Meditation on Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Q Who spoke the word of God to me?
A Nathan Barrett and Rob and Bev Saunders.

Q What is the outcome of their way of life?
A Nathan was unashamed of the gospel, and he was not afraid to argue with me when my ideas about God were wrong. The outcome of this is that my heart was softened to hear the gospel from Rob and Bev. Rob faithfully taught from the Bible for years, and he kept evangelism front and foremost in his later ministry, using a program that explicitly explains the gospel. Bev supported him in all this, diligently working in the background (in particular, being hospitable) to enable him to work in the foreground without interruption. The outcome is that I am a Christian and Jeff is no longer a Christian-in-name-only. Also, Rob saw the importance of training young men to preach, and challenging them to take on responsibility in the church. The outcome is that Jeff is a pastor in a church now, and I am a pastor's wife.

Q How can I imitate their faith?
A Standing firm on what I have received. Not being afraid to tell people about their hope of peace with God and salvation unto eternal life through faith in the name of Jesus Christ, even if it means they might be angry at me! Keeping my focus on the importance of the gospel being openly proclaimed, not just assumed. Supporting my husband in the ministry he has. Persevering in ministry over decades. Remembering how important it is to support and train others so that they are able to be self-disciplined in their Christian life and responsible in the good works God has prepared in advance for them to do.

Acts 9:1-22

Main Lessons from Acts 9:1-22
~ Unless God reveals Jesus Christ to us as our Lord, we will not recognise Him. (See also 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6.)
~ Paul's gospel of the crucified and resurrected Christ was given to him by God. Paul was appointed by God to be an apostle. (See also Galatians 1:1;11-17.)

Damascus

Damascus is “the oldest continually-inhabited city in the world and capital of Syria, located northeast of the Sea of Galilee.
“Damascus was situated on the border of the desert at the intersection of some of the most important highways in the ancient Near Eastern world. Three major caravan routes passed through Damascus. Major roads extended from the city to the southwest into Canaan and Egypt, straight south to Edom and the Red Sea, and east to Babylonia. Because of this ideal location, the city became a trade centre. Its major exports included a patterned cloth called ‘damask’. Egypt, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, as well as Canaan, were some of the trade neighbours that made Damascus the ‘heart of Syria’. Damascus owed its prosperity to two rivers, the Abana and the Pharpar. These rivers provided an abundant source of water for agriculture. …

“In 64BC, the Romans invaded Syria, making it a province with Damascus as the seat of government. … During [the time of Saul’s conversion and ministry], the city was part of the kingdom of Aretas, an Arabian prince who held his kingdom under the Romans.”

[From Youngblood, R.F. (ed) (1986) “Damascus” Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary.]

While Damascus is generally considered part of Syria, when Paul spoke of his three years in Arabia and Damascus before he went to Jerusalem and met with Peter (Galatians 1:17-18), this may have meant that he was in the region close to Damascus for the entire time, because Damascus was at the time part of a Roman-controlled Arabian principality.

Straight Street in Damascus, in modern times:[Image from Youngblood, R.F. (ed) (1986) Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary p323.]

Map of the Near East in the First Century AD

This map shows many of the places mentioned in Acts. Click on the image to see it enlarged.
[Map source: Marshall, I.H. (1980) Acts pg 16.]

Significance of Ethiopia

"The Jews regarded Ethiopia as “the extreme boundary of the habitable world in the hot south”. … The Ethiopia of those days corresponded to what we call “the Upper Nile”, reaching approximately from Aswan to Khartoum. … Candace is known to have been not a personal name but a dynastic title for the Queen Mother who performed certain functions on behalf of the king. The Ethiopian eunuch to whom Philip was sent was her treasurer or chancellor of the exchequer, presumably a black African. [It is likely] that he was actually Jewish, either by birth or by conversion (cf the promise of Isaiah 56:3-7 with the prohibition of Deuteronomy 23:1), for the Jewish dispersion had penetrated at least into Egypt and probably beyond.”

[From Stott, J.R.W. (1991) The Message of Acts pg 160.]

