Grace Comes To The Jews

God made sure Jesus would be rejected,
When He calloused Jews’ spiritual insight;
Moses’ Law was so broken and neglected,
That by Isaiah He dimmed Messiah’s light!
If Christ had not died, men were fore’er lost,
And Israel the gospel would likely hog;
Atonement would not have come by the cross;
From the world Israel might have kept God!
Grace for the Jews was more slowly dispensed;
For them, the good news is a mystery;
That Jesus is God, they can’t be convinced;
That Messiah has come, they won’t agree!
Election saved some Jews ere Christ was born;
Grace comes after Gabriel sounds his horn!

Isaiah told Israel 700 years before Jesus came that God had placed a judgment of dulled spiritual insight on them for their sin.

“He [God] said [to Isaiah], ‘Go and tell this people [Israel]: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused, make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’ “ (Isaiah 6:9-10) [Brackets added]

This stern judgment insured that Israel would not understand the messages sent to them by God through the prophets. When the Messiah (Jesus) was born, He spoke to them in parables, so that they would not understand the good news of salvation. Had they possessed spiritual insight, they would have obeyed the prophets and accepted Jesus as their King and High Priest; if they had, God’s plan of atonement through the sacrifice of His Son would not have happened. Imagine what a mess that would have engendered! The judgment shocked Isaiah so much, he asked in the next verse, “For how long?” God’s answer was after the land of Israel had been laid waste two times; obviously He meant after the Babylonian conquest in 586 B. C. and the Roman destruction in 70 A.D., thus He meant the judgment would be lifted after the Second Coming of Christ, which has not yet happened. So the Jews still have dulled insight today.

“ ’And I [God] will pour out on the house of David [the remnant of Israel that lives when Christ returns] and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one that they pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.’ “ (Zechariah 12:10-11) [Brackets added]

The judgment of callousness on the Jews is the cause of their rejection of the prophets and Jesus as Messiah, and it continues to this day. There were some Jews saved, however, by special election of God who counted their obedience as faith, during the time from Abel to Jesus; since the coming of Messiah (Jesus), some Jews are being saved by grace through their faith in Jesus as Lord (See Hebrews Chapter 11), exactly as Gentiles are saved by grace. According to Zechariah (above), Christ will remove the dullness of Jews and pour out grace upon them when He returns, and the majority of the remnant still living will convert to Christianity.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Are You The One?

“Are you the promised One for which we wait?”
Asked John the Baptist from his prison cell,
Of Jesus. Mayhap he fretted his fate,
Hoping to avoid that which soon befell!
“Go back and tell John what you hear and see;
The blind receive sight; the deaf can hear plain;
Those with leprosy of disease are free;
The lame walk; the dead raised to live again!
Blessed is the man who does not fall away
On account of me,” the Savior replied;
He praised John Baptist to the crowd that day
As the messenger who was prophesied*!
The Jews no longer need the extra chair;
Elijah came Jesus’ way to prepare!

*Malachi 3:1

At the time that John the Baptist sent this wuestion to Jesus, he was imprisoned in the palace of King Herod, soon to be beheaded. Even though he had identified his cousin Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah to the crowd at His baptism, he may have begun to doubt, as did nearly all the Jews, because he, too, probably expected an aggressive military leader in the promised One; instead Jesus was gentle and emphasized love of enemies rather than conquering them. John may have expected Him to rescue him from his predicament. Actually, what he had heard was the truth. God never intended to overthrow Israel’s oppressors by force, but by love. “Not by might, nor by power. but by my Spirit” said God in Zechariah 4:6.

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6)

Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied the Messiah would be a healer, not a military leader. Of course, the prophets used a lot of strong adjectives of conquering heroes about Him also; because of the Jews’ dulled spiritual insight, they expected the strong conqueror rather than the gentle lover. However, when Jesus answered John’s question, he quoted Isaiah’s healing, which is exactly what He really was doing, rather than military conquest, because spiritually the conquests made by God are those of healing, not of force.

Another factor that may have influenced Israel to expect a different kind of savior was the prophesies that the Messiah would be like or stronger than David. He had been very successful in war, and God had blessed Israel militarily in the nation’s establishment. This naturally led them to look for a Messiah like David, a military leader; however strength to God is not military force but self-control and virtue.

