What are You Preaching?

What does Mark 16:15 mean? It reads: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

The New Testament uses a variety of words which in English are translated as preaching. These Greek words include legein, apojqeggesqai, aggellein, anaggellein, kerusso and kataggellein, among others.

In Mark 16:15, the word used is kerusso, meaning to herald or announce with authority.

In the Greek New Testament, gospel is the translation of the Greek noun euangelion (occurring 76 times) “good news,” and the verb euangelizo (occurring 54 times), meaning “to bring or announce good news.” Both words are derived from the noun angelos, “messenger.” 

So as we read Mark 16:15, we see a command to announce good news to the people. What is this good news?

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, the apostle Paul summarizes the most basic ingredients of the gospel message, namely, the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of the resurrected Christ. (Note the four clauses introduced by that in bold type in verses 3-5 below):

15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand,  2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,  4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,  5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…

So the gospel message is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The result of that good news is that salvation has been achieved for all who will recognize the sinful condition that separates them from God and who will believe the good news (See Romans 3:19-24, Romans 10:9-10 and other scripture for context).

Now I challenge you to search the New Testament to find other messages that we are commanded to preach. There are none. There are many, many evidences of things that result from salvation, but not once are we commanded to preach any message other than the gospel.

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul proclaims, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Let me tell you something. The gospel is as relevant today as it was on the day of Christ’s resurrection. It does not need the help of one kind of music or another. It does not need the help of entertainment. It does not need the help of audio/visual effects. It is relevant in and of itself.

Let me be clear, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with any of the so-called “aides” mentioned above, but they must never be the point or and must never distract from the message, which is, and can only be, the gospel.

Music won't draw men to Him. Entertainment won't draw men to Him. Audio/visual effects won't draw men to Him. The Holy Spirit will draw men to Him when the gospel is preached.

When we stop preaching peripherals in the name of “preaching the Bible,” and start preaching the gospel and nothing but the gospel, we will see people surrender their lives to Christ, “get saved,” and our baptismal waters will once again be stirred.

Are we so ashamed of that message that we have to find other messages to preach? Are we so uncertain of that message's power that we are willing to neglect it? Has the gospel become so "Ho-Hum" that we are afraid it will become boring? 

Jesus told us that if He is lifted up, He will draw all men to Him. He was lifted up on the cross of Calvary and His gospel message will draw people to Him today just as it always has and always will. 

And guess what! Whether you are preaching from the New Testament or the Old Testament, the message is still the gospel. Remember how Philip used the Old Testament to lead the Ethiopian to Christ? Have you counted the number of references to the Old Testament the New Testament uses to verify the gospel? Have you read in Hebrews the way Jesus fulfilled every requirement of the Law and the Prophets? The Old Testament is ultimately all about the gospel.

Let’s stop preaching behaviorism and start preaching the gospel. 

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-The First Lady in My Life-Paul Todd

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOMS!

Bet You Always Wondered

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE- Through It All & Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel-Kaoma

A Study in Habakkuk Week 2

Chapter 3

Verses 1-2 - Notice the changed attitude of the prophet. At first he looked about and thought God was doing nothing. Then God took him to the watchtower of vision and let him see that He was not only judging His own people for their sins, but He was also judging the nations of the world. God was moving forward uncompromisingly to the day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord…the day of the Messiah. Now Habakkuk pleads with God to remember to be merciful in the midst of His judgment.

What Habakkuk didn't realize, and what many people miss, is that God is ALWAYS merciful. Once we have realized His mercy in Christ, how can there ever be any question of God’s mercy?

Verses 3-15 - This is a poetic description of the past history of the nation. Habakkuk references the following: Abraham (verses 3-6) Moses (verses 7-10) and Joshua (verses 11-15)

Verses 17-18 — Regardless of the circumstances in which he finds himself, Habakkuk will rejoice in God. This is faith in action. This is saving faith. This is the message of Job and Paul.

Verse 19 – This is a psalm of praise set to instrumental and vocal music to be used in the temple. 

Music is an integral part of worship. It also has an important place in praise. Worship music should be music that emphasizes our intrinsic unworthiness to be before a mighty God. Praise music is music that recognizes that God sees us as worthy in Christ.

It should all be clearly directed to Him.

This video has enormous implications for your faith. Can you understand they are?

