The Aftermath of Stephen’s Stoning – Acts 8:1-8

 

Summary:

The “Saul” here (8:1) is the man who later became an apostle of Christ, but who began his career as an enemy of Christ (7:58).  We know that he was probably more than just the hatcheck boy who watched their clothes (7:25) for he later said he could wish himself accursed for the sake of his people (Rom. 9:3,4).  He probably felt that strongly because he had been the driving force behind Stephen’s death—the death that caused God to close the book on his people.

When it says Saul was “consenting” unto Stephen’s death, that indicates he was already a voting member of the council, for the word “consent” means to give your permission for something to happen (Dan.1:11-14).  We know for sure that he was eventually a voting member for he said he gave his “voice” against believers (Acts 26:10).

It’s also reasonable to believe the “great persecution” that followed Stephen’s death (8:1) must have been led by Saul, for it stopped when he got saved (Acts 9:19,20).  He never forgave himself for this (ICor.15:9;Eph.3:8) but didn’t let his dark past hinder him from the ministry.  Instead he used it to propel him forward in the Lord’s work (ICor.15:10)—and  so should you, if you have things in your past that haunt you!

When those Jewish kingdom believers hightailed it out of Jerusalem and fled to Judaea and Samaria, that makes it sound like they were obeying the Great Commission (Acts 1:8).  But we know the Lord was telling them that Jerusalem had to be “filled” (cf. Mark 7:27) with God’s salvation before it could go to Judea and Samaria.  Someday that’s how it will happen (Isaiah 52:9,10).

But here the saints who left were fleeing for their lives from Saul’s persecution—“except the apostles” (Acts 8:1).  They were the only ones obeying the Great Commission, for they were the only ones who remained behind in Jerusalem to try to get the city redeemed, at the great risk of their lives.

Stephen’s name means crown.  That’s why the Bible takes the time to mention his burial, for it was symbolic of the burial of his nation’s opportunity to wear the crown and reign with Christ in the kingdom (Rev.2:21; 20:4).  The men who buried him are called “devout” (Acts 8:2) because that word means devoted to God, and such devotion can be expressed in ways like burying the dead, cutting the church grass, serving in the church kitchen, etc.

The “havock” that Saul wreaked in the church (8:3) is described in passages such as Acts 22:5, 26:11, Galatians 1:13,14, and Philippians 3:5,6.  The word “haling” (Acts 8:3) means to drag (cf. Lu.12:58).  Saul was ruthless!

When Acts 8:4 says that these saints “went every where preaching the Word,” pastors say that they were obeying the Great Commission in spite of Israel’s refusal to be God’s channel of blessing in the world.  But they didn’t go out preaching the gospel “to every creature” as the Lord had said (Mark 16:15), they only preached to Jewish creatures (Acts 11:19).

“Philip” (Acts 8:5) was one of the ones chosen to help make sure the widows weren’t neglected in Acts 6:1-5.  He was faithful serving tables, so God counted him faithful and put him into the ministry, making him an evangelist to Samaria.  God always rewards faithfulness with more responsibility (Mt.25:21).

The Samaritans liked what they heard, and believed on Christ “with one accord” (Acts 8:6).  Compare that to how the unsaved Jews in Jerusalem stoned Stephen “with one accord” (7:57).  What you are seeing here is the fulfillment of something the Lord told the Jews in Luke 13:28-30.  When the kingdom is established, Samaritans who were the “last” to hear the gospel will be the “first” to sit in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And what we are seeing here is an example of God reaching forth His hands “all day long” to individuals in Israel (Rom.10:21).  Even though God had closed the book on the nation of Israel, He continued to give individual Jews in Israel a chance to be believe and be saved.

Video of this sermon is available on YouTube: The Aftermath of Stephen’s Stoning – Acts 8:1-8

Creatures of Habit

Mahatma Gandhi wrote:  “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”  Since the word “habit” is a synonym for pattern, this quote reminds me of the even higher calling that Paul issued to Titus when he wrote,

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works…” (Titus 2:7).

You see, the child of God is not called upon merely to achieve an admirable “destiny” for himself in life by the thoughts and actions that fill our everyday lives.  We are called upon to achieve an admirable destiny for others, by showing ourselves a pattern of good works to which they can look in order to mold their own destinies in life.  That’s an infinitely higher calling than just aspiring to better yourself!

It’s true that beliefs become thoughts.  If your belief is that salvation is “not by works of righteousness” (Titus 3:5), then that belief should become a thought in you, causing you to think “that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works” (3:8).  A life filled with habitual good works is exactly the kind of life that can serve as an excellent pattern for other believers. That’s why Paul exhorted Titus to be “zealous of good works” (2:14).

