James continued. ‘Instead, I suggest that we write a letter to them to help them know the things that they should avoid, so that fellowship between Jews and Gentiles can continue in the church.’ James understood that some of the things Gentiles did might be problematic for Jews and so made suggestions about what to avoid so that nothing could hinder the fellowship in the church. These things were: avoiding meat that had been offered as a sacrifice to idols, which Jews would find unacceptable to eat; avoiding the kind of relationships that the Scriptures advise against, as found in the book of Leviticus, which he summarised as ‘avoiding sexual immorality’; and lastly, not eating the meat from animals that had been strangled or eating blood, which Jews would find difficult to deal with.

At this, the church decided to write the letter that James had suggested and also, maybe because they wanted to show their complete support for Paul and Barnabas, they decided to send a couple of important elders with the letter, to help Paul and Barnabas explain it to the church in Antioch.

This is what the letter said:

‘This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. Greetings!

We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them! So, we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements. You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.’

Without delay, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch in Syria with the letter and delegation, and the whole church there was called together so that they could hear what the letter said and hear from Judas and Silas.

The arrival of the letter and the confirmation it brought that there was nothing more needed for salvation than to believe in Jesus the Saviour brought great joy to the church.

Judas and Silas talked at length and, being prophets, they encouraged the church, strengthening their faith. Then, after having stayed a while in Antioch, they eventually returned to Jerusalem with the blessing of peace from the church in Antioch. Meanwhile, Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch and, along with a great many other people, continued to teach and preach about Jesus there.

Episode NT51 – Iconium, Lystra and Back Home

Story 51 – Iconium, Lystra and Back Home

Based on Acts chapter 14

Nearly 100 miles away to the south-east of Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas eventually came to the town of Iconium where a very similar thing happened to what they’d just experienced in Pisidian Antioch!

The habit of Paul and Barnabas when arriving in a town was to go the Jews and preach in their synagogues. The reason they did this was that, if they’d started by going to the non-Jews, or Gentiles as they were known, then the Jews would never have listened to them or allowed them to visit their synagogues. So, to ensure their message would be heard as widely as possible, they always started at the Jewish synagogues. And, as in Pisidian Antioch, there was a strong reaction to their preaching, as a large group of both Jews and Gentiles believed their message. Also, as in Pisidian Antioch, there was a resolute group of Jews who refused to believe the message and set out to gather others to their way of thinking and poison their minds against Paul, Barnabas and the new believers.

The opposition to Paul and Barnabas and their message was both intense and persistent, but they didn’t run away. Instead, they stayed in the city for a long time and spoke boldly about all the wonderful things the Lord had done. And, to confirm that the message they brought was from Him, the Lord gave them power to do miraculous signs and wonders – outstanding evidence that their message was true! Yet even that wasn’t enough to change the minds of those who’d decided to reject the message. Instead, these disbelieving people worked hard to convince others to dismiss the message, until the whole town was divided, with some following the disbelieving Jews and others following Paul and Barnabas!

After a long stay in that divided city, those who hated the message and who especially hated Paul, got some of the city leaders on their side. With those leaders, they gathered a mob with the aim of attacking Paul and Barnabas and stoning them to death. Stoning is a Jewish form of execution reserved for people who blaspheme, which means to speak falsely about God!

Thankfully, somehow the believers and Paul and Barnabas heard about the attempt on their lives and fled, managing to escape to the smaller backwater town of Lystra. And, even though their experience had been tough at both Iconimum and Pisidian Antioch, they continued to tell everyone the Good News about Jesus.

When they arrived in Lystra, things seemed to go very well at first. There probably wasn’t a synagogue in Lystra, or many Jews in the town, and so Paul and Barnabas started telling the locals about Jesus. And, as they spoke of Jesus, Paul and Barnabas came across a man whose feet had been crippled from birth so that he’d never walked. This man sat and listened to Paul preach and, as he listened, Paul realised this man had the faith needed to be healed. So, in a similar way to how Peter and John had spoken to the crippled man outside the temple in Jerusalem all that time before, Paul called out to the man in a loud voice, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that word from Paul, the man leapt to his feet and started walking around!

As you can imagine, when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they were completely amazed and started shouting out in their local Lycaonian language (a language neither Paul nor Barnabas understood), ‘These men are gods in the form or human beings.’ Now, it just so happened that there was an ancient local story about the so-called gods of Zeus and Hermes having come to earth as mortal men and being refused shelter by everyone except an impoverished older couple. And, as a result, the older couple had been rewarded, but everyone else who’d refused to give them shelter – a 1000 households or so – were destroyed by a flood. So, when the locals thought that the gods had come down in a similar way to that old story – thinking Barnabas was Zeus and Paul, the chief speaker, was Hermes – they sprung into action, no doubt wanting to make sure they didn’t suffer the same fate as those who’d refused to shelter the gods in their ancient story. And, because neither Paul nor Barnabas spoke the local language, they had no idea what was happening.

You see, no sooner had the man been healed and someone said that the gods had come down in human form, than someone else hurried off to the local temple of Zeus, which was located just outside the city, to pass on this important news. Within no time at all, the priests from the temple of Zeus arrived, intending to sacrifice a bull to Paul and Barnabas!

Of course, as soon as Paul and Barnabas realised what was happening, they were horrified! Tearing their clothes as a sign of their horror and running out among the people, they shouted to the crowd, trying to convince them to stop what they were doing. Now, this crowd was made up of Gentiles who knew nothing of the Jewish Scriptures and so, instead of telling them about things from the Scriptures which they wouldn’t have known about or understood, Paul started reasoning with them about things they did understand – the natural world around them that God had created.

‘Friends,’ he shouted. ‘Why are you doing this? We’re human beings just like you! We came here to bring you the good news that you should turn away from these kinds of worthless things and instead turn to the living God. Look, in the past God permitted all nations to go their own way while, at the same time, never leaving them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. That evidence includes things like the rain He sends and the good crops you harvest so that you have food and joyful hearts…’

But, even with all their efforts, it was touch and go, and they only just managed to hold the people back from sacrificing to them.

That was when things took a turn for the worse, because Jews from the two cities Paul and Barnabas had previous worked in, Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, arrived in Lystra.

Whether they’d specifically travelled to look for the two men or whether they just happened to be in the city at this crucial moment we don’t know but, when they saw what was happening, they realised they had a chance to get their revenge on Paul and Barnabas and immediately sprung into action – no doubt enraged to find the two men carrying on their work of telling people about Jesus, even after all they’d gone through previously. So, seizing their opportunity, they spoke to the crowd, turning the fickle bunch who, just a short time before, had been intent on worshipping Paul and Barnabas – into a wild mob that wanted to do what they’d failed to do in those other towns and stone Paul to death! So, the stones started to fly, fuelled by the hatred of those who’d rejected the message of Paul and Barnabas about the love of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I wonder what Paul thought as the stones came flying towards him? Did he remember the time he’d watched Stephen being stoned to death because of his love for Jesus? Did Paul pray for those who were trying to kill him? We don’t know, but we do know that he remembered this event, referring to it in later letters.

So, the vicious and angry mob stoned Paul until he wasn’t moving and then dragged his apparently lifeless body out of the city, leaving him for dead.

What were Barnabas and the new believers to think? Was this to be the end of their missionary journey to tell others about the love of God in Christ Jesus? They must have been devastated as they gathered around the apparently lifeless body of Paul, no doubt praying and seeking the Lord for mercy – which they got. For, as they stood around him, Paul got up! And, in an act of great courage and boldness he walked back into the city – back among the group of people who’d literally just stoned him and left him for dead. Returning with the believers, he stayed the night in the city and then, the next day, he left with Barnabas on a 60-mile trek to Derbe.

Finally, once they’d told the people of Derbe about Jesus and seen many become followers of Jesus in that city, they returned to Lystra, then to Iconium and back to Pisidian Antioch. As they visited each of these cities, they encouraged and strengthen the ones who’d become followers of Jesus, those who’d believed their message. They encouraged them to continue their relationship with Jesus and to trust in Him, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.

While they met with the believers in each of these cities, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders or leaders for each church. And with much prayer and fasting, they committed these new elders into the care of the Lord Jesus.