SUNDAYSOUNDS OF PRAISE-In the Presence of Jehovah-Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

A Study in Habakkuk - Week 1

Habakkuk means love’s embrace. Martin Luther gave a striking definition of his name, which cannot be improved upon:  “Habakkuk signifies an embracer, or one who embraces another, takes him into his arms. He embraces his people and takes them to his arms, i.e., he comforts them and holds them up, as one embraces a weeping child, to quiet it with the assurance that, if God wills, it shall soon be better.” 

Habakkuk has been called “the prophet of faith.”  The great statement of Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith,” has been quoted three times in the New Testament: Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38.

Habakkuk is a man with problems.

Chapter 1

Verse 1 — Habakkuk's “Burden” is the judgment of God upon His people and also upon the Babylonians. He issues an oracle, a prophetic statement.

Verse 2 — Habakkuk feels that God is refusing to answer his prayer. He cries out in a night of despair as he sees violence, and God is doing nothing about it and, apparently, saying nothing. This is the elegy of Habakkuk. (Note the final verse of the book [Habakkuk 3:19]. It is the song of praise with a note of joy.)

Verse 3 — Habakkuk wants to know: Why does God permit His people to continue and increase in iniquity, injustice, strife, contention, and violence and do nothing about it?  Sometimes we might have this same question, especially when it seems like God is not paying attention to us. This is a capital WHY?

Verse  4 — God’s law is ignored and spurned. There is no justice. The wicked are in control, and the righteous are in trouble. This sounds an awful lot like the world today.

Verse 5 — The truth is God IS doing something. He is working toward the permanent solution this problem: Messiah - Jesus Christ. Habakkuk had a hard time believing it, for it would be contrary to what he was expecting.

Verse  6 — God is preparing the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to come and take Judah captive.

Verse  7 — They make their own laws.

Verse  8 — They use the cavalry in the campaigns.

Verses  9, 10 — They are conquerors.

Verse  11 — They give their idols credit for their victories. At the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., the Chaldeans won over Egypt and became the first great world power.

Verse  12 — This verse introduces the second problem of the prophet (greater than first). Habakkuk is sure God will judge the Chaldeans.

Verse  13 — This is the problem: Although Israel is wicked, the Chaldeans are more wicked. Since God is holy, He should judge the Chaldeans first. Surely He could not permit the Chaldeans to chastise His people. Logically, the opposite should be true.

Verses  14-17 — Habakkuk asks whether the Chaldeans will escape God's wrath since they are so wicked. Will Israel be the ones who are judged?

Chapter 2

Verse 1 - The practice of the prophet. He takes the secret problem to the secret place. He does not publish his doubts. He is certain that God has the answer to his problem.

Verses 2 & 3 - It turns out that Habakkuk is unexpectedly patient. He will wait for the answer, for he has faith that it will be forthcoming.

Verse 4 - This is one of the most important verses in Scripture . There is a sharp contrast here between the two groups of humanity. One group, the “lifted up” soul or the “puffed up” soul, is flowing like a river down to the sea of destruction. The other group, saved by faith, is flowing toward the city of God and full knowledge — “Then shall I know” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Between the moment of salvation and the “then,” the one saved by faith will walk by faith. He may not have the answer now, but he will have it then.

Verse 5 - This begins a parable to the prophet.

Verses 6-13 — The “puffed up” soul must be judged for these glaring sins: Drunkenness, pride. Arrogance, ambition, rebelliousness (verses 6-8) Covetousness (verse 9) Murder, iniquity, persecution (verses 10-13)

Verse 14 — This is the far-off goal toward which God is moving. This will be fulfilled when Christ returns to the earth (see Isaiah 11:9).

Verses 15-19 — These are the sins that God judges here and now: drunkenness and immorality; violence (Verse 17); wood come to life - idol worship - false religion (Verses 18 & 19).


Verse 20 — God is not yet in His holy temple. The earth is not silent today (see Psalm 2:1, 2). But Habakkuk prophesies that He will be. That prophecy is borne out in Christ. Now the Lord's Holy Temple is the heart of man (1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 2 Corinthians 6:16).

What's the Point?

