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Verse 4:"But the multitude of the city was divided, and some were with the Jews and some with the apostles." The word "divided" here is the same as the word "divided" used in Luke 12:51-53.
Verse 5:"And when a hostile attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to treat the apostles outrageously and to stone them..." Positionally, the Jews considered the Gentiles as dogs. How high was the middle wall of partition! Yet in persecuting the saints, how much are they in oneness! The devil has his kind of oneness also!
Verses 6-7:"They became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region. And there they announced the gospel." They were not running away, but were preaching the gospel!
Verse 10:"Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet. And he leaped up and began to walk." The apostle's speaking with a loud voice was a fulfillment of the Lord's word: "Whoever...believes that what he says happens, he will have it" (Mark 11:23).
Verse 15:"And saying, Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like feeling as you, and announce the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all things in them." "We also are men" — we should remember this. For this reason, preachers should not be worshipped by others. Unfortunately, many have forgotten that they are men.
Verse 19:"But Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, supposing that he was dead." The zeal of the messengers of Satan can almost be compared to that of the apostles! Before "they stoned," did they not try to offer sacrifices to the apostles? If we go along with men's opinion and follow their way to worship God, there will not be any persecution. Men love those who are willing to accept praises! But if we reject the praises, "they stoned"!
Verse 20:"But as the disciples surrounded him, he rose up and entered into the city. And on the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe." Although the Lord's word was persecuted, it could still rise up. During the past twenty centuries, many times the world has thought that "he was dead"!
Verse 22:"Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." "Them" in this verse refers to the saved believers. The meaning of "enter" is to gain, and "the kingdom of God" means to reign with the Lord. "Must" here points out that this is the only pathway, and "through many tribulations" speaks of the condition for reigning with the Lord. The word "many" means that it is not a one-time thing.
Verse 27:"And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared the things that God had done with them and that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles." It was God's work, not their own work. Those who testify should remember this. "He had opened a door." They had suffered for the purpose that others may enter through this door.
Verse 2:"And when no little dissension and discussion with them came about through Paul and Barnabas, the brothers directed Paul and Barnabas and certain others among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question." They had "dissension and discussion," because this was related to the matter of salvation.
Verse 3:"They therefore, having been sent forward by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling in detail about the turning of the Gentiles; and they brought great joy to all the brothers." It was "joy" and not "jealousy."
Verse 4:"And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared the things that God had done with them." The church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch each had their own administration. They had fellowship one with another, but there was no union. The reason men were sent to Jerusalem was that the circumcised ones were from Jerusalem (vv. 1, 24). In this chapter, we do not find that the two churches united as the churches do today.
Verse 15: "And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall cleanse them and shall offer them as a wave offering." "After that" here means after being fully consecrated to the Lord (vv. 13-14). God does not want us to work for Him before we are fully His. If He has not gained our life, He will not want our work.
"Offer them as a wave offering." Notice the order here: (1) the atonement — this is our salvation; (2) offer up as a wave offering — this is our consecration; (3) "to Me" — this is the Lord's acceptance; (4) caring for the things of the tabernacle — this is our work of service to the Lord; (5) offer up as a wave offering — this is the second time that they are offered. Is one time not enough? Indeed, we should consecrate ourselves to God all the time. Before we work we have to consecrate, and while we work we also have to consecrate. "Cleanse...offer" — Consecration has much to do with the Lord's holiness.
Verse 16:"For they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel; instead of all that open the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel, I have taken them for Myself." "Wholly" — may the Lord gain us wholly!
Verse 17:"For all the firstborn among the sons of Israel are Mine, both of man and of beast, on the day that I slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself." According to the law, when the Lord has redeemed us and purchased us unto Himself, we belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Verse 19:"And I have given the Levites as ones given to Aaron and his sons from among the sons of Israel, to do the service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make propitiation for the sons of Israel, that there may be no plague among the sons of Israel when the sons of Israel approach the sanctuary." We are God's gift to Christ (John 17:6, 9).
