Bible Study

Good evening, everyone. So, back in the back, we're online, are we, for our webcast? Good.

Welcome to our Wednesday night Bible study, once again. Good to have everybody here in the room with us. Good to have a crowd here, and to have people online for the webcast as well.

We're being encouraged by the emails and memos we've received afterwards from the previous Bible studies. We had 270 connections last Bible study, which probably represents somewhere above 500 people, because a lot of them are couples, or even small congregations meeting for the Wednesday night Bible study remotely. We had one memo from a person in Germany whose husband had just gone to work on the night shift, and so she stayed at 2.30am until 4am, listening to the Bible study in Germany. So, welcome to everybody to the Bible study. And to begin tonight, I'll ask Mr. Steiber, who's here with us tonight, to ask the opening prayer, please. Okay. Will we rise or do we sit? Go ahead and stay seated. Okay. Well, Father in heaven, we bow our heads before you, thankful for the opportunity for being able to dive into your Word, in this case the book of Acts, the early days of your church on earth. We pray for your inspiration, Father, on the teaching and the listening and the learning here in the building right here, but also everywhere where others are watching. We pray for your guidance and your direction, your blessing upon all your people. We certainly remember all those who are suffering in Japan now with a terrible crisis going on there, and pray that you will watch over those people who are in need of supplies and rescue. Our hearts go out to people suffering. We do pray your guidance now, your blessing upon your church and work. We thank you for this wonderful opportunity to be together, both in person as well as via the internet, and ask your blessing on the Bible study. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The format tonight will be the same as usual. The first hour or so will be going through the book of Acts, starting with chapter three, getting into chapter four as much as we can, and then taking your questions for the last 25 minutes, 30 minutes. In fact, we already have one left over from last week and one that's come in tonight already. So we've got a couple of questions lined up ready to roll, so that's good.

I might mention a note from last Bible study. You recall in Acts chapter two verse 41, there's an interesting coincidence here. And so Mr. Antin said I could mention this. This was what was covered last time. Remember Acts chapter two verse 41, when those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day 3,000 souls were added. And of course, that was around the time of Pentecost, right?

There's an interesting verse in Exodus chapter 32, which is when the law was given, and Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, and came across a pile of gold that suddenly formed itself into a golden calf by accident. You remember that? Exodus 32 verse 24, notice this, and I, Aaron said to them, whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out. But then notice verse 28.

He was the punishment. Remember, this is also at the time of Pentecost, as far as we know. Verse 28, So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about 3,000 men of the people fell that day. The punishment on that day of Pentecost was for 3,000 to die. The New Testament day of Pentecost, the first Pentecost, 3,000 were saved.

So just an interesting correlation or coincidence, maybe. But just a little point I had in my margin, in my inspired margin from last time. Thought I mentioned it to you. What we're going to do tonight is, Mr. Styro and I are each going to take a section of 10 or 12 verses each. On each theme, as we go through, you'll see that Acts 3 begins, and there's really three sections to Acts chapter 3. Acts chapter 3 begins with the lame man being healed. And then the second section is Peter's speech to the people after that. And then the third section is the call for repentance.

So you've got the lame man being healed, Peter's speech to the people, and then repent. Then when we get into chapter 4, hopefully we have time for that as well, it begins with Peter and John then in prison for what they said. And then later after that, Peter and John then go before the council of the Sanhedrin to explain themselves. And then they're told thirdly, don't preach Jesus anymore. So then, fourthly, the church prays, if you want to note that, and it ends with a thought on the church providing for everyone's needs. So that's kind of the outline for tonight. We'll see how far we get. To start with Acts chapter 3, the first 11 verses, Mr.

Stuyver's going to talk about the lame man being healed. So let's go into that first. Okay, jumping right into it, now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and when it says the ninth hour, that was the ninth hour by Roman reckoning. The sixth hour of the daytime, the sixth hour was always noon.

We don't think of noon as being the sixth hour, but that's the way they reckoned it. So the ninth hour would have been three o'clock in the afternoon, the time that the evening sacrifice was getting underway.

And the morning sacrifice would have been ending or happening about nine o'clock in the morning, which would have been the third hour. So this was the latter part. And notice that Peter and John are still going up to the temple, even though the church had begun. You know, there was a transition time where one covenant was becoming obsolete, as the apostle Paul put it, or we believe it was Paul put it in Hebrews. And that would have been the temple service and everything.

And the church and the new covenant was beginning to become started, to get started. So they go up. They were up in the temple area, and that was, of course, a place where you went as well to hear what Bible read at times. In fact, stop and think just for a minute. We have the blessing of having a Bible on the table in front of us, or perhaps on your lap, depending on where you're seated.

In fact, if you went back into your study or your bookshelf, you might find four or five different translations of the Bible that we have today. We think nothing of having the Bible. It's the best seller in the printing market as far as books go every year, and has been for who knows how many decades. Last statistic I heard, every American household has 3.7 copies of the Bible in it. So it's everywhere. In those days, you couldn't afford to own a Bible because they were all hand copied.

And so if you wanted to hear the Scriptures, if you were in the church and you were no longer, you know, officially Jewish religion-wise, you, though, would have to still go down to the synagogue or up in the environs of the temple to hear the Scriptures read. Even if you could read, you couldn't afford to own a Bible because they came in scrolls. And the scroll of Isaiah might be, you know, this long and that big around because it was all in a long piece of usually parchment that rolled up onto broomsticks.

Well, a little nicer than broomsticks, but on that order of things. Later on in the chapter 8, you'll find that the Ethiopian eunuch, who was the treasurer of Ethiopia, could afford an entire scroll of Isaiah of his own. And he could read it.

So the church members would have been bumping shoulders with their Jewish brethren, shall we say, for a period of time. So they're going up there to the temple and at about three in the afternoon, and a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they lay daily at the temple, at the gate of the temple that is called Beautiful.

Now note a couple of things. Number one, this man is not, was not crippled by anything that had happened, that happened that he did. He didn't race recklessly on his Harley Davidson camel back in the day. Didn't wear a helmet. No, he didn't. That wasn't what was his problem. He had always been lame. We don't know what exactly it was. Obviously, you would expect his lower limbs to be very withered and atrophied, no muscle tone of significance at all.

So it wasn't an injury that was recent. This was all of his life. And how old was he? We don't know, but he's called a man, so we'd expect he's over 20, and maybe considerably over 20. It's important to note that, based on the miracle that it will happen in a moment. And then he was sat down every day. His friends or family carried him up to the gate called Beautiful. The Beautiful gate was the gate from the court of the Gentiles. You go out into the Temple Mount.

Then the first court around the Temple Mount complex was the court of the Gentiles. Gentiles could go there, not Israelites. They could safely go there. If they went through the gate, Beautiful, I'm quite certain that was the one, they could be killed. And that was the only time that the Romans let the Jews inflict capital punishment. Anybody who went into the Holy Area of the Temple, that could happen to them. But the next courtyard was called the Court of the Women.

