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Devotional: Acts 25:1-27

Today’s passage: Acts 25:1-27

Helpful thoughts:

  • Two years after the initial plot and attempt, the Jews’ plan and resolve remains unchanged.
    • What had increased however, was the list of false accusations.
  • As a Roman citizen, Paul had a right to appeal to the highest judge in the empire, the Caesar.
    • Paul’s appeal was his only option to avoid the murder plot once he realized Festus was willing to make a spectacle of him before the Jews in Jerusalem.
  • Verse 20 contains a politically motivated fabrication.  Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor (Verse 9).
    • The official reason to bring Paul before Agrippa was to formulate the document which would accompany Paul’s appeal to Caesar.
    • The unofficial reason was simply because the matter was intriguing and an opportunity for pomp.
    • God’s sovereign reason will be on display in the next chapter…

Questions to consider:

  1. What would be the reasons Paul would appeal to Caesar?  If you were Paul, what would you be trying to accomplish?  Do you think it was more about personal protection or about potential opportunity?
  2. In what way had Paul become a political football?  What concerns and opportunities were there for Festus and Agrippa?
  3. What does Festus’ statement in verse 25 prove about Paul’s legal status?  Are Christians always going to be treated fairly based on what we actually believe?  Did Paul complain to Festus about this?  Why not?  What was his greatest concern?

September 28, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Sermon: 1 Corinthians 15:20-34

That God May Be All In All

September 27, 2020 Category: 1 Corinthians, New Testament, Sermons

Devotional: Acts 24:1-27

Today’s passage: Acts 24:1-27

Helpful thoughts:

  • Tertullus’ basic request was for Felix to give Paul to the Jews so they could judge Paul according to their own law.
  • Paul’s appeal was that the Jews were in truth only after Paul because he believed Jesus rose from the dead.  He mentioned “The Way” and the resurrection, and Felix knew exactly what he was talking about (Verse 22).
  • Felix’s understanding of the situation resulted in a few things:
    • He would not allow harm to come to Paul by releasing him back to the Jews.
    • He desired to learn more about Christianity, so he asked Paul to teach him.
    • He desired money, so he talked to Paul in order to drop the hint…

Questions to consider:

  1. Why did Felix keep Paul in jail for two years?  What did he want?  What motivated Felix to keep Paul in jail as he was leaving office?  Who all “benefited” from Paul being held and why?
  2. What was Paul happy to do as long as God had him there in jail?  Did his ministry end?
  3. If Paul remained in jail, why was he there?  If Paul was free, why was he free?  Where did Paul’s purpose and contentment come from (Philippians 4:4-13)?

September 27, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Devotional: Acts 23:12-35

Today’s passage: Acts 23:12-35

Helpful thoughts:

  • God said Paul was going to Rome, men said Paul was going to die.  Paul went to Rome.
    • The severity of their oath was a means to get the Sanhedrin on board with the plan.
    • These “devout” men vowed to God to kill a man and sought to use manipulation and lies in order to do it.
  • Lysias utilized 470 trained soldiers to carry Paul safely away from Jerusalem.
    • The letter that accompanied Paul was…mostly true.  “Rescued” was a bit of a stretch.  Remember, Paul was arrested and stretched out to be scourged by Lysias.  But, he wasn’t about to let Felix know that.
  • Paul’s all-expenses-paid trip to Rome has officially begun.
    • God used men who thought they were serving God by trying to execute Paul and a commander who did not follow the God of the Jews to accomplish His will.