From there, the two men travelled back through Pisidia to the area of Pamphylia, and specifically to the town of Perga – a place they hadn’t visited or had maybe bypassed when they’d arrived in that area because of their rush to reach Pisidian Antioch, probably because Paul had been ill and needed a healthier climate. However, now Paul was a lot better, so they preached about Jesus in Perga, and then went down to Attalia.

When they’d done this, the eventually returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, back to the city and church they’d originally set out from – the place where believers had first been called ‘Christians’. It had been the church in Antioch of Syria who’d entrusted the two men to the Grace of God to do the work which they’d now completed. So, arriving back in the city, they called the whole church together to tell them about everything God had done through them and how He’d opened the door of faith to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. After that, they stayed in Antioch of Syria with the believers for a considerable time.

Episode NT50 Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch

Story 50 – Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch

Based on Acts chapter 13 verses 13 to 52

It was time for Paul (who used to be known as Saul) and Barnabas, along with John Mark, to move on. So, leaving Cyprus, the place Barnabas knew so well, they decided to head up to the area Paul was from. Sailing from the Cyprian port of Paphos, they took the 100 mile or so sea voyage up to Asia Minor, probably landing at Attalia, and then travelled about 12 miles inland to Perga. However, when they reached Perga, they suffered a painful setback, as John Mark abandoned them and left for Jerusalem.

Quite what was happening, we don’t know. Maybe John Mark missed his home and his mother? Or maybe he didn’t like the way things were changing, as Paul took more and more of a leading role and his cousin Barnabas less? It could have been that they’d come to a new and potentially dangerous place and John Mark felt worried? We’ll never know but, even as they suffered this loss, it seemed that other things were also going wrong as, instead of staying in Perga, they quickly left that area and headed north. It seems that Paul may have been quite ill, as he talks about that in one of his letters at another time. So, instead of staying in Perga, they went on quite a long and arduous journey on dangerous roads and through mountain passes that were well known for being infested with robbers and bandits. But the advantage of the journey, especially if Paul was ill, was that it took them away from the heat of the south Galatian plateau and up to the cool and no doubt bracing air of the Taurus plateau, about 3,500 feet above sea level. And so, they eventually came to a place called Antioch. Obviously, it was a different Antioch from where they’d originally started, and was known as Pisidian Antioch, to distinguish it from the Antioch that had sent Paul and Barnabas out on the mission they were now on.

On their arrival at Pisidian Antioch, and no doubt when Paul was well enough, on the Sabbath day – the day when Jewish people always gather together to worship, and which is our Saturday – they went to the Jewish synagogue in town.

The service followed its usual pattern and it was a custom that, if a visiting Rabbi or Jewish teacher came to the synagogue, they’d be asked if they’d speak to the gathered people. Now, Paul was a teacher and they would’ve probably known that from the type of clothing he wore. So, at the appropriate moment in the service, the leaders of the Jewish synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas to ask if they had a message to encourage the people and, if so, to speak in the meeting. Well, as you can imagine, Paul and Barnabas did have a message, all about the wonderful news of God’s love through Jesus, and were more than happy to share it with them.

It was Paul who did the actual preaching and he was a man who knew how to preach and had lots of experience. Starting by standing and making a hand gesture to let the people know that he had something to say that was worth listening to and, knowing that he was talking to mainly Jews, he began by talking about a subject close to their hearts, Jewish history.

‘Men of Israel and everyone else who fears God, listen to me,’ he started. Then, Paul skilfully pointed out how Jesus was the Messiah that Jewish history had always been pointing towards. He talked of their ancestors and of the time the people of Israel had lived in slavery in Egypt and how God had saved them from their servitude. He reminded them of God’s patience with the Israelites while they’d spent 40 years in the wilderness after they’d left Egypt. Then he talked about how God had helped them destroy seven mighty nations so that they could have the land of Israel as their inheritance and that all this had taken 450 years – no doubt adding together the 400 years in Egypt, 40 in the wilderness and 10 to take full possession of Israel. Paul then reminded the people of how Israel had asked for a king and how God had firstly given them King Saul and then how God had removed him. And, after that, God had given them King David, who was a man whose desire was to do what God wanted and from whose descendants the promised Saviour was to come.

Paul then moved on to talk about John the Baptist, who had clearly told everyone that he wasn’t the promised Messiah and had, instead, pointed to Jesus. Then, Paul talked about the fact that the leaders in Jerusalem hadn’t understood who Jesus was and had asked for him to be killed by Pilate, who’d had him executed. But, in doing so, these leaders had actually fulfilled the very things God had said in the Scriptures would happen to the Messiah, such as the Messiah’s body being placed in a tomb and not thrown into a mass grave.

Paul then talked about something even more amazing, that, after the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had had Jesus killed and He’d been buried in the tomb, God had raised Jesus from the dead and, for many days after, Jesus had appeared to His followers who had come with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These people included the Apostles, the likes of Peter, Andrew and John, who now witnessed to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection to all the people.

And Paul told them that the purpose of his visit was to bring them the Good News about Jesus. He explained that, in raising Jesus from the dead, God had shown that Jesus was even greater than the great King David of old. For King David had died and his body had been laid in a tomb and, like everyone else on earth, his body had decayed away. But the same was NOT true of Jesus, because God had truly raised Him back to life and so He would never experience decay.

The final part of Paul’s sermon was probably unexpected and given as a word of warning to the people listening to him. You see, Paul was talking about things that were so important that they shouldn’t be ignored or left until later but, instead, should be acted on at once. He was talking about God reaching out to us, and sending His Son to die for us, so that we could be forgiven and become children of God. He was showing them a New Way that was different from the way they’d been following. Their old way to try and get right with God was by trying to obey a series of laws. However, if they failed to obey even one, they would remain guilty in God’s eyes and subject to punishment. But now, he explained, through Jesus, a New Way was open to God that could make them clean and forgiven in the eyes of God in a way that the old system simply couldn’t. However, and this was the warning, if they ignored what God was offering them in Jesus then, like their ancestors of old, who’d refused to believe that God was going to punish Israel and hadn’t turned from their evil ways and, as a result, had suffered great loss and death, they too could suffer great, eternal loss if they ignored Paul’s message. Put simply, this message was too important to ignore.

Paul’s sermon set the whole synagogue alight with discussion and excitement and, as they were leaving, the people begged Paul and Barnabas to come back the following week so they could hear more about all these things. In fact, many of the people present went after Paul and Barnabas as they left and the two of them urged those who had believed their message to continue to rely on God’s grace.

And so the next Sabbath arrived, but the people who’d been their the previous week had been so excited about all that Paul had said that they’d told almost everyone in the whole city about it. As a result, pretty much the entire city turned up to hear Paul and Barnabas preach about Jesus.

That’s when the problems started for the two men. Because, when the Jews saw all those people attending the meeting, they became very jealous. They were jealous that Paul and Barnabas had been so powerful in their message that so many people had turned up to hear them, but they were also jealous to think that God would save anyone other than Jews and those who’d become Jews. As a result, when the meeting started, the Jews said all kinds of lies about Paul and argued with everything he said.

Paul and Barnabas understood what was going on, and were no doubt very sad to see it happen, as the incredibly important message they were bringing to these people was rejected by the Jews, in a similar way to how Jesus’ message had been rejected by the leaders in Jerusalem. So, with great boldness, undaunted by this new opposition, they declared to the Jews, ‘It was necessary that we started by preaching the Word of God first to you Jews. But since you’ve rejected it, and in so doing have judged that you aren’t worthy of eternal life, we will take this message and offer it to everyone else who isn’t a Jew, that is, to the Gentiles. For the Lord Himself gave us this command. He said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the furthest corners of the earth.’’

Of course, when the non-Jews or Gentiles heard this, they were overjoyed and thanked the Lord for His message. Everyone who was chosen to receive eternal life became a believer and the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.

However, the Jews were NOT happy with this situation and wanted their revenge on Paul and Barnabas. They stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city to create a mob to grab Paul and Barnabas and violently run them out of town. It’s probable that Paul and Barnabas were badly beaten as they were thrown out of the town (again, something Paul talks about later on in one of his letters). So, as a sign against those Jews who’d refused the message, and in the same way that Jesus had told His disciples to do when their message was rejected, Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet as a sign of the rejection they’d experienced and went to another town called Iconium. Jesus had warned His disciples that, if they got to the point of having to shake off the dust from themselves when rejected, like Paul and Barnabas had just been, then the judgment of God against those who’d refused their message would be very severe. But, in the meantime, those who had believed were filled with joy and also with the Holy Spirit.