Significance of the Samaritans

“The Jews regarded the Samaritans as heretical outsiders. … The hostility between Jews and Samaritans had lasted a thousand years. It began with the break-up of the monarchy in the tenth century BC when ten tribes defected, making Samaria their capital, and only two tribes remained loyal to Jerusalem. It began steadily worse when Samaria was captured by Assyria in 722 BC, thousands of its inhabitants were deported, and the country was re-populated by foreigners. In the sixth century BC, when the Jews returned to their land, they refused the help of the Samaritans in the rebuilding of the temple. Not till the fourth century BC, however, did the Samaritan schism harden, with the rebuilding of their rival temple on Mount Gerizim and their repudiation of all Old Testament Scripture except the Pentateuch. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews as hybrids in both race and religion, as both heretics and schismatics. John summed up the situation in his simple statement that “Jews do not associate with Samaritans” (John 4:9). Jesus’ sympathy for them, however, is already apparent in Luke’s Gospel (eg Luke 9:52-56; 10:30-37; 17:11-19).

[From Stott, J.R.W. (1991) The Message of Acts pp 144, 147-8.]

Persecution and the Apostles

Acts 5:17-42 tells the story of the second time the apostles were jailed for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not the only time such a circumstance occurred.

Acts 4:1-7 tells how the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees arrested Peter and John, who spent a night in jail. The next day they were brought before the rulers, elders and teachers of the law to defend their healing of the crippled beggar at the temple gate.

Acts 6:8-8:1 tells how Stephen, one of the seven men chosen to administer the distribution of food, was seized by the elders and teachers of the law and brought to trial by the Sanhedrin, before being stoned to death for blasphemy.

Acts 12:1-2 briefly tells how James, the brother of John (not Jesus’ brother) was arrested by King Herod, and put to death by the sword (AD44).

Soon after, King Herod seized Peter. Acts 12:3-18 tells how Peter was kept in prison for a third time, under strict guard and bound in chains. The church prayed earnestly for Peter, and the Lord sent an angel to rescue him in the middle of the night.
Paul and Silas were also imprisoned. Acts 16:16-40 tells how they were brought to the magistrates by someone who objected to their actions in releasing a slave girl from demons. They were flogged and jailed, but during the night an earthquake shook the prison where they were held, and Paul was able to use the opportunity to speak to the jailer about Jesus. Paul and Silas were released the next day by magistrates bent on appeasing the wrath of Roman citizens who had been punished without the requisite trial.

Finally, Paul was arrested by the commander of the Roman troops in Jerusalem, Claudius Lysias. Paul was able to give a speech to the crowd present at his arrest, as well as the Sanhedrin (including Sadducees and Pharisees), Governor Felix of Caesarea and his wife Drusilla, Felix’s successor Governor Porcius Festus and King Agrippa and his wife Bernice, before being sent to Rome to present his case to Caesar, the Emperor of Rome. Acts 21-28 tells of these events, which are also attested to through details from Paul’s letters.

Extra-biblical sources and church tradition record that while Paul was probably released from his house arrest in Rome around AD63, both he and Peter were later martyred for their faith. Tradition has Peter put to death in Rome about AD64 by being crucified upside down (supposedly he requested this position because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus had been). Eusebius wrote that Paul was imprisoned a second time in Rome before Emperor Nero ordered his death, sometime during Nero’s persecution (AD64 until the emperor’s death in mid AD68). Dionysius (ca AD170) is quoted by Eusebius as saying that Peter and Paul were martyred at the same time, although this may not mean the same year. Tertullian wrote that Paul was beheaded, as would be typical for Roman citizens who were sentenced to death.

John was later exiled to the small, rocky Mediterannean island of Patmos, off the coast of modern-day Turkey (Revelation 1:9). This was possibly during the persecution of Christians by Roman emperor Domitian (AD81-96). John supposedly lived and worked in Ephesus during his later years, being the only apostle who died a natural death.

Hebraic Jews and Grecian Jews

God chose Abram and called him for a special purpose. God promised Abram [Genesis 12:1-3, see also Gen 15:4-5 and many other passages] that “I will make you a great nation” and changed his name to Abraham, which is what he is remembered by today. Abraham and his wife Sarai (whose name God changed to Sarah) had a son whom they named Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah and they had twin sons Esau and Jacob. Although the younger twin, Jacob was chosen by God to be the heir of God’s promises. Jacob, who was also known by a second, God-given name, Israel, married two women (Leah and Rachel) and they (and their two maid servants) bore him 12 sons and at least one daughter. The 12 sons of Jacob became the heads of the 12 tribes of the nation Israel. Thus the tribes of Israel were:
1 Reuben
2 Simeon
3 Levi (set apart for the LORD to serve as priests)
[Numbers 1:47-53, 3:5-13. Exodus 32 gives the story behind this, especially Exodus 32:25-29]
4 Judah
5 Dan
6 Naphtali
7 Gad
8 Asher
9 Zebulun
10 Issachar
11 The two half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (descended from the two sons of Joseph)
[Genesis 48 gives the story behind this, especially Genesis 48:5-6]
12 Benjamin

It was not until several generations later that the nation of Israel, led at the time by Joshua, claimed the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Each of the 12 tribes lived in a portion of the land, as decreed by God. The only exception was the Levites, who dwelled in cities among the other tribes but had no inheritable land of their own; they were supported by the tithes of the Israelites [Numbers 35:1-8, Numbers 18:21-32]. The nation of Israel was ruled for a while by a series of Judges, and then later by a king appointed by God.

The first king of Israel was Saul. The second was King David, who came from the tribe of Judah. David’s son, Solomon, became king of Israel after him. The rules of King David and King Solomon were prosperous and glorious days for Israel. However, shortly after Rehoboam succeeded Solomon as King [1Ki11:43], Jeroboam rebelled against Rehoboam and set up own northern kingdom, Israel, with ten of the tribes [1Ki12:16-20]. Rehoboam’s southern kingdom became known as Judah, although it was comprised of people from Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam set up idols and appointed his own priests in Israel [1Ki12:26-33], and consequently Levites and others who sought God left Israel and were absorbed into Judah [2Ch11:13-17].

Later, both the northern kingdom Israel and then the southern kingdom Judah were exiled by invading nations. Only Judah returned from exile, although there were probably some people from each of the 12 original tribes of Israel absorbed into this new nation, called the Jews. In Jesus’ time, after the Return, the Jews mainly lived in Judea, but also in other areas of Roman-occupied Palestine, the ancient “Promised Land”. These Jews were Hebraic Jews, that is, they were Jews who were descended from Abraham.

There were also Greek converts to Judaism, who had been circumcised and thus they and their families were also legitimately recognised as Jews. These were the Grecian Jews, and they were often considered to be somewhat second-class Jews.

Acts 4:32-5:16

Main Lessons from Acts 4:32-5:16

The two married couples in Acts

There are only two married couples mentioned by name in Acts. The first is a couple called Ananias and Sapphira, who are only mentioned in Acts 5:1-10. The second is a Jewish couple called Aquila and Priscilla, who are first mentioned in Acts 18:2. Their attitudes and actions could not be more different. In contrast to the sad ending of Ananias and Sapphira, Aquilla and Priscilla opened their home for Paul to live with them, became fellow workers with Paul, and instructed another prominent evangelist, Apollos, as well as hosting a church in their home in Ephesus.

For more on Aquila and Priscilla, read the following passages:

Acts 18:1-3,18-28
1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. … 18Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. 19They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
23After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
27When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Romans 16:3
3Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 16:19
19The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

2 Timothy 4:19
19Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.

Identifying some people from Acts 4:1,5-6

The captain of the temple guard was the leader of the temple police, the priest who ranked next to the high priest.

The Saducees were a political group supported by and supporting the priesthood.

The rulers were collectively known as the Sanhedrin or chief priests, a group of 71 men, led by the high priest. They administered the temple duties.

Elders were family (or clan) leaders in the Jewish community.

The teachers of the Law were the scribes whose job it was to copy, conserve and interpret Scripture. They mostly belonged to the party of the Pharisees.

