使徒行传

Meditative Reflection
The Unfinished Symphony

Obviously every book in the Bible is important and is inspired by the Holy Spirit; however, the Book of Acts stands out to be a very pivotal book in the New Testament.

It links the earthly life and work of Jesus Christ to the establishment and the beginning of His church. In other words, it gives us the history of the birth of Christianity as a world religion.

It expands on the last word of Jesus, the Great Commission, and describes how His church took on this Commission and began the realization of her mission to be the witness of His resurrection, carrying the gospel from Jerusalem and beyond, converting believers among the Jews and beyond.

But it also honestly gives the accounts of how slow this process was in the beginning, the reluctance of the first believers to leave Jerusalem as commanded, and their even greater reluctance to convert and accept the Gentiles.

This is the book that introduces us to perhaps the most important apostle of all, the Apostle Paul. Luke gives the bulk of this book to cover the life of Paul, from his conversion to his final imprisonment in Rome. In the course of so doing, he gives us the much-needed context to understand all the epistles of Paul which contribute largely to not only the so-called Pauline theology, but also to the overall theology of the New Testament. Without the Book of Acts, we will be so improvised in interpreting all the epistles of Paul.

Of course, the Book of Acts also provides us with the model of what a N.T. church should be, with all her flaws, she remains the prototype of today’s church in many ways — perseverance in the face of immense persecution, dealing with theological disagreements, resolving human conflicts, reconciling traditions with the gospel truth, and remaining focused and faithful to the charge given to her by her Master, Lord and Savior.

As most early church fathers regard this book as a sequel to the Gospel of Luke, we can look at the Book of Acts as Part II of the work of Christ, accomplished through His apostles. Hence, we are all participating in the writing of Part III of this Unfinished Symphony, until the return of our Lord.

Meditative Reflection
It All Begins with Prayers

The Book of Acts paints a very different picture of the disciples of Jesus from that of the gospel accounts. They came out of hiding and in a very short period of time, turned the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Luke gives us a very important reason for their change and that is because they “waited for the gift” of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the book, basically, tells the story of how the Holy Spirit empowered them to carry out the Commission they were charged with by the Lord. Without the empowering of the Holy Spirit, there would not be the Book of Acts.

But Luke’s account also teaches us how these disciples “waited”. Often misunderstood, waiting does not necessarily mean inaction. In the Scripture, waiting is the active seeking of God through prayers.

It is not hard to imagine how excited the disciples were during the 40 days they spent with the Risen Lord, eating with him and listening to His teaching.

I am sure the teachings given by Jesus in the 40 days were quite intense and loaded. There were a lot of truths to be digested. There were still many questions, practical and theological, to mull over. As much as the Great Commission was made clear, what did it entail? How was it to be carried out? What might the strategy be? What about the ongoing persecution and opposition by the Jews? Not having experienced the work of the Holy Spirit themselves, they had no idea how to work with the Holy Spirit, nor how they might be guided. And there was the need to deal with past failures and past disputes among themselves too. So, the time of waiting through prayers would have allowed them to examine themselves, their motives and their commitment to the Lord and His charge. Their time of prayers would have also enabled them to understand further the truths that had been expounded by the Lord. Their time of prayers would also have prepared them for the mighty work of the Holy Spirit, so that they would be better-prepared to be guided by the Holy Spirit in preaching, teaching and performing miracles, giving glory to God, and not themselves.

Without this preparation and waiting through prayers, they would simply be overwhelmed by the outpouring of the work of the Holy Spirit, to the point that they could have lost their focus, their bearing and their God-centeredness.

Meditative Reflection
It All Begins with the Holy Spirit

I am sure that we are all impressed with the remarkable conversion of 3,000 people on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

We know that their conversion was clearly the work of the Holy Spirit through and through. But isn’t it the same with the conversion of all sinners?

Before we even begin to have the burden of reaching a person — a friend or relative or even a stranger — it is the Holy Spirit who has moved in the heart of that person, creating a sense of need or hunger or dissatisfaction in his spirit.

