Point Group Study- Book of Acts, Ch 7-8
On our Point Group study we went from Chapter 4 to 7-8. Download a complete set of the notes of our study here.
Jesus Welcoming Standing
In many situations in life, followers of Christ will go through hard situations. We may not be delivered from them but, instead, we may be empowered to go through it.
It is significant that Luke, through the Holy Spirit inspiration, writing of these events which had occurred 30 years before, chose to emphasize by pointing out, twice, that Jesus was standing. In most instances in the Bible that shows the Lord standing he is shown as ready for battle. Stephen went immediately into the presence of God. (Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.) No waiting station.
Until the murder of Stephen the gospel had not been preached outside Jerusalem. God was beginning to unveil his plans of salvation, not just for Jews, but for Samaritans and gentiles as well. God's original orders for the disciples had not changed: they were to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, (Acts 1:8.) Perhaps with all the growing followers the disciples had become comfortable for a while, but the Lord had His plans. We have the same orders. Often God may allow some uncomfortable situation into our lives, even painful, in order to moves us toward His will for our lives. After all, He knows the plans he has for us, we don't, (Jer. 29:11.)
Acts 1 - 8 was God's transitional plan for the young church. There is a shift here in the book of Acts with the appearance of a new character. From this point he will be shown prominently throughout this book and right through the pages of Christian history. This new character is Saul of Tarsus, who was to become the Apostle Paul by a special commission form the Lord himself.
The Nature of God's will: Circumstantial & Direct
On chapter 8 we see some of the ways God's will work in our lives: sometimes he uses circumstances and sometimes He directs us explicitly. He is sovereign and supreme and he uses and controls both.
Circumstances:
The Lord has said that they were going to be witnesses in their neighborhoods, their regions and globally, (Acts 1:8.) The circumstances here were the persecution. As a result of the persecution hey shared about Christ, "wherever they went."No matter what our circumstances in life, we are to be witnesses.
Direct & explicit:
We will see this on Acts 8:26-30 in which God, through the Holy Spirit, tells Philip to go. There was no way to mistake the voice of God and what his command to Philip was. Centuries before Jonah had received a similar command, (Jonah 1:1-3) but Jonah chose instead to openly disobey God's order. God speaks to all of us in many ways, through the Holy Spirit that indwells us. When we are not listening carefully we may see His presence around us only on our spiritual periphery and out of focus. We may see His work only after it has passed in front of our spiritual focus field. God speaks to us directly too and we can hear Him if we don’t harden our hearts, (Psalm 95:6-8.) He wants for us to hear Him, (John 5:25.)
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