…”Police have uniforms when they’re on duty. Soldiers have uniforms too. Did you know that Christians have uniforms? Did you wear your uniform today? You see players wear uniforms when they play, and police and soldiers wear uniforms when they’re at work, but Christians must keep their uniforms on all the time…

“Did you wear yours today? Your complete uniform?”

…”Let’s take a look, because one of the analogies that the Bible uses of us is that we are “soldiers for God”. God has issued us His uniform for us to wear. It’s the Christian uniform; it’s what we need to wear as Christians. In 2 Tim:2:3 we read in this Scripture that we are likened to soldiers. He says: 2 Timothy:2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus-Christ…

“So what follows, much like Jonathan and David who were soldiers too, God has to equip us with what we need for the fight. And so, we notice the uniform that God gives each one of us to each one of us to put on – the Christian uniform”…

…”The uniform that we need to have on every day. “We don’t take it off” we keep it on every day, we even are supposed to sleep in it because God does not want us to be negligent. He does not want us to be wounded spiritually…..

“Ephesians:6:11..Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand… to stand for what?…against the wiles of the devil. Notice that He didn’t say part of the armor; we’ve got to put on the whole armor of God. If we don’t put on the whole armor we are vulnerable. We put ourselves in jeopardy…

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, BE STRONG in the Lord, and in The POWER OF HIS MIGHT. 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and

Onward Christian Solders Marching as to War!

having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Draw nigh to God and God will draw nigh to You.

…”That being said…this is your “reminder” to get dressed…accordingly and do it properly, check for missing buttons!! Put on the Whole Armour…And be “Ready” to do your Spiritual Battles and to be a Conqueror in your fight against evil and to be ready to meet your adversary. Do it in the name of the King!!!

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“Why is God going to give us a white stone with a new name (Revelation 2:17)?”

Answer:

In the Bible, there is only one reference to God giving us a white stone with a new name: “To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it” (Revelation 2:17).

The meaning of the white stone is a mystery to Bible scholars. However, several interpretations have been offered:

• In ancient Greece, jury members would cast a white stone to signify an acquittal, whereas a black stone proclaimed the defendant guilty. The weakness of this interpretation is that the stones cast in the courts did not have names inscribed on them.

• A small object called a “tessera,” made of wood, stone, clay or bone, conveyed special privileges to its owner. The ancient Romans used tesserae as tokens of admittance to events in the arena. However, tesserae did not have to be white, and the durability of the materials used is questionable.

• A white stone was often used as an amulet or charm. However, this custom was associated with sorcery, so it would be odd if the Bible used it as a symbol of salvation.

• Another interpretation has to do with the building material used during the time John wrote Revelation. Important buildings were commonly made of white marble, including the temple of Asclepius in Pergamum (the city of the church Jesus is addressing in Revelation 2:17). In front of the temple were white marble pillars engraved with the names of people supposedly healed by the god. One problem with this interpretation is that the Greek word used in this verse, psephon properly means “pebble,” not “stone.”

• One of the better-accepted explanations of the white stone has to do with the high priest’s breastplate, which contained twelve stones. Each of these stones had the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on it (Exodus 28:21). As he ministered in the temple, the high priest bore the names of God’s people into God’s presence. In the same way, the “white stone” with the believer’s name written on it could be a reference to our standing in God’s presence.

White is the color and livery of heaven. “New” implies something altogether renewed and heavenly. The white stone is a glistening diamond, the Urim borne by the high priest within the choschen or breastplate of judgment, with the twelve tribes’ names on the twelve precious stones, next the heart. The word Urim means “light,” answering to the color white.

None but the high priest knew the name written upon it, probably the incommunicable name of God, of which now no one really knows, Some say it must be this or that, but no one knows for sure! The high priest consulted it in some divinely appointed way to get direction from God when needful. The “new name” is Christ’s (compare Rev 3:12, I will write upon him My new name) some new revelation of Himself which shall hereafter be imparted to His people, and which they alone are capable of receiving. The connection with the “hidden manna” will thus be clear, as none save the high priest had access to the “manna hidden” in the sanctuary.

Believers, as spiritual priests unto God, shall enjoy the heavenly antitypes to the hidden manna and the Urim stone. What they had peculiarly to contend against at Pergamos was the temptation to idol-meats, and fornication, put in their way by Balaamites. As Phinehas was rewarded with “an everlasting priesthood” for his zeal against these very sins to which the Old Testament Balaam seduced Israel; so the heavenly high priesthood is the reward promised here to those zealous against the New Testament Balaamites tempting Christ’s people to the same sins.”

To him that overcometh, I will give a white stone

• Another widely held explanation suggests that the white stone may be a translucent precious stone such as a diamond. The word translated “white” in Revelation 2:17 is leukos and can also mean “brilliant, bright.” This interpretation holds that on the stone is written the name of Christ, not the name of the believer. Revelation mentions that the name of Christ is written on the foreheads of the saints (Revelation 3:12; Revelation 14:1, and Revelation 14:20).

The best meaning of the white stone probably has to do with the ancient Roman custom of awarding white stones to the victors of athletic games. The winner of a contest was awarded a white stone with his name inscribed on it. This served as his “ticket” to a special awards banquet. According to this view, Jesus promises the overcomers entrance to the eternal victory celebration in heaven. The “new name” most likely refers to the Holy Spirit’s work of conforming believers to the holiness of Christ (see Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:10).

…”If we only had the New Testament, we would come to the gospels and not know why the Jews were looking for a Messiah. Without the Old Testament, we would not understand why this Messiah was coming..Isaiah 53.. we would not have been able to identify Jesus-Christ of Nazareth as the Messiah through the many detailed prophecies that were given concerning Him. His birth place..Micah 5:2.. His manner of death..Psalm 22, especially verses 1,7-8, 14-18; Psalm 69:21. His resurrection Psalm 16:10.. and many more details of His ministry…Isaiah 52:13.; 9:2..etc…

“Without the Old Testament, we would not understand the Jewish customs that are mentioned in passing in the New Testament. We would not understand the perversions the Pharisees had made to God’s law as they added their traditions to it. We would not understand why Jesus was so upset as He cleansed the temple courtyard. We would not understand that we can make use of the same wisdom that Christ used in His many replies to His adversaries both human and demonic…

…”Without the Old Testament we would miss out on numerous detailed prophecies that could only have come true if the Bible is God’s word, not man’s..see the major and minor prophets also Daniel 7 and following chapters….

….These prophecies give specific details about the rise and fall of nations, how they will fall, if they will rise again, which powers would be next to emerge, who the major players would be Cyrus, Alexander the Great, etc…and what would happen to their kingdoms when those players died. These detailed prophecies are so accurate that skeptics charge they had to have been written after the fact…hummm…

“The Old Testament also contains numerous lessons for us through the lives of its many fallible characters. By observing their lives we can be encouraged to trust God no matter what..Daniel 3.. and to not compromise in the little things…Daniel 1…so that we will be faithful later in the big things..Daniel 6…

…”We can learn that it is best to confess sin early and sincerely instead of blame-shifting..1 Samuel 15.. We can learn not to play with sin, because it will find us out and its bite is deadly..Judges 13-16.. We can learn that we need to trust and obey God if we expect to experience His promised-land living in this life and His paradise in the next…Numbers 13…

“We learn that if we contemplate sin, we are only setting ourselves up for committing it…Genesis 3; Joshua 6-7…We learn that our sin has consequences not only for ourselves but for our loved ones around us and conversely that our good behavior has rewards not only for us but for those who are around us as well … Genesis 3; Exodus 20:5-6…

…”The Old Testament also “contains vast quantities of wisdom” that the New Testament does not share. Many of these are contained in the Psalms and Proverbs. These bits of wisdom reveal how we can be wiser than my teachers, what various sins will lead to and what accomplishments in this world hold for us…

“How can we recognize whether I am a fool ? How can we inadvertently turn people off without trying? How can we open doors to lasting success? How can we find meaning in life? Again, there is so much there that is just waiting to be found by one who truly wants to learn…

…”Without the Old Testament, we would not have a basis for standing against the error of the politically correct perversions of our society in which evolution is seen to be the creator of all of the species over millions of years. We would buy the lie that marriages and the family unit are an “evolving” structure that should continue to change as society changes, instead of being seen as a design by God for the purpose of raising up godly children and for the protection of those who would otherwise be used and abused most often women and children…

…”Without the Old Testament, we would not understand the promises God will yet fulfill to the Jewish nation. As a result, we would not properly see that the Tribulation period is a seven-year period in which He will specifically be working with the Jewish nation who rejected His first coming but who will receive Him at His second coming. We would not understand how Christ’s future 1,000-year reign fits in with His promises to the Jews, nor how the Gentiles will fit in…

“Nor would we see how the end of the Bible ties up the loose ends that were unraveled in the beginning of the Bible, how God will restore the paradise He originally created this world to be, and how we will enjoy close companionship with Him on a personal basis as in the Garden of Eden…

Is the Old Testament still Relevant? Out with the Old in with the New?

…”In summary, the Old Testament is a “mirror” that allows us to see ourselves in the lives of Old Testament characters and helps us learn vicariously from their lives. It sheds so much light on who God is and the wonders He has made and the salvation He has wrought. It shares so much comfort to those in persecution or trouble..see Psalms especially…

“It reveals through repeatedly fulfilled prophecy why the Bible is unique among holy books…it stands alone and is able to demonstrate that it is what it claims to be: the “Inspired Word of God”…. It reveals volumes about Christ in page after page of its writings…

…”It contains so much wisdom that goes beyond what is alluded to or quoted in the New Testament. In short, if you have not yet ventured in depth into its pages, you are missing much that God has available for you. As you read it, there will be much you do not understand right away, but there will be much you will understand and learn from. And as you and I continue to study it, asking God to teach us further, your “digging and your mining” will “pay off” in brighter treasures still’…

“Yes the Old Testament is really part of God’s Story…Our Story…Read it!!~!

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“Paul introduces his letter to the Romans as a letter about the gospel, and he describes the gospel as “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” In the gospel, he says, a righteousness from God is revealed. The good news is that we can be beneficiaries of God’s righteousness. We can be in a right relationship with him, if we accept the gospel”…

…”After stating his thesis, Paul explains the gospel in more detail, starting with our need for the gospel. Why do we need to be put into a right relationship with God? Without the gospel, we would be in a wrong relationship. Paul explains that we were not just going our separate ways, we were enemies of God. There is an important barrier to be overcome…

…”The wrath of God”…
“Paul explains our need starting in verse 18:”The wrath of God” is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness. God is angry at sin…angry at the passive sin of ignoring God, and angry at active rebellion. This anger is being revealed, perhaps in nature, or by scriptures that say that sin will be punished…

“However”, there is something “odd” about this. It is like a prison warden who is so angry at the prisoners that he sends his son into the prison to tell them how to escape, and he gives them the key to his own home so they will have a place to live. This is not what we normally call “wrath.” The gospel reveals that our concepts of wrath are wrong…

…”Paul is turning religious assumptions upside down, he may begin with a concept like “wrath,” but he does not leave it there. The gospel reveals how Christ has “turned things around”. We cannot take verse 18 as Paul’s final statement on the matter, because it is not. It is merely the starting point in his argument. We have to see these verses as part of Paul’s strategy of explaining the gospel. He is starting with ideas that his readers probably agree with, but he explains that the gospel calls those assumptions into question…hummm…

“People assume” that God is “angry at sinners” because they ought to know better. In Paul’s day, it was generally those from a Jewish background who made this assumption; today it is generally Christian conservatives. But as Paul “will soon explain”, this would mean that God is angry at absolutely everybody. Instead, the gospel reveals a God who loves people even when they are his enemies, a God who justifies the ungodly, a God who “rescues people from their addictions”…

…”Romans 1:19…describes some of the common assumptions about why God would be angry at sinners: Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. How did he make it plain? Rom.1:20..For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse…

“Modern science tells us that the universe had a beginning. There was nothing, and there was suddenly something…a big bang…scientist are afraid to admit the truth, creating and filling the universe. This colossal explosion had a cause, a cause that existed before time did, a cause that was not part of the world the big bang created. Many people conclude that the cause was God. However, this gives only a rudimentary understanding of what God is…

…”Of course we all know that God created “everything”…People might deduce that God is eternal and supernatural, but it says nothing about morality, and nothing about salvation. The gospel reveals something different: a God who came to his people in a form they did not expect. God’s most important characteristics are revealed not by creation, but by Christ…

…”God could make himself plain if he wanted to. He could be a pillar of fire, or he could write messages in the sky. He could make his existence unavoidable, but he chooses not to. He allows people to ignore him and reject him. We are not forced to cower in front of an overwhelming power, but our love is freely given”…

…”A bad trade”…
But many people reject God: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God “nor gave thanks to him”, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…Rom.1:21…This was the common Jewish explanation of idolatry, as we can see from other Jewish literature of this time period. Although people had an opportunity to know about God, they ignored him and did not show any appreciation to him. As a result, their thinking became futile, it did not produce any fruit. Indeed, if we try to make sense out of life without God in the picture, we will never get the right answer…….

…”Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles..Rom.1:22-23…Most cultures claim to be wise, but if they think it is smart to reject truth and build on falsehood, then they are “foolish”. They are giving up something wonderful and ending up with snakes and fools to worship….. Their gods are “imitations”, and can never be anything more than imitations!!

…”Letting them do what they want”…
“So what did God do? Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. In this standard Jewish critique of paganism, God lets people reap the consequences of their erroneous ideas. They miss out on the wisdom and guidance of God. Paul uses sex as his primary example, because that was one area in which Jews commonly criticized the Gentile world…

…”Paul repeats these thoughts in verses 25-26: They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. The people traded away truth and lived as if God did not exist. And God was so angry that he let them do what they want…

“Paul says: Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural sexual relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error..Rom.1:26-27..Paul is not saying that God is going to punish them for their awful behavior. No, his emphasis is different. Paul is saying that God punishes them by letting them do these sexual sins. Paul is shifting the meaning of wrath, sin, and punishment. The sins that people commit are symptoms of their alienation from God, not the cause…

…”However” it is true that when we cut ourselves off from God, the things we want are often bad for us, and if God lets us do what we want, we end up doing things that are bad for us. Sexual sins are one example; Paul could have just as easily used greed as a different example, or dishonesty, or violence. Different problems appeal to different people, and if we just do what we want, we end up hurting ourselves as well as others…

“Romans 1:28 puts it like this: Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done……..

