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 20, 2020
Chapters: Acts 9-10
Message: Teach Them Like Jesus
Hello My Friend,
As I was praying this morning I was talking to God about my boyfriend, who has such a good heart, and it is always in the right place, but he lacks the understanding of God in many ways. This is a great challenge for me as I tell him things that we or he ought to be doing from what the Bible says. Now, God is working on his heart little by little, and He is also working on mine too as He is teaching me the value of patience and longsuffering. So, as I am reading the chapters for today, God reminds me that He has it all under control, and, one more thing, [Romans 15:1-2 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.]
[for his good to edification.] We do not have to preach to them, nor do we need to compromise our faith, we just need to show them what the Bible says simply by doing what Jesus did. If there is anyone who can teach us that God is the one who converts the heart, it is Paul. Paul, also known by his Hebrew name, Saul, was actually a Pharisee before he came to the know Christ as his Saviour. He despised the Christian’s because of what he had been taught, and after he witnessed the death of Stephen, was on a mission to capture and persecute every person who called themselves a Christian, and preached Jesus to be persecuted. However, Jesus was about to give him a different mission, but first, he had to get saved himself. Jesus knew that the only way He would be able to get through to him was to meet up with Him face to face.
[Acts 9:1-5 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.]
[it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.] Prick; To sting, as in that of bees, or scorpions. These creatures wound by their sting and can even cause death, Jesus attributes Paul’s persecution toward Christians as an attack on Him. And while Jesus could have persecuted him Himself, He did not, instead He was going to use him to serve Him, although he would spend the rest of his life under constant Christian persecution. Of course, when Paul sees this light and hears the voice of Jesus he was frightened as were the rest of the people with him.
[Acts 9:5-9 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.]
[And he was three days without sight,] Notice that Paul was without actual sight for three days, just as Jesus was in the tomb for three days. When we get saved, our sin gets buried in the tomb where Jesus laid, it is our soul that resurrects with the newness of life once we accept Christ as our Saviour. And that is why our faith, having been baptized with the Holy Spirit, is a picture of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, [Romans 7:4-6 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.]
[ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ;] You see, because of our faith in Christ, we are no longer bound to the Law. This means that we cannot do anything to lose our salvation, even if we are ignorant to the Word of God and know nothing else, but how to get saved. And this is exactly why we need to be careful not to be too harsh on others who are unaware of what the Bible says about maintaining good works, we are not under the Law, we are under grace, we are to teach them by showing them how Christ would handle the situation and not how we would. Paul was still headed to Damascus to meet up with a man name, Ananias, who also got a message from Jesus Himself.
[Acts 9:11-13,15-18 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 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: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.]
[behold, he prayeth,] Do you see what Paul was doing for those three days? He was praying, and I believe it was for more than his sight back. Of course, Ananias questioned this, as though Jesus did not know who Paul was, but Jesus responds as only He would, [for he is a chosen vessel unto me,] We must not forget, if we are saved, that means, Christ chooses us as God had already seen our faith in Him. Jesus will never approach anyone who doesn’t believe in His Father in the first place. Just knowing who Jesus is does not save us, it is our faith in who He is and what He has done for us that saves us that opens our eyes to accept Him as our Saviour. And that is exactly what Paul did to receive His sight, [and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.] Remember, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit right here, [Galatians 3:27-29 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.]
[There is neither Jew nor Greek,] Paul would go on to meet up with Peter and some of the other Apostles and we will not hear much about his ministry for a little while. This would now be the time that God would show Peter that it was time to take the Gospel out into the world, and not just the Jews. It all began with a man named Cornelius, [Acts 10:1-5 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:]
[Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.] You see, this man had faith in God, He just did not know who Christ is. And let me tell you, the Holy Spirit does lead us to preach the Gospel to others, and we will know it immediately. So, how did God teach Peter to preach the Gospel to those who are not Jews? By the one thing that we can all relate to, food. Do you remember how God gave the Jews a list of do’s and don’t when it came to eating food? They were instructed to only eat foods that He deemed as clean. Well, Peter was hungry, and he actually fell asleep being hungry, and began dreaming about food.
[Acts 10:10-17 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. 17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,]
[that call not thou common.] Common; Of no rank or superior excellence; ordinary. If you study the Law of Moses you would discover that the Jews were not allowed to eat animals like pork and shrimp as they were unclean and forbidden to eat unless they wanted to be put out of the congregation. God was showing Peter that he was not under the Law, that their faith made them cleans, and that salvation was for all, Jew and Gentile. Well, no sooner than Peter started to figure out what the dream meant, here came Cornelius.
[Acts 10:21,28,38-40,44 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? 28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: 40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.]
[the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.] Some religions believe that salvation is only for a select few, some believe that works must accompany salvation, such being baptized in water after being saved for it to be complete. All of this, of course, is untrue. Salvation is by grace alone though our faith in Christ. And the only way we can truly reach people not only by giving them the Gospel, is by teaching them the way Jesus taught them, He had loved them. Yes, He did call out their sin, but He did not condemn them, He told them that they needed to repent, believe in Him, and sin no more, [John 8:10-11 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for willingly giving Yourself as payment for the debt I owe for my sins, and thank You for seeing some faith in me to begin with so that the scales on my eyes would fall, and I would see You as my Saviour. Lord, I do not know why You have chosen me to be one to reach the lost, but I do know that You will be with me, guiding me along the way. Give me Your power, strength, and wisdom to know how to discern false doctrine, and let me know how to explain the truth to others, with boldness, having compassion on them as well. Keep me looking to You when I am tired and weary, and help me to get up when I feel like giving up the fight. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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