The Beat e146 Peter, Philip, John, Stephen, Saul, and Now Me (follow the spiritual first responders)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 2 Episode 146 

THE BEAT | Peter, Philip, John, Stephen, Saul, and Now Me (follow the spiritual first responders)

Quick Take

Hey human, let’s consider the early believers after Jesus ascended, how they were prompted to witness, and how Paul demonstrates love for each other, through a faithful God. The early church anchored in the power of a human to witness. Growing from 120 to 3,000 to 5,000 and then beyond the earthly footsteps of Jesus. As he told them to do. What did the apostles know that we need to know? e146 Thanks for listening.

How would you describe your witness for Jesus today?

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

Sometimes I find it reassuring to put myself on a timeline with Jesus. 2,000 plus years after Jesus ascended to heaven I was put on this earth to bear witness to his presence. Then, that his earthly walk, his death, burial and resurrection happened. And now, that the Holy Spirit makes it possible for me to abide in him and live a life loving others.

I often think about what it was like to watch Jesus ascend into the heavens, and to make that walk back to the guest room the apostles were staying in.

Acts 1:12

 

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

 

The next thirty years following the resurrection of Jesus must have been so spontaneous, so full of standing ready for what should come next. And so raw with the memories of an earthly Christ who was now gone but had promised to return. Full of joy. Yet, surely missing him in unexpected moments, when surroundings and conversations echoed his voice, his embrace, his stride. His healing heart. His courageous will. His humble spirit.

The early church was formed through the Holy Spirit at work in the apostles of Jesus, and by so many who had walked with him, and watched his earthly life unfold. Just as Jesus said it would.

They were the early believers. The spiritual first responders.

Luke builds a seamless connection from his gospel, opening Acts with the ascension of Jesus, the replacement of the twelfth disciple with Matthias, and the early daily evangelical efforts of Peter, to a group of 120 believers. That first body of believers. It started with the disciples meeting and praying together and waiting for the Holy Spirit, as promised by Jesus. Then Pentecost.

During the Pentecost Peter witnessed to the crowds, and the body of believers grew by 3,000. This group devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship. The early church body grew to about 5,000 in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

When Stephen was stoned, a man named Saul entered the story. He persecuted anyone who believed in Jesus. But Jesus met him on a road. We know the rest. With Saul’s travels, evangelism began to spread to other regions. He took 3 journeys and his final trip to Rome. The body of believers was expanding farther than Jesus had ever walked on this earth. But he was with them.

Witnessing in Any Circumstance

Acts chronicles the witness of Peter, Stephen, Philip, and Saul in varying scenarios. This is “gold” in demonstrating how to represent the name of Jesus.

Jesus made it clear at the threshold of his ascension what his followers were to do.

Acts 1:8

 

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

There are many scenarios that show us how Jesus prompts, how he moves us to action.

Peter demonstrating leadership to the 120 believers before the Pentecost, advising to replace Judas with a 12^th disciple who would witness on behalf of Jesus. (Acts 1:15-26)

Peter witnessing to the crowds gathered at the Pentecost, and from this 3,000 added to their number that day. (Acts 2:14-41)

Peter and John speaking before the Sanhedrin, and 2,000 more becoming believers. So, at this point, a total of 5,000. A community of believers who were sharing their possessions, supporting each other. (Acts 4)

Stephen answering to this question from the high priest, “Are these charges true?” He bears witness to a resurrected Jesus Christ in front of an angry crowd at his own stoning – a voice that gives us God’s narrative, echoes the words of our Savior on the cross, and falls asleep seeing God’s glory. (Acts, Chapter 7)

Philip listening to God’s angel and witnessing to the Ethiopian, starting with a scripture in Isaiah that the Ethiopian was reading in his chariot on a desert road. Philip sharing the love of Jesus, then baptizing this man in water along this road, to then be taken away by God. Philip (Acts 8: 26-40)

Peter entering the home of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian Regiment. Witnessing to the Gentiles that had gathered there, and personally bearing testimony that God gives the Holy Spirit to all who believe. God shows no favor. This is the disciple that Jesus called “the rock” and built his church on. (Acts 10:24-48)

Hellenistic Jews, Hebraic Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, Roman officials, Gentiles, all with their own questions, challenges, and beliefs about who Jesus was. And who he wasn’t. People scattered throughout this mix who were listening, seeking, debating, shouting, praying, and following. The dissension came from dissenters who divided people against Jesus but were also divided from within their own factions.

What did the apostles know that we need?

They knew this: how we witness is up to God. And God has endless angels to prompt us, and Holy Spirit to bring his Will to fruition in the hearts of those who seek his Truth.

And Then Came Saul

Saul (his Hebrew name), our beloved Paul (his Roman name), was relentless in this. Fearless. His understanding of how Jesus fulfilled the law and how he threw his whole life into it is humbling. His life was one of complete submission.