Acts 4:6 gives more specific details of the rulers who were present. Annas was high priest from AD6-14, but was deposed by the Romans and succeeded by several members of his family. This included his son-in-law Caiaphas, who was high priest from AD18-36. Despite his deposition, Annas still had much influence and he kept his title. Annas and Caiaphas both interviewed Jesus during his trials before his crucifixion . Other members of the high priestly family were the men who help the official positions in the temple administration.

[Sources: I Howard Marshall, Acts (1980) Tyndale New Testament Commentary and John R W Stott, The Message of Acts (1990) The Bible Speaks Today series.]

A short history of Jerusalem and the temple

Before His ascension, Jesus told the apostles that they would be His witnesses “in Jerusalem”, and the events of Acts 3-4 describe one of these instances. King David established Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and built his palace there. Later the temple was also built there. When the northern tribes split from Judah and Benjamin, Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah. After the Jews returned from exile, they rebuilt Jerusalem’s wall. In Jesus’ time, the Jews occupied the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding region of Judea, although it was then part of the Roman Empire.

The temple was the centre of Jewish religious practice. The first temple was built by King Solomon , but destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587BC when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. When the Exiles returned, they rebuilt the temple and it was known as Zerubbabel’s Temple. This temple was actually torn down by King Herod the Great, to make way for his own architectural masterpiece. Herod began work in 20BC and it was essentially completed within a decade, a few years before Jesus’ birth and Herod’s subsequent death in 4BC. However, the temple was still having finishing touches added until AD64. It was finally destroyed by the Romans in AD70.

[Image of 1:100 scale model of Herod's Temple, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4837608/Farmer-builds-model-of-Biblical-temple.html.]

Acts 2:42- 4:31

Main Lessons from Acts 2:42- 4:31
~ Miracles, signs and wonders are used by God to get our attention and bring it to His Son, Jesus Christ.
~ Healings are a miracle, and so is the change in behaviour that is seen in new Christians as a result of their indwelling by the Holy Spirit.
~ The name (identity) of Jesus Christ is central to salvation. There is no other way to be saved than to know who Jesus Christ really is, accept it and live one's life believing and trusting He is who He is.
~ The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a crucial element of who He is. Jesus Christ is not just the atoning Son of Man but also the risen Son of God, whose resurrection vindicates His claims of divinity and proves He has succeeded in assuaging the wrath of God for our sin.
~ A good model for prayer begins with a worshipful acknowledgement of who God is and ends with asking His help to become the people He wants us to be.

Acts 1:13b-2:41

Main Lessons from Acts 1:13b-2:41
~ Jesus called and chose the 12 apostles for a specific apostolic ministry: to be witnesses of Jesus' time with them and His death and resurrection.
~ The three dramatic signs of Pentecost (wind, fire and speaking in other languages) indicated the commissioning and equipping of the apostles by the Holy Spirit for this apostolic ministry.
~ God was in control of Jesus' death and resurrection, according to His own previous plan, and it was God who exalted Jesus to the judgement seat of heaven.
~ It is God who calls people to Christ, granting the gift of the Holy Spirit.
* The fourth sign of Pentecost - the ability to confidently and clearly state that Jesus is Lord (having authority over the believer's own life) and Jesus is Christ (aka Messiah, the promised Saviour, who has saved the believer from the consequences of their sins) is the defining evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence within all Christians, including those of today. (See also 1 Corinthians 12:3 and Romans 10:6-13.)

The Author of Acts and his message

Since the second century, the book of Acts has sometimes been called by a longer name: “The Acts of the Apostles”. This is because it describes the actions of the closest followers of Jesus as they began to teach others about Him, soon after His death. As we read and study the book of Acts, we will learn about what it meant to be a Christian in the first years after Jesus rose to heaven, and also examine what being a Christian means today.

As a historian, Luke collected his information about the events he recorded in Acts from several sources. As he wrote in the introductory verses of Luke, he included information “handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses” (Luke 1:2). This would have included John Mark, who wrote the earliest gospel, Mark, and Barnabas his cousin, who had been in Jerusalem with Peter (Acts 4:36-37 & 11:22). Luke spent time with these men because all three were Paul’s co-workers, and they were together with Paul during his imprisonment in Rome (Colossians 4:10,14 & Philemon 1:24). Luke wrote, “I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning” (Luke 1:3), and he was also involved in some of the action himself, having spent time with Paul as he travelled around the Mediterranean Sea (see, for example, Acts 16:10-17) and staying with him through his journey to Rome (Acts 27:1-2ff) and much of his imprisonment (Colossians 4:14,18).

