Instruction Manual for Life

Romans 12:6a Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:
Let's take a look at the list given in Romans 12;
1) Prophecy
2) Ministry
3) Teaching
4) Exhortation (1. The form of words intended to incite and encourage. 2. Advice; counsel.)
5) Giving
6) Leading
7) Mercy (Pity; compassion manifested towards a person in distress. Charity, or the duties of charity and benevolence.)

We all have different gifts, different callings just as each member of our body has different functions, so does the Body of Christ. Whatever our gifts are (which would fall into one of the above 7 "headings") we need to be committed to them unto The Lord as we will see as we move through Romans 12.

Look at the verse Paul follows this list up with:
Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

This verse makes it clear that the condition of our heart is HUGE. Are we giving out of love or obligation. Are we serving out of love or attention. Are we teaching out of love or pride. Are we evangelizing out of love or arrogance. We need to be loving, gentle and meek in all we do. I know for me, I have remnants (or maybe more than remnants) of pride and cockiness from when I was a selfish pagan rat. The Lord continues to transform me and prune out the garbage, I pray for more meekness and humility frequently.

Reading the second half of verse 9, I got the cling to what is good part, but I didn't know what "abhor" meant so I looked it up. Abhor means: "to hate extremely". We have no problem "hating extremely" what we consider evil, but do we "hate extremely" what God considers evil?

As we examine this list of 7 that Paul gives, and consider our gifts and calling; how does Paul say we should approach our calling?

Romans 12:10-11 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
Paraphrase based on Websters definition of lagging, diligence and fervent: We are not to act slowly, but instead be steady in our application and earnest and excited in our attitude serving The Lord.

As we commit to our calling in love and humility with excitement and steadfastness, how should we react to the world?
Rom 12:12-18 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

Examine Yourself

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Today, there are many who name the name of Christ, but who never "depart from iniquity."

2Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

They are false converts who "ask Jesus into their heart," but are actually unconverted because they have never truly repented. So it is important that you examine yourself to see if you are in the faith

2Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

Those who allow sin in their lives are actually opening themselves up to demonic influence. The Bible instructs us to "neither give place to the devil"

Ephesians 4:27 nor give place to the devil.

Afflictions only work together for our good, if we are "called according to [God’s] purpose"

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Therefore, the following are questions each of us need to ask ourselves:
Do I honor my parents? Do I value them implicitly? God commands that we honor out parents, then Scripture warns, "that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth"

Ephesians 6:2-3 "HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU AND YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH

In other words, if you don’t value your parents, all will not be well with you. I have found that many people have demonic problems because they hate their parents.
Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? Is there any bitterness, resentment, or jealousy? Have I been hurt by someone in the past whom I can’t find it within my heart to forgive? Then I am giving place to the devil. If I won’t forgive and forget, I’m like a man who is stung to death by one bee. You could understand someone being stung to death by a swarm of bees, but we can do something about one bee. The sad thing about someone who becomes bitter is that all they need to do to deal with their problem is to swat the thing through repentance. God says He will not forgive us if we will not forgive from our heart

Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Has there been any occult activity in my life in the past? Do I have idols (even as souvenirs) in my home? Is there any pornography? I need to prayerfully walk around in the house and ask God if there is anything that is unpleasing to Him. Then I must consider the same thing within the temple of my own body. Am I a glutton? Do I feed filth into my mind through my eyes or through my ears? Do my hands touch only what is pleasing in His sight? Are my words kind and loving? Are the meditations of my mind pleasing to God?
The only way to know if you are a Christian is by your fruit. There are a number of fruits in Scripture: the fruit of praise, the fruit of thanksgiving, the fruit of holiness, the fruit of repentance, the fruit of righteousness, and the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
A key to overcoming trials is to understand that they are relative. The next time Satan tries to make you feel sorry for yourself in the midst of a trial, ask yourself, "Would I like to trade places with someone who has a horrible terminal disease? Would I like to trade places with a burn victim who has been burned over 90% of his body?" We can’t imagine the agonies those in such a predicament go through. Have you ever burned yourself on a toaster? Think what it might be like for those poor people. Such sober thoughts bring our problems into perspective, and should make us want to thank God for His many blessings. Not only for what we have, but also for those things we don’t have—like unspeakable pain.
The fruit of thanksgiving should be evident in the Christian, not only for temporal blessings, but for the cross. Paul was persecuted beyond measure, merely for his faith in God, yet he said, "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift"

2Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

As Christians, we should have the fruit of holiness. We should be separated from this world, with all of its corruption, to God. We should have evidence of our repentance. If we have stolen, we will return what isn’t ours. We will set right (where possible) that which we have wronged. Lastly, we will possess the fruit of the Spirit. If we are rooted and grounded in Him, we will have the fruits of His character hanging from the branches of our lives. Do we have love that cares for others? Do we care enough about the salvation of sinners to put feet to our prayers and take the gospel to them? Love is not passive. It will not be self-indulgent while others suffer. It is empathetic.