So you come out of the Gentile area into the Israelite area, and the first court there is the Court of the Women. And then the next court is the Court of the Men, and so on. The gate called Beautiful, opening into the Court of the Women, of Israelite women, was essentially the front door of the Temple complex.

And so he was sat down there, and you ask, well, why would they put him there to beg?

Well, it was one way that welfare was distributed, I suppose, at the time. And also, it was strategically a good place, because people going to worship God tend to feel more generous than those who don't.

You know, it's almost like love for God and love for man are connected, which in fact they are, first and second commandments, or first and second great commandments that Jesus gave. So that's where the poor crippled fellow is sat down. And to ask alms, you know, the people would give to him. I remember in 1973 I was with a group of Ambassador College students that were on the what we called the Big Dig in Jerusalem at the time, Temple Mount excavations in those days. In fact, my wife and I met during that summer. She was attending Ambassador in Pasadena. I was in the English campus in Bricket Wood, and we got acquainted during the Dig. It was legal in Israel, and I don't know if it's changed or not, to be able to beg. That was a way that was considered legitimate. And going in to the Old City or any of the gateways that led to the Old City and the Temple Mount area was within that framework of the current walls of the Old City. There were always people who were sitting there begging. And some of them were really pitiful cases. Some were con artists, like a lot of beggars are, but some were genuine cases. And they could, it was legal for them to beg and to panhandle, except it didn't really get called panhandled in those days. Okay, so at that time it was also appears to be legal, too, because he was there. So he's asking all for those entering the temple, and here come the two apostles, Peter and John, who tend to be a team in the early years of the church. They were about to go into the temple and ask for alms, and fixing his eyes on him with John, they both turned, looked at him, and said, look at us. When he says look at us, you would presume from the detail that the crippled man is maybe looking down or looking to the side, you know, averting eye contact with those for whom he's begging. And I don't know how he was begging. He could hold out his hand, maybe he had a little pottery container that was, you know, like the tin cup of today or more recent times. But John and Peter said, look at us. And so he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. And Peter said the famous words, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee, or in the King James, New King James, silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. It doesn't have quite the same ring as the old King James did, but still the meaning is exactly the same. What he gave him was his health. He healed him.

Through Christ healed him through Peter and John. Because Peter continues, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Now, before we get into the actual event, you have to stop and ask yourself a question.

Peter and John are just walking into the temple area and going for whatever reason to be there, maybe to pray, maybe to talk with others, maybe to hear the scriptures read, a variety of reasons why they were going at that time. And here is the poor beggar who's been lame all his life from his mother's womb, from birth.

So why would Peter just suddenly and John, you know, simultaneously have this feeling we need to tell this man that he's healed? Well, for whatever reason he did, you know, God inspired it.

They acted upon it, but it wasn't sort of, well, I hope you'll be healed, you know, blessings on you, you don't pat him on the head. Peter acted a step forward and he took him by the right hand. So he stuck his hand out and maybe the man was back. This is my guess now, we're revising the picture here. He was holding his hand up, begging. And so Peter reaches out probably and grabs that hand that he would have in other circumstances, perhaps placed a coin in, and he grabs the hand and he says, and he said in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk, and he grabbed his hand and lifted him up. He actually picked this poor crippled man, and those limbs had to be, the joints had to be very stiff unless his family was doing physical therapy with him every day to keep them limber. You just imagine what that must have been like.

But as he lifted him up, he just starts picking him up off the ground, and bear in mind, Peter was a fisherman before he was called to be an apostle. So he had shoulders from rowing his boats against the wind up in the Sea of Galilee from casting the casting net. They didn't have drag nets, they had casting nets, so you're constantly throwing and pulling the net back in by its rope. You know, he had serious, serious shoulders, you know, home run type shoulders.

And immediately this man's feet and ankle bones receive strength. As he's coming up off the ground, the legs are extending, still bent through the knee, but they're extending, and the feet and the ankles suddenly are healed, and they're taking his weight.

In fact, the entire leg, both legs, are being healed completely. You'll notice how Luke was a physician, and Luke was who wrote the book of Acts. He wrote the book of Luke and the book of Acts. They go together. So you notice how he explains it in a systematic, you know, physician's way of doing things. The feet and ankle bones received strength because they were first ones to be, you know, have need of having strength so that the rest of the leg could stand, but obviously the muscles suddenly were there where they hadn't been there before. The atrophy was gone. The withered, you know, skinny muscles, he would have been, you would imagine he would have had legs that looked like skin and bones, but suddenly there was muscle there because he lifted him up and he started walking. I'm guessing walking around Peter and John. That would seem logical to hang around the guys through whom he just received his gift, and then leaping. You notice there was another miracle that just happened? This guy never learned to walk. He never had to learn to walk as a tiny baby, and suddenly God gave you the ability not only to walk, but to leap. And you imagine watching people walk and leap and jump and run all your life and being stuck on the ground and never have a hope of being able to slam dunk a basketball, and I'm sure that really bothered him in those days. That he probably wished that all, lots of times, that he could, and suddenly he could. Walking, leaping, and most importantly, praising God. It had to be a moving experience for Peter and John. It obviously was a moving experience for all those watching, and very much so for the man who was healed. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. They knew him. Probably many of you, it was there all the time. That was how his, you know, he was cared for by those, the alms or the gifts that those gave him. A coin here and a coin there. So everybody knew him that frequented the area, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him. There was no logical reason for this to have happened. I mean, there were physicians, but even with physicians, what he was able to do isn't something that physicians are able to do when he's been lame from birth.

And then finally, verse 11, before we hand it back to Mr. Eddington, and now is the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John. As I said, he wanted to be with them, so that's why I think he was walking around them and then leaping around them, and then, I don't know, hanging on to their coat sleeves and jumping. You know, years ago, Toyota used to have an ad campaign, and they, you'd get a Toyota and you'd come out of the building and you'd jump to the, jump in the air and swing your heels to one side and click them together. You know, that was called the Toyota Jump. That's the only Toyota ad campaign I remember, but I do remember that one. I imagined that he was doing that, hanging on there to their coat sleeves and jumping and kicking his heels together and just absolutely thrilled. He was well. And the people ran together in the porch, which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. This was a portico around the temple mount area that served as a gathering place for rabbis to teach, for people to meet for fellowship and discussion, but as much as anything for learning and discussing the Bible, and, as I say, for rabbis to actually hold classes. So that's where they were going, and that's where they ended up. And then came, this was the setup that God provided for another sermon by the Apostle Peter. Okay, just one note to add for Mr. Stiver. Acts 4 verse 22. If you want to notice Acts 4 verse 22, we read, For the man was over forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. And when you stop and think that through the gate beautiful passed thousands and thousands of people. And that fellow had been sitting there for more than forty years.

