DAY 315    Read Acts 14 and 15

Today's reading:  The report of great numbers of Gentiles being converted brought to the surface an unanswered question in the early church.  Should these new Christians observe Mosaic ceremonies?

Memory gem:  "We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they"  (Acts 15:11).

Thought for today:
"There is no such contrast as is often claimed to exist between the Old and the New Testament, the law of God and the gospel of Christ, the requirements of the Jewish and those of the Christian dispensation.  Every soul saved in the former dispensation was saved by Christ as verily as we are saved by Him today.  Patriarchs and prophets were Christians.  The gospel promise was given to the first pair on Eden, when they had by transgression separated themselves from God.  The gospel was preached to Abraham.  The Hebrews all drank of that spiritual Rock, which was Christ."--Signs of the Times, September 14, 1882.

"Shrouded in the pillar of cloud, the world's Redeemer held communion with Israel.  Let us not say, then, that they had not Christ.  When the people thirsted in the wilderness, and gave themselves up to murmuring and complaint, Christ was to them what He is to us--a Saviour full of tender compassion, the Mediator between them and God.  After we have done our part to cleanse the soul temple from the defilement of sin, Christ's body avails for us, as it did for ancient Israel."--Youth's Instructor, July 18, 1901.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Acts 14:12.  "Jupiter...Mercurius"--the Greek Zeus, chief of the gods and his son Hermes.

DAY 314    Read Acts 12 and 13.

Today's reading:  A puppet monarch, in order to gain popularity, executes one apostle and plans a repeat.  A miracle thwarts his scheme.  With chapter 13 we begin a new section concentrating on Paul's missionary adventures.


Memory gem:  "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places"  (Ephesians 6:12).

Thought for today:
In New Testament times, Elymas the sorcerer withstood Paul and Barnabas at Paphos on the island of Cyprus.  The same heathen principles, the same claims, the same actions, the same powers, the same supposed dealing with the dead, the same communion with demons are in the world today.

We are not speaking of mere legendary tales about ghosts and goblins, black cats, or old women riding on broomsticks through the air.  We are speaking of unseen powers which control the minds and bodies of people today and have done so since ancient times.

There is nothing actually new in the great occult explosion of today except that it is modernized, streamlined, and brought up to date in a hundred forms so as to be palatable to all classes of our society.

There is a danger that many may be drawn into the terrible delusion which is about to sweep the world.  It is time for us to study God's Word as we have never studied it before.  The Scriptures command us to "resist the devil," and the promise is that he will flee from us.

Surely Christians who have apostolic warning of such things (see Galatians 5:19-21) will have nothing to do with the delusive practices of ancient or modern times.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Acts 12:4.  "Easter"--literally: Passover.  This is the only place in the Bible where the translators used this Anglo-Saxon name of a pagan festival instead of the correct name for the Hebrew Passover.

DAY 313    Read Acts 10 and 11.

Today's reading:  A series of providential events and a peculiar vision convinced Peter that God loves Gentiles.  Believers in Antioch of Syria first acquired the title of Christians.

Memory gem:  "The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity"  (2 Timothy 2"19).

Thought for today:
Living a Christian life is more than merely becoming a Christian, joining the church, making a profession of faith.  It is the daily surrendering of our life to Christ and allowing Him to help us meet the daily grind--the problems, joys, sorrows, and sufferings of life.

My good friend, Pastor Jesse C. Stevens, now asleep in Christ, once preached a sermon on this subject of "How to Live a Christian Life," and it impressed me deeply.  He said that first of all we must decide what a Christian is.  There would be little use discussing how to live a Christian life, if we did not know what a Christian is.  It is not merely church membership that makes a Christian, though that is important.  One might join every church in the world, if that were possible, but that would not make him a Christian.

To be a Christian is to live the life of Christ, to obey Him as far as we know His will, to follow His example and teaching as it is recorded in the Holy Scriptures.  It means to follow Him--in other words, to be a disciple, for that is what a disciple is, a follower.  We read in Acts 11:26: "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

The followers of Christ were called Christians because Christ was the main theme of their preaching, their teaching, their conversation, and their living.

