I am continuing to read through the New Testament accompanied by the commentary series The Bible Speaks Today, edited by John R. W. Stott. The fifth volume of the series, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, is also authored by Stott. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I post quotes from the commentary on my Facebook page and periodic summaries of the commentary here on my blog. I welcome discussion on these post on my Facebook page. As always, quotes from Stott are in blue font.
Chapter 13 of Acts begins the stories of Paul’s missionary journeys and how the church began to reach out to the Gentile world. It records the history of how the church spread from Antioch through Asia Minor, into the Greek world and ultimately all the way to Rome through Paul and his missionary team. It continues to make clear that this expansion was ordained by God and driven and empowered by the Holy Spirit (despite the shortcomings of the mission team). Paul’s strategy was to go to the Jews first and focus on Christ’s fulfillment of the OT. From that base he would expand his ministry out to the Gentiles. The tendency seemed to be widespread acceptance or ignoring from the Gentiles and very limited acceptance and persecution from the Jews.
Would it not be true to say both that the Spirit sent them out, by instructing the church to do so, and that the church sent them out, having been directed by the Spirit to do so? This balance will be a healthy corrective to opposite extremes. The first is the tendency to individualism, by which a Christian claims direct personal guidance by the Spirit without any reference to the church. The second is the tendency to institutionalism, by which all decision-making is done by the church without any reference to the Spirit. Acts 13.1-4, 217–218.
It is very striking, therefore, that he brings together here at the conclusion of his sermon five of the great words which will be foundation stones of his gospel as he expounds it in his Letter. Having referred to Jesus’ death on the tree (29), he goes on to speak of sin (38), faith, justification, law (39) and grace (43). Acts 13.38-41, 225.
Nothing could stop the spread of the Lord’s word; the whole region heard it (49). Yet at the same time persecution increased. Paul himself suffered from it... Notwithstanding the opposition, the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit, for, as Paul was soon to write to the Galatians, ‘the fruit of the Spirit is … joy’. Acts 13.42-52, 228.
Chapter 14 records the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Their ministry was characterized by bold preaching and miracles and was responded to with large numbers of conversions and intense persecution. Paul and Barnabas tried to leave functioning churches in every place they ministered. They returned to Antioch to report on the mission and to show that the endeavor was a ministry of the entire church. Chapter 15 records the validation, by the church leadership, of the work with the Gentiles. They did not need to become Jews to enter the church (no need for circumcision, Sabbaths, food laws etc). The Holy Spirit had shown that faithful response to Christ was the only necessary requirement and the walls that prevented fellowship were broken down.
We need to learn from Paul’s flexibility. We have no liberty to edit the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. Nor is there ever any need to do so. But we have to begin where people are, to find a point of contact with them...Wherever we begin, however, we shall end with Jesus Christ, who is himself the good news, and who alone can fulfil all human aspirations. John R. W. Stott, Acts 14.15-18, 232.
Although no fixed ministerial order is laid down in the New Testament, some form of pastoral oversight (episkope), doubtless adapted to local needs, is regarded as indispensable to the welfare of the church. We notice that it was both local and plural—local in that the elders were chosen from within the congregation, not imposed from without, and plural in that the familiar modern pattern of ‘one pastor one church’ was simply unknown. Acts 14.21-28, 236.
We conclude that we are saved by grace as they are (11). If only the Judaizers could grasp that God makes no distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, but saves both by grace through faith, they would not make distinctions either. Grace and faith level us; they make fraternal fellowship possible. Acts 15.7-11, 246.
After a “break-up” with Barnabas, Paul creates a new missionary team with Silas and Timothy and desires to return to the churches he has founded. The Spirit directs them into Greece and they plant churches in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. Paul also has the opportunity to present Christ in Athens. (16.1-17.34) In this section we get several sermons to both Jewish and Gentile audiences. Though Paul is quite flexible in his approach depending on the group he is preaching to, he always, eventually, gets his message focused on the resurrection of Jesus and its implications for his audience.