“That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans
10:9)

Paul Goes To Rome

When the Jews made a new plot to kill Paul,
And Festus seemed inclined to let it be,
Paul “appealed to Ceasar”, a legal call,
That his case the Emperor had to see!
He sailed for Rome and finally got there,
Surviving shipwreck and deadly snake-bite;
He kept on preaching Jesus ev’rywhere;
Jews and Gentiles both were seeing the light!
He became a prisoner of Nero,
Converting many in Rome’s first household;
Paul served till to his Savior he did go;
None other was ever so brave or bold!
He and thousands were martyred for The Way;
How great the price did early Christians pay!

The events in this poem can be read in the Book of Acts, Chapters 25-28. Paul, a Roman citizen, appealed his case to the Roman emperor in order to prevent the new governor Festus from turning him over to the Jews to be taken to Jerusalem and bushwhacked en route. They hated him so because he once was one of them trying to destroy The Way, but miraculously was converted by Jesus; he must be given credit for wrenching Christianity away from Judaism. It is doubtful if the original apostles would have understood clearly the grace of God as being the single force for salvation and been able to see the Mosaic Law as only the forerunner. Paul, however, grasped it, and he was strong enough to keep the trappings of works of the law out of Christianity. He was able to unlock the Jewish grip on Yahweh and make Him available to every person in the world. Christianity flourished and Judaism shriveled; when Christ returns, He will pour out grace on the small remnant of Jews clinging to a useless hope (see Zechariah 12:10-14), and they will mourn their rejection of Jesus.

Paul’s adventurous trip to Rome took place in 59-60 A. D. His ship was wrecked near Malta, but, because of Paul, all 276 persons aboard were saved. Paul was bitten by a poisonous viper; the natives were incredulous when he showed no ill effects. Of course, they did not know that God had determined that Paul would go to Rome to preach the gospel. While he spent three months on the island, he told them about Jesus and His resurrection. Many souls were saved; also, by the power of the Holy Spiit, Paul healed all the sick and handicapped persons on Malta. The islanders at first thought he was a god, but he made clear to them that he was only a man, one indwelled and assisted by God the Holy Spirit.

Christian brothers in Rome had heard of Paul’s coming, and they met him outside the city. He was happy to see them. He was allowed by Emperor Nero to live in his own home for two years, with a guard. Nero did not know Paul was a Christian. When the emperor learned that Paul was preaching Jesus all over Rome, he put him in a Roman jail near the Coliseum. Nero was very cruel to believers, and many thousands were killed for not recanting their belief in Christ Jesus. While in jail for two more years, Paul witnessed to members of the royal household, and some of them believed. His health was declining, and he had an amanuensis to write letters to the churches. Several of his missionary friends were near him, and they provided for his needs and kept him company. He was beheaded on Nero’s order in 64 A. D. He is buried at the spot of his death; today his tomb is in St. Paul’s Basilica, about 2 miles from the Vatican. When a new Pope is installed, on the next day he and all the officials walk the 2 miles to St. Paul’s Basilica, in honor of Paul.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans
10:9)

Governor Felix tried Paul right away,
And nothing changed; the Jews failed to convince
The judge of his guilt or that he should pay,
For they could produce no real evidence!
Again, Paul could, and should, have been released,
But Felix was a man greedy for gain;
He held Paul, hoping his palm would be greased,
For two years, afraid the Jews would complain!
Yet Paul continued to spread Jesus’ word
To officials, guards, Jews and Gentiles, too;
He wrote to churches where he had been heard,
Letters which we now read to learn what’s true!
Though in custody, Paul ministered still,
And some in high places followed God’s will!

“Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. … He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs. Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’ At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.” (Acts 24:22-23) (Please read the entire incident in Acts 23:23-Acts 24.)

Again we see God at work in the life of Paul. He had determined that Paul would take the gospel to Rome; had he been freed from prison, Paul may never have found a way of traveling to Rome. If he had managed to get there, he would not have had the opportunity of preaching to the emperor, his household, or leading officials in the city and empire. By remaining in Roman custody, and being a Roman citizen, he had the privilege of “appealing to Ceasar”, which would guarantee him passage to the capital city and appearances at the emperor’s court; we know that wherever Paul appeared, he spoke of the gospel of Jesus. He may not have known God’s plans, and he no doubt chafed at his long and “senseless’ imprisonment; nevertheless, he was able to witness to many high officials and Roman soldiers while in their custody, which may not have been possible had he been a free man. He used these times to write epistles or letters to churches he had established that made them stronger, and these letters have become a large part of the Bible, being read by millions upon millions of Christians through 20 centuries and are in worldwide use today. By having Luke, Timothy, and other friends with him in Ceasarea and Rome, he was able to keep in touch with the Christian churches and held his position as leader of the movement until his death in 64 A. D. God knew exactly what He was doing in keeping Paul in jail.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans
10:9)

God At Work In Paul's Life

God’s will was that Paul testify in Rome,
E’en to the wicked Emperor Nero;
The Kingdom of God would thus get known
To movers and shakers of realms below!
Notice how each new phase oddly occurred,
Instigated by God, not as if by man;
This was no routine case, justly deterred,
But the uncommon route of divine plan!
Paul’s keen desire to preach Jesus to kings
Kept him content to suffer the abuse;
He cared not what undeserved evil things
Lay in store; his life by God was in use!
Each event that came his way was God-planned,
So that His Kingdom would live and expand!