At the same time, the Holy Spirit impresses upon our spirit, the need for intercession for the person. And as we begin to respond in our spirit to the nudging of the Spirit through praying for the person, we begin to observe and care for the person.

Then according to the Will and timing of God, the Holy Spirit will create an opportunity for us or another Christian to befriend or even begin a spiritual conversation with him which eventually would lead to his conviction and conversion.

I had been praying for one of my nieces and her husband for quite a long time, wondering whether I might have the opportunity to share the gospel with them. My busy schedule (and theirs too) was such that we did not even get to meet. But I continued to pray for them on a fixed day of each week. Then, one day, as they moved into a new apartment, they invited us over for the house warming. Knowing that it would be rather odd for me to share the gospel right away, I prayed to God to open an opportunity.

Then, in the middle of our casual conversation, one of them asked about our church. Right away, I sensed God opening the opportunity for me. But I did not dare to share the gospel right away. Instead, I mentioned that there was a gospel camp coming up in the summer and wondered if they might be open to attend it. To my total amazement, they both answered yes right away. And they did attend the camp.

And at the end of that gospel camp, they separately made a commitment to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Yes, their conversion may not be as spectacular as that of the 3,000 Jews on the day of Pentecost, but nonetheless, it was the work of the Holy Spirit — the timing of the house warming was no accident at all; my readiness to invite them to the gospel camp was not accidental either; their immediate consent to attend was also not an accident; and their commitment at the camp was certainly not an accident. From start to finish, it was the work of the Holy Spirit.

Meditative Reflection
The Power of the Gospel

Time and again, Peter and his fellow-disciples were mentioned as mere Galileans, and in the words of the religious leaders “they were unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13). Yet, their preaching was so powerful that people came to believe in their message by the thousands.

These days, it takes a very learned person, a very charismatic person or a celebrity to draw a crowd. And to have people respond to the gospel message so preached, seems to be dependent on high-tech presentations, eloquent deliveries and perhaps even skilled altar calls.

But none of these were true of Peter in his preaching in the early chapters of Acts. He was not a learned person; he was only a fisherman from Galilee. Even the epistles he wrote years later were not considered to be of good literary style. The delivery of his message lacked philosophical rhetoric that marked many noted rabbis of his time. His altar calls were crude and direct, and would have turned many people off today. But the result of his preaching was more than obvious.

Paul, who was very different from Peter, also followed Peter’s approach in the delivery of his gospel messages — no eloquent speech, no superior wisdom…nothing “but Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Co. 2:2). And, he achieved just as impressive a result as Peter did. Paul shared with us his secret and it is that the gospel itself is the power of God (Rom. 1:16), not his rhetoric, not his skillful delivery and certainly not human philosophy.

Meditative Reflection
Cut to the Heart

Chuck Colson used to say that Christianity in America was like an ocean which was a mile wide and only an inch deep. He was right and it is still the case, unfortunately, not only in North America, but in many parts of the world. And I believe it has much to do with how we present the gospel in this post-modern world.

I still remember the early years of my Christian walk. Although it was already a post-modern world, many notions of modernity still lingered. In college, our evangelistic approach was quite confrontational and focused more on convincing others of the intellectual credibility of the Scripture. This was why Josh McDowell’s books were so in demand. We believed that once people were convinced of the credibility of the Scripture, they would automatically become Christians (of course, they would have to say the Sinner’s Prayer at the end of the Four Spiritual Laws).

After several decades, with the arrival of the sexual revolution and the breakdown of families, the world we live in is a very broken one. Our approach in evangelism has also changed. While intellectual debates still are necessary, it seems that “healing” — both physical and emotional healing — have become the more effective point of contact with non-believers. This perhaps explains the rapid rise of the charismatic movement. Even outside of the charismatic circle, the gospel emphasis seems to be one of offering a better life, a more wholesome life and a more self-fulfilling life. Many also find Christianity to be the answer to self-actualization, if not the icing on the cake.