Religious vs. Relationship

Rom 10:1-3 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

These are the verses an "ultra-religious" person needs to be directed to for the Truth about works righteousness. Break down these verses. First of all, Paul makes it clear that religious people need to be saved just as much as the worst pagan out there, and it is the desire of Paul's heart and all those born-again that the lost would be saved. In verse 2, Paul reminds us that he too was zealous for God, although it was misguided. He too was eager to please and serve God, although he didn't have a relationship with Him. In the same way, ultra-religious people are striving to please God and earn their way to Heaven (or whatever eternal destination their religion is ascribing), but they do not know God. As Paul says in verse 2, they have zeal, but this zeal is without true Godly knowledge, it is just futile human effort that is not led by The Spirit. In verse 3, Paul makes it very clear that they are ignorant of how true Righteousness is had, but instead the religious seek to attain their own righteousness...and right there at the end of verse 3 we see why....the have not submitted to Jesus Christ. The Righteousness of God is only found through The Blood of Jesus, and religious people are too prideful or confused to surrender to Him.
In verse 9 below, we see what is required to be saved. This verse flies in the face of those that will say Jesus can be your Savior, but He doesn't have to be your Lord. You may say, "huh, that's weird, people say that?". There is a preacher in Texas and on YouTube that has a pretty big following by the name of Steve Anderson. On the surface he sounds pretty solid, but if you hear enough of his stuff you will find out that he says this very thing. But, is that what the Word says:

Rom 10:9
(ESV) because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

(NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

I put the ESV version above as well as the NKJ. They both say the same thing, but the way we speak, "Jesus is Lord" vs. "the Lord Jesus" may seem a little clearer. In either case, you are confessing that Jesus is your Lord and as such, you are surrendered and obedient to Him. In addition, this verse makes clear that Jesus is alive, He has conquered death and we serve The Risen Christ, not a dead Jewish carpenter. Remember when Paul was blinded by The Light and heard The Voice? What did Paul say? Who are You Lord? Paul knew he was talking to God, and what did The Voice say? "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Jesus is God. Jesus is risen. Surrender to Him and you shall be saved.

Why is all that important? Because if we know this to be true, we will recognize false religions and false teaching. All false religions will attack the Person of Jesus Christ and the work of Jesus Christ.
Case in point; Mormons, Jehovah's Witness and Islam all say that Jesus is NOT God. If you read the true catholic doctrines (which anyone can find right from their website) you will find that they teach that Jesus' finished work on The Cross was not enough, to be saved you must fullfill the rituals and works of their religion. I tend to pick on these 4 religions, but I assure you, there are MANY others.

Notice in verse 10, that it is with the heart one believes and with the mouth confession. It is not the other way around. To simply say that you are surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Savior without the condition of your heart changed is a futile exercise:

Rom 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
I love how in verse 12 Paul quickly points out that these words are not just for the Jews, even though he starts this chapter pleading with Isreal:
Rom 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
So then, how shall ALL be saved?
Rom 10:13 For "WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED."

I want to wrap up with a personal story. The extremely shortened version is this:
I recently approached my Pastor about starting an evanglism team at our church. We discussed it over breakfast and he was VERY excited and we discussed who would be involved etc. After 6 weeks I hadn't heard back (as I was told a certain other Pastor would be in contact with me). This in itself was an effort for me (the waiting) as many of you know my personality. But, I figured The Lord was teaching me to wait on Him (as He had been doing for over a year now, hopefully it takes pretty soon). Finally after 6 weeks I emailed him an idea for the tract we would hand out which was basically a tract/invitation to the church. After another week he replied, only his enthusiasm had changed to what seemed to be regret. He basically said that the others didn't like the idea and he cited "research studies" that indicate that people don't like "aggresive evangalism". No kidding! You mean people that love their sin don't like to hear The Gospel....that's weird....did Jesus know that? He suggested I read a couple books, one of which is entitled, "Being a Contageous Christian". This is the overriding mindset of Christians today. Silly things are said like, "Preach The Gospel and if neccasary use words". We have all used "one liners" like this because we have heard preachers say them, the sounded good to us, so we started using them. This is basically what my Pastor was suggesting. Are we to follow man or God? We've seen in Acts that, that isn't how the first century disciples did it. And here again in Romans 10, Paul makes it clear:

Romans 10:14-17 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!"
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?"
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 7 man

Rom 7:14-23 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,

23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.




I did some commentary reading on these verses last night on these verses because I have battled with who the Romans 7 man is, I've settled on it and battled again, and I am currently unsettled. Through my reading last night I found that theologians have been debating this for years. “The Romans 7 man isn't saved”, “no he's saved he is just being sanctified”, “Paul is talking about himself before he was born again”, “Paul's talking about himself in his current condition”.

I am not saying I am right, but here is where I have landed so far. I think the Romans 7 man is born-again because he clearly has Godly sorrow over his sin, and he is not completely enslaved to his sinful flesh. The Romans 7 man is Paul and he is all of us who are born again; being born again and being sanctified. I can only explain where I am at by relating to my path. When I got truly born-again....not just saying I am a Christian and living like the world....but truly surrender to Jesus; He first freed me from the bondage of sexual immorality. But then He revealed other things, like anger and He dealt with that....then profanity.....then gossip....you get the idea. Do I still have lustful thoughts; relative to the way I used to be, hardly never...but when it happens I go right to Him for strength and forgiveness and each time my mind spends less and less time there. This is the same format that seems to be followed in all my sin that God is pruning out. I hardly ever get really angry any more, WHICH IS AMAZING considering the hot head I used to be...Praise God! The ultimate point is, the Romans 7 man doesn't live (or walk) in sin. He stumbles and is being sanctified. Romans 7 is sandwiched between 2 chapters that make it clear that we are not to practice, live, walk-in or deliberately continue in sin. If “practice, live, walk-in or deliberately continue in sin” describes our relationship with sin, we are not Romans 7 men.

Romans 7:24-25

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Crucial Message!