Episode NT49 – Barnabas and Saul Sent Out

Story 49 – Barnabas and Saul Sent Out

Based on Acts chapter 12 verse 25 to chapter 13 verse 12

So the relief mission to Jerusalem took place and the church continued to grow even though people like Herod Agrippa tried to stop it. These people who opposed the church couldn’t stop the spread of the Good News and the growth of the church anymore than they could hold back the sun as it crossed the sky, for, when God’s at work, no one can oppose Him and succeed.

Once the relief mission was complete, Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch and took along with them John, who was also known as Mark and sometimes called ‘John Mark’. It was in John Mark’s mother’s house that the prayer meeting for Simon Peter had been held and where Rhoda the servant girl worked, who’d left Peter standing outside the door! John Mark was also Barnabas’ cousin.

The church at Antioch was blessed with good leaders including both prophets and teachers. These leaders were Barnabas, of course, and Simeon who was probably from Africa as he was known for being black. Then there was Lucius from Cyrene, which is also in Africa, and Manaen who was an interesting person as he’d been brought up with Herod Antipas in the household of Herod the Great! Manaen was probably raised as Herod Antipas’ foster brother but, thankfully, he’d turned to the Lord and was now part of the godly leadership of the church. And, last but not least, there was Saul. So the leadership consisted of 5 men, Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul, who took the responsibility for teaching, leading and serving the church very seriously as they worked not to please people, but the Lord.

Now, while they, and probably the whole church with them, were worshipping the Lord and fasting, they were no doubt seeking the Lord’s provision to build His church. And, the Holy Spirit spoke to them saying, ‘I want you to set apart for Me both Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’.

To be honest, the calling seemed rather vague. What specifically did God want them to do? Where did God want them to do this work? In some ways, it was a call similar in nature to God’s call to Abraham many many years before; a vague call to go, with no specified destination. However, the church understood that the key wasn’t knowing exactly what and where so much as obeying a clear call from God to go – and then going – trusting God that He would make things clear as they went, in a similar way to Abraham. It was a call to move forward in faith, to trust God that He would lead and help them.

The church and these godly leaders responded at once to what the Holy Spirit had said. Firstly, with more prayer and fasting, no doubt to confirm the message from God and to ask for His blessing on these two men. And then, they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul to indicate that they identified with them in the work that the Lord was calling them to do. That work would no doubt involve telling people about Jesus in the parts of the world that God would take them to. So, the leaders released these faithful men out on mission. And, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to the nearest port, a place called Seleucia, some fifteen to sixteen miles away, and took passage on a ship bound for Cyprus.

Cyprus was actually a good place to start this outreach to people who had never heard about Jesus, not least because it was where Barnabas had grown up and came from. For Barnabas at least, it would be a familiar place and so a good starting point. Also, as well as being quite close to Antioch and so easy to reach, there was a large population of Jews in Cyprus, large enough for there to be several synagogues across the island. So, they arrived at the port of Salamis on the east cost of Cyprus and there they started the work of telling people about all God had done for them in Jesus. Beginning in the Jewish synagogues, they travelled all over the island until they came to Paphos on the west coast, with John Mark acting as their assistant.

Now, Paphos was a great centre for the worship of Aphrodite and so an important place on the island. It was a place many visited and also where there was a lot of immorality!

There was a Roman governor called Sergius Paulus in Paphos. Governors, or ‘proconsuls’ as they were known, would have been Rome’s eyes, watching what was going on in the area to make sure nothing was happening that would hurt the interests of Rome. These proconsuls were important people and had great power. It seemed that Sergius Paulus was an intelligent man who kept an eye on what was taking place in Paphos and any new teachings or ideas that could affect the people under his care.

However, there was also a Jew named Bar-Jesus who had attached himself to the proconsul, no doubt trying to influence him and get power for himself. This Bar-Jesus was a magician and also a false prophet, telling lies about God to lead people away from God rather than towards Him. He was actually known as Elymas, the sorcerer, by the people, which seems to be a translation of the Arabic word for magician into Greek, the language spoken on the island.

As Rome’s representative in the area and, no doubt, because of an interest in magic and things that he shouldn’t have been interested in – as indicated by the fact that this Elymas the sorcerer character was part of his inner circle – Sergius Paulus invited Barnabas and Saul to come and visit him. He probably asked for the meeting to hear about this new teaching that had been spreading all over the island since their arrival and to work out if it was a danger to Rome. This did not please the false prophet Elymas because he wanted to lead people away for God and not towards Him. He also realised that, if the proconsul believed Barnabas and Saul, he would no longer have power over the proconsul and his privileged position would come to an end. So, Elymas did everything he could to oppose Barnabas and Saul, trying to keep the proconsul from believing and being saved.

However, Saul, who also went by the Greek name ‘Paul’, realised the truth of the situation. What was really happening here was a spiritual battle. Elymas, the sorcerer, whose name was Bar-Jesus – which actually means ‘son of salvation’ – was doing everything in his power to keep the proconsul, and no doubt everyone else who was listening, away from salvation. Now that, is the work of Satan, not of God. So, the power of God was working through the words of Barnabas and Saul and the power of Satan was working to keep the proconsul from listening to these words. But Satan is no match for the Holy Spirit. For Saul, now known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked Elymas directly in the eye and said, ‘You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, an enemy of everything that’s good! Will you never stop twisting the straight ways of the Lord? Now look, the Hand of the Lord is on you to punish you, and you will be struck blind. You will be completely unable to see the sun – for a time.’

At once a kind of mist and darkness came over Elymas and he groped around looking for people to lead him by the hand. (P) How gracious God was to Elymas by only letting this punishment last for a while and not for the rest of his life. We know nothing more about him, but I hope this punishment gave him reason to stop and consider the direction he was heading in, because nothing good could come from it! His only hope would be to turn to the Lord.

As for the proconsul, when he saw what happened, he became a believer. Yet, it wasn’t so much the miracle of Elymas’ punishment that caused him to believe, although the evidence of how much greater the power of God is than the power of Satan was clear for all to see. Instead, he believed because he was so greatly astounded at what Barnabas and Paul taught about how good, loving, kind and forgiving the Lord is in sending Jesus to take away our sins and make us right with God.

Episode NT48 – Peter in Prison

Story 48 – Peter in Prison

Based on Acts chapter 12

Sometimes terrible things happen and we don’t know why, we just have to trust God that He knows, the situation isn’t out of His control and we can trust Him no matter how bad things get. And things were pretty bad.

You see, for some reason, King Herod Agrippa, the grandson of that awful King Herod the Great who’d wanted to kill the infant Jesus when he’d heard the ‘King of the Jews’ had been born in Bethlehem, got it into his head to follow his evil grandfather’s ways. He began to persecute the church, arresting some of the believers and causing them harm.

What we found particularly hard was what he did to James, John’s brother. Herod Agrippa had James killed with a sword, cutting off his head. It was one of those times when we just had to say to the Lord, ‘We don’t understand, but we do trust You’, as we mourned his death. But our enemies, the Jewish leaders, and many of the Jewish people who’d refused to accept that Jesus is the Messiah, were delighted when they heard that Herod had killed one of the apostles; one of those who’d lived with Jesus, walked and talked with Him and seen all the amazing things He’d done and heard all the wonderful words He’d spoken. A man, no less, who’d met the risen Lord Jesus and was a witness to His resurrection.

And, when Herod realised the Jews were happy that he’d had James killed, and because he needed the Jews to like him because of some political trouble he was having with Rome, he decided to do more terrible things to the church, to fight against it, just like Saul had done. So, he had me, Peter, arrested. He didn’t plan to give me a fair trial or allow me to put my own case forward. No, what he planned was a nice little show trial before I was to be publicly executed, no doubt to the delight of the Jews – because pleasing the Jews meant Rome was happy.

