Opposite Reactions: “Great Joy” or “Rid the earth of him!”

Friday  2-5-16 (Home in Modesto, California)     

Scripture reading for today:  Exodus 39 – 40     Psalm 15     Acts 12

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren,"Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

Vs 3-4  So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.  NKJV

O.  Many Jews would get very upset whenever they heard that God was blessing the Gentiles and worse still that Jewish Christians were being sent to convert Gentiles to Christ.  They felt that if you wanted to be saved you must go through all the hoops and become a Jew.  When Jesus preached in Nazareth, it was when He pointed out how God had blessed Gentiles in the Old Testament that “They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.  (Luke 4:29-30) NIV  Later when Paul faced a mob to give his defense, the religious Jews went into a rage and would have killed him if a Roman soldier had not rescued him.  Why?  The moment that Paul mentioned that he had been sent to the Gentiles, the mob screamed, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" Acts 22:22

 

Now when Paul and Barnabas visited the churches in Samaria and Phoenicia and told them of the conversion of Gentiles there was “great joy.”  There had to be many Jewish Christians in these churches, yet now as true Christians they rejoiced.  What a difference Jesus makes!

A.  The Holy Spirit moves in when we receive Christ.  His presence allows me... even impels me to love the unlovables.  The very people I might have hated or despised, I now embrace and strive to draw with cords of love into the gates of heaven.

P.  Lord Jesus, You know that in a few days I will be back in Argentina.  Why?  Because You have placed a deep love in my heart for a people I did not previously know.  I do not love them because they are better or the best... although I often see them that way.  I love them because You love them... enough to die for them.  You did not love me because I was better than some lost man in Haiti or Russia.  You loved us all enough to die for us.  Lord, You also know that tomorrow morning, Saturday, I will be preaching in two different areas to groups of children.  Many of them did not grow up in Christian homes.  Let Your great love flow through me like a river and touch these lives... and again in the two services Sunday morning in Pastor Sammy Vazquez’ church in Arleta, California.  I am counting on You.  And thank You for this privilege.  Amen.

Ralph