Paul was innocent of any illegal actions against the Jews and should have been given his freedom. Note that when the Romans stood him before the Sanhedrin the day after he was pulled from the mob, they were unable to agree on a charge against him. Instead, he cleverly dropped a vocal bombshell on them by saying he was on trial only for believing in the resurrection of the dead, for that belief was held by the Pharisees and violently denied by the Sadducees; the ensuing brawl destroyed any chance they had of agreeing on a cause against him. He was held in prison for his own safety another night.

As it was those first days of his arrest, so it was to be the rest of his life, which was six or seven years later. God instigated his arrest and each occurrence that kept him imprisoned, for it was only by his remaining in Roman custody that he would be given opportunity to tell the story of Jesus Christ to governors, kings, and even the emperor of the Roman Empire. He would never have such a ministry if he remained free.

In my last blog, we left him in prison for the second night. He might have been released, except for the incensed Jewish mobs that were determined to kill him. Forty or more vowed not to eat or drink anything until he was dead. They went to the High Priest and secured his cooperation; he would request that Paul be brought back to the Sanhedrin the next day for questioning. The plotters would ambush him and the guards on the way to the assembly the next day. Paul had a sister living in Jerusalem, and she heard of the plot. Immediately she sent her son to the Roman barracks to inform Paul of the treacherous plot. Paul had his nephew tell Commander Lysias the plan. He ordered that more than 400 soldiers escort Paul on horseback to the city of Ceasarea, where Governor Felix, the Roman proconsul of Palestine, had his office. They left the city of Jerusalem the same day. This move to Ceasarea was the beginning of a new stage that would continue Paul’s incarceration more than two years. While there, he would be able to convert many Romans and Jews to belief in Jesus.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans
10:9)

Paul Before The Sanhedrin

Paul was made to hold his own before kings,
Councils and courts; one like no other,
No matter what charges the wicked flings,
He stands unbowed, able to recover!
He looked the Sanhedrin square in the eye,
Turned their attack to internal debate;
The Saddicees shouted that Paul must die;
Pharisees favored showing him the gate!
The Roman jailers gave up in disgust;
They forcibly pulled Paul out of the brawl
And decided that holding him they must;
If freed, the Jews were likely to kill Paul!
That night God appeared to him in his cell,
Told Paul he would in Rome the gospel tell!

“The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him [from chains] and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there and judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law in commanding that I be struck!’ Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realize he was the high priest; for it is written: Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead,’ “ (Acts 22:30-23:6) [Brackets added] (Full text---Acts 22:30-23:11)

Paul knew the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, angels or spirits, and the Pharisees did. This was very contentious between them; it had the effect for which he hoped. A great dispute immediately broke out between the two parties. The Saddicees shouted, “Put him to death!” They rushed at Paul and began to beat him. The Pharisees yelled, “This man is innocent"; they rushed to help Paul. The Roman guards, having seen this kind of thing happen before, came quickly and rescued him forcibly.

When they brought him back to their barracks, they still did not know with what he was charged. They were willing to turn him loose, but a large and excited crowd had gathered around the temple, and they were afraid that he would be killed if he were freed. The whole city was in such an uproar that Paul was kept in prison. Jesus Christ appeared to Paul that night in his cell. God told him to keep his courage up; as he had testified about Him in Jerusalem, Paul yet would testify of Jesus in Rome.

It was now about 57 A. D., 25 years after Jesus’ crucifiction, The Way had already spread throughout Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. It was too late for Judaism to stop it. They had been emphatically told by Peter and Paul that the man Jesus they killed was the Son of God. The church at Jerusalem lost its influence over Christian doctrine; the Jews’ regional God, that they tried to keep for themselves in a terrible distortion of His plan for them, was now God of all the world. Salvation for the Chosen People became (and always was) exactly the same as for all men.

