Bible in 90 Days - Day 79 (Acts 17-28)

Lord Christ,

we believe in you.

Help our unbelief. Amen.

—based on Mark 9:24

Good morning friends,

Today’s we finish the book of Acts – Acts 16:38-28:31.

Paul certainly was versatile in preaching the Gospel and defending the Christian faith. He was extremely well-trained (22:3) as a Jewish theologian (unlike the disciples), so he knew how to really reason in the synagogues. Even though that was his specific training, God made him the messenger to the Gentiles. Both within and outside his areas of formal training Paul spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit. In 18:13 the accusation by the Jews is that Paul is teaching a worship of God contrary to Jewish law. Luke says, “Just as Paul was about to speak…” I bet he was about to speak! These are the places where Paul shines! We see the same desire in Paul in Ephesus in 19:30.

18:9-10 is key to understanding all of this. This is God’s message and God’s work. Just like we saw through the entire Old Testament, God is working in all of these situations for his purposes.

There are Christians who use verses like the beginning of chapter 19 to teach that there is something called a “second blessing” of the Holy Spirit, which is to say that after one becomes a Christian there is still some experience of the Holy Spirit they need to pursue. We flatly deny this. Faith itself is a gift of the Holy Spirit. There is one baptism, one Lord, one faith. I won’t go into a lot of detail here, but I can point you to more materials if this is an issue you face.

Acts 19:35 makes reference to the great temple of Artemis. This was one of the wonders of the ancient world. The city clerk is basically saying, “How can this little group of Christians do anything to affect the great Artemis and her temple?” There is nothing left of that temple today but one pillar that has been re-erected. Christianity, on the other hand, is everywhere.

As we close out the book of Acts, it is amazing and humbling to see how God uses so many different circumstances to make sure the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God is preached to Jews and Gentiles, to the highest rulers and the commonest people.