So when his life circumstance changed, everybody knew about it. This was a big deal. And we'll see more of that actually as we get into chapter four later on. So now looking at verse 12, of Acts chapter three. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people, The men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man to walk?

So you get the feeling that the crowd is amazed at the power of Peter and John. These guys are amazing. No, God is amazing. Peter and John were not able to do anything without the power of God working in them. And so he says, why do you look at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man to walk? It was not us. It's the power of God that performs miracles, not our own power. And so we have to, like Peter did, direct people to God, not to ourselves, and say, not I, but the power of God in me. So that's an important point here for verse 12. Verse 13, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. So now he's getting into his sermon, and he's laying the groundwork. You just saw this man healed? He was healed by the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And actually, on down through verse 18, now we almost see a theme that fits with this time of year, Passover, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, this happened around the time of Pentecost, but as we go through the next few verses, you'll see a Passover theme somewhat as well, because this is what they preached about for years in the early New Testament church, which was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as our Savior and soon-coming king. You'll notice that the God of our fathers is repeated in a couple of other places early on, if you wanted to make a note of it. Acts 5 verse 30 and Acts 22 verse 14 talk about the God of our fathers, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Peter is now going to convict their hearts of the great crime they committed, because you'll see here in verse 13 where he says, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied. So Peter is about to give a stinging indictment now of what had actually taken place not too much before this time. Verse 14, you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you instead. Now, I find it interesting that in Mark chapter 1 verse 24, a man with a demon even recognized that Jesus of Nazareth was the Holy One of God.

A man who was possessed saw Jesus and said, this is the Holy One of God. And yet, this crowd here of Jews denied the Holy One and they were blinded. And they asked for a murderer to be freed instead of Jesus. And that's recorded for you in Luke chapter 23, where they chose Barabbas to be freed from jail and prison and sent Christ to be flogged instead. Barabbas, Luke 23 verses 17 through 23. And not only did they deny Christ, verse 15, they killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead later, of which we are witnesses.

Some translations say that the Jews killed the author of life. Prince, yes, but it's interesting to think also of Jesus Christ as the Word and the author of human life. Acts 5 verse 31 is a parallel reference. Acts 5, 31, we read, him, talking of Jesus, God has exalted to his right hand to be Prince and Savior. Christ is our Prince, he's the author of life, he's our Savior. It's in Acts 5 verse 31. And so the man that they denied, Jesus, the God of Abraham, the God of their fathers, was who Peter was now preaching about. If you go back to Acts 2.24, you'll see Peter also talk about whom God has raised up. There is a strong theme of the resurrection throughout the early chapters of Acts, whom God has raised up is in Acts 2 verse 24.

And of course, they are witnesses of this very thing happening, witnesses of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What's important about the first few books of Acts is to remember that without the resurrection, the Church of God would not have come into being. The resurrection is so important to God's plan of salvation. We have the Passover where we are reminded and remember and observe and appreciate Jesus Christ's death for our sins. But then he was resurrected, and the early Church preached his resurrection.

So that's verse 15. Killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead and asked for murder of which we are witnesses. Sorry. Verse 16. And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong. Once again, Peter and John are saying, it's not us. It's in the name of Jesus, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. What we're focusing on here in verse 16 is his name. It is faith in the name of Jesus Christ that has enabled this man to be healed. And notice that being healed by God brings perfect soundness, the spirit of a sound mind. When God heals you, it's a perfect healing. This man was given a perfect soundness in the presence of everybody, which was thousands of people, as we'll come to see even more as we move along. But you remember back in Acts chapter 3 verse 6, Mr. Stiver read, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. It's in his name.

It's not of our own power. And then verse 17, Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

This was part of God's plan of salvation since before the world began, a way of atoning for sin, for blood to be spilled. The people were deceived. They did it in ignorance. But, as you probably already know, ignorance is no excuse. Sin is sin, and the wages of sin is death.

I'll give you a parallel verse on this subject, John 9 verse 41. And there are others too, but here's just one about ignorance and no excuse. John 9 verse 41, Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin, but now you say, We see therefore your sin remains.

And there are other verses that show that ignorance is no excuse when it comes to sin.

So yes, it was done in ignorance, as it was for the rulers. Verse 18, But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all of his prophets, that Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. And so it was done in ignorance, but it was for a reason. It was so that God's plan could unfold. And so the prophecies about the Messiah, the dozens and dozens of them in the Old Testament, were so fulfilled.

There's a good verse in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 10 and 11, that goes along with this. 1 Peter 1, verse 10, So this was fulfilled to fulfill prophecy and to enable a sacrifice for all of humanity's sins. So this is Peter's speech, and now he gets into the aspect of repentance to those who are listening. So Mr. Slivers, we're going to continue there. Okay, thank you. One other point on the point of ignorance. If you just hold your place and turn to Acts 17, there's another comment there. Acts 17, this is one of my favorite parts of the book of Acts. It's a sermon about the unknown God, the apostle Paul gave in Athens. But he makes a comment sort of about halfway through it, because he's preaching to people who really had no heritage with the Bible or knew much about it at all. He said, Truly, these times of ignorance, God overlooked. You know, the Jews were ignorant of what they were doing. The Gentiles were ignorant about anything at that time about God, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. In spite of ignorance, the sin has to be repented of. And so they would have to do. And so the non-Israelites would have to do likewise. Now, let's go back to Acts chapter 3, because what we're about to embark upon, beginning in verse 19, has been called, or we have referred to ourselves, a pivotal passage. Perhaps one of the most pivotal passages in the New Testament. So the call to repentance is first and foremost, repent therefore and be converted. To repent means, literally the word means to change the mind. To, I think technically it means to have to look again, to have a second look. And the implication is it was used in literature that in those days it meant to change your thinking, change your mind. Change your mind therefore and be converted.

Okay, you can begin to change your mind, but then there's the next step, and that is that it has to change your whole life. And that's where conversion comes in. What is not stated here, because it is stated elsewhere, so you put all the scriptures together to understand what is being taught, is that to be converted means you have to receive God's Spirit. And that comes when someone repents today and counsels with their pastor or the minister about repentance and about baptism, they know that first they repent and they come to believe, and certainly to believe, that Jesus died for their sins personally as well as to believe God's way. And then they're baptized, and the baptism is an outward ceremony marking that inward change of repentance, the change of mind. And then there is another ceremony when they get out of the water, and that is the lingon of hands, and that's when they actually receive God's Spirit. That's where the conversion takes place. You have, we have, a human sinful nature. Sometimes we call it just human nature, meaning carnal human nature or physically minded human nature, and that has to be converted or changed over to divine nature. As Peter said in, was it 1 Peter 1 or 2 Peter 1? It was in the first chapter of one of those places. You know, be partakers of the divine nature. So that's what the conversion process is taking place. So repent therefore, be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. I've often puzzled over that. How can you blot them out? Well, ink in ancient times didn't have acid in it, so it wasn't leaked into the paper. I made a note with a pen once, a lot of notes actually, in my Bible, and it was that nasty ink that soaks through, and it soaked through more than one page. That was disappointing. But in those days it didn't do that. The ink was on the top, and the way to blot it out was to wet a little sponge and use it as a blotter, just tap the sponge on there, and it would lift the ink up. It was almost like erasing it. So our sins will be blotted out. They'll be lifted off our record, in that sense, of God's mind. So that, so this process of conversion and repentance and conversion has to begin with God's people now in this time, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Now the word for refreshing carries the concept of the restoration of strength and nourishment.