Many people, pastors included, view the Bible as a self-help book filled with positive suggestions they can pick and choose from to “please God.”  More and more Christians seem to be using the Bible as a nice piece of ancient literature with many good ideas for personal improvement.  They select what they think makes sense to them, and ignore or reinterpret the rest. You will often hear them say things like, “…one interpretation, many applications…”

Such an approach to Scripture turns it into nothing more than a rule book. As a rule book, it serves only as milk, the same milk spoken of in 1 Corinthians 3:1 & 2. To be sure, there are standards that measure one’s relationship to Christ, but the Bible is not to be used as merely a rule book.

The meat of the Bible is its meaning as it relates to the plan of God. It is His revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. Its point is Jesus, from Genesis to the book of the Revelation.

The events recorded in the Old Testament are all pictures of the coming New Covenant in Christ. In Hebrews, about Christ we read, “The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by men. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve as a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven…But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.”

It is easy, maybe even lazy, to take a piece of Scripture here and a piece of Scripture there and to use it to produce some “theosophical” treatise on behaviorism. That, however, misses the entire point of any passage of Scripture. The meat is to dig down into a passage, chapter or book and to relate it to the overall purpose of the Bible.

The point of Scripture is that Jesus is all-sufficient, in every circumstance, for all time. He alone is the source of our salvation and He alone is the One through whom God sees the saved as perfect and worthy of eternal life.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas.

So, we were in Lystra when this mother, Eunice, introduced us to her son, Timothy. I had heard of him from some of the other brethren, but had never met him. His father was Greek, so Timothy had been raised in a “multi-cultural” family.

In a family of mixed parentage, one of them being Jewish, it was required that any boy children be circumcised on the 8th day. However, Timothy's father seems to have intervened and prevented him from being circumcised. Because of that, Timothy was considered to be Greek.

Now I had just argued in Pisidia that neither Jews nor Greeks who became Christians had to be circumcised. Timothy wanted to identify with Jews. Realizing how much easier it would be to keep open lines of communication to the Jews we were going to preach the gospel to, he decided to undergo circumcision.

The Holy Spirit was directing us. Each time we tried to make decisions on our own, He would step in and stop us.

We tried to preach in Phrygia and Galatia, but the Holy Spirit disallowed that. We tried to enter Bithynia in Mysia, but He stopped us there, too. We went to Toas.

One night, I had a vision. In the vision I saw a Macedonian calling, “Send the light! Send the light! There are souls to rescue; there are souls to save! Send the light, the blessed gospel light!”

We understood that God had called us to preach the gospel in Macedonia, so we did.

Macedonia was a Roman province, just north of Greece. We preached the good news of God’s salvation there. Lydia, an astute business woman, revered by her peers, heard the gospel and surrendered to the prodding of the Holy Spirit in her heart, trusting Christ for her salvation.

She was our very first convert in Macedonia. Her family was converted, too. She was so happy that she asked us to stay at her house.

What a day!

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Pray-Sanctus Real

A Study in Zechariah Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Daniel was born in the land of Israel but wrote his apocalypse outside of it. Zechariah was born outside of the land but wrote his within the land. Daniel, Ezekiel, and John all wrote outside the land. Only Zechariah was in Israel when he wrote his apocalypse. In the dark day of discouragement which blanketed the remnant, he saw the glory in all of the rapture and vision of hope. He has more messianic prophecies than any of the other Minor Prophets.

Verse 1 - The fountain here is not one that gets turned on and off. It is a fountain ever flowing. Christ is the fountain of life. He is the fountain that never shall run dry. He is of the house of David. Justification and sanctification flow from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices.

Verses 2-5 – These verses refer to the prophet(s) of false religion. The false prophet and his followers will be taken (Revelation 19:20 – “But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur”).  This is a picture of the end of all false religion.

Verses 6 – If anybody asks him, “Where did you get these injuries on your body?” The false prophet will lie, claiming to have gotten them at his friend’s house.

Verse 7 –These words remind us of Isaiah 53:10, ‘It pleased the LORD to bruise him.’ ‘My shepherd’ is ‘the man that is close to me’. For Christians, this shepherd and this man are both Jesus. The nail-scarred Christ will be present.  His followers will not desert Him but will rally around Him.

Verses 8-9 – Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars. A third are to survive. Probably the destruction of the two-thirds and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.