You’d have thought I’d have been terrified by the prospect of death as I lay chained to, not one, but two soldiers who slept in the cell with me – while more soldiers stayed on guard outside my cell. In fact, Herod had ordered four sets of four soldiers to guard me, to make sure no one could rescue me and that I couldn’t escape. But I had no plans to try and escape; in fact, I wasn’t terrified at all. You see Jesus Himself had told me that I would die a death that was anything but natural and maybe this was it? So, I had no need to worry, He was in control. And what made me even more certain was that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the church was praying for me, praying that the Lord would do … well, whatever the Lord felt was right. (PAUSE)

One of the things about being able to trust the Lord no matter how bad the situation is that you don’t have much problem going to sleep. So, the night before I was to be paraded before my enemies and put to death, I fell asleep knowing that, whatever happened, God was in control. There I was, sound asleep and chained between two guards, when I felt a sharp prod on my side. I opened my eyes to see what was happening. There was a really bright light in the cell and standing beside me was an angel from the Lord. Now, I ought to make it clear that I’d been so fast asleep, that I didn’t think I’d woken up properly! I thought it wasn’t real and must be some kind of vision from the Lord. Anyway, then the angel said to me, ‘Quick, get up!’ So I started to sit up, feeling extremely dopey. And, as I sat up, the chains that were holding me to my captors just fell off while they stayed sound asleep! And then the angel, with great patience, started to organise me. ‘Now get dressed,’ he said, and I got dressed. ‘Put your sandals on,’ he said, and I put my sandals on. ‘Now put your coat on.’ he continued. So I picked up my coat and put it on, and then he said, ‘Follow me.’ So I started to follow him, still not sure if I was dreaming!

Well, we walked straight out of the cell, past the first set of guards and then past the second set until we came to the iron gate leading to the street. Even though we’d passed all those people, no one said a word. Maybe they were fast asleep, I don’t know. But, whatever the reason, they just didn’t stop us. Anyway, when we reached the iron gate that led to the street, it just opened – all by itself! So we went through and started walking down an alley, with me still thinking it was all a vision when, as suddenly as he’d arrived, the angel left me!

It took a moment or two for it to all sink in … but then I realised that it wasn’t a dream, I even said it out loud – ‘It’s really true! The Lord’s sent His angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jews were hoping to do to me!’ Then I stopped for a moment to think. What should I do, where should I go? Well, the obvious place to go was where many of us had met and, quite possibly, the place where they’d be meeting again, at Marys, John Mark’s mother’s house. So, keeping to the shadows to avoid being seen, I made my way to the house and started knocking as gently as I could, all the while calling out quietly for someone to answer. As I’d thought, the house was full of people who’d gathered to pray for me, so it was Rhoda, a servant girl, who came to see who was knocking at the door and calling out quietly at that time of night.

Bless her! Rhoda knew me quite well and so the first thing she did as she came to the door was recognise my voice! I’m not quite sure what came over her; maybe it was because of the intensity of the prayer that was going on for me, or the shock of hearing my voice but, whatever it was, instead of actually opening the door and letting me in, Rhoda rushed into the middle of the prayer meeting and told everyone, ‘Peter’s here, he’s standing outside at the gate!’

And then, from what they told me later, this group of believers who were all praying for my release from prison and looked for God to do a miracle, didn’t believe Rhoda when she told them that God had actually done the miracle they were praying for – and set me free. Instead they told her she was out of her mind! But, when she carried on insisting it was me, while I was still standing outside the door trying to get in, instead of opening the door, they started to say it was my guardian angel or something. And, while all this was happening and they were having their discussions about whether I was really me or an angel, I just stood there gently knocking on the door, hoping that eventually someone, anyone, would let me in!

Thankfully, after their theological debate, it occurred to someone to actually open the door and settle the issue once and for all. And there I was! They were all amazed and started to express it a little too loudly for my liking. ‘Sssh!’ I said, motioning with my hands to quieten them down. I didn’t want to wake the neighbours and get them all suspicious and find myself back in prison again! I told them all that had happened to me and how the Lord had let me out of prison. And then I added, ‘Be sure you tell James, the brother of Jesus,’ (who was the head of the church in Jerusalem at that time) ‘and the other disciples what’s happened.’ And, with that, I went away and found a far safer hiding place. (PAUSE)

Well, you can imagine what happened at the prison the following morning, when the guards woke up from what was probably a very, very deep sleep to find that I’d gone. Herod Agrippa was furious and ordered a thorough search to be made for me and, of course, they didn’t find me. After that, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death! (PAUSE)

No doubt, after all this kerfuffle, Herod felt like he needed a break because, soon after, he went up north to stay at Caesarea for a while.

As it happened, Herod was having a nasty dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But it wasn’t in their interests to have Herod angry at them because their cities were dependent upon the area Herod ruled for their food supply. So they came up with a plan to win over Herod’s favour. Making friends with Blastus who was Herod’s personal assistant, they managed to get an appointment to see the man himself.

When the day for their audience with Herod arrived, Herod sat on his throne wearing his special royal robes and started to tell them exactly what he thought about the situation. As I said before, the people from Tyre and Sidon HAD to make peace with Herod whether they liked it or not. After all, they couldn’t live without food. So, when Herod finished his speech, the people stood up together and clapped enthusiastically, shouting, ‘This is the voice of a god, not a man!’

Of course, Herod should have told the people not to be silly, that he was a man just like them. But, instead, Herod simply smiled to himself and said nothing at all! Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a terrible sickness because he accepted the worship of the people instead of giving the glory to God. So, God punished this man who would not give glory to God and he was consumed with worms and died.

But, even after all the trouble Herod’d had caused, God continued to show He was in control as the Good News spread rapidly, and there were many new believers.

Episode NT47 – The Church at Antioch

Story 47 – The Church at Antioch

Based on Acts chapter 11 verses 19 – 30

After the death of Stephen, many believers were scattered out from Jerusalem during the persecution of the church. As well as Philip travelling to the area of Samaria, others continued their travels far outside the land of Israel. Some went south to Egypt and beyond, even ending up, to the west of Egypt in Cyrene, North Africa. Others headed north of Israel into the area beyond Joppa and included the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Still others travelled to the island of Cyprus, while some ended up in the city of Antioch in Syria, which at that time was probably the third most important city in the Roman Empire behind Alexandria in Egypt and of course Rome itself.

As they travelled, these believers shared the good news about Jesus, but only with other Jews. However, some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, arrived in Antioch and started to share the good news about Jesus and all He had done with Greeks as well as Jews. These men were Jews who probably hadn’t lived in Israel but, instead, they’d lived among Greeks all their lives and understood the culture and mindset of the Greek-speaking people. So, instead of speaking about Jesus as the ‘Messiah’, which wouldn’t have meant a great deal to the Greeks, they talked about the LORD Jesus – sharing about his origins, His life, His death and resurrection.

At that time, it would have been unlikely that they would have heard about what the Lord had done for Cornelius and his household through Peter but, somehow, the Holy Spirit was still prompting these men to share what they knew widely. And, the Lord blessed their message to these Greeks, causing a great number of them to firstly believe the message they were given about the Lord Jesus, and then to turn away from their old lifestyles and start living in a way that would please Jesus. In other words, they became true believers and members of the church.

Of course, you can’t keep these kinds of things silent for long because of people travelling around. And, as they travelled, they told others about what was taking place in Antioch. This in turn led to a report of what was happening in Antioch reaching the attention of the church in Jerusalem.

By this time, Peter had met with Cornelius and the church had begun to understand that Jesus had come not just to save the Jews but also everyone else who would believe in Him and follow Him. Therefore, instead of reacting with a heavy hand, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem chose to send someone to Antioch who would both understand what was taking place and be a help and encouragement to the church. So, they chose to send Barnabas because he was from Cyprus and had been given the name Barnabas because of his God-given character of encouraging and building people up. His original name was Joseph, and he was a Jewish Levite from Cyprus but, because of his character, everyone knew him as Barnabas.

When Barnabas arrived in Antioch, he saw the goodness and power of God at work and rejoiced! And, living up to his name once again, he encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with fully devoted hearts. Barnabas was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith and, because of his visit and all the Lord was doing in Antioch, a vast number of people became followers of Jesus.

However, another feature of Barnabas was that he was a humble man and, seeing the vast work going on in Antioch and recognising the need of the church there for good teaching, he decided to head up north to Tarsus to go and look for Saul. Now, Saul had been sent to his home city of Tarsus some years before after people had tried to kill him in Jerusalem. It seemed that, during that time, Saul had suffered a lot, even being disowned by his family. This made finding Saul hard work, but Barnabas was tenacious in his search and, when he eventually found Saul, he brought him back to Antioch with him. Barnabas no doubt remembered that Saul had been told by the Lord that he was to be an apostle both to the Jews and also to the non-Jews, or ‘Gentiles’ as they’re known, and the church in Antioch was filled with both.

