What a change we see in religious history between the beginning and end of the Book of Acts! From tense and fearful disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem to the bold proclaimer of the Gospel, Paul, at the heart of the Roman Empire! These few years saw the start of such a change that the world had never seen before. The whole story is thrilling!
Now, at the end of our readings, I wonder what stands out in your memory of the book? Is it an incident, is it a miracle performed by disciples, or is it the persecution Paul endured, what stands out for you?
For me, especially in the later chapters, it has been the oft-repeated idea of encouragement. It would perhaps be an interesting theme to follow in a separate study or sermon one day. Who was giving encouragement, who was receiving it, and why? You might like to recall some of the occasions right now. Here are a few references:-
Acts 4 v 36; 9 v 31; 11 v 23; 13 v 15; 15 v 32; 16 v 40; 18 v 27; 20 v 2; 27 v 36, 28 v 15.
If there were one single thing that would strengthen our faith and enable us to use the variety of gifts that God has given us, it would be encouragement from those around us! Not the burden of being told ‘You must … ‘ or ‘You should …. ‘ or ‘You ought to ….’ but the gracious and gentle word of encouragement that values us and demonstrates that we love one another from the heart!
That is the surprising thing that has stood out for me.
What has it been for you?
If something has spoken to you as you have read, would you please drop me an email, ( john.rowland61@btinternet.com ), or write a letter, even speak with me. It would be good to share such thoughts with one another, possibly even putting them on the Church website!

So where do we go next? I really don’t know the answer to that as I finish off this series. Today, as I write, it is 31st December 2009 – New Year’s Eve – so perhaps I will wait until the future pattern of Church Life becomes clearer and I have an opportunity to prepare something relevant to our Home Group or Sermon series later in the year.

Thanks for reading with me! May God bless you and encourage you as you go on reading the Scriptures.
John Rowland.

Some time before arriving in Rome Paul had written to the Christians there expressing his desire to visit them. Scholars think he wrote this letter while he was working in Corinth (Acts 18), ‘I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.’ (Rom 1 vv 10-12) Little did he realise when he wrote, that arrest, trials, shipwreck, and being bitten by a poisonous snake would precede his trip to Rome! Isn’t it amazing the varied means that God uses to fulfil His purposes! And what was he hoping for when he got there? Here it is again, encouragement!
Paul was certainly under arrest and awaiting trial, but not in prison as we understand it. He had to rent his own house, and was free to have any visitors he wanted. That was exactly the opportunity he wanted, and he was bold enough to seize it with both hands.
That is the last glimpse we have of Paul. It would appear however that it was during this time that he wrote the ‘Prison Letters’ to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and the Philippians; and at different times Luke, Timothy, and Mark were with him. There is some evidence to suggest that he was released after two years and undertook another Missionary journey – perhaps going as far as Spain.
So that is where this great story of the beginnings of the Christian Church ends.
Yet in another way it is a continuing story! Not only of great heroes, but also of ordinary men and women such as you, getting on with the business of living out faith in the hurly-burly of each succeeding century. In fact, the story of the church is your story and mine – we are writing it afresh every day!

For reflection: What kind of Christian story am I writing for posterity?

At last – Rome is in sight! The adventures at sea and then on Malta are behind Paul and he is encouraged!
Frequently in the course of reading Acts we have encountered Paul encouraging other believers. Now, in the very last chapter, we find him on the receiving end of encouragement. And it was the simple act of encountering Christian friends that made him glad and lifted his spirits.
That is one of the purposes for which God designed the Church. A local company of Christians may have many different purposes; they worship together, they serve the needs of their community together, and they demonstrate and preach the Good News of Jesus to others. One of their great purposes however is to encourage one another and help build one another’s faith. However outgoing and apparently effective a church may seem to be, if the members are not encouraging each other then it will die a slow death. Christian service and activity without encouragement is exploitation!
Let’s learn in our own Church to give encouragement to one another.
Learn to encourage new or young Christians. Speak to them, value them, pray for them, support them and enquire how they are getting on.
Learn to encourage visitors. Welcome them, be warm and gracious towards them without overwhelming them, introduce them to others and make them feel at home in a meeting.
Learn to encourage the elderly. They have served God faithfully over many years and may now feel on the fringe of things and useless, so be gentle without being patronising, and perhaps visit them in their own homes.
Learn to encourage the leaders. They bear the brunt of the work that is going on. Pray for them and help them where you can.