Those that are born-again are not ashamed and will proclaim Jesus at any time. In stark contrast, to those that are not born-again the message of Jesus Christ is foolishness. Not only those that blatantly reject The Gospel, but I would contend that the zeal of those that are born-again is secretly silliness to those claiming to be Christian but are not born-again.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

1Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Their are many "intellectuals" who make silly comments like, "truth is what you make it, what is true for you is different from the next person". People may look to comments like this and think them profound and logical, but the reality is, they are rooted in spiritual blindness and evil. For anyone to suggest that there is no absolute Truth illustrates their spiritual blindness. There is Absolute Truth, however, men suppress the Truth. The simpliest way to indentify people who openly or secretly, knowingly or unknowingly suppress the Truth is by the fruit of their life. Are they living a life that is clearly and openly unrighteous in the sight of God? We dare not test our righteousness by the world's standards, saying things like, "well I'm not that bad, I don't do this or that" or "I don't do this or that as much as that guy" or "I don't think it's wrong to do this or that, everyone does it". Justifying the open practice of a sinful lifestyle, no matter how trivial you think it is, is the surest way to face God's Wrath for all eternity. Paul doesn't sugar coat the fact that God's Wrath will be poured out on the unrighteousness.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

1Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

1Thessalonians 2:16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved--so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last!

1Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

As we seen in the last chapter of Acts, where Paul wound up on a remote island with a people group that seemed to be completly isolated from society, God has plans for those people as well. We should not reason in our mind that it is unfair for those that have never heard The Gospel. Do not presume that you will get a pass on the Day of Judgment for not surrendering to Jesus Christ because you have drawn this conclusion. God is Just, and in whatever way He chooses to deal with any people group is up to Him and we can be confident that people will be without excuse, there will not be anyone in hell confused about why they ended up there.

A friend of a friend recently cut the tips of his fingers off in a woodworking accident. He agreed to complete a job in a certain time frame and when he found out that the saftey guard he needed would take longer to order in than expected, and not being willing to pay $80 for next day air shipping charges, he decided to run the job without the safety guard. He made a bad decision and he knew there was nobody to blame but himself. We've all had consequences of bad decisions, most times they don't result in losing fingers, but all we can do is grit our teeth and think of how stupid we were. I think that gives us a little glimpse of what the Bible talks about when it refers to hell being a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those that end up in hell, in addition to experiencing the horror of the place, will be gritting their teeth knowing that they are there because of their own bad decision.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Psalms 19:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Notice how verse 7 below speaks of reviving the soul. When we think of someone needing to be revived with CPR we have no problem concluding that if they do not get revived they will die. The same is true of our soul. Our soul needs to be revived, if it isn't we will face eternal death, a complete seperation from God and His blessings. Before you read the next set of verses, consider a handful of God's blessings to us: light, water, love, friendship, communication, blood, comfort, rest, joy the list goes on and on. Now just consider 2 of them for a minute. Can you get your mind around not having light? The Bible talks about hell being a place of "outer darkness". That means the darkest place we've experienced is nothing compared to outer darkness. When our power goes out in our house, the first thing we scramble to do is find the flashlight and the candles. We can't stand being in the dark, yet that is what hell is. How about rest? Most of us have experienced exhaustion before. Maybe it was after working 20 straight hours, maybe after waiting at a hospital for a loved one to get out of surgery for 24 hours, maybe after experiencing an 18 hour labor. Can you imagine experiencing exhaustion beyond any of these and not having the blessing of rest? Rest is a gift from God! There will be NO REST in hell. We've all heard the term, "no rest for the wicked"; this is more true than we know. The Bible says that He brings rain to the righteous and the unrighteous; however, in eternity this will not be the case.

Psalm 19:7-10 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalm 19:12-13 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Take a look at the definition of presumptuous: Willful; done with bold design, rash confidence or in violation of known duty

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

So what happens when someone rejects all The Truth? Paul makes it clear at the end of Romans 1, God's Wrath is not only poured out in eternity, but His Wrath is revealed from Heaven. What does that mean? You know God's Wrath is being revealed from Heaven when you recognize in your society a large population that not only openly sin, but approve of those that do, and will even invent new ways of doing it. Not only will this society approve of sexual immorality, but it will openly call homosexual behavior natural even though God makes it clear that it is an obomination to Him. We will see this society become unloving and disobedient to their parents. We will see a society moving more and more towards murder and a complete lack of mercy. Does this society sound familiar? As we see this list outlined by Paul I think we can easily conclude that God's hand of blessing was taken off Amercia a long time ago, and instead, His Wrath is being revealed.

Romans 1:24-32 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Have you been given over?

As we read in the beginning of Acts 24, "a hired gun" was brought in to bring false accuisations againts Paul. My favorite of these accuisations are found in verse 5. Verse 5 is exactly the kind of accuisations that are brought against Christians today (although they may be worded differently); and will, no doubt escalate as we move closer and closer to a one world religion:

Acts 24:5 For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

Now after this guy, Felix, heard these accuisations he kept Paul in prison awaiting further testimony. But, he didn't just leave him there and forget about him. Felix was curious about this message. But, like many people, he was only curious up to the point where Paul struck a nerve:

Act 24:24-25 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you."

Felix was afraid! Why was he afraid? He was afraid because the message of sin-righteousness and Judgement. It is interesting that Paul would include "self-control". Self-control is what is primarily lacking in those that are not born-again. When you are not born-again you won't quit the vices....you can't quit the vices....the vices that The Word warns you about will be what you will enjoy until you ultimately die condmened in your sin. Any right thinking person would be afraid as Felix was. Any right thinking person would flee to the Savior after be warned of The Wrath of God's Judgement to come on the sons of disobedience as The Word says in Ephesians 5:

Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

So why aren't people afraid?