We can live this Christian life only as there is a vital spiritual connection between us and Christ; and this is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Our part of the Christian life is to read, study, digest, assimilate the Word of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Where is the best place to live the Christian life?  Right where we are.  When?  Today, now.  This is not only for our own good and blessing, but that we may help reveal Christ's love and saving power to all the world.

DAY 312    Read Acts 8 and 9.

Today's reading:  We are introduced to the man who became perhaps the greatest Christian missionary--Saul of Tarsus, later known as Paul.  Christ's apostle to the Gentiles.

Memory gem:  "He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel"  (Acts 9:15).

Thought for today:
Before Paul was converted he was armed with letters of arrest and went from city to city to seize and punish all who called Jesus "Lord."  You remember the story of the Damascus road.  Christ appeared to Paul in glory.  Paul saw the shining face of Christ, the marks of the thorns, the nail-pierced hands, the wound in His side.

Paul saw the Lord, and his eyes were dim to this world ever after.  A voice from heaven said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"  Saul said, "Who art thou, Lord?"  The answer came back, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest  (Acts 9:4, 5).

How was Saul persecuting Jesus?  He was persecuting Jesus in the person of His followers.  "As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren," Jesus declared, "Ye have done it unto me"  (Matthew 25:40).

When the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned to death, Saul held the coats of the men who did the cruel work.  He was with them in it.  He was guilty of persecuting Jesus in the person of Stephen.  But Paul never forgot something about that terrible experience: Stephen's face looked like the "face of an angel"  (Acts 6:15)..

The servants of Christ put to death by persecution were maligned as the offscouring of the earth, when they actually were the saints of the Lord.  Think of the wonderful meeting someday in the better land when Paul meets those whom he persecuted!  Someone has put these words into his mouth just before he himself died as a martyr for Jesus:

        Saints, did you say!
      Ah, those remembered faces!
  Dear men and women that I sought to slew!
  How when we met within the heavenly places
      Will not I weep to Stephen and to you!

DAY 311    Read Acts 6 and 7.

Today's reading:  A powerful sermon in defense of the gospel arouses such bitter animosity that the speaker becomes the first Christian martyr.

Memory gem:  "He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  And when he had said this he fell asleep"  (Acts 7:60).

Thought for today:
Just before Stephen was put to death as a martyr, he gave a ringing testimony in which he mentioned two men especially--Joseph and Moses--both of whom are types of Christ.  Both were used by God to save the people of Israel in times of trouble, but in each case the people had to accept them as lord as well as deliverer.

Those who heard Stephen that day recognized the lesson that he was trying to teach them.  The very Christ who had died on the cross and had been rejected by them was to be their Saviour and Lord.  Stephen told them plainly, as the apostle Peter had said on the Day of Pentecost, that this same Jesus whom they had crucified, God had made both Lord and Christ.

And this is the need of the Christian church today.  Christ must be enthroned in the hearts of all believers, that they may be true disciples and witnesses, that they may be the real servants of God in this troubled world.  Jesus as Master must have personal, direct, and absolute control of the one who accepts Him as Saviour.

If you have accepted Christ's death for you, then you no longer live for yourself, but unto Him.  It is only when you make this full surrender daily that you begin to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour"  (2 Peter 3:18).  This is the work of sanctification, into which we must all enter.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Acts 6:1.  "Grecians"--literally: Hellenists; that is, Greek-speaking Jews.
We have no indication that large numbers of Gentiles had become Christians at this early time.
Acts 6:3.  "Seven men"--popularly called deacons, but this title is not applied to them in the Scriptures.  Later, in Paul's epistles, men appointed to this kind of work were called deacons.  Some commentators think that these seven men may be the "elders" of Acts 11:30 and onward.

DAY 310    Read Acts 4 and 5.