Paul Arrested In Jerusalem

The whole city was aroused by the cry
That Paul was in the temple, and men came
Running; Greeks he had taught shouted the lie,
A Gentile was there, and Paul was to blame!
A mob gathered, berserk, and beating Paul;
He would have been killed, had the Romans not
Rushed down, shackled him, and quieted them all!
Paul asked leave to speak to them, which he got;
He told of being trained a Pharisee;
His zeal in persecuting The Way;
The call from Christ to teach Gentiles to see;
The mob would hear no more; resumed the fray!
He was locked in jail, to restore the peace,
And never would he obtain his release!

“When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia [Turkey] saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place [the temple]. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.’ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)” (Acts 21:17-29) [Brackets added]

“The commander went to Paul and said, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?’ [This was in the jail just prior to Paul’s scourging, as ordered by the commander; Paul had asked if it was legal to whip a Roman citizen not yet proven guilty.] ‘Yes, I am,’ he answered. Then the commander said, ‘I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.’ ‘But I was born a citizen,’ Paul replied. Then those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized he had put a Roman citizen in chains.” (Acts 22:27-29) [Brackets added]

The complete account of the events mentioned in the poem should be read in the Bible, Acts 21:27 through Acts 22:29.

This was a pivotal point in history. It marks the beginning of the complete separation of Judaism from Christianity; it also reveals the chief reason that God sent Paul to Jerusalem. More than that, it is the reason God called Paul to be an apostle in the first place; the original apostles did not fully understand His plan of salvation through grace alone; the eleven were not strong enough to tear themselves or the Jerusalem church completely away from the clutches of Judaism and its required works. Paul’s place in the ranks of God’s heroes of the Bible has to be equal in importance to Abraham and Moses; there is certainly none higher. Peter, chief of apostles and called the first pope by the Roman Catholic Church, fell short of his responsibility in comparison to Paul. Had it not been for Paul, the doctrine of Christianity would have been a jumble of grace and works; a combination of good works and God’s mercy would be necessary for a person to be saved. He would have to earn part of his salvation and depend upon mercy to provide the remainder. The arrest of Paul brought the conflict between Judaism and The Way to a head and settled the question: we are saved by grace, not works.

Paul’s Roman citizenship was as essential to his call by God as was his education and abilities. He had already made use of it in Philippi, Macedonia, to get an apology from city officials, who had jailed him overnight; it saved him a scourging here in Jerusalem. However, its supreme benefit would be to insure that he would continue his ministry to the emperor of the Roman Empire, for it would be his ticket to trial by Nero and numerous high officials. Paul was never free again, but his ministry continued for years and went to high places.

God's Grace Versus Man's Works

The Jerusalem church elders received
Paul’s report of Gentile converts; then tell
Him how thousands of Jews had believed,
Yet all kept the law of Moses as well!
They had heard reports of Paul teaching Jews
Of other lands that they need not obey
The law, if they believed in the “good news”
Of Jesus, and were members of “The Way”!
Now these thousands would hear of Paul’s return;
What could he do to prove rumor untrue?
He could join and pay for four more to earn
Purifying from the priests, to prove he’s Jew!
Paul knew then that church had perverted grace,
Putting the law of man’s works in its place!

“The Way” was the common name for Christianity during the first century A. D. Perhaps it should have been made permanent, for it is perfectly descriptive of how Jesus taught His followers to win converts from the “way of the world” to the way of living like Jesus, which is clearly shown in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5-7. Christians are told to live in such a distinctive way from non-Christians, that they will be noticeable; and the way is to be so attractive that others will ask about it and want to emulate it. The earliest Christian were so enthusiastic in living the Way they were given that name.

For example, during the first three centuries after Christ ascended to heaven, Christians were heavily persecuted by the Romans. Yet, Romans kept joining the movement, because they saw how they cared for plague victims when their own families deserted them to save their own lives, though the caregivers were dying themselves from the disease. By 325 Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the empire. To their discredit, few Christians today are so zealous in living distinctively different lives from the rest of people.

Paul knew instantly, upon hearing the elders’ response to his report that most Jews who believed in Jesus Christ and were members of the Jerusalem church did not understand what Jesus taught about God’s grace behind their salvation, not their own good works, as required under the Mosaic law. They were so attached to the ways of Judaism that they thought Yahweh (the same God they had always worshiped) wanted them to do both, good works and have faith in Jesus, to be saved. Paul was teaching the truth---salvation is given freely by the grace of God, as a result of His Son’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, to all men, Jew and Gentile; not a bit of it is due to the good works the believer does, because it is all, 100%, given by God; man cannot earn any part of it! But he knew it was useless to debate; he went along with their suggestion temporarily; however, before the ritual could be consummated, Paul was in prison anyway, so he left them in their own fog over the doctrine of grace. The Jerusalem church declined and never again had significant influence over Christian doctrine. Gentile churches were already more numerous, and they forged ahead interpreting gospel for themselves. In 90 A.D. Judaism officially rejected Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and separated itself from Christianity. Please read the exact reporting of this incident in Acts 21:17-25.