It's like after you've fasted. And he spent the day fasting and praying and drawn close to God, and you're feeling pretty good spiritually. Strengthened spiritually, indeed. But you're a little on the faint side physically. And then, you know, whatever the time was, if it's a day of atonement, when the sun goes down, if it's, you know, if you fast from noon to noon or the six o'clock to six o'clock, depending, you know, on your schedule and what works best to manage your energy levels on just a personal day of fasting. And when you come to the end of that time, then you go and find some water and you take a sip of water. Don't drink too much all at once. And then you find, you know, a nice ripe banana. You are partial to monkey food and something, and you eat it, and suddenly you just feel a lot better. For, I think, a lot of Americans, you start brewing a cup of coffee. You know? At least I do. But whatever the case, you're refreshed. And having the food when the body is feeling weak, having that food in it just makes a wonderful difference. And the refreshment of the liquid of the water and other refreshments that way. And those times of refreshing, of strength and nourishment, may come from the presence of the Lord, the presence of Christ himself in our lives. But this really has to do with the unfolding of God's plan of salvation here. God is calling the few now, those understanding, repent and be converted now. So that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, that he, inferring the Father, may send Jesus Christ, who has preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things.

Now, the times of the restoration of all things has been, shall we say, imaginatively discussed within the greater Church of God over the years. But the key understanding there, you know, we seek always to restore God's truth. We know Ambassador College is to have the motto, recapture true values. And that was a nice way of saying, find the truth and believe it. Seek the truth. Recapture true values. True values in understanding the Bible is certainly the vital true values that we were most after. The times of the restoration of all things is when Christ returns. We restore what we can in our lives within the body of Christ. But that's not the restoration of all things. That is fulfilled when Christ comes back. He restores all things.

Not just to the knowledge that the apostles had, you know, at the beginning of the New Testament of the Church of God, but He restores all things to the order that they were before Adam and Eve sinned. And I suppose in one sense, when you get done with all of it through the millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire time, all those events taking place, restoring it to what it was with Christ and the Father. New heavens and new earth, you know, marks a part of that restoration process as well. That's done through Christ.

And again, whom heaven must receive until the restoration of all things. When does Christ stop being in heaven and come to earth at His second coming? In the meantime, He stays in the third heaven with the Father, sitting at the right hand of the Father on His throne. And when you read about it in Revelation and other places, it does say that He sits with the Father on His throne, which makes you wonder if the throne of God is more like a bench. You know, like we talk about judges sitting on the bench in American parlance, in a way, and I think in a number of other countries as well, the bench is a reference to the judicial bench. Well, in a sense, it seems like the heavenly throne is something like that. We don't know exactly, but won't that be marvelous to see when the time comes? But when Christ returns, then everything is restored, because He does the restoring. In the meantime, we strive to restore everything that we can and renew ourselves, but that we don't take the glory away from Christ. That's His job, and He will fulfill that in its ultimate sense. Which the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. So the prophets spoke these things. For Moses, you know, Moses was, we think, we tend to think of as the first judge, and indeed, he was a judge of the Israelites. But he was also a prophet. Most of the judges were prophets, and they were judges. Many of the righteous kings were kings under God, but they were also prophets, David being a classic case in point. Samuel was a prophet, and Samuel was the last judge. So Moses and Samuel were very clearly prophets. So the Lord, and what we're reading here now in verse 22, as Moses truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise you up a prophet like me from your brethren. That will be found in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15, and then part of verse 18, are quoted here. And you can go back and you can read that. Moses is warning in the previous section, just leading up to verse 15 of Deuteronomy 18, he's warning them about staying away from the false religion of idol worship. And then he says, the Lord your God will raise you up a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear the prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. The prophet that is prophesied there in Deuteronomy is Jesus Christ, and that is made clear right here in the book of Acts, because Christ is also a prophet. Christ is a king, he's the the judge of all mankind, he is a prophet, he's a high priest, he is and mentions this, he's also an apostle, and the sense an apostle was a messenger, he is the messenger of the covenant. In fact, you could just peel your pages back to Malachi chapter 3 in verse 1.

Just a quick reference in that sense.

There are two messengers spoken of in this verse, and it says, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Now the one who prepared the way before Christ was John the Baptist. That is the kind of work that the church has today. Prepare people for Christ's return. He will prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even, so now we're talking about the Lord, that we know now as Jesus Christ, will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. So Christ is the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. So Christ is going to be coming, and that's when the restoration takes place. And he in that sense is an apostle, in the sense of being one sent forth with a message. He is a message from the Father. And then we come back to verse 24 in the book of Acts chapter 3, in verse 24. Peter goes on to say yes after he quotes this, and they know this passage. It's a passage about a coming Messiah. The Jews were anticipating always a coming Messiah.

Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days, always anticipating the first coming of Christ and also the second coming. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant. That was the physical heritage the Jewish people had. They were descended from those prophets. And they had the covenant of God as their heritage. And God made with our Father saying to Abraham, And in your seed all families of the earth shall be blessed. And that you will find in Genesis 12, between verse 3 and 5. And then you'll find it subsequently in most every spot where God is reiterating his promises to Abraham. He talks about how Abraham's descendants will be a blessing to all nations. And especially one particular descendant of Abraham would be a blessing to all nations, and that's Jesus Christ himself, having descended down through the lines physically from Abraham through David and so on.

And then finally in verse 26 we wrap up the chapter. To you first, and it was to the Jews first, Paul said that often, he went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. To you first, God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. Not all accepted that turning away, not all repented at that time, but he was, Christ went first to those who were of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin and part of Levi who were constituted the Jews and brought the message of repentance. And that brings us to the end of chapter three. Very good. Chapter four now, the scene changes and Peter and John are taken and put in prison for what has just taken place all throughout chapter three. For read verse one, now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them.

Now, the Sadducees helped keep law and order for the Romans in the temple area. The Romans allowed the Sadducees to keep law and order in the temple area. They stopped riots and disturbances.

And now Peter and John are doing something that the Sadducees did not believe in, and that is preaching about the resurrection. So now things aren't going so well. What I'd like to do is read a couple of paragraphs for you from Barclays, the Acts of the Apostles, on pages 36 and 37. It helps set the scene here a little bit more for you. So you understand what we're dealing with here as they get arrested. Page 36 from Barclays. Barclays says, the healing of the lame man had taken place within a part of the temple area which was continually thronged with people.