…”Many examples”…
“Paul then gives a list of examples in Rom.1:29-31: They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. People do not want to live in a world of greed and envy, murder and deceit. They don’t want a world of depravity, arrogance and slander, but without God, that is where they end up…

…”Paul is repeating the standard Jewish view of the world, and he is building rapport with his Jewish readers. But he is setting them up, we might say, after presenting this judgmental worldview, he is going to apply it to the Jews and show that it condemns them just as much as it does the Gentiles. This worldview does not represent the way God really is. The gospel has a different view of sin and judgment it reveals the righteous mercy of God…

…”Romans 1:32: Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Maybe it seems harsh to say that a gossiper deserves to die, and that envious people deserve to die. If we take this verse at face value, this is what Paul is saying: Those people deserve to die. Paul is passing judgment, condemning the people to death for their sins…

“However” there is a reason that we should not take this verse at face value, and it is in the very next verse that Paul writes in chapter 2, verse 1. The chapter break

Paul immediately starts criticizing those who pass judgment and condemn others! Is he criticizing himself? No!

tends to obscure the contrast in these two verses. Paul immediately starts criticizing those who pass judgment and condemn others! Is he criticizing himself?…No, he is criticizing the worldview described in verse 32 indeed, all the verses from 18 onward are based on a traditional view that Paul is criticizing, not endorsing. The gospel reveals a God who gives salvation, and a God who is righteous in doing so. God’s righteous decree according to the gospel is life, not death…

…”The gospel is the power of salvation, and the revelation of God’s righteousness is the solution not only for the sins of paganism, but also the sin of being judgmental. God has acted to rescue people, to save them, to restore them to righteousness. As Paul will explain in later chapters, he has done it in our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ….

“Until the next biblical studies of Romans”…May our Heavenly Father gives You all of your blessings of life!

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..”The subject of “mission and outreach” has sometimes been a source of passionate disagreement among Christian believers. Some Christians believe that they should focus all mission efforts “locally”. Others believe mission should have more of an “international focus”. Despite the disagreement, however, most would agree that “mission” is all about joining Jesus in his work of sharing God’s love and life with others……

……..”Most of us have found that if we want a job done right, we ought to do it ourselves. Yet when it comes to sharing his love with the world, God invites us to participate with him. And as we do, we can share in his joy of seeing others realize that God loves them, wants them and includes them. We can share in the excitement of people seeing the truth of who God is for them and who they are in him. And we can, as Jesus lives in us, give his encouragement, comfort and hope to others as we are able…..

“God doesn’t need our help, of course, but he shares all of this with us as part of his love. In fact, in our weakness, we often do a poor job of making Jesus known, but the Holy-Spirit is with us and the real job of mission is done by God in spite of our shortcomings. Our imperfection should motivate us all the more, because in our brokeness we can feel the pain and need of others for the love, peace and rest of the gospel…

…”We don’t have to look far…to see where we reach out as the feet and hands of Jesus. We live in a world full of hurt, and therefore a world full of opportunities to show the kindness of God to others. God doesn’t have to create special mission opportunities for us. By the very nature of this broken life, both the church and the world around us continually provide those opportunities. I believe this was what Paul was alluding to in Galatians 6:10 when he wrote, “…we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially those who are of the household of faith.”

“Mission, then, is life….Wherever we go, everywhere we look, there are people in need. We can’t do everything for everyone, and sometimes we’re the ones who need someone else’s kindness ourselves. But as we are able, as Jesus gives us strength and opportunity, the Holy-Spirit will stand with us as we extend God’s love to others…

Our service in Jesus might manifest itself in a variety of ways.

…”Our service in Jesus might manifest itself in a variety of ways. Our focus might be specifically on a need within the local community. For others, it might mean being involved in an international mission. And for some, it might mean a bit of both. The point is, there is plenty to do for everyone…

“That being said..It’s always exciting to go where we see the need and where God opens the doors. There is no greater joy than the joy of “extending kindness” and good news to others. That’s the way God is, and it’s the way he made us…Our mission is to invite many to our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ…Tell the world about Jesus!!!

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In Matthew 16 we find Jesus words on this important question.
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea
Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who
do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’’ So they
said, “Some say John the Baptist,some Elijah,
and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’’ He
said to them, “But who do you say that I am?’’
And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.’’ Jesus
answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build My church, and the gates of
Hades shall not prevail against it. “And I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.’’ (Mt. 16:13-19 NKJV)

In this text Jesus was nearing the cross. He had spent almost three years with His disciples teaching and modeling ministry. He knew he was about to die and leave this world. However, He wanted to be sure that His disciples had understood the vital lessons He had taught. Among the lessons he shared was the truth of His identity. He could not expect His disciples to be effective spiritual leaders if they did not discern His true identity. Within this context he asked them “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (vs. 13 NIV) Jesus began with an easy question and moved to the difficult question. After questioning the disciples about people’s beliefs he moved to question them about their beliefs. He said “But what about you…who do you say I am?” (vs. 15 NIV) The answer to this question mattered to Jesus. There are some facts that are not a matter of life or death. If you do not know the names of the Presidents you can survive. If you cannot explain the chemical make up of water you can survive. If you cannot explain the inner workings of a computer you can survive. However, from this pasage we learn that it is essential that you understand the identity of Jesus.

Look at our text. In this text we discover it is important what you believe about Jesus. I want to share three important truths from the text.

I. The first truth is that it is possible to be close but wrong about Jesus.
-If you are playing golf and the ball stops one inch from the cup, does that count?
-If a wide receiver drops the ball in the end zone does that count as a touchdown?
-If a boy stops a kiss one inch from his girls face, does that count as a kiss?
Even so, being close in your opinion of Jesus does not count.

Karl Barth, a famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired. “Yes,” said the tourist. “Is there anything you would particularly

like to see in this city?” asked Barth. “Yes; he said, “I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?” Barth replied, “Well, as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning.” The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, “I met Karl Barth’s barber today.” That tourist missed the point!

In this text we discover that people are sometimes close but wrong about Jesus. The people in Jesus’ day had a number of worthy opinions of Him. They compared Him to John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah. They were sincere but sincerely wrong. A common saying illustrates this point. “Close does not count except in horse shoes and hand grenades.” In playing a game of horse shoes you get points if you are close to the pin. If you are near a hand grenade when it explodes it will kill you. Close counts in some disciplines but it does not count in your opinion of Jesus.

Understanding Jesus identity is a growth process but it is essential to discipleship. A Sunday School teacher was attempting to teach her young students the true meaning of Easter. “Why do we celebrate Easter?” she asked. When the children replied ’because of the Easter bunny,’ Easter eggs, candy, spring, etc., she said, “No, those are Easter traditions and symbols, but what is the REASON why we celebrate Easter? What happened at the very first Easter?” A little girl raised her hand and said, “Easter celebrates Jesus coming out of the tomb.” “Yes!” said the teacher, excited and relieved that finally the correct answer had surfaced. Encouraged, she prompted, “Jesus arose from the tomb, and what does He do for us?” The youngster replied, “He looks to see if he can see his shadow, and if He can, he goes back in for another six weeks.”

In discussing the Pharisees Jesus explained that they were close but far away. `These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Mt. 15:8 NKJV)

In another passage Jesus describes the closeness of a religious leader.
Then one of the scribes came, and having
heard them reasoning together, perceiving that
He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is
the first commandment of all?’’ Jesus answered
him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear,
O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. `And
you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’ This is the first
commandment. “And the second, like it, is this:
`You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There
is no other commandment greater than these.’’ So
the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You
have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and
there is no other but He. “And to love Him with
all the heart, with all the understanding, with
all the soul, and with all the strength, and
to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than
all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’’

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.’’ And after that no one dared question Him. (Mk. 12:28-34 NKJV) This religious leader knew the commandments. He knew the word. He was close. However, Jesus said “You are not far from the kingdom.”
II. A second truth we discover in this text is that there is a right and wrong answer about Jesus.
Sometimes people get into discussions about Jesus identity. The early church struggled with the issue of heresy on many occasions. Even in our day we struggle with this issue. It is an inescapable teaching of the evangelical church that Jesus is God in the flesh. However, some groups deny this teaching. For instance, we find an example of this in the Watchtower translation of the Jehovah’s witnesses. They translate John 1:1 “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1961) Notice the “a” and notice the little “g” in God. This translation takes away the divinity of Jesus. According to Mt. 16:13-19 (based on Jesus words) there is a right and wrong answer as to Jesus identity.

C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity” said about Jesus, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”

Sometimes people are offended when we speak of such absolute truth. On July 06, 2000, Hugh Downs, the guest host on the Larry King Live Show, lead a round table discussion on the questions, “Who is Jesus? And why is there such a fascination with that question now?” Among his guests was Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Dean of Oxford L’chaim Society. During the discussion, Boteach said, “Jesus was a great teacher, a very ethical, moral, human being — perhaps in our opinion, not a prophet, but certainly a phenomenal teacher and Christianity is a great world religion . . .and while I agree he is a great light, once we say he is the only light, this is what leads to all kinds of spiritual racism and a division between Jews and Christians.” (SOURCE: Fresh Illustrations, http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations)

Simon Peter gave a right answer concerning Jesus identity. He said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (vs. 16 NIV) Jesus was pleased with Peter’s response. He passed the test. Peter’s confession revealed several things for which Jesus was looking.
1. His confession revealed that he believed
Jesus was the only way to God. The word Christ
refers to the Messiah. Throughout the Bible the
Messiah is referred to as the one who would
deliver men from their sins and bring them access
to God.
2. His confession revealed that he believed
Jesus was God. Those are bed-rocks of the
Christian faith. Jesus is the only means of
access to God. Jesus is the only begotten Son
of God. He is totally God. He is the right
answer to the divine quiz. There is no other
answer.

truth we discover in this passage is that your beliefs will empower you. After Peter’s confession Jesus had affirming words for him.

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father
who is in heaven. “And I also say to you that you
are Peter, and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it. “And I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven.’’ (Mt. 16:17-
19 NKJV)
Jesus words empowered Peter! What do I mean by empower?

A. When you are empowered you receive a new confidence. Jesus words reflect the impact Jesus would have on Peter. “You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.” (vs. 18 TLB) Jesus gave Peter a new confidence and courage. Peter was not perfect. He would have additional struggles but Jesus gave him a new confidence. He found deep and abiding convictions that would make him a rock in the early church. God given convictions are vital to your faith.

Several years ago the United States Supreme Court passed down a ruling that will help you understand the importance of convictions. They explained the difference between a conviction and a preference, according to the U.S. Supreme Court: A preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the belief. You can also energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also want to teach this belief to your children, and the Supreme Court may still rule that it is a preference. A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances. Circumstances such as: 1) peer pressure; if your beliefs are such that other people stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are preferences, not convictions, 2) family pressure, 3) lawsuits, 4) jail, 5) threat of death; would you die for your beliefs? A conviction is a belief that you will not change. Why? A man believes that his God requires it of him. Preferences aren’t protected by the constitution. Convictions are. A conviction is not something that you discover; it is something that you purpose in your heart (cf. Daniel 1, 2-3). Convictions on the inside will always show up on the outside, in a person’s lifestyle. To violate a conviction would be a sin. (David C. Gibbs, Jr., Christian Law Association, P.O. Box 30290, Cleveland, Ohio 44130)

Many people are like five year old Johnny. Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother

Jesus If you are in there?

made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, “It’s OK–Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?”

B. When you are empowered you will walk with new authority.

THE FIRST AND LAST

He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and
The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be…

Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!

The world can’t understand him,
The armies can’t defeat Him,
The schools can’t explain Him, and
The leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him, and
The people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him,
Hitler couldn’t silence Him,
The New Age can’t replace Him, and
Talk show hosts can’t explain Him away!

He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.

His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.

He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!

I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.

I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.

And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!

He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!

When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I confess failure, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!

When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!

He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
Every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!

My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you’re wondering why I feel so secure, understand this…
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul. (www.bible.org/docs/pastor/bits/bits-110.htm)

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The same is true with Godliness and worldliness. In his sermon two weeks ago, Bill Howard remarked that there was too much world in the church. I agree. But if that is true, it is true because there is too much world in each of us. You might say that we live here and we need to be in the world. We might need to be in the world, but does the world have to be in us?

2 CORINTHIANS 5:20 tells us where we stand in relation to the world.

‘We are therefore, Christ’s Ambassadors – as though God were making His appeal through us.’

In EPHESIANS 2:19, we are told that we are citizens and members of God’s household. We are no longer citizens of this world, and as the song says, “This World is Not My Home, I’m Just a Passing Through.” And since we belong to God; since we are citizens of heaven working as ambassadors here on earth; we need to focus more on God and less on the world, but to do so, we need to make sure that we really believe in God, and not just think we do.

When I was going to school, I had a physics professor who was teaching us about the law of the pendulum. We all know what a pendulum is, right? It swings from side to side, and it always decreases in the length of its ark with every swing. The professor had nailed a rope to the wall just above the blackboard. To this rope, he had attached a baseball. He asked how many of us really believed in the law of the pendulum and we all raised our hands.

With that, he pulled the rope to one side and marked where it was on the board. Then he let go of it and every time it swung back to his side, he put another mark where it stopped. The end result was he had many marks, all closer to the center than the one before, proving the law was true. He asked again how many of us really believed in the law, and we all raised our hands once again.

Then he took us to the auditorium, where he had hung a thick nylon chord from the rafters just above the stage. Attached to this chord was a 100-pound weight. He asked for a volunteer. He had a chair sitting on the side of the stage and he had the man who volunteered sit in it. He then took the weight, which was hanging in the middle of the stage and carried it over to about an inch from the boy’s face. He asked him if he believed in the law of the pendulum, and the boy, starting to get a little worried by now, said he did.

With that, the professor let go of the weight and it swung clear to the other side of the stage, and then began to come back. I have never seen anyone move so fast in my life as that young man trying to get out of the way. Did he believe, or did he just think he believed?

This is not a particularly long sermon, rather it is particularly short, but I felt like I should talk about the belief Christians have, or at least, should have.

The first thing we need is…
1. A BELIEVING HEART

In JOHN 1:7, we are told that Jesus came so that all men might believe. That is how we believe; through Jesus Christ.

Without Jesus there is no belief.

That is confirmed in JOHN 20:31, when it says that by believing in Jesus Christ, one may have life in His name.

In order to be a real Christian, and in order to receive eternal life, we must be real believers. We must have a burning in our hearts to be with Jesus; to know more about Him; and to know Him more.

Remember the story about the young man who sat on the chair waiting for the 100-pound weight to come back towards his face? There are many Christians who have the same type of faith in their belief in Jesus. They think they believe, and they say they believe, but when push comes to shove, they get out of the way as fast as they can.