Acts has also been described as “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, because it shows who the Holy Spirit is and how He acted in the earliest days of the church. As we find out more about this third person of the Trinity, we will also learn to recognise and rely upon His work in our own lives.

As a theologian, Luke used history as a tool to explain deep truths about God. He did not write only a mere factual record. He was concerned that the events he chose to include should show clearly their significance for salvation. Luke will show us that salvation is prepared by God, given to us by Jesus Christ, and marked by the Holy Spirit (Stott, J.R.W. (1991) The Message of Acts). Luke was a Gentile, not a Jew (Colossians 4:10-11,14). He was the only Gentile to have his writings included in the New Testament. So it is significant that the events of Acts will reveal finally that, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39) We will be shown that the gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ) “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

Acts was written to a person called Theophilus. From Luke’s courteous reference to him as “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3), we can guess that he was probably an important government official. The name Theophilus is Greek, and it means “God-lover” or “God-beloved”. It has been suggested that this may even have been a carefully chosen pseudonym. Whoever he was, Theophilus had been taught something of Jesus, and Luke wrote his two books to help him to know and understand everything about Jesus with certainty. As we read the same words that Theophilus studied centuries ago, we will be learning the same lessons about Jesus, His people the church, and the Holy Spirit He sent to them.

Acts 1:1-14

Main Lessons from Acts 1:1-14
~ Luke wrote Acts as the second volume of his "orderly account" for Theophilus, which began with The Gospel of Luke. (See also Luke 1:1-4.)
~ Jesus promised that His apostles would be baptised with the Holy Spirit, the gift of God the Father.
* Jesus told the apostles that with the power they would gain when the Holy Spirit came on them, they would go out to the world as His witnesses.
~ The angels explained that Jesus had gone to heaven and promised that Jesus would return again.

Acts and it's place in the New Testament

The Bible is a collection of books. These books are divided into two main sections, called the Old Testament and the New Testament. The books are of many different types: there are books of history, although they are not necessarily written in the same style of today’s history works; there is also poetry, advice, prophecy (predicting and warning about future events); allegorical tales and letters. The New Testament is made up of 27 books written originally in Greek, most of which are actually letters.

The first four books of the New Testament, named after their authors Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are called Gospels. They give biographical accounts of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection from four different perspectives. Two of the writers, Matthew (also called Levi) and John, were among the twelve apostles that Jesus chose and taught during the time of his ministry. The other two, Mark (also called John Mark) and Luke, were active in the early Christian church and worked closely with Peter and Paul. We will read about John, Mark and Luke in Acts.

Acts, the fifth book of the New Testament, is the book we will be studying for the next fifteen weeks or so. It gives a historical account of the activities of the earliest Christians as they began to travel throughout the world, telling people the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the peace with God that comes from trusting and believing in Him.

The remainder of the New Testament, except the last book, is a collection of letters (also called epistles) written by the earliest followers of Jesus to teach and encourage each other in their Christian faith. The letters of Paul come first, not in the order they were written but in order from longest to shortest. The letters to churches were written to the Romans, two letters to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians and two letters to the Thessalonians. Paul also wrote letters to individual people, two to Timothy, to Titus and to Philemon. We will read about many of these churches and people in Acts as well.

One of the letters, addressed to the Hebrews, is of unknown authorship. The other letters are named after their senders, rather than their recipients: they are the two letters of Peter (one of the disciples), one by James (Jesus’ brother, who became leader of the church in Jerusalem), the three letters of John (who wrote the fourth gospel) and finally the letter of Jude (another brother of Jesus). The writers of these letters are also written about in Acts.

The disciple John also wrote the last book of the New Testament, Revelation, recounting a vision from Jesus.

The books of the New Testament, other than Revelation, which relates to the future, cover events from roughly 6BC to AD60. They were written between AD50 and AD90. They were collected together by the leaders of Christian churches and the authoritative canon (official list of NT books) was being defined from AD180.