For reflection: Lets work together to build a culture of encouragement in our own church.

Faith – taking God at His word – has huge practical implications! It is not just an academic theory about how we come to be accepted by God, it is a living anchor for the soul through the most difficult of life’s storms! Paul, and all the others on board this ship found themselves in the middle of the severest of storms – in fact most of them had given up any real hope of being rescued. But not Paul! And why not? God had spoken to him; and he believed God. In fact he was so sure of God that he was able to encourage everyone else on board.
Now here is faith in action. It is not a matter of knowing the textbook definition, or singing fine hymns about it, rather this faith gives hope and sustains life! This is the kind of faith that the heroes of Hebrews 11 had. It was the same faith displayed by the three friends of Daniel who were threatened with death by burning, and yet replied ‘If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’ (Dan 3 vv 17-18) In their case, they were not even sure God would rescue them, even though they had confidence that He could. But faith enabled them to hang on to God and trust Him for whatever.
Now you may say, it’s fine to have faith when God has made a specific promise to you. Paul was totally confident that God would rescue the whole shipload of them. But the kinds of storms most of us face have no such clear outcome. We don’t often hear God speak and tell us the detailed outcome of what we are passing through. Faith that trusts God through the dark and silent times is what we most pray and long for.

For reflection: Are you passing through any particular storms in life? Can it be shared, in a Home Group for example, so that you can pray together for faith and trust in God that will see you through it?

Once again Paul appeals to the whole of Jewish history. Moses and the Prophets all foreshadow a suffering and yet triumphant Messiah who would complete the process of bringing all people into a right Covenant relationship with God. He saw the work of Jesus in transforming the exclusive Jewish culture, bringing Jew and Gentile into one family under the Lordship of Jesus. This had been the nature of the Covenant from Abraham onwards – acceptance by God on the grounds of faith alone – believing and taking God at His word. This was the faith demonstrated by Abraham and commended by God. It was the faith that enabled faithful women and men down the centuries stay to true to God. Read Hebrews 11 again and see how faith enabled the people to hang on to God’s promises in spite of everything!
Being in God’s family is not a matter of being born into it – as the Jews seemed to believe. Physical descent from Abraham was not evidence of really belonging to God’s family – it was sharing the faith of Abraham that counted. Paul put it succinctly when he wrote ‘Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.’ (Gal 3 vv 7-9) It was this insistence on faith, the centrality of Jesus, and the inclusion of the Gentiles that caused all the fuss. They were fundamental principles for which Paul was prepared to die.

For reflection: Are there principles for which you would rather die than deny? If so, what are they?

Festus had already grasped the significant detail of Paul’s message. He had been able to explain to Agrippa ‘When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.’ (Acts 25 vv 18-19) Doubtless, Paul had gone over this ground with both Felix and Festus. It was at the very heart of Paul’s preaching of the gospel. So Paul is given an opportunity to speak, not in his own defence because he was already destined to go to Rome, but to give a reason for the Christian hope he held on to and explain how he came to believe in Jesus.
In his first letter to the Corinthian church Paul explained the core message of the Gospel. ‘For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’ (1 Cor 15 vv 3-4). These were the basic facts – historical facts - that Paul kept at the heart of his preaching.
He went on to write ‘But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.’ (1 Cor 15 vv 12-17) In other words, without belief in the resurrection of Jesus, our Christian faith has no meaning!
So Paul starts with that before going on to say something about his own background and tell the story of his conversion on the Damascus Road.

For reflection: The whole issue of the resurrection of Jesus is a sticking point for some people, and all kinds of explanations have been put forward over the years. What can you say to people who challenge the historical basis of our faith?

For the next two years Paul was kept under guard, but allowed a certain degree of freedom, with friends visiting him and taking care of him. But then Felix moves on, and is replaced by Festus. This was the signal for the Jews to try once again to silence Paul. Their plan was simple – have him tried in Jerusalem, and we will kill him before he gets there. Festus will have none of it, and is determined to arrange a trial to suit himself. Clearly, he wants to run the ship of state his way and not give in to trivial demands from the Jews. The crunch comes (v 10) when Festus asks Paul if he is willing to be tried in Jerusalem. Paul must have been aware of what was likely to happen, so he makes his dramatic appeal – the right of every Roman citizen – ‘I appeal to Caesar!’ That guaranteed him safe conduct to Rome – and he would be looked after for the journey! Roman justice will take its course.
But there is to be one final hearing. Festus discusses Paul’s case with a visiting Jewish official, King Agrippa. Perhaps Festus hoped that Agrippa, a direct descendant of King Herod the Great, would be able to shed some light on the religious arguments. Agrippa controlled the Temple and its treasury, and could appoint and remove High Priests. So the scene was set for a final confrontation with the Jewish leaders.
For all the political undercurrents of the story, it is God at work. Earlier in the book we read ‘ .. the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." (Acts 23 v 11) Paul knew very well the destination that God had planned, and he longed for the opportunity of preaching the gospel in the capital of the Empire.