Paul Goes To Jerusalem For The Last Time

To Jerusalem Paul set out to go,
After his third missionary campaign;
Luke, Timothy, and the rest said no---
From killing Paul, Jews could not refrain!
They well knew the church Paul was erecting
On God’s free grace would doom their yoke of law---
For Judaism to survive Paul’s wrecking,
Gentiles must be under Pharisees’ paw!
For that to take place, Psul must be shut up;
Jews were skilled at that---look how Jesus died!
Paul at the temple---riot would erupt---
In Roman hands, he would have to be tried!
Paul had more right in the temple to be
Than a Sanhedrin Jewish Pharisee!

The year was about 55 A. D., 23 years after the crucifiction, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul was ending his third missionary journey, having collected funds from the Gentile churches in Syria, Macedonia, and Greece for the poor Jewish church brothers in Jerusalem; he had established dozens of Gentile churches, and they were multiplying across Europe, Africa, and Asia; it was already too late to save Judaism from being superceded by Christianity, but the Jews didn’t know that.

Paul’s Jewish enemies came both from Judaism and even some Christian Jews, which were dominant in the Jerusalem church, but in no other. Both groups wanted to require Gentiles to follow the rules and traditions of Mosaic law practiced for 1400 years by Judaic Jews plus believing in Jesus Christ in order to become Christians. Paul was the problem for them. He insisted that their God, Yahweh, had intended His grace to be free to every person in the world from the beginning; that the rules under the law had never saved anyone and were not intended to; Israel had never understood Yahweh; and that Gentiles or Jews did not have to keep the law, but simply accept Jesus as Messiah and be saved by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit had warned Paul that Jews in every city wanted to kill him; at the same time the Spirit was urging Paul to go to Jerusalem once more, and for what reason he did not know. God knew; He wanted Paul to preach in Rome; that mission would begin in Jerusalem.

Now it was becoming clear why Christ had called Saul/Paul in the first place; the original eleven apostles were not able to break away from their Jewish roots and evangelize Gentiles wholeheartedly, but Saul/Paul was so knowledgeable in Hebrew Scripture and with the 3-year training period in Arabia, he had understood God’s intention of worldwide Christianity; thus, hls task was to clarify Yahweh’s offering of free grace to man for his simple but sincere acceptance of His Son Jesus as Christ, the Lord and King of the universe. To accept grace nullified the necessity of keeping the law---Paul was doing what had to be done---separate Christianity completely from Judaism---but on the other hand, the Jews knew or sensed what was happening, and wanted to stop Paul at any cost from doing what he had already accomplished.

Zeal To Behold

Some think sermons last too long today,
Though few extend beyond one-half hour;
Paul preached from first dark to full light of day---
All night long---in Troas; the Spirit’s pow’r
He needed, when a young man went to sleep,
And died by falling three floors to the ground!
Paul went down, hugged the youth, his life to keep;
Then told the crowd, his life was returned sound!
It was midnight; Paul ate; and next resumed
His sermon on Jesus, until the morning;
He bade them adieu, as the new sun bloomed;
The crowd left glad, with no need for mourning!
The zeal of Paul was something to behold,
And it was matched by listeners of old!

“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. ‘Dpn’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive!’ Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.” (Acts 20:7-12)

The personal pronoun “we” in the scripture above refers to Luke, the author of the Books of Acta and the Gospel of Luke. He and Timothy, along with several others, accompanied Paul on this third missionary journey. The passage describes an amazing all-night sermon given by Paul in Troas, Macedonia, in a third-floor room of a house. The expression “broke bread” can refer either to eating a regular meal, or the sacrament of observing the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist. The reference to the “many lamps” in the room is probably given as partially causing the young man to fall aleep. Since Paul was not known for his eloquent speaking talent, I expect the interminable sermon was the chief cause of his falling asleep. I can’t imagine a modern congregation sitting through the first portion, until midnight, much less going back up three floors to stay until daylight. It is true, however, that the earliest Christians were known for their ebullience and zeal for hearing the “good news” of salvation; but it is not likely that Paul was able to hold the attention of many congregations all night. Thankfully, the young man’s life was spared by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it is hard for me to picture him going nack to finish the night listening to Paul. Did he have bruises and broken bones? If so, the next 6 hours must have been difficult for him. Maybe Paul healed those injuries, too. The Bible said the crowd was “comforted” when they went home because he was alive; I hope the same could be said for his mother or wife when she learned what happened!

