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Acts 12 records a time when “Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church” (verse 1). After killing James (verses 2-3), Herod put Peter in prison, intending to “bring him forth to the people” soon after (verses 3-4). Notice verse 5: Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

Verses 6-10 go on to record how God answered the ceaseless prayers of the church and delivered Peter out of prison.

This passage demonstrates one of the elements of prayer taught in Scriptures: intercessions. The word intercession refers to a prayer made on behalf of someone(s) else (see 1 Tim. 2:1-2). The power this can have is seen in Acts 12.

Notice the phrase “without ceasing.” Some translations say prayer was made “earnestly.” This shows the type of prayers we ought to pray for others: continuous and fervent.

There are a lot of ways we can help others: giving, encouraging, edifying, exhorting, showing hospitality, and more. Yet, there is perhaps no greater thing we can do for others than to pray for them.

Like the church at the time of Peter’s imprisonment, may we all fervently pray on behalf of others.

– Michael Hickox

In Genesis 22:2, God told Abraham, “Take now thy son, Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

One might wonder what it would have been like to be Abraham when God told him this. Abraham was to be “a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5), and his wife Sarah was to be a “mother of nations” (verse 16). To see this through, God miraculously caused Sarah, who had been barren, to have a child at an old age. This child, named Isaac, was the one God would establish His covenant with (Genesis 17:21). God re-affirmed this in Genesis 21:12 when He told Abraham “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

Yet in Genesis 22, God told Abraham to offer this very son as a sacrifice.

In hindsight, we know that God was testing Abraham and had every intention of keeping Isaac safe (Genesis 22:12).

At the time though, this was a command that may have been hard to “make sense of.” Yet Abraham obeyed.

Commands such as this are not uncommon in Scripture. God once told Joshua that the Israelites needed to walk around a city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day in order for the city’s walls to be knocked down. When trumpets were blown and the people gave a shout, God told Joshua “the wall of the city shall fall down flat,” (Joshua 6:5). It may have seemed hard to figure out how this strategy would work, but Joshua obeyed God’s voice.

God later told a leprous man named Naaman that all he needed to do to cleanse his leprosy was dip in the river Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5:10). We know this did not make sense to Naaman, because he questioned the command and at first rejected it (verses 11-12).

Man in his “wisdom” may not understand how walking around a city and blowing trumpets could knock down city walls, or how dipping oneself in a river could cleanse leprosy. Yet, when God’s voice was obeyed, the walls of Jericho fell (Joshua 6:20), and Naaman’s leprosy was cured (2 Kings 5:14).

What must be remembered through all of this is that “as the heavens are higher than the earth,” so are God’s ways higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). When His commands do not meet our expectations, it is our mind that must change, rather than His will.

God’s path, no matter how “strange” it seems to mankind, leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).

There is a saying that if “God said it, and I believe it, then that settles it.” The problem with this statement is that God has said a lot of things that few people believe, yet the matter is still settled. He commands things that “don’t seem to make sense” to some and are therefore rejected, yet they are still truth.

When He says that baptism is necessary for one’s sins to be washed away (Acts 2:38; 22:16), many reason that this can’t be right. Like Naaman, who just “knew” that being dipped in water could not be necessary for him to be cleansed, so too have many determined that immersing someone in water could not be a part of God’s plan for salvation.

Walking by faith leads to the opposite attitude. It leads to trusting and obeying God at His every word.

Walking by faith will not lead us to do the specific things Abraham, Joshua, or Naaman did in the examples mentioned, but it will lead us to obey God’s doctrine as taught in the New Testament, regardless of whether it fits our expectations.

Abraham’s trust and obedience led him to be “justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar” (James 2:21). May we likewise trust and obey God, even when His commands “don’t seem to make sense.”

– Michael Hickox

The saying “there are two sides to every coin” applies to many biblical principles. With these principles, we must thoughtfully consider both “sides of the coin” to see the complete picture.

For example, consider the need to be:

Patient but Prepared
2 Peter 3:9 mentions God’s patience with mankind, which is seen through the fact that the Day of Judgment has not yet come. The very next verse assures though that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” Together, these two verses answer the scoffing of verse 4.

These verses also imply the need for us to have both patience and a sense of urgency.

We should have a patient mindset while waiting for Christ (2 Pet. 3:8). We must be patient in our circumstances (2 Thess. 1:4) and when interacting with others (Eph. 4:2).

Yet, patience must not be confused with procrastination. We must prepare for judgment with urgency (2 Cor. 5:10), and exhort others to do the same (cf. Acts 22:16).

This applies to the growing process of Christians. We cannot expect ourselves or others to be perfectly mature Christians overnight, but at the same time we must exhort urgent repentance when sin is found.

Willing to Change but Steadfast
1 Corinthians 15:58 says we must be “stedfast, unmoveable…” What this verse does not say is “resist all change.”

A reading of the remainder of 1 Corinthians shows that these Christians had many changes to make (1 Cor. 1:10-11; 5:6-7; 11:17-22; etc.). We must be willing to make corrections as needed.

Having said this, Christians are also to be steadfast. Instead of being easily “tossed to and fro” (Eph. 4:14), we must hold fast to the teachings of the Bible. For the Corinthians, this particularly meant not wavering in their hope of the resurrection.

A key to this “two-sided coin” is that we must be seeking to learn and submit to truth, regardless of whether it agrees with our presumptions. Doing so will help us to be both willing to change and steadfast.

Zealous but Cautious
Many of God’s commands focus on what to do, while many focus on what not to do. If either group of commands is emphasized more than the other, there can be trouble.

Consider the example of teaching. James 3:1 warns that false teachers will be judged harshly. Yet, Acts 8:4 presents a positive example of Christians who were teaching.

These two passages have different contexts. Taken together though they demonstrate that teaching others about Jesus is a wonderful thing to zealously pursue, while teaching false doctrine is a dangerous thing to cautiously avoid.

This exemplifies the broader principle that we should be zealous for good works (Tit. 2:14), yet cautious to avoid misdirecting our zeal (Rom. 10:2). We must be eager to follow the “do’s,” but cautious to avoid the “do nots.”

Evangelistic but Holy
There can be a temptation to “set ourselves apart” from the world by trying to withdraw from all sinners in the world. Such would be dismissing our God-given responsibilities. God expects us to influence the lost for good, and we can’t do that by avoiding all sinners (Luke 5:30-32).

With that said, the Bible warns that having unwarranted contact with evil-doers can lead us astray (cf. Prov. 13:20). As 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

We must influence the lost for good, yet consider who is influencing us.

Peacemaking but Sincere
There are some who generate strife over trivial differences (cf. Rom. 14:13-19), and there are others who condone error if it means “keeping everyone happy.”

Jesus did not go to either of these two extremes. He did not seek conflict, but He also did not compromise truth to avoid it.

We must follow Christ’s example and seek peace when possible (Matt. 5:9). We should be considerate and reasonable when dealing with differences (cf. 1 Cor. 8:13).

Yet at the same time we should be sincere. We do not show sincere love by complimenting sin (Rom. 12:9).

 

These examples barely scratch the surface of “two-sided coins.” We must pay attention to both sides of biblical coins.

When we see the complete coin, we realize that God’s commands do not oppose one another, but rather complement and promote one another. We must examine the entire picture to ensure we are following all of what God commands.

– Michael Hickox

Consider two important teachings of Scripture:

God’s grace – Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And mankind’s responsibilities –
2 Cor. 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Now consider an illustration if you will. Suppose a young boy has failed a class. His teacher laid out requirements for passing, and he did not meet those requirements. He has earned a failing grade in this class.

Yet, suppose his teacher offers him the chance to pass. The teacher owes him nothing but decides to offer this for his benefit. The boy is told that in order to pass he must re-take his final test of the year and get each of the questions right. Otherwise, the failing grade he has earned will remain intact.

This story is not a like-for-like parallel of God’s grace and man’s responsibilities, but it illustrates the simple principle that just because something is offered as an unmerited gift does not mean nothing can be required to receive the gift.

The boy would be foolish to boast about his accomplishments in the class, considering that he earned a failing grade. Yet, he would also be foolish to think that because the teacher was graciously offering to pass him, this negated all responsibilities on his end.

This principle applies to God’s grace and man’s responsibilities. Mankind is foolish if he becomes boastful about his accomplishments in serving God. We have all grossly mistreated God at one point or another, and are thus deserving of eternal condemnation (Rom. 6:23). No number of good works can change this. Without God’s mercy, we cannot escape the wages of our sins, and without God’s grace, we cannot have eternal life through Jesus.