Verse 9 – The third who survived will be made pure, as though through fire. This purification will come through the blood of the Lamb. It will enable God to proclaim “They are my people.” It will enable the people to respond, “The Lord is our God.” This references those who come out of the Great Tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

Paul Gets Challenged

Paul preaches in
the synagogue

Barnabas and I kept on preaching the gospel. We preached that if a man would repent of sin, turn in faith, trusting in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary and in His resurrection, he would be saved.

Every message we preached was that one. We used the Old Testament writings to prove our case Biblically. We knew we were under a new agreement with God through Christ. One which was greater than the Old Covenant. One which superseded the Old Covenant. One which made the Old Covenant obsolete.

We were at a gathering one day when some men claiming to be followers of Christ were preaching.

"Men of Antioch, hear us well! It is all well and good to believe in Christ and His resurrection. But there is much more to pleasing God than that. God has ordained that to please him you must also be circumcised. After all, God is still Jewish, and he still requires you to follow the Law of Moses."

"What?" I argued with them. "Where on earth did you get that notion? Pleasing God is having a relationship with Him through Christ, nothing more. That's what the New Covenant is all about! It's Jesus plus nothing! Can't you see that?"

"You are wrong!" they replied. "You must not forsake any of the teachings of the Law of Moses or any other part of the Covenant (by which they meant the Old Covenant). You must be circumcised, you must follow the Ten Commandments, you must tithe, you must attend the synagogue on Saturday.

"You can still be 'Christian,' but you must not forsake any aspect of your Jewishness!"

I was getting antsy. "You don't get it, do you? All of those things have been done away with by Christ and His resurrection! We cannot follow Him and the Old Covenant, too. It is impossible!"

"Tell you what," said some of the others. "Why don't you go down to Jerusalem and speak with the other apostles and elders and see what they have to say about it?"

"We will," I answered. And off to Jerusalem we went.

When we got there, we held a meeting, complete with a covered dish supper.

Some of those at the meeting were converted Pharisees. They sided with the need to be circumcised and to follow the Law of Moses.

Good old peter stood up and spoke.

"God sent me to the Gentiles to present the gospel to them. Did you get that? Gentiles! And guess what! God made no distinction between us and them. Can you Pharisees even imagine being compared to a Gentile?

"God purified their hearts the same way he purifies any heart: by faith in the resurrected Lord. Why do you now want to add baggage to that? We are all saved by, and only by, the grace of our Lord, Jesus."

The room fell silent. The air was both tense and reverent.

James spoke up. "Simon has testified how God has chosen people for Himself from among the Gentiles." Then he quoted from Isaiah a proof of what he was saying.

He went on, "It is my judgement that turning to Christ should be easy for Jew and Gentile alike. Sure, there are things that we should not do, such as eat food dedicated by idols, sexually immoral behavior and such, but those are things no legitimate follower would do anyway."

In the end, the conference decided the matter and sent a letter to the Gentile believers. We wanted to settle the matter of circumcision. We told them that it would be good for them to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. They were not to be burdened with any of the Mosaic or ceremonial Law.

We delivered the letter, making the Gentile believers glad for its encouraging message.

Barnabas and I stayed in Antioch while the rest of the group went to other countries to preach the gospel. We did so in Antioch. We preached Christ crucified and resurrected...nothing more.

Barnabas and I disagreed about whether to take Mark with us. I, in one of my frequent bouts of arrogance, still harbored resentment that Mark had "deserted" us in Pamphylia.

In the end, Barnabas took Mark and headed for Cyprus. I took Silas with me and went out to spread the gospel and to strengthen the churches.

Little did I know that later I would learn from the Holy Spirit that Mark was one of us, after all.

God's forgiveness in Christ is complete or it is not forgiveness at all.

Preach Anything But the Gospel If You Want the People Happy

Hey, it's Paul again.

Having been put down by the Rabbis, the Pharisees and the priests in Antioch, Barnabas and I went to Iconium. Once more we were afforded the opportunity to speak in the synagogue.

We preached the gospel: the prophecies, the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. We showed many how the Holy Spirit would take up residence in their hearts if they would repent of sin and turn to Christ, trusting in, and only in, His finished work of salvation at the cross of Calvary.

Many believed, both Jews and Gentiles.

I had yet to figure out why, but once again the religious leaders were incensed at our message. Just like the leaders in Antioch, the Iconian Jews spoke out against us. But we were not swaying from our message. We knew the truth and we were certain that the Jewish leaders really wanted to know the truth, too.