The spotlight of publicity was inevitably focused upon this incident.

And Mr. Steyer explained about the courts, the Gentiles, the women's, the men's courts, and how many people passed through that gate.

The gate beautiful was a gate which led from the court of the Gentiles, says Barclay, to the court of the women. The court of the Gentiles was at once the largest and busiest of all the temple courts. Clearly the whole series of events would gain the widest publicity. You know, the stage was set. It was a setup. Into this crowd, says Barclay, into this crowded scene came the priests, the superintendent of the temple, and the Sadducees. The man whom the authorized version calls the captain of the temple was an official called the Sagan. He was the high priest's right hand man. In particular, he had oversight over the good order of the temple. When the crowd had gathered, it was inevitable that he and his temple police should arrive on the scene. With him came the Sadducees, who were the wealthy aristocratic class. There were not many of them, but they were rich and of great influence. The whole matter annoyed them very greatly for two reasons. Barclay says first, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and it was this very truth that the apostles were proclaiming. Secondly, just because they were wealthy aristocrats, the Sadducee and party were collaborationists. They tried to keep on friendly terms with the Romans in order that they might retain their wealth and comfort and position of prestige and power.

The Roman government was very tolerant, but on public disorder, it was merciless. So, the Sadducees could not allow things to get out of hand right now, or else the Romans would not let them run things any longer. To then Barclay concludes, the Sadducees were sure that if the apostles were allowed to go on unchecked, riots and civil disorder might follow with disastrous consequences to their status. Therefore, they proposed to nip this movement in the bud, and that is why Peter and John were so promptly arrested.

And so, you see the scene here now, right? So, we go into verse 2. So, the Sadducees, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead, they laid hands on them, put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. Now, as I said, the resurrection from the dead was not a doctrine held by the Sadducees. This was heresy to them. And then in verse 3, of course, they laid hands on them, and it wasn't an ordination. It wasn't an anointing in that sense.

Acts 5, verse 18 tells of another instance when they had hands laid upon them. Acts 5, 18 is another time when the apostles were put in prison. And for us to remember, going to prison for what you believe and for what you preach is a cost to count, and even be prepared to die for if necessary. And the early disciples, the early apostles, certainly had that spirit of being willing to do whatever it took to preach the truth and stand their ground.

Verse 4, however, many of those who heard the word believed, and listen, the number of the men, the men, came to be about 5,000. And so you can see why this miracle was performed at the main gate where thousands of people traveled every day. A man was lame from birth. He was over 40 years old, and suddenly he's leaping around, clicking his heels, apparently. And it was an amazing scene.

And this was to show the glory of God. Like Peter said, don't look at me. I didn't do this.

The God of your God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did this. In his name, Jesus, was this man healed. So 5,000 believed. And of course, back in Acts 2, verse 41, there were 3,000. We mentioned at the beginning of the Bible study. These were large numbers of new believers.

The power of the Holy Spirit that had now come upon the church was at work.

Keep in mind that in the end time, this type of thing will happen again. Remember that a great multitude comes through the great tribulation, not bowing down to the beast or keeping false worship.

A vast multitude comes through the great tribulation in the end time.

We see smaller numbers today, of course, but miracles will happen and can happen. Mr. Stiver really likes this next section for about 5 verses. I'm going to let him take it. One of his favorite verses here, especially verse 12. This is where the apostles are told not to preach Jesus anymore. I want to go ahead and preach you verses. I've got a comment about the Sadducees here in a minute as well. It came to pass on the next day that there are rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the High Priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many words, we're of the family of the high priests, for gathered together at Jerusalem.

We have here the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is the name of the governing council of the Jews back in those days. It was like a provincial government under the Romans' federal system, essentially. That was the status that they had. And so they could hold a trial like this in the case of Peter and John. Now, we have the scribes. We have the elders.

And rulers tend to be people highly respected in the community. The scribes, typically, that's a reference to the Pharisees who were extremely zealous of the law. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, for example.

And then we have the high priest Annas, Caiaphas, who had been the high priest. The high priest was supposed to be high priest for his whole lifetime, but since a few decades before the time of Christ, it had become a political office that the Romans appointed various priests to. But they only appointed him from particularly priestly families, so it was a lot of intrigue and maneuvering and politicking between within the Sadducee and ranks. I give you a perspective of the Sadducees, and this one you'll never forget, I don't think.

The Pharisees believed in the resurrection.

The Pharisees believed the entire Old Testament was scripture, and they were right.

Their problem with the Pharisees is that they also believed all the teachings of the rabbis were inspired scripture, the oral law, which Christ said, no, that's not inspired. The scriptures are inspired. So you see, they were too liberal with the Bible. They added to it. The Sadducees, on the other hand, really had a strange mindset. They only believed that the five books of Moses were inspired, and none of the rest of the Old Testament was inspired, let alone what the rabbis said. Only the five books of Moses, which don't mention specifically angels or demons, so they didn't even believe in those. At least the way they interpreted the first five books of that. And it doesn't talk about a resurrection in the first five books of the Bible, so they didn't believe that. So basically, you think, well, what did they believe in?

Well, they believed in God, and then they believed in holding their positions.

They didn't believe in a future life. For the Sadducees, what you saw and got now is all you're going to get, which is why they were sad, you see. Okay, I can't believe I pulled that pun off on the Internet, but you won't forget why the Sadducees were Sadducees. All right.

So they were holding court, and Pharisees were involved in this too. By what power or what name have you done this? They asked Peter and John in verse 7. And then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. So this is one of those times when, get out of Peter's way, God's working through it.

You know, you have to admire Peter. He was the only one who tried to walk on water of all the disciples. Any of the rest of them could have, but only Peter did. And never mind that he sank after a few steps. None of the rest of them got over the gunnels. They were hunkering down in the boat. So you have to hand it to Peter, and God could work through him, and he did. He said, rulers of the people and elders of Israel, he's respectful in addressing the august body before him. If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means has he been made well? Uh-oh. You're using logic on us. That's not fair. By what means has he been made well?

Let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. It was through the power of Jesus Christ, in essence, the Messiah. The reason that the Jews rejected Christ as being the Messiah is because their idea of a Messiah, their image of a Messiah in their minds, was a conquering hero, not a suffering servant. So he couldn't possibly be the Messiah. And Peter and John are telling them, oh yes, he's the Messiah. Now, he goes on talking about Christ in verse 11 and 12. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, it's an allusion to a prophecy, which has become the chief cornerstone. Now, a cornerstone we sometimes think of as a foundational stone and it certainly could be the main corner of the building which everything else has then factored. It was also considered to be the chief cornerstone on the pinnacle of the temple. You know, so it could be down low at the base, the foundation, it could be up high. Either way, it was envisioned. But Christ is the chief cornerstone of all. Then in verse 12 is the kicker verse.

