Saul and the Persecution

If Luke was not among those believers who were persecuted and had to leave Jerusalem, he could not have witnessed Stephen’s death. However, it would not be inconsistent with his explanation in Luke 1:1-4 that he could have researched his material concerning the events surrounding Stephen’s death and the persecution that followed. These things may very well have been supplied by Philip, who had ultimately settled in Caesarea after fleeing Jerusalem.

 

The Conclusion of the First Pentecost

As a result of Peter’s first sermon on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, as it is called in the Greek, three thousand souls came to believe in Jesus and came under his authority. They repented of their rebellion against God (an inward expression) and submitted to baptism (an outward expression or testimony) to the new life they were given by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Peter concluded that the promise of new life was offered first to the Jews, but also to those who are afar off (Acts 2:39). That is, the new life of the Spirit was to include both Jew and Gentile. How this would be brought about was probably not understood at this point in time, but in a few years it would come clear.

 

A Theme for Acts

One would find an overall theme of the Gospel narratives summarized in Acts 1:1-3. Jesus taught about the coming Kingdom of God, proving its appearance by those things which he did. God handed his Son over to the Jews and their leaders crucified him, but God acquitted him by raising him from the dead and placing him on his throne in the heavens!

 

Antichrist & Great Signs and Wonders

A lot of folks seem to be looking for some great magician to come on the scene, someone to really WOW the world and cause them to believe that God is speaking through him. I cannot imagine anything like this occurring today, since he would soon become the object of a great many experiments to prove his authenticity. Atheists simply will not believe anyone is speaking for a God they don’t believe exists simply because someone is wowing the crowds and claiming he is from God. This simply does not compute in today’s cultural scheme, and I believe preaching it makes Christianity look foolish.

 

Jesus—the Bread of Life

Jesus claims to be to be the Bread of life that came down from God out of heaven (John 6:32-33, 38), and he went on to say that no one has everlasting life unless he eats Jesus’ flesh and drinks his blood (John 6:50-51, 53-54). A great deal of misunderstanding has occurred over the theme of this part of the Gospel of John, including some modern critics saying that this part of the Gospel of John was taken from the pagan religious rites dealing with Mithraism. So what is Jesus saying and can we be sure the understanding is not taken from paganism?

 

Jesus—Feeding the Hungry

Even a cursory reading of John 6 will show that Jesus had compassion on those who were hungry (John 6:5). Nevertheless, Jesus didn’t dedicate his office as Messiah to satisfy the needs of the poor in the world or even in Palestine (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4), but he had compassion upon the needy wherever he saw them.

 

Who is the Man of Sin? ~ Part 2

We are discussing the identity of the Man of Sin (see part 1 HERE), of whom Paul wrote in 2Thessalonians 2:3. We have also discussed the coming of Jesus being at first unobservable, as indicated by the request of a “sign” by the Apostles, which “sign” Jesus revealed in the Olivet Prophecy. In previous blogposts I had shown that Stephen’s death in Acts 7 represents the setting up of the abomination that makes desolate. In other words whatever was done to shed the blood of Stephen, the first martyr of Jesus, indicates that the abomination had been set up.

 

Who is the Man of Sin? ~ Part 1

In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians he wrote of a Man of Sin who was to come. Paul was speaking of the time of the coming of our Lord, Jesus, and our gathering unto him. The Thessalonians had thought that the biblical Day of the Lord was already present, for someone seems to have been troubling the church saying the Day of the Lord had already come. However, Paul had told the church what to expect (2Thessalonians 2:5), but they had forgotten. Paul then told them again that the Day of the Lord would not arrive until the “Man of Sin” would be revealed.

 

Did John the Baptist’s Ministry Fail?

This post is in response to an ongoing discussion I am having HERE. Since the discussion replies have become quite lengthy I thought I would blog my replies as long as they seem important and may be of an interest to others who come to my blog and may not be aware of the discussion. My partner’s name in this discussion is Arthur, and he has taken the position that John’s ministry was a failure, and, because it was a failure, Jesus had to be crucified. At least this is the conclusion of the speaker in the video[1] presented on Arthur’s website (see link below). Arthur’s words will be in bold italic to distinguish them from what I have to say. The first Scripture under discussion is:

 

The Atypical… Jesus!

Did you ever notice that Jesus just will not fit into a box? He just doesn’t fit our preconceptions. John was astonished to find that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:31, 33). The rulers of the Jews just could not understand his message (John 2:20). They were exceedingly impressed with his miracles, but simply could not understand what he was trying to say (John 3:1-2, 4, 9). Why was this so? Why didn’t anyone who read and were devoted to the Scriptures understand who Jesus was (John 1:11)? I believe the answer to these questions is that those who were devoted to God and the Scriptures had preconceived notions about what God was telling them through Moses and the Prophets.

 

The Gift of Life from the Murdered One!

Before I leave the discussion of Jesus with Nicodemus, I wish to consider again John 1:14. Here Jesus made reference to Numbers 21:4-9. What an odd reference to compare with Jesus! The serpent is often a figure of the Enemy—Satan. It has been since Genesis 3 where man fell into rebellion against God. There God promised that the Seed of the woman would be at war with the seed of the ‘serpent.’ In this battle the ‘serpent’ would receive the death blow (to the head) but the Seed of the woman would be wounded (per the heal).

 

Do We Know Jesus?

I cannot help but wonder what Nicodemus thought as he listened to Jesus so long ago. Jesus as much as told him that he was the Messiah; certainly John the Baptist was telling others Jesus was the Messiah. It was no secret that this is what Jesus was claiming to others, and many in Israel looked for the coming of the one of whom Daniel spoke and counted the days that pointed to his arrival (Daniel 9).

 

The Importance of the Whole Truth

Nicodemus talked with Jesus from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry at Jerusalem. Nicodemus believed Jesus was sent by God, but he had great difficulty understanding what Jesus was saying. Why is that? We are presented with a paradox right here in chapter three of John’s Gospel. John presents Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. He was an important man in Jerusalem, and he came to Jesus saying they, that is, he and the other important people or rulers of the Jews at Jerusalem, realized that God had sent Jesus to them (John 3:2). In other words, Nicodemus believed at the very least that Jesus is a prophet from God. Just admitting this was a controversy, because some Jewish writings of that day speak of the Jews no longer hearing from God through a prophet—the prophets of God have stopped coming back around the time of Ezra. Yet, here is Jesus, whom Nicodemus claimed he believed was sent by God.

 

We were Called Christians First in Antioch!

Did you ever wonder how we got our name Christian? I have several nicknames and I know how I received each one. Some of the reasons are quite funny, while others are a bit embarrassing. Some were used for a short period of time, and others I am known by to this day. Nevertheless, all of them are mine, and I know the reason why and by whom I had been called by each name that was used to identify me. So, since we had begun to be known as followers of the Way or Nazarenes, how is it we finally became known as Christian? Who gave us this name and why, and can we know?

 

The One… Whom You do not Know!

John’s testimony was that there stood One among the Jews whom they did not know (John 1:26). This One was he who was preferred above John. It was he whose shoe John was unworthy to unloose; that is to say that John was not worthy to unloose that One’s shoes in order to wash his feet (the task for the lowest household servant). This One would come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire! His winnowing fork was in his hand… gathering the wheat into his barn, while the chaff he burns with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:11-13).