The books of the Bible were originally written by hand on scrolls of parchment paper. By the 2nd century AD, the scrolls were being replaced with the “codex”, an early form of book with pages folded and sewn at one side. Chapter divisions were added to the Bible about a thousand years later. After the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in the 1450s, verse numbers were added. Titles were added at the same time as these forms were being introduced to other literature. Hence, my great-grandmother’s Bible has a brief summary at the beginning of each chapter in italics, while my Bible has headings added in a bold font throughout the text.

I'm studying Acts

In preparation for the Women's Gathering (for Bible Study, Prayer and Friendship) that will be starting at our church next week, I have been reading through Acts and have begun studying it more deeply than ever before. As I have prepared questions to discuss with the women, as well as optional extras for them to study further at home, I am seeing many things more clearly myself. It has been quite eye opening to realise that Acts isn't just a historical account of the actions of the apostles, it is also a detailed theological treatise based upon the actions of the Holy Spirit (without sacrificing historical accuracy). While there are specific passages in other places in the New Testament that teach explicitly about the Holy Spirit, Acts is the book where we can see Him most openly at work.

As well as reading the text of Acts several times and making my own connections, I have also begun reading the earlier chapters of a few commentaries on Acts. I began with The Communicator's Commentary series volume on Acts by Lloyd J Ogilvie (thinking it would be helpful for someone seeking to teach others) but found it had not enough substance and was a bit undisciplined for my taste. Then I tried the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries volume on Acts by I Howard Marshall and found it wonderfully rich but unfortunately just a bit too heavy for me at this time, although I would love to read through it another time if I can find enough of it! I have finally settled on The Message of Acts by John Stott, from the BIble Speaks Today commentary series. This is a great mix of explanation of the Biblical text and helpful connections to present-day Christian life, and matches well to my present needs for helpful teaching.

I am also getting help from Jeff as he reads my draft questions and helps me refine them. He has shown me where I have gaps in what I have brought out from the passages, or where I have missed the mark by a long way, going off on a tangent rather than focussing on the main emphasis of the text itself. It has also been helpful to have him giving me handy hints from his knowledge of the original Greek. Yesterday, for example, he explained to me that the word used for "other tongues" in Acts 2:4 is completely different from the word used later by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13:1) which speaks of "tongues of angels", so the two should not be confused.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 again

1 Corinthians 1:4-9
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way —in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Today I want to pray this prayer again, but this time for my husband Jeffrey.

Thank You so much for my husband LORD. Thank You that he has faith in You, that he loves You and earnestly seeks to follow You will. LORD, I thank You for calling him to be one of Your elect and chosen people, that he might live a life that is for Your glory rather than his own. I thank You for the work of Your Holy Spirit in his heart, regenerating him and making him into a new creation, so that he would place his trust in You and build his life upon the foundation of this trust. I thank You for the people You have used in his life to teach him about You. I thank You for his mother and the biblical knowledge which she taught him. I thank You for the work of Neil, his pastor when he was a teenager, and the relationship he had with their family and which we continue to have despite living so far away. I thank You especially for Rob and Bev who ran that Alpha course. I thank You for Rob's life and I pray that he might receive a reward in heaven for the work he did in sharing the gospel of Your Son, Jesus Christ, with us.

LORD, I thank You for the amazing way in which You have transformed him more and more into Your likeness. I thank You especially for those people who have taught and edified Jeff so that he has come to a sound understanding of Who You have revealed Yourself to be in the Bible. I thank You for Rob and Bev again, that they were able to welcome us into their home following the Alpha course for regular Bible studies where we grew and were encouraged in our faith. I thank You for Rob's encouragement to Jeff to begin preaching at DBC and that You were faithful in gifting Jeff for this ministry. I thank You for the elders and other pastors at DBC who allowed Jeff this opportunity as well, and for the way the church there has faithfully given to us for the past three years so that we might have a little more to live on here in Perth. I praise Your name for the faithful, Biblically-sound and enthusiastic way we were taught by Your people, PH and Aimee, when they came to Darwin and were part of our Bible study small group there. I thank You for the way You used them to "make the way of Christ known more fully" by Jeffrey, especially in the matter of predestination and Your will to save the people You have chosen. I thank You for all of the lecturers at Trinity and I ask that You will bless them with rest and refreshment over the coming weeks before college begins again for another year. I thank You in particular for the close friends he has made at Trinity in the other students in his year. I pray that they will know where best they should minister in the coming year and after they graduate and I pray that You will give them enthusiasm for the task ahead rather than reticence or fear at the changes You have in store for them. I thank You for the work of Steve in Jeff's life, that he has walked alongside Jeff in all of his time at NUC and that he has agreed to continue to mentor and be an example to Jeff as he takes on the role of Pastor at BCC.