A strong conscience gives us liberty of behaviour, but we should limit our liberty out of love for the weak. Again, though free, Paul was willing to make himself a slave to others. To those under the law he was prepared to become like one under the law, in order to win those under the law. Was that not exactly what he was doing when he circumcised Timothy...'Paul was a reed in non-essentials,—an iron pillar in essentials.’ Acts 16.1-5, 257
We too in our day, Pierson concludes, ‘need to trust him for guidance and rejoice equally in his restraints and constraints.’Some important principles of divine guidance are, in fact, exemplified in the experience of Paul and his companions. God led them by a combination of factors, over a period of time, ending when they pondered their meaning together. Acts 16.6-10, 261
It is wonderful to observe in Philippi both the universal appeal of the gospel (that it could reach such a wide diversity of people) and its unifying effect (that it could bind them together in God’s family)...The wealthy business woman, the exploited slave girl and the rough Roman gaoler had been brought into a brotherly or sisterly relationship with each other and with the rest of the church’s members... We too, who live in an era of social disintegration, need to exhibit the unifying power of the gospel. Acts 16.11-40, 270.
Luke obviously admires (the Bereans') enthusiasm for Paul’s preaching, together with their industry and unprejudiced openness in studying the Scriptures. They combined receptivity with critical questioning...Ever since then, the adjective ‘Berean’ has been applied to people who study the Scriptures with impartiality and care. Acts 17.10-15, 274.
The equivalent of the agora will vary in different parts of the world. It may be a park, city square or street corner, a shopping mall or market-place, a ‘pub’, neighbourhood bar, café, discothèque or student cafeteria, wherever people meet when they are at leisure. There is a need for gifted evangelists who can make friends and gossip the gospel in such informal settings as these. Acts 17.16-34, 281.
Many people are rejecting our gospel today not because they perceive it to be false, but because they perceive it to be trivial. People are looking for an integrated world-view which makes sense of all their experience. We learn from Paul that we cannot preach the gospel of Jesus without the doctrine of God, or the cross without the creation, or salvation without judgment. Today’s world needs a bigger gospel, the full gospel of Scripture. Acts 17.16-34, 290.
Acts 18.1-19.41 focus on the ministry of Paul’s missionary team in Corinth and Ephesus. In both places Paul was opposed on both a spiritual and physical level. He also made his longest stays in these cities. Significantly, in both cities, Paul is cleared of all misdeeds political and religious and Christianity is declared to be legal by Roman officials. Ephesus will become the center for the spread of the Gospel through the rest of Asia Minor.
The cross undermines all human pride. It insists that we sinners have absolutely nothing with which to buy, or indeed contribute to, our salvation. No wonder that not many wise, influential or upperclass Corinthians responded to the gospel! Acts 18.1-8, 295.
Once Paul had been liberated from the attempt to be justified by the law, his conscience was free to take part in practices which, being ceremonial or cultural, belonged to the ‘matters indifferent’, perhaps on this occasion in order to conciliate the Jewish Christian leaders he was going to see in Jerusalem. Acts 18.18-23, 301.
To be sure, there is power—saving and healing power—in the name of Jesus, as Luke has been at pains to illustrate (e.g. 3:6, 16; 4:10–12). But its efficacy is not mechanical, nor can people use it second-hand. Acts 19.11-20, 307.
When we contrast much contemporary evangelism with Paul’s its shallowness is immediately shown up. Our evangelism tends to be too ecclesiastical (inviting people to church), whereas Paul also took the gospel out into the secular world; too emotional (appeals for decision without an adequate basis of understanding), whereas Paul taught, reasoned and tried to persuade; and too superficial (making brief encounters and expecting quick results), whereas Paul stayed in Corinth and Ephesus for five years, faithfully sowing gospel seed and in due time reaping a harvest. Acts 19.23-41, 314.
The rest of the book of Acts is focused on getting Paul to the capital, Rome. But first, he had to return to Jerusalem to deliver the financial gift for the relief of the church in Jerusalem. One of Paul’s great desires was the union and fellowship between Jew and Gentile. He was so concerned to get to Jerusalem he cut short his time in Ephesus, Troas, Miletus and Caesarea. All along the way he was warned of persecution and danger but would not be deterred in his mission to unite Jerusalem and Rome through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What builds up the church more than anything else is the ministry of God’s word as it comes to us through Scripture and Sacrament (that is the right coupling), audibly and visibly, in declaration and drama. Acts 20.7-12, 321.