This is the young man that witnesses laid their cloaks by, while Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr, was stoned.

Chapter 9, following the witness of Philip to the Ethiopian, says “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” But on the Damascus road Jesus has a few words with him. It makes so much spiritual sense to me that it had to be this direct confrontation between Jesus and Saul. Jesus was getting the attention of Saul’s soul. All of it.

As I continue this year’s Bible trek, I am reading Paul’s letters with an eye on when they were written in relation to his three journeys and final trip to Rome. I need a better grasp on how what he says in each letter speaks to the early believers. Second, how it speaks to me. I don’t want to lose sight of how Paul “tended the sheep” as Jesus has commanded us to do. Like he told Peter before he ascended. I believe that the more we connect to the humanity of the apostles, what they suffered and sacrificed because of what they believed about God, about his Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit, the more our witness grows “toward” the glory of God.

Oh, to catch a glimpse of Stephen’s view as he commended his Spirit to God. (Acts 7:56)

Galatians, written from Antioch, likely around 48 AD and 1 and 2 Thessalonians, written from Corinth during Paul’s second missionary journey, possibly around 50-51 AD, are considered Paul’s “Early Letters” during his first and second evangelical journeys. His letter to the Galatians spans a Roman province of cities (which is modern day Turkey).

In Galatians, Paul primarily addresses how God’s grace through the death and resurrection of his Son fulfills the law, and specifically that circumcision is no longer the way to sanctification. Jesus is. By grace, not the law, we are set free. The Jews were factious, and as Paul put it in Galatians 1:7, “…trying to pervert the gospel of Christ” by returning to the ways of the flesh (Galatians 3:3). Oh, the familiar face of humanity, returning to what we knew, to the past, to something more tangible. Something by sight, not faith.

Paul finds a welcoming way, a more receptive home with the Gentiles. Open hearts, perhaps because they were not embattled in Mosaic law.

In chapter 5 of Galatians Paul brings love into the equation. He moves beyond leaving circumcision behind and accepting the grace of God, to the behavior that comes from it. Loving others.

Galatians 5: 13

 

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

He doesn’t hold back, actually busting wide open what we do when we choose grace. Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25

 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

As I visualize Paul’s journey, his experience and how his witness evolves through all of his encounters, the next two letters he writes make perfect sense to me. It is his letters to the Thessalonians that begin to capture the love Paul brings to his witness. It makes perfect sense that this is how Paul first engages into his calling, answering to the fulfillment of the law to his Jewish people first, the synagogues first, to bring the good news. This is a tough crowd. He would know. He is one. And there were some believers here.

But he draws so close to the Gentiles. This is his calling from Jesus.

And persecution and suffering are a divine bond. A shared purpose backed by divine power.

How We Witness is Up to God

I mentioned that the apostles knew something in the early church. They learned it quickly, were convicted by it—a soul-anchored knowing, that how we witness is up to God. And God has endless angels to prompt us, and Holy Spirit to bring his Will to fruition in the hearts of those who seek his Truth.

God has a rhythm in how he prompts our witness. We only must listen for it.

And that we will have deep relationships with those who stand with Jesus, as we stand with Jesus. The persecution keeps us praying. The suffering keeps us seeking his comfort.

In Acts chapter 17, Paul, Silas, and Timothy fled Thessalonica. Everyone was being persecuted, and they feared for their lives.

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he expresses his love, his gratitude and joy for the time they had together. He commended them for their works produced by faith and assured them that those who had fallen asleep would rise with Jesus when he comes back. He left them with this encouragement, one of my favorite passages.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

 

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

 

Be a Spiritual First Responder

So, I want to read, no share together 2 Thessalonians, that we hear it almost like a prayer to God, that our relationships with each other, with how we witness, are filled with courage, love, and the full expectation that our God is a faithful God. That our relationships are personalized. All of the apostles in Acts give us powerful inspiration to do the work that Jesus left for us to do, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I want us to love reading his Word. I pray for that every day. For myself. For you, human.

And this. Let’s pray that we follow-up with those we are connecting with in the name of Jesus. That we become masters of follow-up, like Paul.

Picture receiving this letter. And picture using this as an impassioned voice and guide in how you witness, how you build relationships with your spiritual brothers and sisters, and unbelievers, to help them find their way to God’s faithfulness. We are all finding our way toward a faithful God.

Picture sending this letter to people you are doing life with—believers and unbelievers. Take what you love, what speaks to your relationship and text it to someone. Trust God’s timing.

2 Thessalonians 1

 

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,

 

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

 

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Thanksgiving and Prayer

 

3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

 

5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

 

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[

 

2 Thessalonians 2

 

The Man of Lawlessness

 

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

 

5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

 

Stand Firm

 

13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits[b] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

 

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

 

2 Thessalonians 3

 

Request for Prayer

 

3 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

 

Warning Against Idleness

 

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

 

11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

 

14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

 

Final Greetings

 

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

 

17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

 

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.