THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act VII - Acts and the Pauline Epistles
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 9

(READERS # 1 AND # 4 TURN BACKS TO THE AUDIENCE

                                                1                                  4

                                                               2    3

VOICE THREE:        What are you reading, dear?

VOICE TWO:            It’s another letter from that teacher in Jerusalem.  I don’t know how we got on his mailing list, but he certainly has some interesting articles.

VOICE THREE:        That’s for sure.  What has he come up with this time?

VOICE TWO:            Listen!  “Then I approached the throne room of God, guarded by seven angels with keys to seven doors.  Prepared by the mysteries which had previously been revealed to me I bowed at the feet of each angel, presented to him the sacrificial gifts I had prepared and obtained through them the access to God I had been seeking.”

VOICE THREE:        That doesn’t sound like the way to God Paul has been preaching.  His letter said that we were not to be led astray by those who worship angels and tell about visions they have seen.

VOICE TWO:            But this teacher says he has secret knowledge that hasn’t been revealed to everyone.

VOICE THREE:        Paul says that God’s mystery is Jesus Christ, and that He has been revealed to everyone.

VOICE TWO:            It says here that Christ could not be both human and divine so something else needs to be added to the work of Christ. 

VOICE THREE:        Something else, like what?

VOICE TWO:            Like all the legalistic rules revealed in these secret books the teacher wants us to buy.  He says it will be a great investment in our eternity.

VOICE THREE:        More likely it would be a great investment in his burgeoning bank account.  Paul says that we can be made complete in Christ, that in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  And everything Christ did for us is free.

VOICE TWO:            Oh well, it’s too late for us anyway.

VOICE THREE:        What do you mean?

VOICE TWO:            The teacher says that no one should get married.  He says that the body is sinful and only the spirit is holy, so marriage is also sinful.

VOICE THREE:        Paul says that God created the material world including the body.  He says that the home is the perfect place to demonstrate the character of Christ—the compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness and love that we have been enabled to wear because He is living within.

VOICE TWO:            This letter says that we have to deny the material needs of the body and live in strict asceticism.  He wants us to eat only bread and vegetables and he has a special recipe book we are to follow in the preparation of those.

VOICE THREE:        Wrong again.  Paul says that such rules lead to pride because they make a person appear to be spiritual, but actually they do nothing to overcome a person’s sinful nature.  Only the life of Christ within can transform the heart.

VOICE TWO:            So what do you think we should do with this letter from the mystic teacher in Jerusalem?

VOICE THREE:        Well, we have a nice fire started in the fireplace. 

VOICE TWO:            And what should we do with Paul’s letter to the Colossians?

VOICE THREE:        I think we ought to do just what it says to do.  Read it among all of the believers.  Then take it over to Laodicea and read it for the church there and read the letter Paul wrote to Laodicea.   It is obvious to me that Paul has given to us the Word of God.

VOICE TWO:            So you don’t want to order any secret books?

VOICE THREE:        No, I want us to become complete in Christ so that whatsoever we do in word or deed we will do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

VOICE TWO:            What are you reading, dear?

VOICE THREE:        The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians.