Sunday, October 28, 2012

On 11-4-12, Acts 26:19-32 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Paul Testifies before King Agrippa aka Paul before King Agrippa.

Paul Testifies before King Agrippa
 aka
 Paul before King Agrippa
 Acts 26:19-32
International Sunday School Lesson
November 4, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough


Those that don’t do anything at all as Christians have very little to fear.  Given that for we Americans this is an election year, the same can be said of politicians.  Politicians that draw a line in the sand from which they don’t waver, that ardently pursue those things that they stand for, they will come under attack.
Those that attack them care just as much about what they stand for on their side of the line in the sand.  Many times both sides in their attacks and counter attacks go too far.  Many don’t care the methods used or the validity of the things they say. We can see this in the story of Paul more fully if we don’t just rely on today’s scripture.  The fairly clear beginning in this story can be seen in Acts 21 after Paul’s return to Jerusalem.
At the temple some Jews stirred up a crowd and made the following accusation, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.”
Paul was seized, beaten and would have been killed if not for the interruption of Roman troops.  From this point we see him arrested by the Romans but then released in a manner of speaking instead of being flogged and questioned when it was discovered that he was a Roman citizen.
But as I said, it was only in a manner of speaking, as the commander of these Romans ordered the Jewish chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble (such was the size of the commotion that had been created over Paul) so that he could ascertain of what Paul was actually being accused.
While in this assembly Paul explained what he was about and as usual there was vociferous debate against him but a most interesting thing happened the following night as we read in Acts 23:11.  The Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
When we started out I talked about politicians, well like politicians God’s pretty smart too about grabbing the opportunity for publicity!  In the chapters that follow you can see how everyone gets a chance to hear Paul’s story which is really the story of Jesus.  From Roman Commander, to Roman Governor’s Felix and Festus, to King Agrippa and to everyone else in attendance and then it will be time to set sail for Rome.  Please forgive me but it really does remind me of a publicity tour and truth be told, that is what it was, a promotion of the Good News which is “that God has provided salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”



For Discussion:

1.      Underline in your Bible that portion of verse 20 for today that reads, “and prove their repentance by their deeds.”
2.      Discuss that verse.
3.      Remember in your own witnessing that you may have the opportunity to convince not just an immediate listener such as Paul tried with King Agrippa.  Paul said in verse 29, “not only you but all who are listening to me.”
4.      It may seem obvious but after reading all of Acts 26 and considering what Paul said was true discuss why these Jews wanted him dead.  Just as Paul wanted early Christians dead before his conversion.
5.      Discuss what you think the main issue someone would have found a problem with in believing what Paul was saying?
6.      Read verses 25-27 and then that portion of verse 20 from #1 above again and compare it to Christians who believe but don’t prove it.
7.      Here’s a stretch, sorry.  Discuss the example of Paul’s reaction to being called insane and bring in the New York Jet’s Tim Tebow’s reaction to what Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said about him as a player near the 6th of August.  (Google their two names if you don’t know what I am talking about).  But to quote Tebow, “I’ve heard nothing but great things about Mr. Esiason,” he said. “I know he was a great player here and I wish him nothing but the best in his announcing. God bless him.”


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


11-11-12: Paul Survives a Shipwreck aka Paul Sails for Rome Acts 27:1, 2, 33-44
11-18-12: Paul Ministers on Malta aka Paul Ministers in Malta Acts 28:1-10
11-25-12: Paul Evangelizes in Rome Acts 28:16, 17, 23-31 or Acts 28:23-31
12-2-12:   Blessed in Christ aka Spiritual Blessings in Jesus Christ Ephesians 1:3-14



Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved



Monday, October 22, 2012

On 10-28-12, Acts 8:26-39will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Philip Baptizes a Man from Ethiopia aka Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Philip Baptizes a Man from Ethiopia
 aka
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
 Acts 8:26-39
International Sunday School Lesson
October 28, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough


There is an immediacy about doing the work of the gospel, have you noticed that?  If you look at today’s scripture as soon as Philip had finished sharing the good news about Jesus the eunuch said, “Look, here is water.  Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”  And he was.
Immediately after Peter shared with the gentiles of Cornelius’ house they were baptized.  Similarly so was Paul’s and Silas’ jailer and household.  In fact all accounts of baptism that I can think of from the beginning at Pentecost onward demonstrate the urgency of sharing the good news and when people come to faith, baptizing them.
When we consider today’s scripture we see the importance God gave to this Ethiopian.  We will never again read of this man going forward and I think we should consider that.  Consider the importance of each individual as we think about the importance we are to place on sharing the good news ourselves.  This Ethiopian might have gone back to his lands and converted many or he alone may have been enough.  We need to treat every individual as important and urgent.  And with each of these individuals we need to impress upon them the need to act upon their new faith at once.
God sends one of his angels to tell Philip were to go.  The Spirit tells him to go to a chariot and stay near it.  Philip once there immediately grabbed the opportunity he was given to share the good news.  Further for our example, the eunuch already as we know a man of faith, asked to be baptized at the first opportunity.
Now we may not receive any direct instructions from an angel of God but you know you have had the Spirit give you instructions on sharing the good news.  How you doing with that?
Church is a great place to hear the gospel but in percentages the large majority is as the saying goes already in the choir.  We need to go to the “chariots”, whatever and wherever they are “and stay near it.”  You know you have heard the Spirit telling you to do just that.
You are sitting in the barber chair listening to Him say, “share the good news”.  Or you are driving somewhere with a co-worker and you hear the same thing.  Last week it was your neighbor and this week it was someone in the doctor’s office.  God has an army of Christian “salespeople” but only a handful produce any “sales”.
I am sure that you and your church support missionaries around the world and that is great.  Theirs is a special calling and many of them are in some of the roughest places and many are even in mortal danger.  There is however a slew of missionaries needed everywhere.  There is in fact one needed right where you are.
Start listening to the Spirit as you are told to share the good news.  Then start looking for the opportune moment to share that.  Sometimes it might be as you are being regaled with someone’s debauchery of the night before.  Other times it will be the bad things that are happening in a neighbor’s life.   The impetus doesn’t have to be just the bad and really why should it? It might be the joyous occasions of a wedding or a child’s birth.
We know when those times are it is just time that we all started acting immediately on them.


For Discussion:

1.      In this scripture the eunuch was reading Isaiah 53.  I’d like you to read about a eunuch in Isaiah 56!
2.      Discuss how your church treats new converts with regard to baptism and its immediacy.
3.      Discuss how the unsaved die every day.
4.      Discuss the joy as demonstrated by the eunuch in verse 39 and how many times our joy in our salvation wanes.
5.      Discuss sharing the gospel covering how to overcome fears, opportunities, methods and so on.
6.      Make it a class project to share the gospel in your church neighborhood.  Make a plan, have teams, plan it out.  Practice makes perfect.  Some will be searching already just as the Ethiopian was while for others it will be totally new idea.
7.      Discuss how you have all had members of cults visit at your door and compare to how we are doing.
8.      For those who have had success in treating these subjects with a sense of urgency find a way to teach your brothers and sisters out there to do the same.

Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


11-4-12:   Paul Testifies Before King Agrippa aka Paul before King Agrippa Acts 26:19-32
11-11-12: Paul Survives a Shipwreck aka Paul Sails for Rome Acts 27:1, 2, 33-44
11-18-12: Paul Ministers on Malta aka Paul Ministers in Malta Acts 28:1-10
11-25-12: Paul Evangelizes in Rome Acts 28:16, 17, 23-31 or Acts 28:23-31



Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Sunday, October 14, 2012

On 10-21-12, Acts 8:9-24 or Act 8:9-25 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Simon Wants to Buy Power.