Maybe there wasn’t but one door, and Paul was standing in it. That’s what most preachers today would have to do! Seriously though, the good news of salvation by the free grace of God is well worth sitting through fifty or any number of all-night sermons for the individual who accepts the free gift by believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and that's the gospel truth!

Two Errors Set Straight

In Ephesus Paul found a group of men
Who were disciples; they truly believed
In Jesus; they sought for others to win,
But the Holy Spirit they’d not received!
John had baptized them, not in Jesus’ name;
Paul taught and baptized them in the right way;
Laid on them his hands; and the Spirit came;
These rwelve bore much fruit for God from that day!
Some lost Jews tried to use the name of Paul
To cast demons out, but did not succeed;
The demon said, “I don’t know you at all!”
Refused the expulsion order to heed!
The fallen angels are evil spirits;
A false Spirit they know, and don’t fear it!

John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, called on the men of Israel to repent from sinning, and many did; he baptized them for repentance in the Jordon River. His baptism was a symbol of their commitment to turn from sin, but it was not in the name of Jesus; therefore it was not a symbol of being born again to new life by belief in Jesus. John urged them to believe in Jesus, whom he also baptized. Many did believe in Jesus, but they did not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit until they were baptized by a disciple in the name of the Lord. John baptized by immersion, which is adhered to today by Baptists and some other denominations; however, Catholics and some other groups baptize by sprinkling. Baptism by immersion is also a symbol of the burial of Christ and His resurrection; a believer is called “born-again” by undergoing baptism as a symbol of the death of his old sinful life (going underwater) and re-birth (emerging from water) to a new sinless or “sanctified” life.

“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, ‘In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I order you to come out.’ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day, the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” (Acts 19:13-16)

Demon possession is not recognized by modern science as the cause of people with schizophrenia and other types of mental disease, but many persons did and still do believe it to be genuine. Evil spirits, or “demons” can enter a person and take possession of his mental faculties. Exorcism is a real therapy that can be invoked by the power of God. It would be well for a would-be practicer of exorcism that is not a believer and does not possess the Holy Spirit indwelling to not attempt to cast out an evil spirit for several reasons. First, all demons are fallen angels, meaning that once they lived in heaven, and they know whether the therapist possesses the Holy Spirit or not. Second, fallen angels have the same power and strength they had in heaven, which means that a non-believer cannot possibly defend himself from him. The name of Jesus cannot be bought, stolen, or borrowed; the only way to receive His Spirit's power is to truly believe.

Ephesus: The First Preaching License

Apollos was a learned Jew, like Paul;
He knew the Scriptures, and could rightly prove
Jesus was the Christ; he felt the Lord’s call
To preach the gospel, and stay on the move!
He came to Ephesus; to Jews boldly preached;
Aquila and Priscilla met him there;
Though his message was correct and unbreached,
His faith from John was somewhat unaware!
So they taught him what he needed to know,
And since he wanted to go preach in Greece,
The elder brothers approved him to go;
They signed a letter; approved him to preach!
So Ephesus was the first church of all
To grant a license for a preacher’s call!

Every Christian denomination (Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc.) has its own system of training and certifying men and women to serve as ministers or pastors of its own churches. Since my mother took me to a Southern Baotist Church when I was rwo weeks old, and I’ve been a Baptist all my life, I am familiar with their system of certification of ministers. The following remarks are derived from the Baptist practice.

All believers are commanded by Jesus Christ to witness (communicate) with non-believers the good news of salvation, and because it is our obligation to love others, to try to get them to believe in Jesus as Lord, so that they will be saved from condemnation when they die. In that sense, every Christian is called upon to “preach” the gospel. But, like Paul was given a special call to “be apostle to the Jews and Gentiles” by Jesus, in like manner certain men and women believers feel a special call from God to give their entire lives to Him as preachers or ministers of the gospel, or to serve in other ways. When a Christian feels God is calling him into full-time Christian vocation, he or she usually answers the altar call or “invitation” the pastor gives at the end of his sermon, and the call is announced to the congregation of the church. If the person being called is a long-time member and well known within the church, at some later time, a special “licensing” council is held. This council is private and its few members are pastor, deacons, or mature Christians of the church. If the council feels the licensee is sincere and known to them as a true believer, it authorizes a written certificate to be issued by the church to the called person. This is what happened at the church in Ephesus for Apollos. Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife believers who had been with Paul for years in Corinth, and traveled with him to Ephesus, noticed that Apollos was accurate in his gospel doctrine of Jesus, but was a disciple of John the Baptist. They counciled with him, so that his knowledge of Jesus was completely sound; after that the elders wrote a letter of approval to the brothers in Greece. This could be called the “first license” to preach given by any church.