For reflection: As surely as God worked His purposes out in the life of Paul, so He will work out His plans for you. The ways may be difficult, and the means will sometimes astonish you – BUT He will!

As we read yesterday, Paul worked hard to keep a clear conscience. The same could not be said of Felix. Here was a man who was hoping that Paul would bribe his way out of custody (v 26). Moreover, Felix had a Jewish wife – and she wasn’t his first it would appear from contemporary records. So when Paul talked about ‘righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come’ it would seem that his conscience was touched. He was willing to talk with Paul (v 26) but when it became personal, that was too much!
Many people are like Felix. They are quite willing to talk about religion in general terms, but if it begins to touch on their personal lives they will either argue or back off. But this is what the Gospel is about – it is good news of God’s grace and forgiveness, but it is also challenging news about God changing lives. Until a person engages in discussion at that level, moving away from doctrines or beliefs and grasping that it is about a new, dynamic lifestyle empowered by God the Holy Spirit, that person is evading the issue altogether.
To talk about ‘righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come’ in our day and age is to invite criticism and be accused of a judgemental attitude. The prevailing view is that there are no absolute standards of righteousness; self-control is fine as long as you can get your own way; and there is nothing to come, just death and oblivion. It is an ‘every man for himself for today’ world. Paul’s gospel, good news that it is, challenges that view – no wonder the Bible simply records ‘Felix was afraid’. Of course he was – if there was judgement to come he had every reason to be afraid, and he knew it!

For reflection: Might our generation have lost this ‘sharp edge’ of the gospel in attempts to present God as nothing but love?

The remainder of the Book of Acts is taken up with an account of Paul’s journey to Rome, and the various trials and adventures he went through. This particular court was held under the authority of the Roman Governor Felix. He had already been in office for several years by this time and it appears that he was well-acquainted with Christian followers, referred to by Paul as ‘The Way’ ( vv 14 & 22). In his defence he was clear about his allegiance to the Jews, ( vv 14, 15) and also to following Christ. In all circumstances we always find Paul being open and honest about following Jesus, and straightforward in his dealings with everybody. He wanted to have a clear conscience and be recognised as a man of integrity.
This is the only honest way that a Christian can live. There can be no place for half-truths, or devious answers with a double meaning. Nor can there be hiding behind the views of others, or misquoting things to suit oneself.
This openness and honesty is the bedrock of Christian Fellowship, Family life and all employment. When trust goes out of the window we find ourselves in a world riddled with suspicion, hatred, and all manner of sharp practice. Our MPs were found wanting when it came to claiming expenses. Then all employees claiming expenses, from the BBC to local churches, suddenly found themselves being asked awkward questions. Will all car mileage claims, overtime sheets and petty cash claims stand up to scrutiny I wonder?
This striving to have a clear conscience – with lives open to inspection by God and man – is a basic element of our Christian life. Sunday worship is meaningless – in fact objectionable – if on Monday we engage in deceit and sharp practices.

For reflection: How does your life stand up under the steady gaze of God? Is your conscience clear? I’m just so thankful that when we make mistakes, and repent, we have a wonderfully forgiving God!

Some 600 years before Jesus was born the prophet Jeremiah announced the coming of a ‘New Covenant’. In one of the most significant statements of the Old Testament we read, "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jer 31 vv 31-34)
The people of Israel had shattered the earlier covenant. They had promised, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." (Exod 24 v 7) but they had failed miserably. The nation was carried off into exile in Babylon as a result. But now this new covenant looms on the horizon – and in the person of Jesus who offered His life as a sacrifice for sin this New Covenant becomes a reality.
This last supper and the events of the Cross and Empty Tomb are the final acts in this drama of the Covenant. It was to be the all-inclusive covenant, bringing together Jews and Gentiles in the one family of God. So Paul can write ‘Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Eph 2 v 11-13)

For reflection: That is why Paul took the good news to Gentiles – and how it finally encompassed us.