Wednesday 060425
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)
Romans 10:9 ‘…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
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)
1 Timothy 3:16 ‘…Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory…’ 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 16:31; Romans 10:9; Acts 3:19; Mark 9:32; Luke 18:34; Matthew 10:5-6; John 3:16; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 9:15, 13:9; Galatians 2:7-9; 2 Timothy 3:16.
To that believing Christian out there in this world today, here is a simple question for you:
What do you need to do to get Salvation so you can attain the promise of Everlasting Life in heaven with Jesus Christ after you die … according to what the Word of God tells us, not what your priest, pastor, church or its denomination preaches.
I myself have been having a difficult time understanding why the message I have been proclaiming is so hard for people to accept.
As I’ve been trying to decipher what might be the problem, I think I might have stumbled onto something, so, I’m going to try and voice this for the first time.
For the BELIEVING Christian today to be saved, we MUST first BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that we MUST BELIEVE that Jesus died on a cross for our sins and that He was resurrected from the tomb. We must not be embarrassed to voice to others about our God. We must repent, but that repentance is more than asking for the forgiveness of our sins, Jesus did that when He died on the cross, He died for the forgiveness of our sins.
Repent here means that we must change. We must change the way we live our lives. We must change the way we act towards others, but maybe the most important thing we can do is we must change the way we listen to God. WE MUST ALLOW HIM TO SPEAK TO US.
Acts 16:31 ‘…They said, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Romans 10:9 ‘…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Acts 3:19 ‘…Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
The words we MUST HEAR from God is ONLY found in the Word of God.
This is maybe our largest problem that we will find today in our lives because there are NOT enough people reading the Word of God for themselves, too often people depend on listening to their pastors or their priests to inform them what the Word of God says.
People …
Your pastor is NOT God!!!
Your priest is NOT God!!!
All of the writings that were written before Jesus died on the cross, cannot be writings that were written for our Salvation.
Our Salvation came from Jesus’ DEATH on the cross.
Jesus’ death and His Resurrection is our promise to Everlasting Life.
Therefore, the original apostles couldn’t have taught or written about a promise of life after Jesus’ death and His resurrection because they didn’t know about neither one, His death or His resurrection.
Jesus tried telling them on three (3) different occasions, and all three (3) occasions are documented in three (3) different synoptic gospels, but the writers of those gospels, didn’t know about the promise of life for us Gentile’s when Jesus died and was resurrected.
Here are the two (2) verses that tell us the original apostles didn’t know what Jesus was talking about.
Mark 9:32 ‘…But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Luke 18:34 ‘…The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
The apostles had no clue what it meant to be raised from the dead.
How could they teach a Gentile about life after death, Jesus taught them to not go to the Gentiles?
Matthew 10
vs5 ‘…These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not…’
vs6 ‘…but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…’ AKJV
The awkward and totally honest truth is that the original apostles couldn’t and didn’t do anything for us.
The most famous verse known today by those that attend a church is:
John 3:16 ‘…For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
This was written to the Jewish believer that only needed to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was the promised Messiah, promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, way, way back in the OT.
For us to memorize this verse in the 21st century, us Gentile’s, this verse will not do anything for us. This verse was written ONLY for the Jewish believer.
Romans 15:4 ‘…For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Here is a verse where God is alerting us to become aware what we study in the Word.
2 Timothy 2:15 ‘…Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth…’ AKJV
Are you taking heed and observing what Word your listening too?
These old (OT) writings in our Bibles are not for us to obey or for us to acquire the GIFT of salvation, but rather, we’ve been given these writings to teach us.
To teach and to encourage us to seek more of what has been written in the Word.
I hope I have shown that the OT and the synoptic gospels were never meant for us to attain our salvation, but they instead were to keep us engaged and keep us in the Word of God.
To me, the ONLY verse that clearly shows who should teach me about God and my salvation, is found in Acts.
The book of Acts was written by Luke.
Acts 9:15 (this is Jesus talking to Ananias)
‘…But the Lord said unto him, go thy way: for he (Saul) 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 Ananias, go! This man (Saul) is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…’ NIV (New International Version)
‘…The Lord said to him, go, because I have chosen him (Saul) 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, go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel…’ NLT (New Living Translation)
‘…The Lord said to Ananias, go! I have chosen him (Saul) to tell foreigners, kings, and the people of Israel about me…’ CEV (Contemporary English Version)
Here is another verse found in Acts for you.
Acts 13:9 ‘…Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
Here is a footnote found in the Amplified Bible for Acts 13:9.
Saul was the apostle Paul’s Jewish (Hebrew) name. As his ministry to Gentiles began he became known by his Roman (Latin) name, Paul.
Jesus chose Saul / Paul to teach the Gentile people.
Jesus chose Saul / Paul to teach the kings.
Jesus chose Saul / Paul to teach the children of Israel.
How can there be pastors, priests, churches and denominations today that still teach using anything other than what Paul wrote for and to us?
It is mostly because those people listed above don’t read the Word of God today. In their own minds, they’re too wise for the Word. They listen and read their own denominational papers. They trust and believe in them more.
Another incident that is recorded in Acts, is that of the Council that was held in Jerusalem, in 50AD.
The meeting was between all of the apostles; the remaining eleven original apostles and Matthias, the apostle chosen by man to fill Judas’ spot (after his death), and finally, the apostle Paul, who was the last apostle to be chosen by Jesus.
The outcome of the meeting was that Paul would spread his message to the un-circumcised (the Gentiles) and the remaining original apostles would continue to spread their message to the circumcised (the Jews).
If their going to continue, that’s the proof saying that’s who they did preach to.
Here is that same event, taken from the book of Galatians.
Galatians 2
vs7 ‘…But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised…’
vs8 ‘…for He who was at work for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles…’
vs9 ‘…and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
A handshake and two entities were able to get along with each other. Wouldn’t it be something if we could settle things in this world today as easy as they did in 50AD?
I want to clarify my point on what has been written in the Word.
2 Timothy 3:16 ‘…All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
The Word tells us that ALL Scripture has been Inspired by God.
There are benefits in the Word for us to teach others as well as for ourselves to read and learn from.
But even with that (one) added sentence that I’ve included, just for this lesson, nowhere are we told in this verse that ALL Scripture is meant for us to FOLLOW.
It’s also not written that ALL Scripture will save us from Eternal damnation.
We are never ALL going to agree fully with everything that has been said.
This is maybe the best time for me to state that is the reason why each one of us should open up our own Bibles and read the Word that God has given us.
This life we live in is hard. We are fighting obstacles all day trying to survive another day.
Do yourself a favor and put on the armor that God has given us and go out into this world and be protected from the evil found in this world. (Ephesians 6:14-17)
Keep your Bibles open and continue to study the Word that God has given to us.
I love ALL of y’all.
Be blessed.
I’ll see you next Wednesday.
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>
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