Then, for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the believers in Antioch and taught a vast number of people all about the Lord. In fact, when the Gentiles began to understand what Messiah or Christ really meant, they started to talk often of Jesus the Christ (‘Christ’ being the Greek word for ‘Messiah’). This led to some people in the city starting to poke fun at the people in the church by calling them ‘Christians’. This was the first time that name was used and, while it took a while for ‘Christians’ to accept the name and use it for themselves, it was a name that stuck!

Now the church in Jerusalem still had good contact with the churches that were being set up around them and so, after a while, some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, a prophet named Agabus, stood up and predicted, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through him, that there would be a severe famine across the whole Roman empire in the not too distant future. (In fact, a time of famine and difficulty actually came during the reign of Claudius).

Well, what do you do when you’re confronted with such news? How do you respond? To answer that, you need to see just how much the church in Antioch mirrored the church in Jerusalem and then understand why they responded in that way.

Both churches, the original church in Jerusalem and now the church in Antioch, had seen rapid growth, with many coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and added to their numbers.

Also, both churches had congregations that had devoted themselves to the teaching of their leaders, with the church in Jerusalem devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the church in Antioch being taught by Barnabas and Saul.

So, when it came to responding to need, is it any surprise that the church in Antioch responded in a similar way to the church in Jerusalem? In fact, Barnabas himself had been an example of how the church in Jerusalem had responded when faced with the destitution and poverty of some of its new members. He had sold a piece of land, probably in Cyprus and, when he’d got the money for that sale, he’d brought it to the feet of the apostles and left it with them to use as they felt appropriate to meet the need. And he hadn’t been the only one, many others had given sacrificially to help meet those needs. So, here was the church in Antioch, probably also with lots of poor members itself, faced with the news of impending famine and hardship for their fellow ‘Christians’ in Judea

How did they respond? Well, each one of them gave as they were able. Some richer people gave more, and poorer people gave less, but all of them had the privilege of being involved in giving. (PAUSE)

Once the collection had been made, it was given to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders and leaders of the church in Jerusalem to use as they saw fit to meet the needs of the people.

So, one church very much mirrored the other as: the Lord added to their numbers; they devoted themselves to sound teaching; and they enjoyed the privilege of being involved in giving to meet the needs of others.

God was at work in His churches and, in due time, the church in Antioch was to prove very important for the continuing spread of the Good News about Jesus around the world.

Episode NT46 – Peter and Cornelius

Story 46 – Peter and Cornelius

Based on Acts chapter 10 verses 1 to chapter 11 verse 18

In Caesarea, a Roman officer called Cornelius, a captain in the Italian Regiment, knelt in prayer. He and all his family feared God and tried to live good lives. He regularly gave to those in need and prayed to God. But today, as he knelt to pray at the usual time of three in the afternoon, suddenly, he saw a vision of an angel, sent from God. Filled with terror, Cornelius listened as the angel delivered his message!

‘Cornelius,’ the angel said.

Hardly able to breathe, Cornelius replied, ‘Yes, sir, what do you want?’

‘Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! Now, send some men down to Joppa to find a man there called Simon who is also known as Peter. This man is staying with Simon the tanner who lives near the sea. When the men get there, tell them to ask Peter to come and visit you.’

No sooner had the angel gone than Cornelius was up on his feet rushing to find his servants. ‘Quick!’ he called to two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his personal attendants. ‘You must come and hear what’s just happened – it’s incredible!’ Then he told them about the angel and the message he’d been given and the precise instructions about who to ask for and where they’d find him. ‘Now, go and do what the angel said,’ Cornelius instructed, ‘and ask this Peter to come back here and tell us whatever it is God wants us to know.’

The three of them hurriedly got together all they’d need for the two day journey to Joppa and set off, not really knowing what to expect! (PAUSE)

The next day, as the three men approached Joppa and started to ask directions to Simon the tanner’s house down by the shore, Peter, without knowing anything about the people looking for him, went up onto the flat roof of the house to spend some time in prayer.

Now, it was about midday when Peter went up to the roof to pray, and he realised he was hungry! So, after asking for some food, Peter sat waiting for it to be prepared and fell into a trance. And, while in this trance, something started to happen. What appeared to be a very large sheet was lowered down from heaven by its four corners. And, as Peter looked inside the sheet, he saw that it was filled with all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds! And then, a voice spoke to him. ‘Peter,’ it said, ‘get up and kill and eat them!’

Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing! The most important thing to a Jew was to remain ceremonially clean – to not mix or even associate with Gentiles (who are people who aren’t Jews) and especially not to eat animals that the Jewish law said were unclean (even though Jesus Himself had said that it wasn’t food that made a man unclean but his own evil thoughts and desires). So Peter replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! In all my life I haven’t eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish law!’

But then the voice spoke again, a note of rebuke in it, ‘If God says something’s clean, don’t call it unclean!’

Three times the vision was repeated and then the sheet was pulled up once again into heaven.

What on earth was all that about? As Peter sat there puzzling over what it all meant, the three men sent by Cornelius arrived at the gate of the house and asked if this was the place where Simon who was also known as Peter was staying. As they asked, and as Peter continued to try and understand this strange vision, the Holy Spirit spoke to him. ‘Three men have come looking for you,’ He said. ‘I have sent these men, so don’t hesitate to go with them.’

At that, Peter got up, went downstairs and found the three men. ‘I’m the man you’re looking for,’ he told them. ‘But what’s this all about? Why’ve you come looking for me?’

‘We’ve been sent by Cornelius, the Roman officer,’ they replied. ‘He is a righteous, God-fearing man who’s respected by all the Jews. And we’ve come looking for you because a holy angel told Cornelius to ask you to come to his house so that you could give him a message.’

Now what was Peter to do? It was too late to start their journey straight away and so these men needed a place to stay for the night. But these men weren’t Jews, they were Gentiles – even if God-fearing ones! And to mix with Gentiles would make him unclean! But he’d already started to realise that God’s ways were different from the normal Jewish ways, as he himself had seen with the Samaritans and by the fact that he was staying with a tanner who worked with dead animals! Jews thought these people where unclean but Peter had accepted the invitation to stay with Simon the tanner. However, the difference this time was that the people standing at the door weren’t Jewish in any way while the Samaritans were a mixture – part Jew you could say, although considered unclean by the Jews. As for Simon the tanner, he was still a Jew… But, Peter couldn’t ignore that the Holy Spirit had said that He’d sent these men to Peter! And God had just shown him the vision and told him not to call anything He’d made ‘unclean’. So Peter did something … well, unheard of for a Jew… he invited the men into the house to stay as his guests for the night. (PAUSE)

The next morning they set off for Caesarea. Six other Jewish disciples went with Peter and the three men Cornelius had sent, and they all arrived at Cornelius’ house later on the following day. But that had been enough time for Peter to start to understand what God had been saying to him – to see that the vision wasn’t really about animals but about people, people who would become followers of Jesus. He began to understand that maybe, perhaps, God was going to call not just Jews to become His Holy people. So far it had been only Jews and the half-Jew Samaritans who’d become disciples, but could it be that He was going to call Gentiles as well? People who had no Jewish background or ancestry at all?

When they arrived, Peter found Cornelius waiting for him, together with all his relatives and close friends. And then Peter did something he’d never done before – he entered the house of a Gentile. But no sooner had he done so than Cornelius fell to the floor at his feet to worship him!

‘Get up!’ Peter said, grabbing Cornelius by the arm and hastily pulling him back to his feet. ‘I’m just a human being like you!’ So Cornelius got up and they went in to find a crowd of people waiting for them.

When he saw the crowd, Peter said, ‘You all know it’s against the Jewish law for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me that I should never think of anyone as unclean or impure. So, when I was sent for, I came without raising any objections. Now, please will you tell me why you sent for me?’ So Cornelius told Peter all that had happened four days ago when he’d seen the vision of the angel and about the message he’d been given.

Then Peter replied, ‘I can see very clearly that God hasn’t got favourites. In every nation He accepts those who fear Him and do what’s right. You will have heard about the Good News for the Jewish people that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. And you know all that’s happened beginning in Galilee after John the Baptist began preaching and how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went around doing good and healing all those who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.’

