November 18, 2018
Hymn 330 - A message came from heaven
Prayer
Last time we talked about the Ethiopian Enuch. We read that the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing and that Philip disappeared and was seen else where. Previously Philip had been chosen as one of the men to help the church in Jerusalem; Steven was another one of those men. Steven had got up in front of a lot of people and retold the story of Jesus starting at Adam. He finished by tell them how the Jesus they had killed was alive and in heaven. The people got upset at this and stoned Steven to death. Today we are going to talk about one of the men who was there. Saul.
Acts 7:58 - 8:1
This is the first place we hear of Saul. Saul and some of the other Jews didn’t like the new Gospel that had come. They thought it was wrong and that they should deal with it. Saul had come from Tarsus and he had never seen the Lord. He had come down to learn how to be a good Jew. While he was down there he here Steven’s story and consented to his death.
Acts 9:1 - 4
We see that after Steven’s death Saul goes on to kill and imprison many more Christians. He goes to the High Priest to get letters to kill and imprison more Christians in Demascus. On the way to Demascus a bright light suddenly shines upon him. He fell to the earth and a voice starts talking to him. The words God said to him must have been shocking, the person talking to him knew him. Not only did they know him; they also knew what he was trying to do. The voice asked a question. It didn’t ask him why he was persecuting the Christians, it asked him why he was persecuting God. God was trying to tell Saul that he wasn’t helping Him; he was actually hurting the work he was doing.
Next time we will hear Saul’s answer.
John 7:14-31
Jesus went up to the feast, not by direction of His brothers, but by direction of His Father. He was there teaching in the temple and the Jews were marveling about it. They only saw Him as the carpenters Son and not as who He really is. Jesus was wisdom personified. They didn’t know that He was/is omniscient. All they seemed to know was “never a man spake like this Man”.
His doctrine was divine, from God and it didn’t come from learned places on earth. It was from God. Divine doctrine has to do with spiritual matters. “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God.” He is wisdom. He has given us the ability, through the Spirit of God, to take in that wisdom. Verse sixteen is a doctrine itself. The Spirit of God can only work if we go on in obedience. The Lord was expressing His dependence on God. He wasn’t seeking His own glory; He was glorifying God. Truth continues to exist through Him because He is truth.
They moved on to talking about the law. Jesus asked why they went about to kill Him. He knew what was in their hearts. When He healed a man on the Sabbath day they all felt He had broken the law and wanted to kill Him for it. He told them if they had a son they needed to circumcise on the 8th day, they would still do it if it ended up on the Sabbath. He rebuked them. Thy weren’t being righteous.
They all though they knew where He came from. God had used a human vessel to bring Him forth in a divine way. He kept telling them He was the sent One, but they never latched on. There was a division among the people. Some wanted to get rid of Him while others believed on Him
Hymn 186 - One day heaven was filled with His praises
Prayer