The Acts of the Apostles

This weeks subject was one that I had been looking forward to for awhile. The establishment of the church and missionary journeys of the early church is so important for believers to have knowledge of but isn’t something that I had ever studied or even heard much about before this year. Mitch Maher came and spoke to our class again this semester and for three days we went through the book of Acts.

In 28 chapters Luke outlined the establishment of the church and the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the whole world within about 65 years. Peter did a lot of the work establishing the church in Jerusalem and Paul was a major figure in taking the gospel to different parts of the world as far as Rome. The best way to study the book of Acts is to break it up according to the progress reports of the missions that Luke wrote of…

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

Luke started off by recalling Jesus commanding his apostles not to leave Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. On the day of Pentecost when all the apostles were together “a noise like a violent rushing wind” came from heaven and the Holy Spirit filled them. They began baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ the people who received the word of God.

Progress report: “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47

EXPANSION OF CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

As the church expanded a godly community was living and sharing all things together. Peter and the apostles continued to perform healings. The church started facing persecution, moral compromise, and distractions but more and more people were becoming believers.

Progress report: “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”  Acts 6:7

Extension of the church to Judea & Samaria

Stephen preached to the Jews but was persecuted to arrest and later death. Persecution was so bad that Philip had to escape Jerusalem and began spreading the gospel outside of Jerusalem to half-breed Samaritans. Saul, a major player in the persecution of Christians, was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus and began preaching the gospel to Gentiles!

Progress report: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”  Acts 9:31

Extension of the church to Antioch

The gospel is taken to Antioch to be preached to the Gentiles. It’s there that Peter emphasizes the message that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for all people. God does not show partiality toward Jews or Gentiles.

Progress report: “But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.”  Acts 12:24

Extension of the church to Asia Minor

Paul took a missionary journey to Asia Minor where he preached the gospel and gave encouragement to the disciples to persevere through a lot of tribulations. At the end of his journey he returned to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.”  Acts 16:5

Extension of the church to Aegean Area

Paul took another missionary journey and in the middle of it he got a vision to go even further west and spread the gospel to Macedonia. He then also went to Greece and Ephesus before returning again to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”  Acts 19:20

Extension of the church to Rome

Paul felt like he was being called to spread the gospel all the way in Rome. He journeyed there and was hit with persecution harder than ever before. He was imprisoned twice in Rome and in 62 AD was beheaded in Rome. But with all the persecution he knew his mission and purpose and made an incredible impact for the kingdom of God!

As we studied Acts I kept being amazed at how quickly the gospel spread. Another thing that struck me was how effective the missionary journeys were. Even with imprisonment, martyrs, and harsh persecution the apostles never strayed from their mission. Peter gave a sermon in Jerusalem and 3,000 people became believers that day! Paul is one of my favorite people written about in the Bible. His story of conversion and powerful advance of the gospel in his lifetime is both inspiring and convicting. Jesus commanded His people to make disciples and that is still our command today.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20

Kingdom Era

This past week we had a man named Charles Stolfus come and speak to our class about the Kingdom Era. The Kingdom era, beginning in 1052 B.C. is the time period in which the twelve tribes of Israel establish a new monarchy and are united under the rule of Saul, David, and then Solomon. In 931 B.C. a civil war breaks out which divides the tribes into the Northern Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 tribes).  Nineteen unrighteous kings ruled the Northern Kingdom for 250 years before the Assyrians conquered Israel. Of the twenty kings that ruled the Southern Kingdom, only eight were righteous before the Lord, and after 400 years He brought judgment upon them when the Babylonians conquered Judah. Two kings of Judah stuck out to me because of their enormous contrast in character- Hezekiah and his son Manasseh.

Hezekiah began his reign in 716 B.C. at the age of twenty-five and was the 13^th king of the Southern Kingdom in the line of David. He was a man of God who obeyed His commands, and because of that God blessed him and Judah during his reign. He brought together the Levites and priest and repaired the house of the Lord, he was a very successful military leader, and was the most righteous king of the Divided Kingdom Era ever saw. 2 Kings 18:3-6 “He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah (a wooden symbol of a female deity). He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.”  During his reign Hezekiah consistently went to the Lord in prayer and God answers. At one point Sennacherib, king of Assyria came to attack Judah. Hezekiah sought help from the Lord and peace from Sennacherib. When Sennacherib refused to relent Isaiah prophesied in 2 Kings 19:6,7 “Isaiah said to them, ‘Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” The Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, Sennacherib returned to his land and was killed. Another example of God’s faithfulness is when Hezekiah gets sick and Isaiah tells him he is about to die. Hezekiah rose up a prayer and then 2 Kings 20:5 says, “Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.’” Hezekiah’s faithfulness to prayer is a great example to me. He did not do necessarily what the people of Judah wanted of him, but he listened to God to direct his decisions during his reign.

