"Intro to Acts 15:36-16:10

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/5/2018 9:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:  Intro to Acts 15:36-16:10

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Acts 15:36-16:10

            Message of the verses:  “36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

    1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.   6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

            John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary on the book of Acts “Evangelism the Right Way,” and we will follow his outline as we look at these verses in the next days. Now because his introductory comments on these verses are so short I will quote them for today’s SD.  I have been in the practice to quote the last paragraph of his commentary on my introductory Spiritual Diaries as they give us the outline that we will be looking at.

“The Lord Jesus Christ defined the church’s mission when He commanded believers, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit’ (Matt. 28:19).  Throughout its history, the church has sought to carry out that mission.

“While there is general agreement on the necessity of evangelism, there is wide diversity as to methods.  There are many different approaches, from simple presentations of a few basic verses to sophisticated multimedia events; from one-on-one encounters to citywide evangelistic crusades.  Countless books, tapes, and seminars exist to train Christians in how to share their faith.  Schools of evangelism, training centers, Bible colleges, and seminars all offer courses in evangelism.  There is a bewildering plethora of tracts, booklets, and other evangelistic literature, everything from “One Way to Heaven” to “Four Spiritual Laws,” to “Six Steps to Peace with God,” to “Thirty-nine Steps to Salvation.”

“What is often overlooked in the emphasis on methodology are the essential, foundational principles undergirding all truly biblical evangelism.  The passage illustrates that evangelism calls for the right passion, the right priority, the right personnel, the right precautions, and the right presentation at the right place.”

            I have to say that I have been to different classes and courses to help me in leading someone to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe that the way that the Lord saves a person, the method that He uses, as all are saved by placing their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing that they were born a sinner and because of that they sin, and so the Holy Spirit will convict them of this truth of being a sinner, and then give them an effectual call for salvation, and then they will be saved.  Let me give an example of the methods that I am talking about.  I was saved by listening to tapes that taught about the end times, as I was very frightened on what would happen to this world and to me once it was all over.  I have had the privilege to lead people to the Lord and how I got them interested in salvation is by talking about the end times.  I think that everyone has a desire to know how this world is going to end, what are the things that will take place before the Lord actually un-creates this world, this universe that He created.  People are interested about this no matter what age group they are in, and so that is what attracted me to listen to the tapes on the end times and each one had a salvation call at the end of it and so that is how the Lord saved me.  Others may be saved in a church service and so they may invite others to church.  Some may be saved by having people just knock on their door and so after they are saved and grow in their faith they will do the same.  I heard a story of how a person got saved, which of course changed his life.  A person asked him what happened to him and he told them to go to the church where it all happened to him and set in the end of the fourth row on the left and it will happen to you.  Well the truth is that that person knew he was different, but did not really know what happened to him, and that is why a person has to grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be able to tell others how to be saved.

             The Apostle Paul began to tell others about the Lord right after he was saved, but then the Lord had him go to the town he grew up in and the Spirit of God taught him about the truths of the Word of God and then Paul was ready to go into the world and preach Jesus on the missionary journeys He took him on.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give me opportunities to tell others of how to be saved and have a new life in Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Fourfold” (Luke 19:8).

Today’s Bible question:  “How does Jesus sum up his reference to the greatness of John the Baptist?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/5/2018 9:59 AM