Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 3:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “His Tender Mercies.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Acts 3-4
(Select vv. NASB).
Summary of Acts 3:1-4:4
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Peter had healed a man who had been lame from birth. This drew a crowd, who
were all amazed at what had just taken place. So, Peter seized the opportunity
to tell the people, who were standing there, about Jesus Christ. He confronted
the Jews about what they had done to Jesus, too. He said, “You disowned the
Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed
the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.” In other words, they had
rejected and killed their Messiah, Lord, Christ and God (incarnate), their
creator, and they had set a murderer free, instead. But, Jesus was now alive! He
was delivered from death. Amen! So, Peter went on to explain that it was in the
name of Jesus and the faith that comes through him that this man was healed.
Peter then let the people
know that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the prophecies of scripture
regarding their Messiah, who was to come, and that his suffering and death were
also a fulfillment of prophecy of scripture. And, then he charged them that
they must repent of (turn away from) their sins, and turn to God, in order that
their sins might be wiped out and that times of refreshing (renewal) would come
from the Lord. He said this, too, about Jesus Christ: “When God raised up his
servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your
wicked ways.” In other words, Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. He did not die just to give us an escape from hell and a promise
of heaven when we die. Peter said, “Anyone who does not listen to him will be
completely cut off from among his people,” i.e. faith in Jesus Christ results
in obedience.
But, this did not set well
with the Jewish religious leaders, so they seized Peter and John and put them
in jail until the next day. Yet, many who heard the message of salvation from
sin via faith in Jesus Christ believed.
The enemies of the cross of
Christ will try to stop the spreading of the gospel, but this often backfires
against them, because persecution against Christians has a way of advancing the
gospel, instead, so that many more people believe on Jesus Christ to be Lord
(owner-master) and Savior of their lives. Praise the Lord! What Satan means for
evil in our lives, God means for good, to advance his kingdom, for the glory of
God, and for the salvation of human souls from sin, in order to give them the
light of life.
By What Name?
(vv. 5-12)
On the next day, their rulers and elders and
scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; and Annas the high
priest was there, and Caiaphas
and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. When
they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you
done this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
“Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a
benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let
it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead—by this name this
man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by
you, the builders, but which
became the chief cornerstone. And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
When we are confronted with
why we do what we do, we should seize the opportunity to present to people the
gospel of our salvation. We should tell them how Jesus Christ, God the Son,
came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, and was tempted in
like manner as we are also tempted, yet without sin. We ought to explain to
them that because God loved us so much, he gave his One and Only Begotten Son
to die on a cross for our sins. God made him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin
for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Co. 5:21).
In other words, when Jesus died, our sins died and were buried with him. But,
praise God, Jesus didn’t stay dead. He was resurrected back to life in
conquering death, hell, Satan and sin on our behalf in order that we might die
to sin and live to righteousness. Salvation comes through HIM alone!
We Cannot Stop Speaking (vv. 13-22)
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter
and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were
amazed, and began to
recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had
been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when
they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one
another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle
has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we
cannot deny it. But so that it will not spread any further among the
people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”
And when they had summoned them, they commanded
them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter
and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to
give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot
stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” When they had threatened
them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on
account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had
happened; for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle
of healing had been performed.
I love the first part of this!
These rulers of the people and leaders in the Jewish temple not only listened
to what the apostles told them about Jesus Christ, but they observed the apostles’
attitudes, their education level, and their poise, and they recognized that
these men had been with Jesus.
I believe there is a lesson
for us to be learned from this. People who observe us every day not only listen
to our words, but they watch our lives. They observe our attitudes, our
actions, and our behaviors, and from those observations they draw conclusions
about us, right or wrong. They look to see if we are walking the talk, and not
just talking the walk. So, when they watch our lives, will they see that we
have been with Jesus? Or, will they see us as hypocrites who make a profession of
Christ, but whose lifestyles are not much different from those who do not
profess Christ at all?
We are no threat to Satan and
to his kingdom if we profess Christ but live just like the world lives. In
fact, we help to advance his kingdom and we share in his attempts to destroy
the kingdom of God when we profess Christ but live as though we don’t know Christ
at all. Yet, if we take God and his Word and his salvation seriously, and we
share the truth of the gospel with others, and we make it our practice to walk
the talk, and to not live hypocritically, though not necessarily perfectly, Satan
is going to come after us with his “guns” to attack us in any way he can. And,
he will pull out all the stops in order to try to stop us from sharing the
gospel of our salvation.
This is happening in our
world today, and many of our religious and political leaders are party to the
plot to destroy the gospel and its messengers. They are making great strides in
trying to prove their case, which they first created (orchestrated), that the
people of the world are a mess, and that we need help, and that we, as the
people of the world, need to unite as one people regardless of nationality, lifestyle
or religion. In other words, this is all about bringing the people of the world
together under a one-world totalitarian government and a one-world religion.
Their goal is to destroy all which divides us as a people of the world, and to
focus on what we have in common. If our beliefs divide us into “them and us,”
i.e. unsaved and saved, then we must forsake that, according to them, so we can
be accepting of all walks of life and all religions. If we do not conform, we
will pay the consequences. Many believers in Jesus are already paying.
Yet, we can’t let their
warnings or their threats undo us. We cannot stop speaking about Jesus Christ
and his salvation, for many need to hear the gospel so that they can come to
know Christ, too. But, we must know that continuing to share the truths of the
gospel is going to get us persecuted and perhaps even killed, and that this is
coming to America, too. Our leaders are espousing this unity of religion and the
destruction of all which divides us as a people, too. Many of them have joined
forces with the New World Order (of the beast) and are pushing a social gospel
in place of Jesus’ gospel, in order that we don’t offend anyone with the cross
of Christ. So, we need to prepare ourselves that things are going to be much different
from this point forward, and that we need to stand strong in our faith and not
compromise.
His Tender Mercies / An Original Work / January 26, 2014
Fear not! I’m with you.
Be not dismayed!
God watches o’er you.
Trust Him today.
He’ll lead and guide you;
Give you His aid.
He’ll love and keep you
With Him always.
Walk in His footsteps.
He’ll lead the way.
Trust in His love;
Believe that He cares.
He will not leave you.
Faithful He’ll be.
His tender mercies
Now you will see.
Fellowship with Him
Throughout the day.
Tell Him your heartaches.
He’ll heal always.
Rest in His comfort.
He is your friend.
Your faith He’ll strengthen,
True to the end.
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