But you need to show yourself to be a pattern of good works in such a way that people know you’re not doing good works to pay for your sins, but instead to show your connection to the Savior who paid for your sins.  We see this illustrated in a striking way not long after the people of Israel entered the Promised Land.

Upon arriving in the land, God allowed the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh to take up residence on the wilderness side of the Jordan River because they were cattle-

men, and the land there was more conducive to raising cattle than in Israel (Num. 32:1-33).  But “when they came unto the borders of Jordan” they “built there an altar by Jordan” (Josh. 22:10).  This was a “trespass” (Josh. 22:16), for God had chosen a place in Israel for His “habitation” (Deut.12:5), and it was there that His people were to bring their sacrifices (vv. 5,10,11).

But when the other tribes in Israel took these cattlemen to task about their altar, they defended themselves by saying,

“Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you” (Joshua 22:28).

These faithful tribes admitted that they had patterned their altar after the one God ordained in Israel, but they protested that they never intended to offer animal sacrifices on their altar.  That is, they didn’t raise that altar to try to pay for their sins, they raised it to show their connection to the altar in Israel that paid for their sins (vv. 21-27).

In the same way, the reason you want to be a pattern of good works in all things isn’t to pay for your sins, but to show your connection to the Lord who paid for your sins.  People need to know that that’s why you do good works, so they know that salvation is “not of works” (Eph. 2:9).

If you’re saved, you are in Christ, “and if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (II Cor. 5:17).  And Paul says that we were “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10).  No creature of God is ever happy unless he is doing what God created him to do.  Birds were created to fly, horses were created to run, and fish were created to swim, and none of them are happy when they are caged.  And you’ll never know true happiness in life unless you’re walking in the good works “which God hath before ordained that we should walk in” (Eph. 2:10).

Before you were saved, you were “accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23).  You were a creature of habit—bad habits.  Why not determine right now to become a creature of good habits?

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

A Holding Pattern That Casts the Lord in a Good Light

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul gave some advice to a young man named Titus that all Christians would do well to take to heart:

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works…” (Titus 2:7).

If you’re not sure what a “pattern” is, do you remember reading about the “seven lamps” that made up “the candlestick” in the tabernacle (Num. 8:1-4)?  If so, you may remember that this candlestick was carefully made “according to the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses” (Num. 8:1-4).  It was a pattern that typified the Lord Jesus Christ, who later declared,

I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

When the Lord walked among men, He was the light of the world because—like the candlestick that typified Him—He was “made under the law” (Gal. 4:5), and He walked “according to the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses” in the Law, as He offered the light of eternal life to men.  But later He added,

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Now that the Lord is gone, the world has a different source of spiritual light, one that Paul described in Philippians 2:15,16.  Speaking to members of the Body of Christ, he wrote,

…YE shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.”

Now that the Lord is no longer here on earth, it’s our turn to be the light of the world, as we offer the light of eternal life to the lost!

But we don’t shine as lights in the world as our Lord did, by walking according to the pattern of the law.  “We are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15), so we shine the light of grace by walking according to the pattern of good works we find in the epistles of Paul, the apostle of grace.  If you are still observing Israel’s sabbath, or adhering to the restricted diet of Leviticus 11, etc., you are telling people we’re under the Law!  And that’s not shining the right light of life to lost sinners.  It’s hard to get saved by grace if you think we’re under the Law!

We know that walking in good works is an important part of shining as lights in the world, for in telling the Philippians they were the light of the world, Paul prefaced his words by saying,

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14,15).

That’s Paul’s way of saying that you shouldn’t be trying to shine the light of life to men if you yourself are walking in darkness!

But as you shine the light of grace, adorned by the testimony of your pattern of good works, it is important to let people know that you’re not walking in good works because you’re a good person.  You need to let them know that you’re doing it because you’re a child of God!  That’s what the Lord had in mind when He said,

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Now, you know why He had to say that.  When men see you do good works, they tend to glorify you instead of God, saying things like, “Isn’t he a good man for doing something like that!”  The Lord said not to let them think that way, to let your light shine in such a way that they will glorify God instead.  How do we do that?  There’s only one way to do it, and that’s to let people know that you belong to the Lord!  That way God gets the glory when men see your good works, and not you.  It’s the only way to cast the Lord in a good light, so tell someone today!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Your Career in Christian Modeling

Back in 1993, professional basketball player Charles Barkley made headlines when he declared, “I’m not a role model. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”  He was right about that last part, but he failed to realize that when you play in the NBA, being a role model to millions of aspiring young athletes just comes with the territory.  The only question for such men is, are you a good role model or a bad one?