Verse 24:"This is what pertains to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and above they shall go in to serve in the service of the tent of meeting." Five is the number of man's responsibility before God. The Levites began to serve from the age of twenty-five (five times five), which means that they began working after they were fully ready to take up responsibility (five fives). The period of working was also five times five, which is twenty-five years.
Verse 1:"The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." The Lord can control our tongues!
Verse 3:"Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Commitment is an act of faith.
Verse 6:"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." The fear of the Lord is expressed in departing from evil.
Verse 30:"He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass." Although Proverbs for the most part teaches us to be few in words, sometimes what we say by not speaking is more evil!
Verse 32:"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." "Better than the mighty" — because one has overcome himself.
Verse 4: "Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust." To be a partaker of the divine nature is to be regenerated. Since a person is regenerated, he should also develop this regenerated life. "For this very reason also, adding all diligence..." (v. 5).
Verse 11:"For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you." In the future, in the glory of the kingdom, believers will be divided into at least two categories: (1) those who are merely saved (1 Pet. 4:18) and (2) those to whom the entrance into the kingdom of our Lord will be richly and bountifully supplied.
Verse 13:"And I consider it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by a reminder." Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."
Verses 1-2:"But there arose also false prophets among the people, as also among you there will be false teachers, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, because of whom the way of the truth will be reviled." "Heresies" and "licentiousness" go together. In order to justify a licentious deed, one has to create a heresy! Sin is nothing but an apostate soul.
Verses 7-8:"And rescued righteous Lot, who had been oppressed by the licentious manner of life of the lawless (for that righteous man, who settled down among them, in seeing and hearing tormented his righteous soul day after day with their lawless works)." Lot was a social reformer! What is the result? He was being reformed by Sodom instead! He was a saved one, one who was justified by faith, but all his works were burned. The social reformers today will realize their wrong when the fire of 1 Corinthians 3 is manifested.
Compare verse 10 and verse 11:"And especially those who go after the flesh in the lust for defilement and despise lordship. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble while reviling dignities; whereas angels, though they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." Those who despise lordship and revile dignities know not to fear. Even the angels, who are more noble than they are, dared not revile.
Verse 22:"It has happened to them according to the true proverb: The dog has turned to its own vomit, and the washed sow to wallowing in the mud." These ones are not regenerated yet.
Verse 3:"Knowing this first, that in the last of days mockers will come with mocking, going on according to their own lusts." Because there is lust, there is mocking. Those who despise the Lord's second coming are sick spiritually.
Verse 5:"For this escapes them by their own choosing, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth was compacted out of water and through water." The matter escapes them by their own choosing, rather than through their ignorance. We may say that they are deceiving others and deceiving themselves!
Verse 5:"And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." May the Lord be gracious to us so that every time we preach, we announce to others the light we have received from the Lord, rather than speak from our memory. May the Lord guard our mouth so that what we speak every day is what we have heard from the Lord, not from man.
Verse 10:"He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him." Saints are caused to stumble mostly because of men, other believers. But if one loves his brother, there will be no reason for him to be stumbled. The love of the brothers preserves us from being stumbled. The wile of Satan is to plant the seed of jealousy into the heart of men and cause this seed to germinate at the right opportunity, thus causing men to be stumbled. Here it says, "loves his brother," not "loves some of his brothers."
Verse 11:"But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." What a picture of a man under the authority of darkness! The word "brother" means that the hating one and the ones he hates are all saints. But the mind of such a one has been possessed by evil demons, and he will pay any price just to destroy the ones he is jealous of. Sometimes it may not be as severe, yet in his conversation, subconsciously, many critical words come out of him. Indeed, he "walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." He is not fully blind, but is only blind with regard to that particular matter. This is a condition of demon possession in the saints.
Verse 14:"I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." The way to overcome Satan is to have the word of God abiding in us.
Verse 18:"And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly disturbed; and turning, he said to the spirit, I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour." At the present time, God will not have the spirits preach for him.
Verse 19:"But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had gone out, they laid hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers." Actually Satan was behind all of this. Although he could do nothing except leave the slave girl (v. 18), he tried to stir up a storm from another angle and cause trouble to the apostles. How diligent is Satan's working!