‘Well, we, His apostles, are witnesses of all He did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. How they put Him to death on a tree, how God raised Him to life on the third day after His death and allowed Him to be seen, not by everyone, but by witnesses that God had already chosen. We were those who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach everywhere and testify that Jesus is the One God’s chosen to be judge of all – both the living and the dead. He’s the One all the prophets spoke about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.’

While Peter was still speaking to them, the Holy Spirit fell upon everyone who heard the message. The Jewish believers couldn’t believe what was happening – that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on those who weren’t Jews! But it was true, as they heard these Gentiles speaking in tongues and praising God just like they’d done on the day of Pentecost!

Peter looked around at the wonderful sight before him and, seeing that God had moved to save and anoint these Gentiles with the Holy Spirit and so bring them into church, he said, ‘Can anyone object to these people being baptised now that they’ve received the Holy Spirit in just the same way we did?’ Without waiting for a reply he ordered that they should all be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. And afterwards, to prove that Peter really had understood that salvation was for everyone, not just Jews, and that he must not call anyone unclean, when Cornelius asked him to stay with them, Peter happily stayed in that Gentile household for several days. (PAUSE)

Of course, the news of what’d happened spread like wildfire! And what Peter had done – actually inviting Gentiles into a house as his guests and then, even worse, going into the house of a Gentile – was reported to the other believers in Judea and, when he arrived back in Jerusalem, some of the Jewish believers criticised his behaviour. ‘You actually went into the home of Gentiles and even shared a meal with them!’ they protested.

So Peter told them exactly what’d happened to him and how it’d all come to pass. ‘I was in Joppa and, one day as I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. When I looked inside the sheet, it was full of all sorts of small animals, wild animals, reptiles and birds that we aren’t allowed to eat! Then, I heard a voice speaking to me. It said, ‘Peter, get up; kill and eat!’’

‘I was horrified! So I replied, ‘Never, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything forbidden by the Jewish law!’’

‘But the voice from heaven replied to me, ‘If God says something’s clean, don’t call it unclean!’ This happened three times before the sheet was taken back up into heaven. Just then, three men arrived at the house. As they arrived, the Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry about them being Gentiles. These six brothers came with me and we soon arrived at the home of the man who’d sent for us. Well, he told us how an angel had appeared to him and told him to send messengers to Joppa to find me, saying, ‘He will tell you how you and all your household will be saved!’’

‘So I began telling them the Good News but, as I was telling them, the Holy Spirit fell on them just like He fell on us at the beginning. It was at this point that I thought about the Lord’s words when He said, ‘John baptised with water, but you’re going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ Anyway, since God had given these Gentiles the same gift He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to argue about it?’

When they heard all that Peter had to say, there were no more objections as all their questions were answered. In fact, their concern turned to worship and praise of God as they said, ‘Wow, God’s even given the Gentiles the privilege of turning from their sins and receiving eternal life.’

Episode NT45 – Peter, Aeneas & Tabitha

Story 45 – Peter, Aeneas & Tabitha

Based on Acts chapter 9 verses 32 – 43

So the church had a period of peace and growth throughout the region. And as it grew, Peter left Jerusalem and started an itinerant ministry, going from place to place encouraging the believers and telling those who hadn’t heard – about Jesus.

And, as he moved around, he eventually came to a place called Lydda, at the intersection of a couple of extremely important trade routes, up to the north west of Israel. His purpose for coming was to encourage and build up the believers there. However, while he was in Lydda, he came across a man named Aeneas who was paralysed – and had been for at least 8 years.

Maybe Peter was reminded of another paralysed man confined to his mattress? It had been during the time when Jesus was with them and He’d been teaching in a house jam-packed to overflowing. The friends of the paralysed man had been so insistent that he reached Jesus that they’d literally taken part of the roof off in order to lower their friend down in front of Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. It hadn’t gone quite as they’d expected because, instead of instantly curing their friend as they’d hoped, they’d watched as Jesus had not offered healing – but forgiveness – because Jesus had seen past the paralysis to the real deep-felt need of the man.

Then, to prove to the doubting Jewish leaders present that He had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus had gone on to heal the man – much to the delight of his friends – and told him to pick up his mat and go home! An instant healing, undeniable and truly miraculous.

Now here was poor Aeneas who, like that other man, was confined to his mattress. He’d been like if for 8 years with no hope whatsoever of freedom or change. No doubt filled with compassion for Aeneas, Peter looked at him and spoke to him directly, in very much the same way Jesus had spoken directly to that other paralytic once the issue of sin had been sorted. But Peter didn’t rely on his own power or for a moment think he could change Aeneas’ condition. Instead, Peter pointed to the real source of power by saying, ‘Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you.’

Quite what Aeneas felt I don’t know, but Peter wasn’t happy to leave it at that. Jesus hadn’t healed the paralytic lowered through the roof and then left him on his mat! Instead, Jesus had commanded the man to respond to the healing – an undeniable proof of the miracle that had taken place as well as being undeniable proof of Jesus’ ability and willingness to forgive sin! So, in the same way, Peter spoke again to Aeneas, ‘Now get up, and make your own bed’ – a task sounding so simple, but which had been impossible for him for 8 years. And, like the paralytic that Jesus had healed, who’d got up, picked up his mat and walked home, Aeneas also got up – no doubt both overwhelmed and overjoyed by what had happened to him.

When Jesus had healed that paralytic, it had been obvious to all, and the reaction of those present at that time had been to glorify God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this before.’ And, in a similar way, the story of what had happened to Aeneas spread like wildfire throughout the whole of Lydda and the plain of Sharon. People saw the once paralysed man walking about and living his life by the power of Jesus working through Peter. They met him, spoke to him and no doubt the story was told over and over again about how wonderful and merciful the Lord had been to him. And, as people heard, the Holy Spirit moved in an incredibly powerful and deep way, as everyone responded by turning away from their old way of life and towards Jesus, believing in Him and accepting Him as their Saviour. (PAUSE)

Now, during the time Peter was in Lydda, an incident happened in Joppa which was about 11 miles away up to the north east, on the coast. The believers in Joppa must have heard about Peter’s visit to Lydda and the news of what’d happened to Aeneas. So, when the incident happened, the believers in Joppa didn’t hesitate to call for Peter, knowing that his proximity to them was no coincidence.

What had happened was that a dearly loved member of their church had died. Her name was Tabitha and she was the kind of person whose love for Jesus simply shone through in the love she had for the destitute widows and the poor and needy people in the church at Joppa. That love caused her to work hard to meet their needs as she was best able which, in her case, involved making and providing essential clothing such as undergarments and cloaks that the needy and vulnerable simply couldn’t afford. Although I don’t know for certain, I suspect that Tabitha’s death had caught the church by surprise, that maybe she wasn’t of an age when they would’ve expected her to die. Whatever the cause, when she died, the believers at Joppa realised that Peter was nearby and so they washed and prepared Tabitha’s body for burial but, instead of burying her, they placed her on a bed in an upper room and sent a couple of men to hurriedly get Peter and return without delay.

These people realised that God had moved in such a way that Peter was close enough to get to them quickly and that God had used Peter to do many miracles – not least the latest one everyone was talking about when he’d healed Aeneas, the paralytic. And so, they trusted God that, if He wanted, He could work again through Peter in this sad situation.

No doubt Peter was a busy man. Many, many people had turned to Jesus in Lydda and Sharon but, instead of thinking he had to stay there, Peter trusted God and the church in Lydda and Sharon to help these new believers, and made himself available to respond to this urgent invitation to go to Joppa. So, he got up and went with the men as quickly as he could.

When Peter arrived, he was hurriedly shown to the upper room where Tabitha’s body was laid out and where a crowd of widows wept and showed Peter all the garments Tabitha had made for them. Clearly Tabitha was a dearly loved and sorely missed woman.

I wonder if this situation reminded Peter of another incident that had happened when he’d been with Jesus? Another time when there had been a house full of weeping people and, not a woman, but a little girl of 12, lying dead on her bed? At that time, Jesus had put everyone else out of the house except for Peter, James and John and the girl’s parents. In a similar way, Peter ushered out the weeping widows until he was alone with the dead body of Tabitha laid out on the bed.

