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SERVE ME

Acts 7: Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin: When the high priest asked Stephen if the charges against him were true he replied by turning to the Scriptures: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you,' verses 2-3. He reminded them that God had told Abraham to flee to Haran and God told him that he would have no inheritance there, but his descendants would possess the land even though Abraham had no child at that time. God foretold Abraham that the people would be enslaved for '400 years,' and he would punish the nation that held them captive. God then gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision and Isaac was born to him soon thereafter. Isaac had a child, Jacob, and he became the father of the 12 patriarchs who then sold one of their brothers, Joseph, as a slave to Egypt, "…but God was with him," verse 9. God was with Joseph and caused the Pharaoh of Egypt to favor with him and eventually made him ruler over all of Egypt and his palace. When the famine struck Egypt, Joseph's family eventually went down to Egypt for food and discovered that Joseph was still alive. The family of Abraham grew to about 400 when another Pharaoh came to rule and began to mistreat the Jews.

This was the time when Moses fled into the desert following an incident when he killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Jew, and stayed there for 40 years, and had two sons. One day God appeared to Moses and told him that He was going to send him back to Egypt to lead the people out of Egypt. God gave Moses instructions to pass on to the people, but in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. Stephen went on to say the people at that time rejected the truth and they are doing the same thing. They persecuted the prophets then and continued to do so until they finally crucified the Son of God, Jesus, and they continued to ignore the law that was put in effect in those days.

The stoning of Stephen: The Jews were so furious with him that they gnashed their teeth, covered their ears and rushed him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. In the interim Stephen told them in verse 55 that he 'looked up to Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.' As they continued to stone them, Stephen prayed to the Father to forgive them because of their ignorance and then said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." and then he fell asleep. They laid his clothes at the feet of a man named Saul, (Paul), who was in favor of their actions.

There are two words in this chapter that impressed me the most, which are our obligation as Christians to observe. Verse 7 ended with these two words; 'worship me.' This the first of the two commandments that Jesus gave us. This is all that God asks of us, to worship Him and Him only. The second one, as you know is to love each other. This would be a world we would never recognize if we did that, unfortunately we won't. But, as Christians who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, this is exactly what it'll be like when we join Him in Heaven. Praise the Lord for what He accomplished for us on the cross.

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SERVE ME

 

Acts 7: Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin: When the high priest asked Stephen if the charges against him were true he replied by turning to the Scriptures: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you,' verses 2-3. He reminded them that God had told Abraham to flee to Haran and God told him that he would have no inheritance there, but his descendants would possess the land even though Abraham had no child at that time. God foretold Abraham that the people would be enslaved for '400 years,' and he would punish the nation that held them captive. God then gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision and Isaac was born to him soon thereafter. Isaac had a child, Jacob, and he became the father of the 12 patriarchs who then sold one of their brothers, Joseph, as a slave to Egypt, "…but God was with him," verse 9. God was with Joseph and caused the Pharaoh of Egypt to favor with him and eventually made him ruler over all of Egypt and his palace. When the famine struck Egypt, Joseph's family eventually went down to Egypt for food and discovered that Joseph was still alive. The family of Abraham grew to about 400 when another Pharaoh came to rule and began to mistreat the Jews.

 

This was the time when Moses fled into the desert following an incident when he killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Jew, and stayed there for 40 years, and had two sons. One day God appeared to Moses and told him that He was going to send him back to Egypt to lead the people out of Egypt. God gave Moses instructions to pass on to the people, but in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. Stephen went on to say the people at that time rejected the truth and they are doing the same thing. They persecuted the prophets then and continued to do so until they finally crucified the Son of God, Jesus, and they continued to ignore the law that was put in effect in those days.

 

The stoning of Stephen: The Jews were so furious with him that they gnashed their teeth, covered their ears and rushed him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. In the interim Stephen told them in verse 55 that he 'looked up to Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.' As they continued to stone them, Stephen prayed to the Father to forgive them because of their ignorance and then said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." and then he fell asleep. They laid his clothes at the feet of a man named Saul, (Paul), who was in favor of their actions.

 

There are two words in this chapter that impressed me the most, which are our obligation as Christians to observe. Verse 7 ended with these two words; 'worship me.' This the first of the two commandments that Jesus gave us. This is all that God asks of us, to worship Him and Him only. The second one, as you know is to love each other. This would be a world we would never recognize if we did that, unfortunately we won't. But, as Christians who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, this is exactly what it'll be like     when we join Him in Heaven. Praise the Lord for what He accomplished for us on the cross.

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FACE OF AN ANGEL

 

Acts 6: Verses 1-7…Certain Jews were complaining that some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food, so the Twelve gathered together to determine a solution. They decided to select seven men of good standing to do the job, those who were full of the Spirit and wisdom. Verse 5: "The proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit," and six others. The Twelve were now able to concentrate on preaching the word of God. Many came to the Faith and even the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

 

Verses 8-15…Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, began to perform many wonders and miracles. Opposition arose against Stephen and they began to argue with him, but they could not overcome the power of God and Stephen continued, with wisdom and the Spirit. Finally his opposition created some false testimony in verse 11: "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God."