Today's reading:  The embryo church ran into trouble almost immediately.  Opposition and persecution from the religious establishment could be expected; but corruption among believers?

Memory gem:  "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie the Holy Ghost?...Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God"  (Acts 5:3, 4).

Thought for today:
I never hear of many boys being named Ananias, do you?  The people were bringing money to forward the great gospel message, as people do today.  God didn't tell them that they had to give it, but out of willing hearts they wanted to give.  Of course, Ananias and Sapphira wanted to give something too, and they thought, "Here, we will sell our property.  We will give part of it, because that will give us a high standing among the believers; and we will keep part of it, because that will give us a good bank account, something to fall back upon."  And so this husband and wife agreed together to do this thing.

Ananias came in and laid the money down, and somehow he evidently directed the attention of the people and the apostles to it as though he and his wife had given all.  The apostles asked, "Is this all?"  He said, "Yes, it is."

Then the Holy Spirit revealed the whole thing to the apostles.  You know the sad story.  The man fell over dead.  The Scripture says they "wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him."  I like that expression "wound him up"--the burial cloth, I suppose--and that was the end of it.  Then the wife came in later and told the same story, and the same thing happened to her.

As they breathed their last sighs, those around might have heard that whisper: "God means what He says.  'The way of transgressors is hard!' "

My friend, don't delay doing what God wants you to do.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Acts 5:5.  "Gave up the ghost"--literally: expired.
Acts 5:24.  "Doubted"--were perplexed.

DAY 309    Read Acts 1:12 through chapter 3.

Today's reading:  The 120 disciples waited and prayed.  The power came.  Men and women, transformed by the Holy Spirit, launched the movement that swept the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

Memory gem:  "Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost"  (Acts 2:38).

Thought for today:
By the wonderful manifestation of power on the Day of Pentecost, the timid disciples were fitted for a special work and transformed into fearless witnesses for Christ.  They were enabled to preach the gospel in various foreign languages to the multitudes from all the civilized world who were gathered at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.

But more than this, they preached with power.  Men were convicted of sin and cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"  (Acts 2:37).

The apostles' sermons were not moral lectures, ethical discussions, or ingenious philosophical essays.  Far from it.  Their language was simple, but their words came "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"  (1 Corinthians 2:4).  Their subject was the resurrection of Christ as a fulfillment of prophecy.  Even Peter, who had denied His Lord in fear, now became the mighty apostle whose sermons led to the conversion of three thousand people in one day.

      O for that flame of living fire
    Which shone so bright in saints of old;
    Which bade their souls to heaven aspire,
      Calm in distress, in danger bold!

      Remember, Lord, the ancient days;
      Renew Thy work, Thy grace restore;
      And while to Thee our hearts we raise,
        On us Thy Holy Spirit pour.
                      ------William H. Bathurst

DAY 308    Read John 20:24 through chapter 21; Matthew 28:16:20; Mark 16:14-20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:1-11.

Today's reading:  Christ's earthly mission culminated in His ascension.  During His last few days on earth, Jesus gave His followers their commission and the promise of power to accomplish the work.

Memory gem:  "Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me...unto the uttermost part of the earth"  (Acts 1:8).

Thought for today:
Some people say, "If I get a call, I'll witness for Jesus.  If I am employed by the church or some religious organization, then I will witness for Him."  We are not to wait for that.  We do not need a special call.  We already have Christ's call, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me."  There is no if, but, or when about it.  The question is, Are you a witness?

Joseph Tyega, a national pastor in the Cameroons, West Africa, came to America for study at Princeton Seminary.  During the winter vacation he underwent an operation at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.  While in bed recuperating, he found himself with an absolute unbeliever on one side and a cynical graduate student of philosophy, the son of a foreign diplomat, on the other.

As Mr. Tyega was reading his Bible one day, the graduate student remarked: "Do you believe that stuff?  It's foolish."

Whereupon Mr. Tyega replied, "It says right here that philosophers would call it foolish."