Remember when Peter told Jesus that he would follow him into death if necessary? A few verses later, we see where Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter was like that young man on stage, too. He thought he believed, but when he was pushed, he collapsed like a house of cards. And we cannot have faith unless we really believe.

Everybody believes in something. What is it that you believe in? And how much do you really believe in it? It is very easy to think you believe when there is no risk involved. It is more difficult to truly believe when you risk losing something very important.

Just like the student, we need to know the basics of what is offered to us. He needed to know what the law of the pendulum was, and we need to know what the law of salvation is. It is eternal life in heaven, with God the creator.

Once we understand what is offered, we are ready to find out …
2. WHAT IT IS WE REALLY BELIEVE IN

USA Today took a survey several years ago and asked Americans in the top 1% income bracket how much they would spend for three things: Great intellect, true love, and a place in heaven. Those wealthy people said they would be willing to spend an average of $407K for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven!

So, some people think they can buy their way into heaven. That falls right in line with people like that great theologian, Sophia Loren. She said, and I quote, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice. I haven’t done anything wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as orchids, and I should go straight, straight to heaven.”

George Barna conducted his own survey, and 51% of those surveyed said they believe that if a person is good, or does good things for other people, they will get their spot in heaven. So we see that Ms. Loren’s beliefs have been around as long as there have been people on the earth.

We see the fallacy of this in ROMANS 9:30-32 –

‘What then, shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it – righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.

Why not? Because they pursued it, not by faith, but as if it were by works.’

In ISAIAH 55:8, we are told,

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.’

Why are we so intent on taking God’s word and trying to change it to fit our desires instead of just accepting His word as the law we should live by? But by our works is how we live, isn’t it? We must earn the respect of others and earn promotions at work. We can sing about the best things in life being free,

but when it comes to the things of this world, it all has to be earned. And that is how most people think about going to heaven; it must be earned by what we do.

The Israelites had a believing heart, but what they believed in wasn’t helping them. They believed they had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament to get to heaven. They were just like the people today; good and earnest people who have it all wrong when thinking about their relationship to heaven.

Those who believe in works or some other way of getting to heaven besides believing in Jesus are not bad people. They are wonderful people who have the right heart, but their heart is misdirected. The trouble with works getting you to heaven is that you have to be in 100% compliance – in every thing, all the time. That, in itself, is impossible for us to do. That is the same thing as saying you can never make any mistakes. None of us could live up to that expectation.

Mark Twain once said that if doing good was what got us to heaven, you could not get in, but your dog could. Like Paul says, you cannot be good enough to get into heaven any more than you can stand on the earth and touch the stars.

The Bible is very clear in what we should believe in. It does not mince words and it uses no metaphors to explain it. Pure and simple, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent to be our ONLY way to heaven. He is our Redeemer and our Savior. He is THE path, not ONE OF THE paths.

So, we need a believing heart, and we need to realize just what we really believe in. Once we have these down pat, we are then ready to …
3. STOP RUNNING AWAY

The student sat in the chair, and when the weight started swinging back his way, he quickly jumped out of his chair and ran away. He believed, but he believed only until he had to risk losing something, like his head.

Many Christians are the same way, too. They go to church and do all the things, and they will continue to do that until a serious challenge comes along. With our finite minds, we must have certain logical steps to take us into Christian maturity. God knew this, so we find His instructions in the Bible.

In MARK 9, we read where Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy and then the boy’s father came up and said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” We are much like that boy’s father. We all believe, but we also sometimes … don’t believe. In other words, we believe with our intellect, but we do not believe with our heart. We need to do like the boy’s father did and ask Jesus to help us have more belief.

We need to do the same thing Jesus told Thomas about the scars in His side. In the last part of JOHN 20:27, Jesus said, “Stop doubting and believe!”

We have a natural tendency to run away before we commit. We see that all the time with people who say they are Christians, but will not go to anybody and tell them about Jesus. I truly believe that being non-committal towards Jesus is a sin. If we don’t know Him here, He has promised to not know us there.

Let me ask you a question. Picture yourself at your wedding. You are standing there and the minister asks you if you will take your fiancé for better or worse, etc. What do you think would happen if you just looked around and said nothing? Do you think you would hurt your fiancé? if you took that person to be your spouse, what do you think the response would be if you were absolutely silent? Again, do you think you would hurt your fiancé? Do you think you would be helping yourself? No, you would be doing more damage to that person and to yourself than you could ever calculate.

That is the same with your relationship to Jesus. Many people freeze up when asked to state their relationship to Jesus. Many people would actually rather deny Him than take the risk of having somebody mock them by confessing Jesus. Isn’t that what Peter did on the night they arrested Jesus?

ROMANS 10:9 promises us,

‘… if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him, you will be saved.

Now, before we go any further, let me say that we must believe in Him, and we must confess Him. And, if we confess Jesus is our Lord, and that we have Him in our hearts, doesn’t it make sense that we would also be striving to do what He wants us to do?

In ACTS 2:38, we are told to repent and be baptized. It means just that.

Stop running! Get on B.A.S.E. with God.

I believe in Christ!

BELIEVE – ADMIT – SURRENDOR – EXPRESS

Believe that Jesus is Lord; Admit to yourself that He is your Savior; Surrender your heart to Him today; and Express Him to others around you.

The young man who sat in the chair on the stage had a decision to make. He could trust the truth, or he could run when it got uncomfortable. We have that same choice to make today.

We can choose to have a believing heart; then ponder and study what it is we actually believe; and then stop running long enough to cement our relationship with Christ, or we can run away.

The problem with running, is that one day you will have no other place to run to, and you will find yourself in that long line, waiting to be judged one-on-one with the Lord. When you find yourself standing there, what are you going to feel like when He looks directly at you and says, “NEXT”?

I think the only option we have today is to be sure we are protected against tomorrow’s onslaught. Are you protected? Would you like to be? Do you think you should be?

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· “The Embassy of Heaven” (Strayton, Ore.) considers all earthly governments illegitimate and issues its own license plates for cars. No word as to whether Oregon accepts their license plates as legitimate.

· “The Nudist Christian Church of the Blessed Virgin Jesus”. Now, I’m not quite sure what all this group teaches… but I’m pretty sure I could recognize them from a mile away. They’d be the ones with no clothes on.

· And the last one that caught my attention was “The Church of God Anonymous”. They’re kind of hard to find since they’re……” anonymous”. Ha!

Those are some of the “odd ducks” in the list. But in that list of 1517 denominations there are groups that we would probably consider to be more “normal”.
• There are 88 denominations that call themselves Baptist
• 42 call themselves Methodist
• 22 call themselves Presbyterian – and the list goes on and on.

Now contrast that reality to these statements out of Scripture:

Philippians 1:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

Ephesians 4:3-6 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

AND OF COURSE:
John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Now, I find those Scriptures intriguing. They all basically say the same thing: the church SHOULD be ONE. This should be our objective… this should be our passion.

BUT do you think that we’ll EVER attain that goal?
Well, the early church had problems getting it done.
The church had been in existence for somewhere between 3 or 4 years when God had Peter baptize Gentiles without having circumcised them (Acts 10). This created such a furor amongst the Jewish believers (who were all circumcised) that had to hold a big gathering in Jerusalem to hash it out (Acts 15).

At that meeting, Peter and Paul gave testimony of what God had already done amongst the Gentiles. They were so persuasive that the leaders of the church sent out a letter to all the churches telling them that Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised to be saved.

DID THAT SETTLE THE ISSUE? Oh no! From that day on, a group of “circumcisers” went from church to church telling Gentile converts that they were NOT saved unless they submitted to circumcision.
This became such a divisive and troublesome issue that a major portion of Paul’s letters spent time combating this heresy.

So, even the early church couldn’t attain unity.
Does that mean we’ll never get it done?
Probably.
Does that mean we shouldn’t try?
There are those who would suggest it. They look at the all the different denominations and they conclude you’ll never get it done… so why try?

I read one man’s sermon that compared all the disunity in the church to a bunch of crayons. He maintained that all the varying denominations had their own particular colors and distinctions… but in the end they would all go back into the same box.

Now I found that to be a very colorful illustration (get it? Colorful… crayons… you can groan now). But I also found it to be very unbiblical.

Scripture repeatedly commands the church to pursue unity
- “stand firm in ONE spirit, contending as ONE man for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27)
- “Make every effort to keep the UNITY of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1)
- “agree with one another so that there may be NO DIVISIONS among you and that you may be PERFECTLY UNITED in mind and thought.” (I Corinthians 1:10)

These are NOT suggestions… they are marching orders. This is the overriding objective of the church.

In John 17, Jesus didn’t PREDICT unity. He PRAYED for it. He pled for it. And He prayed for unity because He knew that would be the one main difficulty for His church.

If it was so critical an issue that Jesus made it a key priority of His prayer, we need to be His servants to pursue it. But how? Well, there’s three ways that people have tried obtaining unity:

1st – there have been those who have pursued the “box of crayons” approach. They have tried to simply say that every church who claims to be Christian Church is one. It doesn’t matter what they believe. All that matters is that they CLAIM to belong.
Of course the problem with that approach is that, if we followed it to its logical conclusion, we would be forced to accept certain cults (i.e. Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and others) who claim to be Christian but who hold a perverted view of God and Christ, and often add to God’s Word to establish their claims.
That’s not going to work.

2nd – there have been those who’ve tried focus on the doctrines that the majority of churches agree with and use that as their standard of unity. Essentially (they say) we could just boil it all down to the lowest common denominator and what we could essentially agree on would be the basis of unity.
In religious circles this is called “ecumenicalism”

A friend of mine showed me a list of about 7 doctrines that the majority of churches agree on. Things like:
– the divinity of Christ
- the sinfulness of man
- the need for salvation by the blood of Jesus

The ecumenical effort is an attempt to echo something said by Augustine several hundred years ago:
“In essentials unity, In doubtful things liberty, But in all things love.”

That’s a good saying… and it is one of the concepts behind the ecumenical approach. But there’s a couple of problems with this,

1st: ecumenicalism seeks the lowest common denominator. It focuses on what MOST denominations can “agree” on. Essentially it’s based upon “majority vote” mindset.

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, when I told the story about the denomination that voted on their doctrine every couple of years? Or the church’s that have a board? This OFTEN becomes the result of ecumenicalism. They vote on what the Pastor is to preach on, NOT the Holy Spirit!
And churches that have tried to be “ecumenical” on this basis have often ended up with a soft, pudgy–kind of faith that really stands for very little, and has very little power or substance. Their churches are generally not very exciting because they stand for so little.

The 2nd problem with ecumenicalism is that it tries to have unity while ignoring many the principle causes for division in Christendom.
· it ignores unBiblical terminology that a lot of churches use.
· it ignores man-made names, traditions, and creeds.
· it ignores the many different ways churches invite converts to be saved.

I was visiting this denominational church and I liked this preacher, but I made the mistake of letting him give the invitation. His church sprinkled babies and ours only baptized adults… so he was a little unsure of what to do.
He could have simply asked the kids to come forward to make a decision after which he could have counseled the kids that were with his church… and I from the kids in ours. But this guy had an ecumenical twist to his thinking. He got up front and gave the invitation… and I swear he gave those kids 5 different ways to become Christians.

Mark Twain: you can tie 2 cats’ tails together and you have a union – but you do not have unity.

As appealing as ecumenicalism can sound, essentially it’s the practice of tying 2 cats’ tails together… with the resulting confusion and potential conflict.

Now, there’s a 3rd approach to unity – and it’s the one Jesus spoke of in His prayer. Jesus prayed:
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

What was Jesus saying? He was saying that the only way to true unity was by the power of God’s Word.
· True unity can NOT be attained by consensus.
· True unity can NOT be gained by a majority vote.
· UNITY (in Christ) can only be attained on the basis of Scripture alone.

One of our brotherhood’s more prominent mottos is one we essentially ripped off from Augustine.
“In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, but in all things love”

Think about this quote for a moment!
Granted, that’s what the ecumenical churches believe as well, but we reject the notion that unity can be established on the basis of “consensus”.

We believe that most of what creates division in Christendom is the use of man-made creeds, man-made traditions and man-made terminology. We’ve always taught that it doesn’t matter what a church or denomination believes… it only matters what they can support through Scripture.
Thus, it can be difficult for us to decide how freely to fellowship with groups that teach things we can’t find in the Bible.

For example, Larry (the lead singer in a Southern Gospel group “SonShine Boys”) loves Southern Gospel music and he often arranges to have different groups come in to sing. A lot of these groups come from denominational backgrounds that differ from us. And while much of what these groups sing is what we already believe, they all send a letter explaining one thing they cannot do in the building.
They are not allowed to talk about “accepting Jesus into your heart”
Or “praying for salvation”
Why not?
Because those concepts aren’t in Scripture. The Bible NO-WHERE gives us an example of anyone bowing their head and praying the “sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus into their heart.
It’s just not in the Bible!

We want unity in Christendom, but we want it solely on the basis of what can be found in Scripture. Nothing more… nothing less.

So, we live in culture where there are over 1500 denominations with their various doctrines, and creeds and ways of becoming Christians…how can we strive to create unity in such a divisive atmosphere???

First we need to realize that this is not an issue we can afford to ignore. Scripture makes the concept of unity a high priority and Jesus greatly desires it. Thus, retreating into our fortress and drawing up the drawbridge is not an option. We are commanded to seek the creation of unity.

2nd – we don’t surrender our principles. We can’t solve the problem by simply ignoring it or giving in to it. We have to know what we believe… and why we believe it.

We must cling to the ideal of
· Christ as our only Creed
· The Bible as our only book of authority
· Christian – the only name we should go by
· Love as the law that guides us and binds us together.

3rd, we must never argue. Church I said, we must never argue!
Now, this is a tough one. I find it hard not to get quarrelsome at times. OK, OK! Most of the time!
If you’re convinced you’re right, and the other person is wrong it’s the most natural thing in the world to try to argue them out of it. They’re obviously not listening to you, so you have to turn up the volume and shout them into submission.

But 2 Timothy tells us: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” 2 Timothy 2:23-25

We must cling to the ideal of Unity!

Arguing doesn’t leave any room for God to do His thing. If I get quarrelsome, I try to be the authority and power in the conversation…and that’s just not going to work.

I was visiting with a husband and his wife. Lela, the wife, was the most gentle women you could ever encounter. Her husband Marvin wasn’t a bad guy either… but he rarely showed up for church. Couldn’t be bothered.
Well, here I was – just trying to get acquainted – when in walks their daughter and son-in-law. These folks went to church in another town… and they didn’t much like our church. The daughter and her husband began to try to engage me in an argument over baptism… but I wasn’t there to talk about baptism. I was just there to visit.
It was almost embarrassing. Try as I might to turn the conversation to something else, they were insistent on making me defend our position on baptism. But I repeatedly made it clear that I had no intention of getting in to that debate.
In spite of my best efforts, I could sense the whole tenor of the evening going downhill fast…
and as I got into my car, I apologized to God for my failure.

Then, the next week, Marvin was in church. And he was in church the week after that… and the week after that. Then one day, he called me and asked me to come out and talk. He wanted to get baptized.

What had stopped him from doing it before???
Well, every time he got around church people, all they seemed to want to do was argue.
I was the first preacher he’d ever seen try to stay out of an argument… and that was purely by accident.

So, first – realize this is not an option. Unity (on the basis of Scripture) must be a priority.
2nd – know what you believe
3rd – stay away from trying to “argue” people into God’s word, Yes I know I have a hard time with this one too!

And LASTLY: Love people. As one person wisely noted,
“Most people don’t care what you know. What they want to know is how much you care.”

These are the principle concepts behind our motto:
“In essentials, unity, In opinions, liberty… and in all things love”

God Bless you in this endeour, In Christ’s Love! Bill

Related articles

• Today we will be starting our Biblical Studies on the book of Romans, Not Ashamed of the Gospel (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Thomas Campbell and the Restoration Movement (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Church Divided, Denominated, Disobedient! (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• This will conclude our Biblical Studies of the Book of Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 18 through 26, It’s an overview of the whole Book (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

Thus, the Presbyterians were divided over many things, and each group sought to maintain the purity of their positions. So they (like many other denominations of the day) opted for “closed communion” to make sure that only those who clung to their standards could take communion at their churches.

In the Presbyterian churches it worked like this: the Lord’s Supper was taken once every month or so… but on the Saturday night before Communion Sunday members were required to come in and answer a series of questions. If they answered the questions correctly they received a “Communion coin” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communion_token), and the next day they would drop their coin in the box and partake.
This didn’t sit very well with Campbell — who believed that the Lord’s Supper belonged to Christ rather than to him – and on at least one occasion he opened the Communion table to all who belonged to Christ. Word got back to denominational headquarters and they sacked him. He was branded a heretic and eventually left that group.

About that same time, Thomas’s son, Alexander, was shipwrecked on his way over from Scotland. He stayed in Scotland another year, and while he was there attended worship services at a Presbyterian congregation in the neighborhood. On Communion Saturday night he dutifully went in to answer the questions required of him for the coin… and was shocked to find that the questions were different than he was accustomed to. However, being well versed in Scripture and Presbyterian thinking, he was able to answer the questions correctly and received his coin. The next day he walked in, put his coin in the box and walked away without taking of the Lord’s Supper.

When Father and Son got back together they both had come to the conclusion that the church had way too many HUMAN rules and regulations. Christians were being segregated from God (at the communion table) and from other Christians because each denomination insisted on clinging to their own distinctive denominational names, creeds and practices.

They were soon joined by Methodist and Baptist groups who were struggling with their own denominations’ teachings. They were tired of all the divisiveness and they just wanted to be “Christians Only.”

Question does your chuch have a policy that members only can partake of Communion? Do you know? Find out!

What these people were upset about was the tendency of Churches to change the rules. To change the oil in the machine of the faith once delivered to the saints. They began to believe they needed to do was go back and “restore” — as best they could — the pattern of the New Testament Church and to only practice and believe what that first group of believers held to. Because they were attempting to “restore” what the early church did, they began to refer to themselves as a “restoration movement.”

THE MEANING OF THE COLORS IN THE FLAG – spoken by the flag.

My red stands for the blood that was shed for the freedom I represent. Yet, my red originated from the blood of Jesus who died and rose again for those who believe in Him and for whom the Pilgrims came to this country for religious freedom and for the freedom from tyrants who would not let them worship God except in a national denominational church.

My people are now free to worship in the church of their choice, whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel, Evangelical Free, Brethren, Episcopalian, Catholic, Vineyard or other denominations who believe in the One True God of the Bible. People here are even free to disbelieve or to doubt. All we ask in America is that the ones who do not believe in Jesus will not try to use the freedoms we give them to try to take away the freedoms of those of us who do believe in Jesus.

Our Founders held church services in the Rotunda of the Capitol, in the treasury office, and in the offices of the Supreme Court. By 1867, the church in the Capitol had become the largest church in Washington, and the largest Protestant church in America. (from James Hutson, Chief of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Washington, D.C., Library of Congress 1998). This, among many other historical writings and facts, is proof that the recent claims of a separation of church and state did not exist among the original intent of our Founders.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Psalm 33:12

My blue stands for heaven, the eternal dwelling place of those who go to be with the eternal, everlasting Father who created us. My blue reminds me that those who want to go to heaven must believe and put their trust and belief in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience to the written message that God gave to them in His Holy Book, the Bible is the proof of my people’s faith in God.

My white reminds me that my motives must always remain pure, unselfish, without greed, & with arms outstretched to welcome all who long for freedom, justice, opportunity and equality under the law.

My white reminds me that because I am the symbol of a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles and the law of God represented by God’s Ten Commandments that I am only pure and righteous because I was washed white in the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and Savior of all who trust in Him.
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
Proverbs 14:34
May all who love me work to elect Godly men and women who will live Godly lives in private and in public, who will honor me in their homes, their hearts, and in our nation, who will make righteous laws which reflect God’s righteous rules in His Holy Word, the Bible.
God loves the United States and He is warning her to change her path so that He can bless her again and not allow disasters to destroy her.

2 Chronicles 7:11-22
The LORD Appears to Solomon
11When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace,
12the LORD appeared to him at night and said:“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
16I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17“As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,
18I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
19“But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
20then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

RESTORATION MOVEMENT

21And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
22People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

How long will America have to suffer before she awakens to the fact that God is trying to get her attention to get her to return back to Him?

God does use natural disasters, human disasters and economic disaster to get the attention of a nation that is departing from Him and moving from a nation under God to a nation under evil.

Just read 2 Chronicles 7:13: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people.”

This verse tells me that God uses disasters to awaken a nation that is slipping quickly into sin. It’s to get the attention of the nation and His people. It’s to get them to repent and turn from their wicked ways.

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. REPENT!!

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• Church Divided, Denominated, Disobedient! (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

What makes a certain food your favorite food? 1. You like its taste. 2. It satisfies your hunger. 3. It has all the vitamines and nutrients that you need for good health.

What makes a certain church right for you? 1. You like its taste. 2. It satisfies your spiritual hunger. 3. It has all the doctrines and teachings you need for spiritual health.

Hartford Institute for Religious Research says that there were 217 denominations listed in the 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. But there may well be other groups that function as a denomination but do not regard themselves as such. These all denominational groups claim to best represent what God wants for His people. Christianity Today reported that worldwide: According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in the world. This statistic takes into consideration cultural distinctions of denominations in different countries, so there is overlapping of many denominations.
But even with only 217, that’s quite a smorgasbord of choices, is it not? We also see that within a given name brand or denomination, there are a variety of distinctions that are noticeable and sometimes even stark in contrast.

Division within the church is not new. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1:10-13)
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

God’s word nowhere supports the idea of denominational division in the body of Christ. Does that mean that all churches are good and equally acceptable to God? Not at all!
God’s word clearly supports unity, but that unity must be founded on Jesus Christ and His teachings, not on whatever feels good or tastes good or appeals to my fleshly nature or excuses my sinful desires. Church unity in Christ is based on following the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the scriptures.

Listen to Galatians 1:6-12

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Then Paul gives this assurance:
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received

it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Church people must seek God! His gospel, His grace, His glory.

Romans 16:17-19
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Church people must seek God! His purpose, His pattern, His peace.

2 Timothy 4:1-5
4 1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Church people must seek God! His testimony, His teaching, His truth. one fallicy people have is that we as Christians are all of one mind right now.

Jesus said: Matthew 7: 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Church people must seek God! His word, His will, His way. We need to lay down our pettieness and pride and pick up the Cross.

Jesus prayed for the church: John 17: 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Church people must seek God! His prayer, His plea, His plan. We need to stop telling others we know it all and they need to do it our way.

Where do you see denominationalism in Jesus’ prayer? It’s not there. Name brand Christianity is not God’s will for His people. While it is true that divisions do exist among those who call on the same Christ, read the same scriptures, and seek the same eternal hope of heaven, we must never come to peace with division. If those who are in denominations around us are just fine as they are, we have no right to exist as a separate group from them. If they believe and practice teachings that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and are doing so in ignorance but sincerity of faith, and you know it, you have an obligation to bring it to their attention! If I or anyone else in this church are practicing teachings that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you know it, are you not responsible to say so?

There are sincere followers of Christ who need to know the way of Christ more correctly, such as Apollos in Acts 18:24-26

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Do you know anyone like that? Will you not share the way of God with them? Or are you so narrow minded that you already know everything their is to know? Have you already searched the Sciptures so thourghly that you cannot find a hint of what you don’t know?

But there are also false teachers described in the scriptures that work to destroy the church. The scriptures speak of them not as men of sincerity, but as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They go about not building up the body, but dividing and destroying it!

Listen to a couple of passages that describe these false teachers: 2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

How do you deal with such as these? God’s word teaches us to beware of them and to avoid them. Jude tells us: 17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others

from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Is Christ divided?

Church people must seek God! His mission, His message, His mercy. We need to lay down at the foot of the Cross, And pick up what Binds us together in Unity as one voice, as one mind, as one body, with Christ as the Head!

The gospel of Jesus Christ calls everyone to be saved from this corrupt generation. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that God created us to be like him, that we have fallen short of God’s glory into sin, but God’s love and grace have been poured out in an amazing sacrifice so that we can be saved from sin to live in and with Him now and forever. Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son was given to come here and die a cruel death on a cross so that your sins and mine could be atoned for and we could receive mercy and pardon for sins. Jesus paid it all. All who believe in Him and repent of sin, confess Him as Son of God, submitting to Jesus as Lord and Savior may be baptized in His name for forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and hope of eternal life.

Church people must seek God! His gospel, His grace, His glory, as one then and only then can we expect a revival in the land, but it is up to us.

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• How is the Christian religion different from all the other world religions? by Genesis to Revelation
• The Hebrew Roots movement (HRM) is also known as The Sacred Name movement.
• The Anti-Christ is Coming With All Power and Signs and Lying Wonders Soon!  
• Acts, Chapter Seventeen, Last part, with He is not far from us (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

“In the year A.D. 57, Paul was on his third missionary journey, getting ready to go back to Jerusalem with an offering from the churches in Greece. Although he knew he had enemies in Jerusalem, he was already thinking about his fourth missionary trip…

…”Paul wanted to go to “Spain”, and the best travel route would take him through “Rome”…This could work out well, Paul thought….There are already Christians in Rome, and they might be willing to support my trip to Spain, just as the Antioch church supported my earlier missionary journeys and the Macedonian churches supported me while I was in southern Greece…

“So Paul decided to write to the Roman Christians to let them know that he planned to come to Rome and then go to Spain and that he would appreciate some support. “However”…Paul had a “problem”…the Roman Christians might have heard some erroneous rumors about what Paul preached. To prevent misunderstanding, Paul explains what the gospel is, so they will know what they are being asked to support.

…”But that is only the first half of Romans. In the second half, Paul deals with some problems that existed in the Roman churches especially the tension between Jewish Christians and gentile Christians. Paul uses part of his letter to discuss Jew-Gentile relationships in God’s plan, and Christian conduct and love for others. He tries to give these Christians some doctrinal foundation for unity…..

“We do not know whether Paul made it to Spain, but his letter was a tremendous success in other ways. It has been valued throughout church history as “the most doctrinally complete letter that Paul wrote”…It is the letter that “sparked the Reformation”.It is the letter that “influenced “Martin Luther” and “John Wesley” and countless others. It provides the “benchmark” for all studies of Paul’s theology, and because of that, it is a “cornerstone” for “understanding the doctrines” of the early church”…

…”Introduction to the gospel”…
“Paul begins, as Greek letters normally did, by identifying himself: Paul, a servant of Christ-Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…Rom.1:1.. Paul identifies himself as a slave who has been commanded to spend all his time on the gospel. He is sent by the master with the message of God…

“Greek letters” normally began by naming the sender, and then the recipients. But Paul is so focused on the gospel that, before he names the readers, he goes into a five-verse digression about the gospel….In effect, he puts his message at the “top”, before he even gets to the Dear so-and-so line. This makes it clear that his letter is about the gospel…

…The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures… Rom.1:2…Paul begins by linking the gospel to the Old Testament promises as he also does in 1 Cor. 15:3-4..This provides a point of stability for gentile readers, and some reassurance for Jewish readers…

“God’s message is regarding his Son. It is about the Son of God; the promises found in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus-Christ, …who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David…Rom. 1:3…The gospel is again connected with the Old Testament past; Paul’s words will appeal to his Jewish readers and remind the Gentile readers of their Jewish roots. The Son is a descendant of “King David”….. However, by saying “as to his earthly life,” Paul implies that something more than human life is involved. This person at the center of the gospel is not merely a human; he is also the Son of God in a way that other people are not…

…Rom.1:4…who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead:Jesus-Christ our Lord and Saviour Through the Holy-Spirit, Jesus was powerfully demonstrated to be God’s Son by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus, although a human descendant of David, was shown to be more than human by his resurrection into glory…

…”But the gospel “does not stop with Jesus”…”It also includes us”.Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake…Rom.1:5…Paul will say more about “grace” and obedience later in his letter. But he says here that “we” have not only received grace, but also “apostleship”. Paul is referring to his commission to take the gospel to the gentiles, and by “we” he means the small number of people who were working with him in this special mission, such as Timothy. They have received the grace of “spreading the gospel”…

“He connects the gospel to the readers in verse 6: And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus-Christ. The gospel says that “believers” “belong to Christ”…

…”After this introductory description of the gospel, Paul gets back to the normal letter format by announcing who the letter is written to: To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be “saints” Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus-Christ…Romans 1:7…

“Paul does not greet “the church of God that is at Rome.” He does not speak of it as a unity. As we will see later on in Chapter 16 suggests that there were several house churches. Nor does he write to any particular church leaders. Instead, perhaps because he is not sure how this letter will be delivered, he addresses it to all the believers…

…”A prayer of thanks”…
“Greek letters often included a prayer of thanksgiving to one of the gods, and Paul adapts this custom, thanking the true God: First, I thank my God through Jesus-Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world..Rom.1: 7…This tells us that Paul prayed through Christ, and it also tells us that “all the world” doesn’t always mean the entire earth. In this case, it means the eastern Roman Empire…It was a “figure of speech”, not a “geographical fact”…

“Paul gave God the credit for these people’s faith. He didn’t thank the people for believing, he thanked God, because God is the one who enables people to believe. Of our own, we would turn away. Whatever faith we have, we need to thank God as the one who gives us that faith…

…”In Rom.1:9…Paul calls God as his witness, to stress that he is telling the truth: God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. People today might say, God knows that I pray for you every day…

“Paul puts in a few extra words, adding that he serves God with his whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son. He is keeping the gospel in the discussion, keeping his role as a servant in the context. These are his credentials; this is what his life is about. Paul’s authority does not rest on himself, but on his role as a servant of God. He is doing only what God wants, and if that’s true, then the people need to listen to what he says……

…”Paul’s plan to visit Rome”…
“In verse 10 he adds something else: and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. Paul is telling them that he hopes to visit them. This helps create a relationship between the author and the recipients…

“I long to see you”..he says in Rom 1:11..so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong. He wanted to strengthen them but he quickly adds, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith in verse 12..Paul would be encouraged by them, as well, at least, he hopes he would be!

…”If I were there in person, he seems to be saying, we would both benefit. But since this is only a letter, the communication can go only one way, and this letter is Paul’s attempt to give them a spiritual gift to strengthen them”…

“Paul’s plan is not a spur-of-the-moment idea….I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you but have been prevented from doing so until now in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles…Romans 1:13…

…”Paul has often thought of going to Rome. Even when Paul lived in Jerusalem, he would have met people from Rome and would have heard stories of its “famous buildings”. And Paul has already gone as far as Greece, why not go farther, to the capital of the Empire, where many Jews had already gone? But so far, circumstances prevented Paul from doing it…

“Why did Paul want to come? He wanted a harvest he wanted more people to accept the gospel of Christ. Although many Jews lived in Rome, Paul “focused” on the gentiles. They were his primary mission field, even if he went to the synagogues first. In the synagogues, Paul could find gentiles who were prepared to receive the gospel…

…”An obligation to preach”…
“I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the “wise and the foolish”. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.Rom.1 14-15…Paul wanted to preach to everyone, and that’s why he wanted to preach in Rome, as well…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel”, he says in verse 16. He has already used the word gospel twice and given a couple of descriptions of it. He has stressed that this is his calling in life, his duty before God. He is not ashamed of the gospel and he doesn’t want the Romans to be ashamed of it, either. He describes it again in verse 16: It is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. The gospel is the way that God saves people…

…”Technically”, we are “saved by grace”, by what Christ has done for us. But the gospel is the means by which we learn of that salvation and the way in which we receive it. The gospel is the power of salvation because it tells us about salvation…

“God uses the gospel to bring salvation to everyone who accepts the message, to everyone who trusts in Christ…since Christ is the center of the message, accepting the gospel means accepting Jesus-Christ as well. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the “message of eternal life”…It is nothing to be ashamed of, it is something to be “shared with everyone”, both Jews and gentiles…

…”Why is it a message of salvation? Because in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith “…Rom.1:17…quoting Hab. 2:4…The gospel reveals the righteousness of God. Righteousness means more than strict justice, it says that “mercy” is “more important than justice”…. As Paul will explain, justice generally says that sin must be punished, but the gospel reveals that true righteousness involves “mercy and grace”…

“What does Paul mean when he says that this righteousness is by faith?…He is not saying that God is righteous by faith, he is not talking about the way that God is righteous. No, he is talking about righteousness that comes from God to people. It is his gift to them; they are then in a right relationship with him…

This righteousness is by faith from first to last, or literally, from faith to faith

…”This righteousness is by faith from first to last, or literally, “from faith to faith.” The meaning of this phrase is often debated, but perhaps the best explanation is that righteousness comes from God’s faithfulness and instills our faith in response. Paul is not trying to explain it at this point; he is tossing out a phrase that will make his readers want to continue to see how he will explain it…

“This gift of righteousness” is not what justice demands, and it is more than mercy demands. It is grace, a gift we did not deserve and that is good news. The gospel reveals righteousness between God and us, and with that righteousness comes many benefits, from forgiveness to glory. Paul will have more to say about that in later chapters….

…”Soon we will continue our biblical studies of the words of God from the scriptures with Romans Chapter 1:18-32…Until then, may our gracious God bless You all and “Thank-You” for your dedications in your studies”…I would like to go through the “whole Bible” in our biblical studies of the Words from the Scriptures …not just..some..but the “Entire Book”..this way we will gain more knowledge and understanding…If You like this Idea…please Comment and like the post! This will give me the support I need and will make it easier for me to prepared these studies in advances.Thank-You!

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• Acts, Chapter Seventeen, Last part, with He is not far from us (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
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• Acts Chapter 17, The gospel goes into Macedonia and Greece On to Thessalonica (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
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• Acts Chapter seventeen, Part two with Jews accuse Paul and Silas (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

…OUTLINE…
“The events preceding Jesus’ ministry…Acts 1:1-4:13…can be “divided” into three sections: The prologue..Acts 1:1-4.. which records Luke’s purpose in writing the Gospel; the infancy narrative..Acts 1:5-2:52.. which parallels the annunciation and birth scenes of John the Baptist and Jesus-Christ; and the preparation for Jesus’ ministry…Acts 3:1-4:13…which tells of John’s ministry, the baptism of Jesus and Jesus’ victory over Satan…

…Luke divides Jesus’ public ministry…Acts 4:14-21:38…into three sections:…

…”Jesus’ ministry in Galilee…Acts 4:14-9:50…shows him “preaching” in the synagogues throughout the region. He performed “numerous miracles”, which helped the people but brought him into conflict with the religious authorities.
The travel narrative..Acts 9:51-19:27..begins when “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem’ (9:51) and ends with his triumphant arrival there…

“Luke documents numerous references to Jesus continuing on his journey..Acts 9:52, 53, 56; 10:1, 38; 13:22, 31-33; 14:25; 17:11; 18:31, 35; 19:1, 11, 28..This section contains many parables unique to Luke’s Gospel: the good Samaritan ..Acts 10:29-37.. the friend at midnight..Acts 1 1:5-8.. the rich fool..Acts 12:13-20.. the returning master..Acts 12:35-38.. the barren fig tree..Acts 13-6-9.. the wedding banquet..Acts 14:7-14.. the great banquet..Acts 14:15-24 the lost coin..Acts 15:8-10.. the lost son..Acts 15:11-32..the shrewd manager..Acts 16:1-9.. Lazarus and the rich man..Acts 16:19-31.. the unjust judge..Acts 18:1-8..and the Pharisee and the tax-collector…Acts 18:9-14…

…”Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem..Acts 19:28-21:38..includes his triumphant entry, a lamentation over the city..Acts 19:41-44.. the cleansing of the temple..Acts 19:41-48.. his teaching on tribute to Caesar and the temple tax..Acts 20:19-26.. and his prophecy of the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem…Acts 21:1-38…

“Finally, the passion narrative…Acts 22:1-24:53…portrays Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Luke includes three of Jesus’ sayings on the cross not found in the other accounts…Acts 23:34, 43, 46.. including a plea for God to forgive those who were crucifying him…Acts 23:34…

…”HOW TO READ THIS BOOK OF LUKE AND OF ACTS OF THE APOSTLES”…
“In some ways, the best way to read Luke is to study it and Acts as a “continuous” work, written by the same author. For example, knowing how important the Holy- Spirit is to the story in Acts helps us appreciate its role before and at Jesus’ birth …Acts 1:15, 35, 41, 67; 2:25-26…and in guiding his ministry…Acts 3:22;4:1,18…

“Luke-Acts”, as the work is called by scholars, has a more historical emphasis than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John. As in the historical books of the Old Testament, God is the main character in “Luke-Acts” his unseen hand guides events to fulfill his purpose. But Luke also places these events into “the context of world history. He connects it not only to the story of Israel but also to the larger oikoumene,the civilized world of Hellenism. Thus he alone of the evangelists provides chronological references for key events”…Luke 1:5; 2:1-2; 3:1-2;…Acts 18:12…

…”Luke, an educated man, wrote in very good Greek. Where the parallel accounts merely transliterate a Hebrew or Latin word, Luke often uses a Greek word instead. Luke explains to his largely gentile audience how God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament came to be fulfilled in Jesus-Christ, and how the gentile mission came to be included in those promises…

…”LEARNING ABOUT JESUS-CHRIST”…
“Although Luke, like the other evangelists, acknowledges Jesus’ divine status, he is careful to stress his humanity. Luke portrays the Jesus who entered history as a human being…

“Only Luke’s record of Jesus’ genealogy goes back to Adam..Luke 3:23-38.. Only Luke records Jesus’ circumcision..2:21.. his presentation at the temple..2:22-38.. his growth as a child..2:40.. his meeting at age 12 with the religious teachers in the temple..2:41-51..and his continued development “in wisdom and stature”..2:52.. These precise details establish Jesus as a historic personality…

…”Jesus’ humanity is again stressed in Luke’s account of the temptation scene..4:1-13.. He also paints Jesus against a background of pious Judaism. He mentions Jesus’ custom of attending synagogue on the Sabbath..4:1416, 31, 44..and that he was frequently the guest of Pharisees…7:36; 14:1…

“Luke tells us, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed”..Luke 5:16.. Only Luke records Jesus praying at certain crucial periods in his life: at his “baptism” … 3:21..before calling his disciples..6:12.. before Peter’s pivotal confession of Jesus as Christ..9:18..and before the transfiguration…9:28…These prayers highlight Jesus’ human need to pray to God…

…OTHER TOPICS…WOMEN…
“Luke-Acts shows us that, both during Jesus’ ministry and in the early church, several women were among the most dedicated of his followers. “Luke features the responsiveness of women..7:36-50; 8:1-3; 8:48; 10:38-42; 13:10-17; 24:1-12…

…”Often it is not just a women but a widow who is cited, since she represented the most vulnerable status within society..2:37; 4:25-26; 7:12; 18:3, 5; 20:47; 21:2-3.. Whether in parable or by example, these women show that they are sensitive to the message of Jesus. Though on the fringes of first-century society, they are in the middle of Luke’s story. Often they are paired with men..2:25-28; 4:25-27; 8:40-56; 11:31-32; 13:18-21; 15:4-10; 17:34-35; also Acts 21:9-10.. a feature suggesting that the gospel is for both genders”…

…”PRAYER”…The early church experienced dramatic answers to prayer on several occasions…Acts 4:31; 8:1517; 9:40; 12:5-11…Luke shows that the practice of prayer is rooted in Jesus’ example..5:16..

…”Luke also “includes parables which teach so much about prayer, the friend at midnight, the unjust judge, the Pharisee and the tax-collector. In addition Luke records some exhortations to the disciples to pray..6:28; 11:2; 22:40, 46..and he has a warning against the wrong kind of prayer…20:47…

…”WEALTH”…Luke has many statements relating to the affluent and the influential. They direct the rich to help the poor, and show the proper use of money generally: “Luke has the parable of the two debtors..7:40-43; of the rich fool..12:16-21; of the rash builder of the tower..14:28-30; of the unjust steward and his astute financial manipulations..16:1-9; of the rich man and Lazarus..16:19-31; of the servants and the pound…Acts 19:11-27…

…”WHAT THIS BOOK MEANS FOR YOU”…
“Luke portrays a Jesus-Christ who defined his mission as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”..4:18-19..

Saul now named Paul

…”Jesus brought good news to everyone, including the poor and oppressed, to all groups who were despised or marginalized by society in first-century Israel. Luke’s Gospel emphasizes that through Jesus-Christ, salvation is available to all, freely and without prejudice…

“Only Luke’s Gospel records the parable of the good Samaritan..10:30-37..and the story of the Samaritan who expressed gratitude to Jesus for being healed..17:11-19 These incidents foreshadowed the entrance of the Samaritans into the church of God …Acts 8:4-25…

In Luke, despised tax collectors become examples of repentance and discipleship in parable and in reality. Jesus-Christ forgives and praises a sinful woman..Acts 7:36-50..and promises paradise to a repentant thief…Acts 23:43…Repentance and forgiveness of sins are to be preached in Jesus’ name to all nations…Acts 24:47… “All mankind will see God’s salvation”…

Next I will start our biblical studies on the book of Romans…We will kind of continue our story with Paul the Apostle…”Not Ashamed of the Gospel” A Study of Romans…In the year A.D. 57, Paul was on his third missionary journey, getting ready to go back to Jerusalem with an offering from the churches in Greece……. Although he knew he had enemies in Jerusalem, he was already thinking about his fourth missionary trip. Paul wanted to go to Spain, and the best travel route would take him through Rome. This could work out well, Paul thought.

…”Thank-You all for having stay the whole course with our “Daily Biblical Studies” with me…May God bless You for all your dedications and devotions toward Him. I will be starting on the book of “ROMANS” soon. I like to give You time to reflect on those studies and maybe start with a new fresh approach to our studies…until then have a great day in our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ!

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“Paul insists that God has a purpose in allowing the rise and fall of nations, and their geographical placement. “God did this so that men would seek him,” says Paul, “and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” …Acts 17:27…Here again, Paul can be interpreted in two ways. The philosophers, Stoics for example, might think Paul is referring to the philosophical search for the truth”…

…”What Paul means is that people should respond to the longing in their inner being and search for the one true God..Psalm 14:2; Proverbs 8:17; Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 29:13…The Hebrew Scriptures promise that, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth”..Psalm 144:18.. Paul is saying, with the prophets, that God is nearby, not far away…Jeremiah 23:23… and he wants to be “discovered”…

…”In him we live and move”…Acts 17:28…
Paul wants to bolster his point that there is a relationship between humanity and God…that God wants to be sought and found in a particular way. Paul does this by “quoting some pagan poet-philosophers”. Paul says: “‘For in him God we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’”…Acts 17:28…

“There is some difficulty in knowing whether Paul is quoting the phrase “in him we live and move and have our being.” However, its equivalent is found in an ancient poem, Cretica, attributed to the Cretan poet Epimenides, who lived around 600 B.C. In this poem, Minos says this about Zeus……..

