WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson
commentary
For
Sunday February 28, 2021
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CALLED
TO SERVE
(Lydia
of Philippi believes in JESUS)
(Acts
16:11-15, 40 and 1 Corinthians 1:26-30)
Acts 16:1-15 chronicles the story of the beginning of the Apostle
Paul’s second missionary journey, which, for the first time, would lead him
into Europe. Along with Silas, and later, Timothy and Luke, Paul travels into
the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, which, at that time (around A.D. 50),
was a province of the Roman Empire.
The men had persistently tried to go north, deeper into the peninsula
of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), but the SPIRIT OF JESUS, by way of some
unexplained methods, had not allowed them to enter. With the issue of the basis
of “Gentile inclusion into the Church” officially settled at the Acts 15
council, Paul, now sets out with Silas, (who had replaced Barnabas), on his
second missionary journey.
Paul and Barnabas had parted ways after a disagreement concerning
Barnabas’ cousin John Mark. Paul had become disappointed with John Mark,
because he abandoned them on their first missionary journey, while at Perga of
Pamphylia (Acts 13:13). Barnabas and John Mark had already set sail for
Barnabas’ homeland of the island of Cyprus to begin working their mission
there.
Meanwhile, Paul and Silas make their first stop in Derbe, and then,
move on to Lystra, the home of Timothy, where Paul had preached on his first
missionary journey and was stoned by an angry mob, and left for dead. The
people there had thought that he and Barnabas were the Greek gods Hermes and
Zeus after they had healed a cripple man. However, some Jews came down later
from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against them, causing them to
have to flee to Derbe (Acts 14:8-19).
While in Lystra, Paul and Silas met the young Disciple Timothy, whose mother was
a Jewish believer, but whose father was a Greek. Timothy was well respected by
the believers in Lystra and Iconium, and so Paul asked him to join them on
their mission.
Out of respect for the opinion of the Jews in that area who knew that
Timothy’s father was a Greek, Paul arranged
for Timothy to be circumcised before they left. The three men then traveled
from town to town explaining the decision made by the Apostles and Elders at
Jerusalem, during the Acts 15 council. That decision, of course, stated that “Gentiles did
not have to be circumcised before becoming Christians”.
Next, Paul, Silas, and Timothy traveled through the area of Phrygia
and Galatia, as the HOLY SPIRIT would not let them go any farther into Asia
Minor at that time. They traveled on to Mysia, and again, tried to go north,
this time, into Bithynia, however, the SPIRIT OF JESUS compelled them, instead,
into the city of Troas. It is here that one of the eventual authors of the New
Testament, Luke,
joins the journey, and it is here that GOD shows Paul a vision, telling him to
go to Macedonia (Europe) and preach the Gospel there.
So, the men boarded a boat and sailed from Troas to the
island of Samothrace. They spent the night there, and, the following day, they
landed in the port city of Neapolis. From there they went to the neighboring major city of
Philippi, a Roman colony at that time, in the district
of Macedonia, and they
abided there for three days.
On the Sabbath, they went down to the riverbank,
where some people,
who were worshipers of GOD, met to pray. They sat down to talk to some of the
women, who had come together there. One of them, Lydia of Thyatira, who was a
merchant of expensive purple cloth, and a devout worshiper of GOD, listened
intently and opened up her heart to what Paul and his companions were saying
about CHRIST.
She immediately accepted what they were saying and was
baptized, along with other members of her family. Lydia
then insisted that Paul
and his entourage come to her house as her special guests. She and her family
had, that day, become the first Europeans in recorded Scripture to accept
CHRIST into their lives, and this was truly a cause for celebration.
And so, we see, at a time when it seemed that all doors were being
shut to Paul and his companions, it turns out that GOD, in HIS infinite wisdom,
had something much greater in store for those who were willing to work hard according
to HIS will. It must have seemed strange to Paul, being blocked from the Roman
province of Asia by the HOLY SPIRIT, but no one can ever know and understand
the eternal plan of GOD.
