Reflections on Acts, Part I

This spring, our small group studied Acts using Kay Arthur’s New Inductive Study Series. Being a “doctrine girl,” I was afraid I would get bored, and although there were times it dragged a little for me, the study was much more of a blessing than I anticipated. Following is the first of three planned posts highlighting some of the things that stand out from the study that I have thought about and that we discussed as a group during our last meeting.

God is Working His Plan
God has a plan, and He will carry it out, and He usually does it in ways that are completely unexpected (Isaiah 55:9). First, growth of the church and the spread of Christianity were prompted by persecution that began with the stoning of Stephen (8:1). Jesus told the disciples in 1:8, “and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Persecution was the means God used to relocate the first believers so the gospel would spread.

Persecution as a catalyst for the spread of the gospel reminds me of our recent missions conference. Carmen Hale from Elam Ministries spoke to us about their work in Iran. She told us that when the Shah was in power and there was religious freedom in Iran, no one was interested in the gospel, but since Islamist fundamentalists have been in power the church has been growing. Several Iranian pastors have been martyred in recent years, and people are now flocking to the churches. A new translation of the New Testament into Farsi (Persian) was recently completed and published. Carmen showed us a video of the clandestine arrival of the new Bibles, and you have never seen more beautiful, joyful people as those who were waiting expectantly for their new Bibles—in the knowledge that their presence at this event could cost them their lives.

A second observation about God working His plan relates to Paul and his intentions to go to Rome. Romans 1: 9-17 and Romans 15:20-33 make it clear that Paul planned to stop off in Rome en route to Spain NOT to spend several years imprisoned there. However, God in His infinite wisdom provided the circumstances for Paul to author Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, Philippians, and II Timothy through Paul’s imprisonment. (Paul was imprisoned twice in Rome. First, from ~60 A.D. to 62 A.D. and, then, from ~63 A.D. to 64 A.D.)

God Keeps His Promises
In Genesis 12:3, God tells Abram, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” A brief online search gives an approximate date of 2147 B.C. for God’s calling of Abram. More than 2,000 years later, we begin to see this promised fulfilled in Acts chapter 10 with the Roman Centurion Cornelius’s conversion.

This brings to mind 2 Peter 3:8-9: But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

I am someone who often FEELS (herein lies the problem) that God is not moving quickly enough for me. I would do well to remember His word and how He has worked in the past.

Next time, I will examine the first church as presented in Acts.