“They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high One…
The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!
But thou art not dead; thou livest and abidest for ever,
For in thee we live and move and have our being”…

…”The phrase, “We are his offspring,” is found in more than one poet. Paul’s use of the plural “poets” may refer to this fact. It is in a work by the Cilician poet…Paul is from Tarsus in Cilicia..Aratus, the Phainomena. The poem praises Zeus, and opens with these words:……

“Let us begin with Zeus. Never, O men, let us leave him
unmentioned. All the ways are full of Zeus,
and all the market-places of human beings. The sea is full
of him; so are the harbors. In every way we have all to do with Zeus, for we are truly his offspring”…

…”The phrase is also part of a poem by Cleanthes..331-233 B.C.. Hymn to Zeus, in a slightly different form. The first few lines are:……

“O God most glorious, called by many a name,
Nature’s great King, through endless years the same;
Omnipotence, who by thy just decree
Controllest all, hail, Zeus, for unto thee
Behooves thy creatures in all lands to call.
We are thy children, we alone of all…”

…”Paul has no problem in quoting material or ideas that were produced by pagans in honor of gods such as Zeus. He takes the principle…in this case, thoughts about the nature of God and humanity’s relationship to him and applies it to the one “True God”…

“By such maxims, Paul is not suggesting that God is to be thought of in terms of the Zeus of Greek polytheism, or Stoic pantheism. He is rather arguing that the “poets” his hearers recognized as authorities have to some extent corroborated his message. In his search for a measure of common ground with his hearers, he is, so to speak, disinfecting and rebaptizing the poets’ words for his own purposes.”

…”Paul’s speech, as we shall see at its end, is thoroughly “gospel-oriented” and “biblical in content”. He simply cites pagan authorities in the same way he cites the giants of Scripture, such as Moses or David, to prove his point about God’s purpose in Jesus-Christ…

“Paul doesn’t condemn the poets for groping after some understanding of God in a darkened world. He recognizes the common longing of humanity to connect with God. What Paul does in this speech is begin with the knowledge the philosophers and poets have. He uses it to help his hearers leap over their ignorance, and into the truth of God’s purpose in Christ…

…”Paul’s allusions to pagan worship and the thoughts of the philosophers are simple points of contact with his hearers. What the poets say about Zeus may have been correct, but only when applied to the one true God. In his speech, Paul seeks to make the proper shift…

…”God is not like the idol”…Acts 17:29-30…
“Paul now makes his “concluding remarks” about idolatry: “Since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone” … Acts 17:29…Paul is hitting closer to home now. Even the highly educated officials of the Areopagus must have some attachment to the gods, though perhaps not in the same way as the masses…

“Paul next labels idolatry for what it is: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent”..Acts 17:30.. Peter applied this same theme of excused ignorance to the Jews who rejected Jesus…Acts 3:17…

“It is of fundamental significance that they the Gentiles are called from where they began, just as were the Jews. Their ‘times of ignorance’ are not treated any differently than the ‘ignorance’ that excused the first rejection of Jesus the Prophet by the Jewish people.”

…”Paul notes that “God patiently tolerated human ignorance in ages past”…Romans 3:25…In Lystra, Paul says that God “let all nations go their own way”..Acts 14:16.. While God “overlooks” sin, there is also retribution for people who suppress the truth about his eternal power and divine nature…he lets sin have its natural results …Romans 1:18-32…

“But times have changed; a new beginning in God’s dealing with the human race has begun. Forgiveness for sin and intimate contact with God through the Holy-Spirit is possible. Repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Saviour is commanded. The days of groping in the dark and “spiritual ignorance are over”…The day of repentance is here and the time of judgment is coming…

…”Paul now warns the Areopagus that his speech is “not idle” philosophical speculation. His call to repentance is serious because God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice”…Acts 17:31…The quote is from Psalm 96:13…

“The New Testament makes clear in many places that a “day of judgment” is indeed coming. The offer of salvation in Christ is counterpoised with the threat of judgment for those who reject him…Luke 10:12-15; 12:42-48;..Romans 2:5-11, 16; 1 Corinthians 1:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10; 2 Peter 3:10-13″

…”Proof of resurrection”…Acts 17:31…
“Paul is near the end of his speech”. He focuses on Jesus-Christ, him crucified and resurrected. Paul insists that God will judge the world by “the man he has appointed”…Acts 17:31…referring to Jesus, but not mentioning his name. Jesus has been given all power in heaven and earth. This reality is proven, insists Paul, in the fact that God raised him from the dead..Acts 17:31..As Paul tells the Romans, Jesus “was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” …Acts 1:4…

“Paul has come a long way from his introduction, arriving at the essence of the gospel..the resurrection of Jesus-Christ. “It is no unknown God but a Risen Christ with whom we have to deal”…

…”Up to this point, Paul has been attempting to demonstrate God’s existence, sovereignty and purpose by the “around”…by things that can be seen. The philosophers might argue about the meaning of nature, but they certainly cannot argue against the fact of its existence…

“Now, Paul asserts that a human being..”Jesus”..has been raised from the dead. He is insisting on something contrary to the philosophers’ observation of the way the world works. It is also contrary to the views of the popular philosophies of the day”

…”In mentioning the resurrection, Paul risks rejection by his audience. They may agree to a created world and to our common humanity, but there is no possible ‘natural theology’ evidence for an assertion of the resurrection.”

…”Some sneer!”…Acts 17:32-34…
“Luke describes the generally negative reaction to Paul’s teaching: “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject’”…Acts 17:32…”Greeks believe in the immortality of the soul”…but the idea of a person being bodily resurrected from death “seems absurd”. As it turns out, the resurrection as well as the cross”seems like foolishness” to the leaders of Athens…hummm…

“In the later part of his speech, Paul has moved from repentance to judgment to the resurrection of Jesus to the return of Christ. Most of his hearers got lost along the way…

…”The idea of resurrection of dead people was uncongenial to the minds of most of Paul’s Athenian hearers….they would have endorsed the sentiments of the god Apollo, expressed on the occasion when that very court of the Areopagus was founded by the city’s patron goddess Athene: ‘Once a man dies and the earth drinks up his blood, there is no resurrection.’”

“Part of the Athenian leaders “reject Paul’s teaching completely”…and with open ridicule. Others, perhaps more curious, speak of hearing his theories at a later date. More than likely, however, they are merely politely dismissing Paul. At least, no charges are brought against him…

…”Only a few believe Paul’s message and the gospel. Luke says “a few men became followers of Paul”…Acts 17:34…He mentions Dionysius by name, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman, Damaris…

“Paul’s work in Athens ends on an “anti-climactic note”.The New Testament does not mention any church in the city. By contrast, the gospel will receive a strong acceptance in Corinth…

The people of Athens to intellegent for God?

…”This rather dismal experience in Athens may cause Paul to wonder whether any method of preaching the gospel could reach the educated of the pagan world. He later tells the Corinthians that “the world through its wisdom did not know” God…1 Corinthians 1:21…

“Paul may even decide to stop using philosophical arguments to persuade pagans. He tells the Corinthians that he “did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom” when preaching the gospel to them…Acts 2:1…Paul simply tells them about “Jesus- Christ and him crucified”…Acts 2:2…

Of course we will continue this biblical study later on…until then, have a great day in our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ!!!

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…”My power is awesome; try me…you’ll see, but if you do, you may never break free. Just try me once and I might let you go, but try me twice, and I’ll own your soul. When I possess you, you’ll steal and you’ll lie. You do what you have to just to get high. The crimes you’ll commit, for my narcotic charms will be worth the pleasure you’ll feel in your arms…

“You’ll lie to your mother…you’ll steal from your dad When you see their tears, you should feel sad. But you’ll forget your morals and how you were raised, I’ll be your conscience, I’ll teach you my ways. I take kids from parents, and parents from kids, I turn people from god, and separate from friends. I’ll take everything from you, your looks and your pride, I’ll be with you always, right by your side…Trust me…

…”You’ll give up everything your family, your home, your friends, your money, then you’ll be alone. And I’ll take and take, till you have nothing more to give. When I’m finished with you you’ll be lucky to live. If you try me be warned this is no game. If given the chance, I’ll drive you insane. I’ll ravish your body; I’ll control your mind. I’ll own you completely; your soul will be mine…

…”The nightmares I’ll give you while lying in bed, the voices you’ll hear from inside your head, the sweats, the shakes, the visions you’ll see; I want you to know, these are all gifts from me, But then it’s too late, and you’ll know in your heart, that you are mine, and we shall not part. You’ll regret that you tried me, they always do, but you came to me, not I to you…

***PILLS***DRUGS***

…”You knew this would happen. Many times you were told, but you challenged my power, and chose to be “bold”. You could have said no, and just walked away, If you could live that day over, now what would you say?..

“I’ll be your “master”; you will be my “slave”, I’ll even go with you, when you go to your grave. Now that you have met me , what will you do? Will you try me or not? Its all up to you. I can bring you more misery than words can tell. Come take my hand…come…let me lead you to hell… Repost this to save one Person!!!

…”And now we’re going to continue our biblical studies where we left off earlier on …Remember…”Perhaps we should see Paul’s “defense” before the Areopagus as being a kind of preliminary hearing to determine whether charges are to be filed. How he fares before this “grand jury” may determine his fate…

…”You are very religious”…Acts 17:20-22…
“Paul now stands before the Areopagus and the council asks him to speak. “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?” the Areopagus asks, “You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean” …Acts 17:20…hummmm…

“What Paul does in his speech is to point out the weaknesses of popular idolatry. But he does this by relying on the insights of Greek philosophers to show that some pagans have an understanding of God that contradicts idolatry. However, Paul then points out that the philosophers don’t go far enough. Here Paul introduces a new understanding of God and his purpose, and calls on his listeners to abandon their ignorance, and to repent…interesting indeed…

…”Paul immediately takes the side of his listeners by saying, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious”…Acts 17:22…Other people in “antiquity” are also impressed by the devoutness of the Athenians. Josephus says the Athenians are considered to be “the most religious”…

“Paul “doesn’t accuse the Athenians of idolatry or any sin”, but acknowledges their interest in the divine. Paul builds on their piety, he doesn’t condemn it. Privately, of course, he is very distressed by the fact that their worship is directed toward idols …Acts 17:16…The word for “religious” used here is ambiguous. It can mean either “superstitious” or “devout.” “Perhaps Paul deliberately chose the word with kindly ambiguity so as not to offend his hearers while, at the same time, expressing to his own satisfaction what he thought of their religion”…very wise and prudent…

…”TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”…Acts 17:23…
“Paul next refers to an ignorance of the divine that the Athenians themselves admit. He says, “As I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscriptions:”TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”…. Now what you worship as something “unknown” I am going to “proclaim to you”…Acts 17:23…

“We should notice a few things” about the way Paul is approaching his “defense” before the Areopagus. First, he is not yet directly challenging their idolatry. Since the Athenians admit that they don’t know who or what this God is…since he is “unknown”…they are in no position to deny his nature as Paul explains it. Also, Paul is not attacking their gods and leaving himself open to a charge of atheism. The God he is speaking of is a “new” one…

…”Secondly”, Paul does not use anything from the Jewish Scriptures in his speech. Paul is not trying to prove that Jesus is the Messiah that would be meaningless for a council whose members were probably followers of the major philosophies of the day…

“Paul does not begin his address by referring to Jewish history or by quoting Jewish Scriptures…He knew it would be futile to refer to a history no one knew or argue from fulfillment of prophecy no one was interested in or quote from a book no one read or accepted as authoritative.”

“Thirdly”, this is an excellent example of Paul’s willingness to “become all things to all people” in order to preach the gospel…1 Corinthians 9:22…To those like the pagan Athenian council members “those not having the law” Paul “became like one not having the law” to win them over to Christ..in verse 21…

…”The speech is a “wonderful specimen” of Paul’s approach to preaching to pagan Gentiles. The other example, of which Luke gave us a much briefer summary, we have already seen…in 14:15-17…

“As to the actual altar, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD,” we have no direct evidence…. “However”, we know from ancient writers that the Athenians have a penchant for setting up altars to unknown deities. Pausanias, the Greek traveler and geographer who lives around A.D. 150, mentions that there are “altars of gods both named and unknown” near Athens…

…”God made the world”…Acts 17:24…
“Paul’s next point is to establish that “the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth”..Acts 17:24.. Paul is telling the Athenians that God is “Creator” the maker of all things, not one who can be created by hands. God is not detached from his creation, and “the world did not come to exist by chance”, but by “design”. Paul points out that God guides human history. Here he contradicts the beliefs of some philosophers. He appeals to the Athenians’ experience of the creation around them as something that reveals God……..

…….It is said that there are two books about God…”the Bible and nature itself” The latter is said to be the basis of a “natural theology,” and that is where Paul begins to explain who God is to these pagans….

“In reasoning from the natural world toward faith in God, Luke’s Paul borders upon a ‘natural theology’….our observation of the natural world and its wonders as a forerunner of faith. How can people look up at the stars or ponder the mysteries of the world without imagining a real, though still unknown, divine force behind it all?”