 

They were convinced that Jesus was going to destroy the Temple and every Sanhedrin was watching Stephen and noticed his face began to shine like the face of an Angel. Stephen lays into them in chapter 7.

 

When we are full of faith and 'connected' to God we are able to withstand any and all challenges facing us. I'm reminded of a life crisis about 33 years ago when I was on my way to become a very successful General Agent in the life insurance business. Then one day the whole world crashed around me; my company went out of business and I was out of a job and income, with a family to support. Everything I had worked so hard for was now being threatened. But I had my faith and trust in God and was not in any danger of losing that. This is God's promise to us. I didn't quite feel like Job but it was close. I am firmly convinced that God gave me the wisdom to not look at the circumstances, to keep my nose to the grindstone and have faith and trust that that everything will be okay. My friends, I can tell you that everything did, in fact, work out well. I am sure that I could not have achieved the same results in my new venture as I did if I were to have remained a General Agent. God had a door opened for me even before the other one closed. I give God all the glory and the credit. The moral here is, when you have a crisis, and you will have, turn to God and He will help you. All things are for good in God.

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AS TO GOD

Acts5:1-11. Ananias and Sapphira…In the previous chapter we witnessed the sharing of each person's possessions. In this chapter we see a demonstration of man deceiving God, thinking that he was deceiving his fellow man. Ananias and his wife sold their property and kept back some of the proceeds, (this was certainly their right) and Peter knew what he had done and questioned him and he lied to Peter about the price. Verse 3: "Then peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart that you lied to the Holy Spirit and kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Because of his attempted deception to Peter he was struck down dead on the spot. Others took his body out to bury him. Shortly thereafter Sapphira came in and Peter questioned her about the price and she lied, as did her husband. She fell dead and they buried her with her Ananias.

Verses 12- 16: The Apostles heal many…"The Apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people." Many people did not join them in fear of the Jewish leaders, however many people were being saved. Crowds began to develop as the people were coming from all over and bringing their sick and demon possessed people to be healed.

Verses 17-41: The persecution of the Apostles…The high priest and members of the Sadducees, being jealous of the Apostles had them arrested and thrown in jail. Verse 19: "During the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Go stand in the temple courts and tell the people of this new life." As they were preaching the high priest and the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish court) convened to determine their next move, after discovering the events at the jail. They sent the guards to bring the Apostles to them and they questioned them as to the reason they disobeyed their strict orders not to preach any more. In verse 29-30 Peter replied: "we must obey God rather than men." Peter reminded them who God was and the fact that they crucified Jesus, "whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree." When they heard Peter's accusations they became furious and wanted them to be put to death. A Pharisee named Gamaliel who taught the law and was highly respected spoke up and told them to leave them alone. He said that if their purpose were of human origin it would fail, however if it were from God they would not fail and they (the Sanhedrin) would find themselves fighting God. They listened to him and let the Apostles go free, but not before they flogged them according to their law, (39 lashes to each). The Apostles, rejoicing, because they were counted as worthy to suffer for Jesus, continued to preach proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ, day after day, from the temple and house to house and never stopped.

As we live our time on this earth let us assume that we are in the very presence of God and behave as we know we would if we were aware of the fact that we are. This behavior pleases God and He will bless us abundantly because we are trying to please Him. This is why we are here; to love Him and love your neighbor. Jesus my Savior, my Redeemer, thank you.

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CONVICTION

 

 

Acts 4: The priests, captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees approached Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were very disturbed because of this and put them in jail overnight. Verse 4 says, "But many who heard the message believed, (that day) and the number of men grew to about 5,000." The next day the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law met and had Peter and John brought before them to question their authority to speak to the people. Peter, convicted of the Holy Spirit, told them in no uncertain terms in verses 9-10: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed." They asked them to leave the room and began to speak among themselves as to their course of action. They realized the consequences of the healing of the cripple and could do nothing about it. They ordered them to stop preaching and Peter asked them whether they should listen to them or God. Again, Peter was so convicted of the Holy Spirit that he told them that they cannot stop preaching the salvation message.

 

After they were released they went to the other believers to share their good news and began to pray and praise the Lord. They prayed and in their prayer mentioned how God knew what the actions of the Jewish people and the rulers of that time would be and used it to allow their conspiracy against Jesus to fulfill prophecy. The place where they were praying was shaken and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit. The believers were of one heart and began to share their property with those in need so that no one went without. They actually sold their property and shared.

 

They wanted the Apostles to stop preaching and in verse 19-20, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

 

Acts 4:12 says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Simple, straight forward and right on;  'no other name,' no other way to escape Hell and be with God forever.