Simon Wants to Buy Power
 Acts 8:9-24 or Acts 8:9-25
International Sunday School Lesson
October 21, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough



People like you and I can debate things until we are blue in the face but I think that the scripture today should make a couple things very clear.  First and second that it takes more than belief and baptism to make you “right”.
In my opinion Simon had gifts.  I would say that he no doubt was intelligent, that he was quick witted, that he had a flair for showmanship and that he probably had a way with words.
I don’t pretend to know all the abilities that were given to Peter but I do know that his nature from what we see in the scriptures was that he was quick to react.  Perhaps among the things that the Holy Spirit gave to him was to see what was in another man’s heart and so he saw within Simon.  My gut tells me that however is not the case.  My gut also tells me that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge Simon.
When I read today’s scripture I see naiveté in Simon.  Wrong or not, Simon was doing things that he had a talent for in performing the acts that he was doing before the Good News came to town.  Having heard the gospel message he like many others there came to faith and was baptized.  What he did after that earned him a lot of the notoriety that comes to mind when we hear his name right down to the title of this lesson.
But should he be blamed? 
When Christ was explaining to His disciples the Parable of the Sower He showed how different seed, which are in reality people, react after hearing the Good News.  Some are on the path; some are in the rocky places, others in amongst the thorns, while others still are in good soil.
In my opinion Simon was the quintessential example of a new Christian.  With today’s scripture we see the example of sharing the Good News, the example of immediate baptism after coming to faith and Simon’s desire to be like those who just convinced him.
Of course Simon couldn’t just become an Apostle.  Nor could he be a teacher or anything other than a student.  The new Christian has to be given the opportunity to be nourished in the good soil.  They have to be educated but kept energized, their flame of excitement kept alive and their hearts continually encouraged.  As this occurs the process of sanctification can happen but it takes time.  Once brought along in this manner the no longer novice Christian can expect to produce a harvest for the kingdom.   
I can’t help but want to know whether Simon was brought along like this but unlike a lot of others I don’t think negatively about Simon.  I think his story accomplished much if we take this example and apply it to our churches today so that new Christians are properly raised up to do the work that their God given talents enable them to do for the Kingdom.



For Discussion:

1.      Discuss how new Christians are nurtured where you worship.
2.      Discuss how the things that a leader does within the Church can affect a new Christian from how they react to them when they are in error, how they demonstrate through their actions as leaders and so on.
3.      Did Peter over react?
4.      Discuss whether in your heart you think that after this Simon changed or not.
5.      Discuss the ongoing process of Sanctification.
6.      Discuss why the people had been following Simon.
7.      Discuss the people following after Simon, the Good News given to these people but incompletely and the following up of the Apostles to them and apply these lessons to your world today.


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


10-28-12: Philip Baptizes a Man from Ethiopia aka Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26-39
11-4-12:   Paul Testifies Before King Agrippa aka Paul before King Agrippa Acts 26:19-32
11-11-12: Paul Survives a Shipwreck aka Paul Sails for Rome Acts 27:1, 2, 33-44
11-18-12: Paul Ministers on Malta aka Paul Ministers in Malta Acts 28:1-10



Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Sunday, October 7, 2012

On 10-14-12, Acts 7:51-8:1will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Stephen is Faithful to Death aka Stephen’s Martyrdom.

Stephen is Faithful to Death
 aka
Stephen’s Martyrdom
 Acts 7:51-8:1
International Sunday School Lesson
October 14, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough


“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12

Note that the verse you just read says, “will be” not “might be” persecuted.  Have you or are you being persecuted for being a Christian?  Think about that.  You might not have been physically assaulted for your Christian life, but have you faced ridicule, been fired or left out of things because of your faith?  I hope you have or are facing difficulty because your faith is not hidden. 
The world, meaning those who are currently on the side of satan, is always resistant to Christ and our message.  Now those who are in darkness are becoming more bold and they have more earthly power and the things of the church are becoming theirs and they will not want to hear what you have to say that is truth.  Just as in today’s scripture they will cover their ears and shout you down, force you out or force you into submission.  It is all in the scriptures and it is being fulfilled as you read this.
In today’s scripture we read of those who are circumcised physically, but that didn’t make them true followers of God because of their uncircumcised hearts and ears.  Their body was changed as a symbol but they didn’t worship the Father in spirit and in truth.  What was obvious was shown to them by the Holy Spirit but they refused to acknowledge the truth. 
Those Jews who persecuted Stephen in that day were stiff necked just as their ancestors in the desert were.  But how are we doing?  Do we resist the guiding of the Holy Spirit?  I know that I have but the key is to acknowledge that and then do something about it.
It is scary to think about what Stephen endured.  I can only imagine how often Paul, then Saul, who was a witness to the whole event, thought about it through the years that followed after his conversion.  Do you think it drove him much?
Though not included in our Bible, church history recorded that most of the apostles faced terrible deaths because of their Christian work.  What’s more is that they expected it to happen but it didn’t stop them.
Like being circumcised doesn’t make you the Jew that God was looking for, being baptized, showing up for Sunday School and partaking of communion doesn’t make you a true Christian either.
Would anyone have a reason for persecuting you? 
_______________
We learn from 7:51 that the tendency of man is to put on a religious front but ignore what God expects from us and therefore we should do the opposite.
From 7:52 we see that this wanting to go our own way can be extremely strong, so strong that it results in the most aggressive of defensive measures to maintain the status quo.  Isaiah and John the Baptist were just two examples of those prophets who were killed but culminated with the crucifixion of Christ.
In 7:53 we see clearly what Moses gave to the Israelites but the bit about the angels I do not believe anyone can definitively say as to what is correct.  The most common opinion is that as God is always attended by His heavenly host they would have been present when God gave the law to Moses as well.
7:54 seems to indicate an overreaction to the accusation that Stephen levels against them.  They are so upset they are speechless.  Their whole lives were supposed to be about the law and I think that their actions speak louder than words.  The truth hurts.
7:55-56 As the end for Stephen nears the power of God within him through the Holy Spirit grows and his “nearness” to God does as well.  Empowering him now past being able to say what he needed to say to now being able to endure for Christ’s sake.
7:57 Their words of debate having failed them, Stephen’s words created what they really wanted to do anyway.
7:58 His words, for them amounted to blasphemy, called for in their law (Leviticus 24) for stoning as a penalty.
7:59-60 Just as Jesus was able to cry out to God for the forgiveness of his attackers so was Stephen enabled before he died.
8:1 As bad as the result was for Stephen and the now to be persecuted church of Jerusalem the result was in the end positive.  The persecuted church fled and spread and in doing so grew and Saul became Paul and through his efforts still grows the church today.







For Discussion:

1.     Discuss how glory to God and good can come through persecution.
2.     Quite a while back I suggested the reading of Foxe’s Book of Martyr’s which I do again today.  It is free for downloading as it is in the Public Domain.
3.     Discuss church tradition with regard to all the Apostles and how it says they ended up.
4.     Discuss your persecution or lack thereof from your Christian walk.
5.     Discuss Saul (Paul).
6.     Examine yourself and discuss how you have been stiff-necked.
7.     Discuss the minority position and persecution of the early church in its beginning and what prophecy apparently indicates about what will happen similarly in the End.

Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


10-21-12: Simon Wants to Buy Power Acts 8:9-25 or Acts 8:9-24
10-28-12: Philip Baptizes a Man from Ethiopia aka Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26-39
11-4-12:   Paul Testifies Before King Agrippa aka Paul before King Agrippa Acts 26:19-32
11-11-12: Paul Survives a Shipwreck aka Paul Sails for Rome Acts 27:1, 2, 33-44
8-25-13:  Sabbath Reforms Nehemiah 13:10-12, 15-22




Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved