“Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented
house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and
teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no
one forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31)
Many have observed that the Book of Acts ends abruptly. We know there were
more “acts” of the Early Church because there are other historical accounts
telling us what happened next to Paul and the other apostles of Christ. The real
answer to why it ended so abruptly is because it never really ended. It was only
the earthly writing that was stopped. There are lots of others through the
centuries who have trusted in the Lord, and there are many at the present time.
There is more to the Book of Acts, which contains two thousand more years of
names and events and they would disappear into history, except that the Lord
remembers those who trust in Him and will honor us, now and forever.
I teach at the Southland Convalescent Center on Thursday mornings and was
recently pleased to see an article in the local newspaper about the residents in
that facility. The article was called, “Norwalk Honors
Veterans” (Long Beach Press Telegram, Nov. 14, 2007), and it contained
two pictures of residents there who were part of a U.S. Veteran’s Day event.
They were being honored for service to their country. The photos showed
different views of a number of men and women who were in the auditorium where
the event occurred.
A number of faces in the pictures were very familiar to us. “There’s Roy,” I
said to my wife, and “Look, that’s George,” and so on. I took the newspaper with
me a day later when I taught the next study and mentioned the article to them.
“How wonderful,” I said, “your pictures are in the newspaper,” as I held it up
before them, and continued by telling them that our Lord has a “newspaper” of
His own, and He has included each of you in it. It’s a book actually, called the
“Lamb’s Book of Life,” and you can find it
mentioned in places like Revelation 21:27. The Book of Acts did not end; it is
still being written in eternity, and when you trust in the Lord, your name and
your life is written in His Book.
Many of those who attend the study on Thursday mornings are well along in
years, and for almost everyone, it hurts to get old. Arthritis and other
ailments can be very painful, and also it hurts emotionally to have lost loved
ones, as everyone who is a “senior citizen” knows. I wanted them to smile
because they were in the newspaper and to smile because they are in the Lamb’s
Book of Life. Even though it hurts to get old, all pain is alleviated somewhat
when you are given the joy of the Lord.
Amos R. Wells was a long-time magazine editor who wrote some 90 books, most
of them collections of Sunday school lessons. He wrote about Andre Massena, one
of Napoleon’s generals, “who suddenly appeared with
eighteen thousand men before an Austrian town which had no means of defense. The
town council had nearly decided to surrender when the old dean of the church
reminded them that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and
to leave the trouble in God’s hands. This they did; and the French, hearing the
church bells ringing joyfully, concluded that an Austrian army had come to
relieve the place and quickly broke camp. Before the bells stopped ringing, all
the French soldiers had vanished.”
Wells continued, “This incident has often been
duplicated in individual lives. They have rung the joy bells in the face of pain
and sickness and poverty and fear and loneliness and all other trials. Then the
joy bells have conquered. Speedily the foe has slunk away. Speedily the
bell-ringers have found themselves in possession of the field. For no enemy, no
matter how formidable, is quite as strong as faith accompanied with good cheer.”
Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ? If you have, then just as surely
as the residents of the Southland Convalescent Center were pictured and written
about in the Long Beach Press Telegram, your name, your life, your story, is
being carefully prepared and lovingly written into the Lamb’s Book of Life. He
intends to honor you, just as you honor Him. And even more astonishing and
wonderful, the Lord has “written you on the palms of
(His) hands” (Isaiah 49:15). He died to save – you.
Much like the veterans of all countries and all times in history have sacrificed
themselves on the battlefield, the Lord sacrificed His own body in order to
write your name into a place of safety and joy for all eternity. Your name, your
life, is written in His Book.
The newspaper I carried with me to the Bible study at the Southland
Convalescent Center will one day be gone. The pages will yellow, and even though
I will keep it for awhile as a memento of the elderly loved ones in that place,
someone who goes though my things someday will wonder, “What’s this?” and likely
throw it away. There were copies of the article posted in many places at
Southland, but they will soon be gone also. Our trophies, medals from races and
other events will be discarded at some point. If our world economy were to
collapse, even the money that we hold so dear will be useless because it no
longer has value. Forgotten graveyards are often found at differing places
in the world, grown over with weeds and covered with sand. Scholars argue about
who was buried in them. But they aren’t forgotten and neither are you.
Because the Lord knows. The Apostle Paul was a federal prisoner of the Roman
Empire at the time today’s Scripture was being written. The elite guards of the
strongest Empire the world had ever known carefully watched him, each hour of
every day. His jailers were armed to the teeth and anyone who tried to rescue
Paul would be killed. Paul had disappeared from the land of his birth, from his
family, and he had been taken to a place of incarceration far across the
Mediterranean Sea. There are many others who have lost their origins and feel
trapped and adrift in a difficult place. But note what was happening to Paul. He
“dwelt two whole years in his own rented house…
preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ… no one forbidding
him” (Acts 28:30-31). He lived in a place of his own choosing. Visitors
were allowed and he spoke freely about the good news of Jesus Christ. God did
impossible and wonderful things in the life of Paul. His JAILERS found faith in
the Lord, for Paul wrote, “All the saints greet you,
especially those of Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:22). God is
helping us right now, and our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life –
forever.
Lord, I trust in You. Write my name in Your Book. Thank You. In Jesus
Name. Amen.