Toward the end of his reign Hezekiah had a son named Manasseh who became the 14^th king of Judah after his father. At this point we see one of the greatest kings of the time succeeded by one of the most evil kings Judah ever saw. Manasseh became king in 697 B.C. at the age of 12 and reigned for 55 years. Manasseh put an end to all the good that his father had put in place. He rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for Baal, made idols and worshiped them, practiced witchcraft and other kinds of evil that provoked the Lord’s anger. God sent prophets to rebuke Manasseh and tell of His judgment but he didn’t listen. 2 Chronicles 33:11 says, “Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.” We see God’s wrath toward and unbelievably wicked king who knew the great example of his father and knew God’s commands but completely ignored them. His story could have ended there in torment and judgment for his unrighteousness, but what happened next is incredible- 2 Chronicles 33:12,13 says, “When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.” God showed this evil man mercy and his life was restored! Manasseh recognized his sin and unfaithfulness and took action to make things right in the kingdom. He removed from the city all foreign gods and idols from the house of the Lord and other alters that he had built. He made offerings to God and called the people to turn from their sin and serve the Lord. He was a changed man. Manasseh is another example of the grace God shows to ANYONE who comes to Him! Manasseh didn’t seem to care much for his fathers beliefs at the beginning of his reign, but toward the end of his life he could testify to the words his father spoke years early – 2 Chronicles 30:9 Hezekiah says, “For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.” Such a great reminder!

Throughout the study of Kingdom Era I was struck by God’s patience toward the kings and people of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. His wrath was great but He gave the people many chances to turn away from their sin and follow His commands. God continually rose up prophets to speak to the kings and give warning of the coming judgment but they didn’t seem to care. The people of Israel and Judah were destroying the house of the Lord, worshiping wooden deities that they carved themselves, and practicing witchcraft and the Lord continued to speak to them and give them the opportunity time and time again to return to Him. And even in His entire wrath we see how merciful of God he is as he extended grace to Manasseh! God’s character is unchanging and I’m so thankful to serve the same patient, merciful, and just God that the kings of Israel and Judah served 3,000 years ago.

First blog entry ever in my whole life!

Aloha to a new year of life in the tropics of Branson, MO. The Kanakuk Institute class of 2012 is here for the next 8 months studying the word of God and growing together! After a couple of exciting and eventful weeks we are all now getting used to our schedules and seeing what life will look like on the island surrounded by plastic palm trees.

We’ve gotten to listen to some awesome speakers so far on topics like conflict/resolution, repentance, and the importance of accountability. Early this week David Lawson from Precept Ministries came to speak to the Institute class about inductive bible study. He shared with us some hilarious stories and cracked a few dry jokes, but what stood out to me most about him was how passionate and excited he is about this type of study. His life has absolutely been transformed by studying the bible this way.

Before this week I was somewhat familiar with inductive bible study but never grasped the importance or effectiveness of the technique. David Lawson of Precept Ministries International walked us through the book of Titus, which I had never read before, using the inductive method and I really liked it and learned a lot in the three class periods he spent with us.

Inductive Bible study is a way to study the bible on your own and allows you to come up with your own conclusions based on what the bible says instead of learning based on what scholars or authors have to say about the scripture. It involves a lot of careful reading, marking single words and searching out the meaning of different words and phrases by looking at context and flipping to other parts of the Bible for better understanding.

There are three major areas in inductive study: Observation, Interpretation, and Application.

Observation: During the observation phase of the study you want to read through the text searching for obvious people, places and events. You’re also trying to grasp what the Bible says by looking for the 5 W’s and H:

Who wrote the letter? To whom? Others mentioned?

What is the letter about?

When?

Where was the author? Recipients?

Why did the author write the letter?

How?

Also mark repeated words or phrases and make a list of what the text says about them. After reading through the text a few times the key words and phrases will start to appear. These are the words and phrases that will uncover the meaning of the text. Without them the text wouldn’t make sense. Everything in the Bible has meaning and purpose. Something mentioned just once is still important, but if something is mentioned multiple times it’s probably super important to pay attention to and study.

Interpretation: The important thing to remember here is that context rules. Context leads to proper interpretation. For example, I might ask you to help me with a project I’m working on by running out and taking a picture of a trunk. You could come back with a picture of the back of a car and I’d say that’s wrong. Or a large box of clothes and you’re wrong again. Or a base of a tree and you’re still wrong. When I say I’m doing a project on zoo animals and need a picture of the nose of an elephant, then you will be able to help in the right way. Context is so important. Titus 2:13 says, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,” Is Paul referring to God and Savior as separate beings of the trinity- God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior? Or is he referring to Christ Jesus as God and Savior being one? Based on the next verse, Titus 2:14 I think Paul is referring to God and Savior as both being Christ Jesus. This example taken out of context wouldn’t really change much, but other examples could really affect how the text is interpreted especially when looking at cultural context.

A few steps to take during the interpretation phase of study are cross-referencing and word studies. The great thing about study bibles is that they have some references in the margin to guide you!

Application: This is the part where you take what you just learned and apply it to your own life. Your belief system will determine your behavior. Depending on the part of the Bible being studied there might seem to be a lot of application or maybe a little. Either way it’s a great time to better grasp God’s character, understand salvation, and observe how believers live and how to put it into practice.

Inductive Bible study is something that takes time and discipline. You might read the text 15 times and catch something new every time. We probably read through Titus 10 times in class and after going through the steps of observation, interpretation, and application I felt like I had learned so much, but also felt like we had just touched the surface. The knowledge to be gained from the Bible is endless! Inductive Bible study will remind you of that! It’s overwhelming… in a good way! This week I was reminded that the Bible is the most exciting and intriguing book ever written! There is SO much to be learned. Who could ever get bored of it? The more you read and study the more you realized how little you know. This year we as a class are doing a few inductive studies starting with the life of Abraham. I’m looking forward to the knowledge to be gained here on the island.

Aloha!