King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Friday, November 29, 2024
Chapters: Acts Chapters 18-19
Message: Today Is The Day
Hello My Friend,
Well, another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone and we had a nice day with family, but I did not get to make my own dinner like I always do after because we got home late so I am going to make mine this weekend. Our time together reminded me of what I heard a preacher say that was something like this, [James 4:13-14 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.]
Do you know how many things we put off for tomorrow, but that day never comes? It saddens me that I have way to many days like that. Instead of doing it when I think about it or making an effort I tell myself that I have tomorrow, but tomorrow comes, something else comes up, and it never gets done. We really only have today because tomorrow is no guarantee, in fact, even an hour from now is not. This is why weto are to make each day count no matter what we are going through and the most important act that we must take if we want eternal life with God is to receive Christ as our Saviour, [James 4:15-17 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.]
Yes, it is actually a sin for anyone who knows that they need Christ as their Saviour, but has not acted upon it and asked Him to come into their heart and soul and save them. So, those who know the truth and want to see Jesus welcome them to His home need to ask Him to save them now. Believe it or not, there are more people who believe in God than there are unbelievers, but they do know what they worshiping and that is where the Bible comes in. As we return to the reading of Acts, Paul, left Athens, and continue traveling throughout Greece preaching the Gospel where he came to Corinth and met a nice couple devout Jews named Aquila and Priscilla, whom gladly received Christ and became great testimonies.
[Acts 18:1-3,5-6 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. 5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. 6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.]
[when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed,] These fools who were attempting to make it look like Paul was lying were only contradicting themselves when they heard the Scriptures read. By their opposing what was written they were actually blaspheming God themselves, which is why Paul reacted the way he did. It is like when we are trying to get through to someone and they refuse to listen, and whenever that happens to me I say, “Fine! You figure it out!” then I storm off only to return because I felt awful after doing that. Well, sometimes we are able to go back, but the truth is we only have today, anyone who rejects the truth about Christ is only sending themselves to hell because they were made aware of it and did nothing about it, [Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.]
As faithful Christians, we sometimes can feel like we are all alone in this world, and that is our biggest discouragement, especially when we feel as though our efforts have no affect on people. As Paul walks through Corinth he is discouraged because no one would listen to him, it was then in a dream that Jesus told him that He is with him, and encourages him when he said that he to go to the Gentiles.
[Acts 18:7-11 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.]
[I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee:] While we only have a short amount of time on this earth and we have no idea when our last day will be there is one important thing to know, God, will never bring us home until He is ready. Jesus will always send us where we need to be and even give us a few good companions to help us. When Paul left Corinth Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him and that made a world of difference for him, the found themselves in Ephesus and remained there a while.
[Acts 18:18-21 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; 21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.]
[then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria,] Paul, still not ready to give up on the Jews, entered into a synagogue in Ephesus while Aquila and Priscilla stayed outside. While standing there they heard a man name Apollos preaching the Gospel of Christ as John the Baptist did, and actually baptized them also for the remission of their sins as John did, but none of them were saved because he did not know the entire. Then Aquila and Priscilla, came over to them and explained it more clearly.
[Acts 18:23-26 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. 24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.]
[expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.] This was actually me when I was younger, I knew about Jesus dying on the cross, but never even knew what it meant to be saved or that I had to ask Jesus to save me. You see, religion is great at teaching you about hell, but very bad at teaching you the Gospel. Those who truly have the desire to know God and love Him will be led to the truth of the Gospel, and willingly accept Christ as their Saviour, [Romans 5:8-10 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.]
We have to make sure that those who think they are saved understand what it is and that they are actually saved, it does no good to get baptized with water if you are not baptized with the Holy Spirit first. Paul goes on to show the importance of teaching this, he returned to Ephesus, while Apollos went to Corinth.
[Acts 19:1-6 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.]
[when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them;] Keep in mind that Paul was not the one who brought the Holy Spirit upon them, God did that the second they accepted Christ as their Saviour. Why did Paul feel the need to ask them if they received the Holy Spirit? They were taught water baptism through the repentance, and not spiritual baptism through Christ first. The reason these people did not receive the Holy Spirit yet was because they never heard the Gospel, only that Jesus would come after him. They missed the key fact that even John said that he only baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit, [Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:]
And this is exactly why God gave us His Word, He knows that there are so many who do love Him, they just do not know the whole truth. As soon as you hear the Gospel of Christ, and accept Him as your Saviour, you become God’s child and while we do not need the Word of God to know and believe in the Gospel, it does help us with everything else pertaining to our relationship with God. Now, God, did enable Paul with some incredible healing powers that brought many to Christ.
[Acts 19:9-12 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.]
[God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:] Now, this was when Paul would touch someone and they would be healed or those possessed by demons would be cast out, but it was all in the name of Jesus. We cannot do anything spiritual without the power of the Holy Spirit God’s permission, [1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.]
Well, it did not take long before someone there would cause problems, there were a group of Jews who making a great deal of money off of the fact that Ephesus was highly into the worship of a goddess called Diana. These fools, somehow convinced people that they had the power to remove evil spirits from those who were possessed by them. Well, even the devil called them out on this one.
[Acts 19:13-17,19-20 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.]
[the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?] It is an incredible thing to discover that if Jesus does not know you, Satan does not either. Satan has to get permission from God to afflict us, he definitely knows who Jesus is, and is forbidden to touch one soul who knows Jesus as their Saviour. As for those who think they have the power to cast him out in their own name, he makes a mockery out of them, [James 2:19-20 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?]
One thing I have learned is that the closer your relationship with God the more souls you are going to bring to Christ, and you can be sure that if you are bringing souls to Christ the devil is going to try to stop you. A Jew of Ephesus, Alexander became a prominent part of a riot that began in a theater as Paul preached and people started receiving Christ. The Jews used Alexander to plead their cause before a mob of people defending their worshiping of a goddess, all started by a man name Demetrius who made a living off of making idols of her.
[Acts 19:23-27 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: 27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.]
[our craft is in danger to be set at nought;] Do you see what their biggest fear was? Losing money. The Word of God will always prevail over a godless society and even one that makes up their own version of Him. Why do you think there are so many books about how Christians or said religion should act? If the people knew the truth they would lose a lot of money. Well, a Jew of Ephesus, Alexander, became a prominent part of a riot that began in a theater as Paul preached and people started receiving Christ.
[Acts 19:30-31,33-34 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31 And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.]
[when they knew that he was a Jew, all…about the space of two hours cried out,] For two hours these people were shouting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” and a riot began. Let me tell you, people argue and fight over things that they have no idea why they are fighting for still today, these people were fighting over the false assumption that Paul was there to remove their goddess out of Ephesus. However, one man stood up and put an end to the riot when he reasoned with them.
[Acts 19:35-37,40 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.]
[we are in danger to be called in question] Think about it, no true Christian who is out in the world will judge people for their lifestyle choices and yet the wicked world wants to make their followers believe that they hate all people, including Jews. The truth is just like this town clerk said, they are the ones causing the uproar as no one is telling them to stop doing what they are doing. Jesus, said it this way, [John 5:28-30 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Acts 18:9-10 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for the day that You saved my soul, not because I got baptized in the water professing my faith in You, but because I believed You alone saved me from my sin, and I was baptized with the Holy Spirit that second I accepted You as my Saviour. Lord, I am Your witness, and I know that You commanded me to preach the Gospel to all You lay upon my heart. Lead me and guide me, give me Your wisdom and the words to speak. Put Your hedge of protection around me, and let me not be hindered from preaching the Gospel. Fill me with Your mercy and grace, and release the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me and help me to do what I need to do today. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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