Southern Christian University
Acts Class
Session #05
James A.
Turner
Hello students.
When our time was up last week, we were studying from Acts chapter
seven, reading Stephens speech before the Sanhedrin. I called attention last
time that in my Bible the head note says, Stephen's defense, but actually
Stephen is not making any defense. I
think he knew what they were going to do with him. That Sanhedrin court was the same court that
had violated many of the rules of the
court. It had purposely condemned Jesus
to death for no proper cause, and Stephen knew that they were going to do the
same thing to him. And what he does, he
briefly reviews the history of the people of Israel from the call of Abraham up
until the present, and shows that they have a consistent pattern of rejecting
the leaders that God had set forth for them, that they had rejected Joseph, and
that they had rejected Moses, that they had rejected many of the Old Testament
prophets and had killed many of the Old Testament prophets, and then concluded
by condemning the court. And saying,
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in
heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: As your fathers did, so do ye."
When our Class Session was up we counted Acts 7:9 as our beginning place
for this Class Session, but I have decided to discuss the four hundred years of
bondage as mentioned in Acts 7:6 which refers back to
Genesis 15:13. There are other Old Testament references
which speak of it as four hundred years.
Evidently in the passages where it is spoken of as four hundred years,
the writers must be rounding off to the nearest number. Many Bible students have concluded that Israel was in Egypt for four hundred years
or for four hundred and forty years as given in Exodus 12:40, The
time that the people of Israel
dwelt in Egypt
was four hundred and thirty years. Clarks Commentary says that the Samaritan text
reads, --- Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers,
which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was 430 years.
Turn to Galatians chapter three, beginning with
verse fifteen, "Brethren, I speak after the manner of
men; Though it be a man's covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one made
it void, or addeth thereto." God had made
a covenant with Abraham, that if he would leave his country and his kindred and
go into the land that he would show him that he would make him great, and
through his seed all nations or all families of the earth would be
blessed. Verse sixteen, "Now
to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his
seed, he saith not unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed,
which is Christ." So Christ was the
fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 12:3, that through the seed
of Abraham all nations of the earth would be blessed, and that Christ would
make a way of salvation for all men.
Galatians 3:17, "And
this I say, a covenant, confirmed beforehand of God, the law, which came four
hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of
none effect. For if the inheritance is
of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Note that Abraham was seventy-five when he
went into the land of Canaan, in Genesis 11:27-12:7, and he was a hundred years old when Isaac was
born, (Genesis 17:24, 18:10, and 21:1-2). Isaac was sixty when Jacob and Esau were
born, and Jacob was a hundred and thirty when he went down to Egypt. And I did not put that reference down. I thought I had that reference about Isaac was
sixty when those twins were born. Well,
we will take time to find that reference.
That reference will be in chapter twenty-five, I believe. Please write down that reference about Isaac
being sixty when the twins were born.
Genesis 25:26, "And
afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau's heel: So his name was called Jacob." Remember they were twins, and Esau came
first. "Isaac
was sixty years old when she bore them." And then Jacob was a hundred and thirty years
old when he went down to Egypt, Genesis 47:9-10. So what does this mean? Galatians 3:16-18, Paul says that
the law, speaking of the Old Testament law, given to the people of Israel on
mount Sinai, after they came out of Egyptian bondage, and that was four hundred
and thirty years from the promise that God made to Abraham until the giving of
the law. And Abraham had been in Canaan for twenty-five years
when Isaac was born. And Isaac was sixty
years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob
was a hundred and thirty years old when he went to Egypt. So we had twenty-five years for Abraham being
in the land before Isaac was born. And
then Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob and Esau were born, plus he was a
hundred and thirty years old when he went to Egypt. And so put those together, twenty-five and
sixty and a hundred and thirty equals two hundred and fifteen years that they
were in the land of Canaan before they went to Egypt. And then they must have been in the land of Egypt for two hundred and
fifteen years when God brought them out under the leadership of Moses, so two
hundred and fifteen years in the land of Canaan and two hundred and
fifteen years in the land of Egypt and God brought them
out. I hope that will help you in
thinking about the time in the Old Testament passages and all that is involved
in that.
Let us
turn back now to Acts 7:9, And
the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: And God was with him." Stephen is giving a very brief account. Actually
he is briefing from Genesis chapter thirty-seven through chapter fifty of
Genesis, the last of Genesis. The
patriarchs moved with jealousy against Joseph, and sold him into Egypt, and God was with
him. But why were those brothers of
Joseph so jealous and why did they sell him into bondage? They were jealous of him, because he was a
better boy than they were, and number two, Jacob had shown favoritism toward
him and had made him a coat of many colors,
and they saw that and they despised him.
Joseph also had a dream that when they were out in the fields gathering
the sheaves, and his sheaves stood up
and their sheaves bowed to him. They
interpreted that as meaning that, are you saying to us that the day is coming
when we will bow down to you? Well, they
finally did. When they went down to Egypt the second time, they
bowed to him before he made himself known to them. And so they sold him into Egypt. When he was seventeen years of age, his
father sent him to see how the brothers
were doing herding the flocks. They saw
him coming afar off, and they said, here comes this dreamer. They decided that they would kill him, but
Reuben talked them out of that, and got them to put him in a pit. He was planning to come back and get him out
of the pit, but the Midianites and Ishmaelites came along, carrying their
trading products to Egypt, and they sold Joseph
for twenty pieces of silver.
Genesis 37:19 reads, they
said one to another, here comes the dreamer.
Come, now, let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits. And we shall say a wild beast had devoured
him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. So those were mean, hateful brothers, but God
used those mean brothers to get Joseph down to Egypt to look out for all of
Jacob's household when the famine came on.
So a long story, chapters thirty-seven through fifty, that is briefed
here in a few verses. But God was with
Joseph, verse ten, "And
delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before
Pharaoh king of Egypt."
The Midianites and Ishmaelites carried him down
to Egypt, and Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh bought him. And we
read that Joseph was good looking and handsome.
Potiphar's wife cast her lustful eyes on him and wanted him to lie with
her. And she repeatedly tried to tempt
him and get him to lie with her. And
finally one day when the men were out of the house, she took hold of his coat
and was going to try to pull him on the bed with her, but he left the coat in
her hand and fled. She told her husband
that he had come in to rape her, and that led to his being put in prison. He was a good man in prison. It was not long before he was put in charge
of the prison. So you see how God was
with him. He interpreted the dream of
the butler and the baker. He asked the butler to remember me before Pharaoh, but
he forgot all about it, or made out like he did, until Pharaoh dreamed the
dreams about the seven fat cows that came up out of the water and then seven
lean, ugly cows came up after them, and the seven lean and ugly cows devoured
the fat cows. Then he saw a stalk of
corn that had seven good ears, and then he saw a stalk with lean ears that ate
up the seven fat ears. And Pharaoh
awoke, and his dream troubled him. He
called in the wise men and magicians of Egypt, and they could not
interpret the dream. Finally the butler
said I remember, and he told Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret his
dreams. So Joseph was called in. Joseph told Pharaoh that the dreams were one,
that there would be seven years of plenty, and then seven years of famine, and
that the food needed to be stored up during the seven years of good crop years
for the seven years of famine. And
Pharaoh said, we do not have any one wise as you, and that will be your job. So
Joseph was made the prime minister of Egypt when he was thirty
years of age. And he stored up the food
during those seven years of plenty. And
then it was sometime after that that the brothers went down for the first time
to get food. But I better move on. I would like to review the whole story, but you
probably know the story. It is very
interesting, and if you do not, please turn back and read those chapters.