But they didn't.

They got so mad at our refusal to stop preaching the gospel that they plotted to stone us.

I knew about stoning. Remember, I was present when Stephen was stoned. It was not a pretty sight.

We were secreted away to Lystra and Derbe and just went on preaching the gospel.

Lots of folks wanted us to speak about other things: social ills, philosophy, religiosity and other things, but as I later wrote to the church at Corinth, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

That's the only message I had. It was the only message I preached.

Because of that message, many people trusted Christ. Those who didn't, hated the message. They found it narrow minded, bigoted, backward and insane.

I began to notice something. When Jewish leaders preached philosophy, social justice, religiosity and other things, the people were not offended. In fact, they were quite satisfied. They loved the feelings of indignation and self-righteousness they got when they heard those messages. But when the gospel was preached, people were divided into two groups: those who believed and those who hated the message.

I notices something else. Hatred for the gospel message was so strong that people were willing to kill to keep it from being preached.

The gospel must be one powerful message.

Just Pick Yourself Up, Brush Yourself Off and Start All Over Again.

Some friends of mine, fellow believers, had gathered together in the church at Antioch. We were worshiping our risen savior and had not yet eaten.

That's when the Holy Spirit spoke to us, telling the group to send Barnabas and me out to spread the gospel. John wanted to go, too. We shook hands, gave each other man-hugs and headed out, first to Seleudia, then to Cyprus.

We were invited to speak in the Jewish synagogues. We had the greatest news ever to tell the Jews gathered there, the good news that God's Kingdom had been ushered in through Jesus and that if they would repent of their sin and trust in Him they would have eternal life.

To tell you the truth, they were pretty cold to this good news, so we went to Paphos. There we met Sergius Paulus' magician who called himself Son of Jesus. He was a Jew. Usually Jews did not do magic. God had forbidden it. But Son of Jesus did magic. His other name, Elymas, even meant ‘magician’. He was afraid that if his master believed our message he would lose his job as magician. So, he opposed Barnabas and me. He tried to persuade his master not to believe our message.

It was here that I began to use my Greek name, Paul, meaning "small." It communicated my status when compared to our Lord, Jesus. 

We warned Magician to stop doing magic, but he refused. Then these words came tumbling from my mouth, "Magician, you are about to be struck blind." And that's exactly what happened.

Sergius Paulus saw what had happened. He was convinced of the truth of our testimony, and he became a believer on the spot! I tell you there is no greater joy than seeing someone respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit and becoming a follower of Christ.

John left us and went back to Jerusalem. We went on to Pisidian.

On the Sabbath, we went to the local synagogue. One of the leaders stood and read a very, very long list of laws from the Law of Moses and some prophecies. 

Seeing Barnabas and me as visitors, they, supposing us to be Jews, said, "Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement, stand up and tell us about it."

I took the opportunity to show them how everything in their history, culture and Scripture pointed to the good news that we were preaching. We read from Psalm 2, "You are my Son; today I have become your father." We also read from Isaiah 55:3, "I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David" and then from Psalm 16:10, "You will not let your Holy One see decay."

I tried to show them how the prophets and psalmists had brought the Jews to this very point in history. I preached the forgiveness of sins through Jesus.

Lots of people believed our message and followed us out of the synagogue, wanting to hear more of our message of the grace of God in Christ. 

On the next Saturday, almost the whole city gathered to hear our message of salvation.

The Pharisees, Saducees and the priests saw the crowd and were jealous at the large number of people we attracted. Their pious messages had never attracted that many. They were lucky to have 40% of the synagogue filled when they preached. They started cursing us and making fun of our message. 

I said to them, "Gentlemen, we brought God's message of salvation to you first, because it was from your ancestors that Christ came. Since you have rejected our message, we will take it to the Gentiles, just as the Scripture says. In Isaiah 49:6 God wrote, 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' "

This made the Gentiles happy, but it made the Jewish leaders very angry. They stirred up persecution against us and physically threw us out of their region.

So we picked ourselves up, brushed ourselves off and started all over again. 

The Holy Spirit gave us peace about our mission and joy in our hearts.

Live and Learn

Paul here.

I left out an important part of my story. For a period of three years I went to Arabia. I had so much to learn and God taught me through His Holy Spirit. In those three years I learned more about God than I had known in my studies in Gamaliel’s school or in all of my experiences as a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin.