This splendid Trinitarian affirmation, that the pastoral oversight of the church belongs to God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), should have a profound effect on pastors. It should humble us to remember that the church is not ours, but God’s. And it should inspire us to faithfulness... If the three persons of the Trinity are thus committed to the welfare of the people, should we not be also? Acts 20.36-38, 329.
He (Luke) deliberately sets out to demonstrate the innocence in the eyes of Roman law of both Jesus (Luke’s Gospel) and Paul (the Acts), and to draw attention to the precedent which the outcome of their trials had established for the legality of the Christian faith. Luke’s purpose has shown the church of all subsequent times and places how to behave under persecution. Acts 21, 338.
The offering was important in itself, and an expression of loving Christian responsibility to the poor. ‘The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil’; but the use of money can be a tangible token of love. The chief significance of the offering, however, lay in its symbolism. It exemplified the solidarity of Gentile believers with their Jewish sisters and brothers in the body of Christ. Acts 21.18-26, 340.
In Jerusalem “Paul acts as a Jew to win the Jews.” It is important to understand that Paul was willing to give up his Christian freedoms in order to advance the Christian gospel. If we don’t understand this Paul appears to be self-contradicting. His acquiescence to James request to participate in Jewish ritual was misunderstood by the Jews and Paul was almost killed. The subsequent Roman trials would become the means Jesus would use to get Paul to his goal in Rome.
According to his (Paul's) conviction Jewish cultural practices belonged to the ‘matters indifferent’, from which he had been liberated, but which he might or might not himself practise according to the circumstances. As F. F. Bruce neatly put it, ‘a truly emancipated spirit such as Paul’s is not in bondage to its own emancipation’. Acts 21.18-26, 342.
(Paul) made two major points. The first was that he himself was a loyal Jew, not only by birth and education but still...He had not broken away from his ancestral faith, still less apostatized; he stood in direct continuity with it. Jesus of Nazareth was ‘the Righteous One’ in whom prophecy had been fulfilled. And Paul’s second point was that those features of his faith which had changed, especially his acknowledgment of Jesus and his Gentile mission, were not his own eccentric ideas. They had been directly revealed to him from heaven, the one truth in Damascus and the other in Jerusalem. Indeed, nothing but such a heavenly intervention could have so completely transformed him. Acts 21.37-22.22, 348.
Paul was a Pharisee, however, not only in the sense of his parentage and education (6), but also in the sense that he shared with Pharisees the great truth and hope of the resurrection, on account of which he was on trial. Acts 23.6-10, 352.
So in this moment of discouragement Jesus comforted him with the straightforward promise that, as he had borne witness to him in Jerusalem, so he must also bear witness to him in Rome. It would be hard to exaggerate the calm courage which this assurance must have brought to Paul during his three further trials, his two years’ imprisonment and his hazardous voyage to Rome. Acts 23.11, 353.
The source of (Paul's) courage was his serene confidence in the truth. He was well aware that the Romans had no case against him. He was convinced that the Jews had no case either, because his faith was the faith of his fathers, and the gospel was the fulfilment of the law. And above all he knew that his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was with him and would keep his promise that he would bear witness, some day, somehow, in Rome. Acts 23.23-35, 357.
The rest of Acts records Paul’s trials before Felix and Agrippa, his appeal to Caesar, his harrowing sea voyage to Rome and ends with his audience with the Jewish leadership in Rome as he waits for trial before Caesar. He is accused of being a troublemaker and desecrator of the temple but Paul maintains that "I am a good Jew who believes in resurrection.” The Roman leaders again exonerate him but his appeal to Caesar necessitates the trip to Rome. Paul is compelled by the calling of Jesus which the trials give Paul a chance to witness to. It also gave Paul a chance to share the gospel in “high places.”
(Paul) recognized that the authority given to Rome came from God and that the privileges given to Israel came from God also. The gospel did not undermine the law, whether Jewish or Roman, but rather ‘upheld’ it. To be sure, the Romans might misuse their God-given authority and the Jews might misrepresent their law as the means of salvation. In such situations Paul would oppose them. Acts 24, 358–359.
Paul never proclaimed the good news in a vacuum, however, but always in a context, the personal context of his hearers. Acts 24.22-27, 363–364.