Acts 7:11, "Now
there came a famine over all Egypt
and Canaan,
and great affliction: And our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt,
he sent forth our fathers the first time." When
those brothers went to Egypt to get grain Joseph
made out like that they were spies, that they had come to spy out the
land. They did not recognize him, but he
recognized them, and spoke to them through an interpreter, and asked
appropriate questions to learn about his father and Benjamin to see if they
were still living. He told them that
they could not see his face the next time unless they brought that younger son,
with them. Jacob did not want to send
him, but they told him, he has strictly charged us that we should not see his
face unless we carried Benjamin. I
believe it was Judah, the one that said, that vowed to his father that he would
see to it that Benjamin was not left behind.
Well, the second time when they went down, Joseph had them to prepare a
meal for them. When they left he put his
cup in Benjamin's sack, and then he sent his steward after them to ask the
question, Wherefore have you rewarded evil for
good, and they all went back and bowed down to
him. And it was after that, that he
could not restrain himself any longer.
He made himself known to his brethren.
He sent wagons for them to bring everything to -- all of their possessions
and all their whole household to Egypt (Genesis 44:2-45:28). Verse fourteen, "And
Joseph sent and called to him Jacob his father, and all of his kindred,
threescore and fifteen souls." Now, that
reading is different from the reading in Genesis 46:26-27. I would suggest that you write down in the
margin by verse fourteen, Genesis 46:26-27, because there is
a difference in the reading. You know
how some people are just ready to count every little difference a
contradiction, but there is no contradiction, and I will tell you what probably
the solution to the matter is after we read the reference. Reading from Genesis 46:26-27, "All
the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt,
who were his offspring, not including Jacob's sons wives, were sixty-six
persons in all. And the sons of Joseph,
who were born to him in Egypt,
were two. All the persons of the house
of Jacob, that came into the house of Egypt
were seventy." And so you see that verse twenty-seven is
counting Joseph and his wife and his two sons to make the seventy. So the difference would be as stated there in
verse twenty-six, there were sixty-six persons in all, but not including
Jacob's sons' wives. Well, Joseph's wife
is counted, and that would leave the wives of the eleven other brothers, if all
of them were married, and there were probably just five wives that were
living. It looks like from the Old
Testament scriptures that the women back there did not usually live as long as
the men. So probably just five of those
eleven brothers wives were living when they went to Egypt (Acts 7:14). "And Joseph
sent and called to him Jacob his father, and all of his kindred threescore and
fifteen souls." That would be seventy-five, see, instead of
seventy. "And
Jacob went down into Egypt
and he died himself and our fathers. And
they carried him over to Sychem, and laid him in the tomb that Abraham bought
for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor of Shechem." Jacob was a hundred and thirty when he went
to Egypt, (Genesis 47:9) and he lived
seventeen years in Egypt. And when he died, from Genesis chapter fifty,
we read that Joseph had him embalmed after the manner of Egyptians, which took
forty days, and they mourned for him thirty more days, making seventy days
(Genesis 50:1-3). And
then after that, Joseph told Pharaoh how that his father had had him to promise
that he would not bury him in Egypt, but would carry him
and bury him in his burying place in the land of Canaan. And Pharaoh was glad for Joseph to do
that. Reading from Genesis chapter
fifty, picking up with verse six, "And
Pharaoh answered, Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear." And so Joseph went up to bury his father: And with
him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and the
elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the house of Joseph, and his brothers,
and his father's household: Only their children, and their flocks, and
their herds, were left in the land of Goshen.
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. And when they came to the threshing floor of
Atad, which is beyond the Jordan,
they lamented there with a great and sorrowful lamentation: And he made a mourning for his father seven
days. And when the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they
said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." So all of the leading elders of the land,
went with Joseph and his brothers to bury his father. And they gave him a state funeral.
Back to Acts 7:15, "And
Jacob went down unto Egypt,
and he died, himself, and our fathers." And when
Joseph died, remember he made them promise that they would carry his bones back
when they went back to the land of Canaan. Joseph, of course, believed in the promises
of God, that God would deliver them from Egypt as he had promised
(Genesis 15:13-14). Acts 7:16, "and
they were carried over unto Schechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham had
bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor of Schechem. But as the time of the promise drew nigh,
which God vouchsafed unto Abraham." And I
think that would be referring to Genesis 46:3, when Jacob was going
down to Egypt, he worshipped, and God told him not to be afraid, to go to
Egypt, and that he would make of him a great nation while he was in the land of
Egypt. Reading from Genesis46:1 ff, "So
Israel took his journey and all that he had, and came to Beersheba." And that is the southern extreme of the land of Canaan. "And
offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel
in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. Then he said, I am God, I am God the God of
your Father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt;
for I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt;
and I will also bring you up again: And Joseph's hand shall close your
eyes." And so it was God's
promise that he would make a great nation of the people of Israel, just seventy-five
souls when they went down to Egypt. But God said, while you're there, I will make
a great nation of you. So in that two
hundred and fifteen year period, God fulfilled the promise. And so we see the fulfillment there, verse
seventeen. "But
as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the
people of Israel
grew and multiplied in Egypt." See, they multiplied, so that there would be
the fulfillment of that promise. "Till
there arose another king over Egypt,
who knew not Joseph." It is thought that the
so-called shepherd kings were in power when Jacob went down to Egypt. They were given the land of Goshen because they had their
flocks and their herds, and the shepherds were despised by the Egyptians
(Genesis 46:31-34).
But evidently the Egyptians were back in power, as stated here, that
there arose another Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. Acts 17:18, "Till
there arose another king over Egypt,
who knew not Joseph. The same dealt
craftily with our race, and ill treated our fathers, that they should cast
out their babes, to the end that they might not live."
Now, he is moving into the book of Exodus. The people were multiplying so fast, that
this Pharaoh was afraid that they would become too powerful and might join
themselves to an enemy and deliver themselves, and they would no longer have
them as slaves. So he first gave the
commandment to the midwives that they kill all the male babies, but the
midwives feared God, and they did not do it.