I had to unlearn a lot. I had thought adherence to the Law of Moses would gain me favor with God. I had thought being pious would gain me favor with God. I had thought being spiritually arrogant would gain me favor with God. I had thought my great knowledge would gain me favor with God. I had thought my philosophical bent would gain me favor with God. I had thought being a leader of the Jews would bring me favor with God. And so much more. I had to unlearn every last bit of it.

As a Pharisee I knew the Law. I knew the prophecies. I knew the traditions. I had a lot of head knowledge. But now I realized the meaning of the prophecy of Jeremiah that God would send a New Covenant that would be set in my heart. Now I realized that Jesus is the embodiment of that New Covenant. And I learned that the Old Covenant, with all of its divisions, rules, regulations and constraints had been rendered obsolete. I even wrote about that when I addressed the Hebrews in my letter to them.

You know, in my Pharisee years, my Jewish followers would have reeled at the very idea that the Mosaic Covenant would ever come to an end. They didn’t care that much for the words of the prophets. All they knew was the Mosaic Covenant garnered them a great following and a good living. No loving God would take that away from them, especially since their worship was so pretentious.

And their prayers. Oh, how they loved to pray in front of people. They loved for the people to take exceptional notice of their prayers. In their prayers they would exaggerate the name YHWH. Why they would stretch it out so long it almost sounded like Yahweh! Can you imagine?

My training included some very different ideas about what to tell people about God, life and the gospel. I had been trained to pontificate. I had been taught to talk about philosophy and social values. I had been taught to be in charge of the synagogue. I had been raised to stand in judgement over certain people, especially people like Samaritans and gentiles. I had to be taught the exact opposite.

It was during this time that I learned the principles of the gospel that I would later include in letters that I wrote to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians and all the others.

I tell you the truth, there is no better teacher than the Holy Spirit. Professors and lecturers might mislead you, but the Holy Spirit will never mislead you. He will never contradict Himself and He will never cause you to do, think or teach anything that does not lead you right back to the good news that Christ has ushered in a New Covenant between God and those who will put their trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

That’s what I learned.

Wait until you learn about the costs of preaching that gospel.

What’s In a Name?

Talk about seeing the light! I was in the presence of Jesus! And suddenly I was transformed into a new creature in Christ! My mind had been changed! A flood of feelings overcame me. My anger turned to remorse. My guilt turned to forgiven. My hunger for truth had turned to satisfaction. The emptiness of my legalism had turned to the fullness of joy!

Then He spoke to me again.

“Go to Damascus and I will tell you what to do next.”

Damascus? He wants me to into the city where I had intended to wreak havoc? It would be like sending Daniel into the lion’s den. It would be like sending Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace.

Now that I think about it, I realize that He had been with them in their trials and He would be with me, too. So I headed on to Damascus.

While I was in Damascus I got invitations from the priests who knew me to speak in the synagogue, so I did. I did the most astonishing thing, much to their chagrin. I began to tell those gathered that Jesus was the Son of God! Can you imagine that?

The priests couldn’t. When they finally realized what was going on they conspired to kill me.

They really disliked this Jesus story.

Some of those who believed what I had been preaching helped me escape Damascus, and I went to Jerusalem, where I was free…for a time, at least.

I could not help myself. I just kept on preaching Jesus. I got into “bull sessions” with the Jewish leaders who greatly resisted my message. When they had had enough, the set out to kill me.

I thought to myself, “These guys aren’t very nice. I’m sure glad I’m not like them. Oh, wait! That’s exactly what I used to do. I guess what goes around comes around.”

Anyway, I finally left for Caesarea and then went home to Tarsus.

I had been in Tarsus for some time when a bright, friendly young man named Barnabas came to see me. He took me to Antioch, where I preached the gospel and many people heard it and believed. 

They adopted the name, “Christians,” which means “Little Christs.”

Barnabas and I were sent into “missionary” service by the Holy Spirit. We went to Cyprus. The Christians there, maybe to help disassociate me with the evils I had done before, started calling me Paul. It means "small." Compared to Jesus, that's what I am.

The name stuck. I have used it ever since.

(To Be Continued)

The Pharisee of Pharisees 02

I, Saul, was still trying to thwart this growing cult of Jesus followers. I had heard that a number of them had relocated in Damascus. I went to the high priest and asked him for arrest warrants for any followers of “the Way” I found there. He obliged, and I set out for Damascus.

