Friday 022825
Ephesians 2:8 ‘…For by GRACE you have been SAVED through FAITH; and this is not of yourselves, it is a GIFT of God…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Let’s together, open the Word of God this morning, and study what we have been given. Allow me to help you in your study and search the Bible what God has intended for us to hear.
The verses we are going to study tonight:
Acts 7:60, 8:1, 9:15; Ephesians 3:3, :5.
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Continuing from where we left off yesterday, we have to put ourselves back in that reality of the Orthodox Jewish religion and the Jew that was seeking a change.
In Acts 6 we read how the twelve selected and picked Stephen to fill in for them so they could continue to remain in Jerusalem and baptize and teach the Jews, and Stephen could concern himself with matters that needed special attention, because widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
There were those in the synagogue that disputed with Stephen and by the end of Acts 7, Stephen was stoned to death. This is another confrontation by this Orthodox Jewish religion that didn’t want things changed.
Around a year after Jesus’ crucifixion, Stephen was martyred.
Acts 7:60
‘…And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them! Having said this, he fell asleep…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, Lord! Do not remember this sin against them! He said this and died…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…Then he fell down on his knees. He shouted, Lord, please forgive these men. Do not punish them because they are doing this to me. After Stephen had said this, he died…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
In the very next verse, we read that even though Jesus told the remaining eleven to go out into the world to baptize and teach, they hadn’t moved.
They still remained in Jerusalem.
We read in Acts 8:1:
‘…And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…And Saul approved of his murder. Saul Persecutes the Church. That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…Saul was standing there while the Jewish leaders killed Stephen. He agreed with what they did. Saul puts many believers in prison. On the same day that Stephen died, the group of believers who lived in Jerusalem began to have great trouble. People did bad things to them. All the believers left Jerusalem and went to other places in Judea and Samaria. Only Jesus’ 12 apostles stayed in Jerusalem…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
The apostles still remained in Jerusalem; they hadn’t left to go anywhere.
And there remained this large battle between the original Orthodox Jewish religion fighting against those Jewish believers that had left and became followers of Jesus.
These were still Jews. The books written in the Bible were written to these Jews. The words used are these ‘new age’ believers, but they were Jews.
It wasn’t until Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus, when things really changed.
This is when the Gentile and the church age threw a wrench into the gearbox of religion.
God knew this was going to happen … mankind didn’t, however.
And so today, there are so many that want us to believe in a history that is just not found in the Word that God has given for us to use in our lives.
They want us to believe what they want us to believe.
Do yourself a favor, open your Bible for yourselves and read about what has and has not been recorded.
Don’t rely on your pastors, your churches or the denominations that you frequent. They are all involved in this make-believe gumbo soup that doesn’t make any sense when you find out the truth.
The more I write these pages for this study, I have to shake my head at all of the lies that I’ve been told over the years.
What I’ve been taught since grade school has not been anything more than a man-made lie that keeps getting deeper and deeper until today, it has to stop.
There may not be a lot of time left for us to really learn the truth.
Keep your Bibles open and read the Word and let God talk to you the truth.
So, it was on this road to Damascus that Jesus confronts Saul. It’s also in Acts 9 where we are told by Jesus that Saul is His ‘chosen vessel’ to tell the Gentiles about Him.
Acts 9:15
‘…But the Lord said unto him, go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…But the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…The Lord said to him, go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…But the Lord said to Ananias, go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
The apostle Paul writes of a MYSTERY that was explained to him by God.
Since I’ve been writing for these lessons, I have become well aware of this MYSTERY.
These man-made churches today, they want us to believe in their man-made mystery but it’s nothing but wasted paper.
There is a nemesis of God, his name is Satan, and he has been trying to overthrow God from the beginning.
Some people will ask, ‘just when was that beginning’ and it really doesn’t matter.
God told me ‘in the beginning’ and that’s good enough for me, IN THE BEGINNING.
Ephesians 3:3
‘…how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before briefly…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…God has clearly shown to me his true purpose. That was a secret before, but God has helped me to know it. I have written a few words about this already…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
Some will say ‘God can’t keep SECRETS.’
I would then ask, who says?
Here are just a few facts I found on google.com:
Deuteronomy 29:2 – God only reveals certain things to us as needed for our salvation, while keeping other things as secrets.
Garden of Eden – God hid knowledge of good and evil from Adam and Eve.
Psalm 139 -God knew us before we knew him.
Job 14:5 – God knows how long we are going to live.
Faith in God – Our faith in God shouldn’t be shaken by the fact that he keeps some things hidden from us.
None of the five (5) things listed on google should keep us from believing in God.
God is God … He can do whatever He wants to do whenever He wants to do it.
Ephesians 3:5
‘…which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…In past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…God did not tell this secret message to the people who lived before us. But now the Holy Spirit has shown it to God’s apostles and prophets…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
From the previous verse, we should be able to see the humility in Paul. Only the ‘apostle’ Paul was shown the mystery, not ALL of the apostles or prophets.
That is unless they once again, didn’t understand, and they didn’t tell all of us of the revealing.
I don’t have the available space to write all of the writings that Paul told us about the revealing of the mystery.
Keep your Bibles open and continue to study the Word. Study for yourself so that you will hear the truth as God intended it to be heard.
Study without bias and without bigotry. Study what you want to read and when you want to read it.
We have been given a treasure; it is so unfortunate there have been those that wanted to keep it from us.
I love ALL of y’all.
I hope you enjoy the beautiful wonders that God has given us.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen InHIM. ><)))o>