Verse 25:"And about midnight Paul and Silas, while praying, sang hymns of praise to God; and the prisoners were listening to them." To have such a voice in such a place! No wonder the prisoners listened.
Verse 26:"And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken. And instantly all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened." They were not moved by the power on earth. This is why they could shake the earth.
Verse 34:"And he brought them up into his house and set a table before them; and he exulted because he had believed in God with all his household." Satan thought that by putting them into prison, they could put them to death. Little did he know that it was God who sent them to the prison to save the jailer and his whole household. How often has Satan miscalculated! How can he compete with God?
The jailer and his household were baptized. There was no infant. "He exulted because he had believed in God with all his household." If they could exult through believing in God, none of them could have been infants.
Verse 40:"And they went out from the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they saw the brothers, they exhorted them and went forth." They exhorted the others instead of being exhorted by them.
Verse 2:"And according to his custom Paul went in to them, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures." He was not keeping the Sabbath, but merely seizing the opportunity while they were together to "reason" with them.
Verses 11-12: "Now these people were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and there were not a few Greek women of high standing and men." If one reads the Bible without prejudice, surely he will believe.
Verse 16:"And while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld that the city was full of idols." What we lack in these days are such provoked ones.
Verse 21:"(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners sojourning there spent their time on nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)" The men of Athens listened to news, while the men of Berea searched the Scriptures (v. 11). Many people have time to read the newspaper, but do not have time to read the Bible!
Verse 2:"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is." "Now we are" — now we are saved! How can God's children not be saved?
Verse 3:"And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure." The "even as" in verse 3 is for now, while the "even as" in verse 2 is for the future. We should have the first "even as" now, and then we will have the second "even as" in the future.
Verse 5:"And you know that He was manifested that He might take away sins; and sin is not in Him." Only He who has no sin can remove sins. How can sinful preachers save sinners? The "manifested" in verse 5 is His first coming, whereas the "manifested" in verse 2 is His second coming. The first coming removes man's sins, and the second coming delivers man's body.
Verse 6:"Everyone who abides in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him." The verb "sin" here should be translated as "continue in sin."
Verse 7: "Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." This is righteousness in our conduct, which is different from the righteousness one receives when he is justified by faith.
Verse 8:"He who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." The Lord was manifested to do two things: to destroy the works of the devil, and to remove man's sins (v. 5).
Verse 13:"Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you." There are a few things which we should not marvel at: (1) the oppression of the poor (Eccl. 5:8), (2) the regeneration of the sinner (John 3:7), (3) the power of Christ (John 5:28), and (4) saints being hated (1 John 3:13).
Verse 14:"We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. He who does not love abides in death." We love because this one is a brother and is begotten of God. We should not love only those brothers whom we love, and we should not only love those who love us, but we should "love the brothers" — all the brothers. How can man's love today come up to such a standard?
Verse 16:"In this we know love, that He laid down His life on our behalf, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers." Those who do not know that the Lord has died for us do not know what love is.
Verse 17:"But whoever has the livelihood of the world and sees that his brother has need and shuts up his affections from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" Giving is the outlet of love. To hold back from giving is to shut up this outlet. Those who shut up their affections toward their brother cannot love God the Father. One should give simply because the other is a brother. Any other motive will not please God. Many charities are but an effort to silence the urging of love! It is hard to find those who give because of a true love for the brothers!
Verse 18:"Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue but in deed and truthfulness." Not only in "deed" but in "truthfulness" as well. Many deeds of love are not truthful!
Verse 22:"And whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." It is difficult to find a believer who is not ashamed in his heart (vv. 20-21), much less to find one who keeps God's commandments.
Verse 24:"And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us." God abides in us through the Holy Spirit.
Verse 1:"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Prove first and then believe, not believe first and then prove. Without proving, one should not believe, and one should not believe in anything that has not been proven. "But prove!"
Verse 2:"In this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." To "confess" means to acknowledge voluntarily. If you get an answer that does not answer what is asked, it must be an evil spirit. Concerning this kind of question, any answer other than "Yes, yes; No, no" (Matt. 5:37) cannot be considered a "confessing." The Lord Jesus says that "for anything more than these is of the evil one."