Through the witness of this African student, both the graduate student from Europe and the American skeptic accepted Christ as their Saviour.

And that is the way it goes around the world.  Call the witnesses!  "Ye are my witness," said Jesus.

Friend, what is your testimony?  Are you a witness to the converting, saving, upholding power of Christ?

DAY 307    Read Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18; Luke 24:13-49; Mark 16:12, 13; John 20:19-23.

Today's reading:  The resurrection is the highpoint of Christianity.  Death could not hold the Lord of life in captivity.  We serve a risen Saviour, who promises everlasting life to all who believe.

Memory gem:  "Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen"  (Luke 24:5, 6).

Thought for today:
With the flashing glory of heaven, the mighty angel descended.  The Bible says there was an earthquake caused by this event.  The soldiers who were guarding the tomb fell, stunned, before the glory.  The angel broke the seal and rolled back the great stone--yes, rolled it back and sat upon it.  Death was conquered; Christ had risen.  The dark night which had enshrouded the hearts of men for thousands of years was now broken; the morning had come.

From this great stone, as from the pulpit, the angel preached the first sermon after the resurrection of Christ.  The congregation were the holy women, who trembled with fear as the glorious being, with a countenance like lightning and in raiment white as snow, declared his brief message, his everlasting sermon of hope:

"Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.  Come see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead"  (Matthew 28:5-7).

That is the greatest news the world ever had.  Christ was crucified, He died, and He arose from the dead.  That is the gospel; that's hope, that's glory, that's life, that's immortality.  Come and see; go and tell.  That is the message of the angel to the world.

NOTE:
(For DAY 306 and DAY 307.)  The "seven words" of Jesus on the cross do not appear in all the Gospels; no one writer mentions more than three.  Arranged in order they appear as follows:
    1. "Father, forgive them"  (Luke 23:43).
    2. "You will be with me in paradise"  (Luke 23:43, NIV).
    3. "Woman, behold thy son"  (John 19:26, 27).
    4. "Why hast thou forsaken me?"  (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
    5. "I thirst"  (John 19:30).
    6. "It is finished"  (John 19:30).
    7. "I commend my spirit"  (Luke 23:46).

DAY 306    Read Luke 23:13-56; John 18:39 through 19:42; Matthew 27:15-66.

Today's reading:  These chapters are about the "old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame," and about the One who hung on that cross for you and for me.

Memory gem:  "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed"  (Isaiah 53:5).

Thought for today:
Jesus died for the salvation of all men.  He sacrificed Himself to save His enemies.  The Bible says in Romans 5:8, "that, while we were yet sinners [enemies], Christ died for us."

So, if He died for us, our sins really killed Him.  When Jesus died, His Father was not receiving a gift from Him; He was making a gift to us.  "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself"  (2 Corinthians 5:19).  Jesus' death provided the atonement.  As our High Priest He ministers that atonement to us.

The intelligent follower of Jesus Christ will never shift the blame to the shoulders of the Jewish people or to the Roman government, but will assume equal responsibility with every other man in this world for the tragedy that took place there on old Golgotha's hill.  Dr. Loraine Boettner quotes a Christian litany which runs:  "Who was the guilty?  Who brought this upon Thee?  Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.  'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee: I crucified Thee."

Should we not all say this?  The Jewish people, the Gentile world, all the nations of yesterday and today, the generals, the politicians, the diplomats, the scientists in their laboratories, the Protestants, and the Catholics, people of no religion--all of us should beat our breasts and cry for the forgiveness of God.

Not until we realize that we crucified Jesus can we really understand God's love and saving mercy.  When we hear that moving spiritual, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" we must answer, "Yes, Lord, I was there."  You and I were there.  We were all there.  Our sins put Him on the cross.  His love, not Roman nails, held Him there.  So let us live for Him and show by our lives of humble obedience that we do love Him who first loved us.  (See note under DAY 307...tomorrow.)