Rom 1:18-32 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

God will strike fakes

Acts 23:1 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."

This is a very interesting verse. Paul (formerly Saul) was always desiring to serve God. He didn't always get it right because he was taught the doctrine of men his whole life, yet he thought he was serving God. When Jesus entered his life he was completely transformed and was for the first time, truly serving God. So, Paul has every right to say, "I have lived in all good conscience before God"....was he always right?....NO....but he was always seeking The Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Notice in these next verses how Paul tells it like it is. The high priest thinks he is doing the will of God, but is clearly confused....OR....he is seeking his own selfish power and/or satisfaction. Even though these verses show how an "ultra religious" person is confused and deceived, the parralell can be made to many today. Paul could make this same statement to those who are pretending to be Christians, yet are completely disobedient to The Word of God. Paul wouldn't pull any punches, so why do we? Paul would probably say something like, "God will strike you, you who pretend to belong to Christ yet live to satisfy your flesh in the lusts of this world."

Act 23:2-3 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?"

Paul ready to face death and not shying away from being bold for Jesus, now gets new marching orders from The Lord:

Acts 23:11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."

Acts 23:12 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

I wonder if they died of starvation or if they broke their oath....because as we can see from verse 11, Paul is going to Rome, and as we see in verse 27, Paul's Roman citizenship (orchistrated by God) has protected him again:

Acts 23:27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.

Transformed!

Remember yesterday in Acts 21 how Paul freaked out the soldier when he spoke Greek?

Acts 21:37 Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I speak to you?" He replied, "Can you speak Greek?

Now in Acts 22 Paul is freaking out the Jews by speaking Hebrew:
Acts 22:1-2 "Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now."
2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:

As we've learned before about Paul, he is extremely intelligent and well eduacated.
Acts 22:3a "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law,

Paul was EXTREMELY zealous toward God:
Acts 22:3b ....and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

Acts 22:4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

Acts 22:5b ...and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

Acts 22:19 So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You.
20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'

Can you imagine the shock Paul experienced when he found out that The God he thought he was serving, was actually The One he was trying to destroy:
Acts 22:7-8 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8 So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'

Immediately, Paul is ready to serve His King:
Acts 22:10a So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?'

Paul heard directly from Jesus! There are those crazies out there, some calling themselves "red letter christians", that will disgard the letters of Paul....if you are in this camp, you need to reconsider....PAUL HEARD DIRECTLY FROM JESUS!
Acts 22:14-15 Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.
15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Were you baptized? Were you baptized after you surrendered your life to Jesus? Take a look how important it is to God that you do:
Act 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

They all listened to Paul....until when?....until Paul proclaimed that the Good News was for the Gentiles as well as the Jew.....that was more than the Jews could take:
Act 22:21-22 Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' "
22 And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!"

So what did the commander do? SCOURGED HIM!!
Act 22:24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

But Paul is about to freak him out again because Paul was a Roman citizen, which is a big deal. Roman citizens were afforded special protection beyond the average person. Many people worked hard their whole life to buy their Roman citizenship, but Paul was born a citizen:
Act 22:25-28 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?"
26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman."
27 Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes."
28 The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."
29 Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

And because of the fact that he was a Roman citizen, Paul gets another chance to preach The Word to the Jews.....stay tuned!

14 Bullet Points to Live By & For

In Acts 21, Paul is kind of making the rounds as a final good-bye, knowing full well that he will be dead soon. Only inthis case Paul doesn't have an illness, he knows they are going to kill him and he has no intention of trying to avoid it because he knows it is God's will:

Act 21:10-13 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' "
12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."

If you read the rest of Chapter 21 you can see the beginning of what they do to him, but Paul is allowed to speak and in Chapter 22 we get to hear what he said. But for today, I would like to revisit Chapter 20. I was thinking about that set of 20 verses last night and I revisited them today. I started a list of lessons taught to us by Paul in this little section. I would like to challange all of you to revisit these today and consider this list and ass to it the lessons The Lord has opened up to you as you read these verses again. Here's my list:

1) Serve The Lord with humility
2) Expect persecution and trials
3) Expect people to hate you
4) Teach The Gospel publically and privately
5) Teach repentance toward God and faith in The Lord Jesus
6) Press on for The Lord no matter what
7) Be joyous knowing that this life is nothing compared to the inheritance that awaits those who belong to Jesus
8) Do not turn away from opportunities to share The Word
9) Redemption for sin comes only through The Blood of Jesus Christ
10) False religions and false teachers will be rampant
11) Even those claiming to be Christians will pervert The Gospel
12) Do not covet or be greedy for things of this world
13) Work hard and provide for others
14) Be generous and content

Isn't God amazing? What is an average verse?...10 words?....In approximately 200-300 words, God through Paul gives us more than all the "self-help" books in print today. Thank You Jesus!

POWERFUL!

This is 20 of the MOST POWERFUL verses you'll read in The Word.

If you've ver wanted a big brother to look up to and emulate, here he is...big brother Paul.

Act 20:18-38 And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,
19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;
20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,

I love the way Paul pointed out that he not only preached in the synagogues and public squares; but he also went house to house preaching The Gospel. And as we will see later in this section, he did this without asking anyone for anything!

21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Right there is one verse where Paul makes it as clear as he can...REPENTANCE and FAITH....not just faith....remember, these are his parting words....forever, to this group

22 And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,

Check out how Paul puts this....he says "I don't know what awaits me, but I do know this...."

