Week 5
STudy Questions
Paul and Silas weren’t on the road long before they began to encounter violent opposition (Acts 14:5); but remember, when the Lord sent Ananias to Paul, He told him, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name” (Acts 9:16). Read II Corinthians 6:4-10 and 11:23-30. What are your first thoughts and feelings upon reading those words? Have you ever thought much about the sorts of trials or hardships the Lord might ask you to walk through for His sake and the sake of the gospel? How does Paul’s experience fit with those who contend that Christians should never have to suffer?
Acts 14:3 says the Lord, “Confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.” What does Luke mean by “confirmed the message”? Read Mark 16:20. What do these two verses seem to imply about the working of signs and miracles?
Too often today, people try to “strengthen” and “encourage” Christians by suggesting God will always prosper them and make things easy. Yet when Paul and Barnabas went around “strengthening” and “encouraging” the new Christians in Acts 14:21-23, they urged them to remain steadfast in the face of “many hardships.” Have you ever faced hardships that challenged your confidence in the Lord? What were they and how were you able to get through them with your faith in God intact? Now that Jesus has come, why does God still allow hard things to come, even to His people?
Acts 15 opens with a “sharp dispute” arising within the early church (Acts 15:2). How did the believers try to resolve this dispute? Have you ever gone to the leaders of the church for help with a thorny issue or interpersonal conflict? If not, why not? If so, was it helpful? Ironically, in Acts 15:36-40, a dispute over a much smaller matter arose between Paul and Barnabas (for background, see Acts 13:5, 13 and Colossians 4:10), and they ended up parting ways over it. Why weren’t they able to resolve this matter? The whole thing could have been resolved if either Paul or Barnabas had been willing not to insist on getting his way. When you find yourself in a dispute, are you more likely to dig in your heels or yield to the other party? Are there broken relationships in your life right now that you need to reach out and try to mend
Convinced that Timothy did not need to be circumcised in order to be right with God, Paul nevertheless had him circumcised anyway. Why? Sam Nadler points out how consistently Paul lived by the principle, “Love limits liberty.” Knowing he was free to eat meat sacrificed to idols, he nevertheless refused to do so if eating might wound the conscience of another person. Read I Corinthians 9:19-23. How do these verses relate to Acts 16:1-3? When’s the last time you deferred (surrendered a right or did something you knew you didn’t have to do) for the sake of someone else? Can you think of a way you might lay down one of your rights right now that might possibly help move someone closer to Jesus?
Acts 16:6-9 records three different instances of the Holy Spirit specifically leading Paul and his team on their missionary journey. Do you believe the Holy Spirit is willing to lead you that actively today? V. 6 says they were “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia” and v. 7 says, “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them” to enter Bithynia. In what way do you think the Spirit “kept them” and “would not allow them”? How do you think the Holy Spirit communicated His wishes in those two instances? In v. 9, the Lord gave Paul a vision. Do you believe God still speaks in that way today? Why or why not? Have you ever had a vision or a dream you believe came from the Lord? If so, will you share about it with your group?
After Paul had that vision, everyone on the team immediately began preparing to go to Macedonia – even though they had had no such vision. When it comes to following spiritual leaders, would you say you’re more likely to be resistant, hesitant, or ready to jump right in? Why? In general, would you say you tend to be more trusting of leaders or more skeptical? Why?
When “all the prison doors flew open and everybody’s chains came loose” in Acts 16:26, Paul and Silas chose to stay behind and witness to the jailer rather than run to freedom. And after he took them to his house, they actually voluntarily returned with him to the jail. It appears Paul and Silas placed the salvation and well-being of the jailer above their own freedom. Can you think of a time you were willing to be inconvenienced in order to minister to someone else? Is it even possible to minister to others well if you’re not willing to be inconvenienced?