Peter knew he needed Jesus’ help to deal with this situation. With the little girl, Jesus had simply said, ‘Talitha koum’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you – get up!’. But Peter wasn’t Jesus and so he did what had become so natural and easy for him to do, he knelt down at the bedside and prayed to the Lord he loved and trusted. Then, turning to the body on the bed, Peter said, ‘Tabitha koum’. Almost the same words Jesus had spoken to the little girl except for one letter difference.

The little girl had got up at once and begun to walk around, and Jesus had instructed her parents to give her something to eat. But Tabitha simply opened her eyes as if from a long sleep. Then, seeing Peter there beside her, she sat up and Peter held out his hand to help her get up.

Well, as you can imagine, there was a great deal of rejoicing when Peter presented Tabitha alive again to the believers and widows. And, of course, the news of what had happened spread like wildfire around all Joppa and many people believed in the Lord Jesus because of what had happened. (PAUSE)

And after that? Well, even though Peter was an apostle, God was still very much at work in his life. He’d been brought up as a strict Jew and that meant he’d been taught what the Jews considered to be right and wrong. However, Jesus had started the process of showing Peter that what he’d been brought up to believe – wasn’t quite as straightforward as he’d thought. For example, when Philip had told Samaritans (whom Jews hated and avoided at all costs) about Jesus, many Samaritans believed. Then, Peter himself, along with John, had visited these Samaritan believers to see what was happening, and the Lord had allowed those people to receive the Holy Spirit in the same way the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had done. This was unthinkable for a Jew – that anyone outside of the Jewish faith could be added to the church. But Peter could not deny what Jesus was doing and so the new church now consisted of BOTH Jews and Samaritans.

And, maybe because of this, because Peter realised that Jesus was breaking down barriers and challenging his prejudices, he was able to do something that just a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable.

A tanner had become a believer in Joppa and had invited Peter to say at his house. Now, tanners ‘tan’ animal skins to create leather. Therefore, they have to deal with dead animals which, according to the Jews, made them unclean. A Jewish synagogue at that time would not have allowed a tanner to join them and, if you had dealings with a tanner, you would be considered to be unclean. But, obviously, Peter saw that this tanner, also named Simon, was a real believer because, rather than rejecting him and his offer, Peter stayed at his house for a long time as the Lord continued His work in Joppa and beyond.

Episode NT44 – The Road To Damascus

Story 44 – The Road To Damascus

Based on Acts chapter 9 verses 1 to 31

Had the two of them met before Jesus had been crucified? Had they both been in the Temple together at a Jewish festival or celebration? Had Saul listened to the carpenter from Nazareth as He’d taught the people about the Kingdom of God?

Saul knew about John the Baptist and had certainly heard the reports about all Jesus had done – the miracles, the wonders, the signs! He’d seen the frustration of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Priests and the Teachers of the Law as, time and time again, Jesus had proved that they didn’t understand what the Scriptures said, and were more interested in what people thought about them than in obeying God. Had it made him angry to hear what Jesus was saying and to realise that, deep inside, even though he seemed to be perfect in his obedience to the Law, he couldn’t control his own sin – his envy, his pride?

And the crucifixion of Jesus? What had he made of that? To hear that this teacher and miracle worker had been put to death under the curse of God! For the Scriptures clearly stated that anyone who hung on a tree was under the curse of God and, by being nailed to a wooden cross, Jesus most certainly was ‘hung on a tree’ and therefore came under God’s curse. And yet, within days of His terrible death, to hear rumours and murmurings that Jesus was alive again!

There were other things too. The Temple curtain for one, torn in two at the same time Jesus died, and no doubt hurriedly sewn back up again by the Priests! What did it mean? Then there was that sound, that loud noise of rushing wind during the feast of Pentecost. It seemed that from that moment on the trouble had really started! True, it’d been surprising to see the followers of Jesus worshipping in the Temple so soon after He died and the rumours of His resurrection but, after Pentecost, the number of these followers had seemed to explode across Jerusalem with more and more of them following ‘the Way’, as it was called, every day! (PAUSE)

Surely it had to be a lie? How could this Jesus be the Son of God? But then Saul had also seen Stephen as his face had shone like that of an angel, and he’d listened to his speech accusing them of disbelief – the nerve! And that had been it, this plague of foolish idiots deceived by the nonsense about Jesus being the Messiah had to be stopped! Saul’s blood had boiled with anger at these people, these followers of Jesus, and he’d watched with hate-filled pleasure as Stephen had been dragged to his place of death. (P) True, he hadn’t expected Stephen to forgive them as they stoned him to death. And what to make of his claim of seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God … surely that was blasphemy, to make Jesus out to be equal with God?

And that had been the trigger, the catalyst, for all that had followed as Saul in his anger, hatred and rage had swept through Jerusalem throwing in prison and sentencing to death everyone he could find who claimed to be a follower of Jesus!

Searching from house to house with the single-minded purpose of destroying the young church, Saul arrested and condemned many, while plenty more slipped through his fingers, escaping from Jerusalem to the towns and cities throughout Israel and beyond.

But not to worry! They wouldn’t last long. They could run, but they couldn’t hide. Because if there was one real weakness about these followers of ‘the Way’ it was this – they just couldn’t keep quiet about that man Jesus. Wherever they went it seemed that the first thing they did was to find a Jewish meeting place, a synagogue, and start telling other Jews about Jesus. They’d be so easy to find! And now, as Saul trudged along the road to the distant city of Damascus, with letters in his hand from the High Priest himself, giving him orders to find, arrest, put in chains and drag back to Jerusalem every follower of ‘the Way’ he found, Saul muttered murderous threats against them, ready to destroy them all. (PAUSE)

But, as he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around Saul and he fell to the ground. Then a voice spoke to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

‘Sir, who are you?’ Saul asked.

‘I am Jesus, the One you’re persecuting,’ came the reply. ‘Now get up and go into the city. When you get there you’ll be told what to do.’

The men travelling with Saul were terrified. They’d heard the voice, but seen no one. But when Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, he found he couldn’t see a thing – he was blind! So the other men took him by the hand and carefully led him into the city. (P)

What was going through Saul’s head as he was brought into the city? For so long he’d convinced himself that Jesus wasn’t alive, that everything he’d heard about His followers was evil and wrong, and yet … and yet … now he finally realised that he himself had been unsure and not really known what to make of all he’d seen and heard. And now he knew for certain that he’d been wrong, that the terrible things he’d done to the church, to Jesus’ disciples, was as if he’d done them to Jesus Himself. (P) When he arrived in the city how he must have prayed! Not only for his sight again, but also asking for God’s forgiveness, pleading to be able to understand all that God had done through Jesus. For three days he wouldn’t eat or drink anything. He wouldn’t allow even food to get in the way of his need to speak to his new Saviour. (PAUSE)

After Saul’s attack on the church in Jerusalem, some of the disciples had escaped to Damascus and one of them, named Ananias, received a vision from the Lord in which the Lord called to him, ‘Ananias!’

‘Yes, Lord,’ Ananias replied.

‘Ananias, I want you to go to Straight Street and find the house of Judas. When you get there, I want you to ask for a man from the city of Tarsus named Saul who’s praying. In a vision he’s seen a man called Ananias come to him and place his hands upon him to restore his sight.’

‘Erm, err, but Lord,’ Ananias replied, ‘I’ve heard all sorts of reports about this man and all the harm he’s done to the church in Jerusalem, and how he’s come here to arrest everyone who calls on your name!’

‘Go, Ananias,’ the Lord replied. ‘This man is my chosen instrument to take the message of my name to those who aren’t Jews and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he has to suffer for my name.’

So Ananias did as the Lord asked. Going to the house of Judas on Straight Street, he found Saul, placed his hands on him and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me to you so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ At once, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. After that, he got up and was baptised. And only after that did he take something to eat and regain his strength. (PAUSE)

The change in Saul was nothing less than miraculous. The man who’d tried with all his might to destroy the church, having met with Jesus, began at once to preach about Jesus in the Jewish meeting places, the synagogues, saying, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’

The people who heard him were staggered. ‘Isn’t this the man who devastated the church in Jerusalem?’ they asked. ‘And we were led to believe that he’d come here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to Jerusalem in chains!’ And yet, Saul grew more and more powerful and the Jews couldn’t stand up against his teaching as he proved that Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah!

Then, leaving Damascus for a while, Saul spent the best part of three years in Arabia before returning to Damascus again. What he did there I don’t really know, but the Lord was with him, helping him understand the Good News that salvation isn’t just for the Jews, but for everyone.

Eventually, after his return to Damascus, his teaching about Jesus being the Christ and salvation being for everyone caused the Jews to decide that Saul wasn’t worthy of life and they planned to kill him at the first opportunity. Day and night his enemies watched the gates of the city, waiting to strike should Saul pass their way. But the Lord was merciful to Saul and some of the believers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

From there, Saul travelled to Jerusalem. But the disciples in Jerusalem, who hadn’t heard the news about this man who’d caused them so many problems, were very suspicious of him and refused to let him join them, thinking it was some kind of deception. But, thankfully, Barnabas, the son of encouragement, took Saul to Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. Barnabas told them what had happened to Saul on the road to Damascus and all that had followed, and how he fearlessly preached in the name of Jesus. And so Saul stayed with them for fifteen days, moving about freely in Jerusalem and boldly speaking in the name of the Lord. (P)

In fact, so bold was his preaching that, once again, it led to danger as he debated with some Jews and they tried to kill him! But, when the brothers learned about it, they took Saul down to Caesarea and sent him to his home town of Tarsus. (P)

And, after that, the church had peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria and it grew in strength and numbers as the believers walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Episode NT43 – Beyond Jerusalem

Story 43 – Beyond Jerusalem

Based on Acts chapter 8 verses 4 to 40

So Stephen was dead and, as those who hated the church swept through Jerusalem to arrest and imprison every believer they could find, the rest of us fled for our lives, not sure what to think! Satan, the enemy of God, seemed to be winning, killing Jesus’ followers and making it almost impossible for us to carry on meeting together. As for me, Philip, I escaped Jerusalem just in time and started to go north, to the area called Samaria. The Jews hate the Samaritans because they think that Samaritans aren’t proper Jews but a mixture of Jews and non-Jews and so they avoid Samaria and Samaritans as much as possible. I hoped that would put off those persecuting the church from following me there. Mind you, it’s not really a good place for any Jew to go, because the hatred goes both ways, and the Samaritans hate the Jews just as much, the two groups having as little to do with each other as possible.

As I pondered on all that was happening, I couldn’t help thinking about another time when Jesus’ followers had thought that Satan had won – when Jesus was crucified! Back then, the disciples didn’t understand or believe that, even when Jesus was taken to the cross to be executed, God was still in control. And, because God was still in control, when Jesus died on the cross, far from it being a great victory for Satan, it removed all Satan’s power as Jesus took away our guilt so that Satan couldn’t tell God how terrible we were any more! So, now, when things seemed so bleak with Stephen dead and the rest of us scattered, was God still in control? Of course He was! And yet, what was I supposed to be doing?

As I arrived in Samaria, the words of Jesus that the apostles had told us about came to mind. Jesus had said that we’d be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, yes! But He’d also said we’d be witnesses to Him in Samaria and I was in Samaria! And, anyway, I just couldn’t keep quiet about all the Lord had done, so, when I entered the city of Samaria, I started telling them about the Messiah, about Jesus. I didn’t know what to expect, but I simply couldn’t keep quiet!

God was with me as the Holy Spirit worked with great power through me, enabling me to do all kinds of miracles. Those possessed by evil spirits were freed and the demons left with a shriek! The sick were healed – both paralysed and lame – and, because of it, the people listened very carefully to everything I had to tell them about Jesus and there was lots of joy in the city. (PAUSE)

One thing I’ve learnt is that, when the Lord’s at work through His people, Satan’s at work as well! (P) In that city there was a man called ‘Simon the Sorcerer’. For many years he’d claimed to be someone of great importance and all the people, from the most ordinary right up to the rulers, often called him ‘the Great One – the Power of God’. The reason they all thought so much of him was because of the magic he performed. But now, many people in that city believed the message I brought them about the Kingdom of God and about Jesus. And because of that many men and women were baptised. Even Simon seemed to believe what I said and was baptised. Yet, rather than getting on and showing he really believed by doing what God wanted, he followed me around everywhere I went, wanting to see the miracles God was doing through me. And, when he saw them, he was amazed! – But more on Simon later.

I don’t know if you remember, but God had shown us that when we believed, He’d send the Holy Spirit to us in a special way. He’d ‘baptise us with the Holy Spirit’, to use Jesus’ words. But a funny thing happened when I was in Samaria. Many people had heard my message about the Kingdom of God and believed what I said and been baptised into the name of Jesus, and yet, the Lord hadn’t baptised them with the Holy Spirit! (P) Anyway, when what was left of the church in Jerusalem heard that the people in Samaria had accepted God’s message, they quickly sent Peter and John to see what was happening. And, it was when Peter and John arrived that I began to see why the Lord had held back the Spirit.

Jews hate Samaritans! Samaritans hate Jews! But the church Jesus has given us must not be split! It would be so easy for the Jerusalem believers and the Samaritan believers to be two separate churches, but what Peter and John and I had seen was that the people in Samaria were saved in exactly the same we’d been saved! By believing the Good News about who Jesus is and what He’s done, by believing that Jesus died not just for the people of Jerusalem, but for everyone else as well! And so, when they saw this, Peter, the leader of the church, and John laid their hands on the believers in Samaria, and they received the Holy Spirit – showing beyond doubt that everyone who believes in Jesus is saved in exactly the same way and that they all belong together as one church!

But, getting back to Simon the Sorcerer, when he saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles, Peter and John, placed their hands on the believers’ heads, he actually offered the apostles money to buy that power for himself! ‘Let me have this power as well,’ he pleaded, ‘so that, when I put my hands on people, they’ll receive the Holy Spirit through me!’

Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Here was someone who said they were a believer and yet what they really wanted was fame for themselves – for people to think more highly of them than anyone else! So Peter replied, ‘May your money perish with you for thinking that you could buy the gift of God! Your heart isn’t right with God, so you can’t have any part to play in this ministry. Turn away from your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Maybe He’ll forgive you for having such evil thoughts in your heart, because I can see that you’re full of bitterness and captive to sin!’

I think that what Peter said to Simon really frightened him but, instead of doing what Peter said and turning away from this evil thought and saying sorry to God and being forgiven, he pleaded with Peter, ‘Please, pray to God for me so that those terrible things won’t happen to me!’ (P)

After spending some time with the new believers in Samaria, telling them about Jesus and preaching in the city about all that Jesus has done, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, stopping off in many Samaritan villages along the way, to tell them the Good News as well.

They left me in Samaria to carry on the work that the Lord had started through me. However, one day, an angel sent from the Lord came and spoke with me. He said, ‘Go south down to the desert road that runs from Jerusalem and on to Gaza.’ This was outside of Samaritan territory, but I did as the Lord asked. Now, as I was going along the road, I came across a chariot with a really important official from the land of Ethiopia in it. He was the treasurer to Queen Candace, queen of Ethiopia. This man must either have had Jewish parents, or become a Jew when he was older, because he was going back home again, having spent some time worshipping in Jerusalem. But what was very interesting was that, as he sat in his chariot, he was reading out loud from the book of Isaiah.

As he started to pass me by, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, ‘Go over and stay near that chariot.’ So I trotted over to it and kept jogging alongside. And, as I did so, I heard the man reading from Isaiah, so I asked him, ‘Excuse me, do you understand what you’re reading?’

‘How can I,’ the man replied, ‘when there isn’t anyone who can tell me what it means? Why don’t you come up here and explain it to me?’

The passage he’d been reading was this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of His descendants? For His life was taken away from the earth.’

After he’d read this out loud, the official turned to me and asked, ‘Tell me, who’s the writer of this passage talking about? Himself or someone else?’ So I started by explaining that very passage and continued to tell him the Good News about Jesus. And, as we talked and travelled along the road, we came to a place where there was some water. ‘Look, there’s some water here,’ the official said to me. ‘Why shouldn’t I be baptised?’ So he ordered the chariot to stop and the two of us got out and went down into the water and I baptised him.

When we came back out of the water, the Holy Spirit suddenly took me away from the Ethiopian official, and we never met again – although I did hear later how the official had gone on his way rejoicing at what the Lord had done for him. (P) As for me, I found myself up north in the city of Azotus. And, starting there, I told people the Good News about Jesus in every city along the way until I came to Caesarea.