Surely, when the heavenly voice declared, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ at least two truths must have registered instantly in Saul’s consciousness. The first is that the crucified Jesus was alive and had thus been vindicated, and the second that the Jesus who identified himself so closely with the Christians that to persecute them was to persecute him, must regard them as being peculiarly his own people. Acts 26.1-23, 372.
Conversion includes a radical transfer of allegiance and so of environment. It is both a liberation from the darkness of satanic rule and a liberation into the sphere of God’s marvellous light and power. In other words, it means entering the kingdom of God...The promise of forgiveness was part of the apostolic gospel from the beginning. So was belonging to the Messianic people (2:40–41, 47). For the new life in Christ and the new community of Christ always go together. Acts 26.1-23, 374.
Further, as the gospel centres on Christ’s atonement, resurrection and proclamation (through his witnesses), the resurrection is seen to be indispensable. Paul kept on referring to it during his trials, not in order to provoke the Pharisees and Sadducees into argument, nor only to show that he was faithful to the Jewish tradition, but because the resurrection of Jesus was the beginning and pledge of the new creation, and so at the very heart of the gospel. Acts 26.1-23, 376.
Finally, Luke ends Acts with a “passion narrative” that takes Paul to Rome. The difficult journey shows that God is orchestrating Paul’s appearance before Caesar. God works mightily through Paul’s circumstances – trial, shipwreck, imprisonment – to bring the gospel into the emperor’s court in Rome, produce the prison letters of Paul and provide the gate through which the gospel would go to the rest of the world.
Although the journeys of Jesus and Paul differed from one another in their ultimate direction and destination, they also resembled one another in their pattern, for both included a resolute determination, an arrest, a series of trials in Jewish and Roman courts, and even death and resurrection. For Paul’s descent into the darkness and danger of the storm was a kind of grave, while his rescue from shipwreck and later springtime voyage to Rome were a kind of resurrection. Luke’s ‘highest apology for Paul’ was to portray him as ‘so conformed to the life of the Lord that even his sufferings and deliverance are parallel’ Acts 27, 385.
He is no longer an honoured apostle, but an ordinary man among men, a lonely Christian (apart from Luke himself and Aristarchus) among nearly three hundred non-Christians, who were either soldiers or prisoners or perhaps merchants or crew. Yet Paul’s God-given leadership gifts clearly emerge... Yet it was more than mature experience at sea which made Paul stand out as a leader on board ship; it was his steadfast Christian faith and character. Acts 27.21-38, 389–390.
Here then are aspects of Paul’s character which endear him to us as an integrated Christian, who combined spirituality with sanity, and faith with words. He believed that God would keep his promises and had the courage to say grace in the presence of a crowd of hard-bitten pagans... What a man! He was a man of God and of action, a man of the Spirit and of common sense. Acts 27.33-38, 392.
Luke intends us to marvel with him over the safe conduct of Paul to Rome...Since Luke concentrates on the storm, we need to remember that the sea, reminiscent of the primeval chaos, was a regular Old Testament symbol of evil powers in opposition to God. It was not the forces of nature (water, wind and snake) or the machinations of men (schemes, plots and threats) which were arrayed against Paul, but demonic forces at work through them... And now through the storm at sea he attempted to stop Paul bringing his gospel to the capital of the world. Acts 27-28, 402.
So then (the Holy Spirit using his custody to clarify and enforce this truth), the three main prison letters (to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians) set forth more powerfully than anywhere else the supreme, sovereign, undisputed and unrivalled lordship of Jesus Christ... Was it not through his very confinement that his eyes were opened to see the victory of Christ and the fullness of life, power and freedom which is given to those who belong to Christ? Paul’s perspective was adjusted, his horizon extended, his vision clarified and his witness enriched by his prison experience. Acts 27-28, 404.
Just as Luke’s Gospel ended with the prospect of a mission to the nations, So the Acts ends with the prospect of a mission radiating from Rome to the world. Luke’s description of Paul preaching ‘with boldness’ and ‘without hindrance’ symbolizes a wide open door, through which we in our day have to pass. The Acts of the Apostles have long ago finished. But the acts of the followers of Jesus will continue until the end of the world, and their words will spread to the ends of the earth. Acts 28, 405.