The same is true in the Christian life.  You may not think you are setting an example for anyone, but no matter who you are, someone looks up to you.  And if you name the name of Christ, the only question is, are you a good example of what a Christian should be, or a bad one?

This is true even for young Christians.  That’s why Paul told a young man named Titus:

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7).

As all Christians know, you can’t be saved by doing good works; you can only be saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9).  But as Paul went on to say in his letter to the Ephesians, Christians “should” do good works because God saved us freely by His grace (v. 10).  As he says there about good works, “God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Now, if you find that you need some incentive to choose to become a pattern of good works, let’s compare how God motivated His people to walk in good works in time past under the law of Moses.  He told Ezekiel to tell the people of Israel,

“…shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern… shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof…” (Ezekiel 43:10,11).

If the people of Israel in Ezekiel’s day weren’t ashamed of their sins, God told him to have them look at all the trouble that He had gone through to forgive their sins.  He told him to show His people the magnificence of His “house,” the temple that He had Solomon build to receive their animal sacrifices, and all the comings and goings of the priests in the temple, and all the intricate rules and regulations of the priesthood.  In other words, He wanted them to “measure the pattern” of their religion to remind them of the lengths to which He had gone to forgive their sins, and then ask themselves if they should continue in sin in light of all that He had done for them.

Of course, today we don’t look to the temple to measure the lengths to which God went to forgive our sins, nor do we look to Israel’s priesthood, or anything else in her religion.  Today we look to the cross.  In light of the unspeakable sacrifice Christ made there on our behalf, it would be the height of ingratitude for “we, that are dead to sin” to “live any longer therein” (Rom. 6:2).

That’s why, in learning to walk in good works, we study the cross and not the Law, and let “the love of Christ” constrain us, “that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (II Cor. 5:14,15), as Isaac Watts wrote in that sacred hymn centuries ago:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

A Pattern of Sobriety

To teach his teenaged son about the dangers of alcohol, a father dropped a worm in a glass of water, and it just kind of wiggled around, the way worms do on your hook when you go fishing.  But then he dropped another worm in whiskey, and it promptly curled up and died.  He asked, “What does that teach you, son?”  The boy replied, “If I drink alcohol, I won’t have worms.”

Speaking of teenaged boys like that, the Apostle Paul had some advice for them that he wanted Titus to pass along to the young men to whom he ministered.  He wrote,

“Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded” (Titus 2:6).

After exhorting aged men to be “sober” (v. 2) and aged women “likewise” (v. 3), as well as young women (v. 4), Paul also tells Titus to instruct young men to be sober minded “likewise” (v. 6).  It is obvious from Paul’s emphasis on sobriety here that God would have all of His people rise above the frivolity of the world around us and be serious about the things of the Lord.

Of course, Titus himself was a young man, so it’s not surprising to read on and see Paul exhort him to lead the way in this important area:

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works…” (Titus 2:7).

The word “pattern” is the Greek word tupos, from which we get our word type.  I learned to type on a type-writer that was so old it didn’t have to be plugged in to the wall, and it didn’t have a rechargeable battery like your laptop either.  What it did have were keys attached to long hammers with little letters engraved on the end.  When I would pound the keys—and you had to pound them—the hammers would fly up and strike an ink ribbon stretched over a piece of paper.  Each hammer’s strike would leave an impression on the paper in the exact shape of the letter on the end of the hammer.

So in exhorting Titus to be a tupos, he was telling him to be the little letter at the end of the hammer.  He was asking him to be the kind of young man who would strike you as someone you’d want to pattern your life after.  Paul had lived an exemplary life like that, but he was about to pass from the scene, so he instructed Titus to become a pattern of good works for the next generation.

Our English word “pattern” has much the same idea.  When I was young, I dated a young lady who made her own dresses by laying a paper pattern over the cloth and cutting it to the exact shape of the pattern.  The lives of pastors like Titus should likewise be so exemplary that the members of their flocks should be able to use them as a pattern of good works.

And if you think about it, that’s not bad advice for all believers, not just pastors.  Especially when you consider that Doubting Thomas used the word tupos when he said,

“Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails… I will not believe” (John 20:25).

The holes in the Lord’s hands were an exact match to the nails that pierced them.  That reminds me of how our police departments have forensic doctors who can tell if your knife is the murder weapon by the shape of the wound in the body.  That’s the kind of pattern Paul was telling Titus to be, the kind that would be an exact match to the good works Paul lays out in his epistles.