…”Jews already believe in the one true God, and in Scripture, so when Paul speaks to Jews, he begins with “revealed theology”..that is, the statements of Moses, David and the prophets. He tries to convince them that Jesus fulfilled the Scriptural requirements of the Messiah…Luke 24:27…

“Of course, what Paul says about God as Creator is a major focus of Scripture as well…Isaiah 40:28; 42:5; 45:12…”The Hebrew Scriptures” provided plenty of ammunition to proclaim God’s sovereignty through the creation. But to persuade this audience in Athens, he cites examples and writings that are “accepted by Greek philosophers”. When the gospel is presented to pagans “it is necessary” to first establish who the one true God is. Paul claims that this God’s existence can be glimpsed by rightly understanding the creation…Romans 1:19-22…

…”The Athenians would first have to turn to God from idols before they can appreciate his saving work in Christ…1 Thessalonians 1:9…That is what Paul is driving at here, and the better part of his speech continues to be concerned with knowing God…

…”Does not live in temples”…Acts 17:24-25…
“The true God” said Paul, “does not live in temples built by hands”…Acts 17:24… Stephen made the same statement in a Jewish context…Acts 7:48-50…Subtly, both the Jewish temple and pagan temples are placed in the same category. Neither in Jerusalem’s holy place nor in any other holy place will people truly find and worship God…

“If even the shrine at Jerusalem, erected for the worship of the true God, could not contain him, how much less the splendid shrines on the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated as they were to divinities that had no real existence!”…

…”But even here”, Paul is not in conflict with the philosophers of the Areopagus. Stoic philosophers accept the premise that God or the gods is bigger than the temple…”What house built by craftsmen could enclose the form divine within enfolding walls?”…hummmm…

“Paul continues by saying that “God is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else”… Acts 17:25…”God needs nothing from us”. It is we who need everything from God even life and breath. This is something that even many pagans understand, so Paul is still on common ground here…

…”The principle that God is self-sufficient is also “basic Hebrew biblical theology”… Psalm 50:7-15;…1 Chronicles 29:14…So we can see that as Paul speaks, he is continuing to run on parallel tracks between the Scriptures and the thoughts of the philosophers…

…”From one man made nations”…Acts 17:26…
“Paul next appeals to the idea that our common humanity has a “single source”, by which he means the one true God. “From one man he..God..made every nation of men,” said Paul,”…and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live”…Acts 17:26…Presumably, Paul is alluding to the Genesis story of Adam as the first man…1 Corinthians 15:45…and the scattering during the building of the tower of Babel. Paul is veering a bit from common pagan speculation and might not be on the same page as the Areopagus philosophers…

“They might ask…Who was that man? Didn’t the Athenians spring from the sacred ground of Attica? Is Paul implying that God determined Athens’ prominence in the world, and now its relative insignificance as well?”…

…”Paul may be attacking the smugness of the Athenians, who still think of themselves as a great cultural force in the world. He is saying that people shouldn’t think of themselves as racially superior. Their worldly station depends on God’s will, as “Nebuchadnezzar discovered”…Daniel 4:32…

…”He is not far from us”…Acts 17:27…
“Paul insists that God has a purpose in allowing the rise and fall of nations, and their

Paul preaches to Areopagus and the council

geographical placement. “God did this so that men would seek him,” says Paul, “and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” …Acts 17:27…Here again, Paul can be interpreted in two ways. The philosophers, Stoics for example, might think Paul is referring to the philosophical search for the truth…

“What Paul means is that people should respond to the longing in their inner being and search for the one true God…Psalm 14:2;…Proverbs 8:17;…Isaiah 55:6-7; and Jeremiah 29:13…The Hebrew Scriptures promise that, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth”…Psalm 144:18…Paul is saying, with the prophets, that God is nearby, not far away…Jeremiah 23:23…and He wants to be discovered…

“The rest of this story…later…Until then may our Great Heavenly Father bless and guides You all, and Thank-You for your faithful diligence and dedications towards your Creator with full of Zeals and First Love to God!!!

Related articles

• Acts Chapter seventeen, Part two with Jews accuse Paul and Silas (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts, Chapter fifteen part three, James speaks. (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts Chapter 17, The gospel goes into Macedonia and Greece On to Thessalonica (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts, Chapter fifteen part two, Go up to Jerusalem. (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts Chapter 16, The second missionary journey in Derbe and Lystra, Acts 16:1-2 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

…”Paul at Athens”…Acts 17:16…
“Athens has a “1,000 year history of glory” when Paul enters its gates. The city is famous as the founder of democracy. It is a literary, artistic and philosophical center. Aeschylus, Epicurus, Euripides, Plato, Socrates, Sophocles, Thucydides and Zeno are part of its heritage…

“The Romans conquered Athens in 146 B.C., but they are so impressed with Greek learning that they foster Athens’ continuing dominance in cultural and intellectual matters. Athens continues to function as a free city. She lost her great wealth and pre-eminent position long before Paul teaches there. Athens, while still a “great university town”, has to live off its history, its reputation, its “ancient glory”. Its population during Paul’s days is only 10,000…

…”Teaching in the agora”…Acts 17:16-17…
“Paul is in the midst of an intellectual city, proud of its pagan heritage. Luke tells us that while Paul is waiting for Silas and Timothy, “he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols”..Acts 17:16.. Paul becomes emotionally troubled by the people’s ignorance of the true God. The Athens of Paul’s day is a city of “many gods”…. Ancient historians such as Livy and Pausanius attest to the fact that Athens is filled with “religious statues”…

“It was said that there were more statues of the gods in Athens than in all the rest of Greece put together and that in Athens “it was easier to meet a god” than a “man”.
Paul continues his usual practice of teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, where he reasons with Jews and God-fearing Greeks…Acts 17:16… But he also pursues a parallel strategy of going to the Gentiles on weekdays…

…”Paul reasons “in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there”…Acts 17:17…The marketplace is the agora, west of the Acropolis. It is the center of Athenian social life, and serves as its forum and a place where goods are bought and sold. Paul, like certain philosophers were known to do, challenges the crowds with the gospel message”…….

…”Stoics and Epicureans”…Acts 17:18…
“Paul soon finds himself “confronted” by Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who apparently teach in the agora as well. Athens is a home base for these rival schools of philosophy…

“Epicurus once said that pleasure is the chief goal of life. “Pleasure,” in his view, is the enjoyment of life that comes with freedom from pain, distressing emotions, superstitions, fears, and anxiety about death. To him the greatest pleasure is the absence of pain, suffering and fear…

…”Today, epicureanism is sometimes confused with hedonism, indulging in physical pleasures without restraint. But that is not what the Epicureans teach in Paul’s day. While they consider pleasure the highest good, it is more of an intellectual detachment from the cares of this life than attachment to physical desire. They know that physical desires can lead to addiction and unhappiness; one of the “pleasures” they seek is simply “friendship”…

“Epicurus and those who followed him do not deny the existence of the gods, but they say the notions held by the multitudes are wrong. The Epicureans argue that the gods are “far off,” with little or no interest in the ordinary lives of people. Epicureans have little motivation to seek after God or to fear his judgments…

…”The Stoic school of philosophy was founded by Zeno…340-265 B.C., from Citium in Cyprus. Stoics emphasize human rational abilities, individual self-sufficiency, moral worth and duty. They stress reason and logic as principles that should govern the lives of people. The gods of popular mythology are said to be expressions of this universal Reason. The Stoics are pantheists in that they think of the divine as a kind of “world-soul.”

…”This babbler”…Acts 17:18…
“It’s clear why the Epicureans and Stoics disagree with the gospel of salvation Paul is teaching in the agora. Thoughtful people rely on these two philosophies to explain the nature of human existence to help them cope with a world of suffering. These two philosophies try to explain the plight of humanity apart from any revelation of God’s purpose. In that sense, the gospel message is a great challenge to them. It brings “truth and light regarding humanity’s purpose”, and calls into question the usefulness of these philosophies……..

……….To believers in Epicureanism and Stoicism, Paul’s “philosophy” sounds alien and foolish perhaps even dangerous. It’s not strange, then, that upon hearing Paul speak, some of these philosophers say, “What is this babbler trying to say?”…Acts 17:18…The Greek word for “babbler” is spermologos. The word originally described the action of birds picking up grain. It was then applied to scrap collectors searching for junk. Finally, it came to refer to people who sell the ideas of other people without understanding them…

…”The word “spermologos” describes teachers who have only “bits and pieces of learning” but who are trying to sound learned. Or it might refer to “busybodies” or “gossips”… “the peddler of second-rate religious opinions” seems to sum up the sense of “babbler” quite nicely here…don’t You think?….

“Paul is contemptuously “dismissed” by the Stoics and Epicureans as “ignorant”…1 Corinthians 2:23…Others are less derisive but more perplexed, saying, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods”..Acts 17:18.. They say this because Paul is “preaching the “good news” about Jesus-Christ and the “resurrection”…Acts 17:18…The philosophers seem to misunderstand what he is talking about — the “foreign gods” may refer to a new god Jesus and a goddess…Resurrection, or anastasis in Greek… Perhaps these philosophers think that Paul wants to have these “new” deities added to the Athenian pantheon…hummm…

…”To the Areopagus”…Acts 17:19…
“The suspicious philosophers take Paul to a session of the Areopagus. It is the city council of Athens, and in Roman times it is still the chief judicial body of the city. The court has perhaps 30 members, and is considered a select body. Interestingly, the word “Areopagus” survives today as the title of the “Greek Supreme Court”…

“The council probably meets on the 377-foot hill called the Areopagus, or the Hill of Ares or Mars. Ares, the Greek god of war, was equated with the Roman god Mars. The hill is just northwest of the Acropolis….The council may meet at the Stoa Basileios, a columned building in the agora, the city center…

…”The Athenian Areopagus is the town council responsible for culture, education and religion. It also deals with cases of homicide and has oversight of public morals. The Areopagus evaluates the competence of visiting lecturers to speak in their city”

“It’s not altogether clear whether the philosophers simply ask Paul to go before the Areopagus or whether they made a citizen’s arrest and force him to go. The way Luke presents the proceeding it appears to be more of a curious inquiry rather than a formal hearing, and much less a trial. Since Luke doesn’t imply the existence of a legal proceeding, it appears that Paul is asked to present his views before a normal session of the Areopagus. But it may be something of a command performance, not to be refused…

…”Perhaps we can envision the Areopagus meeting in open session like a city council. It hears reports from citizens regarding issues of vital interest to the community. After all, Luke does say that “the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas”…Acts 17:21…The Areopagus probably reflects this “ongoing talk show” and they would be curious to hear Paul’s “new ideas,” even if they seemed strange and “far-fetched”…

“Johannes Munck” is probably right when he says, “Curiosity about his teaching, not an accusation made against him, brought Paul and his audience to the Areopagus”. Nevertheless, while this is probably not a judicial hearing, there is an implied threat in being brought before the council…

…”Josephus gives several examples of Athenians being punished for offending the gods of Athens. Among those recently executed, says Josephus, is “a certain priestess, because she was accused by somebody that she initiated people into the worship of strange gods”. Even under the best of circumstances, an offer to present one’s views about “strange gods” before the council is “not to be taken lightly”…

Ancient Corinth, Athens Greece, Home of the unknown God!

“The philosophers’ interest in Paul’s teaching was probably no more than academic, but there may have been just a hint of threat in it, because in Athens the introduction of strange gods, though common enough, was a “capital offense” if for this reason the local deities were rejected and the state religion was disturbed.”

…”Perhaps we should see Paul’s “defense” before the Areopagus as being a kind of preliminary hearing to determine whether charges are to be filed. How he fares before this “grand jury” may determine his fate. Next bible study!!!…

“Until then may our Heavenly Father always guide You and gives You many blessings of life…not just to You..but..your families as well!!

Related articles

• Acts Chapter seventeen, Part two with Jews accuse Paul and Silas (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts, Chapter 16, part three with On the Sabbath (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
• Acts, Chapter 16, Part two with On to Bithynia Acts 16:7 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)

…”What was The Handwriting on the Wall”… “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,” which is to say, “Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and finished it; Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; Peres…the singular form of Upharsin: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians”…Daniel:5:25-28…And is the Writing on the Wall still here Today?”…

“Your Bible tells of a future worldwide conflagration that will affect every living human….This warning remains emblazoned on the walls of prophecy! Even Today!
“Bring out the golden vessels that our great King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem. Even the mighty God, Yahweh, could not withstand the power of the unconquerable Babylonians…

…”Where is the great God of the Jews now?”…
“Let it be known tonight that I, King Belshazzar, am invincible and that I will do as I please even to the point of drinking out of the very gold and silver cups and bowls reserved for the so-called great God of the Jews, Yahweh!!!…

“Long live the mighty gods of Babylon-praise be unto them!”…Daniel:5:1-4…

…”King Belshazzar, then vice regent of the whole of Babylon and king of the city of Babylon, was already drunk, his face flushed, his eyes glazed as he gulped down another immense goblet of dark-red wine….He nearly “choked” on his last gasping effort to gulp down the entire contents before servants hastily brought the special temple vessels to him…

“As he struggled to gain his royal composure, servants quickly passed these sacred vessels to the monarch and his retinue, who clumsily thrust their newly acquired drinking vessels before the wine-pourer, loudly demanding them to “fill it up to the brim and let it run over the sides.”

…”All as one raised their containers to the king, and together they mocked the God of the Jews while praising their gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone. It was a night to end all nights as far as they were concerned…

“An impregnable city?”
…”Although the Babylonians were aware of the Medo-Persian threat outside their magnificent and unassailable city, they knew beyond a doubt that no army could penetrate their fortress walls. They were secure in the knowledge that their walls had not been “stormed by invaders in over a thousand years”…

…”The historian Herodotus reported his account of that fateful night when King Cyrus’s army actually invaded and conquered the city of Babylon. He wrote: “A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defences. Here they shut themselves up, and made light of his siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack…”

“It appeared ludicrous to the Babylonians for anyone to dare lay siege against their impregnable fortifications. After all, according to Herodotus the city measured 120 stadia square..roughly square 14 miles and boasted a wall 50 royal cubits about 90 feet wide and 200 royal cubits approximately 300 feet high. Very impressive!!!…

…”From the top of the battlements, the Babylonians insulted and jeered at Cyrus and his armies. One even mocked them: “Why do you sit there, Persians? Why don’t you go back to your homes? Till mules foal you will not take our city.” This arrogant boast was typical of the Babylonian attitude about their superior fortifications….
“However” the night was not yet over”. Cyrus’s clever military strategist, a General Ugbaru, had a plan that would change the course of history, thereby fulfilling the prophecies and plan of Almighty God…

“Noting that the “Euphrates River ran through gates” right into the heart of the city, the general “diverted the waters of the Euphrates to an old channel dug by a previous ruler,… suddenly reducing the water level well below the river-gates”…
The water was lowered to thigh depth and the Persian attackers waded under the giant gates and clambered up the riverbank walls before the Babylonian guards knew what had happened. But, before this took place, God had warned Belshazzar of his demise…hummm…

…”Handwriting on the wall”…
“Shouting, laughing, sometimes cursing, Belshazzar continued to make sport of the Jews and their hapless God. “Fill my cup again,” he demanded…….
As he began to swill another goblet of the finest kingly wine, though he was wholly incapable of enjoying it, the Babylonian regent noticed something unusual in his peripheral vision. It looked like a man’s hand, but it was not attached to an arm and body of a human being…interesting!!!…

“As the hand began slowly and deliberately to approach the far wall near a “lamp stand”, the king began to sputter and choke, spewing wine from the sides of his mouth. Suddenly the fingers of the apparently human hand began to write on the wall. As the hand wrote, the king’s face turned ashen, his blood-streaked eyes widened and his knees began to knock together…Daniel:5:6…

…”Immediately” the revelry quieted to a deafening silence. The shocked musicians lowered and dropped their instruments. Dancing girls froze in their tracks. Stunned waiters stopped and stared. All, as one, gazed transfixed at the words being written on the wall. The stage was now set for the one true God to intervene directly in the affairs of puny mankind, specifically in King Belshazzar’s life and the downfall of the mighty Babylonian kingdom……….