23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

Knowing this, the only thing Paul wants to do is glorify God and finish strong:

24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 "And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Notice how Paul said, THE WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD....not part of it....not just the fluffy stuff...he shared the whole deal (as we will see in his other letters, specifically Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians)

Then he leaves them (and us) with a stearn warning that he can utter enough:

28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

We can not say that we have not been warned of false religions, false teachers and false christs....John warns us, Paul warns us, Peter warns us and of course Jesus warns us. Do not fall in to false doctrine! The most previlant false teaching today (under the guise of Christianity) is "easy believism". "the health-wealth-prosperity non-sense" and "universialism"....BE WARNED!

32 "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

How glorious is that! Our Daddy has an inheritance waiting for all those who have been set apart for His Glory.

33 I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.
35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

Paul is giving them more parting words and he makes it clear; do not covet, do not be greedy....but instead be generous and content.

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37 Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,
38 sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Acts 19

Acts 19 is another chapter that you could hi-lite the entire chapter when you get started reading...powerful stuff!

Here's some stuff I pulled out:

Once again we see that there are 2 separtate events; believing and receiving the Holy Spirit:
Acts 19:1-2 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples
2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."

Paul points out the importance of repentance:
Acts 19:3-4 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."

I love the way Luke hammers home the point that Paul "reasoned" and "persuaded"
Acts 19:8-9 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

Once again we see Paul speaking BOLDLY, and once again were see as an example of what to do when the Good News is not received:
Acts 19:9 But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

Here we see two stark examples of a group of people who have surrendered their life to Jesus and are willing to burn up their sinful past, and another group who are not believers and want to cling to the riches of this world:
Act 19:18-19 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Act 19:24-27 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen.
25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: "Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade.
26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.
27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship."

Paul keeps it simple

WOW. Acts 17 covers some amazing ground!

First, we see that Paul "reasons" with the Jews everywhere he goes, using their Scripture to prove Jesus is The Christ:

Acts 17:2-3 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ."

Acts 17:10-11 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Acts 17:16-17 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

From Thessalonica to Berea to Athens: Some believed and many plotted against them, but none were indifferent, except the ones that "want to think it through". We know this type, they won't flat out reject Christ, but they won't surrender to Him either:

Acts 17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter."

Paul's message is pretty clear and he wouldn't have had anything else to add to it; what do think this last group was waiting to hear? Paul keeps it really simple, because The Gospel IS simple; we used to be ignorant about the things of God, now we know we are sinners in need of a Savior, Jesus is The Only Savior as confirmed by His resurrection, now repent and put your faith in Him.

Act 17:30-31 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

What must I do to be saved?

Acts 16:14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

This verse is another (of many) indicators that Salvation is entirely a work of God. We can earnestly seek Him, but to truly receive The Word of God and be saved only happens when God opens your heart to receive His Word. If you question whether this has happened in your life you need only to look to The Word of God which says, He gives us a new heart with new desires, He takes out our heart of stone that is focussed on feeding our sinful flesh and gives us a heart of flesh that is focussed on serving Our King.

When we earnestly seek God and His Righteousness we will want to ask the same question the Roman guard did:

Acts 16:30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

Like this Roman guard, are you prepared for the answer:

Acts 16:31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

We dare not add to this. Yes, if we truly believe it will lead to obedience; but we can never earn or deserve Salvation. Remember what the Word say, he be accursed that preaches any other Gospel. It is not Christ plus, it is Christ period. As the Word says, His Goodness leads us to repentance...the fruit of true conversion is repentance and obedience; if you don't have these, you don't have Salvation either.

Beware of the religious VIPERS, they're still out there

First in Iconium

Acts 14:5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,

Then Lystra
Acts 14:19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

Everywhere Paul went he face persecution for preaching The Gospel. Can you imagine what a stoning when he was supposed dead would look like. These people were no strangers to stoning and they concluded he was dead. And by the protection and Grace of God he gets up and picks right up where he left off....and what does he say about it:

Act 14:21-22 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

COME ON MAN! Does that sound like "Easy Believism" to you? READ THAT AGAIN! "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." Persecution for righteousness sake, not for the cares of this world.

Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

Acts 15:5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."

Talk about an age old problem. The religous putting parameters on salvation. Pick your favotite herecy; you must be circumcised, you must be confirmed catholic, you must pray facing Meca "x" amount of times per day, you must this or that.

Acts 15:4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.

All of the amazing things God did through Paul and Barnabas and they still were not prideful or under any illusion that they did it, but it was God through them....or as they said, "God had done with them". This is where we need to get to, surrendering ourselves as tools for God to do with what He wills.

Peter clarifies everything for those that want to add to Jesus Christ's finished work on the Cross:

Act 15:8-9 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,
9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

I never noticed this before; but within Acts 15 is a letter addressing the circumcision group (along with it any other "Christ plus" doctrines). Paul dispells the "works righteousness" dosctrined, but makes repentance clear:

Act 15:28-29 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

Over and over again as we read in The Word that we are to absatin from all wickedness. In Galatians and Ephesians Paul gives us a list that hits a little closer to home than this list (which was the issue for that people group):

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 4:30-31 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Ephesians 5:3-5 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

This next verse really gives us a template to go by, notice how Paul doesn't just preach The Word, but he goes back to continue ministering to those who believe:
Acts 15:36 Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing."

The thing that jumped out to me in this next set of verses is that it seems there is a season for everything and at this point Paul and Barnabas were at the close of a season of ministry together:
Act 15:37-40 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.
38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.
39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus;
40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.

Press on for The Lord

Acts 13:2a As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,...

Acts 13:3a Then, having fasted and prayed,...

More and more as I read the Word it is continually impressed upon me how important prayer is, but right along with it is fasting.