O wow LORD there are so many people You have used in Jeffrey's life to bring him closer to You and to shape him into the person You want him to be. I pray that You might also use me for this task: that I will always be honest in both my criticism and affirmation of his conduct and character, and that any comment I make will be based in my love for him and for You, so that I will not be swayed by selfish desires and complain or be bitter about things which I see as a problem but which You, who are omniscient, do not; which I want to change but which You, who are omnipotent, do not. LORD, make me a good wife for Jeffrey so that I might support and encourage him in his ministry and also join him in it in a way that will bring glory to Your holy name. May Your name be praised in both of our lives!

LORD, I thank You for the process of sanctification that You have worked in Jeff's heart and life. I thank You that You have refined his knowledge and understanding of You so that he has a much better, more Biblically-based knowledge of Who You are. I thank You for leading him to place his trust in You and for causing him to desire to serve You in the special ministry of pastor to a church congregation. LORD, I thank You for the determination You have placed in his heart to preach Your word faithfully, to tell the gospel to people here in Perth who do not know Who You are or what you have done for them in Christ Jesus. I praise You for giving Jeff a thirst for Your word and I ask that You will continue to draw him into the Bible so that he might never grow tired of meeting You in its pages. LORD, I pray that You might continue to enrich Jeffrey in his speaking, as he endeavours to teach others about how You would have them live their lives in response to Who You are and what You have done for them. Help him to be a good discipler of the people in his congregation, so that their relationship with You might be strengthened through his words in sermons and also on other occasions and in his very life as well. Keep him from becoming a hypocrite in anything, LORD. Keep him humble and accountable to You for the sins he commits, LORD and draw him into an ever-closer walk with You.

Thank You for making his life a testimony to Your grace and power in making his life new. LORD, I thank You for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Please make Jeffrey eager for Your return and help him to keep his sight on You LORD, the author and perfecter of his faith. LORD, keep him focussed on the goals You would have him give his attention to. Help him not to be distracted but to be holy, set apart for Your use and not his own worldly desires. Help him to seek Your will and help the elders of our church as they guide him and direct him as to where he should place his energies.

LORD, I pray that You will keep Jeffrey strong and sustain him through the coming weeks, months and years of ministry. Strengthen our marriage and help us both to submit to Your will rather than to disagree. LORD, keep us together for Your name's sake through the long haul and difficult and challenging years ahead of us. Strengthen us to do Your will in all parts of our lives, so that we may not become like the Pharisees who proclaimed You but did not acknowledge You when You came as a man. LORD, I pray that You will help Jeff to do Your will even and especially when it is hard. I pray that You will keep his back strong (and I thank You for the improvement there has been in his back over the past 8 years). I pray that You will help him to rest when he needs it. I pray that You will continue to sustain him as You have throughout his life, not just with food, water and shelter but also through Your love, whereby You care for him as a mother hen cares for her chicks. Keep him reading Your word in his Bible each day so that his faith will continue to grow. Keep him persevering to the end, so that on the Day of Judgement, when Your Son Christ Jesus is revealed to all people everywhere in His full glory and majesty, Jeff will be judged blameless in Your sight because of the faith You have given him in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I give You praise because You are faithful. You are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. You made all things and sustain them in Your hand. You are Lord over all creation because You made it and it belongs to You. You are my God and Jeffrey's God and we are Your people, chosen and made righteous by You. In all things, I give You honour and worship because You deserve it and there is no higher privilege than to worship You.