This is quite fascinating. Nor is there salvation in any other other than Jesus Christ. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. You've got to digest the statement. You have to be a Christian to receive salvation. You cannot receive eternal life if you are of another religion. Now, we understand something else. As a Christian, you must worship the actual Jesus Christ of the Bible and not the one that is misunderstood in traditional Christianity. There is no other way into the kingdom of God than through Jesus Christ. I am the truth and the way in the life. There in John chapter 14. I've got an interesting book here by somebody that I am sure read something that we wrote in years past because this is 15 years old or so. The other side of the good news, and this guy, Larry Dixon, addresses this very point. He's citing what someone says. He says, What drives people more than anyone else into the camp of theological relativism, suggests the same writer, is the impression that they have that the God of Orthodox theology is harshly exclusive by nature. Harshly exclusive. To correct this impression, we must make it as clear as possible that the classical Christology does not entail a restrictive soteriological scenario.

Isn't that brilliant? Man, I wish I could have said that.

Now, you might ask, what did he say? Well, classical Christology is the traditional view of Christ.

By theologians, Christology is simply the study of Christ. Does not entail a restrictive soteriological… Soteriology is the study of salvation. It's a Greek word for salvation. Soteriology is a study of salvation. Now, we study salvation. We study Christ, we study salvation. In fact, you can't study one without the other, really. Scenario is, you know, like scenario.

Now, the author goes and says this, but life itself appears to entail a restrictive soteriological scenario, does it not? That is, that a very small percentage of the world population hears in response to the gospel of Christ, in this sense the traditional gospel. Therefore, the suggestions that are made that either God might say the unevangelized through general revelation, supernaturally reveal Christ to one seeking, or use death as the avenue for proclaiming the good news of Christ to those who have never heard. So, what his point is, is our point, that people must know the true Christ of the Bible and come to repentance and come under his shed blood in faith and repentance in order to be converted, in order to be resurrected to eternal life. There is no other way. Rebecca of Stony Brook, the sunny book farm, maybe some of you read that book a long time ago, Rebecca struggled with whether or not she should become a missionary. And so she says to herself in the book, if it isn't the heathen, if it isn't that, sorry, it isn't as if the heathen really needed me. I'm sure they'll come all right in the end. They'll find God somehow, sometime. What if they die first? asked Emma Jane. I think that was her sister. And then Rebecca answers, oh well, they can't be blamed for that. They didn't die on purpose. So what if they die first? If salvation is only through Jesus Christ, then how will you offer salvation to historical humanity who never lived before there was a Christ to hear about?

Or how will you offer salvation to the untold billions that have existed since Christ walked the earth the first time, but they never heard about that? I mean, there have been billions who haven't heard of him and the truth about him, and then add to that the other billions who hear of him, but they don't hear the truth about him from the Scripture. Their eyes aren't open to understand it. How do you offer salvation to them? They lived, they died, they didn't know. They lived in times of ignorance, didn't they? But if there's only salvation through them, you know, through Christ, then how is that going to be offered to all of that historical humanity? There's the challenge. Traditional Christianity and their sociological scenario is this. When you live your life, you either are going to go to heaven or go to hell, one or the other. Excuse me, this was supposed to be on stun. Now, I can't believe that happened either.

The traditional theology is you live, you have your chance is this lifetime and there's no future opportunity for anybody. That this is it. That's not what God says, though. See, traditional Christianity has no way to go back and offer the good news and offer the knowledge of Christ to historical humanity. There's no mechanism in their sociological scenario, the way they envision salvation, in other words. But the Bible teaches that there is. It's called the Great White Throne Judgment. There is a time when they will live again physically, but then they will know the truth spiritually that they didn't know before. God will leave no stone unturned. All the rough places will be made smooth. All the crooked places will be made straight. And the Great White Throne Judgment is that period of time when this verse is ultimately fulfilled. When you read this in commentaries, you will find various ones saying that, well, general revelation, God will use that to bring them salvation. That they know that God exists because they see that there's a creator in the universe by observing nature. That's not repentance. That's not faith in Jesus Christ.

That's not coming under the blood of Christ. That doesn't qualify. Then there's the argument, well, I'm sure that if somebody is a good whatever it is that they are religiously, that they'll be saved and they'll get to go to heaven. Well, we aren't going to heaven anyway because that's not what the Bible teaches. But that's the argument that you'll hear. That if you're a good and faithful in whatever your religion is, you'll be saved. So my question is, does that apply to Tuggies?

Never thought of that, did you? Unless you're Indian. The Tuggies was a murder cult in India. They worshipped a goddess named Kali, a pagan goddess. They rebelled against British rule about three times in the 1800s. When I say they were a murder cult, this is where we get our word in English, thug. That's a tug. The T-H comes out hard T in the way it was originally pronounced. But the thugs, or the Tuggie, worshipped by murdering. That was how they paid homage to their goddess, was by strangling people usually. But they could murder them other ways, too.

So a good Tuggie was one who killed many people. In their beds, when they were unsuspected, you know, they didn't do it in a fair fight. They liked to do it from behind and secretly. And so, are they going to have salvation because they were good Tuggies? Well, I don't think so. I know not. I mean, I know certainly not. Because they must come to repentance. And they will. They'll have their day. Probably when they realize how deceived they were, they'll repent quickly when their day comes. And we have the blessing and the opportunity of knowing this ahead of time. And we also have the blessing and the opportunity of inheriting salvation before they live again. And we will be among the teachers to show them the way so that everybody will come through the name of Jesus Christ and through the knowledge of Him and the relationship with Him and the Father, and under Christ shed blood. And that's how salvation will be brought to each human who will receive it. This passage is one that trips up all the theologies of Christianity and virtually any other religion. Be thankful we know the truth. And as you hear Mr. Stiver, you realize that what's recorded for us here in this one chapter, Peter's speech, is just a summary of probably what was said.

To create such a stir, if you just walked down to Fountain Square in Cincinnati and said a few words and walked off, the police aren't going to arrest you. This was a sermon. This was a big presentation and went into a lot more detail than what is summarized for us here. Let's just take about five minutes, read a few more verses, and we'll take a few questions. You notice first 13 here, that when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, see this these guys had courage and that by the name of sorry, boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Started to dawn on them that they were starting to hear the same message that Jesus taught. When we read Peter's speech, remember that he was speaking to an audience that composed some of the wealthiest, most intellectual, and most powerful in the land. Yet Peter was a humble fisherman, and he stands before them with this great indictment of who they had killed. And the very group he was addressing were the same ones that condemned Jesus to death. And so he was coming up against the big boys here. When it says they were unlearned and untrained or uneducated, untrained men, that means they had no technical education, you know, no diploma that they could hang on the wall, particularly in the intricate regulations of the law. The Pharisees, they knew the law inside out. No special professional qualifications is what we're reading here. And today we might say, well, this person never went to college. They never got their GED.

