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- [00:01]
Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Another episode. Okay, we are in the book of Acts still. We're making our way through Acts. We are in Acts chapter 8, 9 and 10 today. If you haven't done the reading, this is a good place to pause, stop, spoilers ahead. Okay, like, this is a good place to just stop. I'm not gonna give like a detailed teaching on all of the chapters. That's actually what we do on the ARMA platform. We provide courses and we do have almost like a two and a half, three hour course on the Book of Acts. This is just like drive by shootings, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is just light them up real fast. So if you haven't done the reading, go do the reading and after that, come on back. All right, Acts chapter eight starts with. In Saul approved of killing him. The hymn is Step. So we go right from Stephen. Like Stephen Stoning introduces this character named Saul. Now we. This is not like Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah. Like, that's not what this is. Saul doesn't become Paul. Okay? Saul is a Hebrew name, Paul is a Latin name. And Paul is going to be all things to all men. So he's going to actually use his Latin name. And so most of us just know him as Paul because that's how he self identifies. Okay? Because he wants Gentiles. He wants Gentiles to, you know, like, relate to to him. So it says this. Acts chapter 8, verse 1. On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Okay, remember Acts chapter one, verse eight, that you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, into the ends of the earth. So that's kind of like the road map that we have for the entire book. Well, the church is still in Jerusalem and now persecution breaks out. Where in Jerusalem? All except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. So persecution is actually working for the purpose that God has intended. All the way back in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. What does it say? Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church, going from house to house. He dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Why is it important they dragged off both men and women. Well, because most times when you persecuted a religious group, you only persecuted the leaders, which meant that they most times only persecuted men. But the fact that they are persecuting men and women means that Paul, AKA Saul, saw women as prominent leaders in the church. This is a clue to help us paint a. A more holistic picture of whether or not women are involved in ministry in the local church in the first century. And again, Luke definitely has an agenda. He's the only gospel writer that tells us that Jesus has female disciples. And he's giving us a clue right here, if we understand context. So this is a context clue. Okay, you're gonna. I want you to interpret this tiny, little insignificant detail, but interpret it going, oh, that's kind of rare, actually. It. That's not normal for women to be persecuted. Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went. Oh, man. That's actually our timeless truth for the day. We'll get into that later. But they preached the Word wherever they went. This is not like run and hide. This is not, we're persecuted, so we're going to run and hide. This is go and tell. They are using persecution for their advantage. I actually had a professor in college that interpreted this section of Acts right here that said, actually, maybe the apostles are, like, wanting to stay in Jerusalem and they're not being obedient to what Jesus said in Acts, chapter one, verse eight to go into Judea and Samaria. Remember, they're not like, friends with the Samaritans. They don't. They don't. They're not fans of the Samaritans. They like Jerusalem. All right? That is. That's where they feel comfortable. They're not necessarily fans of going out to the ends of the earth. And my professor in college said it's possible that they're actually disobeying the Holy Spirit, disobeying God. So God brings persecution to force them out of Jerusalem and force them into the ends of the earth so that the gospel can be spread. Whether it's the enemy that's bringing persecution and God's using it, whether God is the one that's actually ordaining persecution so that his intended purposes can happen. I'll let you decide which one of those you lean towards. But I would say those are both, like, fair options for what is happening here. Now, Philip is in Samaria. Those who've been scattered, preached the world wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria, in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. Remember, Philip is Someone that we get on that list of ordained deacons who were to oversee the daily distribution of food. So this is not a herbraic Jew, this is a Hellenistic Jew. His name is Philip. And now not only does Philip go to Samaria, but we're going to see in a little while that Philip is also going to minister to an Ethiopian eunuch. And so the gospel is going to get to the continent of Africa way before it gets to the continent of Europe. And a lot of people just don't know that. But right here in the book of Acts, we're gonna see that the gospel is gonna get taken right back to Ethiopia. Before we get there. I just want to say a quick thing about Simon the Sorcerer. We get Simon the Sorcerer in Acts chapter 8 and I want to read verse 18 because he wants to pay for the Holy Spirit, okay? He's impressed with what the apostles are doing. And it says this. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money and said, give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Peter answered, may your money perish with you. Because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. What, how would I describe Simon? I would describe Simon as someone who wants the power of the Holy Spirit without the person of the Holy Spirit. And to be honest, there's a lot of people like Simon. They want the power of the Holy Spirit. They want spiritual things, but they just don't want it to be holy. They want spiritual power. They just don't want the Holy Spirit. I was at a youth event, a youth conference this past summer. Thousands of young people at this event and felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to do an altar call for young people who had dabbled in spiritual things that were not holy. They, they, they wanted the Spirit, they just didn't want the holy part. They didn't want the part that was sanctioned and set apart. So they wanted to dabble with chakra stones and ouija boards and they wanted to. They had been dabbling with burning sage and a bunch of spiritual practices that God has not ordained for us to take part in in his word. And again, I just said straight up, you want power, but you don't want the person of the Holy Spirit. When you invite the person of the Holy Spirit into your life. The person of the Holy Spirit means that you have to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit means you have to submit to godly leadership in your life. It means that you have to practice restraint. It means that there's a fear of the Lord that now is governing your thoughts and your actions and your heart posture. There's a lot of people who want power, but they don't want the person that actually is the one that disseminates that power. They want to bypass the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit comes with rules and regulations and they just want to go after power. And like Simon, they will attempt to get power without the person of the Holy Spirit. So Philip ministers to the Ethiopian eunuch. I love this the way that the story ends because it says in verse 39, when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. And the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way, rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared to Azotus and traveled about preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. What did he teleport? Like, what in the world happened? Did the did, did, didn't. Yeah, like that is just the. The Spirit. And here's what I want to emphasize. The Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. You could call the Book of Acts the Acts of the Apostles, or you could call this book the Acts of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit through the apostles is moving and active and alive. The Holy Spirit is like a character on the pages of the Book of Acts in passages like this, where the Holy Spirit just takes Philip and just takes him away. The Holy Spirit is driving the action. The Holy Spirit is actively engaged.