You know, arrests are often made on the basis of such forensic evidence, arrests that often lead to convictions.  May I ask, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  Does your life exemplify the good works that God has described in detail in His rightly divided Word?

If not, did you notice that Doubting Thomas declared that he would not believe unless he saw the tupos of the nails in the Lord’s hands?  There might be people watching you and thinking the same thing, that they won’t believe unless they see your hands engaged in the kind of good works in which God wants young men to walk, and the rest of us as well.  Why not start today?

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Your Career in Christian Modeling

Back in 1993, professional basketball player Charles Barkley made headlines when he declared, “I’m not a role model. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”

He was right about that last part, but he failed to realize that when you play in the NBA, being a role model to millions of aspiring young athletes just comes with the territory. The only question for such men is: are you a good role model or a bad one?

The same is true in the Christian life. You may not think you are setting an example for anyone, but no matter who you are, someone looks up to you. And if you name the name of Christ, the only question is: are you a good Christian role model, or a bad one?

This is true even for young Christians. That’s why Paul told a young man named Titus:

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7).

The word “pattern” is just another word for model. So Paul’s words to young Titus remind us that Christians of all ages should be role models for other believers by doing good works.

Now, if you find that you need some incentive to choose to be a pattern of good works, let’s compare how God used that word “pattern” to motivate His people to walk in good works under the law of Moses. He told Ezekiel to tell the people of Israel,

“…shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern… shew them the form of the house… and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof… and all the ordinances thereof… and all the laws thereof…” (Ezek. 43:10,11).

If the people of Israel in Ezekiel’s day weren’t ashamed of their sins, God told him to have them look at all the trouble to which He had gone to forgive their sins. He told him to show the “house” of Israel the magnificence of His other “house,” the temple that Solomon built to receive their sacrifices, and all the “comings” and “goings” of the priests in the temple, and all the intricate “laws” and regulations of the priesthood. In other words, He wanted them to “measure the pattern” of their religion to remind them of the lengths to which He had gone to forgive their sins, and then ask themselves if they should continue in sin in light of all that He had done for them.

The Full Measure of Devotion

Of course, today we don’t look to the temple to measure the lengths to which God went to forgive our sins, nor do we look to Israel’s priesthood, or anything else in her religion. Today we look to the cross. In light of the “unspeakable” sacrifice Christ made there on our behalf (2 Cor. 9:15), it would be the height of ingratitude for “we, that are dead to sin” to “live any longer therein” (Rom. 6:2).

That’s why, in learning to walk in good works and not bad works, we study the cross and not the temple, and let “the love of Christ” constrain us, “that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14,15). As Isaac Watts wrote in that sacred hymn centuries ago:

When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

But if you need even more incentive to become a pattern of good works, consider how Hebrews 8:5 uses that word pattern:

“Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle… See… that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”

God told Moses to make the tabernacle and “all things” that were within it according to a pattern. Later we learn that those things were “the patterns of things in the heavens” (Heb. 9:23). You see, the tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness was patterned after a tabernacle in heaven, one that God calls “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2). That means when God’s people in Israel entered the tabernacle on earth, they were entering a little bit of heaven on earth, because they were surrounded by things that reflected what things look like in heaven.

In the same way, if you follow Paul’s advice and show yourself to be a pattern of good works in all things, you too can experience a little bit of heaven right here on earth. You too can surround yourself, and everyone around you, with things that reflect things in heaven. Heaven is filled with people doing good works, and you can experience that heavenly encouragement now, in this life. And if that doesn’t motivate you to be a pattern of good works in all things, you’re just not being selfish enough!

Creatures of Habit

Gandhi wrote: “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.” Since the word “habit” is a synonym for pattern, this quote reminds me of the even higher calling that Paul issues us when he calls on us to show ourselves “a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7).

I say that we have a higher calling than that to which Gandhi called men because we are not called upon merely to achieve an admirable “destiny” for ourselves in life by bettering the thoughts and actions that fill our everyday lives. We are called upon to achieve an admirable destiny for others by showing ourselves a pattern of good works to which they can look in order to mold their own destinies in life for the Lord. That’s an infinitely higher calling than just aspiring to better yourself!

But you need to show yourself to be a pattern of good works in such a way that unsaved people know you’re not doing good works to pay for your sins, as they think they are doing, but instead to show your connection to the Savior who paid for your sins. We see this illustrated in a striking way not long after the people of Israel entered the Promised Land.