They were just fishermen. See, that's the attitude. It was kind of like contempt.

Who are these people to talk like this? And then it dawned on them that they had been with Jesus.

And God does call not many wise, right? The foolish of the world, as far as the world thinks of foolishness, that is. We will be seen as foolish by many in the world. Not many noble, not many mighty. The Sanhedrin, they considered themselves the mighty ones. So they regarded Peter and John with contempt. Verse 14, and seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. You see how this was all staged and set up by God, by Peter and John? You could not deny what happened. What can you say when a lame man, he's healed and he's standing right there and everybody knows? What's the Sanhedrin going to do?

Chapter 3, verse 11 says, the lame man was clutching onto them. Wouldn't you? You wouldn't want to let these guys go. The lame man was clutching onto Peter and John and he followed them everywhere, licking his heels. And then verse 15, so what is the Sanhedrin going to do? What are the judges, what is the governing body going to do in this case? Verse 15, but when they commanded them to go a sight out of the council, they conferred among themselves.

This is the first recorded executive session in the Bible. They closed the doors and everybody else out and they said, what on earth are we going to do now? And verse 16, saying, what shall we do with these men? For indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it. The lame man had been healed. It was a miracle. What could the Sanhedrin say? So just like they faced with Jesus. Remember in John 11 verse 47, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, what shall we do for this man works many signs? So they came up against the same thing they saw with Jesus. Now they're seeing it with Peter and John, performing miracles and what can we do? And everyone had seen it. The Sanhedrin is trying to avoid having egg on their faces. Plus, they've got to try and keep control in the temple area. The Romans will take over and they'll lose their lofty positions. So they're walking a tight road. Verse 17, but so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them and from now on they speak to no man in this name. So I guess if all else fails, threaten.

Don't preach in the name of Jesus or do the miracles in the name of Jesus anymore. You guys go away and promise not to do this any longer. But notice verse 18, and they called them and commanded them, so the executive session's over. They called them back in. Here's the judgment. They commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. So they're called upon and commanded. Getting called upon by this council was not really a good thing, by the way. You know what happened to Jesus when he was called upon by this council? He died. Peter and John were in the same boat. Acts chapter 5 verse 40 is another time when the apostles were called upon by the council. You read in Acts 5 verse 40, and they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles, when the council had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So it's a similar judgment again later in chapter 5, only in chapter 5 they got a beating as well. So coming before this council was not a good thing. And verse 19, Peter and John answered, here's their answer, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. So when asked to do something against God's will, ask the person, if they're telling you to do something you shouldn't, say, would it be right in the sight of God for me to do what you're saying? You be the judge.

So Peter and John lead it back on the Sanhedrin and said, you be the judge, if not obeying God, it's the right thing to do.

And then verse 20, as we wrap up here tonight, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Peter and John knew Jesus personally. They had seen and heard it all. They knew firsthand what they were preaching. There was no doubt. This was no made-up tale. They were convicted to the point of imprisonment and even death, if need be. They could not but speak what they had heard. And verse 21, so when the council had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. Thousands and thousands of people are glorifying God. The Sanhedrins, walking a tightrope, so they had to let them go because of the people. Verse 22, for the man was over 40 years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. The council was afraid of the people.

If there was too much commotion, the Roman soldiers would have to intervene.

And the Sanhedrin valued their positions a lot. They really did. They were walking a fine line. So healing of miracles should glorify God. And God will use him to his end and his need and to his glory. So that's what we've seen here tonight. That's why I wanted to get through to verse 21, verses 22, just to kind of seal it up before next time's Bible study, which goes on to a slightly different theme after this. So we do have one question that came in last time that came in at the end of Bible study. Let me read it for you here. Has anyone received the Holy Spirit? Of course, this is the theme of Acts. Has anyone received the Holy Spirit without first being baptized? Let me give you a couple of quick verses. There are a number, of course.

Numbers 27, verse 18 is an interesting one. Numbers 27 and verse 18. This is talking about Joshua when Moses was handing the reins over to Joshua. Of course, Moses was not allowed into the promised land. And so he's handing the reins over in Numbers 27, verse 18. The Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hands upon him. And so here's one example of Joshua having the Spirit not being baptized, and it's not in the New Testament yet. And what we will find is that the prophets of God were filled with the Spirit. But the nation was not. Today the church is filled with the Spirit. The nation of God today is. But it was just the prophets and the holy men of God that were in the Old Testament times. One more for you. Proverbs 51. And this is something for Passover, something to reflect upon for Passover. Proverbs 51, verses 10 through 12. This is David's prayer of repentance. Proverbs 51. Let's try Psalm 51. The virtuous woman in chapter is not that long. Okay. Psalm 51, verse 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, says David, and renew a right spirit within me. So you want a God's Spirit in him. Cast not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. So obviously David had God's Holy Spirit. And verse 12, restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your generous Spirit. So yes, there are examples of God's Spirit being in his people, but it was not for the whole congregation of Israel at that time yet. Not until the New Testament church did that happen, but definitely there were those who received the Holy Spirit without first being baptized. Mr. Stuyver? Actually, I've got a couple more questions that lead right on from that, but I wanted to point one tidbit out. You mentioned that the apostles were viewed as uneducated and untrained men. One of the Greek words used to describe them is idiotes in English letters. Idiotes. That was the term. They were idiots for Christ. So better to be an idiot for Christ. It didn't have the same meaning. It just meant untrained. It isn't like it's used as a pejorative today. But I thought that was curious, that that was the word that was one of the words used there. Okay, if I could just plow through two quick ones here. Talking about when God's Spirit is received, the first question that I've got is first it's John 20 22. Turn to John chapter 20 and verse 22. And this is when Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection, one of those times, those remarkable times where he sort of walks through the wall or through the doors and the doors are closed and he had to get a lot of fun scaring him, I think. Anyway. So he shows up in verse 21 and then Jesus said to them, Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you, reiterating the fact that, you know, listen, boys, we have a work for you to do. And then he said this, he breathed on them. Now, they could feel his breath, so he was manifested physically to where he was pushing air and they could feel it.

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now the question is, did they receive the Holy Spirit at this time?

Had the disciples been baptized before this incident? The answer is yes, they were baptized. They'd been baptized well before that incident, just like Christ himself had been. But this isn't when they actually received God's Spirit. And to know when that would be, we have two scriptures, both written under inspiration by the Paul's beloved physician Luke. One is in Luke 24 and verse 49.

It's in the words of Christ. Some of the final instructions he gave the disciples long about the time, or near the time of what we just read in John. But in verse 49, it says, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high. Okay, what is that? Well, what happened when they waited in Jerusalem? They received God's Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Now, the corroborating verse is found in Acts chapter 1, another reference to this. Acts chapter 2, of course, is when they actually did receive it. But we'll just notice a summary.