They said that the Hebrew women were livelier than the Egyptian women, and
the babies were born before they got there.
With the people having to work so hard they must have been more lively,
but those midwives feared God. And then
he commanded that all of the boy babies were to be cast into the Nile River. "So
the same dealt craftily with our race, and ill treated our fathers, that they
should cast out their babies, to the end that they might not live. At which season Moses was born, and was
exceeding fair, and he was nourished three months in his father's house. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter
took him up, and nourished him for her own son." You remember how that his mother made a basket
of bulrushes, and put him down at the place where Pharaoh's daughter came to
bathe. His sister Miriam was watching
from a distance, and when she saw that Pharaoh's daughter had compassion on the
child, she went to her and asked if she would like for her to go and get a
Hebrew woman to nurse the child.
Pharaoh's daughter did, and she went, of course, and got her
mother. So that's what this has
reference to. "And
when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her
own son." And then after he was weaned, he was carried
to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was counted then legally as Pharaoh's
daughter.
Acts 7:22 indicates that Moses
was trained to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt.
"And Moses was instructed in all of the
wisdom of Egyptians, and he was mighty in words and in works." He was already prepared to be the next
Pharaoh of Egypt if he wanted to be. But
as stated in Hebrews chapter eleven, he chose rather to suffer
ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season. We will read that reference in a minute. Acts 7:23, "But
when he was well nigh, forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his
brethren the children of Israel. And
seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was
oppressed, smiting the Egyptian: And he supposed that his brethren
understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance: But they understood not." Now notice that when Moses was forty years of
age, he took it upon himself to try to lead his people, but they rejected
him. And then after forty more years of
wilderness training when he was much better prepared, God called him to go down
and to deliver his people. And he gave
every excuse that he could give. "And
the day following, he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set
them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one
another? But he that did his neighbor
wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou killest the
Egyptian yesterday? And Moses fled at
this saying, and became a sojourner in the land
of Midian,
where he begat two sons. And when forty
years were fulfilled." That would be Exodus
chapter three that we are ready to read about here. Note that Stephen divides the life of Moses
into three forty-year periods. Verse twenty-two, he is forty years old when
he made the choice, and then verse thirty, forty years latter, God appeared to
him in the burning bush and wanted him to go and lead his people. You will do well to highlight the latter part
of verse twenty-three and then part of verse thirty, and then part of verse
thirty-six. He was leading the people
then for forty more years. This reference is the only one that divides Moses
life up into the three forty year periods. "And
when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of
mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush.
And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: As he drew near to behold, there came a voice
of the Lord. I am the God of thy
fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not
behold. And the Lord said unto him,
Loose the shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standeth is holy
ground." Who is this person that speaks to Moses as
recorded there in verse thirty-three?
"And the Lord said unto him, Loose these
shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." I think surely that person is Christ. In I Corinthians chapter ten, Paul talks
about, he said, "I would not have ye ignorant my
brethren, concerning our fathers, that they were all baptized unto Moses in the
cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food, and did all
drink of the same spiritual Rock: For they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: And that Rock was Christ." So Christ was with the children of Israel in their journey to Canaan, and it was Christ that
spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In the Revelation, John, on two different
occasions was going to worship an angel, but each time he was told not to that they
were just fellow servants of God, and
you remember that when Cornelius bowed down to the apostle Peter, Peter told
him to stand up, for I also am a man, and here Moses is told to pull his shoes
off of his feet, for the place whereon ye stand is holy ground. So he is told to worship. In the fifth chapter of the book of Joshua,
Christ appeared to Joshua before the taking of
Jericho. "Joshua
was by Jericho: He lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold a man stood before him with his
drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went
to him and said to him." Joshua must have
been a brave man. "Are
you for us or you for our adversaries?
And he said no, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now
come. And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth and worshipped.
And said to him, what dost my Lord bid his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to
Joshua, pull off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where you stand is
holy." So Moses is told to worship there in Exodus
chapter three, and here Joshua is told
to worship. It would have to be a divine
person. So put that with I Corinthians
ten, and would not the person in Exodus three and Joshua five be Christ?
Okay. Where did we get to? Verse thirty-three, And remember that forty
years prior to that, he took it upon himself to try to lead the people of Israel, but they had refused
him. And then after forty more years of
wilderness training, he was much better prepared to lead them, and he gives
every excuse that he can think of as to why he is not qualified to lead them. And that may be true of some today, that they
want a place of leadership that they are not prepared for, and then in later
years when they are well-prepared, they may try to say, I am not the man. . "And
the Lord said unto him, Loose thy shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground. I have surely seen the
affliction of my people that is in Egypt,
and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. And now come, and I will send thee unto Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who
made thee a ruler and a judge?" That was back
forty years prior, see. "Who
made thee a ruler and a judge? Him hath
God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that
appeared to him in the bush. This man
led them forth." Acts 7:36, "This
man led them forth as they wrought wonders and signs in Egypt." That is talking about the ten plagues, and
then their deliverance from Egypt, and their wandering in
the wildness because of their rebellion. "And in the
Red sea,
and in the wilderness forty years."
You remember how God parted the Red sea with the strong east
wind, the waters were congealed, and they stood up like a wall on each side of
the people of Israel as they passed through on
dry ground. When they passed over the
waters came together again and drowned the Egyptian army. "This
is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel,
A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me." Notice that that quotation is from
Deuteronomy 18:15. Do
you remember that Peter used that reference in his second gospel sermon, in
Acts three, and referred it to Christ?
And so here Stephen is doing the same thing.
Acts 7:37, "This
is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise
up to you from among your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the
wilderness. With the angel that spake to
him in mount Sinai, and with our fathers.
Who received living oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not be obedient." See how that he continues to show the
disobedience of the people of Israel. "But thrust
him from them and turned back unto their hearts to Egypt,
saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: For as this Moses, who led us forth out of
the land of Egypt,
we know not what is become of him."
That is Exodus chapter thirty-two.
When God called Moses up on the mountain to give him the Ten
Commandments and other things, they went away into calf idolatry. They had learned to worship calves in Egypt. They wanted Aaron to make them gods to go
before them, and Aaron knew what they wanted, and he had them to bring their
gold rings, and he melted the gold and made them a golden calf. They had worshipped their golden calf and
had risen up to play when Moses came down from the mountain; he and Joshua
heard all the noise. When Moses learned
what had happened, he threw down the two tables of stone and broke them. Verse forty-one, "And
they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and
rejoiced in the works of their hands.
But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is
written in the book of the prophets." And this
reference is from Amos chapter five, beginning with verse twenty-five. "Did ye
offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O
house of Israel? Yea ye
took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god of Chiun the figures,
which ye made to worship them: And I will carry you away beyond Babylon." And I believe that meant that they would be
carried into Assyria. "Our
fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness."