I and my entourage had been walking toward Damascus all morning. It was hot and dusty, but I was determined to arrest every member of this bunch of heretics. My anger toward them grew and I was anxious to get to Damascus to end this atrocity once and for all.

Right.

It was almost Noon when it happened. Like an explosion a light appeared that was so bright it overcame even the light of the scorching sun. It was far and away the most intense and fearsome thing I had ever faced. The abruptness of it knocked me to the ground.

Then I heard a voice. It was a voice like I had never heard before. There was something about it that was powerful, authoritative, awesome and frightening, all at once. At first I thought the heat had gotten to me, but then I realized that this was really happening.

The voice spoke in a language I could understand. “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

I didn’t know what the voice meant. I was not persecuting any one person. I was only after a body of men and women who had abandoned their Jewish loyalties.

The voice was so commanding that I thought it prudent to ask, “Who are you, Lord?”

The answer I got was unexpected.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!”

What? My mind was racing. Had I gotten so involved in the activities of this cult that I had lost touch with reality? He said, “I am Jesus.” But I knew Jesus was dead! What was going on here?

Suddenly from the depth of my being I knew who it was! I suddenly understood the context of everything I had been told about the Nazarene who had been crucified. I’d come into the very presence of the risen Jesus. I knew that He is alive! It was as if I had never lived and all the things I’d done before would never matter anymore! In that split second I had become a new creation and would never be the same again!

(To Be Continued. Next: What's in a Name?)

The Pharisee of Pharisees

I’m Saul. You might have heard of me. I was a well-known and well respected member of the Sanhedrin, the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who constituted the supreme court and legislative body in Judea.

When I was born (in Tarsus) I was given the name of Saul. By birth I am a Roman citizen. I went to school at the School of Gamalliel in Jerusalem. I trained to be a Pharisee and rose to the top of my profession, eventually becoming a top Pharisee. I was really good at what I did. That’s how I got to be a member of the Sanhedrin.

To me, Jewish law was everything. The law governed everything I did. It told me when to rise, what I could and could not do and when I could or could not do it. I had the law and all 600 of its corollaries memorized and I doubt whether anybody knew it better than I did.

Keeping the law was the way I thought I could stay in God’s good graces. I believed He was YHWH, the God of Abraham, Moses and David. I believed He expected us to live perfect lives so that we would please Him enough to let us into Heaven. I tried to do exactly that.

There were some disturbing things going on in and around Jerusalem. There were a number of people who had been following the teachings of a heretic named Jesus. He had claimed to be God and the Pharisees were highly insulted on God’s behalf. They provoked the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, to crucify him.

After the crucifixion, this rabble rouser had been placed in a tomb belonging to a Pharisee named Joseph, of Arimathea. I have no idea why a Pharisee would allow such a thing, but that is what he did.

Some very strange happenings followed the burial of Jesus. It was widely circulated among the Pharisees that someone had stolen the body and hidden it somewhere, though no one seems to have any idea where.

Jesus’ followers, though, insisted that he had been raised from the dead. How absurd! Nevertheless, that is what they were teaching. Instead of people seeing how ignorant such a claim was, their numbers kept growing and growing. It got to the point that their numbers became a threat to the leadership, power and influence of the Jewish leaders. It had to be stopped.

It fell my task to try to quell this uprising. I was considered the most defensive of the law and the one who would have no qualms about doing whatever it would take to get rid of these people.

I began by going to their meeting places and trying to dissuade them. When that didn't work, I began having them arrested. They not only did not reduce in number, they actually continued to increase! They were proselytizing Jews left and right, convincing them to join their cult of heretics and follow Jesus. Imagine that. They convinced them to follow a dead man!

Finally, when all else had failed, I had some of them killed. I hoped that would put the fear of God in them.

One particularly egregious man, named Stephen, was attracting a lot of attention preaching what he called “the good news of the arrival of the Kingdom of God.” He was proclaiming that by abandoning their Jewish heritage and believing in this gospel they would inherit “eternal life!”

I considered that nonsense heretical and figured it had gone on quite long enough. I ordered Stephen arrested and brought him to be tried before the Sanhedrin. Instead of being intimidated, Stephen began to preach to the high priest and the rest of the council. He tried to tell them that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies of old and that he was a direct descendant of Abraham, Moses and David.