Oh, go ahead. Good enough.

There. Hope I talked loud enough. You heard that way out there in the Philippines, which is where this question came from. It's a really good question.

In Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Now, here Jesus is telling the disciples that it's not for you to know the times of the seasons. They wanted to know when he was coming back, but the Father has put that in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and all the end of the earth. All right. The power of the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost a few days later.

So, you see, when he breathed on them and said, received the Holy Spirit, he didn't mean right that moment. It was a promise. It was a promise. It was reiterating the promise. Now, another incident where their God-Spirit was apparently given, or was clearly given, is in Acts chapter 10, before the people were actually baptized. But again, it was an exceptional circumstance to teach a vitally important lesson.

The apostle Peter is going to visit Cornelius. Cornelius is an Italian. He's a Gentile, not Israelite at all. But he's a God-fearer, meaning he believes in the God of Israel. And God had communicated with Cornelius in a vision that he needed to send some men to get Peter – Simon Peter – who was staying at the home of Simon the Tanner in a town called Joppa, which is just north of Tel Aviv today.

And so Peter then had a vision, and it was a strange vision of the sheet and all the animals coming down and so on, and God saying, rise, Peter, kill, and eat. And he didn't want to eat any unclean foods and kept saying that, but he didn't realize, hold it, the vision is not about animals. It's about calling people unclean and treating them as if they're unclean animals. And that's what he came to realize when these three men came to the door, and in the vision God told him that three men coming to get you, go with them.

And so he did. And he came to the household of Cornelius, and Cornelius told him the dream he had, and Peter told him the dream he had in the middle of chapter 10 of Acts. And then in verse 34, Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. And then he proceeds to continue his dissertation. And then he gets down to verse 43, to him the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.

And while Peter was still speaking these words, and this is the question is asked about these next verses, the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the Word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished in the Son that came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles also. And they heard them speak with tongues, languages, and magnify God. Now what Peter saw and the others with him, they saw what happened on Pentecost happening before their eyes. The Gentiles were receiving God's Spirit, praising God, being able to speak in languages they hadn't studied before, and it was a clear demonstration from God to Peter that I am converting these people.

Now get them baptized. So in this case, the Spirit of God was given, and then they were baptized, as Peter goes on to say. Can anyone in verse, let's see, what verse is that? 46, and 47, can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? That was an exceptional circumstance that has set a vitally important precedent.

God was not just converting physical Israelites, but also just physical people of whatever background, and a great lesson it was. So that was a rare instance where God's Spirit in the New Testament was given before baptism, but only minutes before. I have another one here. Anybody has something here to ask in the room. I've got another email that came in. Does anybody have something here locally? No? Okay, let me read this one. We're getting close to wrapping it up.

It says, could the casting out of one unworthy to be in the kingdom occur at the place of safety?

And the question is regarding Matthew 22, verses 11-13. If you want to flip over to Matthew 22, verses 11-13. This is actually the parable of the marriage of the king's son. Of course, we know who the king is, and we know that mankind is pictured as the sons that are to be married at the wedding supper. But in verses 11-13, there is an individual or individuals that come to the wedding supper without their garments on, without the wedding garment. Matthew 22, verse 11, When the king came in to see the guest, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. Of course, a wedding garment was a symbol of righteousness, the linen of righteousness. That's why a wedding garment is usually white. Verse 12, And he said unto him, Friend, how came you in not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. And said that came, which was Christ, to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. The question is, could the casting out of this unworthy one, being for the kingdom, occur at the place of safety?

What I would like to point out is that this can happen at any time.

If you are not close to God, following Him, living by His word and His law, and filled with His Holy Spirit, you can be compared to the person that didn't have on the wedding garment.

So I wouldn't dwell on, could this be at the place of safety? Yes, it could be in the end time at any time. It could be if you're protected in the place of safety. It could be if you're one of the innumerable multitude going through the Great Tribulation. It could be anywhere at any time. If you're a called one of Jesus Christ, filled with His Holy Spirit, given an opportunity to know the truth, be a part of His family, and you turn away from that, then you would be what is being talked about here in this parable, you see. Anything to add to the slide or anything like that?

A side lesson. The appropriateness of wearing a wedding garment at a wedding.

We had a question at our the ABC Speech Club, you know, what's the dress code for a speech club? Because we were just getting it underway here in the second semester, and I said, well, Sabbath wear is. That's what our dress code is for the club. And you know, for various events in our lives, certain clothing of respect and honor is expected. Church services? Absolutely. When we come before God, we should dress in our best, but I don't mean in, you know, I said in our best one time in a sermon a long time ago. And this young fellow who was yet to learn the sense of balance insisted on coming to church in a tuxedo. That, to him, was his best outfit and, you know, the most formal. He didn't have the perception that that kind of formal has a different application, and it didn't help that it was sky blue. So there's a need to have a balance. But there's a side principle just even in clothing and how we come before God and how we go and conduct ourselves or decorate ourselves in the sense of dressing for any particular event. Showing respect for others, respect for the occasion, honor for God when we're coming before God. We need to think about that. And the principles of modesty and decorum all apply in that sense. Now spiritually, that's that you if you understand the sense of dressing appropriately to the occasion and with respect and honor to others and to God, then you understand the principle that Christ was teaching. He's using this as an example of being very faithful to God at all times and not thinking we can sort of slide in just because we warm a seat at the church of God. You know, we've got to actually live God's way of life faithfully, start to finish front to back. And so you can lose your salvation at any time in human history, not just perhaps in the place of safety. One verse to perhaps wrap it up with here, Luke 8.15 that's on this topic. Luke 8.15. This is the parable of the sower. But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Once you've heard the truth, once you've come to understand it, being converted, filled with the Holy Spirit, then you have to bring forth fruit. There's no going back. That is your chance for salvation.

What is it we have here, Sabbath? Oh, this is from Mr. Antion, is it? 11 a.m. Sabbath, this coming Sabbath, is it? This coming Sabbath? Okay, for more of Acts. Oh, yes. This coming Sabbath here in Cincinnati, we're having our super Sabbath. So instead of the morning service, we're having a continuation of this Bible study, and then the normal afternoon service at 2.30, and it will be a combined a.m. p.m. service. But everybody's encouraged to come in the morning for the Bible study if they're able. And so for those hundreds who are listening in on the webcast, if you wish, you can tune in at 11 o'clock Sabbath morning here in Eastern daylight time now for a continuation of the book of Acts. We're going to go into the church's prayer for Peter and John to get them out of prison, and then a couple other things as well. So that's 11 o'clock on Sabbath morning, a continuation of this Bible study in the book of Acts. Thank you, everybody, very much for being here. Appreciate it. Thank you for your kind attention. Goodbye to those on the webcast. We'll sign off and have a good rest of the week, a good work week, good school week, and we'll see you again.