Acts 7:44, "Our
fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he
appointed, who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure
that he had seen." We read about God giving Moses a pattern for
the tabernacle and the holy vessels, while they were encamped at Mount Sinai for nearly a year, and they made the tabernacle and all the holy
vessels during that period of time as given in Exodus chapters twenty five
through forty. In Hebrews8:1-5, it is spoken of as
a pattern of the true tabernacle. Reading from chapter
eight, beginning with verse one of the book of Hebrews, "Now
in the things which we are saying the chief point is this: We have such a high priest, who sat down on
the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the
sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." The first compartment of the tabernacle was a
type of the church, and the second was a type of heaven. "For
every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices: Wherefore it was necessary that this high
priest also have somewhat to offer. Now
if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing that there are
those who offer the gifts according to the law." Most of the Jewish people were still trying
to worship according to the Old Testament law when this Hebrews was written,
but the law was fulfilled when Christ
died on the cross (Colossians 2:14). "Who served
that which is the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is
warned of God when he is about to make the tabernacle: For, See, saith he, that thou make all things
according to the mountain that I showed thee in the mount." The latter part of verse five is a quotation
of Exodus 25:40. After
God had given him instruction for the making of the tabernacle and the holy
vessels, he told him, you make everything according to the pattern showed thee
in the mount. And Moses and the people
of Israel made everything
according to the pattern. It was very
important that they make everything according to the pattern because it
prefigured the true tabernacle that was to come, the church, and the second
division heaven. So back to verse
forty-four, "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the
testimony in the wilderness, even as he had appointed, who spake unto Moses,
that he had make it according to the figure that he had spake it." So figure is used in this reference
instead of pattern. "Which
also our fathers in there turn brought in with Joshua when they entered on the
possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers,
unto the days of David." They carried the tabernacle and the holy
vessels into the land when they went into the land of Canaan, and after that period
of initial conquest, they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. God had already given them instruction that
the place where he would have them set up the tabernacle would be the only
rightful place for them to offer sacrifices for sin, and other sacrifices to
God, and would be the only rightful
place for them to go and keep the three annual feasts. And it is Joshua, I think chapter 18:1, that says that they
set up the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Reading from Joshua 18:1, "And
the whole congregation of the people of Israel
assembled at Shiloh,
and set up the tabernacle there. And the
land was subdued before them." So after that
initial conquest of the land, they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. For more than three hundred years, that was
the place of worship for the people of Israel. And then in the days of Eli, his sons serving
as priest were vile men, so the priesthood was corrupted, and the Philistines captured the ark of the
covenant. The ark of the covenant gave
them a lot of trouble, and finally they decided that they had better send that
ark of the covenant back to the land of Israel, but it never did go
back to Shiloh. I Samuel 5:1-7:1 This was the beginning
of God destroying Shiloh as a place of worship. I believe it is in the book of Jeremiah, that
God through Jeremiah, warning them if they did not repent that he would destroy the temple in Jerusalem, and reminded them how
that he had already destroyed Shiloh as a place of worship. Jeremiah
7:12-15 All right, David found favor in the sight of the Lord
Acts 7:45-46. After David became king, you remember his
first attempt to carry the ark to Jerusalem, it failed because they were
carrying it on an ox cart, instead of carrying it by the staves on the
shoulders of two Kohathites of the tribe of Levi (Numbers 4:5-6, 4:15; II Samuel 6:1-2 But David then did
his homework and found out how that the ark was to be properly carried. And the second attempt, they were successful
in carrying it to Jerusalem (I Chronicles 15:1-4, 15:13-15, 16:1). And David had built a tent for the ark of the
covenant. I said tabernacle, but the ark
of the covenant.
Acts 7:46, "So
David found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the
God of Jacob. Howbeit
the most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet, the
heaven is my throne, and the earth is at my feet: What manner of house will ye build me? Saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?" And that is from Isaiah chapter sixty-six,
beginning with verse one. And in
Solomon's prayer of dedication as given in I Kings chapter eight, he called
attention to the fact that God would not dwell in a temple made with his
hands. He said, the
heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house that I have built. Now Stephen comes to the conclusion and
he condemns the court.
Verse fifty-one, "Ye stiffnecked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets did not your fathers
persecute? And they
killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One of whom ye
have now become betrayers and murderers." They
were murderers of the Son of God. "Ye
who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not." So they did not keep the law. They rejected their leaders. And Stephen said you're just like your
father, you are uncircumcised in heart and ears. You go contrary to the way of the Lord in
everything.
Acts 7:54, "Now
when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and gnashed upon him
with their teeth. But he, being full of
the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." I believe in every other reference, Christ is
spoken of as being seated at the right hand of God, but in this one reference, he is standing at the
right hand of God, showing that he is concerned about what is happening to this
faithful servant Stephen. "And
saying, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the
right hand of God. But they cried out
with aloud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord. And
they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: And their witnesses laid down their garments
at the feet of a young man named Saul."
And this is the Saul of Tarsus that is later referred to as Paul from
Acts thirteen. "And
they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit." And that is one of the seven statements that
Jesus made while he was on the cross.
"And he kneeled down, cried with a loud
voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And again that is one of the seven statements
that Jesus had made while on the cross, for the Lord not to lay the sins of
those who were crucifying him to their charge.
"And when he had said this, he fell
asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death."
And Paul speaks of himself later as the chief of sinners because he
persecuted the church of God, and tried to destroy
it, I Timothy chapter one. Saul was a
young man when Stephen was stoned to death, and he was consenting unto his
death, and those who stoned him laid down their garments at his feet. And going back to verse fifty-eight, "They
cast him out of the city and stoned him.
And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man
named Saul."
Chapter Eight
"And there
arose on that day a great persecution against the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout
the regions of Judaea
and Samaria,
except the apostles." And so the disciples, except the apostles,
were scattered abroad in the land of Canaan, as stated here, Judaea and Samaria, so that would be the
land of Canaan. "And
devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul, laid waste the church, entering
into every house, and dragging men and women committing them to prison." The King James reads Saul made havoc of the
church, committing both men and women to prison. "They therefore that were scattered
abroad went about preaching the word.
But Philip went down to the city of Samaria,
and proclaimed unto them the Christ." Let me
emphasize again that no signs, miracles, and wonders were done by anyone except
the twelve apostles until they laid their hands on those seven men that were
chosen to take care of this distribution of food to the Grecian widows. we have read in Acts 6:8, "That
Stephen full of grace, and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the
people." And he spoke with such wisdom that they could
not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake, verse ten. In this reading, we have another one of those
seven, and he also has miraculous powers. Acts 8:5, "
And Philip went down to the city of Samaria,
and proclaimed unto them the Christ." Do you
remember how Jesus told his apostles to tarry in Jerusalem until they received
that outpouring of the Holy Spirit and received power. He said the power would come upon them when
the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8), and the kingdom of God was to come with power (Mark
9:1). And so they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria and unto the uttermost
parts of the world. So the gospel was
first preached in Jerusalem, and then in Judea and now it is time to
carry the gospel to Samaria, and Philip does
that.