………..Belshazzar couldn’t interpret the words written on the wall, much less the impossibility of a disembodied hand writing them. “I demand to know what these words mean,” blurted the king. “Who can tell me what this writing signifies? I will clothe the man in purple and place a gold chain around his neck and make him third ruler in my kingdom if he can explain what these words mean”…Daniel:5:7…

…”This was a “frightening moment” for King Belshazzar….so he commanded the presence of his wise men to decipher the meaning of the words on the far wall. Since the wise men could not read the writing, they couldn’t tell the king what it meant. This apparently sobered the king even more. He grew even more pale and became more terrified than before. He was without a clue as to what he should do…

…”Daniel summoned”…
“However”, the queen mother, aware of the sudden tumult, entered the great hall to address the king…Daniel:5:10…
She attempted to calm Belshazzar, claiming she knew of a man who could both read and interpret the handwriting on the wall. “His name is Daniel, and your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar made him chief over all the wise men of Babylon because he could understand and interpret dreams,” she said…Daniel:5:11…

“Although most translations call “Nebuchadnezzar” his “father,” he was actually his “grandfather”. The Aramaic term used actually means “ancestor” or “predecessor.”
The king immediately had Daniel brought before him. Although scholars differ as to Daniel’s age in 539 B.C., he was probably at least 80 years old. Apparently he was in semiretirement since he wasn’t present with the other so-called wise men, and the king had not remembered his name nor his previous accomplishments under his grandfather’s reign…hummmm…

…”In any event, “elderly Daniel” stood before the king, ostensibly to allay his fears. The same promises were made to Daniel that had been made to the wise men or anyone who could interpret the handwriting on the wall. Daniel was not impressed, answering “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation” …Daniel:5:17…

“The news on the wall was not good news. Daniel diplomatically rebuked the ruler and pronounced the prophetic and disastrous warning etched into the wall. This was the message he read and interpreted: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,” which is to say, “Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and finished it; Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; Peres…the singular form of Upharsin…”Your kingdom has been divided”, and given to the Medes and Persians” …Daniel:5:25-28…

…”Remarkably”, immediately after Daniel pronounced this curse on the king and Babylon, the king kept his word and made Daniel third in command in the kingdom. Belshazzar might have momentarily considered killing Daniel for declaring such a curse, especially before his entire court. “However”, another thought might have overcome his first impulse: If he rewarded Daniel, maybe Daniel’s God would have mercy on him…hummm…

“There was, as well, the thought that the king had given his word in front of his own entourage and the partygoers. Whatever the motivation, God continued to honor his servant Daniel for his unwavering faithfulness….Daniel’s elevation to this powerful position of rulership did not end with Belshazzar’s demise. King Cyrus also known as King Darius placed Daniel as the president over the princes of his Persian kingdom once he controlled all of Babylon…Daniel:6:1-3…

…”Pride precedes a fall”…
“Daniel forthrightly reminded Belshazzar of things he remembered. He told the well-known story of how God had humbled his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar by making him forage in the royal pasture with the animals for seven long years…Daniel:5:18-21…”But you his son..grandson..Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this”…Daniel 5:22…

“Daniel continued admonishing the king, telling him he had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven. Specifically….Daniel cited that Belshazzar had the arrogance to drink wine from God’s vessels..Daniel 5:23..Further, he noted the king had praised his own inanimate gods while engaging in such blasphemous acts…

…”At this point”, Daniel shows the reality of God’s greatness: “And the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have “not glorified” …Daniel 5:23…King Belshazzar actually experienced the irony of having his obituary read to him by a captive slave…

“Belshazzar had not learned the lesson his grandfather was forced to learn: that God “is in charge” and whatever He wills “will be done”. He had not learned that God requires mankind to honor Him through humility and obedience…Daniel:4:30-37…
The king could not have been unaware of his grandfather’s seven-year demise…..

…”Though years had passed, such a remarkable act would still have been common knowledge among the populace. “Belshazzar was family”. As he grew up, he would have been cautioned not to let happen to him what befell his grandfather. This incident has great historical import. Yet it has far greater prophetic implications for us today….

…”That handwriting’s meaning”…
“Our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ in the book of Revelation prophetically interprets for us Daniel’s account. Three components comprise the fulfillment of that ancient type:…a king…an end-time Babylon…and God…

“Since God hasn’t gone anywhere and is still omnipotent and omniscient, the third component requires no explanation. But where is the end-time Babylon, if there is such a thing?”…

…”Although characterized as a “great city” in Revelation 18, the end-time Babylon is not just a city-state as ancient Babylon was. God reveals that this Babylon is characterized both by its religious and political power..Revelation 17.. Its economic power is so great that rulers and merchants will “weep and mourn” at its downfall …Revelation:18:9-19…

“This great Babylon is a system and way of life so far-reaching that it encompasses many of the peoples and nations of the earth..Revelation:18:3.. And it has a sinister foundation, for it traffics in the “bodies and souls of men”…Revelation:18:13…

…”A king also will arise who will ally himself with other rulers and the end-time Babylonian system and rule as if he were a god. This is the prophesied “beast” of Revelation 13…It is significant that this mighty end-time king is identified as the beast, recalling that the first king of Babylon was also reduced to the state of a beast …Daniel:4:32-33…

…”The book of Revelation describes all the ingredients of the prophetic fulfillment of Daniel’s physical antecedent. The bestial king of Revelation will follow the same foolish pride and arrogance of Belshazzar, and his final act is to fight and defy Jesus Christ at His return…Revelation:19:19-20…Belshazzar failed the test, and so will the beast in the end time. What about us?…hummm…

…”Will we heed the handwriting?”…I sure hope so!!!…
“You should be aware that you can understand the handwriting on the wall. Daniel showed how this is done: “There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets” …Daniel:2:28…

“However”, to simply acknowledge this is not the total answer. For a person to understand God’s great plan of salvation, humility must be a top priority. The apostle Paul explains this, telling us that the wisdom of God is a mystery hidden to the world at large, understood only by those to whom God chooses to reveal it…1 Corinthians:2:7-10; Matthew:13:13-17…

…”Humility, then, allows the great God above to teach us His great plan for us. Human beings can learn from God if they humble themselves before His almighty hand…Daniel:5:22…

“We are coming to a time in history that will be “the lull before the storm”. Various governments and religions will combine and make pronouncements of peace and safety throughout the world. To the ordinary person, a millennial peace will appear to be on the horizon…

…”But woe to the person who accepts that ploy. For “that peace” will disappear in a heartbeat when the beast and false prophet begin to exercise their military might…1 Thessalonians:5:1-3; Luke:21:20…Many will perish…Matthew:24:21-22…But the person who truly knows God and understands His handwriting on the prophetic wall will be “protected and saved”…Luke:21:18-19; and Revelation:3:8-10…

…”God doesn’t forget”…
“God does not forget. What He has promised, that He will perform. At the very time of the end, when God pours out His seventh plague, mighty Babylon will come to its final end. “Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath”…Revelation:16:19…

“It is remarkable to see God use the same language that characterized ancient Babylon’s destruction. Belshazzar drank wine from holy vessels that were dedicated to God alone. That was his undoing. At the final curtain, the beast, false prophet and modern Babylon will “drink of the wine of God’s fierce wrath.” What irony. What perfect justice…

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, Writen by the finger of God!

…”God gives us a “choice”. We can either follow the proud way of King Belshazzar, avoid humbling ourselves before Almighty God and remain blinded to the handwriting on the wall, or we can be like Daniel, who possessed an “excellent Spirit.”

“God has promised and given that same excellent Spirit to Jesus-Christ’s disciples who obey Him…Acts:5:32…The Holy-Spirit is that excellent Spirit, which not only reveals to us the glory of and honor due Jesus-Christ, but it leads us into God’s complete truth…John:16:13…

…”This, of course, includes the understanding, teaching and preaching of prophecy …2 Peter:1:19; 1 Corinthians:2:10, 1 Corinthians:2:12-13…Whatever road you and I may choose, one thing is absolutely certain: The handwriting is still on the wall. And we should be always prepared and with full armour at ready…every single day!!

“Paul’s success with the Gentiles both within and especially outside the synagogue ignite the Jews’ jealousy..Acts 17:5.. Not only is Paul the renegade rabbi stealing converts from their private preserve, he is having unprecedented success in making proselytes from the Gentile community at large…hummmm…

…”The Jews decide it is time to stop Paul’s evangelizing activities. So they “rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city”..Acts 17:5..The mob is composed of criminal types who hang around the public square with nothing to do but cause trouble. The Jews probably pay them to start a riot. Apparently, their goal is to implicate Paul and Silas in a civil disturbance.

“The Jews assume the missionaries are in the home of a convert named Jason. They storm the house but find only Jason and some other believers. Jason’s home….. probably serves as a house church, as did Lydia’s. Some connect this Jason with the individual mentioned along with Luke..Lucius and Sosipater..Acts 16:21..in the letter to the Romans. “However”, Jason is a common name and any connection can only be speculative…

…”The Jews apparently hope to bring Paul before the popular assembly of citizens, the Greek demos..Acts 17:5.. The translation of the NIV, “crowd,” is an unfortunate one. See its marginal reference, “assembly of the people.” Failing to find Paul and Silas, the Jews drag Jason and some other believers before the city officials, or politarchs. These are the magistrates of Thessalonica, and the title is known from a number of inscriptions…

“The Jews bring a charge of disturbing the Pax Romana against Paul and Silas. They claim, “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here” Acts 17:6..The traditional KJV translation, “turned the world upside down,” although memorable, gives an improper nuance to the Greek. The Jews don’t have Paul and Silas in hand, so they accuse Jason of being part of the conspiracy by allowing the insurrectionists to use his home as a safe house…

…”The Jews also accuse the missionaries of “defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus”..Acts 17:7..Naturally,charges of insurrection, subverting the empire, and a plot against Caesar are extremely serious. If they hold up, the missionaries could be executed………
Should I end it here or Continue?

Ok I’ll continue!
……..The magistrates of Thessalonica apparently know of the recent troubles in the Jewish community at Rome. These are described by the Roman biographer and historian Suetonius born c. A.D. 70 as the “constant riots at the instigation of Chrestus”. The continuing tumult forces Emperor Claudius to issue his edict around A.D. 49-50, which tries to expel all the Jews from the city. The Jews of Thessalonica are probably playing on these fears, intimating that similar riots might erupt in their city…

“This may have had something to do with the accusation that the missionaries are “defying Caesar’s decrees”…Acts 17:7…”Perhaps the decrees” had to do with prohibitions against public assemblies including religious ones or the fomenting of riots, meant to prevent the sorts of disturbances that occurred at Rome. The Jews also accuse the missionaries of saying there is “another king”, Jesus, instead of Caesar. Perhaps the decrees in question contain oaths of loyalty to Caesar….. Preaching Jesus as a rival emperor would violate such regulations…

…”Of course, the Jews are “twisting” the meaning of the confession that declared Jesus to be the Messiah and Saviour. The Jews are putting a politically inflammatory twist on what is a personal and spiritual confession. Although Jesus-Christ is not a king of this world, the gospel does call people to give greater allegiance to Jesus than to Caesar. The Thessalonian politarchs are “thrown into turmoil” when the Jews make these accusations…Acts 17:8…”They don’t want riots in their city”, certainly not like the ones at Rome. The politarchs will be held accountable if they allow the violation of any imperial decrees…

“But it seems that the magistrates “see through the Jews’ plot” and “recognize” the accusations as erroneous. Perhaps the officials recognize the rioters as the ne’er-do-wells of the town square. What’s more, Paul and Silas, supposedly the leaders of the riot, are nowhere to be found…

…”The politarchs took what they thought to be a moderate and reasonable course of action. They made Jason and those with him post a bond, assuring them that there would be no repetition of the trouble. This probably meant that Paul and Silas had to leave Thessalonica and that their friends promised they would not come back, at least during the term of office of the present politarchs.”

…”To Berea by night”…Acts 17:10-15…
“The Jews probably continue to look for Paul, so as soon as nightfall comes, the disciples spirit him out of the city and send him to Berea. Once again, Paul is forced to make a hasty and humiliating departure, as he did from Damascus…Acts 9:23-25…Jerusalem…Acts 9:30…Antioch of Pisidia…Acts 13:50-51…and Lystra…Acts 14:20…

“Berea..modern Verria… is about 50 miles or 81 kilometers west-southwest of Thessalonica. It takes Paul about three days to reach the town. Berea is considered an out-of-the-way place, of little historical or political importance. Paul again goes into the synagogue to preach, but he is given an unusually warm reception by the Jews. Luke presents the Berean Jews as openminded individuals. “The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians,” he writes, “for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”…Acts 17:11…

…”The Berean Jews apparently meet with Paul every day not just on the Sabbath to examine the Scriptures. Luke implies that they are “zealous” to understand the truth. If the Jews in Thessalonica took the time to search for and evaluate the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures, they too would discover that Paul was speaking the truth…

“Many Jews in Berea believe the gospel, as do some prominent Gentile men and women..Acts 18:12.. Among the believers is “Sopater son of Pyrrhus”, who is identified by Luke as being from Berea…Acts 20:4… Sopater might be the same person as the Sosipater of Romans 16:21, but there is no way to be sure…

…”Luke emphasizes that the converted Gentiles are “prominent,” perhaps in social standing. One can almost catch a purposeful contrast here. The gospel can attract good people, while the Jews must rely on the rabble and “riff-raff” to foment a fake riot. However, the antagonistic Jews of Thessalonica learn that Paul is teaching in Berea…

“They send some “agents” to “stir up the crowds there”. The Berean disciples take immediate action and send Paul “to the coast,” down to the sea..Acts 17:14.. It’s not clear whether his friends put him on a ship bound for Piraeus, the port of Athens, or escort him by land to Athens. A “sea journey would make more sense”; otherwise Paul would have to travel a long distance over rough roads to get to Athens…

Once again, Paul is forced to make a hasty and humiliating departure, as he did from Damascus

…”Silas and Timothy remain in Berea, but Paul gives instructions with the returning Bereans that they should rejoin him as soon as possible…Acts 17:15…They apparently rejoin him at Athens later, although Luke doesn’t tell us when…1 Thessalonians 3:1…Paul sends Timothy back to Thessalonica..1 Thessalonians 3:2.. Silas returns to Macedonia..perhaps Philippi.. and then with Timothy rejoins Paul in Corinth…Acts 18:5…

“Commentators speculate that Paul has not really planned to teach in Athens….. Perhaps he would rather follow the Via Egnatia across the Balkan peninsula to Dyrrhachium on the Adriatic, and then cross the sea to Italy and go to Rome. It may be that political considerations in Macedonia make it impossible for him to continue west. And because of Claudius’ edict expelling Jews from Rome, it is not a good time to visit the city. Whatever his intentions, it’s clear that Paul comes to Athens mainly to “escape persecution”…

Well let’s continue this bible study tomorrow! Until then may God bless You and your families!

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