Up until now, I have always thought of Paul as kind of a "go it alone" kind of guy. I knew Barnabas was with him, but I just assumed Paul was full speed ahead and didn't care who came along. In reading this, Paul and Barnabas were alone, but only because that is what God commanded. Paul and Barnabas were with a group of prophets and teachers and were called away:

Acts 13:2b ...."Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Paul and Baranabas went out preaching The Word...but not only that, they called false teaching as it was, the work of the devil; check this out:

Acts 13:9-11 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

When they shared The Gospel they shared the whole story. From where Jesus lineage, to His death, ressurection and His message of repentance....and what was the response of "the religious":

Act 13:49-50 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

And what was their response:

Act 13:51-52 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Not everyone is going to want to hear The Gospel....does that mean we stop? No, we press on for The Lord.

Power of prayer and easy deception

Act 12:2-3 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

This is the second martyr recorded in Acts. First Stephen, now James and clearly the kings plan was to make Peter the 3rd.

It is interesting to note that the 1st century Christians know the power of prayer:

Acts 12:5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

Acts 12:12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.

It is very difficult for us to get our mind around how absolutely crucial a dedicated and continual prayer life is, even though we are told throughout Scripture of its importance:

1Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,

1Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

Ephesians 6:17-18 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, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Colossians 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Isn't it also interesting to note, that exactly like today, people are easily kept from seeking God and His Righteousness by the lure of comfort and peace.

Acts 12:20 Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country.

All the enemy has to do to keep many people from seeking eternal life is make way for them to have peace and comfort in the here and now. Sad but true.

Don't be Duped by "Easy Believism"

Acts 11:21 led me on a quite journey today. Check this out.

Act 11:20-21 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

Did you catch that? A great number believed and turned to the Lord. They didn't just say, "oh, cool, I beleieve" and continue about their life without change. They believed and turned to The Lord. This is a huge problem in American Christianity today, "Easy Believism" is rampant. Yet, every where you look in The Word, change is expected, radical change. It could be said, "you believe? Great. Prove it." Afterall, The Word says the old is gone and the new has come when we belong to Christ. We should see some radical change as is clearly indicated in Romans 6:

Rom 6:4-15 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

Our radical change may start with The Lord pruning away the sin in our life, but eventually, if we belong to Him, this radical change manifests itself in works. Take a look at James 2:

James 2:17-20 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Someone might say, doesn't this contradict Ephesians 2:8. It might if you stop there, but we need to read the next two verses that make it clear, for those of us that are "in Christ", for those of us that are born again, He has work for us to do. This work doesn't save us, it is evidence that we are saved and belong to Him.

Eph 2:1-10 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

What type of work? As we see in Ephesians 4, the work is to Edify The Body of Christ. Take a look at Ephesians 4:

Ephesians 4:1-16 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 Therefore He says: "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
9 (Now this, "HE ASCENDED"—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The Gospel is for EVERYONE!

Acts 10:2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

God is about to answer Cornelius' prayers, but first look at what Cornelius was doing:

Acts 10:30 So Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

Cornelius had been fasting and praying. The Word seems to suggest he was committed to fasting and prayer and Cornelius was patient in waiting for God to answer. Cornelius is told by an angel to send for a man named Peter (who would be the answer to his prayer). At the same time God is doing something to prepare Peter for this. Isn't it interesting how The Word as many examples of ways God tells one person to do something that doesn't seem to make sense, but He is putting everything in motion “behind the scenes” to pull it all together. As we see in verses 12-15, God is pulling Peter kicking and screaming away from his religious traditions. Although Peter was a born-again Christian, he still held on to some religious tradition. God not only makes it clear to Peter that being forbidden to eat anything is silly, but to think that the Gospel is only meant for a certain people group is equally silly:

Acts 10:12-15 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
13 And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."

Peter goes to see Cornelius and Cornelius is very excited to hear what Peter has to share with him. In his excitement, he worships Peter and in so doing gives us an example of what NOT to do(v 25-26). We can be excited about a Word a preacher, teacher or anyone may have for us, but that should never change the direction of our praise and worship. God sent Peter, Peter is just the messenger, God gets the Glory. No matter how you got saved (if you are) the same is true. If you have been saved, God put the plan in motion and placed the right people in the right places for you to hear and receive The Word.

Acts 10:25-26 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man."

And what is this Word Peter had for Cornelius (that was an answer to prayer)?

Acts 10:34-44 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.

Are you too wicked to be saved?

Act 9:1-2 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Here is two verses we need to keep in mind if we (or someone we know) thinks that they are too wicked to be saved. Many people will throw up there hands and automatically assume God can't save them because of all the bad things they have done in their life. These 2 verses in Acts 9 sum up the wickedness of Saul of Tarsus. He not only hunted Christians down to imprison and kill them, but as we see here he went the extra mile to get permission to “expand his territory”. He was not content to do his thing where he was, he wanted to take his havoc on the road. But God had other plans. God has other plans for all of us if we will repent and surrender our life to Him. The question isn't, “can God save me?”, He can. And the question isn't “can I repent?”, the question is “will you repent?”

Act 9:3-5 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."

Have you ever thought about Saul's question to Jesus here? He said, “Who are You, Lord?”. At this point Saul is a very religious man, he was very zealous in serving God and thought he was doing what God wanted him to do. Can you imagine how stunned he was when the God He thought he was serving said, “why are you persecuting Me?”