Acts 8:6, "And
the multitude gave heed with one accord those things that were spoken by
Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did. For from many of those that had unclean
spirits, they came out, crying with a loud voice, and many that were palsied,
and that were lame, were healed. And
there was much joy in that city. But
there was a certain man." In the gospel book
and in the book of Acts, Luke uses that word certain several times. "But there
was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and
amazed the people of Samaria,
giving out that himself was some great one."
In other words, he was by his sorcery or by his magic, he was fooling
the people, and evidently making them think that he had some kind of divine
power, and he must have profited by his magic in a big way. Verse ten, "To
whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is
that great power of God. Which is
called great." So they were ready to attribute to Simon the
sorcerer miraculous power when he did not have any miraculous power, but he was
a sorcerer or a magician. He must have
been very good. "And
they gave heed to him, because of long time he had amazed them with his
sorceries." A good magician can still amaze us
today. They can surely make things look
like they are actually happening when they are not. Several years ago a magician made it look
like he was taking down the Empire State Building. They can really pull some good ones. "But when
they believed Philip's preaching, good tidings concerning the kingdom of God,
and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." So what did Philip preach to the
Samaritans? He preached good tidings or
good news concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus
Christ. There is absolutely something in
a name as set forth here, and also in Acts 4:12, Peter said to that
Sanhedrin court, "This is the stone, which was set at
nought of you builders, which is also become the head of the corner. Neither is thy salvation in any other: For there is no other name given under
heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved." So if man is saved, he is saved in the name
of Christ. He must confess that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God and must be obedient to him in order to be saved. So Philip was preaching good news concerning
the kingdom of God and in the name of Jesus Christ, and they were being baptized
both men and women.
Of course, the Bible teaches that baptism, in
order for it to be baptism that will save a person, must be preceded by faith,
repentance and confession. All of the
references show that baptism is that last step which puts one into Christ,
where one receives remission of sins (Acts 3:38). If one can be saved outside of Christ and
outside of Christ's church or the church of God, then one can be saved
without baptism. But if one cannot be saved
outside of Christ and his church, then
he cannot be saved without baptism because baptism puts one into Christ. Remember those references, Romans 6:3-7, Galatians 3:26-27, and baptism also
puts one into the church. I Corinthians 12:13 reads, "For
by one Spirit, were we all baptized into one body."
And that one body is the church, Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:4-5 and Colossians 1:18. So scriptural baptism puts one into Christ
and into Christ's church. But remember
that Paul wrote two letters to the church of God which is at Corinth. The church of God is just as scriptural
and correct as the church of Christ. I am not advocating that we take down our
signs because there are those churches known
as the church of God who teach several
things contrary to the Lords doctrine.
Okay. When men are baptized into
Christ, they receive according to Acts 2:38 an indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, a non-miraculous indwelling.
when those people on that day of Pentecost said, "Men
and brethren, what shall we do? Peter
said, repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for
or unto the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. For the promise is unto you and
your children, and to them that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call unto him." God is still calling men
unto salvation through the preaching and teaching of the gospel. The word of God is the seed of the kingdom as
given by Luke (Luke 8:11). And just as long as the good news of the
gospel is preached sincerely and correctly, the kingdom of God will be enlarged.
Acts 8:12, "Now
when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard about the Samaritans receiving the word of God, and they sent forth unto
them Peter and John." Why? To
lay their hands on them and to give them miraculous powers of the Holy
Spirit. The apostles by the laying on of
their hands, as this reference shows very plainly, could give miraculous gifts
to others by the laying on of their hands.
I Corinthians 12:4-11 enumerates nine
miraculous gifts that could be given by the laying on of the apostles' hands, and
so that is the purpose for which Peter and John went to Samaria. Now, remember that Philip had miraculous
powers, as we have already read, but he could not transfer those miraculous
powers to others or else it would not have been necessary for Peter and John to
go down. Verse fifteen, "Who,
when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy
Spirit." Now, the following verses show that they
might receive the Holy Spirit in a miraculous form. "For
as yet it was fallen upon none of them: Only they had been baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus. Then laid
their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy
Spirit was given, he offered them money." Simon
must have been thinking about how he had fooled the people back there with his magic,
or my sorcery, how I could make money, if I had this gift, if I could lay my
hands on others and give them miraculous gifts.
"Now when Simon saw that through the
laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them
money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he
may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter
said unto him, Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to have
obtained the gift of God with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: For thy heart is not right before God."
Okay.
Notice again that it is Peter that gives what we have referred to as the
second law of pardon for Christians.
Remember when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God,
and Jesus responded as given in Matthew chapter sixteen, "Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father who is in heaven. And I
say unto Peter, that upon this rock." That
bedrock of truth, that he is the Christ.
"I will build my church; and the gates
of Hades, shall not prevail against it. And
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven." Some of our brethren are ready to pretty well
say that Peter didn't have anything different from the other apostles because
what all of the apostles taught on earth was bound in heaven, and that much is
true. But there is still special
significance that Peter would be the one to have the key. And a key is used in two primary ways, one,
to unlock something, and, two, to give the answer. I remember back when I was in, I guess, in
junior high that we had a lot of workbooks back in those days to fill out, and
the teacher had a key. And what was that
key? It gave the answers to all the math
problems or whatever subject we had a wordbook for. And so Peter used the key to unlock the kingdom of God on Pentecost to the
Jews, and it has been unlocked ever since.
He gave the answer, when they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter
and the other apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter gave the answer, and here he gives
the second law of pardon. In Acts ten,
we will read about Peter being sent to preach to the Gentiles to carry the
gospel to them. So there is real
significance in Peter having the keys of the kingdom.
Simon had believed and was baptized, so he had
been saved (Mark 16:16). But here he is doing wrong because of his
greedy thinking. He did not need to be
baptized again, but he needed to repent and pray to God for God to forgive him
of his sins. Remember also I John, chapter 1:8-9, where John said,
"But if we say that we have so sins, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But if we confess our sins, he is just and righteous to forgive us of
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When Christians learn that they have done wrong, they are to do the same thing
that Peter says here, they are to repent and confess their sins, and God will
forgive them of their sins. Remember
that when a person has been scripturally baptized, he does not need to be
baptized again. "Repent
and pray to God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee for
I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity." So Simon was surely in a bad state of sin as
stated in verse twenty-three. "And
Simon answered, and said," So he repents and asked Peter to pray for him. "Pray
ye for me, to the Lord, that none of the things which ye have spoken come upon
me. Acts 8:25,
They, therefore when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,
returned to Jerusalem
and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans." See, the gospel had already been carried to
the Jewish people in Jerusalem and Judaea, and it is now time for the gospel to be preached
to the Samaritans, according to those marching orders of Jesus as given in Acts
1:8.