This cannot be more further from the gospel message that Peter preached on Pentecost. His gospel message did not make his audience feel good. In fact, they felt so bad that “they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). They were so terrified that they asked Peter and the disciples, “Brothers, what shall we do?”.

Why were their hearts cut? Why were they so afraid? Because Peter accused them of crucifying Jesus — the Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

The people were not after a better life, a more fulfilled life or healing from their emotional brokenness, but were seeking forgiveness of sins—the very thing that separated them from God,  the very thing that caused their eternal condemnation. In other words, the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sins through the gospel message of Peter. The result was their immediate repentance and belief followed by a public commitment through baptism. Luke describes their new life in Christ in vivid fashion, as they (stubbornly) committed themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42).

These were signs of genuine conversion. These were signs that their Christianity was not inch-deep only. It was all because their hearts were cut and they were convicted of their sins by the gospel.

Meditative Reflection
Who is more equipped?

In His Great Commission, Jesus says, “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). And the disciples were faithful to His commission and bore witness to His resurrection first in Jerusalem, and to Judea, Samaria and beyond.

The message that they repeatedly gave was that they had seen the Risen Lord with their own eyes — a very powerful testimony indeed. Who could dispute their claim?!

We know that this Great Commission is now upon us, and we are to take up their baton and continue to be Christ’s witness. But the question is: Of what are we witnessing? We have not seen the Risen Lord with our very eyes.

In today’s devotion, I was asking several questions along this vein, and perhaps it is helpful that we reflect on these questions together:

(1) What do we have that Peter and John did not?

Well, we have the 27 books of the New Testament that they did not have. In other words, we have a fully documented gospel story that they only might have orally. We now benefit from not only the gospel accounts, but the many epistles that help us interpret the Old Testament in new light. We now have a far more complete theology and thorough understanding of the salvation plan of God, not to mention that we have 2,000 years of history of mission and missiology that equips us to spread the gospel. Yes, we have unprecedented communication technology and global travel means that should help spread the gospel with unprecedented convenience.

(2) What did they have that we may not have?

Apart from their advantage of having seen the Risen Christ with their own eyes, they did have a passion, a zeal, a commitment and a love for the Lord that should put each one of us to shame.

(3) What did they have that we also possess?

We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that they had. We also have the empowering of the Holy Spirit that they had. We have the same gospel that they had. And, we have the same, precious and genuine conversion experience that they had.

When Peter told the crippled man that he would give him what he had, he then healed him in the name of Jesus. He explained in v. 16 that “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him…” This is also what we have in common with Peter and John.

(4) We may not be able to perform a miracle like this, but we still can do something to cause a man like this to believe in and praise God. How?

Yes, me may not be able to perform a miracle like this (the healing of the crippled — but the Holy Spirit can still use us to perform miraculous healing, if He so chooses), but the ultimate cause of belief does not lie in the miraculous healing. The pro-consul in Acts 13 was converted not because of the great miracle which he did see, but “was amazed at the teaching about the Lord” (Acts 13:12). Genuine conversion always comes through the conviction by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the word.

Meditative Reflection
There’s Only One way/He’s Counting on You

As we continue to reflect on the faithfulness and courage of the early apostles who, in a short time, changed completely from a bunch of cowards in hiding into fearless champions of the gospel, let’s reflect on the lyrics of this familiar hymn and see if we resemble the apostles in Acts or in the Gospels.

Refrain
He’s counting on us, the story to tell
His scheme of redemption for man;
He’s counting on you, He’s counting on me,
The Master hath no other plan.

1
There’s only one way that this lost world may know
That Jesus for sinners hath died;
To spread the glad tidings He’s bidden us go,
And no other way doth provide.

2
If Christ’s first disciples had silently gone,
And been to their great trust untrue,
God’s plan of salvation we could not have known,
His mercy for me and for you.

3
Tell others what Jesus hath done for your soul,
Of sins through His blood washed away;
And bid them on Him every burden to roll,
And taste His salvation today.

4
Dear Master, we hasten the story to tell,
And pass on the life giving Word;
And they must tell others, and they, others still,
Till all the glad message have heard.