For Further Consideration:
The miraculous healing of the man in Acts 14:8-10 was preceded by a Holy Spirit manifestation of discernment (or possibly of a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom). To see these manifestation gifts flow through your life, you must begin by believing that they’re real and that the Lord wants to manifest them through you. That’s why Paul exhorted the Corinthian Christians not to be ignorant about spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 12:1) and to eagerly desire spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 14:1). When the Spirit does manifest Himself in these ways, you need to be attentive and able to recognize what He’s doing. That’s what happened when Paul “saw” that the man “had faith to be healed” (Acts 14:9b). Finally, you must also be willing to step out and act in faith on what the Spirit is saying, doing, or showing you. That’s what happened when Paul “called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’” (Acts 14:10a)
Unfortunately, when the Lord healed the crippled man in Acts 14:8-10, the pagans who saw the miracle concluded that Paul and Barnabas were physical manifestations of the Greek gods Hermes and Zeus. The ancient Greek pagans believed in theophanies, that is, in appearances by the gods in human form. As a result, they interpreted this miracle from the one true God through the lens of their own superstition. In general, the less people actually know about God, the more likely it is their responses to Him will initially be off base. That’s why people who don’t really know God, often conclude He’s mean or aloof or whatever. They see or hear things about God and then interpret what they see or hear based on their own ignorance or prejudices. For example, an adult who grew up in an abusive home may interpret the Lord’s discipline (or even the sacrifice of Jesus) as child abuse.
Question 1 – It’s a common tendency for people to misinterpret things through a lens they’re used to. Have you ever encountered someone whose understanding of God was badly skewed by cultural assumptions or by something in their past? How can we help these people past the things that are tripping them up?
As noted in the video, the Council of Jerusalem reveals much about respect for authority in the early church. This event was the first official church council called to help resolve a difficult issue (the Council of Nicea in AD 325 was another). Although the church was largely decentralized, there was a general recognition that the church in Jerusalem was more or less the mother church for the entire early Christian movement. In the letter the Jerusalem Council sent to Antioch, they introduced their conclusions with the words, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28a), revealing yet again that the Holy Spirit is a Person and not just some sort of energy or force.
When the group arrived in Antioch with the letter, the Bible says, “They gathered the church together and delivered the letter to them” (Acts 15:30). These gatherings were incredibly important in the early Christian church, once again highlighting the significance of living and functioning in community.
Question 2 – What are some simple things you can you do to deepen your connection within the local church and to increase your contribution to its health and growth?
Acts 15:35 says that Paul, Barnabas, and others remained in Antioch and “taught and preached the Word of the Lord” (although once again, the word translated here as “preached” is the Greek verb euaggelizo, which simply means to share good news); and it’s worth noting there’s a difference between these two modes of communication. In euaggelizo, there’s simply the sharing or declaration of what’s happened or what’s true. In teaching, however, there’s more explanation involved. All Christians are expected to share (or simply proclaim) the good news of who Jesus is and what He’s done (euaggelizo) (see again the notes on Acts 8:4). Others, however, are gifted and called to teach biblical truth in greater depth.
Question 3 – Are you faithfully sharing your story of what the Lord’s done for you and how He’s changed your life? If you have a gift or aptitude for explaining things, where and how are you using that ability to help explain the gospel and strengthen the church?
Beginning in Acts 16, Luke noticeably begins writing his history primarily in the first person. For example, in vv. 6-9, Luke uses the third person, writing “Paul and his companions,” “they came to the border of Mysia,” “they tried to enter Bithynia,” “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them,” and “they passed by Mysia.” But suddenly in v. 10-12, he begins writing things like “we got ready at once,” “God had called us,” “we put out to sea,” and “from there we traveled to Philippi.” This use of the first person occurs in three different sections of Acts (16:10-17; 20:5-21:17; 27:1-28:16) and is one of the greatest evidences we have that Luke was, indeed, a traveling companion of Paul (see Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24, and II Timothy 4:11) and that much of what he recorded he had seen as an eyewitness. It also explains why so much of the latter portions of Acts is focused on Paul rather than any of the other apostles.
Question 4 – It appears that much of Luke’s writing in Acts was simply part of his testimony, that is, he was sharing things he’d personally seen the Lord do. Have you ever taken time to write out your testimony? Would you be willing to do it? How much of your testimony have you shared with your spouse, your kids, your parents, or your coworkers? How might you begin to work parts of your testimony naturally into everyday conversations?