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: Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Chapters: Acts 17
Message: Nothing But The Blood of Jesus
Hello My Friend,
Charles Spurgeon said, “Can it be possible that sin, such sin as mine, can be forgiven, forgiven altogether, and for ever? Hell is my portion as a sinner-there is no possibility of my escaping from it while sin remains upon me-can the load of guilt be uplifted, the crimson stain removed?….Jesus tells me that I may yet be clear. For ever blessed be the revelation of atoning love which not only tells me that pardon is possible, but that it is secured to all who rest in Jesus. I have believed in the appointed propitiation, even Jesus crucified, and therefore my sins are at this moment, and for ever, forgiven by virtue of his substitutionary pains and death. What joy is this! What bliss to be a perfectly pardoned soul!” This led me the song, Nothing But The Blood of Jesus. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow, That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
What a great reminder! As most of us here in America get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, we will be making pies, cakes, sides, prepping turkey’s, or driving to loved ones. I have to work a full day today, so, by the time I get started on the pies and cheesecake it will be late when I am done. In all our busyness, we must take the time to remember that we headed into the season of the most important reason to give thanks, Jesus Christ. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” – Colossians 3:16-17.
We can thank God that we do have the freedom to worship Jesus freely in this country as He is forbidden in so many countries. There are two groups of people who reject Christ, the atheists who hate God and anything to do with Him. Therefore, they will do everything they can to stop believers from worshiping Christ in public. And then there is the group that is perhaps more dangerous than the atheists, and that is the religious. You see, it was the religious group that had Jesus crucified, and if they crucified Jesus they would certainly crucify us, especially in those countries that forbid Him being preached, which is why Jesus said that we are not greater than our Lord (John 15:20). As Paul continued to traveled with Silas, preaching in the synagogues, they find themselves in Thessalonica, where they spent three weeks showing them Jesus from the Scriptures.
“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.” – Acts 17:2-8,10-12.
“and set all the city on an uproar,” Baser; Vulgar. These people were so vulgar that even if they believed they feared being mocked and shamed in public. These are the big mouths, and in many cases, the most destructive people. I swear that the closest I get to Jesus, the more foolish the world looks. And let me tell you, these are the very people who cry equality, diversity, and peace for all, but in all actuality they only mean that for those who think exactly like them. I despise those bumper stickers that show all religions coming together as one, there is no such thing because of the very reason the Jews crucified Jesus, and kicked out Paul and Silas, pure envy. “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” – James 4:5-6.
“in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,” Berea was a city in Macedonia, and unlike the Thessalonians, they welcomed Paul and Silas because they had already been reading the Scriptures. I will never forget the day I was sitting in my hotel room, I was contemplating life as I was dealing with my ex-boyfriend who was in prison. I was lead to get out the Bible that they had in the room, and started reading it for the first time in years. The next day, I got a call from my brother who told me that a coworker invited him to church. And for the first time I truly understood how God certainly works in mysterious ways, but it was about a year later that the Scriptures started making sense to me. Until we are ready to receive the Gospel or any other thing written in the Scriptures, our minds, and also our, heart must be ready. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” – Matthew 13:23.
“is he that heareth the word,” Of course, the seed is the Gospel, if we do not understand and accept the Gospel. Then we will not understand anything else from the Bible as in order to understand it we need the Holy Spirit. If we are just guessing at this, then we are going to just come up with our own understanding of God. And this was what was going on in Athens. Paul went to Athens, while waiting for Silas and Timothy to meet up with him there, he notices that all these people, who were a mixture of Jews, philosophers, and people who curious about God, were heavy into idolatry. They took him up to Areopagus (Mars Hill), which was the bench on which a judge and his associates sit for administering justice, famous for the justice and impartiality of its decisions.
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” – Acts 17:16-23.
“He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods:” The Epicureans believed there was no God, that the world happened of mere chance, and that the soul and body died together. Sound familiar? This is similar to evolution. The Stoics believed that matter was eternal and that all things were governed by fate, that virtue and godliness was its own sufficient reward, and vice its own sufficient punishment. This is similar to Buddhist beliefs. The Athenians prided themselves on their mythology, gods and goddesses, they had statutes everywhere depicting these images. You know, the problem is not that the majority of people do not believe in a sovereign power, it is that they want to see proof of God’s existence, and while they make up their statues to the UNKNOWN GOD, they fail to realize that God is everywhere, but He is not in the form of an object, an animal, or planet, He is in the form of man, one man, Jesus Christ. To know the only living God we cannot find Him in a statue or image made by man nor in objects created by God. He is in every believer. Paul continues to explain this.
“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” – Acts 17:29-34.
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at;” At one time God accepted ignorance as an excuse as to why people do not know who He is, but now that Jesus came and died for all, that is not acceptable. Until we admit that there is only One God, and that He lives through the man of Jesus Christ, and open our hearts to what He has to say, God is going to sound like a strange god to us. Why? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). I admit that my understanding of God was dead wrong until I started reading the Scriptures with an open heart, after fully trusting Christ as my Saviour. I will tell you that for years I kept going to the altar, asking Jesus to come into my heart and save me from my sins until I discovered that the only way He was going to save me from my sins was when I realized I only had to ask Him once. Religion does not tell you that because they want you to believe that in order to go to heaven you need to do exactly as they say. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” – Hebrews 9:27-28.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I am so glad that You washed my sins away with Your precious blood once and for all when accepted that You alone are my salvation, and there is nothing I can do, but believe in Your finished work. Thank You for making me whole, for turning my life into something meaningful, and with a purpose. Until I knew the truth about You, I just drifted, and just like the Greeks, everything seemed strange to me, and You know I grew up in a religion that did not teach the truth. Thank You, for loving me and not giving up on me, and showing me the truth when I opened my heart to Your understanding. Lord, Walk with me, guide me, give me Your power to learn, grow, and discern even more of what You still have to tell me, and teach it faithfully to others. I love You, Lord, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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