|
|
Are You Standing In Hot Coals?
|
Lesson Twenty-nine: by turtle
The early church faced persecution. Saul for a time persecuted the Christians until he seen a great light on the road to
Damascus. There on that road Jesus spoke to Saul from heaven. The light was so bright it blinded him. He would be
prayed for and healed in Damascus and this change Saul from a non believer in Christ to a believer. Saul name would
then be changed to Paul. Want the whole story read chapter 9 of Acts. However today lesson comes from chapter 7 and
one has to understand at this time Saul was taking the Christians in chains. Devils in the church world are not necessarily
spiritual beings in ghost in goblin since. It is often a human who is evil. That does not mean there are not evil spirits, it
does mean that how we view spirits are not by seeing ghost often times, but seeing evil in people’s deeds.
Acts 6:9-15 KJV
(9) Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and
Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
(10) And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
(11) Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against
God.
(12) And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought
him to the council,
(13) And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place,
and the law:
(14) For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which
Moses delivered us.
(15) And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
There are several things to note here. However I am choosing to allow scripture to speak today lesson. For it is not my
words that are important it is God’s word and what God says that is. Most never get past this point in Acts. It hard sitting
and reading a sermon most would agree. It hard reading mans word. However what I want you to do today is read
chapter 7 it is Stephens final sermon. Decide for yourself if what was claimed about him true or not. For Stephen was a
man who did miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. He was not an elder, but a deacon or lay minister as some
would call them. He did have a position in the church.
Acts 7:1-56 KJV
(1) Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
(2) And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he
was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
(3) And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew
thee.
(4) Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead,
he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
(5) And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it
to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
(6) And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into
bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
(7) And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and
serve me in this place.
(8) And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day;
and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
(9) And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
(10) And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt;
and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
(11) Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no
sustenance.
(12) But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
(13) And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto
Pharaoh.
(14) Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
(15) So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
(16) And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons
of Emmor the father of Sychem.
(17) But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in
Egypt,
(18) Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
(19) The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children,
to the end they might not live.
(20) In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
(21) And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
(22) And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
(23) And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
(24) And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the
Egyptian:
(25) For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they
understood not.
(26) And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs,
ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
(27) But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
(28) Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
(29) Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
(30) And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in
a flame of fire in a bush.
(31) When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto
him,
(32) Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then
Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
(33) Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
(34) I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am
come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
(35) This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler
and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
(36) He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in
the wilderness forty years.
(37) This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of
your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
(38) This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with
our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
(39) To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
(40) Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt,
we wot not what is become of him.
(41) And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own
hands.
(42) Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O
ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
(43) Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship
them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
(44) Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he
should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
(45) Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave
out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
(46) Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
(47) But Solomon built him an house.
(48) Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
(49) Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of
my rest?
(50) Hath not my hand made all these things?
(51) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do
ye.
(52) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the
coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
(53) Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
(54) When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
(55) But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God,
(56) And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
What did Stephen say that caused such a stir, enough for people to stone him. He spoke to truth and went through the
history of the Old Testament into the New Testament history. Yet in angered some enough to stone him.
Acts 7:57-60 KJV
(57) Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
(58) And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet,
whose name was Saul.
(59) And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
(60) And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this,
he fell asleep.
There is old saying when I was growing up, stick and stones shall break my bones but names will never hurt me. And
society today says that name calling is abuse to. However why should truth hurt anyone. It only hurts those in opposition
to truth. Those who are on the wrong side of truth. However something to note is that Stephen was filled with the Holy
Spirit, in no way was he God, but the Spirit of God was working through him.
John 15:26-27 KJV
(26) But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
(27) And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Christ Himself makes it clear that the world hates the truth. The world meaning all or anyone that is not for God or a
believer in God. A believer will receive the truth of God and a non believer will not. However a non believer can get
saved.
John 14:17 KJV
(17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye
know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
God promises the Holy Spirit will dwell in those that know Him. Do you know the Holy Spirit or do you know of Him.
Can you speak the truth, despite the opposition to it. In today’s world it should not be a problem, but it can be. Many do
not want to hear what God says. Hell is real. One is going their if they do not believe in the only begotten Son called
Jesus. Those sound like strong word’s to the world, how come if they do not believe. How come those little words scare
someone? It is one person’s belief over another. Is those word condemning. Yet is not our word’s but what God’s word
says. Take a look for yourself.
John 3:15-21 KJV
(15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
(16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
(17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
(18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
(20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
(21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Take time today to study what God’s word says and not man’s. However man might speak by the Holy Spirit, the word
of God will confirm what the Holy Spirit says to your heart. The word alone is enough to save you if you believe,
however the guidance of the Holy Spirit confirms the word in our hearts. May God bless you as begin a New Year.
Happy 2010, and I hope all had a Merry Christmas. For it is the season to celebrate our Savior birth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
