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.