If and when the licensee is “called” to work in another church or Christian organization, he is “ordained” by the home church. He is then authorized to perform marriages, conduct funerals, lead in liturgical ceremonies like baptism, the Lord;s Supper, etc. A certificate of ordination is issued by the church that licensed to person usually. An ordination council meets to ascertain his training and genuine calling into the ministry.

“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke withr great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him." (Acts 18:14-22)

Paul Succeeds At Corinth

It was at Corinth that Paul had good success;
He was allowed, at first, to preach to Jews
In their synagogue, and some did profess;
Many Greeks, as well, believed the good news!
At a lecture hall he preached ev’ry day;
A vision from God came to him one night:
God told Paul, No harm did in Corinth lay;
Not to be silent; so he spread the light!
Once the Jews brought Paul to the Roman court,
Charging he preached against the Jewish laws;
The Roman ruler did their case abort,
Saying, he would not judge a private cause!
The Jews beat up their own synagogue chief
In front of the court, who ignored their pique*!

*Acts 18:17

“After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!’ “ (Acts 18:1-6)

Corinth was a large city south of Athens, a very busy seaport, for many ships stopped here before sailing the long distance around the end of the peninsula into the sea west of Greece. In fact, it was here that the peninsula was narrowest, and small ships often crossed on rollers, as safer and faster. Today there is a steep cut in the rocky land across the peninsula and a canal for ships. Corinth proved to be an ideal place for Paul to linger and preach the gospel. He stayed there eighteen months, established a strong church, and wrote many letters to churches he had founded earlier in Syria, Galatia, and Asia. His letters were authoritative in Christian doctrine; they were read to the churches, copied, and passed from one to another. About the end of the first century the New Testament canon (the books and letters considered by the pastors of the churches to be inspired by the Holy Spirit) was adopted, and it included thirteen of Paul’s letters. He is responsible for the majority of doctrines of Christianity.

It has been my pleasure to visit the ruins of the old Corinth in Greece, and to see the remnants of buildings and homes in which Paul preached and lived. He actually sailed from Athens to Corinth, and you can visit the small, almost-deserted cove in which he landed. I had goose-pimples looking at the actual spots where Paul lived and preached 2,000 years ago.

Athens: Enchanted With Man's Lpgic

Athens! Lux Mentis*! When Lux orbis** came,
You listened, but so few of you perceived!
You allowed Paul the gospel to proclaim
At the Areopagus: One believed!
Were your minds all puffed with logic so much,
That the thought of God creating your brain,
Proving Him the smarter than you by such,
Was too repugnant for you to sustain?
Dionysus was saved; he accepted,
As did Damaris; but where were the rest?
Were they too proud of truths they’d precepted?
Of the world’s Councils, weren’r Athens’ best?
A few believed; the gospel was planted;
Of man’s logic, Athens was more enchanted!

*Lux mentis = Light of the mind
**Lux orbis = Light of the world(Jesus)

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you the God who made the world and everything in it. It is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. … we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone---an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this in all men by raising him from the dead.’ When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.’ “ (Acts 17:22-32)

When Paul spoke before the daily Council in the Areopagus, on the hill in Athens next to the revered Parthenon, we can see that he was chosen for such a task as this. If humankind had a center of culture and knowledge in the first century A. D., it was in Athens, Greece, and the one man in the world who could speak to the world’s leading philosophers and wisest men on an equal footing was Paul of Tarsus. His speech is a masterpiece to such men as these, but they received it in much the same way as the elitists of today would---with sneers and doubts. A few believed, like Dionysus and Damaris, but most were so steeped in their puffed-up intelligence, honed by years of practice in debates with other wise men, they prided themselves on applying the rules of logic to the degree that they discounted every new philosophy that required some things to be believed by faith. These were the men that provided the world that followed with the scientific model of establishing truth, and it allowed of no gaps in the trail of proof. As Jesus said of the very rich, it is harder for them to be saved than “for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”. O, the rich can be saved, and so can the intellectual, but you will surely note that it is the poor and uneducated, oppressed peoples of the world that the gospel finds ready acceptance.