Upon arriving in the land, God allowed the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh to take up residence on the wilderness side of the Jordan River because they were cattlemen, and the land there was more conducive to raising cattle than in Israel (Num. 32:1-33). But “when they came unto the borders of Jordan” they “built there an altar by Jordan” (Josh. 22:10). On the surface, this appeared to be a serious “trespass” (Josh. 22:16), for God had chosen a place in Israel for His “habitation” (Deut.12:5), and it was there that His people were to bring their sacrifices (vv. 5, 10, 11).

The Reason for the Treason

But when the other tribes in Israel took these cattlemen to task about their altar, they defended themselves by saying,

“Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you” (Josh. 22:28).

These faithful tribes admitted that they had patterned their altar after the one God ordained in the tabernacle, but they protested that they never intended to offer sacrifices on it. That is, they didn’t raise that altar to try to pay for their sins. They raised it to show their connection to the altar in Israel that paid for their sins (vv. 21-27). So it was a good work that they had done in so doing, not a bad work.

In the same way, the reason you want to be a pattern of good works in all things isn’t to pay for your sins, but to show your connection to the Savior who paid for your sins. People need to know that that’s why you do good works, so they know that salvation is “not of works” (Eph. 2:9). And the only way that’s going to happen is if you tell people that you do good works because you’ve been saved by grace!

The explanation proffered by the two and a half tribes not only satisfied their brethren in Israel and allayed their concerns, we are twice told that it “pleased” them (Josh. 22:30, 33). And when you as a believer are “fruitful in every good work,” you “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Col. 1:10), as you show the world your connection to Him and the sacrifice that He made for you.

It’s your only real hope of happiness in life. You see, if you have trusted Christ’s sacrifice as the payment for your sins, you are in Christ, and “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). And Paul says that we were “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10). And no creature of God is ever happy unless he is doing what God created him to do. Birds were created to fly, horses were created to run, and fish were created to swim, and none of them are happy when they are caged. And you’ll never know true happiness in life unless you’re walking in the good works that God created you to walk in.

Before you were saved, you were “accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23). You were a creature of habit — bad habits. Why not determine right now to become a creature of good habits? It’s a decision you’ll never regret!

A Holding Pattern That Casts the Lord in a Good Light

There is also a dispensational aspect to being a pattern of good works that it is important to keep in mind.

Do you remember reading about the “seven lamps” that made up “the candlestick” in the tabernacle (Num. 8:1-4)? If so, you may remember that this candlestick was carefully made “according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses” (Num. 8:4). It was a pattern that typified the Lord, who later declared,

I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me… shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

When the Lord was here, He was the light of the world because—like the candlestick that typified Him—He was “made under the law” (Gal. 4:4), and He walked according to the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses in the law. And the law is what offered the light of eternal life to men back then. But later the Lord added,

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Now that He’s gone, the world has a different source of spiritual light, one that Paul described when he wrote to us,

…YE shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:15,16).

Now that the Lord is no longer here on earth, it’s our turn to be the light of the world, as we offer the light of eternal life to the lost!

But we don’t shine as lights in the world as our Lord did, by walking according to the pattern of the law, and offering the law to men for eternal life. “We are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15). So we shine the light of grace by walking according to the pattern of good works we find in the epistles of Paul, the apostle of grace, and offering them salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9). If you are still observing Israel’s sabbath, or adhering to the restricted diet of Leviticus 11, etc., your works are telling people we’re under the law! And that’s not shining the right light of life to lost sinners. It’s hard to get people saved by grace if they think we’re under the law!

Don’t Shine and Whine!

We know that walking in good works is an important part of shining as lights in the world, for in telling the Philippians that they were the light of the world, Paul prefaced his words by saying,

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:14,15).

That’s Paul’s way of saying that you shouldn’t be trying to shine the light of life to men if you yourself are walking in crooked and perverse darkness, or even in murmuring or disputing!

But as you shine the light of grace, adorned by the testimony of your pattern of good works, it is important to let people know that you’re not walking in good works because you’re a good person. You need to let them know that you’re doing it because you’re a child of God. That’s what the Lord had in mind when He said,

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Now, you know why He had to say that. When men see you do good works, they tend to glorify you instead of God, saying things like, “Isn’t he a good man for doing that!” The Lord said not to let them think that way, to let your light shine in such a way that they will glorify God instead.

And there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to let people know that you belong to the Lord. That way God gets the glory when men see your good works, not you. It’s the only way to cast the Lord in a good light!

Why not determine to embark upon your career in Christian modeling right now, by “shewing thyself a pattern of good works” in all things. You’ll be eternally glad you did.


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