Next we read about the conversion of the
Ethiopian eunuch. And remember that this
is during the miraculous age of the church, and an angel of the Lord had a part
in the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, and the Holy Spirit had a part. But it was Philip, an earthen vessel, that
told him what he needed to do in order to be saved. So picking up with verse twenty-six, "But
an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south
unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza,
the same is desert." Do you remember the location of Gaza, bordering on the Mediterranean sea? And so the angel is telling Philip to leave
that populous city of Samaria and go to Gaza, go toward the south
unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, the same as desert, and
Philip does as the angel directs him to do.
"And he arose and went: And, behold, a man of Ethiopia,
a eunuch of great authority of the Candace queen of the Ethiopians who was over
all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem
to worship. And he was returning and
sitting in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah." This Ethiopian eunuch was as we call it today
the Secretary of the Treasury. This eunuch
would be a castrated man.
The Old Testament scriptures show that it was
the custom of many countries to have eunuchs that were made eunuchs by surgery
to serve in places of government. In II
Kings chapter twenty we read about how Hezekiah, after God had sent forth an
angel, and for all practical purposes had destroyed the Assyrian army in one night. The statement is made that, When
men arose, those were all the dead bodies. And
after that Hezekiah became puffed up in spirit, and when representatives were
sent from Babylon, he showed them
everything in his house. God sent the
prophet Isaiah to him to tell him that the time was coming when everything in
his house would be carried to Babylon, and some of his sons
would be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. It was fulfilled when Daniel and those other
three fine Hebrews (Daniel 1:1-7) were carried into
Babylonian captivity in the first carrying away. The last carrying away was 586 BC. I have forgotten the date right now of the
first carrying away, but anyway they were the first ones carried into
captivity. The king of Babylon had the chief of the
eunuchs to choose some of the finest of those descendants of the king, and, of
course, they were made eunuchs, and they put were put through three years of
training to be officials in the
government of Babylon. That seems to have been the pattern of a
number of countries to have eunuchs to serve in certain capacities as officials
of government.. And, of course, they
would not be married. They would not
have a wife and children, and so they could really give themselves to the affairs
of government. A brief recess was taken.
I believe it is time for us to pick up with -- I
believe we were reading Acts 8:27, "And
he arose and went: Behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all of her
treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.
And he was returning, sitting in his chariot and was reading the prophet
Isaiah." The reading shows that the eunuch was a very
religious and humble man. He was a ranking official of the Ethiopian
government, but he had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was
returning, riding along in his chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah. And notice that verse twenty-nine shows that
the Holy Spirit had a part in his conversion.
"And the Spirit said unto Philip, Go
near, and join thyself to the chariot." Now in
this day in time, an angel of the Lord does not direct gospel preachers where
they are to go and preach, neither does the Holy Spirit give them direct
instructions, that is no instruction that is not recorded in the word of
God. But this is during the miraculous
age of the church that Paul speaks of in I Corinthians 13:11-12 and Ephesians 4:7-16 as being the childhood
age of the church. We will probably get
around to talking about that some at a later date. The eunuch has been to worship, and going
back home, riding along in his chariot and reading from the prophet Isaiah, but
he does not understand what he is reading.
Acts 8:29, "And
the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran to him, and heard him
reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?" And again his response shows that he is a
humble person. "And
he said, How can I, except someone should guide me. And he besought Philip to come up and sit with
him." That adds to the story! He invites Philip to get in the chariot with
him, and they are riding along in that chariot, and the eunuch has his Bible
open at Isaiah 53:7. "Now the
passage of the scripture which he was reading was, He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away." The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is that
great chapter where Isaiah was guided by the Holy Spirit to give details concerning the death of Christ more
than seven hundred years before Christ was born of the virgin Mary, and the whole chapter is talking about
Christ. He is at Isaiah 53:7 where he is reading
about Christ, as the lamb before his shearer is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was not taken away. And the
eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? Of himself, or some other." So this eunuch had a good spirit. I do not understand what the prophet is
talking about. "Will
you tell me, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning
from this scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."
He could not have had a better place to begin with because this chapter
is telling about Christ, the one who would die for the sins of all of mankind,
going back to Isaiah 53:4, We
all like sheep have gone astray, and God had laid upon him the iniquity of us
all. So a great chapter for him to begin with to
preach unto him Jesus. Now, I have heard
some reason that that is what the preacher should do, just preach Jesus, and
some of them that made that statement do not preach and emphasize that baptism
is essential to salvation. Let me say as
plainly and as kindly as I know how that a preacher can not preach Jesus to
alien sinners without preaching that scriptural baptism by the authority of
Jesus is for the remission of sins Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38, 10:48,16:31-34, 18:8, 22:16). In light of all the
evidence how can sincere preachers continue to preach the false doctrine that
men are saved by faith only and that baptism is not essential to salvation!
Notice the reading, "Preached
unto him Jesus. And as they went on
their way, they came unto a certain water: And the eunuch said, Behold, here is
water. What doth hinder me to be
baptized?" The New American Standard has that
punctuation a little different with an exclamation point; in other words, the
eunuch was excited when he saw water.
What doth hinder me to be baptized?
How does he know anything about baptism?
Does it not strictly imply that Philip had taught to him that Jesus was
the one to come, and that he had taught that Jesus had commanded that men are
to believe on him and be baptized for the remission of their sins. Remember Mark 16:15-16, "Go
ye unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall
be condemned." So the eunuch is happy when they come to a
place of water. I remember reading some
Sunday School literature a number of years ago of a denominational church that
practices sprinkling for baptism, and it was about this passage, and it said
this is desert country, and there was no water there. And what occurred was they had, I believe, it
said a jug of water in the chariot, and Philip took some of that water and
sprinkled the eunuch. Well, if it was a
jug that they had in the chariot, then that was a real big jug. For verse thirty-six says -- No, verse
thirty-eight, "And he commanded the chariot to stand
still: And they both went down into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." If it was a matter of having a jug of
water in the chariot, it was big enough for Philip and the eunuch to go down
into and come out of. It looks like that
jug would be too big to ride in a little chariot. That much water would be too heavy for that
chariot! And verse thirty-six, "And
they came unto a certain water: And the eunuch said, Behold, here is
water. What doth hinder me to be
baptized?" Now, the American Standard Version of 1901 does
not have any of verse thirty-seven in the text, but it has in the
footnote. The King James Version reads,
And Philip said, "If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest. And he answered and
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." But I notice that the New American Standard Bible
has put that back in the text, and I think rightly so, that
the Ethiopian eunuch made that good confession.
