Seeing The Truth

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King James Bible Study[Mark 8:34  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.]

Date: Monday, November 29, 2021
Chapters: Acts 18-19
Message: Seeing The Truth

Hello My Friend,

Did you ever play the game pass it on? One person tells a story to another person and that person tells the story to another person and so on until it reaches back to the person who told it. By the time the story gets to the first person who told it it is completely different and has hardly any truth to it at all. How does that happen? When someone tells us something once, we only pick up bits and pieces of it so when we tell it to someone else we tell them only the things we remembered or thought we remembered. Then by the time it reaches the person who told it, there is hardly any truth to it. Well, now you can imagine how distorted the truths of the Bible have become over the centuries from person to person telling bits and pieces of the story that they have just heard. You see, very few people actually read the Bible and the majority of those who do, only read it enough to where they get bits and pieces from it. And this is exactly why Jesus spoke in parables, [Matthew 13:12-13  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.]

This was the challenge that Paul and Silas dealt with in Greece. By the time they got to a new town the unbelieving Jews were already there causing havoc. The challenge was getting them to see the truth over something they just heard about. As we return to the reading of Acts, Paul leaves Athens and finds himself in Corinth, where he met a Greek man named, Aquila, who he lead to Christ and his wife Priscilla.

[Acts 18:1-6,9-10  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.  4  And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.  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. 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.]

[from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.] 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. 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. One of my biggest discouragements with my last job was that no matter how hard I worked I was always getting negative remarks against me. Here I was, the one who was always at the top of my class, failing, and for a little while I actually did lead the team to speak up and encouraged them to keep going, but all my efforts failed, when I ended up being the one who quit. However, our efforts are never worthless, Jesus will always send us where we need to be and even give us a few good companions to help us. While Paul did leave Corinth a little discouraged, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him and that made a world of difference.

[Acts 18:18-19,24-26  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. 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.]

[and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.] Paul, still not ready to give up on the Jews, entered into a synagogue in Ephesus while Priscilla and Aquila stayed outside, preaching the Gospel. Apollos taught the Gospel of Christ as John the Baptist had taught those who followed him, but he lacked the one thing needed in order to be saved himself, receiving Christ Himself. When he heard the whole truth, he gladly accepted Christ as his Saviour. 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 lead 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.]

Romans 5:8, is actually my life verse, it reminds me that no matter how many times I fail God, He still loves me, and gave His life for me. That alone is my vow to stay faithful and keep myself accountable, even if I do mess up from time to time. I actually have not felt this discouraged since I use to teach a bunch of kids who clearly only came to church for prizes and gifts, they discouraged the ones who did want to learn. 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.]

[Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?] Why did Paul feel the need to ask them if they received the Holy Spirit? Apparently, 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. Remember, throughout the entire Old Testament whenever a king who loved God discovered the Scriptures they would take the necessary steps to get right with God and lead the people back under the Law? Well, the Holy Spirit that indwells us teaches us the same thing as we read the Scriptures, [2 Timothy 3:15-16  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:]

[And when Paul had laid his hands upon them,] 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 do is help us with everything else pertaining to our relationship with God. Remember, we are not under the Law, but we are lead by the Spirit to do the things contained within the Law for our own profit. Paul did not actually lay his hands upon them and that was how the Holy Spirit, their faith in Christ did that, God just enabled Paul with some incredible healing powers that the mere touch of the handkerchief that Paul wiped the sweat off his forehead with healed some who were sick and even removed evil spirits.

[Acts 19:11-17  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.  13  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.]

[We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.] [Adjure; To charge, bind or command on oath, or under the penalty of a curse.] These fools, somehow convinced people that they had the power to remove evil spirits from those who were possessed by them, and on top of that. Well, even the devil called them out, [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 19:25-29,32  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.  28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.  29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. 32  Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.]

[And the whole city was filled with confusion:] Satan is actually the author of confusion, he is not after the one who is saved nor is he after the reprobate, he is after the one who is right on the edge of receiving Christ as their Saviour, if he can turn away their faith, then he has succeeded, [James 3:15-17  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.  16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.  17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.]

[and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.] Does this not sound familiar? Well, people argue and fight over things that they have no idea why they are fighting. Most of the time riots are caused by a couple of fools interpretation of something that is not even true. Why were they so confused? Well, the unbelieving Jews were angry that the Gospel was being preached to the Gentiles. How strange it is, that people would grudge others the privileges they will not accept themselves? We should never be afraid to approach someone with the Gospel, regardless of their race or religion, God is God of all believers, and saves all who believe in His Son, [1 Corinthians 6:9-11  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,  10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]

Let Us Pray: Jesus, Thank You for the day that You saved my soul, not because I got baptized in the water professing my faith in You, 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. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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