In verse 5 when Jesus says, “It is hard to kick against the goads” I've always been confused by that. But I was listening to a preacher a few weeks ago talk about this and his contention was, Saul felt the conviction of the way Stephen died as Saul stood by watching him get stoned to death. Saul listened to Stephen talk about the Heavens opening up and Jesus standing there, Saul heard Stephen pray that Jesus receive his spirit, and Saul heard Stephen pray that The Lord not hold this sin against them. At that point Saul knew there was something different about Jesus and those that followed Him, yet he was resisting that conviction, thus kicking against the goads.

Look at Saul's response when he finally realizes that Jesus is Lord:

Acts 9:6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

“LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” Not, “hmmm, let's see how I can work this Christianity thing in to my life without changing too much.” NO, Saul was ready and willing to follow and serve Jesus!

Look at what Saul did after Jesus used Ananias to restore his site:
Acts 9:17b ... "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Acts 9:18b ...and he arose and was baptized.

Acts 9:20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

I love the last part of verse 22. We don't get much detail on how he did this, but it simply says, he “proved” that Jesus is The Christ. Saul, one of the most religious, educated, intelligent men to come out of Jerusalem is now proving to the Jews that Jesus is The Christ!

Acts 9:22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Now the Jewish Leaders that were cheering Saul on as he hunted Christians, the ones that were of the same mind as those giving Saul authority to do so in Damascus, now have a different attitude toward him. Did they get saved? Are they now ready to give their life to Jesus as Saul did?:

Acts 9:23 Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him.

Is Infant Baptism a Doctrine of Demons?

The Lord called Phillip to go a certain direction, knowing he would come by a certain man trying to understand the Scripture, yet he could not. Look what Phillip did as he explained the Scripture to the man:

Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

After the man heard The Gospel preached he believed and wanted to be baptized, yet wasn't sure if he was able:

Act 8:36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"

Phillips repsonse seems to make it clear that there is just one thing keeping him and anyone from being baptized. That one thing is, if they do not believe in Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Act 8:37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

We can logically connect the dots that until you believe that Jesus is Lord and He has been raised from the dead (Roman 10:9) you shall not be baptized. Thus, infant baptism is a futile, religous exercise. First we must believe and then be baptized.

God's Gift Can't Be Bought

Acts 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

When I read this today, the first thing that came to my mind was, “they scattered once, they aren't doing it again.”

When we face certain circumstances all of us have made the wrong choice at one time or another. Many of us have made wrong choices over and over again. I think this is a great for us to meditate on and learn from the apostles. We need to make the choice to stand for Jesus no matter what the cost. In this country it won't cost us our life (yet), but it can cost us friendships, family, promotions, customers and maybe even a little mocking. Our mind needs to be fixed on Jesus and not on this world; if it is, we will choose righteousness when faced with various circumstances. For example, when our mind is fixed on Jesus we will be sensitive to conversations we shouldn't participate in, movies and shows we shouldn't watch, songs we shouldn't listen to, books and magazines we shouldn't read and so forth.

Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

This verse is amazing. Saul didn't care whether he imprisoned and killed men or women; he was going to get them all....and he thought he was doing God's work.

Acts 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

THIS IS GREAT! Even though these people scattered in fear, they were still committed to sharing the Gospel.

Act 8:9-11 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,
10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God."
11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.

The people were deceived in to thinking that this man was of God because he was able to preform signs and wonders. Jesus warns us that in the latter times many will preform signs and wonders, and we are not to be deceived. This is a big reason why we need to know the Word of God. Just as we talked about above, setting our mind on Jesus and preparing our mind for action; we also need to prepare our mind for what is coming as to not be duped.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:
Mat 24:23-26 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.

Act 8:14-15 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

This is very interesting. We have talked in the last week that there is a difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit. This verse makes it clear that there is a difference between receiving The Word and receiving The Holy Spirit. It reminds me of the parable Jesus shared in 13. If you read the beginning of Matthew 13 Jesus is sharing the parable, here He explains it:

Mat 13:18-23 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Here's is one of the scariest exchanges in The Word:
Let's recap. This particular Simon practiced sorcery and people thought he did things in the power of God (he might have thought so too). Phillip preaches the Gospel and Simon believes. HE BELIEVES!! Simon follows Phillip, sees that everyone he lays hands on receives the Holy Spirit and Simon wants to offer him money in exchange for this gift.

Acts 8:20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

This reminds me of scientology and paying for “different levels”. Or the works righteousness “religions” out there. Or an abundance of “other gospels” we hear preached. In all cases, they are expecting to receive the gifts of God through another means.

Here's the scariest part. Remember, this guy believed when he heard the Gospel, yet look at what Peter says:

Acts 8:21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

And what does Peter command him to do?

Acts 8:22-23 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."

Same things going on today!

Acts 7:30 "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

Stephen is recapping Moses' journey and this is the first thing that really stuck out to me. Moses was a Godly man, yet after he fled to Midian, God waited 40 years before Moses was really "put into action".

The interesting thing is, just before this verse one of the guys that was fighting with the other said to Moses:
Acts 7:27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE OVER US?

What an amazing foreshaddowing.....God made Moses ruler of the Jews and through Moses gave us the Ten Commandments which essentialy is what we will be judged by if we die in our sin.

Here's is anothoer AMAZING foreshaddowing:

Acts 7:38-39 "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,
39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

God used Moses to free the Jews from bondage and He gives Moses the Ten Commandments. But instead, they choose to be disobedient and return to bondage. How amazing is that parrallel. We see that today. People are presented with the only One that can free them from the bondage of sin and death and instead of obeying Him they choose to return to the bondage of sin and death.

Just like we see they did in verse 41, people are creating idols to bow down to instead of surrendering to the One and Only Living God.

Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

Our idols may not be a golden calf, but it is money, Hollywood, booze, drugs, pornography, work, sports, gambling, sex, religion, good works, politics, our kids, our spouse....the list goes on, but the end result is the same; we are putting something or someone else before God and that "thing" that is between us and God will ultimately be the "thing" that will separate us from God for eternity.

Matthew 10:37-38 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
:38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

But just as today, they did not want to receive Stephen's Word. The Holy Spirit was doing it's job of convicting them of sin, Righteousness and Judgment, but look at what Stephen says to them:

Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

Look at their response....were they repentant?....NO!

Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

Act 7:58-60 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen was in the game!

Acts 6:1-6 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

There is something that struck me curious about these verses. I still am not clear on it, but I'd like to share my thought:
In these 6 verses a problem was identified and dealt with. These verses also say that the disciples appointed 7 men to deal with various things in the ministry so they could "give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word". Stephen was one of these 7 men, yet Stephen was killed for sharing the Gospel. What seems so interesting is that Stephen had all these other duties, yet he was still out sharing the Gospel. Maybe it wasn't as "full time" as Peter, John and the boys....but clearly he wasn't cozied up safe and sound behind the day to day tasks of the ministry.

Not only was Stephen not cozied up, safe and sound....he was doing some amazing things:
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Stephen was in the game so much that he was a HUGE target. They were trying to battle him in debate and they didn't have a chance:
Acts 6:10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

Then they resorted to lying and bringing false accusations against him, yet look how Stephen responded:
Acts 6:15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

And as we will find out tomorrow in Chapter 7, he is killed sharing the Gospel. Not exactly a behind the desk administrator.

Is our calling any different?

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?

As I read this a second time today it hit me....if the reponsibilty of protecting ourself by putting on the full armor of God doesn't fall on us; why would Peter ask him this question? If a possible answer was, "Satan overcame me and there was nothing I could do!" Do you think the consequences of his sin would be so final? His sin was not that he held back some of the profits, it was the deceiving nature at which he did it. This begs the question, what part of our life are we holding back and thinking we will skate by with lying to the Holy Spirit in saying, "I'm doing the best I can"? This is one reason why true fellowship is so important. We are called to live holy as He is Holy. I don't think that there is any doubt that to do this requires accountability from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It is so easy to get discouraged when you do have fellowship, I cannot image the level of difficuty without it.

Acts 5:4b ....Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

Part of the full armor of God includes the breastplate of Righteousness. It seems God symbolizes the breastplate of Righteousness to protect our heart. The heart is deceiful and wicked and needs to be protected so evil cannot take root and grow.

Acts 5:20 "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life."

Seems like a pretty clear directive....question is....are we all called to the Great Commission in some capacity?

Acts 5:25 So one came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!"

They obeyed!

Act 5:30-32 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

As we continue to work through the rest of the New Testament we will see that this is one of several places where the apostles emphasize the importance of obediance.

After the council beat them, Paul and John didn't hang their head walking out deciding they had enough of that; instead they rejoiced:

Acts 5:41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Then they went right back to work:

Acts 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Be Bold For The Lord

Look at Peter's response when they throw him in jail because the masses were hearing the Gospel and giving their life to Jesus. They cross examine him about the man that was healed:

Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 This is the 'STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.'
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Jesus made this clear in John 14:6
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Why is the Gospel so offensive? Because it speaks of absolute Truth, not relative truth. It is NOT all inclusive like the universalist would have you believe. If it was, why are people imprisoned and killed for preaching The Gospel?

How should we respond when we are told to shut up about it?

Acts 4:17-20 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name."
18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

Also....

What do we need to be praying for? BOLDNESS!

Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,

Look how God honored that prayer:
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

The place shook!

They were filled with the Holy Spirit! (another indicator of the receiving and filling of the Holy Spirit being 2 separate events)

They spoke boldly!

Peter continues the same message

Peter and John heal a lame man and the crowds are amazed. Yea, I guess they were amazed....wouldn't we be amazed if someone we knew was paralyzed from birth and someone heal them with a word? Look what Peter does; he immediately wants to shift the attention off of himself and make sure everyone knows Who gets the glory and by Who's power the man was healed:

Acts 3:12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

After Peter reminds them what they did to The King of kings, he quickly brings them hope by basically saying, "Hey, don't sweat it, you did it in ignorance. Now be ignorant no longer and know how you can be redeemed."

Acts 3:17-19 "Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Just as in the previous chapter, Peter is preaching repetance:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Peter also makes it clear by Who's power repentance comes from in verse 26:
Act 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

It seems clear as you read Acts 3 that to those who are truly surrendered to Jesus, He gives what we need to turn away from ungodliness.

Like John, Like Jesus...Now Peter

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Another indicator that receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled (or baptized) with the Holy Spirit are two different events.

Acts 2:11-13 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"
13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."

This reminds me of what we see today. Although some people see the amazing things God has done in changing people, we still have those that will say they "got all religious" in a mocking fashion, which is typically followed up with the rolling of eyes and a chuckle. None the less, there are those few that give their life to Jesus, fullfilled verse 21:

Acts 2:21 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.'

Just as we have discussed before; John The Baptist preached repentance and Jesus didn't waste any time preaching repentance, take a look how Peter starts his ministry:

First he reminds them that they killed Jesus, look at verse36:
Acts 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Second:
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Third, he makes sure everyone knows that this gift is all inclusive and is entirely a work of God:
Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Fourth, he pleades with an urgency that only one that is born-again can do:
Act 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."

and what happened:
Act 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
Act 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.