At first he was asked by Philip if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And remember one must have real genuine faith
in order to be saved. Hebrews 11:6, "For
he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him." And Jesus
said, Except ye believe that I am he, ye
shall die in your sins., and where I go, ye cannot come. (John 8:24). And further Jesus said, "He
that confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in
heaven. He that denieth me before men,
he that deny him will I deny before my Father who is in heaven, (Matthew 10:32) So at least this is in agreement with what
the Bible teaches that one must have genuine faith in Christ, that one must
confess Christ before men (I Timothy 6:12). The eunuch knew
that he needed to be baptized in order to be saved.
Acts 8:38, And
he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. There
is hardly a statement with real importance that somebody has not tried to
change. But just look at the text, they
came unto a certain water. And
remember in regard to the feeding of the five thousand, they were in desert
country, and the Lord had them sit down in companies on the green grass. And so a desert does not always mean that it
is always a dry place where there is no water and where nothing is growing, but
it may mean a deserted place where only a few people live, or a place that the
people moved from. Some have raised the
question, who baptized who? Well, who
wanted to be baptized? It was the eunuch
that wanted to be baptized, and so Philip baptized him. Both Philip and the eunuch and he, referring
back to Philip, baptized him. "And
when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip,
and the eunuch saw him no more. For he
went on his way rejoicing." And, my, he
had a right to rejoice. He knew that he
had obeyed Christ, and that he had been saved from his sins. And even though the Spirit caught away Philip
and sent him somewhere else, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. "But
Philip was found at Azotus: And passing through he preached the gospel to
all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." And in Acts chapter twenty-one, when Paul was
on the way with the messengers of the churches to Jerusalem to carry the bounty,
they visited Philip. It looks like he
made Caesarea his permanent
home.
Chapter Nine
"But
Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord, went unto the high priest, and ask of him letters to Damascus and to the
synagogue, that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men or
women, that he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem." Damascus, the capital of Syria, bordered the land of Israel is on the
northeast. So Saul is going to a foreign
country. He is so jealous in the
persecution of the church, that he goes to the high priest and has him to give
him letters to the rulers of the synagogues, and if he found any that were
believers in Christ, he would bind them, and that was his intent, to bind them
and carry them back to Jerusalem and put them in prison. "And
ask of him letters to Damascus
and to the synagogues that if he found any that were of the Way." Of course, that would be the way of
Christ. "Whether
men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he
drew nigh unto Damascus: And suddenly there shown round about him a
light out of heaven: And he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: But rise and enter into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do." Many are ready to say you don't have to do
anything except believe on the Lord and pray to the Lord. Well, what was Saul told to do? We will read about that further when we
finish this paragraph. So the Lord told
Saul to go on into the city, and it shall
be told thee what thou must do. So
there is something that every individual must do in order to be saved. As Peter exhorted the people on that day of
Pentecost, in that first sermon, with many
other words did he testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from this
crooked and perverse generation (Acts 2:40). So there is something that people must do in
order to save themselves.
Acts 9:7, "And the
men that journey with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but beholding no
man. And Saul arose from the earth; and
when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing: And they led him by the hand, and brought him
into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and
did neither eat nor drink." Saul had
thought that Christ was an imposter, and had spent several years there trying
to destroy the church. And here the Lord
appears to him in the way, and then he knowsthat he is a great sinner before
God. And notice that it is shown by the
fact that he did not eat or drink until he was told what to do in order to be
saved. And we need to turn next to Acts
chapter twenty-two, where Paul was making his defense before the Jewish people
after he had been arrested. Acts
twenty-two, as he was going up the stairs into the castle where the soldiers
were kept, he asked permission to speak to the people, and he was given
permission. Acts 22:3, He is saying to his
Hebrew brethren in their language, "I am a Jew
born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and
instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being
zealous toward God, even as ye are all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the
death." There
is no telling how many people had been put to death, in part because of the
work of Saul of Tarsus. "Unto
the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. And also the high priest doth bear me
witness, and all the estate of the elders: From whom also I received letters unto the brethren,
journeyed to Damascus, to bring them also that were bound unto Jerusalem, in
bonds to be punished. And it came to
pass, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus
about noon,
suddenly there shown from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice
saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he
said unto me, I am
Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest, and they that were
with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spake
to me. And I said, What shall I do,
Lord?" Notice verse ten, that Saul had asked the
question in substance, what must I do to be saved? "And I
said, what shall I do Lord? And the Lord
said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus;
and there shall it be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee
to do. And when I could not see for
the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I
came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to
the law, well-reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto me, and
standing by me, said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And in that very hour I looked upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath
appointed thee to know his will, and see the Righteous One, and hear the voice
of his mouth. For thou shalt be a
witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy
sins, calling on his name." And so what
was Saul told to do in order to be saved?
He was told to arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on
his name. Well, on Pentecost they were
told to repent, and be baptized. In Acts sixteen, the Philippian jailer was
told to believe. And so three times the
question is asked and answered, and each time they were given an answer. Why did Ananias not tell Saul to believe on
the Lord? He had seen the Lord in the
way. He surely knew that Jesus was the
Christ after the Lord appeared to him.
Why did he not tell him to repent?
Three days and three nights, he had fasted, and he had been praying,
which shows his repentance, and all that he lacked was that he needed to arise
and be baptized. "Why
tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized,
washing away thy sins, calling on his name." "And it came to pass when I had returned
to Jerusalem, and while I had prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance; and
saw one saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: For they will not receive the testimony
concerning me. And I said, Lord, they
themselves know that I am imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that
believed on thee. And when the blood of
Stephen thy witness was shed, I was standing by consenting and keeping his
garments of them that slew him. And he
said unto me, Depart. For I send thee
forth, far hence unto the Gentiles."
And notice verse twenty-two, "And they
gave him audience unto this word."
When he said that God sent him far into the Gentiles, they lifted up
their voices and said, away with such a fellow of the earth,
for it is not fit that he should live.
Back to Acts 9:10, st"Now
there was a certain disciple at Damascus,
named Ananias. And the Lord said to him
in a vision, Ananias. And he said,
Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord
said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and
inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: For, behold he prayeth. And he hath seen a vision of a man named
Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his
sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I
have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from the chief
priests to bind all that call upon thy name.
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: For he is a chosen vessel unto me. Bear my name before the Gentiles, and the
kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how many things he must
suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias departed,
and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto the way in which thou camest, hath sent me,
that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And straightway
there fell from his eyes as it were scales: And he received his sight, and he arose,
and was baptized. And he took food
and was strengthened."