Ironically, as history would have it, Asia Minor would become the
place that was to contain all of the recipients of the letters to the seven
churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation by the Apostle John.
Paul and his entourage were then compelled to go the route of
Alexander the great, whom GOD had used some 400 years earlier to spread the
Greek language and culture all over world. HE had by doing so, set the stage for the writing of
the New Testament, of which Paul himself would be its most prolific writer.
The world had already seen the translation of the Old Testament Hebrew
Scriptures into what then had become the universal Greek language of the
“Septuagint” (Greek version of the Old Testament) at Alexandria over 200 years
earlier. And so, here we see GOD putting into
motion, the wheels that would help move the teaching and preaching of the
Gospel to new heights in generations to come.
Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy all believed in the sovereignty of GOD
over all things. And we can see, quite vividly, throughout the Book of Acts,
how that belief impacted their everyday life and travels. And as for the
Thyatiran woman, Lydia, and her family, they, in a very special sense, had
become immortalized through their faith and belief in
CHRIST.
Lydia and her family will forever be remembered,
as the first European
family to accept our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. And her first act as a
Christian was, ironically, to invite other Christians into her home. It is the kind of human action
that CHRIST had, years earlier, commanded us to perform.
It is true that, before we
can offer our love, charity, and ministry to people in the Church, and, in the
world, we must first show, and be able to offer that same love, charity, and
ministry to people within our own homes.
Oftentimes we look at home as a place where we
can go to shut the world out; however, equally, our homes should be a place with an open door. The
effectiveness of our ministry at church is always predicated upon the life we
live at home. The way to a changed home, church, job, and life, has always
been, through a changed heart.
Over in 1 Corinthians 1 the Apostle Paul
says that the words and message of the Christian Bible sounds foolish to those
who are on their way to destruction. However, to those who are being saved, it
represents, quite literally, the very essence and power of GOD. The Bible
promises that GOD will utterly destroy human wisdom and discard their most
brilliant ideas (v.19). For there is no room, especially in the Church, for “human
ingenuity”, but rather, there is only room for “obedience”.
So where does that leave the world’s
philosophers, scholars, and brilliant debaters? Here in verse 20, Paul says
that they will be made to look “foolish” (“moros” in the Greek) by GOD, WHO
will show their worldly wisdom to be total non-sense. A man will never find GOD
through his own human wisdom. In fact, GOD uses the seemingly foolish preaching
of HIS servants to save only those who choose to believe in HIM. The very
definition of a “foolish” person, “moros”, here in this passage, describes one
who looks at reality from a perspective that is distorted, because they fail to
take GOD into account.
GOD’s way always seemed foolish to the
anti-CHRIST Jews, as they always wanted a “sign” from Heaven to prove it was
true. And so, GOD used many miracles through HIS prophets, that could not be
explained by “human reasoning”. And since they still could not wrap their
inferior minds around it, they continued on in their unbelieving lifestyles.
Equally, GOD’s way has always seemed foolish
to the Gentile, as they could only allow themselves to believe in what agrees
with their own worldly wisdom. When we say things like “JESUS was crucified”,
anti-CHRIST Jews are offended and unbelieving Gentiles say, “Go away”, and
that, “it is all non-sense”.
The plans and things of GOD that worldly
people call foolishness, is far wiser than the plans and things of men that are
devised through “human ingenuity”. In fact, GOD often chooses things that the
world considers foolish, in order that HE may shame those who think they are
wise. He also sometimes uses powerless people to shame or bring down those who
are considered powerful. GOD will sometimes even choose things that are
despised by the world, and counted as nothing at all, and then, use those
things, to “bring to nothing”, those things that the world considers important.
And now, it is GOD alone, WHO has made it
possible for us to be saved from ourselves, through CHRIST JESUS, of WHOM HE
made wisdom personified. JESUS voluntarily gave HIS OWN life for the lives of
we who were still embedded deeply in sin. And so, the person, who is proud
enough to boast, can only boast about what JESUS has done for us, and not, what
we have done for ourselves.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
Larry Dell Alexander (1953–)
- Encyclopedia of Arkansas
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