Questions to consider:

  1. These Jewish men felt very strongly about their cause.  They believed they were fighting for God!  Were they right?  Does feeling very strongly about something mean you must be right?  How do we rightly discern truth?  By what standard?
  2. Back in verse 11, Jesus told Paul to take courage or to be of good cheer.  Why would Paul have been right to rest at ease even while people were plotting to kill him?  What reason has God given all of us to take heart? (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
  3. What promise has God made to His children?  If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, what do you know is in your future? (Romans 8:29-39)

September 26, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Devotional: Acts 22:22-23:11

Today’s passage: Acts 22:22-23:11

Helpful thoughts:

  • After all that Paul had said about Jesus, appearances, visions and everything else that might have caused this crowd pause…the word that sets them off is “Gentiles.”
    • Paul was deemed not worthy to live for taking God to the Gentiles without requiring them to first become Jewish proselytes.
  • Paul was tied up and stretched out to be scourged in order to aid interrogation.  This scourging would have included whips with metal tips.  Many died during this process.
    • It was in this position that Paul informed the men he was also a Roman.
  • Even though Paul was right about the injustice of being struck during the hearing before the Sanhedrin, he was still willing to confess his own fault.
    • Paul realized his hearing would be unjust.  Therefore, he started this discussion on the resurrection.
    • The Sanhedrin’s argument about Paul had little to nothing to do with Paul and everything to do with preserving their own reputation.

Questions to consider:

  1. What appears to be the most important thing to everyone but Paul in this passage?  What offends them?  What causes them to fear?  What gives them reason to argue?  Who are they fighting for?
  2. When Israel loved the culture they believed God gave them more than the God who called them His own, what happened?  What happens when we love our lives more that the Giver of life?  What will we start fighting to defend?  How will we miss what’s most important?
  3. What had the Sanhedrin become for these Jewish men?  What purpose did it truly serve?  Who did they desire for it to benefit?  What is the purpose of the church?

September 25, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Question: “I Have Come to Call Sinners to Repentance”

Here is a question that was recently asked:

In Luke 5, Jesus said that He didn’t come for those who thought they were right with God, but that He had come to save sinners.  I don’t get it.  Weren’t the Pharisees sinners?  Didn’t Jesus come for all sinners?  If he did, then why does He say He didn’t come for those who think they are right with God?

First, let’s take a look at the passage, Luke 5:27-32

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Here is what this passage DOES say:

  • Jesus did not come to call righteous people to repentance (If they were TRULY righteous, they wouldn’t need to repent).
  • Jesus did come to call sinners to repentance.

These statements are also true:

  • These Pharisees didn’t think they needed saving.
  • These Pharisees DID need saving!
  • There were Pharisees that became Christians.  The Apostle Paul was one of them.  Paul thought he was right with God and wasn’t…and Jesus died for him.

It seems what these Pharisees in Luke 5 wanted Jesus to do is be just like them.  In their thinking, if Jesus was righteous He should agree with them, affirm them, act like them, praise them, etc.  The problem was they weren’t righteous and they didn’t know it.  What they needed to realize was that they belonged at that dinner right alongside all the other sinners.  They needed the sacrifice of Jesus just like we all do!  If they refused to acknowledge they were “sick” they were never going to call on the “doctor.”

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

After looking through this passage in Luke 5, it seems that your question might have more to it…  Some of the things you asked actually are not addressed in these verses in Luke 5.  So, here are a few more passages that might help you understand the other component(s) of your question:

Acts 17:30-30 – 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Romans 3:10-11 – 10 As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

John 10:9-15 – 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


Do you have a question?  Please email your questions to info@firstbaptist.co or drop them in the box at church on Sunday!

September 24, 2020 Category: The Box of Bible Questions

Devotional: Acts 21:37-22:21

Today’s passage: Acts 21:37-22:21

Helpful thoughts:

  • The fact that Paul could speak Greek and Hebrew, that he knew the laws of Rome and Israel would have been startling to these guards and perhaps even the crowd.  His demeanor commanded respect.  How we act and how we treat others even when they are mistreating us matters.
  • When Paul had this opportunity to speak to all these people, he simply shared his testimony.
  • Paul seemed certain that God could use him best in Jerusalem.  He wanted to be a missionary to the Jews.  God had other plans.

Questions to consider:

  1. What made this crowd get so riled up that the Roman soldier thought Paul was a famous criminal?  What was Paul’s “crime?”
  2. How did Paul conduct himself in this frightening and difficult situation?  What are some ways he could have chosen to respond?  How could Paul’s response give us wisdom for today?
  3. Paul’s testimony was completely true…and Jesus really is the Son of God…and Paul really did lead many Gentiles to the Lord, but how do you think this crowd of Jewish people is going to respond?  Why? Why do people often accept or reject the gospel message?