- [09:55]
Unknown Speaker
What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community community to read the Bible with you this year. Or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire ARMA team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible.
- [11:18]
Dr. Manny Arango
And now we get Paul Saul's conversion. This is chapter nine. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus. You're persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city and you'll be told what you must do. And so God deals with Paul. Now God goes and recruits a man by the name of Ananias. He says, go to the house of Judas on Straight street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying in a vision. He has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias is not down. Okay? Saul, AKA Paul, is a dangerous human being. And I think a lot of us can relate to Ananias because Paul is a Pharisee. In the book of Philippians, Paul's going to call himself a Pharisee of Pharisees, circumcised on the eighth day in regard to the law, blameless. Okay? Paul is a Pharisee. Pharisee. And I think there's a lot of us that have been hurt by Pharisees in church, so Ananas is not quick to obey. Ananas understands man. Pharisees. A run in with a Pharisee could be. Could be life threatening. And I think there's a lot of us who we would, you know, readily admit, of course God loves the LGBTQ+ community. Of course God loves the. The prodigal. But, man, it's hard for us to realize that God loves the Pharisee because the LGBTQ + community or the prodigal is in your life. Those people haven't, like, hurt you, whereas a lot of us have been hurt by Pharisees. And so Ananias has to overcome that. The Bible says this go. This man is my chosen instrument. That word, chosen instrument makes me think, yeah, this is a replacement for Judas. Matthias was not the chosen instrument. It was Paul. Okay? To proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. The Bible says that something like scales fall from Saul's eyes and he could see again. And now he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. Saul grows more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. Many days had gone by. There was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him. But Saul learned of their plan. Day and night, they kept close watch in the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him not believing that he really was a disciple. So from the get go, Paul is a little bit of an outcast, okay? The disciples are scared, and rightfully so. And you can kind of see, like in Paul's letters, when he calls himself an apostle, you can see kind of this tinge of man, like, I'm the least among the apostles. I think Paul will forever carry with him not guilt, but maybe a little bit of, like, remorse over the fact that he destroyed the very church that now he's passionately called to build. And then we get this. The church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened, living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Then Cornelius invites Peter over. And Peter's got a whole bunch of ethnocentric, racist things to say, okay? And so I hope you see this. We get all of chapter nine is about Paul. Then chapter ten is now about Peter. So I want us to think about the Book of Acts as, like, blue in the beginning, red in the end. Blue represents Peter, red represents Paul. And now in the middle, we're going to get this cross section of blue and red. We're going to get purple, where we're going to start to get a chapter about Paul and a chapter about Peter, and then a chapter about Paul, chapter about Peter. And there's this transition, almost like a passing of the baton from Peter to Paul as the main character. Peter, if you read chapter 10, is still, like, struggling with the fact that Jesus does not just have an ethnocentric vision for Judaism, but really has a global vision for Christianity. Multiple times in this conversation, Peter just says stuff that I just think is mad offensive. Chapter 10, verse 28. He's talking to Gentiles. He says, you are all aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. I am racist. You know, I'M racist, but God has shown me that that's bad. So when y'all invited me over here, I came with no. With no issues. Know, it's like, peter, bro, just shut up, man. We get it. Like, you don't really like Gentiles. You don't rock with Gentiles. I think for modern readers, it's hard to see that the dominant issue of the New Testament was whether or not people needed to become Jews first in order to become Christian. That there's tension between Jews and Gentiles. I think that it's hard for us to, like, appreciate that that's the dominant issue of the New Testament. But that is the number one dominant issue of the New Testament. And our timeless truth for today is Acts, chapter 8, verse 4. That in the midst of persecution, God used that persecution to further the message of the gospel. Why is that the timeless truth? Because the same God who worked something very negative and worked it together for his good purposes is the same God who does that in our our lives today. The same God who Joseph said, you meant for evil, you meant this for evil. But God has used it for the saving of many people. That same God that ministered that to Joseph, that same God who worked a persecution for the good of his church is the same God that takes all things and works it together for our good today. And that's our timeless truth. I'll see you right here tomorrow for another episode. And I'm so proud of you for making your way through Acts and the entire Bible. This is going to be the year that you finally read the entire Bible and get to know the word of God for yourself. I'm Annie Rango. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thank you so much for joining me on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, it would mean the world to me. And if you'd give us a follow rate and review the show and don't forget to share, you can learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and find us on Instagram. Hebible department. If you want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.