Paul established no church in Athens and did not remain there long. He headed south to Corinth, where more success awaited.

Christ's Light In The Jail At Philippi

Jesus wants all believers to be light*:
To live so the lost see Jesus in them;
As did Paul and Silas in jail that night;
Praying; teaching gospel; and singing hymns!
Brutally scourged; ankles held in stocks;
Midnight; their wounds undressed; yet praisung God;
Light to those who, like them, were behind locks,
Wond’ring what could cause them to act so odd!
The jailer washed their stripes, so well impressed,,
And asked them, How could he become as blessed?
Believe in Jesus Christ, and be baptized,
They said, happy, his whole family oblige!
When we live as Jesus taught, we are light
To a world lost within blackness of night!

*” ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’” (Matthew 5:14-16)

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul declared, ‘Don’t harm yourself. We are all here. The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ “ (Acts 16:25-30)

This experience reveals what Jesus meant in His Sermon on the Mount when He told us, “You are the light of the world”. It is how we live that is our best witness to lost people. If our lives are governed by our desire to live as He taught, we will be noticed for the difference in them and the lives of worldly people. If we put God first in everything; love others 100% of the time; show no anger; turn the other cheek; and so on, we will be noticed by those who do not live in that way. When we are noticed, it will open an opportunity for us to tell them about Jesus and how they can be saved.

Paul and Silas were missionaries in Philippi, Macedonia (Europe). They were arrested, whipped severely and put in jail for the night, facing new and unknown problems in the morning. Did they whimper about their mistreatment, curse and rail at the jailer, and beg God to save them from more harm? No, they sang hymns, prayed, and talked to the other prisoners about their blessings since becoming believers in Jesus Christ. When God sent the earthquake to open the prison doors, they did not run for freedom. The jailer noticed their behavior, and it must have been so odd, yet so admirable to him, that he and his family were all saved. That is Jesus’ plan for spreading His gospel to the world; it depends on us to be light in the way we live. If we live just like non-Christians, people won’t see anything in our lives that draws them to Jesus.

The First Council Of Churches

A day is coming when all men agree
That Jesus is God and not another;
No one questions how worship is to be,
Or that its order ought be some other!
But the world has never seen such as yet;
No man is content in another’s wake,
Until his way has been proved unworthy set---
Adam’s sin of pride did ours stronger make!
Christian’s love for all’s easy to proclaim,
But human nature must abolish pride;
The Holy Spirit within has that aim:
To teach us to love like Jesus inside!
Ev’ry human’s nature is selfish at birth;
And’ll stay that way till Jesus is put first!

Pride in each human’s nature is the greatest sin-maker of all. In an ideal world, a world without Satan, men and women of all races would be truly repentant for their sins committed, sincere in belief in Jesus as Lord, and would be constantly at work changing their birth-natures into the new ones taught by Jesus during His ministry on earth. Pride-in-self would be abolished; love would keep relationships with all others harmonious and cooperative; there would be no disputes over how things are best done, and no need for councils of churches, or more than one church denomination. This world is not ideal.

The Judaizers’ persistent insistence on requiring Gentile believers to be circumsized in first century Christianity caused Antioch church to send a delegation, including Paul and Barnabas, to the church in Jerusalem for an authoritative ruling on the matter, The 12 apostles were members of the Jerusalem church, which made it the most reliable source of divine answer for such a vital question as to what is specifically required for salvation. So the First Council of Churches was held at Jerusalem in about 40 A. D. In the years following, there have been several such councils convened for Important decisions to be made. Not every church participated in every council, and not every church followed all the decisions made by such councils. But this practice marked the beginning of denominations. The Catholic (catholic means universal) Church began as the largest network of cooperating churches affiliated themselves together and committed to following the same doctrines and practices emanating from the earliest councils; other churches who did not accept the decisions of the various councils eventually led to different denomunations with slightly, someimes radically, different doctrines or beliefs.

The decision made at the Jerusalem church was that Gentiles were not required to be circumcized or to keep the Mosaic Law in order to become Christian or be saved. Peter made the most convincing speech to the council.

“Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcized and required to keep the law of Moses.’ … After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them. ‘Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a shoice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, but he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.’ “ (Acts 15:5-11)

This was a wonderful decision for us and all the world, for it guaranteed that non-Jews (which number infinitely more than Jews) are not burdened under an impossibly large number of ticky-tacky rules and laws to be saved. We are saved by grace through faith; believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!