It would also be wrong though to think that since salvation is a gift of God, there can be nothing required of us to receive it. If we ignore our responsibility out of fear of contradicting Ephesians 2:8-9, we will miss what is necessary to receive the very salvation that is described in Ephesians 2:8-9.

God’s grace and our responsibilities do not oppose one another, but rather work “hand-in-glove.” Those who meet the responsibilities God gives us find favor with Him.

Christians who fail to meet our responsibilities can fall from grace (Gal. 5:4; cf. Heb. 12:15).

Those who stress God’s grace day-in and day-out are not “overemphasizing grace.” Yet, those who stress mankind’s responsibilities are not necessarily contradicting God’s grace.

We are saved by grace “through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). But we also bear personal responsibility to receive the gift of salvation (Heb. 5:9). God wants all to be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4), yet Jesus taught “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).

May we not under-emphasize God’s grace or man’s responsibilities. May we heavily emphasize both, recognizing that God’s grace gives us hope, but we are each responsible for working “out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

– Michael Hickox

Acts 9 tells about a man named Saul who was heading to Damascus to persecute Christians (verses 1-2).

On the road to Damascus, Saul was met by Jesus. Following this encounter, Saul was converted to the truth. He became known as Paul, and was inspired to write about half of the New Testament. A number of important lessons can be learned from Saul’s conversion detailed in this chapter:

We Cannot Overthrow God: On the road to Damascus, Jesus said to Saul, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5).

The phrase “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” illustrates Saul’s efforts to stop Christianity from spreading. His fight against Christ actually caused the Gospel to spread more (Acts 8:3-4). He did not accomplish what he set out to, and brought harm on himself as he fought against God.

Ironically, Saul’s mentor Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) once commented about the foolishness of fighting against God. Speaking of the apostles, Gamaliel said “Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God” (Acts 5:38-39). No matter how hard man tries, no one can “overthrow” Christ and His church. No one can overthrow God.

Repentance is a 180º Change: In Acts 9, Saul was transformed from one persecuting Christ (Acts 22:19-20) to one who “straightway… preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20).

This is the nature of repentance. It is an “about face.” It is a 180º change. Saul’s conversion was manifested in an immediate, wholehearted turn to God. Like Saul, we must turn in the opposite direction when we have sin in our lives.

“Chiefest” of Sinners Can Be Forgiven: If there was ever a time for God to say, “you’ve caused too much harm for me to forgive you,” one might think Acts 9 would be the time. Yet, when Saul did what the Lord required, his sins were washed away (Acts 22:16). Through Saul’s conversion, God showed us that the “chief” of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) can be forgiven.

We have all sinned and grossly mistreated God (Rom. 3:23). Yet, as long as we are on earth, we all have the opportunity to submit to God’s terms for forgiveness.

Such assurance should not make us take the thought of future sin lightly or “procrastinate” obedience. It should, however, dissuade us from thinking we cannot be forgiven because of past sins.

Sinners Can Become Servants: Not only was Saul forgiven, he was granted the opportunity to “preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). One of the most influential preachers in the history of Christianity “was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious” (1 Tim. 1:13), yet by the grace of God became someone who did much good.

Saul (Paul) remained humbled by his mistakes long after he repented (1 Cor. 15:9). Yet, he trusted in God’s grace, “tore off the rear-view mirror,” and failed to let his sinful past haunt him (Phil. 3:13-14).

The Truth Can Change Anyone (with the Proper Heart): As outsiders considered Saul, he may have seemed like the unlikeliest of individuals to follow Jesus. Those who “pre-judged the soil” (cf. Matt. 13:19-23) would have avoided him and sought someone else to teach. Yet, when Saul learned the truth, it changed his life.

God’s word has the power to do the same today. Those of us entrusted with spreading the truth should not avoid those we think will be unlikely to heed the Gospel. In so doing, we may ignore one who could one day become an excellent servant for Christ.

God’s Terms for Washing Sins Away: In Acts 9 (and Acts 22 and 26), we see an example of how one becomes a Christian and has his or her sins forgiven. Saul was a penitent believer (cf. Acts 9:6), but was told he also needed to be baptized to have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16).

Saul’s baptism did not assure all future sins would be forgiven. If he sinned after becoming a Christian, he would need to repent and pray for God’s forgiveness (Acts 8:22). Through his conversion, though, we learn what is needed for a non-Christian to get into Christ and receive forgiveness.

May both Christians and those outside of Christ learn from Saul’s example, and consider how these lessons apply to us.

– Michael Hickox