Hearing this preposterous teaching, I ordered that Stephen be stripped and stoned. To make sure my order was carried out, I attended the stoning and watched as the rocks struck him over and over, each one leaving a large bleeding gash in his head and other parts of his body.

After an endless number of stones had been thrown, Stephen, cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The words had a kind of a ring to them; as though I had heard of them before.

Now I was really indignant. I began to take men with me to the various meeting places of these followers of Jesus. I threatened the groups and forced them out of the homes they met in. Eventually, they scattered all over Judea and even dared to start small groups in Samaria!

I was bound and determined to show these heretics who was boss.

(To Be Continued)

Waiting It Out

Cleopas here.

Remember I told you that Jesus had appeared to us and said, "...stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven?"

So we waited.

And waited.

Seven weeks we waited.

Can I tell you something?

We were confused.

Several of the other believers had started to doubt that Jesus was going to send this Holy Spirit person. Some thought He had already come and we missed Him.

It was the day of Pentecost and we had planned this big committee meeting, with a feast and all, to figure out what to do next.

I mean, if this was it, we might as well all go back to what we were doing before Jesus got our attention.

So there we were. People from all over.

It was tough. We didn't speak the same language. We couldn't communicate well.

How would we ever be able to decide what to do?

What happened next is beyond description, but I'll try.

There was this noise like a thousand tornadoes in the sky over us.

No, not a thousand...a hundred thousand.

It was ear piercing! We could not hear ourselves think, let alone talk to one another.

Then what looked like sparks or flame or something...no it wasn't really fire, but that's the closest I know how to describe it to you.

It's not like it was hot or anything, just all flickering and bright and red and orange and yellow. Not fire but like fire.

I guess.

The fiery stuff came right down and settled on our heads.

That was tense.

Suddenly there was a presence in each of us that we could not understand. We all knew that everyone else there was having the same experience!

As soon as this presence entered us, we began to be able to communicate with people from far away lands whose language we had never heard before, let alone spoken.

The commotion attracted others from all around, more foreigners.

There were people from Greece, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Turkey, Phrygia, Pamphilia, Egypt, Libia, and even Rome.

We met Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Jews, Cretans and Arabians.

It would have been a real mess, except that by some miracle we could all understand one another.

Here's what was happening. When someone started telling about the mighty miracles of God, we could understand him as though he was speaking in our own language!

Some non-believers in the crowd thought we were drunk.

Then Peter, one of the original men who had walked with Jesus, stepped up and started a speech.

He spoke Aramaic, but everybody understood him.

"People of Jerusalem and visitors, too! Listen up!

"Some of you think we are drunk, but we're not.

"What is happening is what was predicted by the prophet, Joel centuries ago.

"Remember he wrote, 'In the last days,' God said, 'I will pour out my Holy Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. Yes, the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth - blood and fire and clouds of smoke; the sun shall turn black and the moon blood red before that awesome Day of the Lord arrives. But anyone who asks for mercy from the Lord shall have it and shall be saved.'

Peter went on to tell us all about the prophesies of Jesus in the Scriptures, His life, His death and His resurrection.

He closed by saying, "Therefore I clearly tell you all that God had made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be the Lord, the Messiah!"

I was totally impressed.

I shouted out, "What should we do?"

Peter heard me and answered, "Each one of you should demonstrate your willingness to follow Jesus by an act of repentance. Then you should give testimony to your identification with His death, burial and resurrection by being baptized.

"But take heed!" This came in a tone of warning, "Do not submit to baptism unless you have been called to repentance. When you have done this, you will understand that the Holy Spirit has come to live in you!"

Some people there did not think Peter was in his right mind. They just left, shaking their heads.

But you know what?

Three thousand people believed him and were baptized that very day!

I even helped baptize twenty or so. I actually lost count.

That was a long time ago, but I thought you might be interested in my story.

I'm still filled with the Holy Spirit and still love Jesus.

I'm very old, now. I don't think I have much longer in this old body.

But don't you worry about me. I know that when I breathe my last breath here, I'll breathe my first in front of my wonderful Jesus, face-to-face once more.

He'll say to me, "Well done, my friend Cleopas! Enter into the joy of My Kingdom!"

And I will.