September 24, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Devotional: Acts 21:17-36

Today’s passage: Acts 21:17-36

Helpful thoughts:

  • The church at Jerusalem was now led by elders (A plurality).  Once the Apostles had left, the church was to be led by elders. (1 Timothy 5:17, Titus 1:5, James 5:14, 1 Peter 5:1-5)
  • Remember, Paul had also recently completed a Nazarite vow (18:18).  The Judaizers were busy trying to discredit those who would preach the gospel to Gentiles and those Jews who would think they could be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.
    • The Judaizers believed that everyone must become a Jew and keep the Law before they could become a Christian…making salvation something one must earn through works.
    • The goal of James and the rest of the elders was not to make everyone keep the law to get saved.  Instead, they were trying to put to rest these false accusations.
  • The elders’ attempt to settle things down didn’t work.  If you want to find fault in someone bad enough, you’ll find it…even if the fault you want to find isn’t there.

Questions to consider:

  1. What does Paul’s willingness to go forward with the plan of the elders teach us about Paul?  What was his heart toward the church and how did his goals shape his thinking and his actions?
  2. Did the elders really have to ask Paul to do this?  What could have been some other options to encourage the people of the church in the truth?  Ultimately, who stirred up this controversy and tumult?
  3. In our relationships in the church and outside of the church, what can we control?  What can’t we control?  Should the possibility of others responding the wrong way keep us from doing what we know is right?

September 23, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Devotional: Acts 21:1-16

Today’s passage: Acts 21:1-16

Helpful thoughts:

  • The word for “departed” in verse 1 means to tear away.  It was very hard for Paul and his ministry partners to leave Ephesus and the elders of the churches.
  • Philip the evangelist and one of the “seven” was one of the seven deacons from the church at Jerusalem.
  • Paul knew what the Lord Jesus had called him to do (20:24).  The Spirit was revealing to these other brothers and sisters what was coming and they longed for Paul’s safety.  But, Paul was willing to die if that was what the Lord wanted him to do.  As we know, this death would eventually come, but not without much more ministry even while he was in prison.

Questions to consider:

  1. Why would it have been so hard for Paul to leave Ephesus?  What kinds of ministries had developed there?  Where had the fruitfulness of that ministry spread according to the previous chapters?  Would anyone have blamed Paul if he’d decided to stay there?
  2. Why were people weeping and struggling?  What desires would have been tugging in different directions in their hearts?
  3. What was Paul’s motivation to go?  What was his greatest desire?  Who was it his pleasure to please?  How can this make our decisions easier and yet seem crazy to the world around us?

September 22, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

Devotional: Acts 20:17-38

Today’s passage: Acts 20:17-38

Helpful thoughts:

  • Paul’s ministry was a public preaching and teaching ministry, and a house to house discipleship ministry.
    • In all these ministries, it was Paul’s desire to declare to the church the “whole counsel of God.”
  • Chains in Paul’s future were not to be equated with a lack of joy.  Joy came in following Jesus.
  • Pastors/Elders are called to be overseers over the flock which God has made them overseers.  From the very beginning of the church, the way that the Scripture’s commands for the church were carried out were through local churches.
  • Paul desired to build up these men who would build up and protect the churches.  Paul was a disciple maker.  We have been called to do the same.

Questions to consider:

  1. What things come after the church to tear them down?  What did Paul say should be used to build them up?  How do pastors/elders protect the flock of God?
  2. What ministry principles can we learn from this passage?  What kinds of teaching, training and interactions should be going on in the local church?  Why are all these ministries stronger in the local church setting?
  3. Where was Paul’s joy to be found?  Even when things around him seemed to be getting ready to get even harder, why could he look forward with anticipation of joy?

September 21, 2020 Category: Acts, Devotions

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