Intro to Acts 27

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/21/2018 10:46 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  Intro to Acts 27

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Acts 27:1-44

 

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will talk about Acts 27, the entire chapter as we give a short introduction to this auctioned filled chapter in which we will see Paul, along with Luke get on a boat and travel to Italy.  I suppose I mentioned it before but while attending Moody Founders Week many years ago I heard a preacher state that Luke really knows how to describe a good sea voyage.  We will get into that as we make our way through the chapter, but in John MacArthur’s commentary on this chapter he brings up leadership in his introductory portion.  We have been accustomed to quote at least the last paragraph of his introductory comments in order to understand the direction we will be going, and will do that today also.

 

            Leadership can be described in many ways depending on whether or not the leadership is good or poor.  I want to quote from Mark’s gospel, chapter ten and verses forty-two to forty-five to get Jesus’ perspective on good leadership.  In these verses we actually see the key verse for the entire gospel of Mark:  “42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”  First of all I want to give a bit of a background for these verses.  Jesus was heading up to Jerusalem to be killed, and He certainly knew this for that is why He came to earth.  On the way up to Jerusalem he took His disciples aside and told them that this would happen, and we next see James and John asking for some special favors from Him when He comes into His kingdom.  Jesus then breaks out in to the narrative of these verses, (42-45), and in them we see some evidence of what a good leader is.  Jesus first of all talks about bad leadership, that which the Gentiles do as they lord it over their subjects.  He then goes on to talk about good leadership as he states the ones who wish to become great among you shall be your servant, and then talks about those who seek to be great will become slaves of all.  In verse forty-five we see the key verse in Mark’s gospel where Jesus talks about His mission while on planet earth.  On His first visit to planet earth Jesus came to serve and not to be served, and in His serving He certainly demonstrated great leadership, in that He served by giving His life for His flock. 

 

            In his commentary John MacArthur writes about poor leadership, those who are afraid to make any decision because they are afraid to make a mistake, and those who are like the leaders of oppressed countries like North Korea or China.  People like Hitler or Stalin are examples of poor leadership.  What we will see in chapter 27 is a prisoner, the apostle Paul become a leader and not because he was seeking it out but because it was necessary to stand up and led. 

 

            One more thing I want to talk about and that is Winston Churchill who it is said became the greatest leader of the 20^th century as he became Prime Minster the very day that Hitler was invading France.  Churchill was said to be bi-polar and yet God used him to lead England, with the help of the United States to defeat Germany. 

            A good leader leads and a good leader does not know everything but has good people around him to help him, and yet he is the one to make the final decision.  Like Paul, Churchill was a good leader. 

 

            MacArthur writes “Among other emphases manifest through this unique chapter, it is helpful to note the issue of the greatness of Paul’s leadership.  The story of his emerging leadership during a storm-filled journey across the Mediterranean Sea, and the resulting shipwreck, unfolds in four stages:  the start, the stay, the storm, and the shipwreck.”  Lord willing we will began with the start in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  While watching a political show yesterday there was a man, a black man who was a guest on the show.  He was in trouble for saying that the greatest problem in the black community of Detroit was that the men were not standing up to their Biblical role as husbands and fathers and he was totally correct.  If men everywhere would stand up and do their job as a husband and a father the world would be a better place to live in. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  With the help of the Lord I desire to be a good Christian, husband, father, and grand-father.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:11).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Complete John 11:25 ‘Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet…’?”  (KJV)

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/21/2018 11:21 AM