Now, I would guess that if you should go to an
average city in the United States and start asking the preachers
of the city, why did Christ appear to Saul of Tarsus when he was on the road
to Damascus? Many of them would
say to save him. Well, Saul was saved by
learning that Jesus was the Christ, but the primary reason why the Lord
appeared to him, as stated here and also in chapter twenty-two and twenty-six
of this book, was to make him an eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ, to
make him an apostle. Look at verse
fifteen, "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: For he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my
name before the Gentiles, and the kings and children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must
suffer for my name's sake." So Saul
is being chosen as an apostle, chiefly as an apostle to the Gentiles. And in order for him to be an apostle, he had
to be an eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ. And again notice from where we read in Acts
twenty-two, that he needed to be an eyewitness of Christ to qualify him as an
apostle. Acts 22:14, "And
he said, And the God of our fathers hath appointed thee, to know thy will, and see
the Righteous One, and shouldest hear the voice from his mouth. For thou shalt be a witness of him unto
all men of who thou hast seen and heard." So
verse fifteen emphasizes again that the Lord appeared to him to make him an
eyewitness and to qualify him as an apostle.
Turn next to Acts chapter twenty-six, when Paul
was making his defense before king Agrippa.
Let us pick up with Acts 26:9, "I
verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name
of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I also
did in Jerusalem. And I both shut up many of the saints in
prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were
put to death, I gave my vote against them.
And punishing them oft in times in all of the synagogues, I strove to
make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them
even unto foreign cities. Whereupon as I
journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness
of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed
with me. And when we were all fallen to
the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee
to kick against the pricks. And I said,
Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am
Jesus whom thou persecutest? But arise,
and stand upon thy feet." Now this is really the clincher. "For
to this end have I appeared unto thee to appoint thee a minister and a witness
both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things whereof I will
appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from
the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee.
To open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and
inheritance among them that are sanctified by these in me." And so the emphasis is that the primary
reason was to qualify him as an apostle.
And in I Corinthians chapter fifteen, when Paul was talking about some
of the appearances that Christ made during that forty-day period before his
ascension, verse six says, "And when
he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part
remain until now, but some are fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James."
And that would be James the Lord's brother. He was made an apostle during that forty day
period before the ascension of Christ (I Corinthians 15:6, Galatians 1:18-19). "And then
to all of the apostles, and last of all as to the child untimely born, me,
he was seen of me also." All right. And see it was a number of years after
Pentecost when the Lord appeared to him, so he speaks of it as a child untimely
born, or born out of due season. "For
I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because
I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am and
his grace which was bestowed upon me was not vain; but I labored more abundantly than
they all: Yet not I, but the grace of God which was
with me."
So Paul is surely comparing himself with the
twelve apostles when he says, but I labored more abundantly than they all. And in II Corinthians chapter twelve, even
the better element in the church had not stood up for Paul like they should
have and defended his apostleship. And
he had to resort to what he speaks of as foolishness. And he tells about that in chapter 12:1-10, how that he was
caught up into the third heaven, in paradise, and heard unspeakable words which
is not lawful for a man to utter. And
verse seven, "And by reason of the exceeding
greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted over abundance,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, that I should not be exalted above much.
Concerning this thing that I besought the Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me. And he said unto me, My
grace is sufficient for thee: For my power is made perfect in
weakness." And then picking up with verse eleven, "I
am become foolish; ye have compelled me: For I ought to have been commended of you: For in nothing was I behind the very chiefest
apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and
wonders and mighty works." So Paul had received a baptism of the Holy
Spirit as well as the other apostles as shown that he demonstrated that he was
speaking the truth of God by signs and wonders and mighty works. And by the laying on of his hands, he could
give gifts to other Christians. "And
what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except
it be that I myself was not a burden to you?
Forgive me this wrong." And that
was sarcasm. And Paul had not taken any
support from the Corinthians, and he goes into more detail about that in II
Corinthians 11:7-15
I read from some of our brethren who say that
Paul is comparing himself to those false apostles, to those superlative
apostles as some of the newer versions read.
Well, he is definitely referring to himself in comparison to the other
apostles, in I Corinthians 15:15 we read there, that
he labored more abundantly than they all. He
labored more abundantly than the twelve.
How could he compare himself with those false apostles that are
mentioned in chapter eleven, as false apostles, deceitful workers? Let us turn
back and read that. II Corinthians 11:5, "For
I reckon that I'm not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." Well, if he is comparing himself with those false apostles, would that
mean that he is teaching false doctrine just as well as they were? He is not comparing himself with those false
apostles as spoken of in verse thirteen and fourteen where he says, "For
such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, transferring themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing; therefore that his
ministers also fashioned themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works."
And, of course, that means eternal destruction for them. It is t not correct in any sense to have Paul
comparing himself with those false apostles.
That would have Paul saying in substance, I am serving the devil in a
greater way than they are. But verse
eleven and twelve again of chapter twelve, "I am
become foolish; ye have compelled me: For I ought to have been commended of you: For in nothing was I behind the very chiefest
apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty works. For what is
it wherein ye were made inferior." And again
that's sarcasm. "Except
it be that I myself was not a burden to you?
Forgive me this wrong." And if
you turn back and read II Corinthians 11:7-15, you ought to
understand more about what he is talking about there. So the Lord appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus to qualify him as an
eyewitness, to make him as an apostle to all men, but especially as an apostle
to the Gentiles.
So back to chapter nine, and let's pick up with
verse seventeen, "And Ananias went into his house; and
laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared
unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive
thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And the fact that Paul had those signs and
wonders and by the laying on of his hands, he could give gifts to others shows
that he was a full-fledged apostle, and this means he had that baptismal
measure of the Holy Spirit. Now, some
have reasoned that the Holy Spirit was given to him by Ananias. But Ananias, according to the reading, when
he laid his hands on, he was to receive his sight and be filled with the
Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit would not be given by the
laying on of Ananias' hand because miraculous gifts were given only by the
laying on of the hands of the apostles. Acts
9:17 would mean that at the
time of his conversion, he was given a baptismal measure as spoken of at the
time of his conversion. Ananias laid his
hands on him and he received his sight.
And he arose and he was baptized and he took food and was
strengthened. "And
he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus. And straightway in the synagogues." So there was more than one synagogue at Damascus. He was in a foreign country, and there were
enough Jews that there was more than one synagogue in the city of Damascus. "Straightway
in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus that he is the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed, and said;
Is not this he that in Jerusalem
made havoc of him that called on his name, and he had come hither for that
intent, that he might bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased the more
in strength, and confounded the Jews that dwelt at Damascus,
proving that this is the Christ." How was
he proving that Jesus was the Christ? By
the use of the Old Testament scriptures, of those many prophecies concerning
Christ that had been fulfilled. "And
when many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night that
they might kill him. Then the disciples
took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket." We do not have but two or three more minutes
for this class. And so I would like to
stop here and count our beginning with 9:23 because we need to read
some other references to show that this was a long time after his conversion
that it is speaking of in verses twenty-three and twenty-five. Thank you for your good attention.