Thank You for the fellowship I have with Jeffrey because Jesus died for both our sins. Thank You for the way we can work together, as husband and helper, on the work You have given us. Please grant us faithfulness as we enter into closer fellowship with the congregation of BCC.

I give You honour for Jeff's life so far and I pray that You will continue to use him for Your purposes for Your glory in the future. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

1 Corinthians 1:4-9
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way —in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

This morning, I think I will pray this prayer for my dear friend Amy, whom I have never met but who upholds me with her prayers also.

Thank You God for Amy. Thank You for saving her. Thank You for the precious gift to her of the life of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who paid with His life the penalty for her sin, as well as mine. LORD, I thank You for saving her from the eternal punishment, where Jesus said "there is weeping and gnashing of teeth".

Thank You for also the enormous richness of blessings You have poured into her life since You called her to be one of Your own dear children. Thank You for the opportunity for her to grow up as a member of a Christian family. Thank You for the blessing of a good, godly, Bible-believing church in which she could grow up. Thank You for her being able to attend BSF classes all the way across the world from me, just as I go to BSF classes here in Perth. Thank You that her mother is a godly woman who sees the need to teach even young children from the Scriptures and that she is an example and support to Amy. Thank You for Amy's husband as well and for the many ways her ministers Your love in her life. LORD, I thank You for all those instances where You have continued to extend Your grace into Amy's life through the ministry of fellow believers, instances which I know nothing about but which have been formative in shaping her into the godly woman I know today, whose friendship I value.

I thank You for the way you have confirmed in her life the call that You have made to her, which Your Holy Spirit has enabled her to respond to with faith and thanksgiving. I thank You for the way she has been able to write her blog and through it, that we might meet online, even though we may never meet in person. I thank You that You have given her the confidence to confidently proclaim her faith in You and that she is so determined to work with her husband to bring their children up in the training and instruction of the LORD. I thank You for the way she has been able to talk with R about the way her life has enfolded and that through this, she has both encouraged R to a deeper faith in You and also edified me as a reader of their manuscript. LORD God, I ask that You will continue to provide Amy with opportunities to use her gifts in writing to build up the kingdom of God through sharing stories of how You have shown Yourself mighty in the lives of her family and others, that people might come to know that You can be relied upon in all things because You hold this world in the palm of Your hand, cherishing and nurturing all Creation.

LORD, I pray that Amy may lack no spiritual gift as she waits for the Lord Jesus Christ to return in His full and magnificent glory. I pray that You may deepen her faith in You in all Truth, that she may grow closer to You as she reads her Bible this morning because she is continually learning more of who You are as You show her the Truth through the Bible which You breathed out. LORD, I pray that she may be driven to seek Your face in prayer and that she might worship You and praise You in all the moments of her daily life as well as in the moments specifically set aside to pray and speak with You. LORD, I pray that she might grow in wisdom as she daily seeks to live a life that pleases You and brings You glory and joy. I pray that You might be given glory at the end time when Your Son is revealed and that Amy may be able to look forward to this day with eagerness, anticipating the time when she will no longer struggle with sin but be glorified in Christ Jesus, entering into the fullness of her relationship with You, the relationship which You determined was to be hers even in eternity past.

LORD, I pray that You will keep Amy strong to this end. I pray that You may enable her to persevere in her faith through the presence within her of Your Holy Spirit. LORD, I pray that on the Day of Judgement she will be proclaimed blameless in Your sight because of the work that Jesus Christ has done on her behalf - and mine - two thousand years ago as he hung on the cross and died, then conquered death forever when he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven to intercede for her and me and each and every one of Your saints.

LORD God, You are faithful and Your will will surely be done. There is no shadow of turning in You. You are a rock which cannot be moved, no matter how we may struggle against You. LORD, I thank You and give You praise for calling Amy into fellowship with Jesus Christ, Your Son. I thank You for this with all my heart and I am deeply grateful for Your also calling me into fellowship with her, as my fellow sister in Christ, because we are now both Your heirs. LORD God, thank You for choosing people of all nations and languages to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.